It's time for the update from hezmana!

[hmpf]

Meaning not that I am having a bad time but simply that so much stuff has piled up by now that I will probably end up with a novel-length update here. I'll try and put lj-cuts in to make it easier for you to decide what to read and what to disregard.

All right... I took some notes on stuff I wanted to write about over the last two weeks or so, but I'm not sure I can find them all again... plus some things have become sort of irrelevant. I also started writing an entry offline and saved it in my text editor last weekend, but it was mostly just a cautionary tale about libraries and university essays and the importance of deadlines, and I'm not sure I care enough about it to post it here. Anyway, I can't do so now, because I'm not at home.

Well, let's get this update started.

(uni and social life)

I'm all excited at the moment because I've just spotted another chance of fusing my personal obsession and my 'academic' life. I'm about to do an essay (3000 words, sort of a quickie, really) about gender roles, Farscape, and possibly gender roles in fandom, though *that* might be difficult as I'm not sure if and by whom that has previously been studied. It's funny, really, because gender is not really one of my main interests. However, this week, we were asked to analyse depictions of gender in soap operas - interestingly, the lecturer just assumed we would all know soap opera sufficiently to do that, and I was indeed the only person who didn't, having never seen a single episode of any - and it just struck me how different Farscape is in terms of gender. Now I'm all excited about doing an essay about it. Writing it will probably also be very 'exciting' due to the unfortunate fact that I have to hand it in on December 8.

In non-academic news, I'm going to London tomorrow morning to visit some second hand bookshops and in the evening meet with Eledhwen (from the TORn messageboards) with whom I'll be staying until Sunday. We'll watch the extended edition of The Two Towers (I have the DVD but no DVD player, she has a DVD player but no DVD, so we're a match made in heaven in that respect). I also expect I'll pester her with the Farscape gender debate(tm), because I need to mull this over a bit, and talking about it usually helps.

(recognition)

I've also gotten more than a fair share of recognition lately, which of course makes me feel very... loved... gifted... etc. Firstly, the Scape Sisters video 'Poison' apparently was one of the winners at the Creation con video contest last weekend. We only found out because it was mentioned in several con reports! This makes me happy for AnduraNova even more than myself because she's so insecure about everything she does, no matter how often you tell her that it's good. I hope this success will go some way towards convincing her of her own abilities... (You hear me, sis?!)

Also, selenak has given me a very nice shout-out in her lj here for my R/S fic. It's highly gratifying to know that a writer who's so good at convincing characterisation thinks *mine* so, especially in a genre she does not usually like. It's certainly further fuel for my delusions of grandeur that I may actually, someday, become a good writer.

Just as an aside: using a British keyboard is frelling annoying. The different positions of the 'y' and 'z' key I can get used to; have in fact gotten used to when I was in Barcelona earlier this year. But lots of other keys that are kind of important and that I usually can hit blind are in different places, too! It seriously slows down my typing! Grrrr.

(for AnduraNova)

Apologies in advance for spelling Bunuel wrong; I don't know how to make the little wavey thing appear over the 'n'...

"Bunuel's assistant said, 'You can't use that road. It's been used in at least ten other movies.' 'Ten other movies?' said Bunuel, impressed. 'Then it must be good.'" (From Bordwell & Thompson, Film Art)

That just with regard to your fear of using clips that other vidders have used before... ;-))

(literate archaeologists)

"This is truly the archaeology of Mr. Micawber..." - Julian Thomas, Understanding the Neolithic

"This is what I call the fairy cake theory..." - M. Johnson, Archaeological Theory

Cookies to everyone who can identify both of these literary allusions. (Quotes are somewhat incomplete ATM, will complete them when at home. Check back later!)

Errrrr... I don't have any more time today, I'm afraid. I have to get my lazy ass over to the library and get some literature for my exciting essay. However, just so you know what to expect, here are some of the notes I took in the last two weeks to think about publicly in my LJ when I have the time:

(unrealised realities)

- clashes between Hmpf-the-fan, Hmpf-the-writer, and Hmpf-the-disorganised student
- social function of buttons (physical, not the 'click me' kind), LJ icons, avatars and sigs
- But I want to be a genius, too, mom!
- writing can be like weeding a badly overgrown garden
- is there a trend for multi-fannishness?
- Gene Wolfe and Neil Gaiman: further parallels
- passion and analysis; how cerebral we (fen) are about what turns us on
- more elaboration on the greatness of Gene Wolfe
- missing people who have been long gone from my life (and others)
- fandom nostalgia, fandom narcissism
- fandom and ideology

Looking at that list, I feel compelled to ask:

Can you have a life *and* a livejournal?

Don't answer that question.