I don't want to feel suburban. I want to remain a country cow-poke from the north of England, pretending I'm Robert Frost because no one is actually interested in anything between Newcastle and the Scottish boarder. It's bad, dude, real bad. The fishing boats toiling the cold North Sea for sparse pickings, through the black rain and wind screaming like it's Ragnarok, and the end of the old gods. The endless fields for pasture, wheat and rape seed separated by clumps of trees and lonely homesteads that farmers may not live in anymore - all until the Scottish border anyway, so not really endless. Man it gets pretty Tolkien up here.
Nice description. I'd rather live in a place like that, though. The area I live in isn't so bad, but if you stray twenty minutes too far then you'll be confronted by skin heads in tracksuits and speed-walking bums, holding a can of special brew like a baton. The countryside would do me nicely.
[Mat gets too excited, decides to 'go again.'] Give me some Reiver lifestyle, I'd flourish in rain. Strip boldly through heather, sing for the fishes: 'Brave fisherfolk of yonder horizon. I am moor's poet, Lemex of the lake...' I'd say, if I was you, @Lemex. 'Excuse me, I heard a gurgle, are you in pain, sir?' 'Chaplain?' 'Please call me your community vicar. You may have seen me before on that documentary, Seven Up. I am not the crazy one.' 'Of course not, not crazy one. It's just the freedom of the hills, it makes me evaporate. I mean ex-foliate. You know, I am poet, always striving for the right emotion in my prose, right word, at least.' 'How about 'encounter?' 'Well, I think I shall find my shirt on some gorse, somewhere, and run away.' 'And I shall set the dogs on you: Gharghas, Mortenhocker!' 'Perhaps we might narrate together, a little while?' 'Good man.'
"Oh so like Tolkien?" "Are there going to be elves?" "Wow! I have always wanted to write a book!" "You have the talent." *Stares Blankly at people from that point on*
Not that I have any memory of, no. I'm sure it's happened at some point, but definitely not enough for me to form some kind of neurosis around it. I don't really meet new people in any of the contexts you listed. How do you get invited to a dinner party with people you don't know? Do you answer an add on Craigslist? I can definitely see a disconnect here though, because (in Colorado) if you can breath enough at the top of the mountain to talk, you're climbing the wrong mountains.
In my case I do have a real job! Lol joking joking. I am a security officer though. I write at work because it is an empty lot. Truth be told. I never been asked the above questions. I must stink.
@Lemex @Mckk @The Mad Regent You know its bad even when tvtropes has a semi-negative page named after you http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DanBrowned Heheh Dan Browned
When I read the Da Vinci Code a few years ago I could bare it, but Angels and Demons really was just a load of ... Constantly trying to relate God with science using weak and contradictory arguments just made me angry more than anything. I just want to punch anyone who says science is proving Gods existence ... seriously.
It was hilarious, I was reading his Inferno I had a print out of Botticelli's 'Chart of Hell' on my wall, and when I read Brown's description of it I looked up at my print out it and said, out loud, 'No it doesn't!'. Somehow Dan Brown confuses the brown in the painting with red! RED!
XD I've never actually read a Dan Brown book but its mainly cause of the complaints of historical facts. Don't get me wrong its normal for a writer to get some stuff wrong from time to time but come onnnnn even if you're writing thriller or freaking fantasy you should do your research and fact checking try and then maybe spin something off the actual facts if you're looking to make it a big mysterious conspiracy or underground thing. But based on what I know it kinda seems like Dan Brown just says he does his research and then does an entire 180 on the actual subject at hand XD. Perhaps I'm judging to much but ehhh in literary or speculative If its set in our world I do like things to be accurate as possible or know a real effort was made. And considering that there was a Spanish thread somewhere which translated to "Is Dan Brown a compulsive liar?" LOL, not exactly in a rush to read him
Yeah, he tends to take history and bend it to the will of his story. Da Vinci Code was OK, because it was more of a 'possibility' combined with a series of implausible events; but Angels and Demons was just crap. I can't bash him too much, though, because, despite his stories being inaccurate in many ways, they are quite creative. Since I love adventure stories I had to read them, but I don't think I'll be purchasing any more of his books. I'd rather just read King Solomon's Mines again.
The repetitive questions/reactions really come into their own in my world with the following questions: So how many kids do you have? Seven *OH MY GOD! * Is that a religious thing? (no) * Don't you have a TV? (we have two, and netflix - if you would rather watch TV you're doing it wrong) * You must really like sex! (Yes I do - but I just met you, I don't want to discuss my sex life and you have proof I've had sex 7 times in my life - hardly a basis for making conclusions about my nymphomania) *Don't you know how it happens? (I think I figured it out, I'm washing our underwear separately now so I think we've solved the problem) * I can't cope with my two, there's no way I could parent 7 kids well (I met your two, I couldn't cope with them either) *How do you afford them? (we pay them off in installments) * You can't give enough attention to seven children, they're missing out (Wow, your conclusions about my life are both completely without basis and offensive in the extreme, thanks for sharing) * Don't you care about the environment? (As a mother I have absolutely nothing invested in the future of the planet. The fact that the carbon footprint of my family is less than that of the average suburban 2 kid family is just an accident) ...and more And then there's: What's wrong with your daughter? She has a rare random genetic condition called Cornelia de Lange Syndrome. She has had a few challenges like two open heart surgeries and a tummy surgery and she does lots of things differently like eating with her tummy tube. There's far more right about her than wrong with her though *So will she ever be normal? (no, in our family we don't do normal, it's too mainstream) *Will she ever walk/talk/eat normally? (I get this question, but I don't have a crystal ball. We will do everything we can to support her to her full potential and help her reach her dreams whatever they are) *At least she has pretty hair. (yeah, it was a consolation prize) * Oh you feed her through her stomach? That's gross (I understand you have not seen a tummy tube before. I get you are a little thrown, but refer to the only way my child has of getting food into her body as gross again in her hearing I will punch you in the throat. She doesn't talk, but her hearing aides work fine) * Poor thing! (actually, she isn't a thing and while she has had a rough road she has had the top medical care, is doted on by her family and spends almost every day doing things that make her happy - there are worse situations to be in. Also she is fearless, hardworking and a warrior princess. She doesn't need your pity but will accept your admiration and tribute.) * So did she get it from you/are all your kids carriers? (No. By random we mean random. But if she did "get it from me" or if all my kids are carriers, that's probably not something I want to discuss with someone I just met in a public area) * What's her life expectancy? (Why thank you, complete stranger in a public space, for asking if my daughter has an expiry date like a hunk of cheese. There is no way discussing this would be a highly emotional and sensitive thing for me and you are completely entitled to know this information) *Kids like her are very affectionate, happy people. (there are kids with her syndrome, but trust me, there are no "kids like her" - she is unique just like everyone else . She is happy when there is something to be happy about - like elmo and the colour red and tamborines - and she is sad when there is something to be sad about - like her sister stealing her toys and pulling her hair, someone taking her away from the saucepan cupboard or a pain in her tummy. She is affectionate with those she loves, although she does not express this in the typical way, and generally ignores everyone else unless they sing or have elmo. Get to know my daughter before you tell me what she's like. Start with Hi.) Generally, people DO mean well and they speak from ignorance rather than malice. I try to always take the intention rather than the words and I have had a lot of really good conversations that started with one of the above comments/questions. It DOES get repetitive though!
You've been Dan Browned hehehehe I keep wondering if I should share this parody article of Dan Brown. I shared it on here once already a long time ago and don't wanna repeat myself...
I now wanna know what the description was and what the Chart of Hell actually looks like! (no clue what Inferno's about btw)
