Archive for August, 2011
And then, updates.
Hello.
Just dropping by to say that Gloomsday arrangements are not going all that well, but I think they will work out in some way.
I’m back at writing in the long form, i.e. the novel, and it’s great to be back. I think I’ve learnt some things about it in the past few months that will hopefully prove beneficial as well.
Speaking of learning things, some strange personal issues have cropped up. I would like to declare them resolved, though I’m not entirely sure. When asked yesterday if I was happy, I said that I didn’t know. I feel like I have a stronger sense of my beliefs, but not stronger beliefs per se. I feel closer to my heroes, but further from my friends. A lot of things seem clearer to me but some things also seem murkier. It’s a strange time, I guess.
School is good, and busy. Been making friends, in a sense. Been also realising how busy I will be getting very soon, and have been trying to get the old engine started. I feel really stupid going into every class but I don’t think that will be a major problem because I’m probably going to get used to it.
I managed to borrow a copy of Kenneth Branagh’s 1988 production of Twelfth Night, and certainly find it more to my tastes than the production of Midsummer I watched prior to this. I don’t think it helped that I’ve had a shift in opinion on these two plays. It’s sometimes weird to note how much one changes. I remember being quite taken with Midsummer before, and also (naively) dismissing Twelfth Night as being something of a lightweight play. I now feel that Midsummer seems to show too much of Shakespeare trying to find his feet and trying to wrestle his craft under control, not helped by how it does appear a little like a jigsaw with pieces that don’t quite fit together. On the other hand, I think Twelfth Night shows better execution on his part.
Well, I suppose I’m just getting old and all complain-y.
d
Difficulty Level
I have to say that going into the new course, I expected my classes to be difficult, but it’s still managed to catch me by surprise. I guess that’s how it is, isn’t it? You can’t actually imagine the difficulty ahead of time. You can sort of guess, but the way it creeps up on you and the emotions that fester, well, it just doesn’t work. I suppose it has in one part to do with how hard it is to imagine emotions. I mean, seriously, I find it really difficult to imagine being really sad or angry when I’m not really sad or angry. Okay, maybe that’s just me and my deficient imagination.
I’ve just had a psychoanalytic film theory class which was really quite something. I mean, I liked it, so it was something. And it was difficult, so it was something. So. There. I don’t, as my other lecturer puts it, speak Lacanese, just dribs and drabs, but I imagine I’ll have to pick it up at some more advanced level now.
Love all my classes so far, though. They all seem like great topics with nice lecturers and nice people in the classes as well.
I was supposed to update the birthday post during the weekend, but some really strange things happened during the weekend. I’ll do it tomorrow or something. It is, however, going quite well. At least, better than I expected, though, to be fair, I wasn’t expecting all that much, so the preparations were almost bound to be a success.
Meanwhile, I have received good comments from people who have read my latest short story, meaning they enjoyed it, which is a relief mostly because I’ve never quite written a story like this one before and I was sure it was going to be a terrible attempt. But I guess this is some consolation, even if I win nothing. And I guess that’s really likely because I’ve read some really good Singaporean short fiction recently and I’m sure it’ll be the likes of them who will win something.
In any case, hello. Hope you had a good weekend.
d
