Reading while dead
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
How sweet to be a cloud!
Writing!
Yes - I am writing - 2,400 odd words today. Most satisfying. And the sun shone - and the garden was lovely. I am still worried that my characters are speaking in a weirdly stilted almost Jane Austenish way - I must read more books set in the period. At the moment I am reading Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth - which is great, full of useful phrases. But need to read more and absorb more.
Sunday, 25 September 2011
International Reach/Folkestone Triennial
One of the tiny solipsistic fascinations of this blog is seeing where it is being read. Everytime a new country appears on the map I feel quite excited - even though I know no one is really reading it - just flipping past the page. One of the mysteries of the audience stats though is that while some countries appear in the weekly stats, they disappear when it comes to the all-time stats - which is why I have apparently lost my readership in Italy, Indonesia,. India and the Philippines. Rather sad. No matter, I am recording them here.
We went to Folkestone again yesterday. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfectly warm and lovely. We saw the ships in St. Eanswyth's church - like a lot of visitors we found the church more fascinating than the work - although it was an interestingish idea... boats all facing east - the Resurrection, the journey of life etc. Ships were all decorated with plastic flowers, jewellery etc. M thought of the votive offerings of ships in Roman temples - and I thought about the annual opening and closing of the maritime seasons in the Med. But really the church was far more interesting. Very high - lingering smell of incense - and heavily decorated during 19th and early 20th with very florid angels etc. Also some nice glass - a 17thC tomb, a medieval tomb and the relics of St Eanswyth...Lovely churchyard. Really Folkestone has some nice bits. After lunch we walked down to see the installlation about Algerian lighthouses, which was very beautiful - wonderful images and an interview with a lighthouse keeper who clearly lived a monastic life there. Then we went down in the lift and heard the Martin Creed music - basically 2 descending scales based on a note the lift makes as it squeaks into life... amusante!
I am still thinking a lot about this sort of art. I mean the Martin Creed thing - it's an interesting idea, it amuses one. It's clever to exploit the squeak of the lift like that but - ? So what? OK - it's suggesting a connection between music and a random sound... but - well, that's it. And that's the trouble with a lot of this sort of art. It makes a connection which may or may not be familiar - so there may or may not be a moment of recognition - but it doesn't have much resonance with something else. But perhaps for some people it does, perhaps for some people it's a short cut to something that they might not get otherwise.
The Zinab Sedira work about the lighthouse keepers was lovely because it was beautiful - it was a sort of documentary - but done with multiple screens that make one's eyes dash about from place to place, giving a sense of being there - and giving one a great deal more information or experience than a purely linear piece would have. It was an "educational" experience - learned about something, but also was washed with beautiful images, some of which passed before my eyes as I was falling asleep last night - and of course lighthouses do have a sinister feeling. It wasn't clear whether they were land based or island based (one was certainly land based). It is those isolated ones that just emerge from the sea that seem so sinister.
Tuesday: we went to see the newish Gerard Depardieu film Potiche - it was very enjoyable and silly. Gerard has definitely lost it in the looks department - (I can't talk). Afterwards when we went to collect the car the sky was incredibly starry. It's that time of year when I don't really recognise the constellations - is that Aquila or Lyra? No sign of Orion - but Jupiter low in the sky (we argued about this, M said it was Mars, I said it wasn't red enough and anyway Mars was in Leo so not visible during the night, while Jupiter was in Taurus; he was disgusted to find I was doing anything with ephemeris charts). But I saw a shooting star - at the time I was too busy feeling irritated to enjoy the feeling - and now it seems a miracle to me - I hardly ever see shooting stars. I no longer want to share the rapture - I am just feeling irritated by M's responses, and his mind swamping mine when I want to enjoy things - and he wants to talk all the time! Silent contemplation is not his thing. I don't know. He's so kind and good - but another 30 years of irritation....maybe I'll change again, and become more engaged with him, but it doesn't seem to be happening, despite my efforts. I don't think having another relationship is the answer - sometimes I just want to be alone. But I must beware of what I wish for...
We went to Folkestone again yesterday. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfectly warm and lovely. We saw the ships in St. Eanswyth's church - like a lot of visitors we found the church more fascinating than the work - although it was an interestingish idea... boats all facing east - the Resurrection, the journey of life etc. Ships were all decorated with plastic flowers, jewellery etc. M thought of the votive offerings of ships in Roman temples - and I thought about the annual opening and closing of the maritime seasons in the Med. But really the church was far more interesting. Very high - lingering smell of incense - and heavily decorated during 19th and early 20th with very florid angels etc. Also some nice glass - a 17thC tomb, a medieval tomb and the relics of St Eanswyth...Lovely churchyard. Really Folkestone has some nice bits. After lunch we walked down to see the installlation about Algerian lighthouses, which was very beautiful - wonderful images and an interview with a lighthouse keeper who clearly lived a monastic life there. Then we went down in the lift and heard the Martin Creed music - basically 2 descending scales based on a note the lift makes as it squeaks into life... amusante!
I am still thinking a lot about this sort of art. I mean the Martin Creed thing - it's an interesting idea, it amuses one. It's clever to exploit the squeak of the lift like that but - ? So what? OK - it's suggesting a connection between music and a random sound... but - well, that's it. And that's the trouble with a lot of this sort of art. It makes a connection which may or may not be familiar - so there may or may not be a moment of recognition - but it doesn't have much resonance with something else. But perhaps for some people it does, perhaps for some people it's a short cut to something that they might not get otherwise.
The Zinab Sedira work about the lighthouse keepers was lovely because it was beautiful - it was a sort of documentary - but done with multiple screens that make one's eyes dash about from place to place, giving a sense of being there - and giving one a great deal more information or experience than a purely linear piece would have. It was an "educational" experience - learned about something, but also was washed with beautiful images, some of which passed before my eyes as I was falling asleep last night - and of course lighthouses do have a sinister feeling. It wasn't clear whether they were land based or island based (one was certainly land based). It is those isolated ones that just emerge from the sea that seem so sinister.
Tuesday: we went to see the newish Gerard Depardieu film Potiche - it was very enjoyable and silly. Gerard has definitely lost it in the looks department - (I can't talk). Afterwards when we went to collect the car the sky was incredibly starry. It's that time of year when I don't really recognise the constellations - is that Aquila or Lyra? No sign of Orion - but Jupiter low in the sky (we argued about this, M said it was Mars, I said it wasn't red enough and anyway Mars was in Leo so not visible during the night, while Jupiter was in Taurus; he was disgusted to find I was doing anything with ephemeris charts). But I saw a shooting star - at the time I was too busy feeling irritated to enjoy the feeling - and now it seems a miracle to me - I hardly ever see shooting stars. I no longer want to share the rapture - I am just feeling irritated by M's responses, and his mind swamping mine when I want to enjoy things - and he wants to talk all the time! Silent contemplation is not his thing. I don't know. He's so kind and good - but another 30 years of irritation....maybe I'll change again, and become more engaged with him, but it doesn't seem to be happening, despite my efforts. I don't think having another relationship is the answer - sometimes I just want to be alone. But I must beware of what I wish for...
Friday, 23 September 2011
Market update
Actually, the markets didn't crash today - if anything they reacted enthusiastically to the news that Einstein may have been wrong.
Osama - conspiracy news!
The latest thing I have heard about Osama bin Laden is that he was a CIA operative in Afghanistan, supporting the Mujahideen while the Russians were there. This is interesting. It sort of helps explain the friendship with Bush family, and a few other items. Is it true? Si non e vero, e ben trovato.
Where does this come from? A very paranoid friend of mine who encountered him (did he? or did I just dream that?) in Afghanistan many years ago - he was told at the time that he was a CIA guy... so this isn't some recent bit of conspiracy theory (as if that made any difference). He is making the point that any research about 9/11 in the States becomes tantamount to Holocaust denial. Apparently a lot of journalists have lost their jobs for investigating inconvenient truths.... but then again, he quoted a couple of really silly conspiracy type info.bites about film showing the building crumbling and NO PLANE. I explained about digital editing. he was disappointed. I expect Ned and Finn could do that, so do keep up! And the passport thing is just stupid. What possible proof could that provide?
Where does this come from? A very paranoid friend of mine who encountered him (did he? or did I just dream that?) in Afghanistan many years ago - he was told at the time that he was a CIA guy... so this isn't some recent bit of conspiracy theory (as if that made any difference). He is making the point that any research about 9/11 in the States becomes tantamount to Holocaust denial. Apparently a lot of journalists have lost their jobs for investigating inconvenient truths.... but then again, he quoted a couple of really silly conspiracy type info.bites about film showing the building crumbling and NO PLANE. I explained about digital editing. he was disappointed. I expect Ned and Finn could do that, so do keep up! And the passport thing is just stupid. What possible proof could that provide?
Change in the laws of physics causes Stock Market crash
A headline we will probably not be seeing.
I am fascinated about this particle that apparently goes faster than the speed of light. Everyone is saying "but it can't be true" and that the equipment they were using for the last 3(?) years must be defective.
My gut feeling (since I know virtually nothing about theoretical physics) is that it is true - and that this is not just another cold fusion experiment. My attempts to read about theoretical physics have been doomed - because whenever I have begun to read them there's too much if - and despite my mystical beliefs, (or because of them) - I like my science empirical thank you! It is not so much the "insult" to Einstein that I am enjoying, but the discomfiture of all those people who have built vast structures of multiverses and string theories on top of it. And all those Hawkin like people who said we were just about to find out the last couple of pieces that would enable us to know everything... But now, not only have we failed to find the Higgs boson... we also find the theory of relativity is a bit defective.... what now? Mass redundancies in astrophysics departments?
Would be nice to think this news was so unsettling that the stock markets fell, but actually that was just the threat of Greek default. I wish they'd get on and do it - but if they do the focus will simply move onto another country. Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece all had great difficulties meeting the euro criteria - and the view in 1992 that they should not be admitted is now vindicated - or perhaps the view that the euro needed greater economic integration to succeed. However, this is old news - the wobble in the theory of relativity isn't.
I am fascinated about this particle that apparently goes faster than the speed of light. Everyone is saying "but it can't be true" and that the equipment they were using for the last 3(?) years must be defective.
My gut feeling (since I know virtually nothing about theoretical physics) is that it is true - and that this is not just another cold fusion experiment. My attempts to read about theoretical physics have been doomed - because whenever I have begun to read them there's too much if - and despite my mystical beliefs, (or because of them) - I like my science empirical thank you! It is not so much the "insult" to Einstein that I am enjoying, but the discomfiture of all those people who have built vast structures of multiverses and string theories on top of it. And all those Hawkin like people who said we were just about to find out the last couple of pieces that would enable us to know everything... But now, not only have we failed to find the Higgs boson... we also find the theory of relativity is a bit defective.... what now? Mass redundancies in astrophysics departments?
Would be nice to think this news was so unsettling that the stock markets fell, but actually that was just the threat of Greek default. I wish they'd get on and do it - but if they do the focus will simply move onto another country. Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece all had great difficulties meeting the euro criteria - and the view in 1992 that they should not be admitted is now vindicated - or perhaps the view that the euro needed greater economic integration to succeed. However, this is old news - the wobble in the theory of relativity isn't.
Just did it!
My "writing week" which runs from Thursday to Thursday at the moment - was successful - I thought doing less than 3,000 words in my second week wouldn't be good - but I just managed it last night. So, 3,100 - not quite as good as last week's 5,000, but I think giving myself this deadline seems to work... it's just as important as anything else, in fact more so. Today heard of a writer who used to write 30,000 words a day - sigh!
I worried that what I wrote last night might be rubbish - but when I looked at it although it seemed a bit repetitive in places, overall it had some good ideas and developments.
My concern is that my vocabulary is more limited in this novel - and there's less obviously good writing - but lots of dialogue - much more popular I expect.
I worried that what I wrote last night might be rubbish - but when I looked at it although it seemed a bit repetitive in places, overall it had some good ideas and developments.
My concern is that my vocabulary is more limited in this novel - and there's less obviously good writing - but lots of dialogue - much more popular I expect.
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