lachrymose

[freckles_and_doubt]

I have quite a lot of private vices unbecoming to an English academic, and have recently discovered a new one: disaster movies. I have a low penchant for disaster movies. Something in me finds it deeply satisfying to watch aliens blow up the White House, or a tidal wave overwhelm Manhattan, or Viggo Mortensen's career take a catastrophic nose-dive in a sandstorm on a piebald horse. It's probably a simple subset of the B-movie weakness, and indicates a basic narrative pleasure in the obvious working out of genre expectations. Next up, I shall dig out The Core, and, recking not the anguished screams of distant astro-physicists, probably enjoy it thoroughly. Wicked me.

This afternoon I put together my last newsletter for our SCA Kingdom. From next weekend, I will no longer be Kingdom Chronicler. Since I've been doing this job - which entails collating and laying out a 24-page newsletter once a month, plus printing and mailing all or some of it - for four years now, I think there's going to be a bit of a gaping void in my life. Just to add to the gaping void already left by the completion of the book review process, that is. I am clearly unfulfilled unless madly busy on something large or ongoing. Sigh. I shall have to start writing the Great South African Fantasy Novel, or something.

I still have the 'flu, and am a disgusting snuffly object. Also, the inside of my skull is buzzing fretfully, as a result of some combination of the exam essays I've just marked on internet eroticism, the myriad cheesy explosions of the second half of Independence Day on TV, and the hot rum toddy hitting the Sinutab. *snuffles off to bed*

Comments

congrats!

[(Anonymous)]

Congrats on finally giving up the DT! When it's official, let me know and we'll share a glass of champagne, very long-distance. Who's the suck- er, the volunteer who's taking over?

The first thing I did after giving it up was taking a 3-week vacation, which would have been impossible while I had the job. So, go wander!

Cheers, Rhieinwen

Great South African Fantasy Novel

[(Anonymous)]

Yes! Great idea! I look forward to reading it. And think how fake it would all be if you wrote it in, say, Adelaide. You have to stay here.

wolverine_nun

Re: Great South African Fantasy Novel

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Is that a subtle JM Coetzee diss I see before me, or am I thinking wishfully??

Re: Great South African Fantasy Novel

[strawberryfrog.livejournal.com]

That raises an interesting point: is Waiting for the Barbarians the great South African existential fantasy novel?

Re: Great South African Fantasy Novel

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Not according to its author, who doesn't classify fantasy as literature, and therefore refuses to have any of his novels classified as fantasy. The man is notorious for refusing to mark any submissions from his creative writing courses that are anything other than strict realism.

things to do in Cape Town when you're DT-less

[(Anonymous)]

soooo, about that heraldry backlog then? *prod prod*

i'd like to get started on my giant porno fake fur banner sometime :P.

jo(ty)

[pinkthulhu.livejournal.com]

Laughed at the remark about Viggo Mortensen. Poor man. :) He's turning into Mark Hamill.

The great South African Fantasy Novel? Politicans refuse dodgy "consulting fees" from large corporations? Gun crime drops three months in a row?

Sorry, should stop being so cynical. :)

Hope the flu gets better! It's hayfever season over here, so my honey has sniffles and watery eyes, the poor thing.

Hey!

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

Viggo is so not Mark Hamill! Hidalgo was not strictly a disaster, I was just being a smart-arse; it was a cheesy Disney family flick. Since Viggo has a fairly solid career history of fairly small, indie films of reasonable quality behind him, it was something of a dip, though. I think his current stuff is more likely to be interesting; he's made A History of Violence with David Cronenberg, for example.

'flu is on its way out, thank heavens! Hope the hay fever does likewise. Explosive sneezing so not my idea of fun.