book natter and not much else

[wingblossom]

I am conflicted! For the past couple of years, I've used LJ as a means of keeping track on other entries, rather than writing any of my own. But now that I've signed up for Dreamwidth, I feel that I should make some kind of effort to start blogging again? For the time being, at least. I'm not sure how long this pattern will last, but as long as I feel this way, I might as well make the most of it.

In bulletpoint:

1. Now that my Linguistics class has ended, I'm looking forward to reading more books for fun again! Not that LING 118 was dull, but I missed that feeling of poking around my bookshelves and pulling out something that I meant to read some time ago. On my list of Books To Read That I Will Probably Forget About Unless I Write Them Down are:

The Yiddish Policemen's Union: because I still haven't read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay yet. And am still somewhat ashamed of that.

Purple Hibiscus: two years ago, I went to a writing conference near Binghamton. (I found out about this through word-of-mouth advertising; if my creative writing professor hadn't mentioned it, I would have had no idea it existed.) On that Saturday, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie spoke there. I thought she was remarkably eloquent, but completely forgot about everything she said once classes picked up again that Monday.

Still, my friend bought one of her books there, and after doing some Google-fu yesterday, I managed to pull her name up again. So! I'm planning to read this the next time I'm in a bookstore and I get the chance.

The Kandy-Colored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby: Could you resist something with a title like that? I bought this one at a book sale! And I have read some of the essays. But I've never finished it, and with a name like that, this book deserves more.

2. Certain professional writers frown down upon "(superlative)-ly" words. And in my infinite wisdom, I (completely) disagree with this. I mean, overusing words like "tremendously" and "definitely" may make the text buckle under their weight. But cleaning up text can also go in the opposite direction. After a certain point, the text isn't clean, it's downright threadbare. And then there's no textual weight left to begin with.

I am prepared to be a lonely dissenter.

3. I miss using emoticons in my entries! I'm actively resisting them at this point, because I want to try writing entries with a cleaner voice at the moment. But it just feels weird to me.

I think bell will be the only one to read this entry!

Comments

[cyanwitch]

I think you thought wrong! :P (<-- and notice that I am not bothering to resist the emoticons. I commend your ability to do so. :D)

I think I'd have to agree with point 2, as well. That's word discrimination! :P I guess I just see it as akin to eating sugary things. Good in moderation, but you get cavities if you eat too many. Or something like that. ^^" And there are times that it would be better to write it a different way, and the -ly word is a shortcut, but sometimes the -ly word is actually appropriate. If that makes any sense at all. :)

[wingblossom]

I guess I did! (I have no idea how long I'll be able to hold out; emoticons have become such a crutch for me. It'll be an interesting experiment.)

And I like your correlation of words to sugary foods, there. *g* But couldn't you argue that it's impossible to ever have too much of a good thing? Still, I agree. Most definitely.

[cyanwitch]

I could argue that, but it wouldn't be something I actually believe. XD I am a firm believer in that you CAN have too much of a good thing. Because then it becomes commonplace, and something else looks newer and replaces it. Or, in some cases, at least. Or, you could eat too much candy and never have any teeth left. There's that "too much" as well. :)

warning: comment contains emoticons

[bell]

Here I am, replying! Fortunately, I am not alone in doing so. :D

Ahahah, I tried reading Kavalier and Clay, around 2000, and was depressed by a turn of events and didn't get past page 100. >___> I also started the Yiddish Policemen's Union, which started out great, but I didn't have the rest of the audio book files... I should go find the other files so I can "read" the rest of the book. ^_^;;

[Speaking of audio books, I *so* recommend them! More than half the books I've read have been that way, listening while walking or working out. SO GOOD.]

Kandy-Colored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby

Awesome title. *__*

I'm really happy to see you posting, by the way! Awesome!

[wingblossom]

In short, moderation is key?

Or, you could eat too much candy and never have any teeth left.

All I can say is, thank God we don't have to rely on wooden dentures anymore.

Re: warning: comment contains emoticons

[wingblossom]

I'm really happy to be posting too, actually! It's been a long time, so I thought I'd be a little rusty, but it's been easier to get into the swing of things than I thought. Maybe all I needed was a change of pace.

I'm curious about the plot twist in Kavalier and Clay; I've heard tons of good things about it, so it's been on my mental "to-read" list for a while. Unfortunately, so are a lot of other things.

(And re: audio books, this reminds me that I never did get to listen to the Bridge to Terabithia one narrated by RSL! I might have downloaded it, but I don't think I still have the file.)

Awesome title

ISN'T IT? Besides that, the book also had a blurb from Kurt Vonnegut who recommended the author as a "mad genius" (if I recall correctly), and the author himself was wearing a crazy pinstriped suit on the cover. So I knew I had to read it.

Re: warning: comment contains emoticons

[bell]

Yes! It is a matter of practice! Keep at it and you'll be back in swing in no time. ...That is, if that's what you want. :)

Bridge to Terabithia, and other works, are still here: http://bell.dragons-wing.net/share/honya/(password/login: nyahnyah / blahblahs0up). It's the KB - BTerar.rar file.

Nuuuuuurgh, we don't get such cool books (in the original English) out here. Know how lucky you are!

Re: warning: comment contains emoticons

[wingblossom]

I'm already feeling better about making posts again. I think it has to do with both the (much) smaller flist and lack of pressure to keep up the multitude of other discussions, because I'm enjoying this relaxing-in-a-small-corner-of-the-internet thing. Also, having more time helps!

Thanks for giving me the link again; I'm looking forward to listening to it, since it's one of my favorite books eveeeer.

I do!