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[info]blythe025


Joyful Girl

Andrea Blythe's blog about writing, reading, and everything else


Review: Shock Value by Jason Zinoman
andrea fisheye
[info]blythe025
I'm a huge fan of horror movies and I love seeing behind the scenes of how movies are made, so it's no surprise that I would totally dig Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror, by Jason Zinoman. The book presents a history of how filmmakers, such as Wes Craven, Roman Polanski, George Romero and others, took the old schlocky stories (Frankenstein, Dracula, etc.) to the next level, with stories that push the boundaries of politics and social commentary, as well as gore.

Zinoman didn't go into deep analysis of the film (I'm sure there are plenty of other books that do), but explored the lives of the directors and writers that became known as auteurs in the industry (whether or not it was truth), revealing how they came to develop the movie that are now classics of horror. Keeping in mind that I did not live in the era and have not seen several of these movies (though I have heard and know about all of them), I can't judge whether the author's point of view accurately reflects the movies or the time in which they were made, but I can say that it worked for me. I was thoroughly fascinated and entertained, so much so that I plowed through the book in under two days. It was a great, fun read, and I now need to do a marathon and see all the movies that I have not seen.

The one flaw, for me at least as I have a deep love (read: obsession) of lists, is that the author did note compile of filmography of movies mentioned in the book. How else am I supposed to easily quantify which movies I have and have not seen?

So lacking a proper filmography, I skimmed through the book and made my own list of all the movies discussed. I have included the date, if relevant in context of the book, directors name and writer's name (assume director unless otheriwse noted). I also noted which ones the author considered flops. (Movies that I have seen are noted with a *, are those that I've seen in entirety.)

Main Horror Movies Discussed
Alien (1979), Ridley Scott (dir), Dan O'Bannon (writer)
*Carrie (1976), Brian De Palma
Dark Star (1974), John Carpenter (dir), John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon (writers)
*The Exorcist (1973), William Friedkin (dir), William Peter Blatty (writer)
Friday the 13th (1980), Sean S. Cunningham
*Halloween (1978), John Carpenter
The Hills Have Eyes (1977), Wes Craven
*Jaws (1975), Stephen Speilberg
The Last House on the Left (1972), Wes Craven
*Night of the Living Dead (1968), George Romero
Rosemary's Baby (1968), Roman Polanski
Targets (1965), Peter Bogdanovich
*The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Tobe Hooper

Rest of the Movies Mentioned )

Welp, that took a colossal chunk of time, which may or may not have been worth it. Done nonetheless.

†Zinoman makes a compelling argument as to why No Country for Old Men is closer to horror as opposed to any other genre, noting that the murderer in the movie bears a close resemblance to Michael Myers in Halloween, because there is not rhyme or reason to why they kill.

The Moment of Change anthology has been released!
andrea reading
[info]blythe025

Aqueduct Press is pleased to announce the release of The Moment of Change, an anthology of feminist speculative poetry edited by Rose Lemberg. The contributors include many fine poets, among them Ursula K. Le Guin, Delia Sherman, Theodora Goss, Amal El-Mohtar, Vandana Singh, Nisi Shawl, Greer Gilman, Sonya Taaffe, Athena Andreadis, Jo Walton, and Catherynne M. Valente. Lemberg writes in her introduction that “Literature of the fantastic allows us to create worlds and visions of society, origins, social justice and identity,” but notes that “even though we are in the world, our voices are folded into the creases. We speak from memory of stories told sidewise. We speak from pain; is that serious enough? The world has not been welcoming, but what other world is there?”

“In these pages,” Lemberg summarizes, “you will find works in a variety of genres—works that can be labeled mythic, fantastic, science fictional, historical, surreal, magic realist, and unclassifiable; poems by people of color and white folks; by poets based in the US, Canada, Britain, India, Spain, and the Philippines; by first- and second-generation immigrants; by the able-bodied and the disabled; by straight and queer poets who may identify as women, men, trans, and genderqueer.” -- As noted on the Aquaduct Press website, where it is for sale.

I submitted one poem for this anthology, and was very sweetly rejected. But I love this anthology, it's concept and presentation, so much that I shall immediately buy a copy and insist that anyone who loves fantasy and poetry do the same. (^_^)

Thoughts on Motherhood
andrea smile
[info]blythe025
Between helping my sister make Alice in Wonderland decorations for her upcoming baby shower and Mother's Day on Sunday, I couldn't help but think about mothers. I know many great ones, from my Grandma, to my own mama, to my sister who will give birth in a few months, to all the good friends I know who have brought little ones into the world over the years. I love each of these women and they all do wonderful jobs raising their children. I admire them for that.

I, however, may never have children.

I announced this once to my mom, who simply blinked and asked me why. I explained that I'm not opposed to having children, but that I wasn't going to try to force it to happen. If have my own kids, great. If I don't, that's fine, too. Life will unfold as it unfolds, and I'm going to let it be what it'll be.

"I get it," my mom said. "Getting married, having kids, just isn't your priority. Travel and writing is." (Oh, what a gift it is to have a mom that gets it. I am so blessed.)

I was reminded of this conversation, when a friend on twitter, Athena Dixon, wrote, "Mother's Day makes me a bit sad. I don't know if I'm going to have a chance to be a mother."

At first, I was slow to respond to Athena's post, because sometimes while trying to be helpful, you end up not being so; and while I am comfortable with not having children, not everyone is. Also, I didn't want to say anything along the lines of "don't be sad," because everyone has the right to feel sad, if they are, and I feel it's important to simply give, hold and respect space for that sadness, if that is what the person wants.

In the conversation that followed with Athena and Jessie Carty, and what essentially came out of the conversation was more or less this:
There is a lot of pressure on women especially, but also married men, to have children. The pressure comes from parents, grandparents, family and friends. For women, this pressure happens regardless of marriage, but if you are married, then next step has to be birthing children, and many people simply can't understand why a couple would make the choice not to have any. It baffles them, even though it is entirely possible to live a fulfilled and happy life without raising children.

Also, there are many, many ways to be a mother, and there are many children in the world who need one. You do not have to biologically give birth to a child to be a mother. You do not even have to have a womb to be a mother.

I plan to adopt someday, when I feel economically prepared, if not emotionally so, to take responsibility for another life. In addition to adoption, there is also being an aunt, a god mother, sponsoring a child, teaching, and (I'm sure) many other ways to make a difference in a child's life, to give them the support and generosity of spirit they need to survive childhood and grow into adults.

In my mind, the only wrong way to be a mother is to be unloving, brutal, cruel, or abusive.

Whether you choose to have have a child -- your own or someone else's --, or whether you you choose not to have a child, your life is good an valuable. You are valuable, and I honor your decision, whatever it may be.

As a side note, because I thought it was a nice read, here's a post by Darby Hickey, a transgender mom, "Reflections on Motherhood".

Poetry Project Poll
writer
[info]blythe025
So, as a form of prastination (one of many), I've been toying with various ideas for poetry projects* -- some I've been thinking about for a while now, some are brand new.

The newest idea, and one that could be done both fairly cheaply and easily (uh huh), is creating one or more pocket/mini chapbooks (thank you Poets & Writers). They would be 4.25 x 2.75 inches in size and 6 pages long (not including the cover). So a tiny little book with a series of very short poems (possibly haikus) or one longer poem spread over several pages. It would be something that I could give out at readings and maybe sell on etsy for a buck or two each.

I've been thinking for over a year about putting together a kickstarter project, which would be called "As Yet Unwritten," in which I would create a chapbook of poetry based entirely on prompts from backers. I like the cooperative aspect of the idea, but I'm also aware that there is a huge time chunk involved in terms of researching cost of publishing a chapbook, running the project, creating the project, mailing the finished product out, etc. So, while conceptually fun and exciting to me, it also seems very, very overwhelming.

Then there's the infamous letter poem series, which is still not complete. In terms of publishing this set, I would hopefully (fingers crossed) work cooperatively with an artist friend of mine, who has created a series of collage art pieces on old envelopes, so that her art and my poetry would appear side by side. Also a fun exciting idea for me. Ideally, I would try to get this one professionally published, but I have no idea how to go about getting an art/poetry book published, or what publishers would be interested in such a thing. So, um, yeah.

And, of course, there's always the final option, the one I've been meaning to do since forever, which is to organize and compile my existing poetry into a booklength collection for the purpose of submitting it to a professional publisher. The only think holding me back here are my own doubts as to whether or not I'm good enough or ready.

Anyway, because I'm still enjoying the planning-level of procrastination, I'm going to give you all a poll to play with. Have fun.

Poll #1839694
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 3

What poetry project should I be working on?

View Answers
Make a pocket/mini chapbook, please. It would be so cute!
1 (16.7%)
Better yet, make a slew of pocket/mini chapbooks! I want a whole set!
0 (0.0%)
Create a Kickstarter project for a larger, self-made chapbook.
1 (16.7%)
Finish the letter poems series, so you can publish the art/poetry book.
1 (16.7%)
Stop procrastinating with these self-pub projects and compile your poetry to submit to professional publishers.
1 (16.7%)
clicking the empty space / of a tickybox / fills me with joy -- (haiku)
2 (33.3%)


*Not to be confused with the slew of fiction projects that are in various stages of completion.

Books read in April
andrea reading
[info]blythe025
1. No Surrender: Poems, by Ai
2. Dead West, written by Rick Spears, illustrated by Rob G.
3. An American Tragedy (audio book), by Theodore Dreiser
4. I am J, by Cris Beam
5. The Letter All Your Friends Have Written You (poetry), by Caits Meissner and Tishon


Read reviews... )

It was been a slow reading month for me.
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The Avengers are Made of Awesome
death joyous
[info]blythe025
The Avengers I'm sure the blog-o-sphere has been and will continue to blow up about The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, and that I'm not the first to say how fantastically fun it was. I'm still geeking out over it to such an extent that I can't quite do much more than squee (though I'm very curious to see any social criticism about the movie, so please point me in its direction, if you know of any).

The story is pretty much your general superhero story: big bad villain threatens the fate of the world and good strives to stop it, except in this case the good guys have to figure out how they're going to work together before they even begin to be able to handle the bad guys.

One of my concerns in the lead up to this movie was the possibility that it would simply dissolve into a convoluted mess, especially with the in-fighting that was bound to happen among this mix-matched set of heroes. However, many of the most entertaining moments were those in which the heroes were casting snarky comments or pounding each other, when they should be focused on other, more important matters.

I have a strange love for the villian Loki, and Tom Hiddleston manages to pull off the characters rants and demands of servitude, so that he reads as ego-maniacal, dangerous, and a bit crazed, without being totally ridiculous.

Over the past few years of the string of stand alone superhero movies meant to garner interest in this blockbuster, I've had mixed feelings about pretty much all of the superheroes. For example, the last two versions of the Hulk (with Eric Bana in 2003, Edward Norton in 2008) did little to stoke my interest in the character, so I was surprised to be so delighted by this Hulk. He's all the smash he should be, while also being entertaining in the way a child can be when he's throwing a temper tantrum. The Hulk quickly became one of my favorites in the movie. In fact, The Avengers made me fall in love with each of these hero for different reasons.

Throughout the movie is clever dialog and fun humor, which keeps the entire thing entertaining. It's one of the rare movies that I loved so much, I'm willing to see it again in the theaters.

For your interest, here's a great review on Wired with pics: "Sharp Wit Lifts Avengers Above Formulaic Action"

ETA: This is an awesome post, which sums up fairly well why I love this movie so much (lots of spoilers).

New-to-me Movies Watched in April
andrea fisheye
[info]blythe025
1. Flight Plan (2005)
2. The Highlander (1986)
3. To the Arctic (2012)
4. We Bought a Zoo (2011)
5. Bully (2010)
6. Chimpanzee (2012)
7. Doom (2005)

Read reviews... )

After Hours @TheTechMuseum
andrea smile
[info]blythe025
Last night I hung out with friends at the After Hours event at The Tech Museum. Gordon Biersch hosted the event (yay, beer!) and a friend of a friend's band, called Daze on the Green, played that night, so I got to rock out and dance to some fantastic covers of classic rock and funk songs.

Also, this happened:
May After Hours Photo Booth
Image is of me on the left in a short, pink wig and a butterfly on my head with my friend Victoria on the right with a long, wavy red wig and a bandanna tied around her head.

So, the point is... last night was quite fun, the museum puts on these After Hour events the first Wednesday of every month, and I go to most of them, and I want the museum to keep putting them on, so go the After Hours and support the museum! (^_^)

Being an update sort of listy thing after a long* reprieve
writer
[info]blythe025
Hi, guys! It's been a few weeks, and even longer since I posted a "massive list of goals" update, so... here ya go.

Things I Have Done
1. Attended Writers with Drinks, which had readings by Sarah Kuhn (I must buy her book, One Con Glory), Malinda Lo, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Glen David Gold (whose memoirs are hilarious), and Amber Benson, all of whom were fantastic in varying ways. It was hosted by the wonderful Charlie Jane Anders (aka [info]charliegrrrl), and her introductions, which are really long elaborate and fantastical stories, are definitely one of the highlights of going to the event.

2. Attended S.G. Browne's signing and reading for his new book, Lucky Bastard, at the Booksmith. It was quite fun, and the book looks to be as funny as his other two books.

3. Also attended the Thursday night open mic at The Usuals, which both my friend Lorenz and I read at (and it went quite well, though I have a tendency to speak too close to the mic). It's a new venue, built in the back of a clothing store, but it's a great space, and I look forward to reading there again soon. I also encourage other poets or songsters to attend and participate.

4. I completed the first draft of the short story intended for an anthology, but blew the anthology deadline. So, it's a halfway success, because at least I have a story that can be edited and submitted elsewhere.

5. I sent out two poetry/flash submissions, and received one rejection and one acceptance. The rejection was a rather positive one, and encouraged me to submit again, which I shall.

I also received an email from a publication, saying that they wanted to include a poem they published in an upcoming anthology they are producing. An acceptance without a submission is so amazingly awesomesauce :D.

6. I completed 30 new poems (well, 32, if you count the two I didn't post) in 30 days for the Nation Poetry Month Challenge. Seven of those poems were completed in an hour just before bedtime on April 30th, so there is a varying degree of quality throughout the lot. If you're interested, you can check out the poems here on my tumblr.


Things I Need to Do
1. COMPLETE MY TAXES (it's ridiculous that I haven't, cause they're so easy)
2. Write the flash fiction story that's bouncing in my head.
3. Focus on edits, including rewrites for White Noise and other stories in the draft queue.
4. Submit at least one story mentioned above.
5. Submit one poetry set, ideally the 15-25 poems for a chapbook market.
6. EXCERCISE: yoga, running, hiking, whatever. Just something. My body needs it.

_________
*It occurs to me that my definition of long needs reevaluation, as it's only been a week or two, but it seems like forever.

[Cross-posted to my webpage.]

Line Breaks in Poetry
andrea - dreamy
[info]blythe025

Over on my tumblr (where I've been posting all my Napowrimo 2012 poems), my friend mermaidcomplex asked me how I approach line breaks in my poetry. Since, I ended up doing a longer, more detailed response, I thought I'd share it here, too.

Line breaks decisions really depend poem to poem, but essentially, they tend to be based on overall ton, visual elements, word emphasis, flow and rhythm, and (very much less so for me) formal meter or syllable counting considerations. Each reason tends to get wrapped up in the next, and I think the concept of the "pause" at the end of the line is connected to both word emphasis and flow or rhythm.

Tone/Feeling comes first for me, because it's one of the first things I get a sense of as the words fall where they may. If the mood is calm and peaceful, then I tend to use more even lines, whereas if the poem is angry or in any way chaotic in mood, then I tend to use jagged lines, some longer or shorter, some indented in a seeming haphazard way, so as to suggest the disjointed feelings I'm trying to evoke. Though that's not always the case, as the indented lines can also have a wistful, floaty feeling (which was what I was going for at the end of #9 napowrimo poem). Shorter lines tend to feel more immediate as they focus on only a few words at a time or they can feel more rushed, whereas longer lines tend to feel more stable, anchored.

As you noted, the Visual element can also play a part. This also ties into tone for me, as a poem that looks jagged on the page can immediately give a feeling of disjointedness even before the reader reads the first line. I've also seen poets, as I'm sure you have, take the visual element a level father by

say,
incorporating
the visual layout of
the poem into the metaphorical
images in the text, so that if you're
writing about rolling down a hill, each line
can grow in length, so that the rolling hillside
is instantly present, even in the poem's layout.

I don't usually use the visual aspects of line breaks in that way, but it certainly can work well if the poem calls for it.

Word Emphasis is of equal importance, for me, to the tone or visual elements, and is also closely tied to Flow and Rhythm, which is really where the concept of the "pause" comes from (Allen Ginsberg was big on the idea of line break = pause, as determined by breath, and wrote all or most of his poetry with this in mind). I believe the pause is there. Even if you don't actually sound out the pause while you are reading a poem, there is at the very least a visual break, as your eye stops at the end of the last line and scans back to the beginning of the next. For example, this poem, "Autum," on the Poetic Asides page, I definitely pause at the end of each line while reading it, so that there's a kind of rhythm as I take in the image in each line and mentally pause before moving on. (For me, the pause is stronger when the lines are shorter.)

I approach word emphasis, flow, and rhythm in several ways, including singling out short phrases or single words on a line, if necessary. But even in longer lines, I also look at what the last word is on the line, because the last word can sometime have increased emphasis, as well as to determine whether I want to break up a phrase or keep it whole. Take this not-so-inspiring example: "I don't want to dance in the moonlight. Stop the buzzing of the bees."

       I don't want to dance in the moonlight.
       Stop the buzzing of the bees.

The above is too standard for my tastes. I don't usually like to end on a period, because with the combined pause of the line ending and the stopping power of the period, it brings the line to a full halt, which is good sometimes, but most of the time I want more flow. So I would probably break up the lines like this:

       I don't want to dance
       in the moonlight. Stop
       the buzzing of the bees.

In this way, "I don't want to dance" is a complete sentence on its own, which puts emphasis on "dance." For a moment, however, brief it would allow the reader to feel a sense of conclusion, only to find there's more to it as they read on. In the second line, by putting the period in the middle with the single word after it, my aim is to have the word, "Stop," serve two functions at once. On the one hand, it relates to the sentence of the line it's currently on, "I don't want to dance in the moonlight," so then "Stop," it concludes. On the other hand, it also carries forward into the next line, as a part of a separate sentence and thought.

I rarely use Formal Meter and Syllable Counting (and by rarely, I mean, almost never). I cannot for the life of me wrap my head around meter or iambics — those who do, and do it well, are amazing. I only syllable count in very rare circumstances, as with my poem "Broken Cuckoo Clock", in which every two syllable line is meant to evoke the "tick tock" sound of the clock with the final one syllable line bringing it to an abrupt stop.

So that's pretty much my whole spiel on line breaks. Overall tone and feel of the poem tends to be the ultimate consideration for me. As I'm writing I usually go by my gut feeling on where a line should break, but during rewrites, I'll play with line breaks, switching words back and forth between lines to get the combined tone, visual, emphasis, and flow that I'm going for.

[Cross-posted to my webpage.]


New-to-me movies watched in March
andrea fisheye
[info]blythe025
1. Chronicle (2012)
2. Hubble (2010)
3. The Lorax (2012)
4. Cars 2 (2011)
5. Your Highness (2011)
6. Tower Heist (2011)
7. The Hunger Games (2012)
8. Hoodwinked! (2005)

Read reviews... )

Books Read in March
andrea reading
[info]blythe025
1. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
2. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein
3. Anthem, by Ayn Rand
4. Born Wicked, by Jessica Spotswood
5. Rasl, Vol. 1: The Drift, by Jeff Smith
6. Z: Zombie Stories, edited by J.M. Lassen
7. Brown Girl in the Ring, by Nalo Hopkinson

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