I guess you're right about ridiculous things being capable of being written seriously. It's just one of the things that turned me off from my original ideas, though. Everything was so... grand, and so ridiculous, but I wrote it so seriously. My ex once asked me (about the Jesus story) "Isn't this supposed to be satire?" Well... no. Actually, no. And after a time I came to find it all so frustrating, like things didn't match up. And I can't really think of a "real" (Published) thing that is like that - ridiculous, but handled seriously. Discworld serious maybe, but that's very obviously satirical. Sigh. I don't know. I guess that's why I really wish I could latch on to that ghost story idea and write it; it's like, the only thing I've ever come up with that isn't totally huge and ridiculous. It actually makes a lick of sense.
Anyway. Moving on to real life. I am, indeed, a neat freak. If things are out of place, it really stresses me out. This is partly because I like things to be in their place, but also (I guess) because I was raised in a way that kind of drilled into my head... well, if you don't keep things completely neat and tidy, you're a bad person, basically. I know it's not true, but I guess my subconscious or whatever is stuck on that, because I'm always cleaning. Sigh. Anyway, yeah, I have seen that show - my mum watches it all the time. Crazy shit, that. ... And every time she watches it, she flips out afterward and starts cleaning everything. Ffffff.
Oh, and the thing about bookshelves not being practical - well, what I mean is, having a bookshelf is practical. Good storage. But getting it there is... difficult. I don't have any transportation, and there isn't a place within walking distance where I could get the materials to slap something together. Hell, the bus doesn't even go to wal-mart, so getting something that folds down would be difficult. So while I like the idea, it's not as easy as it might seem.
Travelling through time and spaaaace~ Why didn't I think of that? Fff. This kind of reminds me of conversations I've had with a friend of mine, a classics major. Occasionally we have these wailing and gnashing of teeth moments in which we lament the loss of so many manuscripts and scrolls and pieces of literature etc over the years. Then we make up grand plans to build a time machine and go way back to save all the stuff from the library at Alexandria and so on. Ahhh, I wish!
I've run into similar people who have a prejudice against Canadian stuff, especially the literature. I think part of the reason for this is a tendency toward thinking that Canadian literature is all about, you know, people freezing to death on the prairies and so on. I try to stress the difference between that and the kind of thing I study by saying "No, not Canadian literature. Literature by Canadians." And then they tend to go "Ohhhh okay". Sigh. I wish that wasn't necessary.
I only get annoyed with Canadian lit being considered its own section if it's the only division. Like, general lit section, then Canadian off to the side. I don't like that. It should all be together. But the used book store I really like, the reall big one, it has all literature divided into author-location. Canadian, American, English, Scandinavian, Eastern European, African etc. It's helpful for when I'm trying to find something specific, especially with old stuff where I can remember origin but can't quite remember the author (or there is no author, in case of anonymous work) such as with some medieval stuff.
...As for what's wrong with Boyden, I just can't stand his work. I had to read Through Black Spruce for a class last year and I just found it So. Incredibly. DULL. Oh my god. Normally I don't dislike books, but eh... no. His work is just so blech. (Whoa, real articulate thar, Yuu)
Yeah, I don't get how it could be nothing either. I mean, all this history in one place... it's incredible. Then again, any history at all, I find fascinating. Even just living in Nova Scotia for a while was amazing, because everything's so old there compared to back home in Fort Mac. Fort Mac, that place has no history. It's like it just sprung up out of the valley one day. So to think of things that have been around for ages... wow.
Re: Your comment of 25062 characters exceeds the maximum character length of 4300.
Anyway. Moving on to real life. I am, indeed, a neat freak. If things are out of place, it really stresses me out. This is partly because I like things to be in their place, but also (I guess) because I was raised in a way that kind of drilled into my head... well, if you don't keep things completely neat and tidy, you're a bad person, basically. I know it's not true, but I guess my subconscious or whatever is stuck on that, because I'm always cleaning. Sigh. Anyway, yeah, I have seen that show - my mum watches it all the time. Crazy shit, that. ... And every time she watches it, she flips out afterward and starts cleaning everything. Ffffff.
Oh, and the thing about bookshelves not being practical - well, what I mean is, having a bookshelf is practical. Good storage. But getting it there is... difficult. I don't have any transportation, and there isn't a place within walking distance where I could get the materials to slap something together. Hell, the bus doesn't even go to wal-mart, so getting something that folds down would be difficult. So while I like the idea, it's not as easy as it might seem.
Travelling through time and spaaaace~ Why didn't I think of that? Fff. This kind of reminds me of conversations I've had with a friend of mine, a classics major. Occasionally we have these wailing and gnashing of teeth moments in which we lament the loss of so many manuscripts and scrolls and pieces of literature etc over the years. Then we make up grand plans to build a time machine and go way back to save all the stuff from the library at Alexandria and so on. Ahhh, I wish!
I've run into similar people who have a prejudice against Canadian stuff, especially the literature. I think part of the reason for this is a tendency toward thinking that Canadian literature is all about, you know, people freezing to death on the prairies and so on. I try to stress the difference between that and the kind of thing I study by saying "No, not Canadian literature. Literature by Canadians." And then they tend to go "Ohhhh okay". Sigh. I wish that wasn't necessary.
I only get annoyed with Canadian lit being considered its own section if it's the only division. Like, general lit section, then Canadian off to the side. I don't like that. It should all be together. But the used book store I really like, the reall big one, it has all literature divided into author-location. Canadian, American, English, Scandinavian, Eastern European, African etc. It's helpful for when I'm trying to find something specific, especially with old stuff where I can remember origin but can't quite remember the author (or there is no author, in case of anonymous work) such as with some medieval stuff.
...As for what's wrong with Boyden, I just can't stand his work. I had to read Through Black Spruce for a class last year and I just found it So. Incredibly. DULL. Oh my god. Normally I don't dislike books, but eh... no. His work is just so blech. (Whoa, real articulate thar, Yuu)
Yeah, I don't get how it could be nothing either. I mean, all this history in one place... it's incredible. Then again, any history at all, I find fascinating. Even just living in Nova Scotia for a while was amazing, because everything's so old there compared to back home in Fort Mac. Fort Mac, that place has no history. It's like it just sprung up out of the valley one day. So to think of things that have been around for ages... wow.