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FOB Is The Key
Dec. 11th, 2007 11:06 amWeight: 166.8 lbs.
Time: 35 minutes
Distance: 3.12 miles
Speed: 6.0 mph
Calories: 317
These are stats for yesterday's workout. It went well, and I pushed myself pretty hard through a really tight lower left leg. I was half-limping through the last ten minutes, and there was a fairly good burn that started right around then. I'm proud of myself for going the distance, but I really ought to be drinking more water. I think that should solve a lot of the problem.
In other news, it's a good day for jackalopes:
http://eselgeist.livejournal.com/703567.html
http://mutleyjames.livejournal.com/258101.html (Thanks, Cooner!)
We're getting into the thick of the holiday season, which I couldn't be more delighted for. Ryan and I put up a tree over the weekend (our first time decorating ever) and we're really pleased with how it turned out. We're heading to Target tonight to, among other things, see if we can score some more icicle lights for the banister outside, and to return our craptastic wreath for a mo' better deer centerpiece because, you know, antlers rock the casbah.
I'm reading The Art of Fiction by John Gardner, and he made a rather interesting note that pulled a lot of things together for me. In a chapter discussing all of the conscious choices that a (serious) writer must make when constructing a story, he went over the various differences of the types of stories you can tell. When he got to the tale (folk or fairy), he spent a bit of time talking about how a tale operates, what makes it distinctive. According to this guy, the tale operates not out of a logical sort of causality, where one action leads to another, and the actions of your protagonist have clear consequences. The tale operates more on its own moral compass, so the crux of the action hinges on how things ought to happen, for better or worse. If your character's actions are motivated by his worst aspects -- vanity, or greed -- then the fate that befalls him must be nothing short of 'karmic' retribution for all of the misdeeds caused by his failings, whether they make sense or not. In the tale, the details that are important are the ones that reveal the moral state of the character, and how that affects his environment. In the tale, the moral balance should be square by the end: good people are rewarded, bad people are punished, and a sense of justice settles on the land.
When viewed in this light, my attraction to fantasy makes a lot more sense. :) I love to watch the universe taking care of people who are just trying to do the right thing, who have the faith in themselves, the people around them, and the world in general to keep true to that through adversity. In the tale, so the theory goes, in the end their faith becomes justified, even if not directly or obviously. The greater the challenge, the better the triumph; it's why shows like, say, Battlestar Galactica are so riveting. It takes the concepts and themes of the tale and tweaks them to the most extreme example; when what's at stake is nothing less than extinction, what moral aspects become most important, and which ones become bent or discarded?
It's also why The Last Unicorn is such a fantastic book. It takes these themes and turns them on their ears. Everything happens the way it 'ought' according to the tale, but not really; the reward becomes meaningless to the main characters in the face of the consequences wrought by their quest. Every single person becomes irrevocably changed, and not for the better. They may have saved the world, but also ended up losing themselves in the process. It's a very pyrrhic victory.
Anyway, this moral compass is also what informs my D+D style. I'm strongly attracted to clerics, paladins, and other characters who are willing to suffer personally for the greater good. The modern movement towards evil being more interesting chafes me for the same reason; it offends the sense of balance you get with the traditional tale.
I'm an idealist at heart; I really believe the universe finds a way to take care of people who really try. I like fiction that reinforces that, especially since it's harder and harder to find justification for that belief in the world. You have to have hope that the world you're in is a good place to be. Otherwise, how do you go on when things get difficult?
Lunch break is over. Must go back to work.
Time: 35 minutes
Distance: 3.12 miles
Speed: 6.0 mph
Calories: 317
These are stats for yesterday's workout. It went well, and I pushed myself pretty hard through a really tight lower left leg. I was half-limping through the last ten minutes, and there was a fairly good burn that started right around then. I'm proud of myself for going the distance, but I really ought to be drinking more water. I think that should solve a lot of the problem.
In other news, it's a good day for jackalopes:
http://eselgeist.livejournal.com/703567.html
http://mutleyjames.livejournal.com/258101.html (Thanks, Cooner!)
We're getting into the thick of the holiday season, which I couldn't be more delighted for. Ryan and I put up a tree over the weekend (our first time decorating ever) and we're really pleased with how it turned out. We're heading to Target tonight to, among other things, see if we can score some more icicle lights for the banister outside, and to return our craptastic wreath for a mo' better deer centerpiece because, you know, antlers rock the casbah.
I'm reading The Art of Fiction by John Gardner, and he made a rather interesting note that pulled a lot of things together for me. In a chapter discussing all of the conscious choices that a (serious) writer must make when constructing a story, he went over the various differences of the types of stories you can tell. When he got to the tale (folk or fairy), he spent a bit of time talking about how a tale operates, what makes it distinctive. According to this guy, the tale operates not out of a logical sort of causality, where one action leads to another, and the actions of your protagonist have clear consequences. The tale operates more on its own moral compass, so the crux of the action hinges on how things ought to happen, for better or worse. If your character's actions are motivated by his worst aspects -- vanity, or greed -- then the fate that befalls him must be nothing short of 'karmic' retribution for all of the misdeeds caused by his failings, whether they make sense or not. In the tale, the details that are important are the ones that reveal the moral state of the character, and how that affects his environment. In the tale, the moral balance should be square by the end: good people are rewarded, bad people are punished, and a sense of justice settles on the land.
When viewed in this light, my attraction to fantasy makes a lot more sense. :) I love to watch the universe taking care of people who are just trying to do the right thing, who have the faith in themselves, the people around them, and the world in general to keep true to that through adversity. In the tale, so the theory goes, in the end their faith becomes justified, even if not directly or obviously. The greater the challenge, the better the triumph; it's why shows like, say, Battlestar Galactica are so riveting. It takes the concepts and themes of the tale and tweaks them to the most extreme example; when what's at stake is nothing less than extinction, what moral aspects become most important, and which ones become bent or discarded?
It's also why The Last Unicorn is such a fantastic book. It takes these themes and turns them on their ears. Everything happens the way it 'ought' according to the tale, but not really; the reward becomes meaningless to the main characters in the face of the consequences wrought by their quest. Every single person becomes irrevocably changed, and not for the better. They may have saved the world, but also ended up losing themselves in the process. It's a very pyrrhic victory.
Anyway, this moral compass is also what informs my D+D style. I'm strongly attracted to clerics, paladins, and other characters who are willing to suffer personally for the greater good. The modern movement towards evil being more interesting chafes me for the same reason; it offends the sense of balance you get with the traditional tale.
I'm an idealist at heart; I really believe the universe finds a way to take care of people who really try. I like fiction that reinforces that, especially since it's harder and harder to find justification for that belief in the world. You have to have hope that the world you're in is a good place to be. Otherwise, how do you go on when things get difficult?
Lunch break is over. Must go back to work.
