Three Birds
Oct. 3rd, 2003 11:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jakebe
Hey there, all...
So this week has been a virtual treasure trove of good conversation with roommates and neighbors. I don't know if it's the newfound passion simmering inside of me or what, but it's been easy to talk to people the past few days. More than that, they actually care about what I have to say. Wonders never cease. :) I do have to be careful about not talking *too* much, though. You don't really learn anything by talking all the time.
I've been working on the Mustsy story as much as I can all week, but between work and home-drama there are a lot of opportunities that have just slipped by. :/ I do like the concept, but already I'm noticing all of these holes in the execution; but then, that's what other drafts are for. :) One benefit of the whole thing is that it's breaking me of the whole 'things have to be perfect the first time' school of writing. I'm more concerned with just getting something *out*, producing the raw clay from which I can mold something a bit more shapely.
One of the problems with Mustsy is that the group isn't gelling quite as well as I would like it to; we've had two cycles so far, and there always seems to be that one who joins (under arm twisting, I'll admit) but doesn't write anything, another who'll do the assignments but not the critique or the final story, and me, the flake, who should probably be trying to do more to motivate people and bring us all together. We've all got busy lives, though, and it's hard to really focus on this. That was the whole point, though; we *make* time, we dedicate ourselves to this seriously or go the fuck home. I think with the next cycle, I'll try and take a more active role...I just don't want to be breathing down someone's neck to get things done. I'd rather someone want to be there, than have to squeeze turnips to produce a story. Undoubtedly, we'll probably have to drop two people after this cycle; I already have two other people in mind for the next one, but I think I might need to talk to Laz about where we want to go after this. I think once we find people who are really dedicated to the idea of Mustsy, we'll be able to relax and have fun with it and it won't be such a big hassle.
Of course, it would help if I was a little more dedicated myself. You can't make a perfect cake from a flawed tin. <:) Just when I think it's safe to go back into the world of Harry Potter, something else piques my interest and lures me away. I think after I read these next couple books I'm going to make it a point to have Book 5 (and the rest of the series) finished by New Year's. Hopefully, I can pull it off. I went and saw this movie called "The Order" a couple weeks ago with Ryngs, and it was all right. I'm a sucker for anything about priests and men of faith, and Ryngs is pretty big into it, too, so we had to go see it by default. ;) Anywho, it was about this Catholic priest of a small, dying order dealing with a Sin Eater -- a fellow who offered to consume your sins before you died so you could find absolution outside of the Church. It was an interesting concept, even if the execution was pretty bad. So, I became curious about the custom of sin-eating. Apparently, this is one of the few movies that have done a bit of homework about it, so I decide to ask Charles about it. He's Irish Catholic, right? He should know. :) Turns out the movie is completely wrong; the concept of sin eating is, I'm told, a pretty pagan idea that was biggest in Ireland and Wales, and in those areas of the world it was tolerated and at times encouraged by the Church. There was a big ritual behind it, but the ritual took place after death, and it was just a little extra insurance to make sure a soul was favored by the deities while they went on for extraspiritual adventures. Suddenly, it occurred to me that this information was a missing piece of a story I had written for...things other than writing. :) I had this story somewhat figured out, but it never quite clicked with me...now it does! Hoo hah!! :D It makes the 'villain' a bit more sympathetic, and it makes the 'victim' a bit more...sullied. There's no clear-cut sense of right and wrong anymore; everyone did what they felt they had to, and it just so happened they clashed because of it. Whee!! Now I think I can tell the story I need to with impunity. :) I love it when things work out...and I picked up this neat book that features sin-eating by Mary Webb. I already forgot the title, but I'll be reading that over the weekend. In other news, NARFA continues to be a little soap opera. There's various bits of conflict floating around (though it seems to have simmered down a bit) and a really good friend of mine is being faced with the very real possibility of having to leave. He needs a roommate *badly*, and I'd take him up on it if there were any possibility of not messing things up for my current roomies too badly. I don't know, I'm really going to have to look at my options here. :/ And with that, off to try and get more bikers to read, and sneak into a back room to write mustsy stuff. Shh. :)
So this week has been a virtual treasure trove of good conversation with roommates and neighbors. I don't know if it's the newfound passion simmering inside of me or what, but it's been easy to talk to people the past few days. More than that, they actually care about what I have to say. Wonders never cease. :) I do have to be careful about not talking *too* much, though. You don't really learn anything by talking all the time.
I've been working on the Mustsy story as much as I can all week, but between work and home-drama there are a lot of opportunities that have just slipped by. :/ I do like the concept, but already I'm noticing all of these holes in the execution; but then, that's what other drafts are for. :) One benefit of the whole thing is that it's breaking me of the whole 'things have to be perfect the first time' school of writing. I'm more concerned with just getting something *out*, producing the raw clay from which I can mold something a bit more shapely.
One of the problems with Mustsy is that the group isn't gelling quite as well as I would like it to; we've had two cycles so far, and there always seems to be that one who joins (under arm twisting, I'll admit) but doesn't write anything, another who'll do the assignments but not the critique or the final story, and me, the flake, who should probably be trying to do more to motivate people and bring us all together. We've all got busy lives, though, and it's hard to really focus on this. That was the whole point, though; we *make* time, we dedicate ourselves to this seriously or go the fuck home. I think with the next cycle, I'll try and take a more active role...I just don't want to be breathing down someone's neck to get things done. I'd rather someone want to be there, than have to squeeze turnips to produce a story. Undoubtedly, we'll probably have to drop two people after this cycle; I already have two other people in mind for the next one, but I think I might need to talk to Laz about where we want to go after this. I think once we find people who are really dedicated to the idea of Mustsy, we'll be able to relax and have fun with it and it won't be such a big hassle.
Of course, it would help if I was a little more dedicated myself. You can't make a perfect cake from a flawed tin. <:) Just when I think it's safe to go back into the world of Harry Potter, something else piques my interest and lures me away. I think after I read these next couple books I'm going to make it a point to have Book 5 (and the rest of the series) finished by New Year's. Hopefully, I can pull it off. I went and saw this movie called "The Order" a couple weeks ago with Ryngs, and it was all right. I'm a sucker for anything about priests and men of faith, and Ryngs is pretty big into it, too, so we had to go see it by default. ;) Anywho, it was about this Catholic priest of a small, dying order dealing with a Sin Eater -- a fellow who offered to consume your sins before you died so you could find absolution outside of the Church. It was an interesting concept, even if the execution was pretty bad. So, I became curious about the custom of sin-eating. Apparently, this is one of the few movies that have done a bit of homework about it, so I decide to ask Charles about it. He's Irish Catholic, right? He should know. :) Turns out the movie is completely wrong; the concept of sin eating is, I'm told, a pretty pagan idea that was biggest in Ireland and Wales, and in those areas of the world it was tolerated and at times encouraged by the Church. There was a big ritual behind it, but the ritual took place after death, and it was just a little extra insurance to make sure a soul was favored by the deities while they went on for extraspiritual adventures. Suddenly, it occurred to me that this information was a missing piece of a story I had written for...things other than writing. :) I had this story somewhat figured out, but it never quite clicked with me...now it does! Hoo hah!! :D It makes the 'villain' a bit more sympathetic, and it makes the 'victim' a bit more...sullied. There's no clear-cut sense of right and wrong anymore; everyone did what they felt they had to, and it just so happened they clashed because of it. Whee!! Now I think I can tell the story I need to with impunity. :) I love it when things work out...and I picked up this neat book that features sin-eating by Mary Webb. I already forgot the title, but I'll be reading that over the weekend. In other news, NARFA continues to be a little soap opera. There's various bits of conflict floating around (though it seems to have simmered down a bit) and a really good friend of mine is being faced with the very real possibility of having to leave. He needs a roommate *badly*, and I'd take him up on it if there were any possibility of not messing things up for my current roomies too badly. I don't know, I'm really going to have to look at my options here. :/ And with that, off to try and get more bikers to read, and sneak into a back room to write mustsy stuff. Shh. :)
