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1. Rather good sermon at church today about the "over-examined" life and how we spend far too much time watching, commenting on, examining, and judging our lives. Socrates said an unexamined life is not a life worth living, but as Rev. Ana stated, one wonders what he would think of a life that is so examined that it was never lived? It was what I needed to hear - because I've been over-examining my life of late - worrying over it, what have I done right, what have I done wrong...and what to do next. She stated you need to stop flipping through the career guide, and just accept the curriculum you've fallen into and see where that leads. Instead of thinking of changing your major, figure out where this major leads.
That's not to say one shouldn't question, but as humans perhaps we do it too much. Including our own spiritual needs. Sometimes you need to just be. This I needed to hear - because I've been struggling with turning off my monkey mind. I keep checking the curriculum and thinking, you know maybe I should have done that thing over there.
2. Day 13 – Your favorite writer
Don't really have one. Oh there's writers I've followed. But I'm moody in my reading habits and jump around a lot. I'm not a culture vulture or snob, nor overly picky - if the story fits my mood - I'll go for it, and be critical of it, no doubt about that.
Invariably I'll fall in love with a writer and discover they've only written one or two books and well, what do you do with that? Or I'll fall in love with one and discover, okay, apparently they are a one-hit wonder (a la Jim Butcher and the Dresden Files) and I can't stand their other series - it's like someone else wrote it. What happened?
Or I'll fall in love with them for a bit, then get burned out on them or they will disappoint, offend, piss me off, or merely..bore me, and that's it. Whedon was in the piss me off and offend category. Minnette Walters is in the burned out. James Joyce...ditto.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - disappoint. And Arturo Perez Reverte - ditto. While Donna Tartt just didn't write enough books and is a one-hit wonder, and Maria Doria Russell...sigh, ditto.
This basically leaves me with 1) Minette Walters who is a British mystery novelist, in the same veine as Ruth Rendell and PD James. She writes quirky character driven mystery novels, with extremely complicated and not always morally upstanding protagonists. And 2) Arturo Perez Reverte - a Spainish mystery novelist who writes in a similar veine to Walters, but reminds me a little of Dumas. Oh and of course 3) James Joyce who was an Irish novelist, poor as a church-mouse, who invented stream of consciousness story-telling.
( the rest of the days )
3.Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show
I have more than one. Right now it's a toss-up between Vampire Diaries and General Hospital - which I find wildly entertaining and hilarious at times. Vampire Diaries is better plotted, but the characters aren't as complex and interesting as GH, which granted has a bit of an advantage in that it is a 50 year old soap opera. It's actually older than Doctor Who believe it or not. Doctor Who's first episode was November 23, 1963 while General Hospital's was April 1, 1963.
General Hospital also has had more episodes than Doctor Who - which again isn't hard, considering GH has new episodes all year long for 50 years, with no breaks. Doctor Who has maybe 6-13 episodes a year with lots of long breaks in between seasons. Both have changed actors at different points, although many of the leads on General Hospital have been on the show off and on since well 1978. General Hospital has actually had better written episodes than either Vamp Diaries or Doctor Who, believe it or not, but you have to sit through about 250 really crappy and at times absurdly funny or boring episodes to get to them...it's the law of averages people. Do enough episodes and you will eventually hit gold.
Oh people pooh-pooh my guilty pleasure. Here's two sample discussions:
( Read more... )
4. Off for the night. So I can get to sleep a tad earlier. Need to work on my sleep habits.
That's not to say one shouldn't question, but as humans perhaps we do it too much. Including our own spiritual needs. Sometimes you need to just be. This I needed to hear - because I've been struggling with turning off my monkey mind. I keep checking the curriculum and thinking, you know maybe I should have done that thing over there.
2. Day 13 – Your favorite writer
Don't really have one. Oh there's writers I've followed. But I'm moody in my reading habits and jump around a lot. I'm not a culture vulture or snob, nor overly picky - if the story fits my mood - I'll go for it, and be critical of it, no doubt about that.
Invariably I'll fall in love with a writer and discover they've only written one or two books and well, what do you do with that? Or I'll fall in love with one and discover, okay, apparently they are a one-hit wonder (a la Jim Butcher and the Dresden Files) and I can't stand their other series - it's like someone else wrote it. What happened?
Or I'll fall in love with them for a bit, then get burned out on them or they will disappoint, offend, piss me off, or merely..bore me, and that's it. Whedon was in the piss me off and offend category. Minnette Walters is in the burned out. James Joyce...ditto.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - disappoint. And Arturo Perez Reverte - ditto. While Donna Tartt just didn't write enough books and is a one-hit wonder, and Maria Doria Russell...sigh, ditto.
This basically leaves me with 1) Minette Walters who is a British mystery novelist, in the same veine as Ruth Rendell and PD James. She writes quirky character driven mystery novels, with extremely complicated and not always morally upstanding protagonists. And 2) Arturo Perez Reverte - a Spainish mystery novelist who writes in a similar veine to Walters, but reminds me a little of Dumas. Oh and of course 3) James Joyce who was an Irish novelist, poor as a church-mouse, who invented stream of consciousness story-telling.
( the rest of the days )
3.Day 16 - Your guilty pleasure show
I have more than one. Right now it's a toss-up between Vampire Diaries and General Hospital - which I find wildly entertaining and hilarious at times. Vampire Diaries is better plotted, but the characters aren't as complex and interesting as GH, which granted has a bit of an advantage in that it is a 50 year old soap opera. It's actually older than Doctor Who believe it or not. Doctor Who's first episode was November 23, 1963 while General Hospital's was April 1, 1963.
General Hospital also has had more episodes than Doctor Who - which again isn't hard, considering GH has new episodes all year long for 50 years, with no breaks. Doctor Who has maybe 6-13 episodes a year with lots of long breaks in between seasons. Both have changed actors at different points, although many of the leads on General Hospital have been on the show off and on since well 1978. General Hospital has actually had better written episodes than either Vamp Diaries or Doctor Who, believe it or not, but you have to sit through about 250 really crappy and at times absurdly funny or boring episodes to get to them...it's the law of averages people. Do enough episodes and you will eventually hit gold.
Oh people pooh-pooh my guilty pleasure. Here's two sample discussions:
( Read more... )
4. Off for the night. So I can get to sleep a tad earlier. Need to work on my sleep habits.