Bits and pieces

[oyceter]

chi_zu has interesting thoughts about global pop culture and genre in non-English-speaking countries; while I have some very shallow answers with regard to Taiwan and Japan, anyone who knows more should definitely join in! I am curious as well!

telophase is a wonderful person for linking to these leather lace front pants for guys. Guuuuuuuuuh. I felt like everyone should know that such things exist in the world, and that it is of the good.

truepenny has nifty thoughts on worldbuilding and genre. I never thought of worldbuilding/alien worlds being the requirement for sci-fi/fantasy, but I think what she says about the importance of the world makes sense. It finally makes sense to me why historical fiction hits the same buttons that sci-fi/fantasy does (for me)! Views into alien worlds, yay!

yhlee has an awesome Angel and Connor vid. Ok, so she actually made it for someone else, but I will pretend that she made it for me, because I've been hankering for an Angel/Connor vid for a while, and she hits not just on the relationship between the two, which is so good and hurtful and angsty, but also on their similarities and differences.

I love the comparisons between Angel turning beige and Connor with a bomb strapped to himself, both having completely lost hope and self-destructing. I love Angel killing Darla in Buffy S1 paralleled with Connor symbolically killing her in "Inside Out." And even as it's got the Angel-Connor relationship in its center, the best parts are seeing how father and son are related and aren't, the tangled, messy web of Darla and Cordy and Wes.

Also love the use of the family dinners that bracket S4, and the way Yoon uses rain in the alley as birth and death in the vid and uses it to frame the vid; Connor and Angel are both born there and arguably die there (Connor being stolen by Holtz is a death of sorts, yes?). And... dude, the last part with the axes and Connor putting down the bloody axe at last and Angel taking his up to swing at the dragon to "I'm sorry"? Guh. Painful goodness!

the_red_shoes links to commentary on the top 20 geek novels meme/list and creates her own list. I think my problem with the original list (other than the lack of women bit, which is a subset of my problem as well) is that it doesn't fit in with what I define as a geek so much as what other people define as geeks. If I came across someone who would think that everything on the original list was the list for geekhood, I would think, "Huh, sci-fi fan" and then continue to disregard most book recs. It's probably unfair judging someone by that, but... it is not my list. I haven't read most of the stuff on there, and it doesn't correspond to what I would like to read anyhow.

So, part of this is because I read what would stereotypically be thought of as very "female" books (character-based as opposed to idea-based, more emphasis on lovely prose, etc.) and that a look on my shelves reveals that I very heavily bias female authors. I don't think I do this on purpose (?), and even though I am correlating female authors on my shelves with "female" books, I am in no way saying that only female authors write those types of books or that only women can enjoy those types of books or any such nonsense. Anyhow, my geek book list would be one in which if someone had read and liked most of the books on the list and considered them "essential" reading, they would probably rec me things that I naturally gravitate toward. Technically, then, it probably doesn't count at all as a geek book list. Eh... going on....

My list (randomly numbered):

1. Elizabeth Marie Pope, The Perilous Gard
   Because... just because! Snarky Kate, a portrayal of Faerie that is otherworldly and grounded and eerie all at once, conversations in the dark about ditches and drainage, and "Tam Lin."



2. Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens
   One of my favorite books to quote ever, complete with footnotes and apocalypse and four horsemen, as well as a modern demon and a bumbling angel.



3. Patricia A. McKillip, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
   I suspect most people would put in the Riddlemaster trilogy instead, but I didn't like that one as much, and while I adore Winter Rose, I suspect it's more of a personal favorite. If I hadn't put in this one, I would have put in The Changeling Sea.



4. Barbara Hambly, Dragonsbane
   None of the sequels exist, lalalalala.



5. Robin McKinley, Beauty
   The Hero and the Crown is probably what most people would put, but I have much fondness for this one. I found McKinley when I was in middle school, and ever since then, I've figured if someone likes her books and recs me something, we've got that much in common at least. Beauty's the representative book because it's the first of hers I read.



6. Elizabeth Wein, The Winter Prince
   Angst and Arthurian retellings and a beautiful, beautiful book that I can't believe I only read last year.



7. Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, Sorcery and Cecelia
   Funny, but a different sort of funny than Good Omens' funny.



8. Susan Cooper, The Dark Is Rising series
   My childhood epic fantasy that still sticks. Other contenders would be Narnia or Lloyd Alexander's Prydain books.



9. Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn
   He gets unicorns right. Among many other virtues, of course.



10. Emma Bull, War for the Oaks
    I adored Falcon more than most and didn't like Bone Dance as much as most and read this in the school library and fell for the phouka, of course.

I stop at 10 because I am too lazy to think of more. I suspect everyone's getting a pretty clear idea of the itty bitty subgenre that I adore, which barely intersects with the first geek book list. Mostly I tried to put on things that I read early on or that most other people whose recs I trust have and tried to skip things widely recced throughout geekdom, like Sandman, A Song of Fire and Ice, and etc.

Interview questions from amphibiouswords for that meme:

1. What is one of the best meals you've ever had?

Uh. Wow. This is difficult.

One of the absolutely best meals I have ever had was at this very fancy restaurant in Florence, Italy (it is nice having a foodie dad who likes fancy restaurants). It was so fancy that they provided all the women with little stools for their purses. It was so fancy that once the table finished a course, an entire flock of waiters and waitresses dressed in tuxes descended upon you to clear your plates, just so they wouldn't pile the dishes on their arms.

But, sheer fanciness does not good food make. This place had really, really, really insanely good food though. Sorbet that tasted like fresh fruit in little handmade cones, fish delicately prepared, everything. I don't even remember the particulars anymore, which is a shame, but each bite was a little burst of goodness.

Also had a lovely lunch at French Laundry (see above re: foodie dad), and one of the things I remember is caviar on top of cauliflower mousse, the perfect contrast of texture, creamy, with little bits of popping caviar, and the perfect, perfect flavor of mild, smooth cauliflower and the salty sea taste of caviar.

Some of the best meals I've had at home have been in little hole in the wall restaurants, where you can order dumplings and bao with veggies chopped fine or pork or red bean paste, the skin so thin that the thing explodes in your mouth. And the best chicken noodle soup ever. And beef noodles, steaming hot, with beef falling apart, held together by chewy tendons, noodles with the right QQ bounce to it so that the teeth have something to bite into.

Chinese New Year dinners at home, complete with fish and sometimes even shark fin soup and family.

Buffalo wings in college, fried crispy with sauce so vinegary that breathing it gave you a kick.

Lots more.

2. When did you discover your love of rats?

I had pet mice when I was a kid, because my mom didn't much like any animals. The mice were a bit of an accident -- Taiwan fairs have little white mice as prizes sometimes (like the goldfish in a bag), and some people I knew didn't want theirs, and I begged my mom if I could take them home. I loved my mice. Absolutely adored. I loved their wee noses and paws and ears and whiskers. Unfortunately, my mice more tolerated me more than anything else and weren't too social. But I was heartbroken when the first pair died, got two more, and was so heartbroken by their deaths that I swore off pets for a while. But after that, I was a total rodent fan and collected little mice and hamster and rat stuffed animals.

In college, one of my roommates had had pet rats before and waxed eloquent about them. I remembered that when I moved here, with no real support network or any friends outside of my boyfriend at the time. I decided I should get pets for company, but the apartment wouldn't allow cats or dogs (the boy wanted a cat, and I love animals, period). And I loved rodents and loved my pet mice, so I decided to get pet rats. I knew not to get pet rodents in pet stores, so I googled "bay area rat adoption," found Rattie
Ratz, and got my ratties!

Have been complete goner for them ever since (and probably was a latent goner before!).

But awwwwww they are so cute and friendly and wonderful and fat and funny! I love them so much!

3. What fairy tale haunts you?

Many? "The Goose Girl" always had, because of the image of Falada's head over the gate and the feeling of abandonment. So has "Donkeyskin" (and variants), for obvious reasons. I actually read that one as a kid, too, and never figured out why I thought it was odd until later -_-;;. Also, "Iron Henry." I felt so bad for the guy, abandoned by his prince. Ditto "The Nightingale and the Rose" and "The Emperor and the Nightingale."

My favorite fairy tales don't have the same eerie haunting quality, but they stick around in my brain all the same. I love "Beauty and the Beast" especially.

4. What is your favorite McKillip and why is it your favorite?

Winter Rose, definitely. I read a lot of McKillip before, and completely didn't get her at all. Then I picked this one up in the library last year, read the first line, and was immediately drawn in. I also feel closer to this story because it's a retelling of Tam Lin, which I adore. And... the images of blackbird wing hair, horses on the wind, and the tortured, tangled love story.

5. What is one of your favorite fairy tale retellings?

Wah! So many! I don't know if "Tam Lin" retellings count, given that it's a ballad, but I adore adore adore The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Pope and Winter Rose (see above) and Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones. I may adore Pamela Dean's Tam Lin when I reread it now, but I first read it when I was in middle school and completely didn't get it. I love Emma Donoghue's Kissing the Witch, which is a collection of feminist fairy tale retellings that are haunting and beautifully written. I love all of Robin McKinley's retellings, and it is impossible to pick which I love best, because I read Beauty first and adored bookish, gawky Beauty, but love the gardening and the roses and the hedgehogs of Rose Daughter. And I love the magic thick as dust in Spindle's End and the pain of Deerskin. I also like Jane Yolen's Briar Rose. And I love all of Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow's fairy tales retold anthologies, though the individual stories vary in quality.

Eh, yes. I sort of collect them and read anything that is a fairy tale retelling, as you can probably tell ;).

And since I am bad at answering comments these days, I will extend the interview meme suchly.

Questions for everyone! Pick and choose for what you want to answer, but these are things that I'd love to see answers for.

- Do you do anything crafty (decorating, gardening, cooking, needle arts, etc.)? How did you get into it? What do you love most about it?
- What is one of the best meals you've ever had?
- Which fairy tales haunt you?
- What are some of your favorite fairy tale retellings?
- What are some of your odd hobbies?
- Do you collect anything? What is it? How'd you get started?
- Do you organize your books? How?
- What's a funny pet story of yours?
- What are your geek book lists?

Comments

[cofax7]

I'm so totally uncrafty. I have 90% of a sweater I began knitting and left off 7 years ago. I'm unlikely ever to finish it.

Best meals... hmm. Banana-leaf chicken with a banana fritter, at CoCo's on West Railay Beach, Thailand. Yum.

My books are sorted by author name: book club books in the living room. Office has a shelf of nonfiction and a shelf of hardcover and trade ppb fiction. Mass-market fiction is in the bedroom. This doesn't include the random stacks of books everywhere in the house that have to be sorted at some point. Or the poetry or the reference.

***

I like your list, and who didn't fall in love with the phouka? I mean, really. He's absolutely adorable. And when is she going to publish another novel? ::pouts::

[oyceter]

Oooo banana fritter. Ooooooo.

Gah, I love reading how people sort their books! It's like... library porn or something.

[fiveandfour.livejournal.com]

What is one of the best meals you've ever had?

Here's one of those things where I don't remember the food, precisely, but I remember just about everything else. Another couple, my husband and I went on a trip together to Victoria for a long week-end. There's an Italian restaurant there with outdoor seating. Being Victoria, there's obviously lots of rain, but they've prepared for it by building a pseudo ceiling and letting ivy grow all over it to fill in the cracks. Plus there are those outdoor heaters and fireplaces and, of course, a resident cat that comes and goes at will. We had cocktails, appetizers, dinner, dessert, after dinner aperitifs and coffee and were there for hours, talking and laughing and eating. At the end, we didn't examine the bill too closely, we just split it 50/50 with each couple paying half with no quibbling over who had the more expensive cocktail or meal. It was all just fabulous - the food, the drinks, the friendship.

I always recommend the place (Il Terrazzo (http://www.ilterrazzo.com/)) to others when they are going to Victoria, hoping they'll get a magical experience, too. If not, at least they'll have a great meal.

[oyceter]

Oh that sounds lovely! I adore those kind of meals, where things just sort of fall in place and everyone leaves happier and full as well.

questions and answers

[qiihoskeh]

I'll answer in a comment since you aren't reading me, otherwise it would (and still may) go in my own journal.

- Do you do anything crafty (decorating, gardening, cooking, needle arts, etc.)? How did you get into it? What do you love most about it?

- What is one of the best meals you've ever had?
I don't remember. Right now I'm glad to get any meal. Especially since I missed lunch today.

- Which fairy tales haunt you?
I wouldn't say any of them haunts me. I like The Snow Queen and "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" (even is he's physically, not mentally, disabled).

- What are some of your favorite fairy tale retellings?
I have to say what's memorable is the play in Harpy Thyme which is a combination of tales.

- What are some of your odd hobbies?
Constructing languages.

- Do you collect anything? What is it? How'd you get started?
not any more. I used to collect bottles.

- Do you organize your books? How?
more or less by size, especially since they're in storage.

- What's a funny pet story of yours?

- What are your geek book lists?
This requires a separate comment, probably with a link. I assume I understand what a geek book list is.

[avrelia.livejournal.com]

- Do you do anything crafty (decorating, gardening, cooking, needle arts, etc.)? How did you get into it? What do you love most about it?

Crafty? Occasionally. I mean, I cook fairly often – because I like to eat, but it is not necessarily crafty – usually just something edible will do. Especially after work.
Besides cooking I knit – a thing in a year or more. And right now I am cross-stitching. How did I get into it? It seemed a natural thing to do, really. I wanted to have the end result of the craft, so I started knitting it or whatever. What do I love the most? Usability. My biggest problem with the cross-stitch is not knowing what to do with it afterwards, so I try to do something that I can use – like cushion covers.

- Which fairy tales haunt you?

Andersen’s fairy tales have the best haunting qualities. As much as I love Russian fairytales, they are the comfort zone for me, even at their creepiest. Now, Andersen’s … Especially Marsh King’s Daughter and The girl who stomped on the bread. Very eerie. I remember my parents brought a book with the Marsh King’s Daughter tale when I was five, and asked me whether I want to read a really scary tale. Of course I wanted, but boy was it scary!

Another scary tale – I don’t remember name, but it was a Japanese story about a boy whose mother turned into a dragon.

- What are some of your favorite fairy tale retellings?
Unpredictable and slightly perverse, but making sense at the same time. Not just good=bad and bad=good. The first author coming to mind is Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski, but he is not translated to English yet.

- Do you organize your books? How?

Right now purely by size. I have only one big bookcase, and I wanted to fit all my books in there, so all books in English and Russian are mixed. I tried to divide fiction /nonfiction, but without much success. I posted pictures of my bookcase and cross-stitch recently, so you may see them.

And I am not quite sure what is geek books and how they differ from non-geek ones.

book list

[qiihoskeh]

My book lists are in this LJ post but be warned that they're still in progress. I'm not sure I qualify as a "geek", based on a comparison of my list(s) to others'.