Walk like an Egyptian
Apr. 9th, 2007 06:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksAnybody seen the Tutankhamun exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia? I'm thinking about taking a day trip, since I haven't been up that way in a long time for anything other than airport pickups and drops. Trying to decide if I want to drive up or take the train, but I can't figure out where the train station is in comparison to the museum, or how public transportation would work.
Duh. According to Amtrak, I could disembark at 30th St. Station. Which is within moderately close walking distance according to FI's website. According to MapQuest, it's less than a mile, which is a quick walk, IMO, assuming that the neighborhood is relatively safe and set up for pedestrian traffic. (No running across 8 lane highways, etc.) Any recommendations for lunch or dinner in that neighborhood?
'Tis Monday again. Time for romance readers to expound upon what they adore and abhor about the genre...then go tell Beth about it.
I don't have one big bitch (although I may be one :), but a bunch of little gripes.
I SBD'd a while back about casting, and how Hollywood was getting some of the romance things right but that casting pretty boys was not one of them. And I've got to repeat that, except direct it toward London (I guess) now. I'm echoing Lovely Salome here, but really, the much more interesting (and attractive) character in their Robin Hood series? Robin, not so much. But, oh, Guy of Gisbourne. Well, Richard Armitage, really. I do think that's the root of my fascination. Because despite my preference for Hans Gruber in the first Die Hard movie and the Sheriff of Nottingham in the Costner version of Robin Hood, I'm generally not a fan of the villain or of bad boys. They can be attributed to Alan Rickman. I don't love bad boys. Give me a geek hero or a beta hero and I'm thrilled.
Paranormals. Yep, all blah'd out, haven't read any lately, although I have two that AngieW was kind enough to send me, one by Mandy Roth and one by Michele Pillow. I'm trying to wait until I actually want to read them before starting. A comment elsewhere, maybe from Jane at Dear Author, pinpointed why I'm so disinterested. Beyond the market over-saturation, that is. The whole Fated Mate thing. If h/h are bound to be together for eternity and the story is basically the hero forcing the heroine to be with him and see everything his way, then I'm not interested. The whole Fated Mate thing short circuits the relationship building that I find most interesting.
The latest brouhaha about what romance ought to be. I found the discussion and debate about Claiming the Courtesan to be quite interesting. It's not a book that interests me -- the backblurb read like a hundred other historicals, so I couldn't be arsed. After reading all the discussion, I picked it up again. Still didn't buy a copy, but I may eventually check it out of the library, just to see where I fit on the scale. Because after reading the descriptions of the hero's behavior, I have formed an opinion, but I wonder how reading it (rather than basing my opinion on hearsay) would change that opinion.
But y'know, I really wish I hadn't followed a link to Eileen Dreyer's blog. Because it just really pissed me off. She has every right to decide what she wants to write about and what romance means for herself. But imposing that opinion on other writers and readers? No, thanks.
I'm rereading Persuasion again. I know, ya'll are tired of hearing about it. But I'm thinking again about the first draft vs. the second. Or perhaps better put, the next to last draft vs. the published version. I read an essay (and if I can find a link, I'll post it) about flipping the roles of Wentworth and Anne, from observer to observed, from listener to listened to, from willful ignorance to intended attention. After reading it, I'm noticing all this stuff in the book. And I'm impressed all over again by JA, and how she was willing and able to scrap a huge chunk of her book and go in a different direction with it. 'Cause the original ending isn't actually a bad one. But it isn't as good as the one with The Letter.
ETA: jeez, I can't spell worth anything today. I think I've caught all the errors, but if you see any more, let me know, please.
FYI: I'm a perpetual child in the eyes of my mom and sort-of-stepdad. So of course I got an easter basket. Including two fist-sized eggs, one peanut butter, one butter cream, both homemade by the ladies from Harts Church. I'm pretty sure there's a whole stick of butter and most of a box of 10X sugar in the butter cream egg. Has that stopped me from eating a chunk of it for dinner? Nope. But even cooler than the eggs? The daffodil throw rug for my kitchen.
My neighbors are home after being gone for about a month. They all work for a student travel company and they travel a lot; I think they were away for the various spring break events staggered over most of March into April. They're nice enough, but loud. I didn't miss them.
Duh. According to Amtrak, I could disembark at 30th St. Station. Which is within moderately close walking distance according to FI's website. According to MapQuest, it's less than a mile, which is a quick walk, IMO, assuming that the neighborhood is relatively safe and set up for pedestrian traffic. (No running across 8 lane highways, etc.) Any recommendations for lunch or dinner in that neighborhood?
'Tis Monday again. Time for romance readers to expound upon what they adore and abhor about the genre...then go tell Beth about it.
I don't have one big bitch (although I may be one :), but a bunch of little gripes.
I SBD'd a while back about casting, and how Hollywood was getting some of the romance things right but that casting pretty boys was not one of them. And I've got to repeat that, except direct it toward London (I guess) now. I'm echoing Lovely Salome here, but really, the much more interesting (and attractive) character in their Robin Hood series? Robin, not so much. But, oh, Guy of Gisbourne. Well, Richard Armitage, really. I do think that's the root of my fascination. Because despite my preference for Hans Gruber in the first Die Hard movie and the Sheriff of Nottingham in the Costner version of Robin Hood, I'm generally not a fan of the villain or of bad boys. They can be attributed to Alan Rickman. I don't love bad boys. Give me a geek hero or a beta hero and I'm thrilled.
Paranormals. Yep, all blah'd out, haven't read any lately, although I have two that AngieW was kind enough to send me, one by Mandy Roth and one by Michele Pillow. I'm trying to wait until I actually want to read them before starting. A comment elsewhere, maybe from Jane at Dear Author, pinpointed why I'm so disinterested. Beyond the market over-saturation, that is. The whole Fated Mate thing. If h/h are bound to be together for eternity and the story is basically the hero forcing the heroine to be with him and see everything his way, then I'm not interested. The whole Fated Mate thing short circuits the relationship building that I find most interesting.
The latest brouhaha about what romance ought to be. I found the discussion and debate about Claiming the Courtesan to be quite interesting. It's not a book that interests me -- the backblurb read like a hundred other historicals, so I couldn't be arsed. After reading all the discussion, I picked it up again. Still didn't buy a copy, but I may eventually check it out of the library, just to see where I fit on the scale. Because after reading the descriptions of the hero's behavior, I have formed an opinion, but I wonder how reading it (rather than basing my opinion on hearsay) would change that opinion.
But y'know, I really wish I hadn't followed a link to Eileen Dreyer's blog. Because it just really pissed me off. She has every right to decide what she wants to write about and what romance means for herself. But imposing that opinion on other writers and readers? No, thanks.
I'm rereading Persuasion again. I know, ya'll are tired of hearing about it. But I'm thinking again about the first draft vs. the second. Or perhaps better put, the next to last draft vs. the published version. I read an essay (and if I can find a link, I'll post it) about flipping the roles of Wentworth and Anne, from observer to observed, from listener to listened to, from willful ignorance to intended attention. After reading it, I'm noticing all this stuff in the book. And I'm impressed all over again by JA, and how she was willing and able to scrap a huge chunk of her book and go in a different direction with it. 'Cause the original ending isn't actually a bad one. But it isn't as good as the one with The Letter.
ETA: jeez, I can't spell worth anything today. I think I've caught all the errors, but if you see any more, let me know, please.
FYI: I'm a perpetual child in the eyes of my mom and sort-of-stepdad. So of course I got an easter basket. Including two fist-sized eggs, one peanut butter, one butter cream, both homemade by the ladies from Harts Church. I'm pretty sure there's a whole stick of butter and most of a box of 10X sugar in the butter cream egg. Has that stopped me from eating a chunk of it for dinner? Nope. But even cooler than the eggs? The daffodil throw rug for my kitchen.
My neighbors are home after being gone for about a month. They all work for a student travel company and they travel a lot; I think they were away for the various spring break events staggered over most of March into April. They're nice enough, but loud. I didn't miss them.
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-09 11:15 pm (UTC)Re: Dreyer, I have to say I love the Reader's Gab today. Much better version of the debate than Dreyer. Thanks for the link.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-09 11:45 pm (UTC)Intentionality, that's a good word. I hadn't thought about the other ending as a cop out, I just felt like it was a let down. It sort of worked within the established roles of the admiral and Sophie, but it left me feeling ~meh~ about Wentworth. It didn't show me that he recognized what he was getting in Anne or that he deserved her (for lack of a better word). Which is to say it *was* a cop out...sorry, I'm just slow sometimes. A lot of the time. But I usually get there in the end.
Welcome to my turf!
Date: 2007-04-10 11:09 am (UTC)Food: what did you have in mind? There are lots of lovely restaurants in the area, depending on your tastes and price range.
Drop me a line about it if you like!
Re: Welcome to my turf!
Date: 2007-04-10 12:24 pm (UTC)Taste? Anything, really. Price range is flexible.
I haven't figured out when it'll be yet, probably in May. I'll drop you a line once I'm more organized :)
no subject
Date: 2007-04-10 05:12 pm (UTC)Start of spoiler.
Anne running round Bath like a lost marathon runner looking for Wentworth. Apart from the mangling of the plot, my inner romance reader was offended - he was the one who'd been an idiot, so the genre convention is that he's the one that should be looking for her.
End of spoiler
And I agree about Guy of Guisborne - he's just gorgeous. (The BBC gave away a double sided poster - him on one side, Robin on the other. We hung it with Robin against the wall.)
The Sherriff of Nottingham has more allure than Robin. Have to say the girls and I loved the series: gathered round every week to shout at the TV - at Marian, to get a grip and take Guy, and at Robin to shoot someone - anyone at all... and I'm about as near a pacifist as you can get. Have you seen the episode where he has a sword fight holding a baby? They were more exercised than by any of the monsters on Dr Who - all screaming 'Support the baby's neck!' at Robin.
Marianne McA
no subject
Date: 2007-04-10 05:19 pm (UTC)Haven't seen the recent adaptation yet. I'm not sure if it has aired here. I'm quite partial to the Amanda Root-Ciaran Hinds version. But Anne chasing all over Bath for Wentworth? No, no. JA's heroine's don't chase.
I've only caught a couple of episodes, so I haven't seen the swordfight with baby. Although I did see a snippet of an episode in which he was galloping around and hiding the forest with a baby...who was miraculously quiet when the sheriff's men galloped by.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-10 05:20 pm (UTC)I wish LJ would let me edit comments.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-10 07:55 pm (UTC)Fated mates: Now that's a cop-out, if you ask me.
Persuasion: The revised ending kept it from being just a Cinderella story. Anne brings about her own happy ending by speaking out to Captain what's-his-name, instead circumstances that she has no control over dictating it. It's much stronger, imo. And yes, we get the Letter. *happysigh*
-jennie
Odzywki
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