Ramblings from the 'goblinn

1. Beer imbibed in sufficient quantities before a diagnostic mammogram makes the process MUCH more comfortable. Will have to try this next year for the routine one. I always forget how bad they are.

2. Due to said beer, I can't tell you exactly what they saw that they needed a second look at, but part of it was "calcification." I think. At any rate, when they took the extra pictures of my poor squashed breast, they found nothing of note. I will not get the "come right away for a biopsy" card in the mail-- in fact, they held me there this time until it was read and gave me the results right then so I wouldn't go home and worry.

3. Group work is great for my students. And those who only come once in a while are hating the extra work they have to do at home to make it up. Very cool. Will probably have more drops this term from people who are realizing much sooner that coming once every couple of weeks and enduring a lecture will not in fact earn them a D. But those who are left will benefit.

4. I actually learned this a while ago, but reading in the fandom is a good way to get back into it.

Arsinoe de Blassenville's "The Best Revenge" is a great retelling of the books with some welcome changes. A little too perfect at times, but a neat "might have been" exploration.

I also really enjoyed a great EWE story last night: The Lost Chamber. Of course, there's a lot of stuff out there that holds no interest for me (PWP for instance.) But these two are raising new issues for me; probably more than rereading the books would at this point.

5. Rereading fic I've already read is not as helpful, but maybe as I get back into it, it may be. I'm still up for recs, if anyone wants to make them. I haven't read anything new in over 2 years, so feel free to go back to some outstanding things in that time span if you think of something.

Going to watch "Brother, Where Art Thou?" tonight as a treat. I've never seen it, but Beloved tells me I will love it. There may also be Ice Cream, as today was Traumatic.

( It is really different, being back in LJ land.... )

( On the writing front... )

There's also the existential angst I'm dealing with just now, which I will not go into at present. Except to note, that this, too saps one's strength. Or maybe that's just the cold.

Hugs to all.

I heard something interesting this morning on the BBC World Service, which broadcasts locally an hour later on Sunday mornings before NPR picks up. I dozed off halfway through, but what caught my attention again was this author saying that he was supposed to send the whole completed novel to the publisher about a month after he finished publishing it in the Observer, but he needed more time. He ended up taking a few more months to revise poor choices he made due to the time constraints, including "bringing back to life characters I'd killed off."

*blinks*. That's a pretty major revision.

( But it's gotten me thinking about how we -- how I -- write for this medium of Internet Fan Fiction. )

So, I signed up for summerofgiles. I know it's a ways away, and also that if I Really can't come up with a fic, I can always drop back and punt with some meta. One needs only peruse my journal and comments to see that self expression, of the analytical kind, is not one of my problems. But I'm trying to continue writing fiction, and that leads me to the reason for this post.

I'm trying to come up with an idea. What about Giles do I want to explore? Why?

I started going over in my mind the various relationships he has-- not sexual, because I can't write that. Too busy giggling, for one thing. I've read lots of it, and I applaud those who can do it. But for a variety of reasons that have no bearing on this discussion, that's not somewhere I'm able or willing to go. And really, it seems to me the fandom is if anything over-represented in the romance/ sexual relationship department. Real life has lots of other moments, and other kinds of relationships. What do they tell us about Giles, and about things in our lives that matter?

As I reflect on Giles and his relationships, I keep coming back to the realization that Jenny is the first and last time we see him interacting with another adult in a meaningful, connected kind of way. And I'm struck with how she really is unusual as a character in the Jossverse. ( Read More... )