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shadowkat1. 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.
Day 14 – Favorite book of your favorite writer
Day 15 – Favorite male character
Day 16 – Favorite female character
Day 17 – Favorite quote from your favorite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favorite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favorite romance book
Day 21 – Favorite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favorite book you own
Day 23 – A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people have read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favorite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favorite book of all time
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:
CW: I can't believe you watch daytimes soaps like GH.
Me: And discuss them in great detail with my Granny and mother no less.
CW: But It's so pedesterian.
Me: Says the woman who is a devoted watcher of Hercules The Legendary Journeys, Diagnosis Murder, Murder She Wrote, and oh...least we forget 90210 and Seventh Heaven.
CW: Seventh Heaven is good. And Hercules has a hunk.
Me: And the nice thing about GH? I can get the hunks and the good moral message, along with the unpredictable murder mystery all in one nice neat little package.
CW: But it's so melodramatic and slow...not to mention predictable
ME: And Seventh Heaven and Hercules aren't?
CW: Hey, guilty pleasures here! I shouldn't have to defend them...
ME: I rest my case.
Classmate(law school guy): How can you watch and discuss soap operas?
Me: How can you watch and discuss football?
Classmate: Not the same thing, besides football is better.
Me: Not really, there's no plot, a bunch of muscular guys fighting over a ball, with a lot of really bad commercials in between. While a soap opera has a plot, is unpredictable, and not quite as many bad commercials in between.
Classmate: Have you ever seen a football game? They aren't predictable at all.
Me: Yes. Well, no, true - you have only two possibly three possible out-comes and the game can change on a dime - but it's still basically who wins the most touchdowns and scores. Have you ever watched a soap opera? That has multiple variable endings, doesn't end, open narrative structure, and the goals are varied.
Classmate: No, I've never watched a soap opera.
Me: I win.
Day 17 - Favorite mini series
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence
Day 19 - Best TV show cast
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite ship
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First TV show obsession
Day 29 - Current TV show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death.
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.
Day 14 – Favorite book of your favorite writer
Day 15 – Favorite male character
Day 16 – Favorite female character
Day 17 – Favorite quote from your favorite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favorite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favorite romance book
Day 21 – Favorite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favorite book you own
Day 23 – A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people have read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favorite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favorite book of all time
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:
CW: I can't believe you watch daytimes soaps like GH.
Me: And discuss them in great detail with my Granny and mother no less.
CW: But It's so pedesterian.
Me: Says the woman who is a devoted watcher of Hercules The Legendary Journeys, Diagnosis Murder, Murder She Wrote, and oh...least we forget 90210 and Seventh Heaven.
CW: Seventh Heaven is good. And Hercules has a hunk.
Me: And the nice thing about GH? I can get the hunks and the good moral message, along with the unpredictable murder mystery all in one nice neat little package.
CW: But it's so melodramatic and slow...not to mention predictable
ME: And Seventh Heaven and Hercules aren't?
CW: Hey, guilty pleasures here! I shouldn't have to defend them...
ME: I rest my case.
Classmate(law school guy): How can you watch and discuss soap operas?
Me: How can you watch and discuss football?
Classmate: Not the same thing, besides football is better.
Me: Not really, there's no plot, a bunch of muscular guys fighting over a ball, with a lot of really bad commercials in between. While a soap opera has a plot, is unpredictable, and not quite as many bad commercials in between.
Classmate: Have you ever seen a football game? They aren't predictable at all.
Me: Yes. Well, no, true - you have only two possibly three possible out-comes and the game can change on a dime - but it's still basically who wins the most touchdowns and scores. Have you ever watched a soap opera? That has multiple variable endings, doesn't end, open narrative structure, and the goals are varied.
Classmate: No, I've never watched a soap opera.
Me: I win.
Day 17 - Favorite mini series
Day 18 - Favorite title sequence
Day 19 - Best TV show cast
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite ship
Day 22 - Favorite series finale
Day 23 - Most annoying character
Day 24 - Best quote
Day 25 - A show you plan on watching (old or new)
Day 26 - OMG WTF? Season finale
Day 27 - Best pilot episode
Day 28 - First TV show obsession
Day 29 - Current TV show obsession
Day 30 - Saddest character death.
4. Off for the night. So I can get to sleep a tad earlier. Need to work on my sleep habits.