I don't feel up to covering life tonight. So I'll cover two "problems" that are at a little more of remove.
One has to do with writing fiction. For once I find myself with a real conflict between world building and character building. Normally my stories tend to start with concept and people. The characters aren't all that hard--their names, yes, even the details of their backgrounds. But who they are, how they'll react in a given situation, that comes whole cloth as often as not.
But now I find myself with world building reasons to have certain characters conform to medieval humors. Specifically, I have two characters who should be more phlegmatic. Actually, one of them is decently phlegmatic to begin with (thank goodness). But our hero? A phlegmatic hero. Goodness. And it doesn't help that while sources seem pretty consistent about definitions for, say, choleric, they are all over the map for phlegmatic. Do I believe that they are "loyal, easygoing, quiet, witty, and a good listener. But they are also indecisive, not goal oriented, sarcastic, teasing and resist change." Or do I believe "Sluggish, pallid, cowardly" or perhaps "calm, unemotional."
I mean, it could be funny to try to have a hero who is "sluggish, pallid, and cowardly" but I just don't think that is this story. Ok, maybe pallid.
Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge, claims, "Phlegmatics tend to be self-content and kind. They can be very accepting and affectionate. They may be very receptive and shy and often prefer stability to uncertainty and change. They are very consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, and observant, making them good administrators and diplomats. Unlike the Sanguine personality, they may be more dependable."
So are they loyal, kind and affectionate or unemotional and cowardly? Are they sluggish--one site even said lazy--and not goal oriented or are they curious and dependable?
And whatever they are, do I really want to change my hero to be that? Or do I want to rewrite my world some more instead?
The other problem on my mind this evening seems simple by comparison: how to write a biographical blurb about myself. It has to be a serious academic one, thus ruling out the lighthearted fiction author style ones I know best which enumerate the number of cats the author has and throw in a witty joke or two. But it's hard to write a serious academic bio when most would cover things like where I teach now (er, independent tutoring? not quite what they had in mind) or where I'm studying for my PhD (um, nope, not doing that either) or the cool internationally renowned awards I've gotten (uh un, none of those either. I have yet to undergo the painful nowning process, let alone become re-nowned, nor do I have any re-nowned awards).
So, I think to myself, I can talk about my "research interests." That's always a good one to go on about for a while. But my research interests are...disconcertingly diverse. I mean, I just spent a day doing research at Stanford. In fact, I was so excited and absorbed that I missed lunch. But was I researching a new article on Shakespeare? No. I was researching Pictish women. Pictish women. That's what? Only 7+ centuries earlier and the other end of the island. And the classes I taught? Science Fiction as Social Commentary. Changing Climate.
You have to admit that Renaissance literature (English with a splash of Scottish), medieval literature (especially Irish and Welsh), medieval material culture, Pictish history and material culture, science fiction and fantasy, mythology, writing on topics in environmental science, religion, and ancient Christianity are pretty darn diverse. But that's what I work on. Mostly.
Saturday, 24 April 2010
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Musings of the Sick and Tired
I would like to say for the record that I am sick and tired of being sick. One of the various reasons why California edged out Glasgow in decisions of where to live was that I seemed to get sick more often in Glasgow. But here I am in "sunny" California, recovering from my fifth? sixth? flu/cold/illness this winter.
This last one was a real doozie. The first two days I could hardly keep anything down besides slow careful sips of water. I finally worked up to Jello and widely spaced crackers and then finally toast. I'm back on real food now (day 5) but everything is still a bit wonky and odd. Food is a really strange thing. I actually felt better--clearer headed and able to walk around and do things--during day 2, living on Jello and fizzy water having had nothing substantial in around 48hrs than I typically do in a sugar crash when I go a few too many hours without food. I mean, I didn't feel great...kind of faded, washed out (plus, you know, a pounding migraine that was possibly part of the illness but more probably caffein withdrawl). But I was able to walk around calmly and hold reasonably intelligent conversations. It was actually something akin to, though not as pleasant as, that odd walking on air sensation I get on the far side of an all nighter when you've left "sleepy" and even "exhausted" far behind hours ago and managed to convince your body not to sleep dispite the fact that's what it craves. And at some point it stops asking for sleep for a while and there is this surreal period where everything is a little slow and very light and jokes are funnier. I remember wondering once, long before I'd had alcohol but was already in the habit of pulling all-nighters for writing papers, if that was what being drunk was like. It's not, but it's interesting that it came to mind.
Come to think of it, it's usually food that breaks the spell. I'd be "walking on air" all morning and then I'd have lunch and come crashing down.
The other interesting thing, going back to my food-deprived days, was how wonderful that first piece of toast tasted after a day of Jello and flavored fizzy water. Actually, before the toast was a cup of chicken broth since I was craving non-sweet and yet chicken broth is still darn close to "clear liquid". I stuck a few herbs in the broth (and got a very funny look when someone looked up and saw me sprinkling basil into a coffee mug!) and drank it down, savoring every warm savery sip. But that was nothing compared to the first slice of toast with just the thinest veneer of butter. That first bite...it was indescribably. It was like tasting the essense of toast. In Platonic terms, the perfect idea of toast that lies behind every earthly example of toast. And yet one of the best things about it was how down to earth, how tacktile it was. The slight crunch, the resistance of biting down. Wonderful.
I'm not quite back to taking food for granted, so I thought this might be the moment to record my illness-induced thoughts.
Anyway, in addition to wacky fun with a string of more-or-less-minor illnesses, I'm also taking an academic class for the first time since grad-school. It's also my first largely online class, something I'm still figuring out (it's easier to go to class in person, in my opinion). It's been tricky keeping up with the coursework amidst colds and stomach flus, but the class is genuinely interesting and hopefully useful (if I get back to my prefered line of work one of these days). It's about teaching writing to ESL students, which I hope will add to my bag of tricks teaching writing classes in general, since I inevitably have a few ESL students. Maybe I'd even be up to teaching a whole ESL writing class.
This last one was a real doozie. The first two days I could hardly keep anything down besides slow careful sips of water. I finally worked up to Jello and widely spaced crackers and then finally toast. I'm back on real food now (day 5) but everything is still a bit wonky and odd. Food is a really strange thing. I actually felt better--clearer headed and able to walk around and do things--during day 2, living on Jello and fizzy water having had nothing substantial in around 48hrs than I typically do in a sugar crash when I go a few too many hours without food. I mean, I didn't feel great...kind of faded, washed out (plus, you know, a pounding migraine that was possibly part of the illness but more probably caffein withdrawl). But I was able to walk around calmly and hold reasonably intelligent conversations. It was actually something akin to, though not as pleasant as, that odd walking on air sensation I get on the far side of an all nighter when you've left "sleepy" and even "exhausted" far behind hours ago and managed to convince your body not to sleep dispite the fact that's what it craves. And at some point it stops asking for sleep for a while and there is this surreal period where everything is a little slow and very light and jokes are funnier. I remember wondering once, long before I'd had alcohol but was already in the habit of pulling all-nighters for writing papers, if that was what being drunk was like. It's not, but it's interesting that it came to mind.
Come to think of it, it's usually food that breaks the spell. I'd be "walking on air" all morning and then I'd have lunch and come crashing down.
The other interesting thing, going back to my food-deprived days, was how wonderful that first piece of toast tasted after a day of Jello and flavored fizzy water. Actually, before the toast was a cup of chicken broth since I was craving non-sweet and yet chicken broth is still darn close to "clear liquid". I stuck a few herbs in the broth (and got a very funny look when someone looked up and saw me sprinkling basil into a coffee mug!) and drank it down, savoring every warm savery sip. But that was nothing compared to the first slice of toast with just the thinest veneer of butter. That first bite...it was indescribably. It was like tasting the essense of toast. In Platonic terms, the perfect idea of toast that lies behind every earthly example of toast. And yet one of the best things about it was how down to earth, how tacktile it was. The slight crunch, the resistance of biting down. Wonderful.
I'm not quite back to taking food for granted, so I thought this might be the moment to record my illness-induced thoughts.
Anyway, in addition to wacky fun with a string of more-or-less-minor illnesses, I'm also taking an academic class for the first time since grad-school. It's also my first largely online class, something I'm still figuring out (it's easier to go to class in person, in my opinion). It's been tricky keeping up with the coursework amidst colds and stomach flus, but the class is genuinely interesting and hopefully useful (if I get back to my prefered line of work one of these days). It's about teaching writing to ESL students, which I hope will add to my bag of tricks teaching writing classes in general, since I inevitably have a few ESL students. Maybe I'd even be up to teaching a whole ESL writing class.
Friday, 1 January 2010
Oh look, another new decade is upon us
Happy New Year!!
Welcome to 2010!!!
PS: Agricola is fun. ;)
PPS: 3:30am...there goes my plans to be diurnal.
Welcome to 2010!!!
PS: Agricola is fun. ;)
PPS: 3:30am...there goes my plans to be diurnal.
Thursday, 31 December 2009
Farewell 2009
So, 2009 is winding quickly to a close. In fact Glasgow is already in 2010 by now.
Overall, I think it's been a good year for me. There were good times in Glasgow with castles, and friends and singing and the rest. There was victory at last in the immigration hurdles. There was moving back to California and settling with friends here. There was greeting my new "niece" and watching her grow through her first year. There has been a return to the SCA, to craft projects, and a new attempt at writing a novel.
The holidays were good. Ron and I went on a whirlwind tour of the relatives living within easy reach--grandparents, aunts, uncles, some cousins, my dad and stepmom. Ron finally met the last of my close family and renewed acquaintance with others he'd met only briefly years ago. And much tasty food was consumed by all.
There were somber moments too. We also went to lay my late grampa in his final resting place at the new Veteran's Cemetery outside Sacramento. I can still hear his laugh in my head. I hope that never fades.
Our plans for new year's eve are fairly modest: we're baking pizza (I just scorched the first one while writing this post! Oops.) and going to hang out playing board games till midnight when we'll toast in the New Year. Half the house, including the teens are out at various parties, so it's just the two married couples and the baby but it sounds like a fun New Year's for me.
As for the coming year and resolutions and all that...I don't know. I have so many things I'd like to work on in my life. Building a better relationship with God again, working diligently and methodically on my novel, trying to live a healthier lifestyle the more exercise once more, and many more. How would I choose just one? But I certainly have plenty on my plate to work on in 2010.
Happy New Year to you all, or Happy Hogmany if you will! May the New Year find you in health and happiness!
Overall, I think it's been a good year for me. There were good times in Glasgow with castles, and friends and singing and the rest. There was victory at last in the immigration hurdles. There was moving back to California and settling with friends here. There was greeting my new "niece" and watching her grow through her first year. There has been a return to the SCA, to craft projects, and a new attempt at writing a novel.
The holidays were good. Ron and I went on a whirlwind tour of the relatives living within easy reach--grandparents, aunts, uncles, some cousins, my dad and stepmom. Ron finally met the last of my close family and renewed acquaintance with others he'd met only briefly years ago. And much tasty food was consumed by all.
There were somber moments too. We also went to lay my late grampa in his final resting place at the new Veteran's Cemetery outside Sacramento. I can still hear his laugh in my head. I hope that never fades.
Our plans for new year's eve are fairly modest: we're baking pizza (I just scorched the first one while writing this post! Oops.) and going to hang out playing board games till midnight when we'll toast in the New Year. Half the house, including the teens are out at various parties, so it's just the two married couples and the baby but it sounds like a fun New Year's for me.
As for the coming year and resolutions and all that...I don't know. I have so many things I'd like to work on in my life. Building a better relationship with God again, working diligently and methodically on my novel, trying to live a healthier lifestyle the more exercise once more, and many more. How would I choose just one? But I certainly have plenty on my plate to work on in 2010.
Happy New Year to you all, or Happy Hogmany if you will! May the New Year find you in health and happiness!
Saturday, 19 December 2009
I Survived Year One as an Auntie!
Sky turned one today and we held a party. The party largely celebrated the adults surviving the first year of her life. To that end, the birthday cake said "Happy Birthday Sky" on the top, but something along the lines of "Go Red House Adults" on the side.
I also began rewatching season one of Buffy--one of my birthday presents from a couple weeks ago--during my babysitting shifts today. Great fun. I always marvel at just how cheesy it was in the beginning...and yet, at the same time, I have to marvel at how decent it was with good likable characters and cute witty dialogue right from the beginning even if some of the special effects are a bit laughable now and some of the pacing drags compared to later stuff. And I think Season One had one of the best Big Bads. The Master was classic. He had the niceties and polished language of Season Three's mayor baddie with the evil look of the Season Seven ubervamps.
We've also been having "winter faerie" presents at Red House, a non-religious excuse for holiday fun and tiny little gifts. The winter faerie commissioned me to write a few poems for people for their gifts and it has been challenging but great fun to stoke up the poetic fires again. I used to write poetry prolifically and compulsively back in junior high, but not much since. I took a poetry writing class in college that was fun and produced a few decent pieces. But it's been some time since I had to sit down and write something on a given topic with a deadline. It's been good though, and the two recipients seemed pleased with the results which is the real heart warming part.
I also began rewatching season one of Buffy--one of my birthday presents from a couple weeks ago--during my babysitting shifts today. Great fun. I always marvel at just how cheesy it was in the beginning...and yet, at the same time, I have to marvel at how decent it was with good likable characters and cute witty dialogue right from the beginning even if some of the special effects are a bit laughable now and some of the pacing drags compared to later stuff. And I think Season One had one of the best Big Bads. The Master was classic. He had the niceties and polished language of Season Three's mayor baddie with the evil look of the Season Seven ubervamps.
We've also been having "winter faerie" presents at Red House, a non-religious excuse for holiday fun and tiny little gifts. The winter faerie commissioned me to write a few poems for people for their gifts and it has been challenging but great fun to stoke up the poetic fires again. I used to write poetry prolifically and compulsively back in junior high, but not much since. I took a poetry writing class in college that was fun and produced a few decent pieces. But it's been some time since I had to sit down and write something on a given topic with a deadline. It's been good though, and the two recipients seemed pleased with the results which is the real heart warming part.
Friday, 18 December 2009
Fictiony Goodness and Holiday Chaos
Well I had some fictiony fun the past couple days. I went back over to Martha Wells website to have a look at which issues of Black Gate Magazine I would need to get from back order to get ahold of her short stories featuring Ilias and Gilead...and, behold!, several of them are up on the website for free now! I guess good things do come to those who wait. There was a short story about Kade Carrion too, one of my favorite heroines of all time...though it wasn't exactly a happy tale.
For those of you who don't know, Martha Wells is one of my favorite authors. I've liked or loved everything she's ever written.Element of Fire I read in the free online version because it was out of print (and my attempt to buy a used copy never arrived, much to my dismay). I hate reading lengthy things on computer screens and there are only a few other books I've read that way, but I reread Element of Fire over and over. I finally got my hands on a paper copy (actually Amanda got the paper copy) and it was fun to read it as an actual book. Her heroines tend to be rye, nobody's fools, and look at the world kind of sideways.
Anyway, it was a little tricky trying to read fiction that was tied to a computer with the baby trying to pull down the keyboard, pull apart the computer, steal the mouse or crawl off in search of choking hazards, but she did give me a few good stretches of contentedly playing with her new wooden blocks.
I'm a little jealous of her wooden blocks actually. She has the coolest wooden blocks ever. They came from ThinkGeak.com and feature little pictures with the letter that goes with the scene. T is for Tentacles. H is for Henchmen. D is for Dirigible. And so on. There are some truly fantastic ones though. I think our favorite is K is for Potassium! (Come on, think back to chemistry class...). U is for Underground Lair is also great but you've got to see the visual to get the full effect.
Things are a little extra frantic around here with all the holiday planning. Nearly everyone is clearing out at one time or another though I think we'll all be back for New Year.
I went to see the Nutcracker for the first time this year. It was quite an epic journey, all they way to Folsom via San Fransisco but Tim, a friend of mine, was dancing in it and it was the first time I'd seen him dance. It was very fun. Shiny in the literal as well as figurative sense. And Tim was great (Snow Prince and Russian for those for whom that means anything) especially considering he was filling in at the last minute and had only a couple days to learn his choreography. I would never have guessed he hadn't been rehearsing for months like the rest of them. It went off flawlessly.
Anyway, I got a quick visit with my Grandma and Dad before heading back and crashing in San Fransisco before going the rest of the way home in the morning. It was great to see both the friends and some family that I don't get to see nearly often enough. Sacramento and, even more so, San Fransisco don't seem very far away on the map, especially considering all those years I've spent in Scotland or Georgia (the state, not the country. Yes, people sometimes ask. Ok, usually not Americans, but some people.), yet somehow on a day to day basis it seems a nearly insurmountable distance. Well, maybe now that Ron has his license it will be a bit more surmountable. Though I'm not sure I would inflict SF roads on him just yet.
Anyway, we finally have our holiday plans all worked out and bus tickets bought. If you're one of those wondering where we'll be, give me a call or email. We're going to be going to Reno first, then Sac, then back to Los Gatos (no, for the record, since there seems to be a lot of misconception on the topic, I do not live in Santa Cruz any more. Los Gatos is closer to San Jose though Santa Cruz is still only half an hour away.).
For those of you who don't know, Martha Wells is one of my favorite authors. I've liked or loved everything she's ever written.Element of Fire I read in the free online version because it was out of print (and my attempt to buy a used copy never arrived, much to my dismay). I hate reading lengthy things on computer screens and there are only a few other books I've read that way, but I reread Element of Fire over and over. I finally got my hands on a paper copy (actually Amanda got the paper copy) and it was fun to read it as an actual book. Her heroines tend to be rye, nobody's fools, and look at the world kind of sideways.
Anyway, it was a little tricky trying to read fiction that was tied to a computer with the baby trying to pull down the keyboard, pull apart the computer, steal the mouse or crawl off in search of choking hazards, but she did give me a few good stretches of contentedly playing with her new wooden blocks.
I'm a little jealous of her wooden blocks actually. She has the coolest wooden blocks ever. They came from ThinkGeak.com and feature little pictures with the letter that goes with the scene. T is for Tentacles. H is for Henchmen. D is for Dirigible. And so on. There are some truly fantastic ones though. I think our favorite is K is for Potassium! (Come on, think back to chemistry class...). U is for Underground Lair is also great but you've got to see the visual to get the full effect.
Things are a little extra frantic around here with all the holiday planning. Nearly everyone is clearing out at one time or another though I think we'll all be back for New Year.
I went to see the Nutcracker for the first time this year. It was quite an epic journey, all they way to Folsom via San Fransisco but Tim, a friend of mine, was dancing in it and it was the first time I'd seen him dance. It was very fun. Shiny in the literal as well as figurative sense. And Tim was great (Snow Prince and Russian for those for whom that means anything) especially considering he was filling in at the last minute and had only a couple days to learn his choreography. I would never have guessed he hadn't been rehearsing for months like the rest of them. It went off flawlessly.
Anyway, I got a quick visit with my Grandma and Dad before heading back and crashing in San Fransisco before going the rest of the way home in the morning. It was great to see both the friends and some family that I don't get to see nearly often enough. Sacramento and, even more so, San Fransisco don't seem very far away on the map, especially considering all those years I've spent in Scotland or Georgia (the state, not the country. Yes, people sometimes ask. Ok, usually not Americans, but some people.), yet somehow on a day to day basis it seems a nearly insurmountable distance. Well, maybe now that Ron has his license it will be a bit more surmountable. Though I'm not sure I would inflict SF roads on him just yet.
Anyway, we finally have our holiday plans all worked out and bus tickets bought. If you're one of those wondering where we'll be, give me a call or email. We're going to be going to Reno first, then Sac, then back to Los Gatos (no, for the record, since there seems to be a lot of misconception on the topic, I do not live in Santa Cruz any more. Los Gatos is closer to San Jose though Santa Cruz is still only half an hour away.).
Thursday, 17 December 2009
Driviness
Sorry everyone, I've been very negligent of this blog this year. But I've been poked and prodded and so I've decided to have another go at it.
I'm not going to try to backtrack to all my news since my last sparse posts, but let's see, recent news...
The most recent is that yesterday Ron got his driving license. Huzzah! Now the two of us can leave the premises without having to find another adult willing to take us. I have to say, living at Red House is the most remote location I've ever lived--UCSC's campus included--for all that it's fifteen minutes drive from one of the biggest cities in America.
Did you know that San Jose is ranked as the 10th largest (most populous) city in the US? That it ranks above San Francisco now (in 12th place)? Crazy, huh? And it seems even crazier that Atlanta, which always felt huge and sprawling and inescapable, is way down at 33, right above Fresno (35) and Sacramento (36)! And Glasgow, which always felt like a relatively small city for all that I knew it was the largest in Scotland--after all, it didn't have much competition really--is actually about the population of Boston which is 21st in the US ranking. I suppose it just shows how subjective a feel of a place can be. So the smallest place I've ever lived till now was actually Aptos (a tiny 9100 population) while commuting in to Santa Cruz (still small at around 55,000). Los Gatos is technically between the two in size at 29,000 but we're up in the mountains, just a bit too remote from the town proper to actually walk in. Actually, I could walk in, but I'd have to walk along the Old Santa Cruz Hwy which is a bit too hair raising for my taste.
Oh well, it seems duty calls and I'm not to get any further today. Perhaps I'll have time to circle back around to my own live next time. (You see my problem?!)
I'm not going to try to backtrack to all my news since my last sparse posts, but let's see, recent news...
The most recent is that yesterday Ron got his driving license. Huzzah! Now the two of us can leave the premises without having to find another adult willing to take us. I have to say, living at Red House is the most remote location I've ever lived--UCSC's campus included--for all that it's fifteen minutes drive from one of the biggest cities in America.
Did you know that San Jose is ranked as the 10th largest (most populous) city in the US? That it ranks above San Francisco now (in 12th place)? Crazy, huh? And it seems even crazier that Atlanta, which always felt huge and sprawling and inescapable, is way down at 33, right above Fresno (35) and Sacramento (36)! And Glasgow, which always felt like a relatively small city for all that I knew it was the largest in Scotland--after all, it didn't have much competition really--is actually about the population of Boston which is 21st in the US ranking. I suppose it just shows how subjective a feel of a place can be. So the smallest place I've ever lived till now was actually Aptos (a tiny 9100 population) while commuting in to Santa Cruz (still small at around 55,000). Los Gatos is technically between the two in size at 29,000 but we're up in the mountains, just a bit too remote from the town proper to actually walk in. Actually, I could walk in, but I'd have to walk along the Old Santa Cruz Hwy which is a bit too hair raising for my taste.
Oh well, it seems duty calls and I'm not to get any further today. Perhaps I'll have time to circle back around to my own live next time. (You see my problem?!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)