Centerfold

Mirrored from the latest entry in Daron's Guitar Chronicles.

(Today is the last day to donate to the art campaign! Click for more details.)
–

Susan Walsh set a tape recorder on the coffee table and cleared her throat. “Oh, yeah, ” she said brightly, as if she was picking up a piece of earlier conversation, even though we hadn’t had any conversation yet, “Michael said to apologize for him.”

Blank stares from our side. “Who?” I said.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Introverted Writer and Other People’s People

Watched Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lighting Thief with my mom and dad (whom I’m visiting this week). And it brought up a whole bunch of thoughts for me.

First off, on the subject of watching movies in the first place. I don’t do it often. I go to see maybe 5 movies a year, typically on opening night as a social sort of thing (Harry Potter, Star Trek, etc) and once in a while because everyone has raved (Inception). But my parents are retired and they like movies. My dad has always loved movies and thinks the Turner Movie Channel is the most awesome thing ever. Well actually he finally just got a DVR, and THAT is now the most awesome thing ever. Since he knew I was coming to visit, he has been SAVING UP movies on it that he thinks I might like watching.

Also right now, I am in the middle of reading a PILE of books, as I’m on a couple of award juries right now. So I’m reading things like Katharine Beutner’s ALCESTIS (Greek myth retold from a female point of view, and just one step to the literary left of Jacqueline Carey, good stuff) that I would not probably have gotten around to picking up in a bookstore.

But the thing is, although I do buy a fair number of books every year, the majority of them are nonfiction. I don’t buy a lot of fiction. I’ve been telling myself for years it’s because if I’m going to read a novel, I should read one in my slush pile instead of one for fun. For fun and enjoyment I actually read 5-6 published novels a year. About the same number as I take in movies, actually.

This may not be a coincidence. Sitting here with my dad, who has saved up movies I might like, it’s becoming clear to me that I am not just “too busy” to read or to watch movies usually. (I also have no TV.) I make a real effort to stem my intake of fictional media. This effort used to be unconscious, but I’m becoming more and more conscious that I do it on purpose. The question is, why?

Read the rest of this entry »

Mirrored from blog.ceciliatan.com.

The Introverted Writer and Other People’s People

Watched Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lighting Thief with my mom and dad (whom I’m visiting this week). And it brought up a whole bunch of thoughts for me.

First off, on the subject of watching movies in the first place. I don’t do it often. I go to see maybe 5 movies a year, typically on opening night as a social sort of thing (Harry Potter, Star Trek, etc) and once in a while because everyone has raved (Inception). But my parents are retired and they like movies. My dad has always loved movies and thinks the Turner Movie Channel is the most awesome thing ever. Well actually he finally just got a DVR, and THAT is now the most awesome thing ever. Since he knew I was coming to visit, he has been SAVING UP movies on it that he thinks I might like watching.

Also right now, I am in the middle of reading a PILE of books, as I’m on a couple of award juries right now. So I’m reading things like Katharine Beutner’s ALCESTIS (Greek myth retold from a female point of view, and just one step to the literary left of Jacqueline Carey, good stuff) that I would not probably have gotten around to picking up in a bookstore.

But the thing is, although I do buy a fair number of books every year, the majority of them are nonfiction. I don’t buy a lot of fiction. I’ve been telling myself for years it’s because if I’m going to read a novel, I should read one in my slush pile instead of one for fun. For fun and enjoyment I actually read 5-6 published novels a year. About the same number as I take in movies, actually.

This may not be a coincidence. Sitting here with my dad, who has saved up movies I might like, it’s becoming clear to me that I am not just “too busy” to read or to watch movies usually. (I also have no TV.) I make a real effort to stem my intake of fictional media. This effort used to be unconscious, but I’m becoming more and more conscious that I do it on purpose. The question is, why?

Read the rest of this entry »

Mirrored from blog.ceciliatan.com.