Sarah Monette's Blog, page 87
August 7, 2009
5 things make a post
1. My (rather pathetic) Storytellers Unplugged column for August is here.
2. WATERLOG (yesterday)
TIME: 41 min.
DISTANCE: 5 mi.
TOTAL DISTANCE: 258.1 mi.
DISTRACTION: The Dead Zone, "Enemy Mind"
SHIRE RECKONING: In thickets
3. This Dead Zone episode gets points for giving the girl agency. She has hard-earned knowledge that Johnny doesn't; she is an active participant in saving herself. My worst problem with the episode, which is purely my problem, is that the cougar is so beautiful I keep forgetting it
2. WATERLOG (yesterday)
TIME: 41 min.
DISTANCE: 5 mi.
TOTAL DISTANCE: 258.1 mi.
DISTRACTION: The Dead Zone, "Enemy Mind"
SHIRE RECKONING: In thickets
3. This Dead Zone episode gets points for giving the girl agency. She has hard-earned knowledge that Johnny doesn't; she is an active participant in saving herself. My worst problem with the episode, which is purely my problem, is that the cougar is so beautiful I keep forgetting it
August 1, 2009
UBC: Enemy at the Gates
Craig, William. Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad. 1973. New York: Penguin Books, 2001.
I found this book deeply problematic. Partly this is because I am irredeemably fussy and will nitpick anything to death, given half a chance. But I think my fundamental concern is a valid and important one. In this book, Craig has made some choices with which I vehemently disagree. One is to tell the story of Stalingrad rather than the history, which he does by largely turning the progress of the s
I found this book deeply problematic. Partly this is because I am irredeemably fussy and will nitpick anything to death, given half a chance. But I think my fundamental concern is a valid and important one. In this book, Craig has made some choices with which I vehemently disagree. One is to tell the story of Stalingrad rather than the history, which he does by largely turning the progress of the s
July 31, 2009
Waterlog
TIME: 42 min.
DISTANCE: 5.5 mi.
TOTAL DISTANCE: 253.1 mi.
DISTRACTION: The Dead Zone, "The Siege"
SHIRE RECKONING: We've crossed the Great East Road. Go us!
I liked the beginning of this episode, with the undercutting of the bank robbery clichés: it's hard to rob a bank in a small town where you've lived all your life. And big props to Stephen E. Miller as the bank robber. Otherwise . . . meh. Predictable every step of the way, and although I can understand why they didn't show the cause-and-effect p
DISTANCE: 5.5 mi.
TOTAL DISTANCE: 253.1 mi.
DISTRACTION: The Dead Zone, "The Siege"
SHIRE RECKONING: We've crossed the Great East Road. Go us!
I liked the beginning of this episode, with the undercutting of the bank robbery clichés: it's hard to rob a bank in a small town where you've lived all your life. And big props to Stephen E. Miller as the bank robber. Otherwise . . . meh. Predictable every step of the way, and although I can understand why they didn't show the cause-and-effect p
July 29, 2009
signal boost
Cherie Priest is running a silent auction to help a friend, and Subterranean Press is pitching in. Cool stuff, good cause.
IBARW
This is International Blog Against Racism Week. The community is
![[info:]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380438191i/890855.gif)
ibarw, and is collecting links.
Racism, like all kinds of bigotry, is a blight on our species. It makes me angry and impatient that we haven't fixed it yet (yeah, like it's that simple, I know, I know)--and I'm someone privileged by the status quo. I don't want to be privileged, and I think it's important to understand that the opposite of privilege is not oppression. This is a frequently made and frequently unarticulated mistake th
ibarw, and is collecting links.Racism, like all kinds of bigotry, is a blight on our species. It makes me angry and impatient that we haven't fixed it yet (yeah, like it's that simple, I know, I know)--and I'm someone privileged by the status quo. I don't want to be privileged, and I think it's important to understand that the opposite of privilege is not oppression. This is a frequently made and frequently unarticulated mistake th
July 24, 2009
Waterlog
TIME: 42 min.
DISTANCE: 5.3 mi.
TOTAL DISTANCE: 247.6 mi.
DISTRACTION: The Dead Zone, "Unreasonable Doubt"
SHIRE RECKONING: This is going to take a while.
Twelve Angry Men, this ain't. I do give them credit for dealing with race head on, even if unsubtly and (in places) clumsily, and likewise with the issue of sexual assault--although there they opened up a can of worms much much larger than they were prepared to deal with, as the awkward little meet-cute with the sports nut and the assault victim at
DISTANCE: 5.3 mi.
TOTAL DISTANCE: 247.6 mi.
DISTRACTION: The Dead Zone, "Unreasonable Doubt"
SHIRE RECKONING: This is going to take a while.
Twelve Angry Men, this ain't. I do give them credit for dealing with race head on, even if unsubtly and (in places) clumsily, and likewise with the issue of sexual assault--although there they opened up a can of worms much much larger than they were prepared to deal with, as the awkward little meet-cute with the sports nut and the assault victim at
July 22, 2009
Waterlog
TIME: 42 min.
DISTANCE: 5.3 mi.
TOTAL DISTANCE: 242.3 mi.
DISTRACTION: The Dead Zone, "The House"
SHIRE RECKONING: Attacked by Nazgul! Aieeee! Frodo has been pierced by a Morgul blade, and is being packed off Weathertop on a pony.
This episode actually had surprising quantities of win, most but not all of which were named David Ogden Stiers.
Things that annoyed me:
1. The opening voice-over sequence (which, seriously, guys, could you not combine it with the credits and cut down the wasted space?):
A. It
DISTANCE: 5.3 mi.
TOTAL DISTANCE: 242.3 mi.
DISTRACTION: The Dead Zone, "The House"
SHIRE RECKONING: Attacked by Nazgul! Aieeee! Frodo has been pierced by a Morgul blade, and is being packed off Weathertop on a pony.
This episode actually had surprising quantities of win, most but not all of which were named David Ogden Stiers.
Things that annoyed me:
1. The opening voice-over sequence (which, seriously, guys, could you not combine it with the credits and cut down the wasted space?):
A. It
July 21, 2009
Look, Ray! Turtles!
![[info:]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1380438177i/889613.gif)
yuki_onna has a really smart post about why writing is work.
matociquala has a really smart post about a different aspect of why writing is work.I do not have a really smart post about anything, because my brain has collapsed like a flan in a cupboard. But I do have a sale! A drabble, "Extract from 'Horror in Pierre Lucerne: Suburbia, Alienation, and the Rejection of Community,'" to The Magazine of Speculative Poetry. I am so happy about this I could . . . well, I don't know what, but I'm happy.
July 20, 2009
Public appearance
Next Monday, July 27, at 7 P.M., I will be speaking at the Bartholomew County Public Library in Columbus, Indiana. The event is free and open to the public, so if you are or will be in the area, feel free to come!
Waterlog
TIME: 41 min.
DISTANCE: 5 mi.
TOTAL DISTANCE: 237 mi.
NOTES: Apparently the blisters and the shin-splints are trading off. :P
DISTRACTION: The Dead Zone, "Netherworld"
SHIRE RECKONING: Still not king. Still haven't reached Weathertop.
This episode owes a lot to Jacob's Ladder . In other news, Chris Bruno is growing on me (although he still isn't Sheriff Bannerman), and John L. Adams deserves an award for NOT phoning in his crap sidekick role.
DISTANCE: 5 mi.
TOTAL DISTANCE: 237 mi.
NOTES: Apparently the blisters and the shin-splints are trading off. :P
DISTRACTION: The Dead Zone, "Netherworld"
SHIRE RECKONING: Still not king. Still haven't reached Weathertop.
This episode owes a lot to Jacob's Ladder . In other news, Chris Bruno is growing on me (although he still isn't Sheriff Bannerman), and John L. Adams deserves an award for NOT phoning in his crap sidekick role.
