burn baby burn

[freckles_and_doubt]

Hmmm. You know you may be in the wrong job when a rather interesting article on burnout lists six issues any one of which is likely to cause it ("working too much; working in an unjust environment; working with little social support; working with little agency or control; working in the service of values we loathe; working for insufficient reward (whether the currency is money, prestige, or positive feedback)") and four of them apply to you. This may explain the current book update rate of something like a sentence a day¹, in between feverishly reading my Modesty Blaise collection. Also, multitasking thinking with reading e-mail apparently cuts 10 points off your IQ. Memo to self, switch the I-burst off other than in designated e-mail catch-up times at intervals longer than ten minutes. This may also do something to address the helpless Amazon buying sprees, although currently those have run up against the limitation of my mother's carrying capacity, which is probably a Good Thing.

While on the subject of existential angst, this is an incredibly good discussion of the work and basic philosophy of H. P. Lovecraft, extracted from a biography that I haven't read but damned well intend to. *wishlists*

In other activities of the Department of Existential Angst, a friend in Finland just sent us the first 6 episodes of Torchwood, causing me high fangirlish glee until I discovered that the first two episodes are corrupted and won't play. I am currently restraining myself from watching them out of order only by extreme self-discipline and the application of hopeless pedantry. Woe. I fear it may be karmic payback for the lack of productivity. Darned cosmic wossnames.

---

¹ Although, mind you, some of them are good sentences.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Belated and lazily misdirected opinion:

Jason Isaacs is clearly the *only possible* choice for the Patrician.

Now if I could only figure out the Carrot problem...

scroob

PS I've given up on Torchwood. Do tell us whether you persevere, and if so, why.

[(Anonymous)]

Actually, whoever does Jack Harkness in Torchwood might work as Carrot. The right size, good looking in a very straight, good guy way... a little henna and he might be just the thing.

scroob again

[extemporanea.livejournal.com]

I'll definitely tell you what I think of Torchwood, although I am uneasily aware that I might only be able to say, weakly, that I've persevered because Captain Jack's so dishy. I don't think he'd do Carrot: he has Irony, for which I am a sucker. I adore Carrot, but he doesn't do ironic.

I cannot, incidentally, believe that you are capable of putting Jack Harkness in the same comment as the word "straight".

[(Anonymous)]

Straight in a straightforward, un-ironic sort of way. As Jack Harkness, he brings irony (though to my mind, not nearly enough), but I think as Carrot, he could tone that down. The tricky thing about Carrot is that ambiguity; is he really that... straight? I think Harkness could totally convey that. And I can't think of any other actor who could strike that balance, they're all either too ironic or too innocent. Yes, the more I think about it, Captain Jack is our man.

And he'd look totally hot swinging a sword.