Hi…

September 21st, 2009 7:24pm by rusty-halo | 17 Comments »

hi

I haven’t been on LJ or DreamWidth for about two months. Um, did I miss anything?

I’m not sure if I’m coming back. I was basically forced off because my computer broke, but my computer has been working for a month now and… yeah. I’m really enjoying the free time that comes with not spending hours on journaling sites every day. I also think that removing myself from the obsessive lunacy of fandom has done wonders for my own sanity. :P

I miss you guys, though. I’m thinking of maybe trimming my reading list to just real people and checking in a couple times per week.

Part of it was post-Writercon burnout. Part is that I’m just kind of… done… with mainstream television. Canceling my cable TV was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. I’m not even angry about the myriad ways TV sucks; I’m just not interested in spending time on it anymore.

I’ve been cooking every day, working on freelance projects, getting my finances in order, organizing my apartment, taking long walks around NYC, going to museums (the Neue Galerie is amazing), reading proper books (currently on The Power Broker about Robert Moses), and downloading lots of 1970s David Bowie goodies.

(Proof that I’ve drunk the Bowie Kool-Aid: the other day I found myself listening to the Young Americans album with unreserved adoration. I’ve also been watching a lot of interviews and was surprised to find that I really like David Bowie. When I got into his music, I really was not expecting to find him likable as a person. I respect his intelligence, hard work, self-awareness, and courage to take wild creative leaps.)

But part of the reason it’s foolish to post here is that you guys are not the appropriate audience for my thoughts on David Bowie. It is really starting to hit me that in my heart, I’m not a TV fan; I’m a music fan who happens to get into TV fandoms in the off periods when I can’t find music that engages me. I’m not sure what the appropriate venue is, though; music fandoms tend to center around message boards full of pedantic fanboys with whom I wouldn’t fit either. I think the best answer is probably just to go back to being a solitary fan.

[info]cindergal, I am watching Farscape. I think the next one up is episode five of season three. I like the show; I’d rate it as above average but not extraordinary. Scorpius is by far my favorite character; every time he comes onscreen the show gets ten times better. Aeryn is one of the most fantastic female characters I’ve ever seen–she’s three-dimensional and complex and totally defies stereotypes–but she’s not onscreen nearly enough. I’m still kind of bored by John–I’m just utterly sick of everything revolving around straight white guys–but it’s not really fair to blame him as he’s a decent character, and he’s definitely gotten a lot more interesting as the show has progressed.

The writing is pretty good but rarely great–it falls into some cliches and manages to subvert others. I think it’s just the nature of television–with their limits of time and budget, even the greatest shows are full of episodes that merely tread water. I’ve gotten a lot more attached to short-run shows that commit to a story and tell it, rather than those that try to drag a story out into eternity and keep narrative options open forever.

I do like that it’s often dark and twisted and rarely goes for easy solutions. The fact that all of its main characters are morally ambiguous and complex is the main reason I’m still watching. Well, that and Scorpius. The guy playing him just has so much charisma. :)

So… what have you all been up to?

Tags: david bowie, farscape, nyc, personal

  1. 17 Responses to “Hi…”

  2. trepkos on September 21, 2009 4:20 pm | Link

    I seem to remember I had a dream once where I was giving Scorpius a big hug!

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    rusty-halo on September 21, 2009 6:10 pm | Link

    I’m torn between “awww” and “ewww.”

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    trepkos on September 21, 2009 7:03 pm | Link

    So was I!

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  3. redeem147 on September 21, 2009 4:57 pm | Link

    I spent the last week (mostly) at the Toronto International Film Festival, and had a fantastic time. Details in my LJ.

    I should link you up with my daughter, the uber-Bowie fan.

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    rusty-halo on September 21, 2009 6:10 pm | Link

    Sounds like fun!

    Does your Bowie fan daughter have a LJ…?

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    redeem147 on September 22, 2009 10:30 am | Link

    She does, under the name of blankstare, but she rarely uses it. She’s more into Facebook, so expect a message from her there.

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    redeem147 on September 22, 2009 10:35 am | Link

    Sorry, she’s _blankstare_

    Pesky underscores.

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  4. queenofthorns on September 21, 2009 5:23 pm | Link

    Oh goodness, The Power Broker – you’ll never look at New York the same way again (although I gave away my copy because I knew I’d never schlepp that tome around with me again :D)

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    rusty-halo on September 21, 2009 6:09 pm | Link

    It is taking me a while to read it since it’s too heavy to carry around with me!

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    rusty-halo on September 21, 2009 6:10 pm | Link

    PS: Lena Headey as Cersei!!!

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  5. txvoodoo on September 21, 2009 7:57 pm | Link

    I was JUST thinking about you, and wondering how you were!

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  6. soundingsea on September 21, 2009 10:12 pm | Link

    It feels like the main thing I’ve been doing is canning. Oh, and I came to your state and rode the LIRR for the first time. It’s remarkably efficient! (Hopefully I’ll be back in the spring.)

    I will continue to read your thoughts on David Bowie as long as you choose to post them.

    Oh, Aeryn. I made it through an entire show full of Muppets for her (and I loathe Muppets).

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  7. orange_crushed on September 21, 2009 10:29 pm | Link

    I feel the same way about television lately- that is, I can get attached to limited-run series like Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes but the idea of getting genuinely dug into a 22-episode year for an unknown number of years, probably as many as four or five… sigh. I can’t do it right now. I like driving narrative and real character growth, and I feel like the longer a show is on, the more they have to re-tread ground on characters, and sometimes even erase previous development to have “drama” again, and that makes me crazier than anything (like, Veronica Mars-crazy, and I was a blibbering lunatic by the end of that.)

    Well, television or music, your passions are always interesting to read about. Whatever keeps you sane. :D

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  8. aea on September 22, 2009 12:50 pm | Link

    Well I do nothing interesting. :) Just here to say it’s nice to hear from you. Hope the kitties are good.

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  9. cindergal on September 24, 2009 3:56 pm | Link

    I’m glad you’re still liking Farscape! Scorpius is a great, compex villain. And Aeryn is…Aeryn. My favorite female character ever.

    As far as what I’ve been up to – I’ve been moving. Back to WA, so good but crazy busy. I had to take Game of Kings back to the library before finishing it, but I’m going to check it out again here as soon as I get a chance. We’re actually moving into the new place this weekend and are currently in a furnished apt. so…crazy. :-)

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  10. Greenwitch on September 30, 2009 11:33 am | Link

    Farscape is great, really wish they had had time to finish out the 5th season instead of cramming it all into a miniseries :(

    I’m actually totally cool with TV right now, although I’m experiencing internet apathy instead, haha. Like I just want to watch shows and enjoy them, rather than getting into fandoms and everything. But I actually have time to watch now, unlike the past few years being in school where I was always playing catch-up and trying to avoid spoilers and everything. I’m trying to spend less time online as a whole now — I mean, how many times can I refresh Google Reader, you know?

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  11. Nancy on September 30, 2009 2:07 pm | Link

    “I’m not a TV fan…” That is also very true for me; I liked certain TV shows but there’s nothing on these days that captures my attention. Even Dunnett fandom has, for me, run its course. I am completely turned off by the micro analysis of every word and comma that Dunnett ever wrote, as well as the fanatical love of Lymond, combined with an equally fanatical hatred of any woman that he hooked up with in the course of the series. Even Phillipa gets criticized by those who want “him” all to themselves. What an attitude! Of course, even when I was involved with TV fandom I was never a true believer because I am too analytical; I never thought that any actor, no matter how pretty, was above criticism. Unfortunately, every actor and every show has their contingent of true believers who gush and drool and pant over every twitch of the eyebrow. That’s not for me and never was. I’d rather paint or write – I now run two blogs plus write art reviews for the Examiner.com plus continue to work toward that MFA. So much of what’s on TV – as well as in popular entertainment – is beyond shallow. They deliberately market to the 14-16 year olds and it’s really a good thing to ditch that and move into something that much more, well, adult.

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