ramble, ramble :D
Jun. 17th, 2006 08:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
floatingleafThe semi-tropical Chicago summer has officially set in. It's been hellishly hot and stuffy for most of the day - and now it looks like there's going to be a small tornado.;) (Not that I'd ever seen a REAL one, mind you - but it's getting dark sooner than it should, and the wind is tossing clouds of dust - as well as some leaves and little twigs - around.)
Also, I spent most of Thursday and Friday evenings making another lovely folk music tape for my car player, as well as printing out gorgeous Viggo & Orli pics for my scrapbook.:) Yes, sometimes I do feel like a happy teenager.:D In the so-called meantime, more of my recently ordered CD's arrived - and I had a wild ball dancing to the 9-minute live version of The Strawbs' Where Is This Dream of Your Youth. There is so much FIRE in this piece - especially the untamed instrumental improvisation in the middle... *sigh* I had downloaded the song from Napster before - but it was a much shorter studio version, and it was bland. So I had to order the live album... and I am very happy that I did. It is a nice edition, with a beautiful cover and a quaint, old picture of the band inside (incidentally, one of the musicians looks EXACTLY like Billy Boyd in his Pippin wig... LOL). And now I actually have all the Strawbs' songs that I remembered from my favorite radio program - as well as some more that are just as breathtaking. So I can try putting them all on an mp3... (I wonder if I'll be able to figure out how - I'd never done that before... LOL)
And then there is Lacrimosa. Powerful, dark, mind-blowing gothic rock from Germany. Or symphonic black metal - or whatever else they call it.;) I don't care for labels - but the music is astounding. Very melodic, even lyrical at times - but still full of energy and force. Sweeping is the word, I believe.;) And there is lovely black&white artwork on the album covers, plus gorgeous photos inside; as well as lyrics in both English and German (the songs are performed in either of the two languages, i.e. some in English, some in German - but all the lyrics are provided in both). I still haven't had the time to savor it all properly - since I feel it would be a horrible offense to listen to THAT kind of music before nightfall ;) - but I get a thrill just looking at the covers. Oh God, I still have so much beauty to discover as far as music is concerned... I could never really afford to explore it to my heart's content - and now that I finally can, I am going to make up for the lost time as fast as possible... LOL.
And the movies... I have so many movies I want to see again that I don't know where to start (including LOTR, which I haven't watched in months). I won't even go into the list of books to read, for that will just make me frustrated. I can barely decide what to read as far as fanfic is concerned. I don't want to miss out on anything good, but I simply don't have the time to plunge into everything that floods my inbox. So I tend to just delete the stories that fail to intrigue me within the first paragraph. It is cruel, I know - but it is the only way. And so many fanfiction stories are like those American action thrillers - all based on the same scenario. Not that I could actually write something more original - if I could, I probably would have by now... LOL. Which is one of the main reasons I write so little - the thought that I would probably delete my own stuff after reading the first paragraph... *sigh*
Still, I often find myself frustrated with stories that have an interesting plot, but fail to follow some simple grammatical or logical rules of the English language. I know this may sound incredibly snotty, since I am not a native English speaker, and some of the authors I'm talking about here are - but I can't help the fact that it bugs me, and that I often think to myself: OMG, this could be great - if ONLY she would use a beta!!! Yes, I am anal about grammar, spelling and such. I have always been. It won't stop me from reading a story with a good plot, but it will make my teeth hurt.;) (And I'm not talking about obvious typos - these can happen to anyone... even me.:D) There is particularly one type of language error that I keep seeing everywhere, including fics by people who are otherwise really good; and I can't help but wonder where it's coming from. Let me give an example (NOT a direct quote from anyone's fic, mind you - I wouldn't do that, and it's not the purpose of this post to point my finger at people; I'm just wondering why this particular error is so widespread within the fandom): Stretching out on the sofa, his mind drifted. According to simple logic, this sentence tells me that it was his mind who was stretching out on the sofa. Does anyone see my point?... (assuming that anyone is stil reading this at this point... LOL) Another example (again, I made this sentence up): Looking at the clock, the glowing numbers told him that he was already late. Here, regardless of the author's intention, I can't help getting the idea that some strange glowing numbers are looking at the clock... and then telling the hero that he is late. Absurd? Yes, but I swear it keeps popping up in nearly every fic I read (and I DON'T read stuff that has more than three stupid errors per sentence... LOL). I don't think I can honestly name ONE fanfic author who consistently manages to avoid it, native speaker or not (okay, maybe I could find one or two - but again, that's not the point). I am beginning to wonder whether English speaking people in general actually realize that it's an error. Or maybe I am mistaken and it has long been officially accepted, the way some "incorrect" usages are after becoming widespread enough. But somehow I think not. And when I see this in a fic by one of my favorite authors, I feel like banging my head against the wall. It's like "You too, Brutus?!?..." to me.;D
This coming from someone who has never written a proper story (meaning more than a thousand-something words in one go). Yes, call me a snotty, anal bitch.;) But I had to say what was on my mind. And I am really curious what English native speakers might have to say on the subject. Maybe I really am delusional and no one cares about such petty language slips anymore...
Also, I spent most of Thursday and Friday evenings making another lovely folk music tape for my car player, as well as printing out gorgeous Viggo & Orli pics for my scrapbook.:) Yes, sometimes I do feel like a happy teenager.:D In the so-called meantime, more of my recently ordered CD's arrived - and I had a wild ball dancing to the 9-minute live version of The Strawbs' Where Is This Dream of Your Youth. There is so much FIRE in this piece - especially the untamed instrumental improvisation in the middle... *sigh* I had downloaded the song from Napster before - but it was a much shorter studio version, and it was bland. So I had to order the live album... and I am very happy that I did. It is a nice edition, with a beautiful cover and a quaint, old picture of the band inside (incidentally, one of the musicians looks EXACTLY like Billy Boyd in his Pippin wig... LOL). And now I actually have all the Strawbs' songs that I remembered from my favorite radio program - as well as some more that are just as breathtaking. So I can try putting them all on an mp3... (I wonder if I'll be able to figure out how - I'd never done that before... LOL)
And then there is Lacrimosa. Powerful, dark, mind-blowing gothic rock from Germany. Or symphonic black metal - or whatever else they call it.;) I don't care for labels - but the music is astounding. Very melodic, even lyrical at times - but still full of energy and force. Sweeping is the word, I believe.;) And there is lovely black&white artwork on the album covers, plus gorgeous photos inside; as well as lyrics in both English and German (the songs are performed in either of the two languages, i.e. some in English, some in German - but all the lyrics are provided in both). I still haven't had the time to savor it all properly - since I feel it would be a horrible offense to listen to THAT kind of music before nightfall ;) - but I get a thrill just looking at the covers. Oh God, I still have so much beauty to discover as far as music is concerned... I could never really afford to explore it to my heart's content - and now that I finally can, I am going to make up for the lost time as fast as possible... LOL.
And the movies... I have so many movies I want to see again that I don't know where to start (including LOTR, which I haven't watched in months). I won't even go into the list of books to read, for that will just make me frustrated. I can barely decide what to read as far as fanfic is concerned. I don't want to miss out on anything good, but I simply don't have the time to plunge into everything that floods my inbox. So I tend to just delete the stories that fail to intrigue me within the first paragraph. It is cruel, I know - but it is the only way. And so many fanfiction stories are like those American action thrillers - all based on the same scenario. Not that I could actually write something more original - if I could, I probably would have by now... LOL. Which is one of the main reasons I write so little - the thought that I would probably delete my own stuff after reading the first paragraph... *sigh*
Still, I often find myself frustrated with stories that have an interesting plot, but fail to follow some simple grammatical or logical rules of the English language. I know this may sound incredibly snotty, since I am not a native English speaker, and some of the authors I'm talking about here are - but I can't help the fact that it bugs me, and that I often think to myself: OMG, this could be great - if ONLY she would use a beta!!! Yes, I am anal about grammar, spelling and such. I have always been. It won't stop me from reading a story with a good plot, but it will make my teeth hurt.;) (And I'm not talking about obvious typos - these can happen to anyone... even me.:D) There is particularly one type of language error that I keep seeing everywhere, including fics by people who are otherwise really good; and I can't help but wonder where it's coming from. Let me give an example (NOT a direct quote from anyone's fic, mind you - I wouldn't do that, and it's not the purpose of this post to point my finger at people; I'm just wondering why this particular error is so widespread within the fandom): Stretching out on the sofa, his mind drifted. According to simple logic, this sentence tells me that it was his mind who was stretching out on the sofa. Does anyone see my point?... (assuming that anyone is stil reading this at this point... LOL) Another example (again, I made this sentence up): Looking at the clock, the glowing numbers told him that he was already late. Here, regardless of the author's intention, I can't help getting the idea that some strange glowing numbers are looking at the clock... and then telling the hero that he is late. Absurd? Yes, but I swear it keeps popping up in nearly every fic I read (and I DON'T read stuff that has more than three stupid errors per sentence... LOL). I don't think I can honestly name ONE fanfic author who consistently manages to avoid it, native speaker or not (okay, maybe I could find one or two - but again, that's not the point). I am beginning to wonder whether English speaking people in general actually realize that it's an error. Or maybe I am mistaken and it has long been officially accepted, the way some "incorrect" usages are after becoming widespread enough. But somehow I think not. And when I see this in a fic by one of my favorite authors, I feel like banging my head against the wall. It's like "You too, Brutus?!?..." to me.;D
This coming from someone who has never written a proper story (meaning more than a thousand-something words in one go). Yes, call me a snotty, anal bitch.;) But I had to say what was on my mind. And I am really curious what English native speakers might have to say on the subject. Maybe I really am delusional and no one cares about such petty language slips anymore...
