Less lorn

[pameladean]

I am sitting here trying to eat edamame and type at the same time. Luckily salt is not very sticky.

Eric called. He couldn't talk long, but the essential things were said, and we should be able to have a longer conversation tomorrow. My thanks to people who put kindly statements in my comments section, and my email correspondent, and to David and Lydy, for patience, and to Beth, who kindly called my cellphone with hers so that I could be sure mine was working; and especially to Raphael, who exhibited monumental patience and sympathy, and only said, "Are you fourteen now?" once early on.

I might cop to sixteen. It's a pity it's my psyche and not my skin that's that way.

Pamela

I should mention that Raphael and I are catching up on "Farscape" episodes and are impressed, entranced, and, in a meta sense, apprehensive. All I can say is, the Sci-Fi Channel really is TRYING to PUT itself out of BUSINESS. Feh.

Sunday Beth came over to talk to Lydy about Minicon programming, and they and David snagged me to go out for dinner. We tried to go to Pizza Luce, but it was jammed and noisy, so we ended up at It's Greek To Me. I had swordfish and many vegetables. The swordfish was definitely not undercooked. I like my fried eggs hard too, but this may have been a bit overdone. I liked it, though. Must remember not to let Eric order fish there, however.

It was a very pleasant occasion and made me think better of socializing.

Comments

[tenebraeli.livejournal.com]

Um... you probably get this all the time, but...

I'm a huge fan, and as I'm re-reading 'The Dubious Hills' for the third time, and just finished my fifth re-read of 'Tam Lin', I wanted to take a moment and say "Thank you"

Your books have added an unmeasureable amount of happiness to my life. Thanks.

[pameladean]

Well, I don't get it so often that I'm tired of it. Thank you very much for taking the trouble to say so. This kind of reaction means a great deal to me, especially now when I am really struggling to get a new book off the ground and my publisher is being Incredibly Slow about actually buying it.

Pamela

[cofax7]

Damn, I'm gonna go all fangirly here. But since someone else broke the ice...

I love Tam Lin to death and can't say how many times I've read it. Your sneaky plotting-without-plot (what Melymbrosia tells me is called "inclued plot") does me in every time and keeps me coming back, picking at it, trying to think my way through the layers. I'm looking forward to rereading The Hidden Country novels when they're re-released, as it's been years since I've had copies.

Um, anyway, I just wanted to say I love your work, am exceedingly happy you're writing, look forward to reading whatever you next publish, and (lastly!) am very glad to hear you're enjoying Farscape.

Spread the word, share the love, and with luck (and very good ratings on the reruns/syndication, or maybe a hugely rich sugar daddy) we'll get to see the end of the story. "Impossible is not in our vocabulary."

[pameladean]

Thank you. It's funny, I'm not sure the term "inclue" had been invented when I was writing that book, but it's the best term I know for that kind of thing.

I'd be delighted to get the show back, but I think it's a matter of what one can cram into the Sci-Fi Channel's vocabulary. They don't seem to have much of one.

Pamela

[papersky.livejournal.com]

Invented, yes. Released into the wild, no.

[pameladean]

*giggle*

Thank you. I wasn't sure you'd want to be invoked.

When was it released?

Pamela

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

I once asked Gordy Dickson if he got tired of people coming up and gushing about how they loved his books all the time. He looked at me like I was nuts and said, "No." In that 'don't be an idiot voice'

MKK

[mudandflame.livejournal.com]

and especially to Raphael, who exhibited monumental patience and sympathy, and only said, "Are you fourteen now?" once early on.

*glyph of embarrassment* If I remember right, I said that when you wanted to call the house line from your cellphone to make sure it was actually working. It was meant affectionately, though it doesn't look that way now that I see it in print.

All I can say is, the Sci-Fi Channel really is TRYING to PUT itself out of BUSINESS.

Farscape may be dying young, but at least it's going to leave a pretty corpse. Which I wouldn't have thought, after the first few episodes of this season. I don't think I've ever seen a TV show *un*jump the shark. In the last episode we saw ("Fetal Attraction") Rygel is smart, Noranti is more than just comic relief, Sikozu is impressive, Chiana kicks ass and appears to have grown up a bit while still being very much herself -- pretty much exactly what I want to see from all those characters. And there's great improvisational teamwork immediately followed by team conflict coming to blows, which is, you know, Farscape in a nutshell. And questionable decisions that you know those characters _would_ make, with serious attention paid to the collateral damage, in that way Farscape is good at. It's a good note to go out on, if you've got to go.

I hope Pilot gets something more than exposition between now and the end of the show, though. And that Aeryn gets a chance to be more Aerynlike.

Strange that with all the things there are to be angry about right now, somehow I can still muster the emotional energy to be annoyed that my TV show has been cancelled. What does that make me, twelve?

[pameladean]

*smooch* I know how it was meant.

I should perhaps explain for the no-doubt astounded onlookers that we have a slightly peculiar phone system, really intended for use in a small office rather than in a household, that has occasionally done weird things to us; and also that it is possible, since I hate phone calls for the most part (ones from Eric being a notable exception; there are a few other exceptions too) and try to get people to use email, for me not to get a telephone call at all for several days. Cats walk on the equipment, too.

As for "Farscape," I find myself particularly glad this underslept morning that they are no longer playing Naranti for laughs in the particular way they used to, the kind of "women over forty are inherently bumbling and hilarious" way. They make fun of her, of course, just as they make fun of everybody. But she's in now, not out. I'm not referring to the other characters but to the writers, though perhaps I should consider to what degree "Farscape" uses unreliable narration. Aigh.

Pamela

[mudandflame.livejournal.com]

As for "Farscape," I find myself particularly glad this underslept morning that they are no longer playing Naranti for laughs in the particular way they used to, the kind of "women over forty are inherently bumbling and hilarious" way.

In retrospect, I think they've probably always been building up to some revelation that Noranti is more than she appears -- the mystery of why she's even on Moya has been deliberately underscored. The annoying kind of humor at her expense that they indulged in -- especially in that vomit episode (no, the *other* vomit episode) -- may well be misdirection, though that doesn't completely redeem it for me. Think of what they do with Rygel -- he's treated as pure comic relief for episodes on end, and then every once in a while they remind us that he's damn smart and really rather a tragic figure.

R.

[mudandflame.livejournal.com]

Think of what they do with Rygel -- he's treated as pure comic relief for episodes on end, and then every once in a while they remind us that he's damn smart and really rather a tragic figure.

*blinks* Rygel as Pnin.

And Pnin *so* needed translator microbes, after all. Or rather, everyone around him did.

[pameladean]

Ohmigod. What you are doing to my head.

Do it any time, please.

Pamela

P.S. Pnin is never mean, though, never ever. It's still the same character slot, though, I absolutely see that.

dumb question

[eileenlufkin.livejournal.com]

Who's Pnin?

Re: dumb question

[pameladean]

Nothing dumb about it. Pnin is the eponymous protagonist of a novel by Nabokov. It's a lovely book, much less overtly deft and innovative and weird than some of his others, but really sweet and whimsical and moving. I posted the first line a while back in that "first lines of favorite books" craze we had here for a while.

Nabokov certainly has very stfnal sensibilities in much of his work, but the putting of Pnin and "Farscape" in the same space made my brain wobble. Whee!

Pamela