2013 goals and dreams

2013 // goals and dreams

Open up an Etsy shop.  Something I've been thinking about for a long time!

Read more history and poli-sci books.  I am practically done taking non-computer science classes, so I'll want to start reading all those (gargantuan) biographies and history books on my list.  Also, classics like The Republic and The Federalist Papers. 

Watch more operas, and become generally more opera-savvy.  Going to Un Ballo was a blast.  I've come to the conclusion that good opera is a visual art as well, so I'll try to watch more recordings and/or live productions.

Eat less and exercise more.  Cliche, right?  However, I set a small, reasonable goal for myself and have made a little progress already.

Be a happy, good person.  Well, of course.  :)

What about you - any goals, dreams, or ideas for 2013?

Read More

2012 (introspective) recap

It makes me smile to look back at my New Year 2012 posts.  Overall, it was a great year - better yet, I didn't need my goals and dreams to make it so.

I felt I went into 2012 with reasonable expectations.  What I hadn't factored in was the possibility that the first six months would be some of the happiest of my life.  I had a comfortable, quiet, hobbit-like schedule, and I regained some self-confidence and optimism that had been missing for a long time.  For the first time in eons, the season of summer meant something to me, and I actually spent hours reading outside (helped, indeed, by having grown out of allergies!).  Things seemed more or less perfect, which, not surprisingly, made subsequent attempts to be "content with change" a bit hard, though not nearly so hard as it could have been.  

Somewhat early in fall quarter, depression did find me again, at an unexpected time and for unexpected reasons.  There was a Sunday school song that I learned as a kid - for some reason it came to mind rather recently - and part of it goes "Only a boy named David / But he could pray and sing."  It strikes me now as an incredibly brilliant, simple statement of fact: even if you are utterly powerless, you still have the ability to pray and sing, to God's glory.  And that ability is a blessing in itself.

Everything is fine now - this year has left me with some permanent change for the best.  Though a bit hesitantly, I'm looking forward to 2013, and Bilbo's optimism struck a chord in me: "I do believe the worst is behind us!"  In a sense, he is wrong, because bad things keep happening.  But he is right, in that he can deal with it better now than he could have, prior to his many adventures.

Read More

Merry Christmas Eve!

In a little while, I'll be heading to church for our Lessons and Carols service.  I can hardly believe it's the end of the year already - so much has happened, and yet so quickly!  I'm humbled and grateful to be sitting here typing this post, and able to celebrate Jesus' birth with the people I love.

'Cause love is the fire in your fireplace 

And carefree are the snowflakes that fall on your face 

And although this winter may bring us a storm 

The joy in your heart keeps you warm 

Have a lovely Christmas!

Read More

Digital (a random post)

Few people love the digital world as much as I do.  However, there are times when I feel like converting some of it to "tangible property" ought to be a priority on my to-do list.  Supposing there came a time when we were to lose internet, or all electricity, for an indefinite amount of time (two days can feel indefinite!).  Apart from all the very important things that would be lost - emails, information, essays and stories, etc. - this blog would be gone.  Pictures, quotes, and ideas would be soon forgotten.  A lot of the things I've depended on for studying or entertainment would be lost.  It would be like a year ago, when we had the ice storm, just sitting in the dark and staring at candles.  That gets old quickly.

I've never been one to really worry about this kind of scenario, and I don't think worrying is the solution.  At the same time, I think it would be a great idea to start writing more things down by hand, or printing them up and starting a scrapbook of some kind.  Though I love Project Gutenberg e-books, I should at least own hard copies of books I'd hate to lose (my mom has kept our hardcover encyclopedia for this very reason).  The concept of photo albums seems clever and new again. 

The internet takes knowledge from one location and spreads it to every edge of the globe - if we lost the internet, it would be as if a lot of that information had never set foot out the door.  And that's pretty sad.  I do love digital, but its strength is certainly its weakness.

Thoughts (and ideas)?

Read More

The Hobbit: reaction

At some future date I may try to compose coherent thoughts about An Unexpected Journey.  For now, all I can say is it was AMAZING, and you'd better go see it, and you'd better bring Kleenex in case you get Misty Mountain-eyed (to quote R&L).  Trust me, I'm a book!Hobbit fan.  And trust the other people at my local theater, who applauded it at the end.  :)

Read More

Don't think you're losing the fight

Read More

Fall quarter is OVER

Survived my first classes at uni - imagine that!

And, as Elizabeth said, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is being released in the U.S. TONIGHT!!!  I've been following the production of The Hobbit before Warner Bros. even gave Peter Jackson the "green light" - it's almost hard to believe it is actually here, at long last.  And three films.  And Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch and Richard Armitage - no less!  I can't wait to see it this weekend!  :)

Read More

Un Ballo in Maschera

Opera review: Un Ballo in Maschera (2012)

Giuseppe Verdi (ca. 1859)
The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD
In Italian with English subtitles 

Not gonna lie . . . I went to see this at the movie theater just for this baritone, and this aria ("Eri tu" / "It was you who stained this soul"):

(I figured I'd never get to see my favorite opera singer in "real life," so this was my birthday present to self . . . well worth it!)

Un Ballo in Maschera ("A Masked Ball") is your typical melodramatic opera - tortured, lovesick hero, swoony heroine, and heroine's jealous husband, all bawling their eyes out until a very dramatic and tragic ending finishes them off.  Still a better love story than Twilight.  ;)  No, really . . . I had cynical expectations for the plot, but it is much better than it first appears.  King Gustavo (played by Marcelo Álvarez) is in love with Amelia (Sondra Radvanovsky), who is already married to Gustavo's best friend, Anckarström (Dmitri Hvorostovsky).  At the same time, there is a group of citizens planning the king's assassination.  Anckarström is devoted to the king and literally prepared to take a bullet for him, when he is betrayed by (guess who!) the man he is trying to save.  Amelia, being a weak-willed woman, attempts to distance herself from the king, only to be pursued and won over by him.  When Anckarström finds them alone together, he suspects the worse and promises vengeance.

There are no heroes here, only gray characters that make you think (if not altogether sympathize).  In the end, it seemed to me that, overall, Anckarström was the more "sympathizable" of the two.  Yes, Gustavo is a sensitive, loving guy, but he's still a selfish jerk.  He takes advantage of his friend's loyalty and his friend's wife - and when he finally decides to make amends, it is only with the idea of packing Anckarström and Amelia off to a different country (seriously).  On top of that, if we are to believe the conspirators, Gustavo is responsible for deaths and other ills that have befallen his subjects.

Anckarström is also horrible, in a different way.  He's a calculating perfectionist - a cautious, uptight guy who's met all the responsibilities and duties required of him, and then some.  When he finds out he's been rewarded with infidelity, he goes crazy.  I'm incredibly biased, but Hvorostovsky stole the show . . . he played his part to perfection, without falling into the trap of overacting.  His singing had (and always has) this understated intensity nobody else really matched, and "Eri tu" was even better than the YouTube clip. 

The ending was my least favorite part - political correctness in the nineteenth century!  Verdi had to portray the ruler in a more or less positive light, so you have Gustavo getting all forgiving and benevolent all of a sudden, and Anckarström , too, repents of his actions.  That would have been great, if it had been more convincing and less rushed.  

As for this particular, new production - the director David Alden chose a 1920s (30s, 40s?) setting, which highlighted the political side of the story and was actually pretty cool.  Some of the choreography and costumes were a bit weird (too many wings), but overall it was more interesting than I expected.  Even the minimalist sets worked well on the big screen, much better than on YouTube.  The Fall of Icarus painting, which has been talked about a great deal, was perhaps overdone, but not as annoying as some reviewers have thought it.

Finally, with the Live in HD showing, you get cast interviews, opera previews, and behind-the-scenes clips during intermissions, which was nice.  I would totally go to another Met Opera "movie"! 

Read More

Ask me anything!

As you might have noticed, I'm really bad at writing "about me" blurbs.  So here's your opportunity to literally "ask me anything" - and maybe I'll incorporate some of the answers into future "about me"'s.  Of course, I reserve the right not to answer a question (or evade it like a seasoned politician).  But you can still ask it - just comment below with your question(s)! 

Read More

'This is not going to be a school story...'

But it always is, isn't it?

I finished my research paper and gave my presentation.  I turned in my research proposal and annotated bibliography for the other class.  I can't wait for the Java final next Thursday; it can't come soon enough.  College is making me feel sooo cliche right now...

On the bright side.  While listening to presentations today, I found out one of the other history students is also an Age of Sail enthusiast and Hornblower fan - is that not randomly awesome?  Then this evening I was able to finish reading The House of the Seven Gables.  Not as good as Blithedale Romance or Marble Faun, but the concept was good and I love Hawthorne's style.  I actually got to see the outside of said house in Salem, on our East Coast vacation:

And this is more or less how I pictured it (under much gloomier skies, of course).

By the by, did you watch the six new Hobbit clips yet, preciousss???!!!  I was not going to, for fear of spoilers, but today I broke down and watched all of them.  I am really curious as to what they mean by "Who did you tell about your quest?" - hinting at the Necromancer, maybe?

Read More

My friend in plaid (life and times v)

(Oh, yes, I'm back already.)

• Listening to a lot of Owl City and Hvorostovsky today...trying to purge my mind from that wretched Britpop documentary we had to watch yesterday.  If anything would make me definitely not want to do drugs, it is that show, so bravo for that.
• Ten minute presentation next week, hooray.  I'm cool with public speaking, but my presentations are always dull - poor, poor audience. 
• I can't wait for Christmas.
• My sibs and I are on season 6 of Star Trek Next Generation.  We started with S3 (per recommendation of Amazon reviews), and while it became my brother's instant fave, I didn't warm up to it until the end of S3, with the appearance of the Borg in "The Best of Both Worlds".  Since then, I've been able to take it seriously and accept the new Enterprise.  In fact, I'm starting to like it better than TOS, would you believe. 
• Been reading Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables as well.  I like Holgrave and Hepzibah.  I feel like I ought to like Phoebe, too, but she's borderline Mary Sue.  At a glance, she's a lot like Hilda from The Marble Faun, but Hilda is a real loner, a little more human and credible.  It's one of those instances in which an author's character evolves and is perfected in a later version (e.g. John Thurston, Sherlock Holmes).
• I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving! 

Read More

Hiatus

{I'm going to try to take a break from the blogging world (though will probably change my mind tomorrow).  Nothing major or personal; I just need to switch focus for a bit, maybe catch up on my reading list.  Good-bye, for the time being!}

Read More

When Not to Read

Excellent post over at Thoughts of a Shieldmaiden today - be sure to read it if you have a couple minutes. 

I'm really tired of all this rot about "reading levels" and such.  There's too often a temptation to pair reading level with content, and so parents leave it to schools, publishers, and other individuals (with their own agenda) to decide what is appropriate reading.  Of course, "appropriate" translates to anything that pushes the boundary without exactly going over it.  (I don't mind getting specific - I find it ironic that Twilight was lauded for being a "chaste" series, and yet the author's response to the Fifty Shades fanfic was "not my thing, but that's great!")

So....authors have a little bit of responsibility, too.  It would be nice to sit back and believe that YA books will be read by the right audience, but if you've ever been a bookworm, you know that kids who like to read will graduate to the next "level" as soon as they can.  On top of that, younger children want to be part of the same fandoms that their older siblings enjoy.  I'm not saying that some "darker" books don't have a place, but I would advocate getting rid of the YA category and placing books with darker themes in the grown-ups' category.  In the meantime, while we still have this gray-area YA variety, it's worth keeping in mind that somebody very young could end up reading your book, perhaps per the recommendation of their librarian (it happens).

Read More

History homework and The Hobbit

I just finished the rough draft of my history essay (topic: emancipation of the Russian serfs).  Eight pages wouldn't have taken long, if it weren't for the research and footnotes.  You know, that pocket guide book is everything it says on the tin!  The internet helps, though.  Also very grateful to my English 101 professor - outlining has worked wonders ever since.  Now if he'd only taught us Chicago instead of MLA...ah well, it doesn't hurt to know both!

Remember Zola, Ishiguro, and Forster?  It turns out that my elective course for next quarter (early American arts/lit/music/etc.), includes Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables as required reading.  So that will be four books total from my (official and unofficial) reading lists. I approve.

It's just as well, because all the reading I've been making time for is The Hobbit.  Did you hear tickets for it have already outsold Skyfall and Breaking Dawn pt 2?!!  There's still hope for society (if just barely).  I think the only thing I will "dislike" about the first movie is seeing it come to an end, most likely before Mirkwood. 

This is my second read through the book.  I'm not very well-read when it comes to Tolkien - is there any indication, in any of his writings, that Smaug is another version of Sauron?  Because The Hobbit reminds me a bit of Genesis, in that there's a serpent-like dragon and Bilbo goes from being an innocent hobbit to a ring-bearer, soon to be corrupted.  Maybe it's just me...   On another note, Richard Armitage will be amazing as Thorin, of that I am convinced.  It's fascinating to see how the treasure, more particularly the Arkenstone, reverts the relationship between Bilbo and the dwarves back to one of dislike, and imminent distrust.  Movie-firsters will be in for a shock, that's for sure!

One more thing - Tolkien was very smart and careful not to make the Ring as a "means justify the ends" tool, as many fantasy authors would.  With Boromir, he clearly illustrated that that is unacceptable.  Bilbo, on the other hand, is unaware that the Ring is evil (though Gollum ought to have given him the hint, lol).

Read More

Let's talk forever just to past the time

It's taken me some time, searching for a new calendar, to realize next year isn't 2012.  This has felt like one of the shortest years of my life, which means I am getting old. 

The election and my cold threw my writing schedule off - the last week has been all about taking naps and staying glued to the internet.  Now, both are about over, and fall quarter is getting close to finished.  Life might not run in circles, but it seems like it's come full circle.  I've had to rethink and deal with stuff from what seems like a long time ago, actually not long at all in the bigger notion of things.  I've started to take some comfort in the thought that years are short.  Of course, it means every new year makes the past further away, but it also makes it closer in memory.

I'm a nostalgic person by nature, never thought about my future as much as most people do.  This could seem like a disadvantage, but it can be quite liberating.  Every time something you've dreamed about comes true, you feel encouraged.  It was a dream, not a plan; plans are good at falling flat or short of expectations.  If your dreams stay dreams only, then at least you haven't lost anything.. 

© Bob Gutowski

Even at this age, I am no closer to being like everybody else than I ever have been.  It makes me smile to see how society promotes individuality, when it really doesn't.  If you are really intent on being yourself and following God, there's few that would back you up, and even fewer who understand.  And I, in my weakness, always want to run for human help whenever I feel really alone - that's the hardest thing to get over.

Following God wholeheartedly is always worth it, though.  It doesn't matter whether your best plans are flawless or pitiful; if you're willing to be stubborn about following Him, He will watch out for you, through depression and apathy and every evil.  He'll give you the strength you need to be true to Him.

Read More

Ready to be Ridiculously Happy?

Woke up to find this on Adam Young's blog.  Hope it makes it to his next album!

Read More

The Remains of the Day (1993) movie review

This is a deceptively simple story about an English guy, Mr. Stevens, who goes on his first-ever road trip in the English countryside.  Mr. Stevens is the butler of Darlington Hall, once a center for low-profile international meetings during the Inter-War Era.  As he looks forward to a reunion with Darlington's former housekeeper, Miss Kenton, he begins to examine his past and his life's question: "What is a great butler?"

I read the book for school, and while I like this movie better, it is really, really close to the book.  There was only one major change (the identity of the new owner of Darlington Hall), which was added for extra irony.  I'm not sure how the flashbacks worked for movie-firsters, but they seemed to be portrayed smoothly and clearly.  Cinematography was excellent, music was good, and the casting of Anthony Hopkins as Stevens and Emma Thompson as Miss Kenton was brilliant.

So, if it follows the book, why is the movie better?  To me, it was the fact that Mr. Stevens translates better to screen, than first-person narration.  In the book, Mr. Stevens came across as a bit neurotic and self-centered, constantly worried about himself.  On screen, Mr. Stevens is a really noble character, very loyal and self-sacrificing.  Perhaps he was this way in the book, and maybe it was the first-person perspective that ruined it.

Also, while the romantic subplot seemed to me to be the focus of the book, it was the political subplot that stole the show in the film.  The conflict of good intentions vs. reality, coupled with Mr. Stevens's point-of-view, was just heartbreaking.  (They omitted the part where he dismisses democracy, too, so that was interesting.)

At the end of the movie, you've got to ask yourself "why????" and be prepared for a debate.  One thing my mom and I agreed on was that Darlington Hall, in itself, limited Mr. Stevens's personal life, because of its particular prestige.  Unlike Baskerville Hall, for example, where things are more relaxed. 

The movie is rated PG for "themes," which is quite baffling to me.  I don't recall any objectionable content, unless you count kissing and smoking.  Probably, it was rated PG because it is a "boring" movie with very little action, and you have to understand the dialogue in order to appreciate it.  4 out of 5 stars as a movie, and 5 out of 5 stars as an adaptation.  Great movie for costume drama fans and history enthusiasts.

Read More

Happiness and Optimism

• My sister has so kindly agreed to go with me to see a Met Opera Live in HD production for my birthday!!!  Not just any opera, but Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masquerade Ball) with Dmitri Hvorostovsky!  I AM SO KEYED UP.  It's on December 8, at the movie theater, and as my birthday falls during the extended Christmas season, the timing is quite timely.  ❤  I'm not very familiar with this opera, but Verdi and Hvorostovsky is always great music (who cares whether or not he's considered a "Verdian baritone"--I mean, he's Hvorostovsky!). And it's much more fun to go with somebody than by myself!
• My dad tutored me in Java programming today, and I finished the (beastly) classic Pig Latin problem!  Don't laugh...it caused me over a week of grief...I'm so grateful for Dad's patience and help!  That means tomorrow afternoon I can (with a clear conscience) work on my history essay AND FILL OUT MY BALLOT!!!!   

DID I MENTION I GET TO VOTE?!?!

I have a feeling it's going to be an awesome week.

Read More

Life and times, iv

sunsets that dazzle in the dusk

 
homegrown


library haul!


(like I have nothing else to do)

Going to watch The Remains of the Day (finished the book!).  Working on my Dracula story (Emiko says it's good so far!).  GMM was hilarious today!  School is frustrating (AHAHAHA laughter is the best medicine).  

Today was week 6, so there are five weeks left.  It turns out I have not officially declared my major (comp-sci) yet, but that is coming up, and it is more or less set-in-stone.  I was a bit down in the dumps yesterday, feeling that maybe I'd have made different choices if I'd had a better understanding of the way things were going to be.  However, at the time, I'd made decisions I really believed were the right ones, and that's all you can do, right?  It's way too soon to be regretful. 

Read More

The real world

Adam, I'm abashed it took me so long...but I get this song now.

I'm tired of people cussing their heads off on the sidewalk.  I'm tired of people caustically bashing my political views as if they aren't legit.  I'm tired of people being oh-so-careful not to offend anybody or anything, except my faith.  I refuse to live in those people's reality. 

Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things–trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. . .So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we’re leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that’s a small loss if the world’s as dull a place as you say.

Dear reader, don't ever feel stupid just because you're not worldly-'wise'. If that's what's meant by intelligence, it's better to be ignorant.

Read More

Liebster award!

{From KatySue--thanks!!}

rules:

1. You must post eleven facts about yourself.

2. You must also answer the eleven questions the awarder has given you and make up eleven questions for your awardees to answer in turn.

3. Tag eleven fellow bloggers

4. Notify them that you've awarded them

5. No tagging back

6. And the eleven blogs you tag must have less than 200 followers.

// FACT:

1. I just discovered in the last few months that I'm allergic to corn and somewhat lactose intolerant (i.e. I can eat most lactose foods, just not milk).  The corn allergy makes me especially sad.
2. My absolute favorite music at the moment is Owl City, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Yiruma. 
3. I'm really bad at sitting still.
4. Lately I've had a lot of dreams about real life, mostly bad dreams.
5. I use "elven" as a synonym for "eleven," because of reasons. :)
6. I'm the bona fide awkward "heroine" and kitchen klutz.  (And not in a cute "Molly Hooper" way, unfortunately.)
7. I watch Good Mythical Morning every day! 
8. As you can probably tell, I kind of live in my own world.  Every time I consider becoming even slightly more "like everyone else," something happens to make me change my mind.
9. On the other hand...I've found out that being a Trekkie is really cool because a lot of other people are Trekkies!
10. Speaking of fandoms, I think it's totally normal fun to watch Russian opera with Spanish subtitles on YouTube, late at night.
11. I plan to get a pet corgi within the next 6 years! :)

**************************

1. Rain or Shine?

Both are nice, but I always miss rain!

2. What was your favorite cartoon / movie growing up?

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea!  Animated Disney movies, too.  Then when I was a bit older, the Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett) series.

3. If you could be any character from a book, who would you be?

Dr. Watson, because I've always wanted to live at 221b.  XD 

4. What is your favorite dessert?

Apple cake, probably...so much nostalgia.  ❤   

5. Favorite specialty drink (Starbucks/Biggby/Etc.)

Echoing everyone else: Starbucks' pumpkin spice latte, and the eggnog latte, too (sans nutmeg).  It's like dessert in a coffee!  And it's pretty special to our family--we share a Venti every weekend after my sister's orchestra practice.

6. Favorite screen/literary couple?

Jonathan & Mina in Dracula (the book).  And, of course, Eugene & Tatyana in Eugene Onegin.  And Myshkin & Nastasya in The Idiot, if circumstances had been different (just when I thought I'd got over Victorian romance, all angst and feels, the Russian authors wring my heart).  Also, Razumov/Natalie in Under Western Eyes. 

7. What is your favorite restaurant?
Right now, either a local Indian restaurant or a local fish-n-chips (BEST ever).

8. What is your favorite color and why?

Black (so classy), gray (emotional, like the sea), white (symbolic, color of sunlight), off-white (warm and cosy), and blue.  Another ocean analogy, I guess, but the color blue is so profound, to me.

9. If you had to eat one food forever, what would it be?

Pizza.  :)

10. Mascara or blush?

Mascara.  I like being pale.  No, seriously. 

11. Is your hair color natural?
Yes, dark brown, and always has been.  :)  Funny story about that...I was sitting in church a couple weeks ago, and the light from the stained glass window "colored" my hair bright cherry red.  For a split second, one of the other ladies thought I had dyed my hair, lol!


// ELEVEN QUESTIONS

1. Favorite vegetable?
2. Is there anything you like now that you used to dislike?
3. Monkeys--cute or creepy?
4. What do you do when you're bored?
5. Do you like to garden?
6. What is your favorite color and why?
7. Your favorite screen/literary couple?
8. If you could be any character from a book, who would you be?
9. What is your favorite dessert?
10. Do you have any traditions you made up yourself?
11. Do you usually get snow in December?

I tag ANYBODY who would like to do this, and more specifically:  Emiko, Lydia, Helen, Celtic Traveler, and Abby!

Read More

Art

[But first I'd like to say thank you to KatySue at *~Not All Who Wander Are Lost~* for awarding me the Liebster tag!  I'll be posting it very soon.  :) ]

One of the things I really miss in my life is drawing (pencil and digital).  It kind of went the same way as my violin-playing--just when I was reaching a high point, school became time-consuming and music fizzled out of my life.  There's nothing more pathetic than unintentionally quitting something; the only optimistic side to it is that I don't have to admit I quit (sort of equally pathetic, though).

With digital art, I used to be pretty active in an internet forum several years ago, but as my objectives changed and the forum changed, I stopped progressing and, if anything, lost some technique.  Pencil sketching was something I did on my own.  I've long had the goal of combining the two and making use out of my digital graphics tablet, but it's still just a goal.

Website design is another art-related hobby I'd like to revitalize.

This is all a symptom of a bigger problem, my trouble with balancing school and real life.  It's easier to blame school, but the fact is I can do better personally.  With my hobbies, I'm not good at thinking outside the box or trying every possible solution to make the time and opportunities for them happen.  I'm bad at rationing out my energy, too, so that if I spend it all on school I have very little left over. So obviously this is something I need to work on.
 
I think the first thing I ever wanted to be when I grew up was an artist, and on a broader scale this is still true.  German has a good word for this: Gesamtkunstwerk, or "total art."  Artists (even amateur ones like me) have a strange challenge, in that they have to create work for themselves.  That's not something you think about when you start creating art (of any kind), but it becomes a very real thing when you have to have a legitimate reason and outlet for your art.  One would think that it'd be easy to find an outlet for "total art," but this involves its own problems, maybe greatest of which is losing focus.  You can get swallowed up in what you feel are the separate nagging demands of each of the art forms, losing the common ground they all have.  It's worse when you juxtapose this with school, where the common ground is simple: get good grades.

I don't have an answer for this right now, but it's at a point where I need to start working on this seriously, and making priorities instead of letting them evolve in negative ways. 

Read More

Life and times - informal edition

I have no photos, and I should be asleep by now since I have to get up at 5:15, but OH WELL. One just has to make time for important things.  That's how I eked out some more poetry today while on the bus, which sounds romantic but it really isn't. The thing is, I have all these posts in draft just sitting there and getting stale, and that's not a good way to keep a blog alive.

My mom is doing really well, thankfully!  Praying that it will be a quick recovery for her. 

It started raining again, which is worth mentioning.  We had had an alarmingly long dry spell, but now that that's broken it feels like fall has started all of a sudden.  Today was so bright-eyed and pretty, though--sunshine is lovely in the fall!  Tomorrow's the same, and then rain the rest of the week.

It's almost midterm (already, by one professor's standards), and I feel like I'm just staying on top of things.  There's a considerable amount of reading material in the history classes, apart from textbooks.  Reading the textbook for Java class is essential.  Basically, reading a week ahead for all classes is not a bad idea.

I think I've run out of things to say, and it's definitely getting late.  Till next time...  XD

Read More

Please pray!

My sister posted this at her blog--please read and keep our mom in your prayers.

Update:  The surgery went well, and she's at home now!  Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

Read More

Prayer

Something I have learned about prayer in the last year or so is that it is not about emotion.  It's not about what you feel.  All the times I needed prayer the most, the only thing I felt was spiritual sickness, apathy, emotional emptiness.  Excuses for not praying crossed my mind--I could say I was afraid of being insincere, not wanting to open the can of worms that were my emotions, too closely related, as I thought, with my subpar spiritual life.  But that's not the truth.

The verse that says "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17) does not add any exceptions to that statement.  It doesn't confine prayer to only the purest moments of your life or the nicest sides of your emotions.  I have found that prayer was the most vital when I was at my worst, when my emotions or my thoughts were at their most base, distant, and fearful, when the temptation was there to think my prayers were useless or I wasn't good enough to pray.  When my mind was in a race with my emotions, trying to pray when everything else inside me wanted to embrace negativity and unhappiness.

God answers even these prayers.

It doesn't mean His answer is always my version of "yes," but He always answers.  It doesn't mean my emotions turn suddenly positive, but I know He is there.  Many people try to assert that Christianity is just a religion and God is just whom you believe in.  I can't change their minds, but I can give my own perspective: I "believe" in a lot of things, but I know God is there.

The only analogy that comes to mind is love, especially brotherly love.  You can't explain love, just as you can't explain unselfishness.  You know it when you see it.  Is there any logic, any scientific reason why one person should care more about another person's life than their own?

God is love.
   

Read More

I ♥ Thursday

• The "Flourishing Owls" persona for Firefox.  It's so happy and cheerful!

• Hornblower.  Archie.  BUSH.  My sister and I just had the "Who pushed Captain Sawyer?" debate again, and now we want a Hornblower marathon!
• My new Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Rhubarb, nice everyday color.
• No lectures on Fridays!
• Feeling happy and overall stress-free.  :)
• Writing poetry again--makes my day!  (Also started my version of Dracula, but really, I don't expect anything to come of it, lol.) 
• The Hobbit!  Which I'm very slowly re-reading.  I'm starting to see how it can be a long 3 movies.  There are all sorts of little mini adventures, even before they reach the Trolls. 

Read More

Passage to India - rambling thoughts

So I need to write a book review for E. M. Forster's A Passage to India, which I just finished reading today.  It ought to be an easy assignment, but I hadn't been counting on this being a hard book to review.  It's about a whole SLEW of topics, and I feel inclined to take it every direction possible, which cancels out any one, focused direction.

For example.  It makes references to several major social topics, plus a rather uneven portrayal of three religions (Christianity getting the most negativity and least credence, of course), on top of a lot of mystery and weird goings on and paragraphs that are either philosophical wonders or horribly contrived rhetoric.  Set in India.  I guess what I wonder is how Forster, a Brit, can really give an Indian's perspective of the British Empire in India, but then, I don't know if that was his intent.  I get the impression that the character of Fielding is a Gary Stu, but the prose itself doesn't limit itself to his perspective.  Oh, and the whole "caves" incident is either much worse or much sillier than written, and I seriously doubt Mrs. Moore would have been portrayed as she is if the book had been written by a woman.  My personal opinion is that characters of the opposite gender ought to be heavily based on real people...well, maybe Mrs. Moore was based on a real person, but I'd have to look it up to feel sure.

Anywho, I'm determined (as is often the case) to write my review before I read other people's.  A huge loathing of mine is to write a review and feel someone else's opinions breathing down my collar.  So tomorrow (today I just figured out Chicago formatting) I'll write up the skeleton of my review, and then find out if anybody else on the internet understands this book better. 

The most lasting impression it left is the characters' sense of pessimism.  There was a lot of doom and gloom, and it was chiefly of the characters' own doings.  Nobody seemed to end up in a better place in life, all because of decisions they made that, rather than being dramatically terrible, were just plain old mediocre.  I admit I haven't read many books like that.  It's hardly inspirational.

Also, none of the characters lived up to their full potential, for good or evil.  This is pretty realistic, I think, but if we're talking fiction, it doesn't hurt to have a few strong characters.  Good characters have something to live for and to die for, preferably greater than themselves.  The characters in A Passage to India struck me as sort of existentialist, without the rebellious streak that you find in Kafka's characters. 

Tomorrow I will do some more research on Forster; that ought to (hopefully) give me some hints about the point of this book.

Read More

Happy irony is when...

 ...the programming professor quotes opera, and the history professor quotes Spock.  (I must be in the right classes.)

I've really got to finish the Passage to India book.  So getting that plus the book review done is my goal for this week (oh, and creating a thesis statement for the other history class...).  It's been a pretty good read, but it's also really hard, like The Ladies' Paradise, in the sense that I hate reading about the injustice people went through.  I know, I get too emotionally invested, but it makes me sick.  Class systems are just bad news for everyone.  I don't disagree that there may currently be a subtle class system in the U.S., but it's miniscule compared to what used to be in other countries.

Speaking of the nation--the first presidential debate is TOMORROW, guys!  I am so keyed up.  Never mind parties and candidates; this is my first time voting in a presidential election, so there is much to celebrate!  (Also, just mind-boggling that 100 years ago I wouldn't have been allowed to vote in most states...but that is another story.)  I don't care which candidate you favor (correction: I don't want to know); just be sure to watch some of the debates, because you can and it matters, and we're very fortunate that it does matter.

Ok, I keep planning to post some photos (e.g. my new watch!), but I'll have to stop now, finish blogging tomorrow maybe...
  

Read More

Day 21: Something you know you do differently than other people

THIS.

Read More

CBS's "Elementary"

I'd totally forgotten about this rendition of Holmes, until they began heavily advertising for it on YouTube.  As my family and I don't watch American television (PBS doesn't count, right?), I won't be viewing this one, but I feel obliged to comment upon its existence.

The things I dislike about this are no-brainer's...no need to mention them.  Honestly, though, I kind of like a female Watson.  For one thing, I am totally sick of Irene Adler and Mary Russell--no female characters can surpass them in odiousness, surely.  Secondly, Ms. Watson is the most original portrayal this CBS series has to offer...and I'll leave it at that, lest I go into a rant.  XD

Read More

"Is Moriarty Smarter Than Holmes?"

(Warning: may contain spoilers)

It is always interesting to me to read the "Search Keywords" that direct people to this blog.  Sometimes it involves a question or idea that I wish I had blogged about--and the title of this post is one of them.

To keep it relatively short and sweet this time, I would say, "no".  Two reasons:

1. I'm a biased fangirl.  OF COURSE Holmes is smarter than his nemesis.
2. There is, indeed, evidence to show that Holmes is the brainier of the two.

Obviously, a truly objective analysis is impossible.  If, as Doyle portrays, Moriarty is "the Napoleon of Crime", then Sherlock Holmes is Admiral Nelson.  Holmes was never meant to be anything but the smartest, most brilliant, most idealistic hero, a very romanticized foil to the intellectual darkness of Prof. Moriarty.  Holmes was not written to be anything but the hero, the ultimate winner.

On the other hand, if you read up on the Sherlock Holmes series, you learn that Doyle also did not mean for Sherlock Holmes to come back after his death at the Reichenbach.  It was supposed to be the end.  Does this change his role?  It could be argued that his self-sacrifice is a sort of loss, and that Moriarty, by depriving England of its greatest solitary crime-fighter, dealt society a blow that put it decisively under his power or, at least, the power of evil, in a symbolic sense.

Even considering, though, the idea of Reichenbach as Holmes's final death, Holmes still emerges as the more intelligent of the two, and the real victor.  Though he himself goes to Switzerland, his strategy allows the British police to successfully capture all of Moriarty's gang back home (excepting Col. Moran).  Moriarty is left alone, and with his empire collapsed beneath him, he resigns himself to revenge on Holmes.  Hence Reichenbach, where Moriarty--like many great despots--can think of no way to survive, so he decides to die.

I would make one more point, and that is that Moriarty has trouble improvising.  Of course, most notably there is the train incident, where Holmes makes an unexpected stop that Moriarty did not foresee.  There is also the "sick Englishwoman" fraud, a piece of improvisation by Moriarty that is essentially useless--yes, it gets Watson out of the way, but as Holmes was perfectly aware it was a fraud, it did not really affect his plans one way or the other (and I hardly think Moriarty cared about Watson's safety).

Most people, indeed, consider Moriarty to be a somewhat disappointing villain.  While I wouldn't go that far, I do think Holmes more than matches his intellect, and the fact that a youngish man could singlehandedly battle an elderly math genius has always been one of the things I admire about Holmes.

Read More

The first day is the scariest, you know?

But my first day at uni went really well! 

It is a good thing I already read The Ladies' Paradise, because there is a lot of reading in my history classes.  Besides the textbooks, there are also extra articles and stuff.  However, the plus side is that I can kill two more birds with one stone: in 20th century British History, we are to read and review two books of our choice (from a list).  So I'm totally choosing A Passage to India and The Remains of the Day, which had almost made it to my reading list.  (Poor Kafka...well, I'll just have to squeeze his short stories into wherever they fit on my schedule.  It must be done!)

Funny story of the day.  I went into Starbucks and ordered an espresso, without knowing it differs--um, drastically--from filtered coffee.  I just knew it was coffee and I knew it was cheap.  When I got the espresso, which I had ordered in a tall cup, it was evident that something was horribly wrong.  So I added some half-n-half (I can't drink milk), which rather made things worse.  This was today's most educational moment.

I'm not likely to make any more coffee-related mistakes.  Actually, my parents, brother, and I have been drinking Teeccino herbal caffeine-free coffee for the last few weeks, and it's good stuff.  Granted, there is a definite "Teeccino taste" (which reminds me of Fig Newtons) but it is well-masked in some of the flavors.  My favorites are French Roast and Almond, and I also like Chocolate Mint and Pumpkin Spice.  I'm not sure if I've completely switched over or not, but I will probably stick to Teeccino in the morning.

Read More

School starts Monday

By Visitor7 [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

I'm rather excited.  No, really!  This summer has been beautiful--so many little things accomplished, brilliant afternoons reading outdoors, fun get-togethers.  But overall, I feel more than ready to go back to studying and the like (well, except for waking up at 5:15 am!).  The last half year has given me so much new perspective and time to reassess things, and I know it will help me this school year.

On a bookish note, I just read some really short stories by Kafka (from ManyBooks.net).  If you have just a half hour, I highly recommend them.  The first one is actually, I believe, an excerpt from his novel The Trial.  I'm not saying I totally understand them, but the style/format is really intriguing.

Read More

Blogger, BBC drama, and Day 20: A hobby of yours

1)  I hate the new Blogger interface.

THERE ARE TOO MANY MENUS, PEOPLE.  Menus here, menus there, just loathsome to look at.  But aside from aesthetics, they've got rid of the feature where you could look at a post without hitting "edit".  Why?  And now, if I am editing a post, I can't hit "back" or return to "Edit Posts".  I have to go back to Dashboard and then re-enter editing posts.

So far, the only good things about this interface are the color scheme and its compatibility with mobile devices.  However, the latter is something of a non-feature--who writes blog posts from their phone or tablet?  Those that do are probably already using the Blogger app.

Maybe now I'll spend less time on Blogger.  >_<

2)  BBC's "The Paradise" 

So I just read this book, and what do you know, they (literally) just made a miniseries of it, and it'll be airing in Britain next week:

Except instead of taking place in Paris, this is set in Northern England and is heavily altered/adapted from the book.  More info here. 

The casting of Mouret (now "Moray") and Denise looks perfect.  If this makes it to PBS, I might watch it.  What say you?

3)  Day 20: A hobby of yours

Mostly reading and listening to music.  :)  Right now, I kind of alternate between synthpop and opera, with intervals of unclassifiable piano music (i.e. Einaudi and Yiruma).  I used to listen to a lot of "heavy" classical music (concertos and symphonies), but a little variety is healthier, I think. 

Read More

Hobbit Trailer #2! (with Gollum ending)

So excited I can hardly contain my excitement!!

Read More

Day 18: A time when you felt passionate and alive + Day 19: A talent of yours

Whenever something happens "just like in a book".  I'm a creature of habit and favorite haunts; most of the time this is a good thing, but anything remotely like an adventure is a big deal to me.  The best ones are the little (safe) adventures that break up daily routine.

* * *

Talent...writing!  Apart from fiction, also essays, business/tech communication, and the like.  Ironically, my non-fiction writing has met with more personal success than my fiction.  But that's ok.

Olorius wrote a great post on his blog about talent--how, even if you think your talents seem inconsequential, God has given them to you so that you would put them to good use, for His glory.  In the same vein, I know I personally can get so swept up in the thoughts of "Why is this skill of mine so ineffective?", that I forget how He gives me many opportunities to use my talents, if not in the way I planned or expected.  And the most seemingly random opportunities can be much more effective than (and just as rewarding as) my laborious plans. 

Read More

Indestructible

Some days I get the inklings of a feeling I have lived through all the stages in life and come back from the future ones.  Factually, this is contradictory nonsense.  I guess if a catalog were written up of U.S.'s Most Inexperience Persons, my name would be near the top.  A million people would chant, simultaneously, Older, Wiser, and You Say That Now!.  The last one is my favorite.  It oozes mystery and worldly wisdom, like some storybook spell that promises conventional plot twists in your storybook life.  And you wonder, are they right.  And you don't want them to be right (never), but you wouldn't go out of your way to prove them wrong.  You keep being you, because it's the most stable thing to do.

After all.  It could be you don't even 'say that now'.  Well, you never feel invincible, and they all reminisce about that addicting influence when they were Your Age.  I felt invincible ten years ago, ten years too soon.  I was so exceptionally invincible that even reality would not bother me.  Reality was a two-faced picture, and the good side was propped up by storybook monsters that were nice because they weren't real.  In your invincibility, you don't choose favorites.  You take whatever comes because you can take it, with a smile.

I haven't been invincible in a long time.

And the storybooks give misleading information.  When the prince kills the dreadful ogre, there's no mention of the psychological scars the battle leaves in him.  After the princess becomes a nicer person, it doesn't tell how she continues being nice.  Even the Tin Soldier is a sad, wonderful fellow, but he resigns himself to his unhappiness with little care of getting burned to a crisp.  Why doesn't he care?

For some, deep conversations are more rare than deep.  We like to live and we like to learn, and so much of this learning is shared as a common experience to multitudes that society has decided to call it Life.  And it is much discussed, and everyone has their own brand of deep conversation.  Some people's brand is more obscure than others; you look up and down and all over the immediate world, and then the internet, and then sometimes you see glimmerings of a deep conversation you understand.  For a moment, you feel relevant and wise; not invincible, but so relieved and daring you might say anything to anyone, feeling suddenly as foolish as to imagine you understand all other deep conversations, too.  Overwhelming, empowering, and likewise a great handicap, for:

As high as we have mounted in delight

In our dejection do we sink as low;

Maybe it is this new humbleness that stops all notion of invincibility from making inroads into your mind.

So I give more credence to my weaknesses than my strengths, and I call myself reserved and not an introvert, and I drink coffee with cream instead of sugar.  And I presume to understand things.  Of course.

Read More

Star Trek Original 46th anniversary

My sister told me to check out Google's interactive doodle!  I know it's illogical, but I love this show, corny scripts and all.  Live long and prosper.

Read More

Kindle formatting for poetry

Yes, it is possible!

I'm a Nook girl, but having the opportunity of turning my poetry book into a Kindle book (via KDP), I decided to make my book available for at least one e-reader brand.  A couple of days later, I have just finished the rough draft, which works on every conceivable Kindle there is (except maybe Paperwhite?  I guess we'll find out.).

Rather than ramble on about the process (which I may do later), here are some key points I learned:

1. Each line of poetry constitutes a paragraph.  I investigated the possible solutions for widows and orphans that I could find (incl. div's around the stanzas, with page-break-inside: avoid;), but because of this fact (and also, perhaps, limited CSS compatibility), it is impossible to eliminate widows and orphans.  The spacing/margins/font-size flexibility on e-readers results in drastic changes on your pages' length/appearance, and the safest thing to do is to do nothing.
2. Universally-accepted hanging indentations are possible.
3. E-books just aren't very fancy.  You get bold, italics, font size, and that's just about it.  Even the Twilight Kindle book looks boring inside.

Most of my techniques follow this tutorial, by Charles Walley.  He provides you with a really clean template and takes you pretty much step-by-step through the process, including Table of Contents and EASY hanging indents.  I was going to give up before I stumbled across his tutorial, so (needless to say) I'm really grateful for it.

I believe I have also figured out how to properly save/publish the e-book file so that Table of Contents shows up in Kindle Previewer...more on that in a future post. 

Read More

It all works out

I was just commenting somewhere that I would be adding Zola to my reading list--and what do you know!  His book The Ladies' Paradise is one of my "required" books for the 19th-century European history class I'm taking this fall.  Timely, I'd say. 

I don't know if we'll be reading the whole book or not.  As it is 480 pages, I feel it would be better for me to start immediately and err on the side of caution.

My other history class--20th-century Britain--involves a book called Writing in History.  This should be interesting!

Third class is a newbie programming class.  I'm kind of glad to start at "level 1"; it should keep everything fresh in my mind for the next two years. 

School (quarterly schedule) doesn't start up again until the 24th.  In the meantime, I'll be battling Kindle formatting and finishing 20,000 Leagues and (hopefully) reading Robinson Crusoe.  And starting Ladies' Paradise, whatever that entails.  O_o

Read More

Re: book commentary, challenges

I'm going to start posting the Weekend Quote meme at Tanglewood, as well as Book Commentary, the Robinson Crusoe Read-Along, and any other book challenges/series I might begin.  Though I like blogging about books here, it is more logical to post all bookish posts on one blog...

Lydia commented about the Gone With the Wind challenge, and I also stumbled across another challenge, September in Paris.  I'd love to join the Paris one, as there are some Paris-themed books on my reading list as well, but we'll see how Robinson Crusoe goes.  I'm close to finishing 20,000 Leagues, and at the moment my educational read is Utopia. 

Altogether, I haven't read any gargantuan masterpieces this summer (well, South was long, but it was a spring/summer read).  But that's ok.  It's been a good summer for reading.  I hope to keep this up when school starts, and reading gives me something besides school to blog about! 

Read More

Robinson Crusoe Read-Along

Hosted at Délaissé, starting tomorrow, with no time limit.  I'm not sure if I'm in or not (the last time I joined a read-along I chickened out), but it's a great opportunity for those of us who have never read this classic. 

Read More

Note to self

Never read the news if you need cheering up.  Like, duh.

Read More

Proof, proof, proof

A number of people, including my sister and the good people at Createspace, are probably beginning to feel I'll never publish this poetry book. Today I resubmitted it, for the third time.  "It's the last time, I promise!"

Apart from page numbers, general formatting was pretty easy.  Things got unpleasant when I had to deal with the finer aspects of formatting style.  I'm happy to get free classic literature on my beloved Nook STR, and as long as there are no typos I could care less about format details.  Alas, as most people don't feel the same way, I'm trying to abide by the majority of formatting rules...

Widows and Orphans

You can imagine the surprise when my mom pointed out something called Widows and Orphans.  I must have met hundreds of these on the Nook; I am immune to them.  And logically, to me widows and orphans are preferable, as opposed to pages that aren't nice and square-looking.

Nevertheless, not to appear illiterate/unaware, I eliminated all of them, except one widow that was hard to avoid and doesn't look very offensive.  I dream of a day when square pages will become in vogue, and, indeed, if I publish a novel I may do just that.  (The negative effects are definitely more noticeable in a poem, though.)

Hyphens and Hanging Indentations

Hyphens, hyphens, more hyphens.   

Hanging Indentations are supposed to occur when a line(s) of a poem is too long.  It goes to the next line and is slightly indented.  For example, in Wordsworth's "Star-Gazers":

What crowd is this? what have we here! we must
       not pass it by;
A Telescope upon its frame, and pointed to the sky:
Long is it as a Barber's Poll, or Mast of little Boat,
Some little Pleasure-Skiff, that doth on Thames's
       waters float.

I thought hanging indentations were an e-book error--I didn't know they were the rule (is that funny or sad?).  So I added them.

Then I went back later and thought...you know, as my mom also pointed out, some of these hanging indents only contain one word.  And that does bug me, more than widows and orphans.  So I changed that, too (except for one, in which it would have looked worse for there to be two words).    

It's the last proof, really!  I believe it this time.  :)

Read More

20,000 Leagues: Calm Before the Storm

In my last post, I mentioned briefly the scene in which--following Nemo's suspicious behavior--Aronnax, Conseil, and Ned Land are drugged, only to wake up with no memory of what happened in the interval.  A little later, Aronnax (apparently also a doctor) is taken to see one of the crew.  This man has a serious injury, from which he eventually dies.  He is then buried under the floor of the sea, and this ends Part I of the book.

Up until now, Aronnax and his friends have led a relatively quiet life on the Nautilus, deeply engrossed in scientific studies and the wonders of the underwater world.  This incident comes as a bit of a shock, a reality check nobody wanted.  Had the previous chapters been nothing but a "rip-roaring adventure", maybe this wouldn't have been such a big deal; however, as it is, the contrast makes it horrifying.

The key to a good sea-story epic is, pardon the pun, the "calm before the storm".  The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway) and Moby-Dick (Melville) display the same brooding calm, before anything exciting happens.  What makes this technique (if it even be intentional) so appealing is its reality.  Most of us could liken our lives to a sea voyage, a daily routine that hardly ever changes, yet when something happens, the effect it creates is almost surreal.

One more "storm": I'm three chapters into Part II, and Ned Land has just saved Nemo's life while Nemo was trying to protect a pearl fisher from a shark attack (the plot is really picking up).  The stakes are higher in the Disney movie, and I find it interesting that movie!Ned's reaction is "Why did I do that?!", as opposed to book!Ned's "I owed it to you".  Though I believe in his benevolence/heroism in both versions, it's hard to believe he would say what book!Ned said. 

I should add that I'm really enjoying this translation. There are a number of anachronistic word choices (some of which are rather funny), but somehow it works well in this particular book...I'm not sure I'd want to read it any other way! 

I'm also starting to remember a lot of scenes from when I read it before.  Like the part where Aronnax freaks out at the idea of hunting sharks, and Ned and Conseil disappoint him by being ok with it.  XD  The hunting trip on the island was also pretty hilarious.  This also led me to look up "coconut crab" on Wikipedia, which I do NOT recommend for the faint of courage. 

Read More

My obsession...

While (still) proofing my poetry-book, I have stumbled-across an unpleasant-trend. 

-

I absolutely adore hyphens.  Yes, I'll get rid of a bunch of them, but I love them so.  =(

What is your writing trend (or error) that you hate to part with?

Read More

20,000 Leagues: Even Studious Types Get in Trouble

While truly intrigued by this book, less than halfway through I finally asked myself, "Why are these guys STILL on the Nautilus?  Why hasn't Ned gone through the roof yet?  Isn't that one thing Disney got right?!"

But I forgot.  We're dealing with very bookish characters here.  Professor Aronnax, a marine biology expert who jumped at the chance of hunting for a legendary, gigantic narwhal.  Conseil, a self-motivated student whose favorite habit is to classify things constantly.  The Nautilus provides the highlight of their studies--which is practically everything they live for.

Captain Nemo knew he didn't need to lock them up in a cell.  Their lust for knowledge would be their own prison, and the harpooner Ned Land, who still retained a natural thirst for liberty, was outnumbered by two men with the gift of persuasion, rather than force.  Conseil put it in plain words: he had no desire to go back to civilization. Professor Aronnax, faced with the first opportunity of escape (to the Indian subcontinent), declares evasively:

   "No, no, Ned. . .Let's ride it out, as you seafaring fellows say. The Nautilus is approaching populated areas. It's going back toward Europe, let it take us there. After we arrive in home waters, we can do as we see fit. Besides, I don't imagine Captain Nemo will let us go hunting on the coasts of Malabar or Coromandel as he did in the forests of New Guinea."

   "Well, sir, can't we manage without his permission?"

   I didn't answer the Canadian. I wanted no arguments. Deep down, I was determined to fully exploit the good fortune that had put me on board the Nautilus.

And this, after the drugging incident, which caused Aronnax to suspect Nemo of sinking a ship during their unconsciousness!

The question remains: ultimately, did Ned save their lives, or did Conseil and the professor save his?  It is true that, had it not been for Aronnax and Conseil's presence, Nemo would probably have left Ned to die.  On the other hand, had Ned given up on escape, the three (or two) of them would have spent the rest of their lives on the Nautilus and not in "the real world", where they belonged.

Movie!Ned puts it aptly: "I feel like a knife that's just stabbed a friend in the back."  However great its scientific treasures, the Nautilus is just that: a prototype for submarine warfare (scarcely preceded by that used in the U.S. Civil War). Aronnax may genuinely believe what he learns on the Nautilus could be used for the greater good--Conseil and he might be willing to give their lives for it--but does it justify his ignoring Nemo's crimes?

Ned may not be a brilliant scholar, but what he lacks in academics he makes up for in common sense.  Everyone needs a friend like him, especially those of us whose heads might easily get turned by our individual interests.  *raises hand*

Read More

20,000 Leagues: How to Write a Good Introduction

For me, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a deliciously vague childhood memory, much like Cinderella or The Children's Book of Virtues.  It was always there, without a memorable first time.  I remember Mom reading the book to me, and I remember reading parts of it myself, but just vaguely.

I'm now reading/re-reading the whole thing.  I found a splendid Gutenberg translation by F. P. Walters, complete with a Units of Measure table and a first-rate introduction.  If you know my reading habits, you know I am highly particular about translations and infamously distrustful of introductions.  I can't tell you how many I have seen that are laden with spoilers and/or (worse yet) ideological agenda.

Here is a rare gem, an example of a Good Introduction, and why it is so (my words in bold):

"The deepest parts of the ocean are totally unknown to us," admits Professor Aronnax early in this novel. "What goes on in those distant depths? What creatures inhabit, or could inhabit, those regions twelve or fifteen miles beneath the surface of the water? It's almost beyond conjecture."

Opens with a quote: straightforward, down-to-earth, and catchy. 

Jules Verne (1828–1905) published the French equivalents of these words in 1869, and little has changed since. 126 years later, a Time cover story on deep–sea exploration made much the same admission: "We know more about Mars than we know about the oceans." This reality begins to explain the dark power and otherworldly fascination of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas.

Author's life span, original language, date of original publication, date of this translation's publication, connection to the present.  Perfection.

Born in the French river town of Nantes, Verne had a lifelong passion for the sea. First as a Paris stockbroker, later as a celebrated author and yachtsman, he went on frequent voyages—to Britain, America, the Mediterranean. But the specific stimulus for this novel was an 1865 fan letter from a fellow writer, Madame George Sand. She praised Verne's two early novels Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), then added: "Soon I hope you'll take us into the ocean depths, your characters traveling in diving equipment perfected by your science and your imagination." Thus inspired, Verne created one of literature's great rebels, a freedom fighter who plunged beneath the waves to wage a unique form of guerilla warfare.

Succinct author biog, inspiration for novel (plus name-dropping for classic lit geeks), reference to other Verne novels, indirect introduction to Nemo.

Initially, Verne's narrative was influenced by the 1863 uprising of Poland against Tsarist Russia. The Poles were quashed with a violence that appalled not only Verne but all Europe. As originally conceived, Verne's Captain Nemo was a Polish nobleman whose entire family had been slaughtered by Russian troops. Nemo builds a fabulous futuristic submarine, the Nautilus, then conducts an underwater campaign of vengeance against his imperialist oppressor.

Version 1 of Nemo, with a hint as to v2's motives.

But in the 1860s France had to treat the Tsar as an ally, and Verne's publisher, Pierre Hetzel, pronounced the book unprintable. Verne reworked its political content, devising new nationalities for Nemo and his great enemy—information revealed only in a later novel, The Mysterious Island (1875); in the present work Nemo's background remains a dark secret. In all, the novel had a difficult gestation. Verne and Hetzel were in constant conflict and the book went through multiple drafts, struggles reflected in its several working titles over the period 1865–69: early on, it was variously called Voyage Under the Waters, Twenty–five Thousand Leagues Under the Waters, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Waters, and A Thousand Leagues Under the Oceans.

Mention of a sequel (always good to know), working titles, plus the agonies of working with a publisher.  ;)

Verne is often dubbed, in Isaac Asimov's phrase, "the world's first science–fiction writer." And it's true, many of his sixty–odd books do anticipate future events and technologies: From the Earth to the Moon (1865) and Hector Servadac (1877) deal in space travel, while Journey to the Center of the Earth features travel to the earth's core. But with Verne the operative word is "travel," and some of his best–known titles don't really qualify as sci–fi: Around the World in Eighty Days (1872) and Michael Strogoff (1876) are closer to "travelogs"—adventure yarns in far–away places.

Reaffirms Verne's reputation and hints his books are best read for the adventure, not the science, necessarily.

These observations partly apply here. The subtitle of the present book is An Underwater Tour of the World, so in good travelog style, the Nautilus's exploits supply an episodic story line. Shark attacks, giant squid, cannibals, hurricanes, whale hunts, and other rip–roaring adventures erupt almost at random. Yet this loose structure gives the novel an air of documentary realism. What's more, Verne adds backbone to the action by developing three recurring motifs: the deepening mystery of Nemo's past life and future intentions, the mounting tension between Nemo and hot–tempered harpooner Ned Land, and Ned's ongoing schemes to escape from the Nautilus. These unifying threads tighten the narrative and accelerate its momentum.

Reasons (excellent ones) to read the book.

Other subtleties occur inside each episode, the textures sparkling with wit, information, and insight. Verne regards the sea from many angles: in the domain of marine biology, he gives us thumbnail sketches of fish, seashells, coral, sometimes in great catalogs that swirl past like musical cascades; in the realm of geology, he studies volcanoes literally inside and out; in the world of commerce, he celebrates the high–energy entrepreneurs who lay the Atlantic Cable or dig the Suez Canal. And Verne's marine engineering proves especially authoritative. His specifications for an open–sea submarine and a self–contained diving suit were decades before their time, yet modern technology bears them out triumphantly.

Historic, scientific, and prophetic importance of the book.

True, today's scientists know a few things he didn't: the South Pole isn't at the water's edge but far inland; sharks don't flip over before attacking; giant squid sport ten tentacles not eight; sperm whales don't prey on their whalebone cousins. This notwithstanding, Verne furnishes the most evocative portrayal of the ocean depths before the arrival of Jacques Cousteau and technicolor film.

Lastly the book has stature as a novel of character. Even the supporting cast is shrewdly drawn: Professor Aronnax, the career scientist caught in an ethical conflict; Conseil, the compulsive classifier who supplies humorous tag lines for Verne's fast facts; the harpooner Ned Land, a creature of constant appetites, man as heroic animal.

Atmosphere, interesting characters, and name-dropping most people will appreciate.

SEMI-SPOILERS ahead:

But much of the novel's brooding power comes from Captain Nemo. Inventor, musician, Renaissance genius, he's a trail–blazing creation, the prototype not only for countless renegade scientists in popular fiction, but even for such varied figures as Sherlock Holmes or Wolf Larsen. However, Verne gives his hero's brilliance and benevolence a dark underside—the man's obsessive hate for his old enemy. This compulsion leads Nemo into ugly contradictions: he's a fighter for freedom, yet all who board his ship are imprisoned there for good; he works to save lives, both human and animal, yet he himself creates a holocaust; he detests imperialism, yet he lays personal claim to the South Pole. And in this last action he falls into the classic sin of Pride. He's swiftly punished. The Nautilus nearly perishes in the Antarctic and Nemo sinks into a growing depression.

Like Shakespeare's King Lear he courts death and madness in a great storm, then commits mass murder, collapses in catatonic paralysis, and suicidally runs his ship into the ocean's most dangerous whirlpool. Hate swallows him whole.

I've never in my life compared Holmes to Nemo; these two paragraphs are rather fascinating. 

For many, then, this book has been a source of fascination, surely one of the most influential novels ever written, an inspiration for such scientists and discoverers as engineer Simon Lake, oceanographer William Beebe, polar traveler Sir Ernest Shackleton. Likewise Dr. Robert D. Ballard, finder of the sunken Titanic, confesses that this was his favorite book as a teenager, and Cousteau himself, most renowned of marine explorers, called it his shipboard bible.

Connection to real-life heroes in the same genre.

The present translation is a faithful yet communicative rendering of the original French texts published in Paris by J. Hetzel et Cie.—the hardcover first edition issued in the autumn of 1871, collated with the softcover editions of the First and Second Parts issued separately in the autumn of 1869 and the summer of 1870. Although prior English versions have often been heavily abridged, this new translation is complete to the smallest substantive detail.

Good to know.

Because, as that Time cover story suggests, we still haven't caught up with Verne. Even in our era of satellite dishes and video games, the seas keep their secrets. We've seen progress in sonar, torpedoes, and other belligerent machinery, but sailors and scientists—to say nothing of tourists—have yet to voyage in a submarine with the luxury and efficiency of the Nautilus.

Call to action/challenge to read the book, and why it is still worth reading.

F. P. WALTER

University of Houston

Read More

Weekend Quote: Courage

{hosted by Lemon Tree at Half-Filled Attic}

As before, when grappling with other forces of nature, he could find in himself all sorts of courage except the courage to run away.

- Joseph Conrad, Within the Tides

I was a bit turned off by the depressing, first short story in Within the Tides--that is to say, after finishing it, I haven't yet got any further along in the book.  However, I love the above quote, spoken by the protagonist.  It reminds me of a quote from another author of sea stories:

“I will have no man in my boat," said Starbuck, "who is not afraid of a whale." By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the encountered peril, but that an utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward.

- Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

And how striking Starbuck's quote is!  How unlike Captain Ahab, who is confident he is afraid of nothing, least of all a whale.  Isn't he afraid, though?  Is Ahab, in fact, too cowardly to "run away" from Moby-Dick?

Third literary connection: what about Sherlock Holmes (book or TV)?  Did it take courage, or cowardice, to "run away" after Reichenbach? 

Personally, I think there are times when the smartest thing to do is to distance yourself from a bad situation, one you have no ability to change.  It takes courage to give it up, but more importantly, it takes courage to accept the sting to your pride.  It's not always possible (unfortunately) to be a hero.

Read More

Day 17: An art piece

Of course, I love the Wanderer--he has been on my blog for a long time.  I don't get tired of him.  This is artistic and psychological brilliance.
Caspar David Friedrich. . .his art makes me so happy.  He was a German Romantic artist, but I find a Pacific Northwest connection; oftentimes I'll be outdoors and suddenly realize, "That's a Caspar David Friedrich landscape!"  I really have seen clouds like this:
I'm indebted to Wikimedia Commons, because I keep finding new pieces by him!  But here's another perennial favorite of mine, Der Watzmann.  The textures, colors, and rock formations are classic Friedrich.  There is such a tidiness to his style, plus a perfect balance/conflict between realism and fantasy.  More Friedrich epicness here.

Read More