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Personal Observations about Stuff
1. Why do grocery bag packers put all the heavy stuff in one bag? And more to the point, why don't they realize once they do that it has to be double-bagged or it will break on the walk home? Also while we're on the topic of grocery stores, why do people insist on bringing the whole family including the stroller into a tiny city store - are they insane?
Also why do people tell you to smile? Don't they realize when they order you to Smile - stating "SMILE!" that it feels like a slap, and all you want to do is scream at them? Of course, in my case, the man passing me on the street may have not been talking to me; it's hard to tell nowadays who is talking to you, everyone has tiny cellphones in their ears. They wander about having conversations with the air. On the plus side? At least you can talk to yourself now without appearing crazy. Just pretend to be on your cell phone.
2. It's been unseasonably mild this year. In the 40s and 50s most of the time, no snow, but it has rained. People have complained that it doesn't feel like winter, that they need winter to appreciate spring. My response? I don't need cold temperatures and snow to appreciate spring, flowers and leaves on the trees are enough for me. Winter is bleak enough without the cold and the snow. Not a fan of snow, not a winter sports enthusiast. I skied once in the Colorado Rockies - bruised every part of my body. And scared myself shitless. I do not understand the appeal of skiing. Ice skating, I sort of understand, but found that a bit dull after a bit too. Winter sports don't turn me on. You're cold, you hurt, where's the fun in that?
3. Reading first time watchers responses to my all time favorite show and ahem obsession, albeit not anymore...has made me realize a few things. I think, the fact that I'm no longer emotionally invested and therefore less defensive, has allowed me to have a bit of perspective regarding my own views? At any rate, I realized that which seasons of the series you prefer has a heck of lot to do with what characters resonated for you or interested you. If you, for example, loved Angel,Joyce, Xander, Cordelia, Giles, Jenny, Oz, and Faith - you probably preferred Seasons 1-3. If you, on the other hand, preferred Spike, Anya, Tara, Willow, Buffy, and Dawn...you most likely preferred the latter seasons 4-7. Also...if you loved and identified with B/A - 1-3, if you preferred and identified with B/S - 4-7, same with X/C vs. X/A, W/O vs. W/T. I was obviously of the latter group. Angel/Cordelia and Faith were not favorites, nor was Wesley or Oz for that matter. I barely blinked when they disappeared. And the B/A relationship? I got bored of rather quickly, they were only interesting when they were fighting. Also I preferred Giles' arc in S4-5 to 1-3. Which is ironic, considering I started watching the show for Anthony Stewart Head. This happened to me in Merlin too...I started watching for ASH and fond myself likeing the other characters a lot more. ASH tends to play a lot of patronizing authority figures that after a bit I want to kick.
This is not meant to be a condemnation of the sections of the series I wasn't interested in - it's merely an observation on why I liked what I liked, that's it. I'm basically looking at how I viewed the series and realizing why I wrote a lot of essays on certain characters and not others. Or why I got so obsessed with the later seasons and not so much with the earlier ones. It's so subjective. And so personal, isn't it? Which characters in fiction you fall for and which you don't. Which stories turn you on, which don't. Hard to understand or explain. It's sort of intangible really.
4. Project Manager (Female): Why can't the male consultants chat and shoot the breeze with me? I walk into a room with them and they shut up. It's like they are intimdated that I'm a woman.
ME: Yeah, I've noticed it too. I try to ignore it. That's their problem. I breeze through it. But yes, it's disconcerting when you're the only woman in a room of 30 men and they stop talking.
It's hard to be a female in a male dominated work environment. And you are reminded on a daily basis that chauvinism and sexism exists, that many men do not accept women as their equals. Some do. My brother, my father, the people on my lj (as far as I can tell, don't tell me if that's not the case). But many don't. I'm lucky in a way...I'm taller and bigger than a good percentage of the men in NYC. I'm 6ft. They are 5'6. Looking down on a guy is a sure way of dispelling his preconceptions of physical superiority. It also helps if you are bigger than him. I'm either taller, or the same height. And I'm intimidating - I can hold my own. Plus being raised with a younger brother - has taught me how to shoot the breeze with men. I'm rather snarky and sarcastic. And try not to be emotional. No emotional topics. Cut gossip to a minimum. Talk about sports, landscaping, construction, and finances. Keep it professional and no-nonsense. The men I work with hate emotion. You show emotion - they get uncomfortable. Macho guys...much like the men that writers such as Cormac McCarthy and Hemingway romanticize.
The problem is...women are still considered the weaker sex, the support, the second,
the next rung down on the ladder by most men around the world. Not all. But the one's in power certainly. It's why women are sold in slavery for sex, beaten, raped,
and set apart in some countries. No where in the world are women given power really.
The best places, oddly, are all freezing. Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia, Sweden,
Canada. I don't know why the cold territories respect women? Or why the mother-goddess reigned in those cold climates. Maybe it's because they are the realms of the moon and water, the tides, the matriarchial realm, while the desert, and the hot south is the realm of the male gods. It's weird...George RR Martin seems to do the opposite in his Song of Ice and Fire series. The realm of the female is the hot climates, she's fire, while the realm of the male is the cold climates - he is ice.
When in our world it is the opposite.
5. It occurs to me when I'm writing or editing my book, I'm more critical of fictional novels and other's writing. When I'm not writing fiction or editing my book - which I haven't done in quite some time, because of work and being brain dead,
I am far more tolerant of lower quality writing. And not picky.
I think the reason a lot of the best-sellers are books that are not necessarily high quality writing is the vast majority of people have tough jobs that leave them with little time to read and when they do, they want to escape, to have a fantasy, a page-turner, to have fun. They do not care how well it is written, as long as the characters and story push the right buttons/kinks, and fill that craving. As far as I can tell people who love high quality fiction have more time on their hands, or are not stressed or intellectually challenged at work. This may be a gross generalization.
I've also noticed that people who love violent male dominated programs tend to be in occupations that involve children or lots of women. While those of us who can't quite abide them are in male dominated occupations with lots of cursing, math, and are highly stressful. We want peace at the end of the day, no stress, no conflict, no anger. We don't want to be shocked or traumatized. Again, possibly a gross generalization and looking for patterns that aren't there.
Off to make dinner and watch the telly. Also read a bit. I like the word telly better than tv. It has a better sound to it. More causal. Catchy. Also prefer flat to apartment. Tube to Subway. Although subway is more descriptive and accurate. Boot to trunk - quite funny sounding word - boot. Also has more than one meaning as does trunk for that matter. But boot is funny - as in booty call. I'm beginning to think I was born in the wrong country...Britain would have been more fun. I like the British version of English better. Shame I can't do a British accent to save my life. Writing wise, sure, but not orally. I write better than I speak, have for years. It's annoying.
Also why do people tell you to smile? Don't they realize when they order you to Smile - stating "SMILE!" that it feels like a slap, and all you want to do is scream at them? Of course, in my case, the man passing me on the street may have not been talking to me; it's hard to tell nowadays who is talking to you, everyone has tiny cellphones in their ears. They wander about having conversations with the air. On the plus side? At least you can talk to yourself now without appearing crazy. Just pretend to be on your cell phone.
2. It's been unseasonably mild this year. In the 40s and 50s most of the time, no snow, but it has rained. People have complained that it doesn't feel like winter, that they need winter to appreciate spring. My response? I don't need cold temperatures and snow to appreciate spring, flowers and leaves on the trees are enough for me. Winter is bleak enough without the cold and the snow. Not a fan of snow, not a winter sports enthusiast. I skied once in the Colorado Rockies - bruised every part of my body. And scared myself shitless. I do not understand the appeal of skiing. Ice skating, I sort of understand, but found that a bit dull after a bit too. Winter sports don't turn me on. You're cold, you hurt, where's the fun in that?
3. Reading first time watchers responses to my all time favorite show and ahem obsession, albeit not anymore...has made me realize a few things. I think, the fact that I'm no longer emotionally invested and therefore less defensive, has allowed me to have a bit of perspective regarding my own views? At any rate, I realized that which seasons of the series you prefer has a heck of lot to do with what characters resonated for you or interested you. If you, for example, loved Angel,Joyce, Xander, Cordelia, Giles, Jenny, Oz, and Faith - you probably preferred Seasons 1-3. If you, on the other hand, preferred Spike, Anya, Tara, Willow, Buffy, and Dawn...you most likely preferred the latter seasons 4-7. Also...if you loved and identified with B/A - 1-3, if you preferred and identified with B/S - 4-7, same with X/C vs. X/A, W/O vs. W/T. I was obviously of the latter group. Angel/Cordelia and Faith were not favorites, nor was Wesley or Oz for that matter. I barely blinked when they disappeared. And the B/A relationship? I got bored of rather quickly, they were only interesting when they were fighting. Also I preferred Giles' arc in S4-5 to 1-3. Which is ironic, considering I started watching the show for Anthony Stewart Head. This happened to me in Merlin too...I started watching for ASH and fond myself likeing the other characters a lot more. ASH tends to play a lot of patronizing authority figures that after a bit I want to kick.
This is not meant to be a condemnation of the sections of the series I wasn't interested in - it's merely an observation on why I liked what I liked, that's it. I'm basically looking at how I viewed the series and realizing why I wrote a lot of essays on certain characters and not others. Or why I got so obsessed with the later seasons and not so much with the earlier ones. It's so subjective. And so personal, isn't it? Which characters in fiction you fall for and which you don't. Which stories turn you on, which don't. Hard to understand or explain. It's sort of intangible really.
4. Project Manager (Female): Why can't the male consultants chat and shoot the breeze with me? I walk into a room with them and they shut up. It's like they are intimdated that I'm a woman.
ME: Yeah, I've noticed it too. I try to ignore it. That's their problem. I breeze through it. But yes, it's disconcerting when you're the only woman in a room of 30 men and they stop talking.
It's hard to be a female in a male dominated work environment. And you are reminded on a daily basis that chauvinism and sexism exists, that many men do not accept women as their equals. Some do. My brother, my father, the people on my lj (as far as I can tell, don't tell me if that's not the case). But many don't. I'm lucky in a way...I'm taller and bigger than a good percentage of the men in NYC. I'm 6ft. They are 5'6. Looking down on a guy is a sure way of dispelling his preconceptions of physical superiority. It also helps if you are bigger than him. I'm either taller, or the same height. And I'm intimidating - I can hold my own. Plus being raised with a younger brother - has taught me how to shoot the breeze with men. I'm rather snarky and sarcastic. And try not to be emotional. No emotional topics. Cut gossip to a minimum. Talk about sports, landscaping, construction, and finances. Keep it professional and no-nonsense. The men I work with hate emotion. You show emotion - they get uncomfortable. Macho guys...much like the men that writers such as Cormac McCarthy and Hemingway romanticize.
The problem is...women are still considered the weaker sex, the support, the second,
the next rung down on the ladder by most men around the world. Not all. But the one's in power certainly. It's why women are sold in slavery for sex, beaten, raped,
and set apart in some countries. No where in the world are women given power really.
The best places, oddly, are all freezing. Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia, Sweden,
Canada. I don't know why the cold territories respect women? Or why the mother-goddess reigned in those cold climates. Maybe it's because they are the realms of the moon and water, the tides, the matriarchial realm, while the desert, and the hot south is the realm of the male gods. It's weird...George RR Martin seems to do the opposite in his Song of Ice and Fire series. The realm of the female is the hot climates, she's fire, while the realm of the male is the cold climates - he is ice.
When in our world it is the opposite.
5. It occurs to me when I'm writing or editing my book, I'm more critical of fictional novels and other's writing. When I'm not writing fiction or editing my book - which I haven't done in quite some time, because of work and being brain dead,
I am far more tolerant of lower quality writing. And not picky.
I think the reason a lot of the best-sellers are books that are not necessarily high quality writing is the vast majority of people have tough jobs that leave them with little time to read and when they do, they want to escape, to have a fantasy, a page-turner, to have fun. They do not care how well it is written, as long as the characters and story push the right buttons/kinks, and fill that craving. As far as I can tell people who love high quality fiction have more time on their hands, or are not stressed or intellectually challenged at work. This may be a gross generalization.
I've also noticed that people who love violent male dominated programs tend to be in occupations that involve children or lots of women. While those of us who can't quite abide them are in male dominated occupations with lots of cursing, math, and are highly stressful. We want peace at the end of the day, no stress, no conflict, no anger. We don't want to be shocked or traumatized. Again, possibly a gross generalization and looking for patterns that aren't there.
Off to make dinner and watch the telly. Also read a bit. I like the word telly better than tv. It has a better sound to it. More causal. Catchy. Also prefer flat to apartment. Tube to Subway. Although subway is more descriptive and accurate. Boot to trunk - quite funny sounding word - boot. Also has more than one meaning as does trunk for that matter. But boot is funny - as in booty call. I'm beginning to think I was born in the wrong country...Britain would have been more fun. I like the British version of English better. Shame I can't do a British accent to save my life. Writing wise, sure, but not orally. I write better than I speak, have for years. It's annoying.
no subject
I think the reason a lot of the best-sellers are books that are not necessarily high quality writing is the vast majority of people have tough jobs that leave them with little time to read and when they do, they want to escape, to have a fantasy, a page-turner, to have fun. They do not care how well it is written, as long as the characters and story push the right buttons/kinks, and fill that craving. As far as I can tell people who love high quality fiction have more time on their hands, or are not stressed or intellectually challenged at work.
Hm. Possibly so; I'm certainly less picky about the writing itself when I'm engaged in the story... and I want an engaging story more than I want to be challenged intellectually when I'm busier in real life.
no subject
Yes. Although...I'd say busier intellectually in real life. (ie. not bored.)
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(Oddly, though I loved BtVS. I swear that almost every episode of Season 6 had me in tears. Of course looking back, I was in a perfectly horrendous work situation at that time and wasn't high on the chipper scale even before I watched.).
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Had a similar situation. Was in a horrid work situation at that time as well, and I think a lot of my feelings towards S6-7 of Buffy may be tied in with that.
I know that as much as I loved S6 at the time,
I find it close to impossible to re-watch most of it. Oh I'm fine with the episodes up to Wrecked. And the episodes from Villians - Grave.
But everything from Wrecked to Seeing Red, makes me cringe. I don't quite know why.
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It could just be as simple as...highschool stories rarely hit me emotionally. I enjoy them, but I'm not fannish.