OH MY GLOB IT'S NOVEMBER FIRST AND THAT MEANS IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF NaNoWriMo. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG.
*deep breaths* Clear blue ocean, clear blue ocean.
I'm actually writing this well ahead of time, so I'm not really hyperventilating. YET.
Since in November I pretty much have no social life beyond the NaNoWriMo forums (canceling social engagements to write isn't sad, it's bohemian), I was thinking for the Stuff and Things posts, I might share excerpts of what I'm writing. And when I start to hate my novel, I might share excerpts from previous years' novels. Or short stories I've written, or stuff like that. Keep the writing theme throughout November. Thoughts?
Current Word Count: 0 (That might be the scariest thing I've ever written. O.o)
Books- Beyond this point, there be spoilers
Umm, yeah. So I'm really having trouble reconciling the silly manchild from the vlogbrothers who ate a blenderized Happy Meal and put peanut butter on his face with the guy who wrote The Fault in our Stars and ripped out my heart, tore it to pieces, and stomped on its remains.
I mean, the man who threw himself against the wall to prove he wasn't an octopus, who drew on his face with sharpies, who talks about how much he loves rainbows, wrote this book.
Okay, so, I don't know what I was expecting. I mean, it's a book about two teenagers with cancer, one terminal, who fall in love. I know people online said it made them cry, but I'm like pshaw, how sad could it be?
Extremely very.
But it's not totally sad. I mean, it's "you shouldn't read it in public because you will cry" sad, but in a weird way, I feel like it ended (and boy, I bet you can guess how it ended) with more hope than it started with.
Obviously, any book that makes me feel this sort of emotional resonance is a good book. But it also kind of felt like John Green wrote a sad story just for the sake of writing a sad story, you know? I did like how he made a point of not just making them "kids with cancer." They're kids who happen to have cancer. Hazel likes to watch crappy reality TV. Augustus likes to read the novel adaptations of his favorite video games. There's even a line Augustus says to Hazel when they're first getting to know each other, "Don't tell me that you're one of those people who becomes their disease." I'm really glad he made a point of them being people in their own right, not just cancer patients. Although, I have to say, for all that John Green tried to make them like "normal" teenagers with the video games and the making out and the crappy reality TV, Hazel and Augustus had a tendency to come off more like adults in terms of intellectualism and philosophy. I think they would have been a little more believable if they were just a couple years older, rather than going for the "kids-with-cancer" trope, making them young adults instead.
Anyway, if you like sad stories, it was a good book. But if you don't like sad stories, there's not much else to recommend it.
What are you reading? Send me rec's on GoodReads
TV
Sleepy Hollow- I started watching this because the insomnia monster struck, and they had the first 5 episodes for free on Hulu, and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. The chemistry between the cast is great, the writing is fairly good, and I full on adore Ichabod Crane. I like how even though it's a male/female partnership, they've yet to make googly eyes at each other (I hope they never do. They're great as friends and partners. Less great as a romantic duo).
It's not perfect; there have already been a couple storyline inconsistencies, but they're minor enough that it hasn't taken me out of it yet. It does push the suspension of disbelief a little far (Oh, you're a soldier from the Revolutionary War? Cool, let me tell you all my secrets), but there's just enough of that camp element to let you know that it's not taking itself too seriously, and you shouldn't either. It reminds me a little bit of this show my family used to watch called Brimstone.
Anyway, if you like Supernatual, you'll probably like Sleepy Hollow. I totally recommend it!
Dracula- Better than I thought it would be, though not quite as good as it thinks it is. And putting him in the late 1800s feels like a Vampire Chronicles rip-off. Basically, I think they wanted to make a show about Lestat (*dreamy sigh*) but used Dracula, since that character's in the public domain and they don't have to pay copyright fees for him. I'll give it a try, but I have a feeling this won't be a show I stick with.
Also, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers with an American accent and Katie McGrath with blonde hair is just weird. I keep expecting the evil Morgana smirks behind people's backs (fingers crossed she turns into a vampire!).
Castle- The fencing scene was totally a missed opportunity for both a Princess Bride reference ("I know something that you do not. I am not left handed.") and a Firefly reference ("Mercy is the mark of a great man. Guess I'm just a good man. Well, I'm all right."). And when he grabbed the bag of half-dimes, I'm just like, "haven't you ever seen Raiders of the Lost Ark? You didn't even try to replace the weight with a bag of sand." It was a good episode, but a total nerd-fail.
Supernatural- THE SLIPPERS WERE SILVER IN THE BOOKS. NOT red. They were red in the movie because that looked better in technicolor. Ruby red slippers were the invention of Hollywood, not Frank L. Baum. It was not my favorite Supernatural episode (despite how much I adore Felicia Day and can totally relate to Charlie's fangirling over Dorothy), and that detail took me completely out of it.
And if they keep bringing people back from the dead, death isn't going to mean anything. Although if there did turn out to be some sort of consequence, that would be a cool storyline. "Am I zombie now? Do I have to eat brains?" Heh.
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