a mish mash ~ and other randomness ~

oddly quiet day yesterday ~ and i didn't get much done.

~ * ~

reading: charles johnson's Middle Passage ~ and not enjoying it very much. the story is interesting but the first-person narrative from the ex-bondsman on the lam for debts and semi-shanghaied into a slaver ship in 1830 is beyond credulity. johnson handles language beautifully, but i just don't buy it coming out of this character's mouth ~ no matter how well-educated he allegedly is (all that learning he did between farming and starving) ~ he starts spouting theories by german philosphers and my eyes just glaze over. some of it seems merely anachronistic and a lot of it is just pretentious. a whole section relaying the experience of a frighten cabin boy's witness to a creature in the hull is so littered with allusions that not only do we know that the boy didn't relate the story that way, but we wonder where the narrator character gets off putting such spin on the scene because it's clearly just for our benefit.

it's going to be work to finish this one, but i'm going to try to get through it. i've got about 130 pages to go, so hopefully i can wrap it up in a few days and get on to something else.

~ * ~

with the name poll nearly breaking even, i've decided the safest thing to do is spell the name "Mish" to avoid any possible confusion. thank you to everyone who responded!

and last night i also realized that i've let someone's negativity stop me from making paper dolls. how sad is that? who knew i was such a fragile flower ~ (pardon me while i roll my eyes at my own stupidity).



other than watching Desk Set later this evening, i have the whole day to do something ~ anything. sorta like yesterday except maybe i will take advantage of it.

so i'm off to write. or make paper dolls.

either way, i'm not going to let the voices in my head bother me.

: D

a mini-lesson in russian cinema ~

just because it's made by an award-winning director (Alexei Balabanov), and just because it's shot in black and white and sepia, and just because the label says "darkly humorous and startlingly original" doesn't mean you should rent it.

Of Freaks and Men was a confoundingly ham-fisted hour and a half of perversity strung together with a very weak narrative. lots of good-looking character actors here, but seems like the talent wasn't utilized at all.

other than a cool shot of a train traveling through a snowy russian countryside, this one was a complete waste of time.

: o p



~ * ~

oh, and i watched Desk Set for my assignment. it was predictably dated. now i can write my little paper and get my little points.