Taven Moore's Blog, page 28
January 16, 2014
Putting Old Books To Pasture
This is probably going to scandalize many of you (we all do love books here) but I am taking 2014 to read through the books I once called beloved.
I am reading them.
And if they are not up to snuff, I am patting them gently on the cover as I set them in the donation pile.
Already, more books have fallen to the reaper than have survived. (Ace, the Very Important Pig did not make it, but Babe, the Gallant Pig stands strong).
Even as I set them aside, I do still see in them the spark that had me love them, and it has been oddly more sweet than bitter to revisit them. I’ve changed, but I will always remember them fondly.
Has anyone else ever gone through and done this or something similar?
Related posts:
[Perry] Books That Grow Up With Us
[Perry] Pringles Books
Update on Books
January 15, 2014
[Perry] Music That Tells A Story
Have you ever run into it before?
You hear a song and, as you listen to it, it speaks to you. It tells you a story. it carries your emotions on its refrains and it talks to you.
And no, I don’t mean songs like this or this.
I mean songs that have no words to them. Instrumental songs that ply your emotions and speaks to you in words formed of melody and choice of instrument.
I’m talking about a song like this one.
Yes, I’m talking about Bioshock again, but listen to that song.
The strings are used to deepen the tone of the song and to evoke a sense of poignancy and melancholy.
The crescendos and the thing that sounds like the bridge, marks the lowest and highest point in her story.
Listen to the song.
Do you hear it?
When the song starts, you’re introduced to our protagonist, locked in a tower, pining away for life in the outside world.
Then, you have that swooping down of the strings that starts at 0:26-0:28. The big rush of strings, all lowering together depicts our hero, thrust out into a world that isn’t at all what she imagined. Indeed, she starts coming to the realization that the world can be a cruel and hard place.
But she thinks that maybe she can stay bright. So long as she doesn’t give up hope, so long as she believes, she can still remain this brilliant spot of light in this dark and shadowed world.
But then? 0:57-1:00. The crash. Despite everything she’s done, she realizes that she CAN’T escape the grim darkness of the world. That no matter how hard she tries to stay bright, it catches up to her. It enfolds her in its embrace and forces her to take part.
It tells her that the darkness is the way of the world. It puts the scissors in her hands and gives her no choice but to plunge them into someone’s back.
This moment in the song? This is when she cuts her hair.
The Elizabeth of the child-like joy and the LOVE for the sense of newness to the world is gone.
And older, sadly wiser, Elizabeth stands in her place, certain that nothing but darkness can exist in the world.
But then? 1:50. Redemption. This isn’t the big, sweeping, triumphant chorus of trumpets, blaring out a call to glory.
No, this is quieter than that.
Simpler.
This is the joining of minds to a singular purpose. As you hear the strings, coming up alongside the main note to help support and uplift it, you realize, as Elizabeth does, that no matter how dark the night, the dawn will always break. Redemption is always possible for those with the strength of will and the imagination to reach for it.
And she does.
And the song ends on that note.
It is not a triumphant note. It is not a victorious cry.
It is a soft sound, the sound someone makes as they come to terms with an action they’ve taken that seems horrible, but is the best of all possible remaining choices.
It’s the sound of someone coming to grips with the fact that they’ve become a murderer, but secure in the knowledge that it was done for the right reasons and that one terrible act doesn’t make one a terrible person.
…at least, that’s what the song says to me.
What does it say to you?
Are there other songs out there that tells you a story through the language of notes and instrument? Without being bogged down with words?
What kind of story does it tell you?
Related posts:
Turning Your Music Into A Ringtone Via ITunes
Christmas Music
[Perry] How the Ending Can Ruin the Tone of the Story
January 10, 2014
January 8, 2014
[Perry] Time for Something New
Any writers in the audience? Stand up so’s I can see y’all.
(Did I use y’all correctly? I don’t use it as much as I do “eh,” so I’m a little worried heh).
How about drawers? Hands up?
Scultptors?
Painters?
Musicians?
Raise a hand, stand up, cheer and shout. Let the rest of us know that we’re not alone.
Okay, good crowd here.
It’s a new year, do you know what that means?
Maybe you’re a bit burned out from your artistic efforts of the last year. maybe your goals didn’t go quite as planned, maybe you had to shitcan a few more story ideas or pottery pieces than you really wanted to. Maybe everything’s gone crappy last year and your energy’s on a low ebb.
That’s okay.
Maybe things went SUPER well for you last year! Maybe you completed all of your projects, or you got a regular gig with your band at a club downtown. Maybe everything’s turning up aces and you’re positively OVERFLOWING with energy.
That’s okay too.
It’s a new year, guys. Let’s DO something about it.
Let’s try something new.
TRY SOMETHING NEW!
It’s a new year! We all still have energy (I’m assuming).
If your artistic endeavors all panned out last year, you must be coasting on a bit of an energy high so you’re all on board.
And for the rest of us, maybe things didn’t go QUITE the way we wanted them to but the start of a new year usually has a lot of energy floating around, what with new resolutions and decisions to really knock em dead this year?
Let’s use some of that energy!
Let’s try some new things!
Writers, try out some different formats! Try out 100 word stories! Try recording an audiobook of one of your works! Create a simplistic blog and try publishing a story in web serial format, so that you can’t go back and edit something that’s already gone up, just to see where that takes you!
Artists, try something new! Switch from painting on a canvas to pencil and ink for a month, see if that stirs up any other creative juices. Try out a digital medium with a tablet and photoshop for a spell, see if you can do more work that way.
Sculpting? Try using different materials. Switch from clay to metals. Try 3d modeling on the computer, animations.
It’s a NEW YEAR.
Do you guys know how crazy that is?
It’s another TURN AROUND THE SUN, whizzing around through space.
It’s a great time to shine on and try new things! Garner new experiences!
Try something new! Tell the rest of us of your progress or what you’re planning to try this year!
Not for serious, not life or death.
But fingerpainting!
Fun!
Play! Play!
Related posts:
[Perry] Magic Systems: The Bait and Switch
[Perry] Wherein Not All Things Need To Be Ambitious
[Perry] Things to be Shared
January 6, 2014
Harry Potter 3 Discussion
December
December’s gone. Hopefully the group is still hanging on, which would mean that we’ve all finished reading the third book in the Harry Potter series — Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
This was actually the last of the books that I saw the movie version of, oddly enough, so it was interesting when we reached the end and some of the things I remember (Snape standing between the kids and the werewolf, the kids luring Buckbeak away with ferret corpses…) didn’t happen.
I think this was the first book with a complex storyline, though even the first book (which focused mainly on introducing the world and characters) had some nice mysteries and clever surprises.
From the beginning, we see plenty of set up for the mystery of the Prisoner and who he was and what really happened the day that Harry’s parents were killed. I don’t think it was the sort of mystery we could be expected to have figured out? But it was fun nonetheless and I liked how much this personally mattered to Harry.
Once again, however, we see the adults acting like morons and the only sensible voice for the big events being our characters. The Buckbeak storyline pervaded more of the story than I remembered and yet somehow these kids are the only ones actually doing research and being reasonable about what happened?
Let’s not even talk about how unbelievable it was that dementors would be allowed to keep attacking Harry and that no adult AT ALL PERIOD EVER would have listened to the truth about Black, and the only real solution was to send the kids back in time to fix everything.
The scene in the Shrieking Shack felt VERY dark in comparison to the preceding books, and I have to wonder whether the adults actually would have allowed Harry to choose whether or not Wormtail was to die.
And I hate that poor Hermione seems to get injured or cause some issue that keeps her from being a part of the last two books. I was, however, VERY glad to read the scene with Hagrid, as it was one of the times when an adult gave them good advice and they listened to it.
Poor Hagrid. I still love him, flobberworms and all. Shame that the first Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher they’ve had who was really good had to leave.
And I still can’t stand Snape. Movie Snape was much more likeable, and even he was a pretty dark individual. Book Snape is pretty nasty.
And I love Crookshanks. Also, I may have cried a little during the early scene where Hedwig made sure that Harry got birthday presents for the first year ever. A little. Just a tiny bit.
I loved the bits with the boggart and how much Harry practiced to master his patronus, and the scene where he finally summoned the fully-formed patronus to protect himself from the Kiss was still hugely impactful.
The “rogue” Animagus thing is also interesting, and completely believable, given the way the students were able to create a polyjuice potion in the last book. Which really makes me think about just how dangerous and difficult it would be to have a magic school. NORMAL kids are impossible to control. Magic kids would be a huge nightmare. Like handing everyone a chainsaw, nailgun, and a box of dynamite on the first day of middle school.
Your Thoughts?
As always, hit me up in the comments with your thoughts on the book!
Related posts:
Harry Potter 1 Discussion
Harry Potter 2 Discussion
Harry Potter Book Club
January 3, 2014
January 2, 2014
2013, The Year of Sushi
So. There went 2013. *insert whooshing sound here*
I can’t say it was my favorite year, or even a year that will rank up there with any other years.
That being said? It did have some lovely things that happened. Brightest and boldest of which was the visit from Perry. Easily the highlight of the year, and our one-Christmas-Ornament-A-Year tradition is a red ball with googly eyes and a nervous expression.
I also read a lot of great books and watched a lot of great shows and played some great games. Yes, these are all consumption-style activities, but I am not going to be too hard on myself. Firstly, it’s pretty sad to have been a writer who hasn’t read many recent books. That’s been remedied, and the only shows I gave my time to gave back in wonderful character and plotting discussions with my husband.
And the games were fun.
I was directly paid to write, not once but TWICE this year. That’s pretty hallmark and amazing, even though I know I was a lazy bum for the majority of the year and didn’t accomplish my personal writing goals. I can’t let the bad overshadow the good, though. GOOD HAPPENED.
Plans for 2014 include a copy of P90X3. 30 minutes instead of the upwards-an-hour from P90X1, so hopefully that’ll be a little more gentle on both our bodies AND our schedules.
I have a FANTASTIC new job, which I love. My new coworkers are incredible and I love the atmosphere. Steven also has a shiny new job, which HE loves, with incredible coworkers and the kind of atmosphere that encourages nerf gun battles to break out. For the first time, neither of us is holding down a job to help the other finish school or get on their feet. We both have jobs we care about that challenge us, and it shows.
(For those who worry, Steven is a software engineer for Dell Software, not a salesman at Toys R Us)
I also ate a LOT of fantastic sushi with a lot of fantastic people. Perhaps I should call 2013 the Year of Sushi, because I feel like so many of my warm, happy social memories involve it.
Anyway, 2013 was a year of small awesomes rather than big awesomes, and there’s nothing wrong with that, no matter what my perfectionist tendencies might tell you.
Thank you all for being here with me in 2013. Let’s go make 2014 a year of BIG awesome, shall we?
Your Turn
Now you. What was something awesome that happened to you in 2013? Even if it was just a small awesome.
Small Footnote
I am also making one other small change. I will only be blogging ONCE a week rather than twice. Most weeks, that will be on Monday, but some weeks it’ll be on Thursday. (Fun tidbit, you’ll note that the Thursday ones happen on weeks I forget to schedule something for Monday!)
Related posts:
[Perry] New Years
Resolutions For a New Year
2013 Reading List (As of March)
December 31, 2013
[Perry] New Years
Another year come and gone…how the times does fly.
I could do the whole cliched thing here. I could talk about all of my resolutions for the previous year and how I achieved, or failed to achieve, my goals.
I could talk about any resolutions that I may make for this coming year, 2014, and how I aim to do better with regard to fulfilling any promises that I make today, the first day of the year.
I could do these things…but I don’t think I will.
No, I don’t think I will.
I would tell you that every day is goddamned precious and not to be wasted.
I would tell you that every day of the year, I come to newfound realizations of how valuable and limited our time is.
I would tell you that life its to be cherished…
But?
I think you all know that already, whether I tell it to you or not.
I think variants of the same thought run through your own minds.
So, instead, I will do something a little different instead.
Thank you, all of you, for your contributions to my 2013.
Thank you all for the conversations, the laughter, and the thoughts that you have all instilled.
Just…thank you all.
And Happy New Year.
Related posts:
Holiday Traditions
Turning Negative Self Talk into Positive Self Talk
[Perry] An Ode to Shovelling Snow
December 27, 2013
December 26, 2013
Happy Holidays to All
No real post today. Just happiness and love and a hope that you’re somewhere warm and your belly is full of something delicious. I hope your holidays were wonderful, regardless of what you celebrate and why.
Related posts:
Happy Holidays!
Happy Herbivore Cookbook Giveaway!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
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