Round-up
1. I have been pondering on Doctor Who for a while, since I watched the End of Time pt 2. I think I am a fan, but I’m not sure what ‘fan’ means. If you like the concept of something, but for the most part can’t stand the execution, are you still a fan? What if you only like certain aspects? I’ll make a post on this later, weeks behind everyone else as usual.
2. Am unfortunately behind on my thesis. Going back to campus tomorrow to kick myself into high gear. Things that need to be done: formalize my thoughts on re-reading Matilda, read Barthes’s The Rustle of Language, come up with a list of potential interview questions, email Professor E / make an appointment with Bank Street, and lose my nervousness about approaching strangers.
3. Went jewellery shopping the other day, to help a friend find something for his girlfriend. I saw this today:
which is really this:
and want. Desperately want. Please keep records for my future and currently non-existent boyfriend. This goes in the same pile as the mockingjay pendant and Tiffany Aching’s uff horse necklace.
4. New goal: figure out twitter. The Internet is the new Grid, and re: Professor Baron’s “always on” theory, you either have an online presence or you don’t exist. It’s not official until it’s on facebook. Etc. I have a feeling twitter can be useful for professional reasons, but I half-cringe at the thought of reading what everyone’s had for lunch. Tim Adams wrote an interesting article over The Observer that inspired my final paper for Specters of Culture:
Slowly all the aspects of the world that were formerly external to us, out there – friends, shops, newspapers and now books – are being accommodated into this space [machines like mobiles, laptops], so that they can be contained almost entirely on our personalised screens: aspects of our selves, part of our understanding of who we are.
I actually find that pretty scary, but then again, recently, I’ve been finding myself looking to the past. Hence one of the reasons I find steampunk fascinating.
5. Narrate boot camp starts today!
6. New goal: give my blog a makeover. I want to be able to put the URL on a resume and a business card, though I doubt this will actually happen (I’m way too shy). I found a lovely simple Wordpress template that I’m planning to customize and have up by the end of January. I use my blog 100% for personal reasons, not to draw an audience or spark a discussion, but just for me, though I don’t mind if people look on.
7. Books I read recently, rehashed from goodreads:
A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
A Hat Full of Sky is the second Tiffany Aching book, who’s turning out to be one of my favourite heroines. Eleven now and learning how to become a proper witch (slightly more formal training than when she defeated the Queen of the Fairies with a frying pan), Tiffany faces a set of new challenges: moving away from the Chalk for the first time, meeting fellow witches her own age, and most importantly, increasing self-awareness of the balance between her desires and conscience.
What I loved so much about this book was that Pratchett emphasises people and perception. As readers, we take the general view the characters who think the hiver is parasitic and evil, feasting on individuals and giving them what they want until they die of their own corrupted power. But when the hiver feeds on HER, Tiffany’s perspective changes with knowledge, learning about herself and about the hiver.
I found the whole thing quite philosophical, actually. You’re allowed to be human and have desires. But you are also responsible for attaining those desires, and for questioning whether or not those desires are worth attaining.
Extra notes: Jeannie, the new kelda of the Nac Mac Feegle clan, is awesome. She’s really cute. And Granny Weatherwax makes me laugh, I loved how Tiffany realised her little ’secret’. And yes, because I’m slow, I only understood the pun on the name ‘Rob Anybody’ 40 pages into the SECOND Tiffany Aching book, and sat there laughing for a full five minutes.
If I Stay by Gayle Forman
I don’t read a lot of dead-girl books, so I can’t say I’m coming from the camp who’s sick of them. I can say, however, that If I Stay is a fantastic read. Seventeen-year-old Mia, a talented cellist, has an amazing life–hip and understanding parents, an adorable younger brother, a funny and sarcastic BFF, and a cool and loving and non-cheating boyfriend in a band. In fact, her perfect life remains the only caveat in reading this novel: if you can believe how good her life is, then you can truly understand the pain she feels at the choice she has to make. Forman’s novel is gorgeously written in pacing and style. I don’t like books that are Hallmark channel fodder, and this one did make me cry, but it was worth it. I was engrossed from beginning to end, and Mia’s life would be the kind I’d like to have (which is probably why this book worked for me so well). Forman’s pairing this novel with classical music was well-done; the whole time I kept hearing companionable silence of the prelude of Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 (the result of to my love for the West Wing)
Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
Aside from The Faery Handbag, I hadn’t read anything by Kelly Link prior to this collection of short stories. Nine in all, of varying length, time period and feel, the stories showcase Link’s mastery of the short story form–in a couple of paragraphs she tells us everything we need to know, and she then does the slow reveal with the punchline at the end. I’m in awe of her technique! The stories explore a multitude of themes such as textuality, reality, death, myth, and magic, all with mystery and some element of the fantastic. Link’s sense of humour is great, and her twists are right up my alley (I saw a few coming, like “The Wizards of Perfil” and “Pretty Monsters”). Maybe it’s because my home turf is a full novel, I really wanted some stories to be expanded (like “The Surfer” and “The Faery Handbag”), while I felt others were mere vignettes (”The Wrong Grave”). Some, like “The Constable of Abal”, I thought were lovely just the way they were 
A mixed bag, but a really worthy one–it just depends on what you like. Link borders more on surrealism than fantasy, and has more than a few mindscrews that could even put her close to horror.
The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope
A lovely tale inspired by the ballad of Tam Lin. I say ‘inspired’ because instead of retelling it, it refers to the ballad more as a homage. Set in 16th century Tudor England, Katherine Sutton is exiled to Elvenwood, and becomes tangled in a quiet, complex story of loss, sacrifice and intrigue. A fascinating, if a pessimistic look at faerie, though the obvious Christian sympathies and themes fit in well with the setting. Also, it has one of the most perfect endings of a novel I’ve ever read. (Spoiler coming up) Kate, having seen Christopher and her sister get on splendidly, squashes her envy and plans on bearing it the best she can. The conversation Kate has with the faerie queen, when the queen offers her a love potion to give to Christopher as a boon, is one that will stay in my mind for a long time. The queen admits she is not Kate’s friend. Kate refuses the potion, and later realises that had she taken the offer, she would always question if Christopher really loved her or not.
Currently reading: anthro theory stuffs, Next up: War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
Elizabeth says:
Don’t follow people who tweet about what they had for lunch
Follow people in your field of study (check out Twitter lists).
:: at 6:31 pm on January 8, 2010