bullet points aren't nearly as much fun as the ticky box

* Yahoo! News -- Cuomo to announce settlement with lenders

I wasn't aware of the student loan ... I don't know what to call it ... scandal until this morning. It's incredibly disturbing, to say the very least. I am also deeply concerned because I attended NYU. So the question is, when did all of this go down and how do I find out.


* yhlee is having interesting thoughts about Lindsey as Wesley in AtS. I don't have deep thoughts to offer but I am particularly drawn to this:

Angel takes Wesley in and models redemption for him (cf. "Five by Five" and "Redemption"). Angel takes Lindsey in temporarily and abandons him to his fate, allowing Holland Manners to bind Lindsey even more closely to Wolfram & Hart. (Really truly, I wrote Itineraries because Angel's treatment of Lindsey frustrated me so much, and I wanted to explore an alternate possibility.)

( My Questions )

* By way of yhlee -- oracne on writing:

The way to find out? Is to write. To try out that other pov and see if it works better. Also, to do what I did long ago with another project, and write some scenes out of order, to take out the stress of trying to find the ideal opening scene. Also, to overcome the fear of starting again. Because it is fear, every time. The fear of will this be any good? And every time, it must be overcome.

( I'm trying to make it to the other side of the bridge )

* greygirlbeast is righteously indignant. Having just finished, and thoroughly enjoyed, the book in question I don't blame her. The reviewer has got things ass backwards. I don't care for using profanities like crazy but if it makes sense, if it "sounds" right for the character and for the story then it never bothers me. I never even noticed it in Daughter of Hounds because it was organic to the characters, if that makes sense. If it hadn't rung true then it would have jarred me out of the story. Never once, not one damn time was I ever jarred out of that story. Kiernan has a way about her. She's that writer that I want to become. When I grow up one day, if I drink all my milk, eat all of my spinach, maybe I'll be half as talented.

ETA That review was BAD. And I don't mean bad because she didn't like the book, but bad because it's just very, very, very poorly written. A poorly written review of an excellent novel ... that's just so wrong. If you're going to pan a book can you at least pay it the respect of writing a decent review of it, get it grammar and spell checked won't you!! Especially if you're doing it on the scale of something like Book Fetish. I'm just sayin'.

* Finally, National Poetry Month continues with ( ee cummings )

Meta: Adult and Adolescent Bodies on BtVS and Angel

Currently I've got two writing projects going simultaneously. It's an interesting endeavor to keep things progressing on both because sometimes I can't decide which one to work on because I have thoughts on both pieces. Oddly, What Not to Wear was cranked out on a slow day at work when I was bored. It is a one-off, unbeta'd, 500+ word flash fic about the maturation of Cordelia Chase.

It isn’t accidental that I wrote What Not to Wear because I've been thinking about physical bodies and spaces on BtVS and Angel for a while now. I’ve also been watching WAY too many episodes of What Not to Wear. I don't have a complete handle on my thoughts, so bear with me, please.

What I noticed was this:


1. Simplistically, Angel equals the adult world and, surprise, surprise, BtVS equals the adolescent world. The Scoobies spend seasons 1 through half of season 5 on campuses. Season 7 sees a return to the campus first through Dawn and later Buffy’s job as counselor. They move from high school to college and although college can be considered a primer for the "real world" (read adulthood), it is a relatively safe and contained nexus. If we equate adulthood with tragedy and gainful employment, Season 5 should mark the beginning of Buffy’s transition. However, it isn’t until season 7 shoves a very resistant Buffy into the leadership role (as a leader of the SIT’s), I would argue, that Buffy actually becomes, and is considered, an adult. The obvious moment of transition would be Lies My Parents Told Me, but I would say that as early as Bring on the Night, Buffy begins that movement.

( Read more... )