| Crits |
[Jun. 14th, 2004|08:16 am] |
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My apologies for everyone, I was posting two crits last night when puter crashed, shall re-do them in the course of the day. |
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crossposted from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) lumatorium |
[Apr. 18th, 2004|11:51 pm] |
I actually came across this particular marvel a while ago but I thought it bore mentioning here.
So, what could be better than Tarot, with its ancient, elegant symbolism and dolphins, sweet jolly creatures that they are? Why, it's Tarot and dolphins put together!!! Magical.
For instant gratification, go here.
Firstly, as someone with an incomplete Tarot deck, I admire Ms. Kocsis's efforts in designing and completing her own and getting it published. Also, whatever I may think of the content of the images themselves, technically she seems quite skilled so kudos to her.
I take issue with it though for the following reasons:
1) It's hopelessly Twee. It has nothing at all to do with what Tarot symbolism is all about (there's no depictions of the mascluine for starters). They sell short the complexity, the richness and versatility of the Tarot. They reduce its intricate Archetypes to the level of stickmen drawn with crayon by four year olds on acid.
Fine, you might say. Not everyone gives a fuck about the inner masculine and feminine. They don't want to discuss Archetypes. Not everyone cares about symbolism and subtle meanings. Some people like mermaids and dolphins and want to look at pictures of them.
Nonetheless, I feel it is as representative of my craft as Ally McBeal was of lawyers and as such, express my disdain.
2) While it is certainly *different* from the classical Tarot imagery, I feel it is bland and fairly uninspired. It's women and dolphins. By contrast, an example of true visionary genius in a similar vein is http://www.womenanddogsuk.co.uk
3) She charges $75 for this infamy.
And the pleasure need not stop there. For added stimulation I suggest you view Samantha's guestbook. It showcases many insightful and delighful observations, but I was particularly grabbed by the following:
"Stunning deck! I just had to have it and it was worth every penny and more! I just love your colors and your vision of tarot. Out of all my decks (115) yours is the best! Keep creating your wonderful artwork"
Although I appreciate that Tarot is a magnificent thing owning 115 decks smacks a touch of obsession, to say the least. |
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thieved from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ladybug218 |
[Apr. 4th, 2004|09:46 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  awake | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | tori amos- wild horses | ] |
1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:
The book is The troublesome offspring of Cardinal Guzman by Louis de Bernieres, and the line is: "Her life as a whore had given her a great love of her freedom, but at this time she felt the lack of a helpmeet."
2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?
Coffee table
3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?
the film Regeneration
WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what time it is:
approx 10 am
Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?:
09:52 am
With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?:
Cars on the street, my mother on the other end of the phone.
7: When did you last step outside? what were you doing?
Last night to go shopping.
8: Before you came to this website, what did you look at?
The contents of hte fridge
9: What are you wearing?
pink t-shirt and black underwear
10: Did you dream last night?
Yes. Something convoluted.
11: When did you last laugh?
Probably a couple of days ago.
12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?:
Lots and lots of paintings, one wooden carving and some bookshelves.
13: Seen anything weird lately?:
Not that I can recall
14: What do you think of this quiz?:
It's more entertaining than listening to a list of blood kin's grievances.
15: What is the last film you saw?:
Regeneration
16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?:
A small tropical island. And some new bookshelves.
17: Tell me something about you that I don't know:
I used to study palmistry.
18: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?:
I would promote tolerance and the principles of the sacred feminine.
Or have politicians only permitted to dress as barnyard animals of thier choice.
19: Do you like to dance?:
Yes. :D
20: George Bush: is he a power-crazy nutcase or some one who is finally doing something that has needed to be done for years?:
Power-crazy moronic nutcase
21a: Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?:
Ivy
21b: Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?:
Mattei
22: Would you ever consider living abroad?:
In Yugoslavia for a bit, maybe. |
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| colour me turquoise |
[Apr. 1st, 2004|09:19 am] |
Your Energy is Turquoise. Full of fresh ideas,
liveliness, and imagination, you bring faith
and enlightenment to others. You usually
project a calm and cool exterior and are
capable of dealing with demanding events with a
take it in stride attitude. You tend to see
things clearly and dont panic easily.
You relate well to the world of ideas and anything
innovative. You would make an excellent
inventor, scientist, quantum physicist, airline
pilot, astronomer or New Age entrepreneur.
What color is your energy?
brought to you by Quizilla |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 22nd, 2004|03:57 pm] |
My Dad
22.03.1946-17.10.1989 |
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| the sad saga |
[Mar. 20th, 2004|06:34 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  excited | ] |
So today, I am finally getting my head around pennydreadfuls. It hath been driving me absolutely bonkers.
I tried writing trash, I really did, and I just couldn't do it. I tried making it into overblown victoriana but was unable to keep at it, even for a good cause. So I ended up deleting the lot.
THen I started toying with the idea of writing things in my usual style, fleshing out some of the storylines I had previously come up with, but I realised they were very character driven and I wouldn't be able to make them last plot-wise, probably because they never had a whole lot of plot to begin with. ;) Certainly I'd not be able to work cliffhangers into it, cliffhangers don't really figure in the sorts of stories I normally write.
But today my muse took pity on me, and inspiratin struck and I came up with a workable plot. I had been reading Julian Branston's The Eternal Quest (a nifty tribute to Cervantes and Don Quixote which gave me the spark of an idea which in turn caused my creative epiphany)
*excited bouncing*
here we go:
The Plot and the People (but as yet no title)
Cast of Characters:
Rue- an imperious, volatile and insane sorceress.
Akala- one of the nomadic tribespeople and her protector and guide.
Griffyn- lean mean thief, scavanger, street-smart mercenary. No loyalties except to himself, and no goals beyond survival and building a place of security in the world.
Sir Galahad Chamberlain, Knight of the Realm A chivalrous, dignified, idealistic old man, now mostly a relic of a lost age.
Silvenes A corrupt and lazy priest.
The Storyline:
An alternate universe, and a world in the wake of cataclysmic natural disasters and a civil war. The onetime King is dead, trade and commerce shattered, cities collapsed and survivors gathered in fortified villages and old keeps.
In the world the struggle for power is on, between various factions; in the West a dark mage of megalomanic inclinations is plotting to gain supremacy through finding and taking control of a lost, powerful arcane artifact. To this end he sends out his acolyte Griffyn to search for the relic and sew chaos and disorder throughout the wounded world.
In another place, an insane sorceress dreams of a magical artefact and where it can be found, and guided by her vision and one of the tribespeople who venerate her, she goes in search of it, in the company of an old knight setting out on one last quest hoping to attain the artefact and use it to help establish the dead king's son on the throne so that he may heal the rifts of a weakened kingdom.
The small company sets out on a perilous journey through the world. They are joined by Griffyn who hopes they will lead him to the relic so that he may use it for his own ends...
That's the basic premise. :) I've figured out more or less the beginning and the end and some of the twists in the middle. I think I've got enough material with the characters and the plot to keep me going and allow me to write in installments. :)
*off to brainstorm for titles* |
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| Things to do when you are ill |
[Mar. 10th, 2004|05:45 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  embarrassed | ] |
So, I went through my old fils on my computer. These are mostly writings from 1997 (seven years ago. Good God) and I did a lot of cringing. And a lot of deleting (even though I kept some of the files for amusement sake)
I cannot believe how prolific I was as a writer once upon a time. Or that I thought that the stuff I wrote looked good. That's the most unbelievable part. Kind of like people seeing pictures of themselves from the eighties I suppose and gagging at what they wore/their hairdos.
I still have some of my first stories from when I started writing about age 8 and they are full of little gems such as *Then the brave Bonjo ran away* (Bonjo was a dog. I have no idea how I came up with some of these names- it was probably the work of malefic immortals).
I remember at 17 that I started writing again, working on my fantasy epic Dragonsong and at 100,000+ words and not even complete an epic it is. And I showed it to people. And they seemed excitement about seeing the next installment, and they read it, and they said it was good.
Re-reading it now, I can only assume that they were kind but illiterate or that the bastards lied.
I don't know how on earth I got the idea that tossing a bunch of adjectives and emotion-laden words would make the writing good. Thinking it was good was a cruel illusion. It is not good. It is dreadful. It is the anathema of everything I consider good writing.
1) It is obvious 2) It really fucking overloads on the adjectives/and the excessively flowery/emotive language (e.g. Briallen felt a leaden heaviness rip through her heart, she howled her unbearable piercing anguish to the silent idyllic wood) 3) the majority of my characters were far too fit 4)anything of my storylines which could be gleaned from between the adjectives was heavy on angst, drama and romanticism. It was unsubtle for the most part. I left little to the imagination, or to the intellectual capacities of the reader. I kept telling the reader what to think (e.g. calling my characters courageous, explainign the feelings a situation brings up) instaed of allowing the reader to exercise their own cognitive faculties and make up their own mind.
I really am thinking of deleting the whole lot because it is not something I want associated with my name. I am tempted however to take segments and post a then and now thing. An original piece and what I would do to it now (aside from burn the thing).
Graaght. Just graaght. I understand that I was young, and I was learning. But still. *shudder*
I have this same reaction when I think of some of my ex-bfs. I would like to think that if I met them now, I wouldn't even have lunch let alone consent to sleep with these people. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 1st, 2004|10:18 am] |
I've messed around with the look of my journal and now it is pretty and purple.
*pets screen*
Toying with the ideas for pennydreadfuls and I think I will make it swords'n'sorcery type deal. I have a novella called Dragonsong written some six years ago (and quite frankly dire)which I think I can restructure and resurrect. It was an action/adventure type deal and it was dreadful.
I don't read fantasy much anymore, tend to find it dreadful but I was addicted to it once. I admit that I am a perfectionist and I have disowned my early writings (tend to cringe in horror when I read them) but the basic ideas were good as were the basic worldbuilding elements so they are all things I long to come back to another time.
My idea number 2 is to write a trashy romance novel, something I have had a long-standing hankering for. I require the presence of tack damnit, now that I no longer have Channel 5 {*insert disconsolate weeeping here*}.
Hot pink feather boas are just not enough by themselves. |
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| The joy of 69 |
[Feb. 25th, 2004|04:10 pm] |
Story written for this weeks musemuggers challenge which was to write a story exactly 69 words long.
( The boy who drowned )
and the second is a story for Nance who pointed out that if you are writing a 69 word stories you really should have at least one dirty one.
It's sick and twisted but so am I.
( A Welsh Romance )
I actually really like the format, so I hope to be adding on more bits and pieces later as I found them easy to write. |
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| Giggliness |
[Feb. 19th, 2004|12:26 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  amused | ] |
Donald Rumsfeld's Kung Fu. :)
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| I have CDs :) |
[Feb. 18th, 2004|07:36 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  loved | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Dar Williams- Beauty of the Rain | ] |
Two of them in fact: Bill Hicks and Dar Williams. I'd been yearning for both for ages.
I've been a Dar fan for a while now, and happily I think she continues to get better. I loved The Green World but I'm even more deeply enchanted with The Beauty of the Rain
One of the reasons why I love Dar is because her songs read like poetry to me and sometimes feel like they speak directly of the stuff that I have experienced.
( The Mercy of the Fallen by the Lovely Ms. Williams )
I have been singing a lot in the past few days ever since I had a dream last week in which I was a rock star and belted out rock tunes onstage. I am really inhibited about my voice based partially on the reach of my father's shadow (he had been an opera singer before he gave it up) and getting told as a child that I sounded like a crow.
My dad had the voice that could stop your breathing and send shievers down your spine. An incredible, rare, profound and resonant voice and an unusual range (bass baritone). I've known from the beginning that even if I had the purest voice ever I could never match his, and thanks to his own spectaculalrly inept teachings of me I am really terrified of music, but occasionally I get music inside me that demands to be let out and I just sing and although I haven't a clue what my voice actually sounds like I know I've hit the right pitch and the right note and it is like a little bit of magic right there. Because I find my own groove and it is though something inside of me is allowed to be set free, though I can only do this when I am alone, I freeze at the thought of someone listening to me.
Last time I saw my therapist we ended up talking about fire, it being the element which I am most lacking in and how to connect with it, how to summon it into my life in a method other than my usual one of surrounding myself with fiery people. ;) One of my ways of doing that is through art, I use a lot of reds, and another is through the singing.
Doing illustrations has really made me forget how much I actually love painting and how freeing it is for me when I allow myself to mess around with colours and surreal imagery.
A few days ago I had a dream in which I came across a man who had many caged animals and I pleaded with him for thier libeartion. Now, I usually suck at dream analysis when it comes to me but sometimes something clicks and I can see patterns and themes.
THere were many tied up animals, but in particular I was drawn to a young elephant in a cage (the elephant equivalent of a ten year old human child). It was chained by a leg and shot full of arrows. On the floor of the cage were snakes in a sack. When I was writing the dream down in my journal it clicked with me that the elephant was me, my child self so I've set about fidning all my old colours and doing sketches for a series of paintings I am calling Releasing the Elephant |
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| oooh. I'm brilliant allegedly. |
[Feb. 18th, 2004|03:51 pm] |
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You're Roots!
by Alex Haley
While almost everyone agrees that you're brilliant, no one knows quite
how to categorize you. Some say that you're a person with an amazing family tree. Some
say that you're just a darn good storyteller. Others say that you're both and don't much
care where to draw the line. What is known is that your people have been through a great
number of trials and that you are where you are because of hard work. You have nothing to
lose but your chains.
Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 16th, 2004|09:05 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  wacky | ] |
My goodness, I've had a difficult time getting back into the swing of things.
Lately I've been really happy for two reasons: 1) my friend Nance is back and out and about (*excited bouncing at the return of spiritual twin*), 2) I am finally getting real clarity in my life and relationships and 3) I have two new pink t-shirts.
I am back, or trying to be, although my brain still hasn't had time to catch up with me and do organised things like write and make comments on other people's writing.
Hurray for the gay wedding fest in San Francisco: http://www.authenti-city.com/friday.htm (link stolen from the very lovely auzerais )
This, I think, is just too good not to be shared everywhere:
http://www.uglyweddingdress.com
ANd I am glad when I finally get around to taking over the world I can get all my needs cateref for at: http://www.villainsupply.com
Also, no reason not to celebrate being single when one can be meeting new friends at: http://www.meet-an-inmate.com
My goodness, how I love the web. |
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| Not the Standard Holiday News |
[Jan. 22nd, 2004|11:02 am] |
I may be staying around longer than expected. I don't know yet, it will all depend on what happens in the next few days, whether I can move my ticket, whether I can get better healthcare here than in Britain.
During a routine checkup to look at something else (blood glucose and testosterone levels) they found a huge increase in another hormone, prolactin. It was fine in October, now it is through the roof.
Prolactin is a hormone secreted in increased levels during pregnancy and after childbirth to stimulate the production of breast milk. Since I'm not pregnant and am not breast feeding its presence in my blood stream is odd, and possibly a cause for concern.
The thing they want to rule out really is a (*insert drum roll here*)... brain tumour.
So, further blood tests to double check prolactin levels and see what the other hormones are doing and then an MRI scan.
Isn't life fun?
I was due to leave a week from today, so now I need to decide how worried I should be, and how much longer I'd need to extend my stay. I imagine in England the process would be a lot slower than here, a week to see my GP, weeks for them to refer me, and so on.
I am not really worried. It's a possibility not a certainty right now, and I think I am informed that prolactinomas (or the prolactin secreting tumours of the pituitary gland {pea-sized thing at base of brain}) are some of the most benign and slow-growing tumours around.
And besides which it would be the greatest excuse for not working. Yeah, sorry, can't come in to work today, still have brain cancer. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 19th, 2004|12:31 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | awake | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | doves on the balcony | ] |
Oh yes, I meant to say this before.
I am on vacation til end of Jan, scanty puter access and much to see and do in little time.
Apologies to the Musemuggers but looking forward to reading and writing again properly after I get back to UK.
*scatters some greetings and snowflakes* |
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