Below are the 11 most recent journal entries recorded in rainherder's InsaneJournal:

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
9:29 pm	When you see this in your f-list, quote Shakespeare When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see, For all the day they view things unrespected; But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee, And darkly bright are bright in dark directed. Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright, How would thy shadow's form form happy show To the clear day with thy much cleaner light, When to unseeing eyes thy shade shines so! How would, I say, mine eyes be blessed made By looking on thee in the living day, When in dead night thy fair imperfect shade Through heavy sleep on sightless eyes doth stay! All days are nights to see till I see thee, And nights bright days when dreams do show me thee. Sonnet XLIII (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 1st, 2009
6:19 pm	Book Review To Have and Have Not, Ernest Hemingway THaHN was first published in 1934, and there were several times I had to remind myself of that fact so I could deal with the casual racism and sexism. Hemingway wasn't shy about exposing racism or sexism, but I think that has more to do with the fact that he didn't really see racism or sexism. He was a product of his times, and his books reflect their times. In 1934, white men could use the N-word with impunity and they could dismiss women as having no value beyond the sex they provided without being called on their sexism. Hemingway changes voice throughout the book. Much of it is in third-person, usually from Harry Morgan's (that's the lead character's name, so don't think Col. Potter) perspective. Sometimes he switches to first-person from various characters' perspectives. This is fine, as long as he's taking a male perspective. Hemingway's descriptions of the thoughts of women are insulting at best and painful at worst. Fortunately, these make up only a small percentage of the book, but it's jarring and frustrating when the reader comes upon one of the first-person female passages. That said, there is a compelling (and still relevant) story at the heart of THaHN. All Harry wants to do is make a living, but employers at honest jobs are paying less than they used to, and the politicians want the poor people to move out of the Florida Keys so they (the Keys) can be turned into a tourist paradise. When one of Harry's fishing clients leaves Cuba without paying the nearly $900 he owes, Harry ends up taking an illegal smuggling job. And another. And another, each with more severe consequences than the last. I've described this book elsewhere as "Ernest Hemingway writes a John Steinbeck novel," and that's a good description, as far as it goes. Hemingway's characters aren't nearly as desperately poor as Steinbeck's tend to be, and Hemingway doesn't have nearly as much affection for his characters, either. I'm left wondering what women in 1934 thought when they read the first-person female passages: did they think, "Ernest, you haven't got a clue," or did they think that maybe there were women who actually thought like that? I can't recommend THaHN without reservation, but it's a quick read, even for slow readers like myself. (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 12th, 2008
9:44 pm	(crossposted from lj) Having watched an episode of "M*A*S*H" from one of the first couple of seasons, I feel compelled to make the observation that if the US Republican Party could, it would elect Frank Burns President. (Edited to add: the episode in question is "The Sniper.") (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
7:33 pm	I love my country. I hate it when some of my fellow Americans pull shit like this. They are a cause for shame. And I can't help but wonder if the people who are so quick to accuse anyone who's at all critical of Sarah Palin of sexism will have much to say about this. My hope is that they will; my fear is that they'll dismiss it. And right now, I think that my fear knows them better than my hope does. (Comment on this)
Friday, August 29th, 2008
2:56 pm	Politics (well, it is an election year) (crossposted from lj) Color me completely unsurprised that John McCain chose a woman as his running mate. Color me only a little surprised that she's not much known outside of her home state. I would have thought he'd choose someone with at least a little experience on the national scene. I guess his reasoning is that she's a woman, so maybe that will appeal to Clinton's followers who don't want to vote for Obama, she's pro-life, so that will appeal to the right wing of the Republican party, and she's pretty much unknown outside of Alaska, so there's going to be a plethora of "Who Is She?" stories crowding out anything involving the Dems in the coming weeks and days. People's already got a story on five things you didn't know about Sarah Palin on their website, but I do wish they'd included at least one thing of real substance. Hey, does this mean that if Clinton had won the Democratic nomination, McCain would've chosen one of the half dozen or so African-American Republicans? Or, if Obama had asked her to be his VP and she'd accepted, would McCain have chosen a Latin American woman? Or maybe an Asian woman? The possibilities for alternative history novels seem endless... (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
3:01 pm	I'm not dead! (crossposted from LJ) Note: I've commented here recently, but I've been pretty silent on LJ for a while, so the comments about not being dead are mostly for the benefit of my LJ flist. I'm crossposting for convenience.) Finished first semester back at school, and should be getting good grades (looks like all A's; that would be more impressive if it weren't all introductory classes and prerequisites at a community college and if I hadn't already had some graduate education, but there it is). I realized I haven't updated in some time, and a quick check showed that it's been nine weeks. That's part of March, all of April, and most of May. So, yeah. I'm not dead. It also occurs to me that I haven't talked much about school, including what I'm studying. I'm going for an Associate's Degree in Digital and Film Animation. (Whether that's what I end up actually doing remains to be seen, but right now that's the plan.) I made enough of an impression on one of my teachers that he offered me an internship at a local upstart film production company--it's a very new company--they haven't made anything yet, don't have an office yet, no website yet, but they're working on all of that, and I get to help. For my trouble, I get class credit and something to put on my resume, and I will also probably get to establish a number of contacts that could prove helpful. I could go into detail about the classes I've taken so far, but that would make for a really long post that you'd probably find boring as hell. The interesting classes, the ones that will determine if I really do want to do animation, are all upcoming. I will be taking classes over the summer--in addition to the internship, I've got an art class and then another on Adobe Illustrator. These are also introductory classes, and required for the degree I'm pursuing. Nine weeks, and that's about all I can think of to say. (Comment on this)
Sunday, March 16th, 2008
2:13 pm	The Amazon Review Meme (aka the Stross meme) When you see this meme on someone else's journal, go to Amazon.com or whatever: look for a work of "classic literature" - Alice in Wonderland, The Water Babies, Hamlet, whatever - and find the most negative customer reviews. One star, two star, three star, may all be good hunting grounds. Pick out the funniest, and post to your journal. ( Romeo and Juliet ) (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
9:34 pm	Movie quote quiz thingy answers Since no one stumbled on the quiz to take it, and because I'm sure you're dying to know... ( here are the answers ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 28th, 2008
8:56 am	Movie meme quiz thingy (crossposted from lj) Okay. So. There's a meme going around where you're supposed to post a list of 15 movie quotes and something or other. I'm doing 20 quotes, and I'm not bothering with the actual meme's rules. You get one point for each movie you identify correctly and one point for each character you identify accurately. That's a total of 46 points. (Some quotes have more than one character.) If you can't identify the character, but can identify the actor, I'll give you half a point. If you can identify both, I'll give credit for the character. Also, some films are translated from other languages, so I'll give half a point if you can identify the translated quotes and another half point if you can identify the original language. Comments will be screened. (I posted this on lj a few days ago; I've only gotten a few responses so I thought I'd repost it over here.) 1. All your life, you live so close to truth it becomes a permanent blur in the corner of your eye. And when something nudges it into outline, it’s like being ambushed by a grotesque. 2. Character 1: Why is Queen still playing? Character 2: Ah, we have a situation here. Character 1: I KNOW! 3. Are you people insane? I’m the director. I make the casting decisions around here. 4. The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our land. 5. God, you two are sensitive! All I’m doing is implying some kind of ugly sordid sexual liaison. I’d be proud of that sort of thing. 6. Whatcha got ain’t nothin’ new. This country’s hard on people. You can’t stop what’s coming. It ain’t all waiting on you. That’s vanity. 7. Character 1: I can’t make out whether you’re a bloody madman or just half-witted. Character 2: I have the same problem. 8. When I come back, I expect to find you gone. Wait for me! 9. Character 1: I’m not in love with you any more. Character 2: I didn’t know that you ever were. Character 1: Let’s not make this any more difficult than it already is. 10. We would not seek a battle as we are, yet as we are, we say we will not shun it. 11. You’ve got an overdeveloped sense of vengeance. It’s going to get you into trouble someday. 12. Vice. Virtue. It’s best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality. If you apply that to life, then you’re bound to live life fully. 13. We’ve got armadillos in our trousers. It’s really quite frightening. 14. Character 1: You said I was your cousin! Character 2: That was a lie. If I was a relative of yours, I’d shoot myself. 15. Well, I’ve wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it. 16. But Captain, to obey—just like that—for obedience’s sake, without questioning, that’s something only people like you do. 17. Character 1: Is this kidnapping or robbery? Character 2: It could be the last day of your life. 18. What’s the use of worrying about your beard when your head’s about to be taken? 19. Character 1: What if I were in a coma, and the doc says, “One more day”? Character 2: I’d throw you into the ocean. Shock therapy. 20. I had two heart attacks, an abortion, did crack—while I was pregnant. Other than that, I’m fine. (Comment on this)
Monday, February 18th, 2008
9:56 pm	The Mysteries of Udolpho, enumerated I'm not finished with it yet, but will be soon. 1. Exactly how many travelogues did Ann Radcliffe read before writing this book? 2. Is Emily the first example of a Mary Sue? 3. Did Radcliffe not know any other word for "verdure"? 4. How long does it take them to get to Udolpho? 5. Were there really only three good people in the entire world not living in convents or monasteries? 6. Radcliffe was paid by the word, right? 7. Really, how long before they get to Udolpho? 8. Well, there's another one in love with Emily. Evidence for her Mary Sue status is mounting... 9. When do they get to Udolpho? (Honestly, I'm reminded of elusis's posts [on LJ] when she was reading The Fellowship of the Ring and asking post after post, "When does Frodo leave the Shire?") 10. Where does she get the idea that urban types don't like art? 11. Exactly how much verdure is there in Europe? 12. So they finally get to Udolpho... 13. Of course, a secret passageway into Emily's room. Nothing's going to come of that... 14. This is a classic, right? 15. What, no verdure inside the castle? 16. And another one in love with Emily, whose only flaw seems to be naiveté, and I can think of a couple of characters who'd willingly deprive her of that. 17. Okay, she also doesn't think things through, but that's probably because she's too naive to be able to anticipate her evil step-uncle's duplicitous actions. Still, she knows he's not to be trusted. 18. So naturally she's going to trust this other guy just because he's French and claims to be in love with her and was a prisoner of her evil step-uncle. (And no, none of those is a reliable reason to trust a total stranger.) 19. Oh, God, more verdure. I understand this book was popular in its day. I'm reading it because I really want to read Northanger Abbey and I want to understand as many of the references as possible, so that pretty much means reading Udolpho. I'm not going to bother with The Monk, which I understand was also popular in its day and useful for Northanger Abbey, but not quite as crucial. I also understand that other people today might not have the same difficulties with it that I'm having, and that's fine. What a boring world it would be if we all enjoyed the same things. I've got more of this one to read. If there are any more mysteries to be enumerated, I'll do them in a later post. I've also got other books to review, and I'll get to them later this week. School update in another post as well (for now, let's just say that for the school year so far, I've hit the snooze button only once, and that was this morning because I stayed up too late last night doing homework and that's another post). Current Mood: bookish (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 9th, 2007
3:40 pm	Hello I don't have much to say by way of introduction, so I expect this post will be very short. I have journals with this same username at livejournal and greatestjournal, and most of my posts are friends only. I will post a better introduction another time. For now, let's just say my head's not right. (Comment on this)