when you leave the light the colour fades

[crankyoldman]

Good things!

+ Andy Hunter's new album, Colour. I has it. It is lovely. I love Andy. It will be on repeat all day.

+ The other cool sewing machine that we have. Too bad it doesn't work well (the belt needs to be replaced, I think). It is a pretty color, though.

+ BLT!

+ Having the updates done from ff_fanlisting and phoenixmonthly BEFORE LUNCH.

+ Getting my bookmooch book that I needed to send in the mail.

+ Going to get a haircut and possibly a refrigerator for my dorm room next year (which will then get passed on to my sister, I've been borrowing fridges up until now).

+ Hearing from more old friends. Some of which are students, English teachers, and graphics designers. Truefact: I'm the only engineer.

Bad things!

+ SOMEONE STOLE MY LUNCH. No, really. I had a frozen meal in the freezer and I go over to eat it during lunch AND IT'S GONE. After interrogating the minions, and some false leads, the conclusion is that one of the programmers did it. I left them a capslock post-it, stating simply "WHOEVER ATE THE FROZEN FETTUCINI. THAT WAS MINE!" signed by me. Things like these only further the developer/programmer divide. At least My Favorite Little Restaurant is nearby and I got a BLT. Still, I'm trying to save monies.

+ Well, I still have a little hope. Egads, the ONE reality show that I watch, mainly because the "reality" aspect is downplayed by the creations may have just jumped the shark. But I'll likely start watching it anyway, as Lifetime is a channel we have at school (unlike Bravo).

+ Finding out that a friend's house got destroyed in the recent flooding. :< She wasn't there, she's joined the military, but her mom let us know what had happened. I'm trying to convince her mom to let me buy her lunch one day, and relax for a bit.

Ponderments!

So I was thinking about Literature.



I've always been divided on the issue. On the one hand, you do to somewhat need to be required to read certain things, if only for exposure. If not for academic bowl, I never would have been exposed to 1920s and 1930s literature, which remains my favorite period of writing (and it's not all angst and drama, there's just something about that group that sees things in a way that isn't whiny). I actually loved The Lord of the Flies when I read it sophomore year of high school (I was done before my teacher had even given us the first reading assignment and I ended up reading it several times). On the other hand, a lot of really good books get left out (typically ones from non British-American countries, anything that hints at fantasy or science fiction). While it's true that a lot of "new" fiction doesn't thrill me (I try, it's just written so... simply. Not economically, just dully) I still think that certain things get a bad rap.

Maybe it's just the area I was raised, but when given an assignment for "feminist" literature, I had to read Sylvia Plath. Who... I dislike. A lot. Words cannot describe how much I cannot stand how this woman writes. But when left to my own to read, I found Virginia Woolf, who is quite progressive and subversive, but isn't nearly so widely recognized. Part of it has to do with the language; Woolf's time was farther away than Plath's. And yet, Woolf speaks to me more, despite the vast differences in cultures (she doesn't hide her snobbishness, which is in a way refreshingly human). Both are considered classic writers, but is Plath more classic than Woolf, due to exposure?

If I hadn't met drakonlily, I wouldn't have been exposed to the treasure trove that is German and South American lit. Oh. My. God. Ingeborg Bachman was another writer that just spoke to me. Anyone that has ever survived a bad relationship would really get The Book of Franza. And it doesn't weigh you down, it releases you. And while in the translation, something might have been lost, it's still fantastically done.

And now I'm reading some James Joyce, and despite my inability to get through Ulysses, I rather enjoy how he writes. I like how his stories in Dubliners are like normal people stories; there are no heroes, no moral lessons, and usually no denouement. It was jarring at first, but now I've gotten used to it and I get the humor and it's really quite good. And yet I don't like John Steinbeck, who tries similar things, but just falls flat, in my humble opinion.

Which is the literature, and which isn't? Well, I think all writing with a certain amount of effort qualifies. It doesn't mean it's good or enjoyable, but it is significant. This can crop up in any story, by any sort of author. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom is a story I find significant, and consider it literature. It's a slice of the types of thoughts and feelings (and technology, judging by its distribution) of the time. A hundred years from now, it might be lost. I like Shakespeare, but only when viewing it as a play, which is the media it was meant to be.

Anyway, I was just thinking about it. There's a reason I keep my hobbies as my hobbies and my work as my work.

~Cendri

Comments

[astralavator.livejournal.com]

I know I’ve been trying to add a classic book here or there in my own reading merely to know the stories because their referenced so often so I suppose for me literature would be what’s still remembered.

Though I’ll say, it seems from the stand point of fantasy; writers are fairly slopping with their writing at least modern ones.

It kind of strange you didn’t read your school books several times.

Sewing machine is nifty looking and Andy Hunter’s Wonderful song from the Fairy Tales Light mix however you would reference that was quite addictive.

[venefica-aura.livejournal.com]

Well, I read through a LOT of books when I was in public school, as I was bored. A lot. So I made up for rereading by just reading constantly. Engineering kind of killed that for a while, as I literally had no time until this past year. And I'm going to take time out during dinnertime to read a little next semester, for sanity's sake.

And here's Smile (http://www.sendspace.com/file/aw3xms) because it's a good song. "Wonderful" is from Life which was the last EP he did before Colour came out (which basically just happened). Andy Hunter is just feel good techno awesome. I'm probably going to write a full review, because it deserves it.

Though, I need to upload July's muxtape! I suddenly remembered. XD

~Cendri

[astralavator.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the song it is cute.

I see, I was raised on the principle you read an assigned book once for pleasure then once for the academic reasons then if you still have time available once for review. My dad is a bit a freak for thoroughness.

[venefica-aura.livejournal.com]

I was one of those annoying people that retained everything on the first try usually. It's really a good thing I chose a hard major in college, else I would have probably turned out a complete asshole. XD

~Cendri

[astralavator.livejournal.com]

This was a bit tricky to answer as I would say I never read stories more than once for retention. I usual did it for the sake of understanding. Like I read over stories I’m planning on reviewing several times so I can give my most honest impression.

Besides your writing occasionally has inconsistencies so how could you be annoyingly retentive. ~_^

[venefica-aura.livejournal.com]

Oh, I used to be that way. I didn't start posting writing until after college got ahold of me. XD It's clearly something I grew out of. Like Matilda with her powers or something. I finally hit a level where things didn't come naturally.

~Cendri

[astralavator.livejournal.com]

You could do all the mulituplication tables in your head, awesome.