A lot of things.
Sep. 18th, 2008 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
readingredheadThis is not much of an entry, just a lot of little fragmented things.
I was thinking about this randomly today in the shower: (not quite twenty) questions I want to be asked within the next twenty years.
This paper was written by an undergrad?
Do you want to go out sometime?
Would you like to work for us?
Can we publish this?
Would you mind if I kissed you?
When did you decide to become a writer?
Can I have your autograph?
Would you like to go on tour?
Is this forever?
Can I get my picture taken with you?
Do you realize how beautiful you are?
How did you get to where you are today?
Has he proposed yet?
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Will you marry me?
Is that your daughter?
***
I'm taking a swing dancing class that I really enjoy. It's so great just to get out and do something that's NOT school-related, or scholarly in any way. And since it's swing, all the people are really nice. I've only had one class so far but it looks like it's a great group of people.
***
Lauren, remember that long post about love a while ago? I was watching X-Files tonight and this quote happened, and it made me think back to that.
"Well, it seems to me that the best relationships-- the ones that last-- are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is... suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with." --Scully
I really like it, and how it meshes with the idea of love as something subtle that develops over time and that you don't notice happening until it's happened.
***
I went to a Michael Chabon reading today. He's a writer who lives in the area and is arguably shaping up to be THE best writer of the twenty-first century (according to my dad, among others). I had never read anything of his before, but I think I've fallen half in love with his thoughts on genre fiction vs. literary fiction. Basically, there are three things that need to happen for the two genres to reconcile themselves.
1. Literary authors have to start taking genre fiction seriously.
2. Literary readers have to start taking genre fiction seriously.
3. Genre writers have to start taking genre fiction seriously.
It was really interesting because my dad really likes his early work, which I wasn't able to get into at all. However, one of his most recent novels (The Yiddish Policeman's Union) won the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award--both intended specifically for science fiction. Now, my dad would never call Chabon's book sf, because he would be of the opinion that that's degrading to Chabon. However, Chabon was talking about how he doesn't like the person he was in his early works in the same way that he likes the person he is now--now that he's allowed himself to innovate and cross genres just a little, which is something he hopes to do more of in the future.
It was great to have a chance to call up my dad and tell him that one of his literary heroes thinks he's silly for disdaining genre fiction. But it was also great to see someone who will probably draw even larger crowds in years to come.
***
Maybe there was something else, but I forgot.
I was thinking about this randomly today in the shower: (not quite twenty) questions I want to be asked within the next twenty years.
This paper was written by an undergrad?
Do you want to go out sometime?
Would you like to work for us?
Can we publish this?
Would you mind if I kissed you?
When did you decide to become a writer?
Can I have your autograph?
Would you like to go on tour?
Is this forever?
Can I get my picture taken with you?
Do you realize how beautiful you are?
How did you get to where you are today?
Has he proposed yet?
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Will you marry me?
Is that your daughter?
***
I'm taking a swing dancing class that I really enjoy. It's so great just to get out and do something that's NOT school-related, or scholarly in any way. And since it's swing, all the people are really nice. I've only had one class so far but it looks like it's a great group of people.
***
Lauren, remember that long post about love a while ago? I was watching X-Files tonight and this quote happened, and it made me think back to that.
"Well, it seems to me that the best relationships-- the ones that last-- are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship. You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more than you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere. And the person who was just a friend is... suddenly the only person you can ever imagine yourself with." --Scully
I really like it, and how it meshes with the idea of love as something subtle that develops over time and that you don't notice happening until it's happened.
***
I went to a Michael Chabon reading today. He's a writer who lives in the area and is arguably shaping up to be THE best writer of the twenty-first century (according to my dad, among others). I had never read anything of his before, but I think I've fallen half in love with his thoughts on genre fiction vs. literary fiction. Basically, there are three things that need to happen for the two genres to reconcile themselves.
1. Literary authors have to start taking genre fiction seriously.
2. Literary readers have to start taking genre fiction seriously.
3. Genre writers have to start taking genre fiction seriously.
It was really interesting because my dad really likes his early work, which I wasn't able to get into at all. However, one of his most recent novels (The Yiddish Policeman's Union) won the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award--both intended specifically for science fiction. Now, my dad would never call Chabon's book sf, because he would be of the opinion that that's degrading to Chabon. However, Chabon was talking about how he doesn't like the person he was in his early works in the same way that he likes the person he is now--now that he's allowed himself to innovate and cross genres just a little, which is something he hopes to do more of in the future.
It was great to have a chance to call up my dad and tell him that one of his literary heroes thinks he's silly for disdaining genre fiction. But it was also great to see someone who will probably draw even larger crowds in years to come.
***
Maybe there was something else, but I forgot.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-23 03:52 am (UTC)Isn't that quote just glorious? I might have to add it to my wall of quotes -- I've covered my closet doors with my favorites!
I will read Stone Gods once I find it and have the time! I have like twenty books that I should read for school or work or both but if I get done with those I'll definitely look up Winterson. I know what it's like to need someone to read something so you can talk to them about it. If there's one book I wish you would read so I could talk to you about it, it's Julie E. Czerneda's A Thousand Words for Stranger. Read it and I will love you even more than I already do, which I'm not sure is physically possible, though it is probably metaphysically possible. :) If you don't read it before I see you again it might be your birthday present.
We're reading Eliot right now in my English class -- Prufrock and The Waste Land -- and I'm sad we're not reading Hollow Men but his others are still good. But the point is that it made me think of you! And of the eye pictures.
And my address! It is:
2601 Warring Street
Box #279
Berkeley, CA 94720-2288
(This is a random and unrelated note, but there is a musical that you may or may not need to know about. It is called Spring Awakening and I'm seeing it in SF this Saturday, after which point I will tell you if it needs to own your life or not.)