Nuts and Bolts

[rj_anderson]

Needing something to cheer me up after the horrible train wreck of FBOFW these last few days (Lynn Johnson, you have two days to pull this storyline out of the toilet. I am not optimistic), I turned to my f-list. And superversive, bless him, came through:

I had already read (or watched) all the really seminal English-language fantasy works of [1977], except for The Sword of Shannara. I have therefore been plodding through that distinctive if not distinguished work. It is actually a very good sort of book to read while one is sick and depressed, because it reconciles one to the brevity of life and makes death a happier prospect than it seemed before. In Heaven there are no such books, and in Hell all books will burn.

He promises to write a more detailed review soon. I confess that after suffering through the first two Shannara books (otherwise known as Brooks Does Tolkien and Brooks Does Donaldson), I am rather looking forward to it.

***

Yesterday I got my brand-new glasses -- lovely pink metallic frames that suit me better than any pair of glasses I've worn in the past ten years. Unfortunately, there was a pinwheel-like smudge in the centre of both lenses, which no amount of rubbing could remove. After suffering through a couple of hours of frustration and eyestrain, I ended up turning around and driving back to the optometrist's to return them. They confessed that they had made a mistake and offered to replace them, but now I have to wait another week to wear my bootiful new eyeglasses with the updated prescription again. Alas.

***

Remember how a couple of weeks ago I mentioned getting migraine auras without the migraine? Well, on the weekend I got the migraine without the aura. My first migraine, and all I can say is OW. I really hope this is an isolated incident, because there's nothing like blinding pain and nausea to put the kibosh on your creative energies.

***

In other news, I watched "Words and Deeds" (House) yesterday and actually quite liked it -- not that it didn't have its logistical flaws, and not that the behavior of all the characters was perfectly consistent with their behavior in the past, but I didn't think it was the Worst Episode Ever, or even close to it.

This is why I have come to the conclusion that I am happier out of fandom than in it. Not that I mind hearing what my closest friends think of the shows and books I enjoy, or discussing our opinions even when we disagree; but on the whole I prefer to make up my own mind about whether I like something or not, and not have it spoiled for me by people insisting that it stinks. I offer a belated bow to yahtzee63, who has long been wiser than I in such matters.

***

Got an e-mail today from Agent #2, telling me she'd received my ms. Thanks to Canada Post's parcel tracking system I knew that already, but it was nice to get a personal note to that effect. She says she's hoping to get to the book by mid-March.

I have a feeling that March is going to be The Month for my writing career, in a lot of ways. Could be good, could be bad, but something is definitely going to happen around that time.

***

And finally, I have tagged all my old entries up to June 2005. Go me!

Comments

[tybalt-quin.livejournal.com]

They confessed that they had made a mistake and offered to replace them, but now I have to wait another week to wear my bootiful new eyeglasses with the updated prescription again.

Wait - did they know that they'd made the mistake before you'd driven all the way back, or only afterwards? How are they compensating you for this mistake (which could have caused you profound emotional damage and psychological injury)?

Got an e-mail today from Agent #2, telling me she'd received my ms.

That's gotta be a good sign if they took the trouble to send an email. Am keeping my fingers crossed.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

I phoned them to tell them the problem, and they said, "Ooh, that sounds like a mistake we made in the lab, bring them back and we'll replace them."

Emotional damage and psychological injury? Well, maybe physical injury if I'd been driving with them on and the sunlight suddenly glared across the lenses in a certain way, and I thought I was being attacked by two giant alien smudge-creatures coming at me down the road...

I was more peeved that I hadn't noticed the problem before I left their office, so that I had to drive there and back twice and therefore waste about $10 in gas in addition to the not inconsiderable sum I'd already paid for the (defective) glasses.

Everything I learned from Lionel Hutz, Esq.

[tybalt-quin.livejournal.com]

Are you sure that you're not emotionally devestated that you have a further wait for the glasses that you have longed for and needed for these many moons?

I put it to you that you are having continued nightmares and panic attacks brought on by this enforced deprivation of your eyewear, a deprivation brought about by no fault of yours but rather by the negligence, nay, the heinous contempt that the optician's own lab has shown in failing to prepare your lenses!

Natural justice demands that you are fully and adequately compensated for these sickening injuries in an amount of no less than $100 million PLUS the $10 gasoline that you had to buy, thereby contributing further to global warming and damaging the future of your children!

The plaintiff rests, your honour.

[rocky-t.livejournal.com]

I'm also not thrilled with the FBOFW current storyline. For that matter, most of the recent ones haven't done much for me either. Way too predictable.

Sorry to hear you've joined the migraine club.

Good luck with the original novel(s)!

[yahtzee63.livejournal.com]

Don't let anybody take your shiny from you!

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

*clings tenaciously to shiny*

[--kali--.livejournal.com]

So much for quality control in your opticians :/

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Yeah, really. They're very nice people and they didn't hesitate to say they'd redo them, but... it shouldn't have happened, really.

[reveilles.livejournal.com]

...on the whole I prefer to make up my own mind about whether I like something or not, and not have it spoiled for me by people insisting that it stinks.

I actually used to be reluctant to get into fandom discussions because of the opposite effect: I'd think an episode stunk, and then I'd arrive in the fandom and everyone would be talking about what they enjoyed in it, and then I'd find myself thinking, "You know, that wasn't so bad after all..." and by the next week my lemming-mind groupthink would be "Oh, that episode ROCKED!"

The danger of finding myself conforming goes in both directions...it's the price of being social, I guess.

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

My conformity in that respect usually only goes in one direction: if I liked a show/episode/book I might be gradually persuaded to see it in a less favorable light, but if I hated it, I dig in my heels.

I still remember the brouhaha on alt.tv.x-files.analysis when "Milagro" aired and I came online in a frothing rage, fully expecting the majority of group members to back me up. Instead, I found them all praising the episode and refusing to listen to a word of my objections. In fact, I didn't just get the cold shoulder, I got the cold pointy elbow, and that was the beginning of the end for me as a member of that group...

Huh, no X-Files icon. Oh well.

[reveilles.livejournal.com]

Huh, I don't ever remember watching that episode. I looked up some of its plot and dialogue, and it feels more like a weak fanfic with some fun lines than an actual episode. I think the episode "Field Trip" was what put me over the edge. The idea of the antagonist being a giant hill of psychotropic green goop was just such a stupid idea.

But there's not much point to debating XF episodes at this point, is there? :)

[kerravonsen]

Actually, I really really liked "Field Trip"! Mainly because it put paid to the cliche that "once you realize that you are in the middle of an illusion, you will be free of it!" They realized it was an illusion, but they were still trapped.

Also, I like it because in a way it's a parable about salvation: we cannot save ourselves from sin, only God can.

[reveilles.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

Third time for this comment... my html suxxors

[lydaclunas.livejournal.com]

"Milagro" was luh-hame. But that was Season 6... the beginning of the end.

In other news, I watched "Words and Deeds" (House) yesterday and actually quite liked it -- not that it didn't have its logistical flaws, and not that the behavior of all the characters was perfectly consistent with their behavior in the past, but I didn't think it was the Worst Episode Ever, or even close to it.

Fandom hates it? But why? The Stacy arc sucked way more than this did.

Yeah, the episode wasn't the best thing evar, but I thought it was quite decent, and even if it kind of ended with the same-old, same-old, I thought there were some moments of true character development, and I particularly enjoyed the fact that House's apology was real even if his stint in rehab was a big joke.

I also thought Tritter's lame-o "I hope I'm wrong about you" was just as much a farce as House's rehab. I'd kind of like to see Tritter return somehow later in the series, but I doubt that would be possible without rehashing the same plot.

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

Remember how a couple of weeks ago I mentioned getting migraine auras without the migraine? Well, on the weekend I got the migraine without the aura.

Oh, dear. I feel for you. And pray that, yeah, it's the only one you'll get...or at least that you won't get them more than once a year or so (I get them from 1-4 times a year and that is plenty).

In other news, I watched "Words and Deeds" (House) yesterday and actually quite liked it

Wow, I'm not the only one! *sighs in relief* I was startled by the venom some fans are displaying over this episode--given that it's a series and they can't turn House into someone else entirely, I thought it showed actual character development, and House's half-admission that his apology to Wilson was real gave me the biggest warm-fuzzy moment I've ever gotten from this show. Seriously.

[(Anonymous)]

I've only ever had one migraine and that was more than enough.

One of my professors in college likened his to "someone trying to open an umbrella inside my head." Ouchie! Hope you've seen the last of it.

Mary Anne

[blpurdom.livejournal.com]

Needing something to cheer me up after the horrible train wreck of FBOFW these last few days (Lynn Johnson, you have two days to pull this storyline out of the toilet. I am not optimistic)

If it's any consolation, you totally called what was going to happen. ;)

[kerravonsen]

This is why I have come to the conclusion that I am happier out of fandom than in it. Not that I mind hearing what my closest friends think of the shows and books I enjoy, or discussing our opinions even when we disagree; but on the whole I prefer to make up my own mind about whether I like something or not, and not have it spoiled for me by people insisting that it stinks.

Oh, yes indeed! That's one reason why I don't hang out at Outpost Gallifrey (except sometimes to look in the Art section) and why I don't even look at my flist's episode reviews until after I've written my own. I am going to make up my own mind, thankee.

Or hang out in communities for shows which have a closed canon (such as Blake's 7).