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I braved the bitter cold this evening to get *writing* or more accurately *how to publish your novel and stay motivated while doing it* - been procrastinating this bit for quite some time.
For the remotely curious the books were:
1. Writer's Market - 2008: Novel & Short Story Edition (really didn't feel like rifling through all the non-relevant categories, plus cheaper!)
2. How I got Published - Essays by Famous Writers on How they did it. (Hmmm, haven't heard of half of them...but whatever).
3. The Chicago Manuel of Style. (I vaguely remember buying this one before, not cheap, and seeing it in my father's study. Methinks he stole it. This is basically the writing style bible for anyone who wants to get their stuff past the critical eye of a copy-editor in the US. The fact that there are still disagreements amongst various style manuals - goes to show you that copy-editing is not as an exact a field as one might think. Nor is grammar for that matter. With all the arguing going on over punctuation, grammar and syntax - it's a wonder that we manage to communicate at all. Are all languages like this? OR is it only the English language?)
Tonight - sat down and watched the entire first episode or pilote episode of Mad Men, which I'd attempted to watch when it first premiered way back in the Summer with Wales. Have come to the conclusion that there are some tv shows that you are better off watching by yourself or at the very least without commentary or background distractions. While there are other shows, such as most daytime and nightime soap operas, Celebrity Apprentice and Project Runway, that are actually made more enjoyable if you are watching them in either a group or with a friend. At any rate - I enjoyed it. A lot better than I expected. Quite brilliant in places actually.
My favorite bits?
* A scene between Don Draper and Ms. Minske in a bar. She tells him she never got married partly because she never fell in love. He says that sounds like something he wrote to sell nylons. She says love is not a slogan to everyone. And his response is that - lightening bolt love, the type that makes you give up everything, have kids, and fall deeply, doesn't really exist. It was made up by people like himself to well, sell nylons. That we, whether married or not, are alone. Always. And you live life like there is no tomorrow because there probably won't be one. Her reaction? "I never realized til now, that it must be difficult to be a man too." Then states that the feeling of never really fitting in anywhere or of feeling disconnected, is something she senses in him.
*The scene in which they come up with an ad slogan for cigarettes after a bit of negative research. Don Draper finally hits on something - stating they should ignore the research and just go with how it is made. It's toasted. While everyone else's is poison. Do a clever twist or spin. Sure there are other bad things in it - but let's focus on the good stuff.
* John Slatter and Draper's conversation about Dick Nixon, and how they can make him a cool candidate with just the right bit of spin.
Oh the title of the series is a clever play on words coined by advertising execs - Mad Men = Madison Avenue - which used to be the heart of the advertising industry. Not sure that's true anymore - with Saatchi in Soho.
Mad Men is satire as opposed to parody, which I actually prefer. Satire is hard to pull off, since you have to be subtle and it is built around irony. The episode I saw made fun of our attitudes towards smoking. And the degree that the advertising industry has influenced people on it. It also made fun of gender stereotypes and sexism, which wasn't so subtle. The best bits are though and to truly pick up on them, you have to watch the show closely, read between the lines. It is a show you have to watch on the seat of your coach and frequently rewind. Not one you can watch while making dinner or eating it or surfing the net.
Looking forward to next weeks - which airs at midnight on Sunday and I won't watch until Monday or Tuesday. I may wait until I have a few corralled in the old DVR. Got to be careful though - lots of shows popping up and almost all of them on Thursdays again, for some reason.
Why do they have to put Lost on Thursday nights? I was quite happy with it being on Wed.
For the remotely curious the books were:
1. Writer's Market - 2008: Novel & Short Story Edition (really didn't feel like rifling through all the non-relevant categories, plus cheaper!)
2. How I got Published - Essays by Famous Writers on How they did it. (Hmmm, haven't heard of half of them...but whatever).
3. The Chicago Manuel of Style. (I vaguely remember buying this one before, not cheap, and seeing it in my father's study. Methinks he stole it. This is basically the writing style bible for anyone who wants to get their stuff past the critical eye of a copy-editor in the US. The fact that there are still disagreements amongst various style manuals - goes to show you that copy-editing is not as an exact a field as one might think. Nor is grammar for that matter. With all the arguing going on over punctuation, grammar and syntax - it's a wonder that we manage to communicate at all. Are all languages like this? OR is it only the English language?)
Tonight - sat down and watched the entire first episode or pilote episode of Mad Men, which I'd attempted to watch when it first premiered way back in the Summer with Wales. Have come to the conclusion that there are some tv shows that you are better off watching by yourself or at the very least without commentary or background distractions. While there are other shows, such as most daytime and nightime soap operas, Celebrity Apprentice and Project Runway, that are actually made more enjoyable if you are watching them in either a group or with a friend. At any rate - I enjoyed it. A lot better than I expected. Quite brilliant in places actually.
My favorite bits?
* A scene between Don Draper and Ms. Minske in a bar. She tells him she never got married partly because she never fell in love. He says that sounds like something he wrote to sell nylons. She says love is not a slogan to everyone. And his response is that - lightening bolt love, the type that makes you give up everything, have kids, and fall deeply, doesn't really exist. It was made up by people like himself to well, sell nylons. That we, whether married or not, are alone. Always. And you live life like there is no tomorrow because there probably won't be one. Her reaction? "I never realized til now, that it must be difficult to be a man too." Then states that the feeling of never really fitting in anywhere or of feeling disconnected, is something she senses in him.
*The scene in which they come up with an ad slogan for cigarettes after a bit of negative research. Don Draper finally hits on something - stating they should ignore the research and just go with how it is made. It's toasted. While everyone else's is poison. Do a clever twist or spin. Sure there are other bad things in it - but let's focus on the good stuff.
* John Slatter and Draper's conversation about Dick Nixon, and how they can make him a cool candidate with just the right bit of spin.
Oh the title of the series is a clever play on words coined by advertising execs - Mad Men = Madison Avenue - which used to be the heart of the advertising industry. Not sure that's true anymore - with Saatchi in Soho.
Mad Men is satire as opposed to parody, which I actually prefer. Satire is hard to pull off, since you have to be subtle and it is built around irony. The episode I saw made fun of our attitudes towards smoking. And the degree that the advertising industry has influenced people on it. It also made fun of gender stereotypes and sexism, which wasn't so subtle. The best bits are though and to truly pick up on them, you have to watch the show closely, read between the lines. It is a show you have to watch on the seat of your coach and frequently rewind. Not one you can watch while making dinner or eating it or surfing the net.
Looking forward to next weeks - which airs at midnight on Sunday and I won't watch until Monday or Tuesday. I may wait until I have a few corralled in the old DVR. Got to be careful though - lots of shows popping up and almost all of them on Thursdays again, for some reason.
Why do they have to put Lost on Thursday nights? I was quite happy with it being on Wed.
