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Matter of perspective...
Jul. 15th, 2022 09:25 pmListening to a song that I listened to as a small child in 1974, entitled Free to be you and me by the New Seekers. It was the theme song of a record put out by Marlo Thomas and Friends in 1972, followed by an ABC Afterschool Special in 1974. What's telling about the record and the special is way back in 1974 - people were trying to get across LGBTA rights, women's rights, trans rights, gender equality and racial equality. The culture wars of today - have been going on for a very long time. Have we made progress?
I think so. But it's all relative really and depends on your perspective.
From mine we have - but that's because I remember what it was like before, and in some respects its gotten better. But again, everything is a matter of perspective.
Thinking about my father...is a matter of perspective, or so it seems. If I don't say or think certain things, it's almost as if he's still here. It all feels rather surreal. But grief always does. I'm still haunted by Maribeth Martell on the internet. I've been going through old posts to see which ones I want or are worth sharing on Ao3, and keep stumbling upon Maribeth's comments. She commented a lot on my posts, often she was the only person who did. We were very close and in my kitchen, I have a ceramic old woman vinegar holder that she made for me one Christmas or was it for a Birthday? I no longer recall.
I asked my mother for a few of my father's clothes - a sweatshirt, and maybe a windbreaker. She has a Maine Sweatshirt he wore a lot, a Penn State one that I gave him recently for Christmas one year, and a Penn State windbreaker. I want something of his. I'm not quite sure why, I just do. My brother is taking his gearjammer wind breaker. They've packed up all his clothes now...and on Saturday they will be delivering them to Good Will. My brother did most of it - for my mother. Last night when she walked into their closet and saw all his clothes gone, she asked my brother for a hug, and then called me, upset by it. It was as if it hit her all at once that he was gone.
I've been fine today. Chipper even. Didn't really cry once - until I wrote that paragraph, and my eyes got briefly wet.
( lengthy ramble about my father )
***
The work week has been insanely busy, but in some respects this is a good thing. It's kept me occupied. Also, well..
Today I had to send out emails to vendors regarding their agendas for next weeks meetings. (I had to schedule the meetings, coordinate them, get them to send me agendas, get the project team to respond, and contact anyone not responding by phone, also I get to facilitate and monitor the meetings next week. )
( sigh )
But I feel the tension of it in my back and shoulders tonight, and the restless legs and the indigestion.
Started listening to The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, as performed by Will Wheaton. It's funny in places.
It's kind of a sci-fi satire in line with Scalzi's Red Shirts, with an absurdist sense of humor. Basically during the COVID pandemic, a laid off food start-up employee turned delivery guy - gets a job offer he can't refuse, and well...it's biological alternative earth sci-fi.
I'm enjoying it. Actually I'm enjoying it more than The Bride Test which is starting to get on my nerves. My difficulty with contemporary romance novels are the women. I don't know why women are written in this manner. Maybe the writers are like this? The female lead is whiny, and kind of dumb. She has a kid but refuses to tell anyone she has the kid. I get that she's desperate - but honey, you really should have let them know about the kid up front. She also wants a guy to save her - ladies, men don't save you. They want you to save them. They aren't life rafts.
Yes, she works hard, and yes, she's hit hard times, but she's.. ugh. Too girly.
People don't write romance novels about strong tough independent minded women who wouldn't be caught dead in heels, won't wear shoes that hurt their feet, hate makeup, and don't like jewelry. Hence I'm writing my own.
Also the women are always tiny in these books. We had a brief discussion about this at work recently...
( Read more... )
I prefer historicals, mainly because the women are stronger in them and weirdly enough, more independent minded.
Also as an aside? Scalzi doesn't physically describe any of his characters. While Huang does. Women tend to in their novels, men less so. I've stopped doing it a lot. The reader doesn't care. They'll fill in the blanks themselves. They do notice if you go overboard. Also you can frigging offend the reader if you do it. It's better to not describe anyone at all and let the reader fill in the blanks. When it comes to description - my father taught me that less is always more. He told me to cut the words that don't matter and often accused me of being too verbose. "You speak in paragraphs," he'd state or "We've talked for more than fifteen minutes now...", it got to be a joke.
I think so. But it's all relative really and depends on your perspective.
From mine we have - but that's because I remember what it was like before, and in some respects its gotten better. But again, everything is a matter of perspective.
Thinking about my father...is a matter of perspective, or so it seems. If I don't say or think certain things, it's almost as if he's still here. It all feels rather surreal. But grief always does. I'm still haunted by Maribeth Martell on the internet. I've been going through old posts to see which ones I want or are worth sharing on Ao3, and keep stumbling upon Maribeth's comments. She commented a lot on my posts, often she was the only person who did. We were very close and in my kitchen, I have a ceramic old woman vinegar holder that she made for me one Christmas or was it for a Birthday? I no longer recall.
I asked my mother for a few of my father's clothes - a sweatshirt, and maybe a windbreaker. She has a Maine Sweatshirt he wore a lot, a Penn State one that I gave him recently for Christmas one year, and a Penn State windbreaker. I want something of his. I'm not quite sure why, I just do. My brother is taking his gearjammer wind breaker. They've packed up all his clothes now...and on Saturday they will be delivering them to Good Will. My brother did most of it - for my mother. Last night when she walked into their closet and saw all his clothes gone, she asked my brother for a hug, and then called me, upset by it. It was as if it hit her all at once that he was gone.
I've been fine today. Chipper even. Didn't really cry once - until I wrote that paragraph, and my eyes got briefly wet.
( lengthy ramble about my father )
***
The work week has been insanely busy, but in some respects this is a good thing. It's kept me occupied. Also, well..
Today I had to send out emails to vendors regarding their agendas for next weeks meetings. (I had to schedule the meetings, coordinate them, get them to send me agendas, get the project team to respond, and contact anyone not responding by phone, also I get to facilitate and monitor the meetings next week. )
( sigh )
But I feel the tension of it in my back and shoulders tonight, and the restless legs and the indigestion.
Started listening to The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, as performed by Will Wheaton. It's funny in places.
It's kind of a sci-fi satire in line with Scalzi's Red Shirts, with an absurdist sense of humor. Basically during the COVID pandemic, a laid off food start-up employee turned delivery guy - gets a job offer he can't refuse, and well...it's biological alternative earth sci-fi.
I'm enjoying it. Actually I'm enjoying it more than The Bride Test which is starting to get on my nerves. My difficulty with contemporary romance novels are the women. I don't know why women are written in this manner. Maybe the writers are like this? The female lead is whiny, and kind of dumb. She has a kid but refuses to tell anyone she has the kid. I get that she's desperate - but honey, you really should have let them know about the kid up front. She also wants a guy to save her - ladies, men don't save you. They want you to save them. They aren't life rafts.
Yes, she works hard, and yes, she's hit hard times, but she's.. ugh. Too girly.
People don't write romance novels about strong tough independent minded women who wouldn't be caught dead in heels, won't wear shoes that hurt their feet, hate makeup, and don't like jewelry. Hence I'm writing my own.
Also the women are always tiny in these books. We had a brief discussion about this at work recently...
( Read more... )
I prefer historicals, mainly because the women are stronger in them and weirdly enough, more independent minded.
Also as an aside? Scalzi doesn't physically describe any of his characters. While Huang does. Women tend to in their novels, men less so. I've stopped doing it a lot. The reader doesn't care. They'll fill in the blanks themselves. They do notice if you go overboard. Also you can frigging offend the reader if you do it. It's better to not describe anyone at all and let the reader fill in the blanks. When it comes to description - my father taught me that less is always more. He told me to cut the words that don't matter and often accused me of being too verbose. "You speak in paragraphs," he'd state or "We've talked for more than fifteen minutes now...", it got to be a joke.