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Aug. 12th, 2007 12:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
liptonrm_backupWell, this has been a fairly shitty week for most everyone I know. Are the planets in some sort of weird alignment or something? Anyway, it's over now and the world seems much the better for it.
Though I am getting very tired of not feeling 100%. Seeing the rheumatologist tomorrow so hopefully we'll figure out some sort of regimen that will make things better. It would also be nice to finally know what in the world is wrong. Was surprised earlier this week to realize I've been dealing with this off and on (sometimes more off than on, thankfully) for 6 years. Wow.
Happily finished a book I've been working on for ... I have no idea how long. Two years? Something like that. It's A History of the Byzantine State and Society by Warren Treadgold and was more than 800 pages long. I've frequently been asked why in the world I would read something like that and my usual response would be somewhere along the lines of,"I was a history major." You wanna know the truth? I read The Sarantine Mosaic duology by Guy Gavriel Kay years and years ago and realized that I knew next to nothing about the Byzantine Empire after the Fall of Rome and that needed to be rectified. My first instinct is always to read a nice comprehensive historical overview so that's what I did.
Coincidentally, also finished a reread of Kay's books this week as well. I can never recommend those books or any of his works highly enough. He's an incredibly gifted author and creative mind.
So now I know why the pope felt free to crown Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor even though at the time he was still nominally connected to the emperors in the East. I also know that it was the Fourth Crusade much more than the Ottomans that caused the Fall of Constantinople and there are some strong examples of the inefficacy of surrounding oneself with people who tell you only what you want to hear to which the Bush Administration should pay heed.
I love history. Now I'm reading Middlemore's translation of Jacob Burckhardt's The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. It's a classic of historical writing and looks to be a good read.
Yesterday I read the SPN tie-in novel Nevermore (I bought it on a whim while grocery shopping). It was fun. DeCandido has a good grasp of the characters and universe and he's obviously a fan of the show. I've read a lot of tie-ins over the span of my life and this was one of the better ones. It wasn't revolutionary but it made me laugh more than once and that's all I can reasonably ask for. Plus, it was interesting to observe that DeCandido has pretty much made his authorial career from writing tie-ins (ie professionaly sanctioned fanfiction). That's ... interesting.
I could now go on and put up a whole thing about the differences between fanfiction and tie-in novels and how the latter medium is much more constrained. Hence a lot of what people are looking for in fanfiction won't be found in the pro novels. I could also talk about how people who were angry/embittered/outraged over how in their opinion the tie-in was less good than a lot of fic should go ahead and try to get their own stories professionally published because obviously one can make a career out of it. But that would take a lot more energy than I have and I'd much rather go sit on my couch.
Wow, that's a lot of books. It's amazing how much more I read when I'm not reading cases/studying law. Awesome. FYI, There will be a camping round-up with pictures eventually, when I have the energy to put it together.
Happy Sunday!
Though I am getting very tired of not feeling 100%. Seeing the rheumatologist tomorrow so hopefully we'll figure out some sort of regimen that will make things better. It would also be nice to finally know what in the world is wrong. Was surprised earlier this week to realize I've been dealing with this off and on (sometimes more off than on, thankfully) for 6 years. Wow.
Happily finished a book I've been working on for ... I have no idea how long. Two years? Something like that. It's A History of the Byzantine State and Society by Warren Treadgold and was more than 800 pages long. I've frequently been asked why in the world I would read something like that and my usual response would be somewhere along the lines of,"I was a history major." You wanna know the truth? I read The Sarantine Mosaic duology by Guy Gavriel Kay years and years ago and realized that I knew next to nothing about the Byzantine Empire after the Fall of Rome and that needed to be rectified. My first instinct is always to read a nice comprehensive historical overview so that's what I did.
Coincidentally, also finished a reread of Kay's books this week as well. I can never recommend those books or any of his works highly enough. He's an incredibly gifted author and creative mind.
So now I know why the pope felt free to crown Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor even though at the time he was still nominally connected to the emperors in the East. I also know that it was the Fourth Crusade much more than the Ottomans that caused the Fall of Constantinople and there are some strong examples of the inefficacy of surrounding oneself with people who tell you only what you want to hear to which the Bush Administration should pay heed.
I love history. Now I'm reading Middlemore's translation of Jacob Burckhardt's The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. It's a classic of historical writing and looks to be a good read.
Yesterday I read the SPN tie-in novel Nevermore (I bought it on a whim while grocery shopping). It was fun. DeCandido has a good grasp of the characters and universe and he's obviously a fan of the show. I've read a lot of tie-ins over the span of my life and this was one of the better ones. It wasn't revolutionary but it made me laugh more than once and that's all I can reasonably ask for. Plus, it was interesting to observe that DeCandido has pretty much made his authorial career from writing tie-ins (ie professionaly sanctioned fanfiction). That's ... interesting.
I could now go on and put up a whole thing about the differences between fanfiction and tie-in novels and how the latter medium is much more constrained. Hence a lot of what people are looking for in fanfiction won't be found in the pro novels. I could also talk about how people who were angry/embittered/outraged over how in their opinion the tie-in was less good than a lot of fic should go ahead and try to get their own stories professionally published because obviously one can make a career out of it. But that would take a lot more energy than I have and I'd much rather go sit on my couch.
Wow, that's a lot of books. It's amazing how much more I read when I'm not reading cases/studying law. Awesome. FYI, There will be a camping round-up with pictures eventually, when I have the energy to put it together.
Happy Sunday!
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no subject
Date: 2007-08-13 03:36 am (UTC)Also? Your brain? Impresses the hell out of me. I've read, like five books this year.
love you deeply, madly, truly,
c
no subject
Date: 2007-08-13 07:27 pm (UTC)I am positive that it is all the good vibes you sent this way that made this morning so successful. You're the bestest.
*squishes*