In a flash a heart is slain
you have to ask in all this pain
Was your heart too soft?
Was your love in vain?
- Copeland, “Love Affair” Eat, Sleep, Repeat ♫ http://blip.fm/~cipry
(a post about the psychological struggles of the middle of this novel)
Six years ago, I started writing a book called The Ashes. It began as a rambling analogy to something I was trying to communicate to my mother when we were out on a walk. It was a hot spring day, we were walking along the country roads, past the white fences protecting horses and alpacas and the other animals you find out here. I was talking to her about generational politics, tradition, problems people my age found with the church but what drew us to the ideals of the Church described in Acts. She wasn’t understanding, or rather (at that time only) was taking it so personally on behalf of people her age that she was missing my point. So I wove a tale about three women in one house, a deceased patriarch named Peter and a history of community parties the Grandmother and Grandfather had held that the granddaughter, Chloe, starts up again. Over the last 6 years, the story has evolved from just a simple analogy about the idealism of the young, the strictures of middle generations throughout all of time, and the examples that the elderly can forget that their own youth has set. It has taken on a life of its own that lives apart from its message and is just a damn fine story in its own right.
Read about what I’m doing after the jump:
So I’ve been here for five days so far, and having (as usual) a wonderful time. This is my third trip to London, and being as third time is the charm, Vasant and I have skirted jet lag COMPLETELY on this trip. Although, that may have something to do with the fact that we don’t have a regular sleep schedule anyway.
Our first day in town we went to the British Musuem (my fifth time there- I can’t get enough of musuems).
I love the Persian art the British Musuem has. Most of these pieces come from Persepolis.
Necklaces for British chieftains.
Two fantastic headpieces from the Roman Britain Era.
Death mask found at Sutton Hoo.
This is one of my favorite pieces. It’s a clock- when it was operational, it was designed to move across the dining table on the hour, firing little cannons, with music, and parading figures around its gilded deck.
Ancient Persian door fittings, guarded by Persian Sphinxs
Those are just a few of the pieces I really liked. From there we took Mom out to tea at Fortum & Masons (waste of money unless you’re paying for the experience alone, and even then I’d say go elsewhere). And if you ever want to have the best tea on the face of the Earth, for my money, got the White Heather Tea Room in Victoria, Canada. Best. Scones. In. Universe.
The next day we did Oxford and Blenheim Palace, where we saw some scenes from 20th Century Fox’s Gulliver’s Travels (Jack Black, Jason Segel and Emily Blunt were on set). I took a couple pictures of the costumes, but didn’t take any of the actors, because I felt really weird doing that. I did accidentally get Emily Blunt in the distant background of one photo, but I feel weird posting it. So my cousin Kevin, who doubts until he sees photos, will have to wait until I get back to see someone famous. But here are some set shots:
The scene we saw them shooting involved Emily Blunt and Jason Segel “looking up” at Jack Black’s Giant Sized Gulliver. Emily Blunt was screaming and there was smoke, and again, I felt really weird being there, like I needed to leave unless I was there to work. It just felt kind of odd looking at something I want to do professionally without being there for a reason. SOooooooOooo… I left and those are all the photos I’ll post!
We went into Blenheim’s gardens after the insanely boring (always boring) tour of Winston Churchill’s birth room and personal effects. I love the library however. The one room that is the most fascinating in the whole of the palace and you can only look at the spines of the books from behind metal lattice work. TORTUROUS.
This insanely weird statue fascinates me. I photograph it every time I visit. The feminine head looks so wistful, and slightly sad, atop her beastly body.
Her twin, however, just looks perturbed.
Just in case you’re wondering if this place looks familiar, it does. It’s used in dozens of movies, one of my favorites being Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet.
The next day we went out to Herstmonceaux Castle and Battle Abbey in Kent. Battle is one of my favorite spots in the UK, purely because I’m such a history geek. Herstmenceaux was “meh” for that reason. Pretty structure and gardens, but no huge historical significance. Speaking of which, we went to the National Archives (where Emily did her internship) and saw the Domesday book and a bit of the Magna Carta earlier that day. They had a map of the Roanoke Colony and underneath said the colony failed after 10 months “due to lack of provisions”. That’s all it said on the placard. Isn’t that like saying Amelia Earhart disappeared due to lack of fuel in her plane? Very weird that they’d just say it failed due to lack of provisions. One of history’s big mysteries and that’s all the say. Wonder why the historical slant. A BIG slant.
Anyway, Herstmonceaux Castle. Best part about it was a mother duck with her chicks chasing us all down, whining like a puppy (I didn’t know ducks did that) for our food. Mom gave the duck a cracker, but that wasn’t enough. It wanted Vasant’s latte.
So that’s our trip so far. Today Vasant and I went over to Notting Hill to find a Paul’s Boulangerie for breakfast (< Coffee rant> only reliable coffee chain in London- if you’re from Seattle and are a coffee junkie, avoid London Starbucks. Total crap. If you’re from any other part of the states though, you may not notice. < /end coffee elitist rant> )
Tomorrow Emily graduates, we’ll take Dad to the White Tower and Somerset House, and then Friday is York! Saturday and Sunday- I forget what we’re doing, but we return to the States on Monday. And Tuesday I’ve got a linguistics midterm, oh joy of joys.
Hope the pictures upload well.
So I’ve been having some serious “not the kind of thing one twitters about” medical issues this last month. I have sadly been unable to keep up regular entries on the site.
I don’t know who RSS feeds this, or checks it regularly, but to anyone who visits this site often, or happens upon it now randomly- I put it to you:
WHAT should I write about this weekend?!
If I only have time for one post this next week, what should I write about? My book or how to find good connections on Twitter? Those are the two topics I want to write about, but I don’t have the time to write about both. I either want to write about two characters in my book and how they’re evolving in a surprising way- or make good on a promise I made my friend Danielle; namely, to write a post on how to find great people to follow on Twitter. Both seem like good ideas, and eventually I’ll do both. But for now, I feel scatter-brained and indecisive. Any input?
Facebook deciding to copy Twitter is a sign the social media giant is in trouble of tripping over itself.
When it comes to life-casting, sharing information and networking, my first experience of social media was with Live Journal. I was on there regularly from 2001 until 2005, when I discovered Myspace (before all the tweens did). I kept using LJ, but noticed as Myspace began being adopted by everyone, LJ was changing it’s features to look more like Myspace. Myspace inevitably did the same thing the following year as a bunch of the literate types exodused for the less-cluttered, more aesthetic Facebook. Myspace tried to clean up its profiles and added a bunch of features to copycat Facebook, but it was too late. The writing on the wall for any social media site is when it looks behind at the competitor and gives up its edge to conform to competition.
With that said, it should be no surprise that as Twitter’s star rises, Facebook would get worried. Facebook already tried to buy out Twitter: Facebook’s Thiel Explains Failed Twitter Takeover – BusinessWeek. When that didn’t work, Facebook decided it would copy Twitter, saying that real-time streams were the future of social media. Unfortunately for Zuckerberg, it’s only ONE road to take in that bright new shiny future and 95% of us doubt that it’s the right road for Facebook to take.
The ensuing smack down…
Alright, so I keep pimping Twitter to my friends as the end all and be all of social media (right now, of course). I tell them it’s like a cocktail party, full of the most interesting people in the world, and you get to listen to snatches of conversation, pick a huddle, join in on conversation (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t). The point of the party/Twitter is to make contacts. Hopefully you’ll be funny, intrigue people, and find people who are like you to connect with- thus a network of useful contacts starts emerging!
Why Twitter?
Honestly, Twitter gives you news before the news media has it. Twitter connects you with hilarious celebrities, introspective authors, and politicians. Twitter provides you a way to promote a business, a book, a movie, an album, a website and most importantly, yourself, all the while providing you with the ability to listen in on conversations with people who know how to market, use social media and the techy tools you’ve never heard of. Most importantly, if done right, you can get job opportunities, make contacts and friends, help people out and get helped in return. Twitter “CAN” be all that and more. No one really knows the true breadth of Twitter yet- new ways to use it are being found everyday.
How?
But how DO you start Twittering? Honestly? I signed up for Twitter last year and only started using it 3 months ago. It’s not something that is easily used. To the beginner, it can just seem like a weird, poorly designed rip-off of Facebook’s status updates. But it’s SO MUCH MORE!
Twitter Picture: (This whale always seems so blissfully happy!)
Because I keep telling people to get on here, and passing along the articles I’ve found helpful, I just figured it would be easier to write an article of all my favorite web resources for Twitter. So here we are:
I love midnight showings. I absolutely love them- specifically at the Seattle Cinerama, a movie theater that really shows off what an awesome city Seattle is. It gathers the cream of the cinephile crop and stuffs them together in a lavish 1960’s built theater, with 808 seats and a thirty by ninety foot screen. I am SUCH a movie fan, and as a Cinema Studies major, I recently learned how incredible our local theater is. It’s one of four surviving and thriving Cinerama’s left in the world, (see Wikipedia’s History of Cinerama for more information) and Cinerama is not just a great theater downtown, but an amazing monument to the history of cinema in general. In short, I feel so lucky to have this in my hometown.
So Watchmen was an iconic film, firmly cementing the “graphic novel movie” as its own distinct genre, separate from the “comic book movie”. Following 300 and Sin City, Watchmen is a stylized movie that feels less like your typical movie, and more like a moving graphic novel, which is of course, what the fans wanted.
So here’s my review:
(Milhouse from The Simpsons episode “Husbands and Knives”)
So it’s 38 degrees out (wind chill feels a lot worse), and we’ve been in line for a couple hours for tonight’s sold-out 12:01 am Watchmen. Vasant and I, along with my sister Mary and her boyfriend Matt have been here ridiculously early, at the freaking front of the line. I’ve never been here at the front. Usually, I always show up too late for these Cinerama premieres and get lousy seats. Not tonight!!
Thought, while I wait for the next couple hours, I’d upload some of the pictures I’ve gotten.
Awesome people have shown up to keep us company, which is of course, WHY you go to the Cinerama! 
See Matt as Rorshach and “Rorshach” as Rorshach after the jump…
Alright, so I need to write about the rest of my vacation and post my amazing photos, but it can wait, because LOST is on tonight!
If you haven’t seen last week’s episode “This Place is Death”, then do NOT read on because some huge things are discussed.
Below, a picture of Desmond and Mrs Hawking in Season 2, Episode 8 “Flashes Before Your Eyes”
Read my theories after the jump…
G.O.P. Governors Support Obama – NYTimes.com
Interesting dichotomy between the two. The fire is fueled by angry DJ’s and bloggers who want America to fail in order to get re-elected in 2012…
But what would be nice is to get past politics for a while while the country recovers. That way, when it does, Republicans could say, “It wasn’t just Obama, we deserve the credit too…” which while Republican governors can say they supported the President, unfortunately, the Republican lawmakers are all about saving face with angry radio hosts.
Steven Colbert suggested that all who voted against the stimulus put their money where their mouths are and refuse the stimulus money on behalf of their constituents.
But hey, before I seem too partisan… most of the Democrats in the House stink too. The whole legislative branch has been the weakest link of our government for a long time. I’d love to see Pelosi removed from her post- having her as Speaker is going to only hinder Obama’s efforts to get bi-partisan cooperation.
Every time I say “my first novel” it sounds more like a children’s craft kit that I could buy for my three year old goddaughter rather than the achievement that it actually is. I keep picturing a printed copy of my book, with a title page etched in bright crayon, hanging on my mother’s fridge. [...]
“So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn’t it be the other way around?” – Nora Ephron’s You’ve Got Mail One of the most annoying things I’ve ever been told is that I’m not a writer if I’m not writing every day. This gem of wisdom [...]
I am so excited to break this news finally: Vasant and I are going to Rome to study Italian cinema, film a documentary and our first *serious* film. Read more….
I wanted to start the blogging year off with a personal post about the way I view New Year’s goals and hopes. In the following post, you’ll read nothing about the weight I hope to lose or the habits I’m giving up or the regimen I’m placing myself on. I know I’m young, but I [...]
So it’s almost here! One of my favorite holidays of the year! The preamble to the Christmas season! The holiday that kicks in the teeth of any diet you’re on and says “Sorry sucker! That stuffing smells too good to pass up!” This year I am in a rush to finish up my novel (91,000 [...]
… 5 years ago I fell the first bit in love with my future husband, after years of not-really-caring about him. This post is to celebrate that. 5 years ago, I had already known Vasant Samudre for a couple years. He was best friends with my best friend Todd. Our acquaintance had been a Mr. [...]
In a flash a heart is slain you have to ask in all this pain Was your heart too soft? Was your love in vain? – Copeland, “Love Affair” Eat, Sleep, Repeat ♫ http://blip.fm/~cipry (a post about the psychological struggles of the middle of this novel)
Six years ago, I started writing a book called The Ashes. It began as a rambling analogy to something I was trying to communicate to my mother when we were out on a walk. It was a hot spring day, we were walking along the country roads, past the white fences protecting horses and alpacas [...]
So I’ve been here for five days so far, and having (as usual) a wonderful time. This is my third trip to London, and being as third time is the charm, Vasant and I have skirted jet lag COMPLETELY on this trip. Although, that may have something to do with the fact that we don’t [...]
So I’ve been having some serious “not the kind of thing one twitters about” medical issues this last month. I have sadly been unable to keep up regular entries on the site. I don’t know who RSS feeds this, or checks it regularly, but to anyone who visits this site often, or happens upon it [...]
Vasant and I sat in the Blue Bayou (the restaurant inside Pirate of the Caribbean) and talked about my trouble writing fantasy for nearly two hours today. If you’re going to have a talk about creativity, talking about it at a table right on the edge of the moonlit swamp is the place to do [...]
So I was sick all last week, so my efforts to try and blog more often totally crapped out. I had a three day migraine that lasted until midday Saturday. I’m still under the weather, but well enough to get out and about. While I was sick, I missed a dinner reservation, a haircut, a [...]
Growling at myself today. I have a million things to do and I can’t stop to focus on any of them for more than a minute. I’m taking a break from revision on the book to finish a short story I’ve been playing with since the fall. I am in love with the concept of [...]
I am overwhelmed to the point of tears. It was a wonderful speech. It hit hard against the darkness of the last 8 years. It offered hope, and while drawing differences between the present and the past, offered continuity with our most enduring values. The White House’s website is up, with a new look and [...]
What’s not “about to fall apart” these days? We were discouraged from giving gift cards at the holidays because businesses are filing Chapter 11 right and left, people are moving banks because of rumors that a financial institution is about to fail, and it seems that nothing right now is stable enough for us to [...]
9/11 Memories: Was looking through a photo album of 9/11 and began to cry again. Like I have, like we all have, every year for the last eight. I was in bed that morning, and as odd as it sounds, I woke up feeling something was wrong. I went upstairs and turned on the TV, [...]
G.O.P. Governors Support Obama – NYTimes.com Interesting dichotomy between the two. The fire is fueled by angry DJ’s and bloggers who want America to fail in order to get re-elected in 2012… But what would be nice is to get past politics for a while while the country recovers. That way, when it does, Republicans [...]
I am overwhelmed to the point of tears. It was a wonderful speech. It hit hard against the darkness of the last 8 years. It offered hope, and while drawing differences between the present and the past, offered continuity with our most enduring values. The White House’s website is up, with a new look and [...]
So this is incredibly classy: Obama to host McCain at bipart. dinner – Jonathan Martin – Politico.com.
Jacob Heilbrunn: Is Obama Selling Out to the Right?. Good post, irritating subject. Either Pelosi and Reid positioned Obama because they felt he’d be an easy target to manipulate for their own agenda, or the left is really outraged that Obama was elected to lead a whole country, and not themselves alone. It’s like no [...]
Facebook deciding to copy Twitter is a sign the social media giant is in trouble of tripping over itself. When it comes to life-casting, sharing information and networking, my first experience of social media was with Live Journal. I was on there regularly from 2001 until 2005, when I discovered Myspace (before all the tweens [...]
Alright, so I keep pimping Twitter to my friends as the end all and be all of social media (right now, of course). I tell them it’s like a cocktail party, full of the most interesting people in the world, and you get to listen to snatches of conversation, pick a huddle, join in on [...]
So I was sick all last week, so my efforts to try and blog more often totally crapped out. I had a three day migraine that lasted until midday Saturday. I’m still under the weather, but well enough to get out and about. While I was sick, I missed a dinner reservation, a haircut, a [...]
“Well, if they’d rather die, they had better do it and decrease the Surplus Population.” – Ebenezer Scrooge Chewing The Fat: Requiem. by Dave Hingsburger. A friend of mine posted this article. I read in horror a tale about paramedics who were called to the aid of a 59 year old man. H had called for [...]
“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine I’m heading to Rome this fall and I don’t just want to visit or sightsee. I want to wander and let the experience change me. I’m looking for things to read, thinking about what lies ahead, what Rome [...]
Alrighty, alrighty, alrighty. Lost’s episode “The Lighthouse” was just as good as I thought it would be. In that episode I guessed (in these comments on John Cabrera’s most excellent Lost post) that this episode would be about Jacob bringing people to the Island. I also commented, after my husband Vasant made this epic catch, [...]
Alright, so now that I’ve broken the blog in for 2010, let’s get down to business. LOST STARTS TOMORROW. I’m not going to get into the intricate theories until after I see the season premiere. Honestly, since the producer’s said they won’t be focusing on DHARMA and a lot of other aspects, I want to [...]
I love midnight showings. I absolutely love them- specifically at the Seattle Cinerama, a movie theater that really shows off what an awesome city Seattle is. It gathers the cream of the cinephile crop and stuffs them together in a lavish 1960’s built theater, with 808 seats and a thirty by ninety foot screen. I [...]
So it’s 38 degrees out (wind chill feels a lot worse), and we’ve been in line for a couple hours for tonight’s sold-out 12:01 am Watchmen. Vasant and I, along with my sister Mary and her boyfriend Matt have been here ridiculously early, at the freaking front of the line. I’ve never been here at [...]
Alright, so I need to write about the rest of my vacation and post my amazing photos, but it can wait, because LOST is on tonight! If you haven’t seen last week’s episode “This Place is Death”, then do NOT read on because some huge things are discussed. Below, a picture of Desmond and Mrs [...]
This is not as frustrating as sitting through an English lit lecture on “authorship” but it still managed to cause a minor stir today: Posted yesterday by Consumerist, Facebook’s New Terms Of Service: “We Can Do Anything We Want With Your Content. Forever.” – this article picked up on changes made last Wednesday by Facebook [...]
Okay, so I not only had fun at our impromptu SuperBowl party, but I had fun twittering during the game- as I said in last night’s post. Brought to my attention by Twitter user @mashable, The New York Times picks up the chatter and maps the game visually across the nation. Very cool! Map of [...]
So I was sick all last week, so my efforts to try and blog more often totally crapped out. I had a three day migraine that lasted until midday Saturday. I’m still under the weather, but well enough to get out and about. While I was sick, I missed a dinner reservation, a haircut, a [...]
I am overwhelmed to the point of tears. It was a wonderful speech. It hit hard against the darkness of the last 8 years. It offered hope, and while drawing differences between the present and the past, offered continuity with our most enduring values. The White House’s website is up, with a new look and [...]
I’m watching “The Constant” right now, arguably the best episode of LOST’s season 4, and debatably the best episode of the entire series. Theory: You can’t help but think that Desmond’s adventure through time and his desperate attempt to connect with Penelope Widmore is going to be integral to the series finale, and tie up [...]
So this is incredibly classy: Obama to host McCain at bipart. dinner – Jonathan Martin – Politico.com.
What’s not “about to fall apart” these days? We were discouraged from giving gift cards at the holidays because businesses are filing Chapter 11 right and left, people are moving banks because of rumors that a financial institution is about to fail, and it seems that nothing right now is stable enough for us to [...]
Found this on a mad Twittering spree… Haunted Mansion 40th Anniversary Event. I would LOVE to do this.
Disney Leaves Narnia Franchise | /Film. I think this could actually be a GREAT DEVELOPMENT. I mean, I love Disney, but mainly, I love classic Disney. Not “let’s pin all our monetary hopes on the prayer that Miley Cyrus will stay 16 and on our channel forever” Disney. I’m so happy Walden is proceeding without [...]
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