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Mar. 13th, 2006 10:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miko2I think I need to work on my Ian story, because my Kismet story is going nowhere, and I know exactly why. I just don't know how to fix it yet.
The problem with my Kismet story is... first of all, I am trying to tell the story of how became a pirate Captain, and how that fell apart, and how he was eventually saved... and went right back to being a pirate. That in itself isn't a plot. I had thought that the plot revolved around why he didn't want to ever return home, but since he never changes his mind about that, it's hard to call that a plot either. It's a secret from the readers until the end of the story, but nobody in the story is working to uncover that secret, so that doesn't drive the story. It's a secret that might cause major problems for his sister if she were to find out -- but she doesn't find out, at least in the version of the story that I have. Nor can I write most of the story from her point of view, so having her be the one who is changed over the course of the story really doesn't work.
Since Kismet is the main character, or the person I want to be the main character, I need to have the plot revolve around him. Only he's not driven to accomplish anything, he's simply avoiding ever going home. He becomes a ship captain not because he planned to, but because circumstances placed him in a position where he decided he could run the ship much better than the current captain, and many others were ready to ditch the current captain as well. I don't see a plot developing out of that.
The other story idea that I'm playing with is that he refuses to call anyone a "friend"... he's more of a lone wolf type who gets along with people but trusts no one... and in the end he does decide that his companion of several years really is a friend. That's not really the plot either, I think, but if I made that the whole point of the story then it could be, because it shows how he changes over the course of the story. But for now, I still don't really think that's my main plot. Maybe it will become that, in the end. We'll see.
So basically I haven't been able to move the plot forward at all because I still don't really have a plot to move. ^_^ But I know there's a story there, I just need to let it sit for a while until I figure out what the story really is.
I watched The Cat Returns tonight. In one sense, the title can refer to the Baron, who was previously seen in Whispers of the Heart as a statue that inspires the main character to write a fantasy story about him. Studio Ghibli later decided to make a fantasy movie starring the Baron (at an earlier age than he appears to be in Whispers of the Heart) so in that sense, they bring him back for a second movie -- the cat returns.
But also, Muta / Moon returns. Muta is a fat cat in Whispers of the Heart who wanders all over the city and calls many houses home. He's just a smart, independant stray cat. But in The Cat Returns he is a talking cat who knows the Baron. So in that sense, he "returns" for a second movie as well. But more to the point of the actual story, he is a famous criminal from the cat kingdom, and returns there with the Baron and the heroine... so within the context of the movie Muta is probably the cat that the title actually refers to.
Anyway, one thing I had not realized the first time through, is that the villian of the movie in the English version is voiced by Tim Curry. He's played a lot of villians, and says something in the "behind the microphones" section about how much he enjoys doing it, and how each villian is villianous in a different way. I can't remember all the different villians he's done... aside from Frankenfurter there's the demon in Legends, and the smog villian thing in Ferngully... and several others I'm forgetting.
It was also a nice touch that when they dubbed Whispers of the Heart, they brought back the same voice actor to do the Baron again. ^_^
Last night I was thinking about several groups that I kind of like that I might want to get other cds of theirs, and I did a little research using all music guide and amazon. And basically in each case I convinced myself that I didn't want to buy another cd of theirs after all.
The first case was Crash Test Dummies. I have their first two cds -- The Ghosts That Haunt Me, and God Shuffled His Feet. I was thinking that maybe one or two other cds of their would be worth picking up.
Well, basically I came to the conclusion that I probably wouldn't get much out of any of their other cds. The first two are the only ones that people seem to almost universally like, and the others get a lot of bad press from critics and fans. I mean, you have to read between the lines sometimes, you can't just trust what people tell you, but when more than half the people who are big fans of the group don't like a cd, there's probably a reason. AMG said something about the band writing "smug, self-concious lyrics" and I had to think about that for a moment. I tend to rush to the defense of band that I like, at least mentally, but upon consideration I realized that I don't so much like the band, I just like three songs of theirs. Aside from Superman's Song, God Shuffled His Feet, and Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm, there isn't a lot about the band that really grabs my attention. That's when I realized I probably wouldn't like their other work, because if there were any more songs as good as those three, I might have heard of them.
The next group was Stellastar. Their second cd was out last Summer and I still don't have it. I read some reviews on it, and most of them said it was disappointing in one way or another. There's a chance I'd still like the cd, and I might get it someday, but this was one of those bands that I liked in part because they showed tremendous promise, but it sounds like they haven't gotten any better with their second release, and probably have produced a cd that isn't as interesting as the first was.
After that was Idlewild. This is one of those bands that -- well, their cd 100 Broken Windows is just fantastic in my book, from begining to end. But I have the cd they did before that, and I didn't like that at all. I'd heard they changed again for their third cd (they have a fourth one out too). After reading the reviews, I still couldn't decide on whether I wanted to pick the third one up or not. Odds are I'll like it okay, but I also get the impression that it won't be nearly as good as 100 Broken Windows. But I love that cd so much that I'll probably give in eventually and give the next one a listen. Maybe I'll be surprised, who knows.
What I really need to do is forget all that other stuff and pick up the most recent White Stripes cd, or maybe the recent Kate Bush cd.
I made some sandwich wraps tonight. I made four of them and ate two... the others are for taking to work.
I used spinach wraps/tortillas and spread some chives and onion cream cheese, then added shredded lettuce, lunch meat, sliced tomatoes, some fresh cilantro, and some "wasabi mustard" that I bought on the way home. The last one I ran out of tomato slices and so I put in some hamburger dill pickle slices. That was a good idea, I need to do that when I make more.
These were very yummy and easier to make and eat than a regular sandwich. I think I need to do this more often! Maybe add some thin-sliced carrots or cucumber, or different meats and cheeses.
I've been doing a lot of cooking since I moved, partly because I want to save money and partly because I don't have a microwave so if I want to cook something I have to plan ahead a little bit. Not that I really used my microwave that much before -- I just very rarely cooked. I'm not sure exactly what the difference is, although having a kitchen to myself where I'm responsible for any dishes that get dirty or whatever definitely helps. Also I suppose, getting home nearly an hour early helps, and getting to leave nearly an hour later allows me to make breakfast in the morning. This morning I had two eggs, carmelized potatos (they got very dark brown, but I like them that way), orange-strawberry-banana juice, and hot chocolate. ^_^ Then for lunch I had some of my leftover corned beef with steamed potatos, onions, and cabbage. ^_^
The problem with my Kismet story is... first of all, I am trying to tell the story of how became a pirate Captain, and how that fell apart, and how he was eventually saved... and went right back to being a pirate. That in itself isn't a plot. I had thought that the plot revolved around why he didn't want to ever return home, but since he never changes his mind about that, it's hard to call that a plot either. It's a secret from the readers until the end of the story, but nobody in the story is working to uncover that secret, so that doesn't drive the story. It's a secret that might cause major problems for his sister if she were to find out -- but she doesn't find out, at least in the version of the story that I have. Nor can I write most of the story from her point of view, so having her be the one who is changed over the course of the story really doesn't work.
Since Kismet is the main character, or the person I want to be the main character, I need to have the plot revolve around him. Only he's not driven to accomplish anything, he's simply avoiding ever going home. He becomes a ship captain not because he planned to, but because circumstances placed him in a position where he decided he could run the ship much better than the current captain, and many others were ready to ditch the current captain as well. I don't see a plot developing out of that.
The other story idea that I'm playing with is that he refuses to call anyone a "friend"... he's more of a lone wolf type who gets along with people but trusts no one... and in the end he does decide that his companion of several years really is a friend. That's not really the plot either, I think, but if I made that the whole point of the story then it could be, because it shows how he changes over the course of the story. But for now, I still don't really think that's my main plot. Maybe it will become that, in the end. We'll see.
So basically I haven't been able to move the plot forward at all because I still don't really have a plot to move. ^_^ But I know there's a story there, I just need to let it sit for a while until I figure out what the story really is.
I watched The Cat Returns tonight. In one sense, the title can refer to the Baron, who was previously seen in Whispers of the Heart as a statue that inspires the main character to write a fantasy story about him. Studio Ghibli later decided to make a fantasy movie starring the Baron (at an earlier age than he appears to be in Whispers of the Heart) so in that sense, they bring him back for a second movie -- the cat returns.
But also, Muta / Moon returns. Muta is a fat cat in Whispers of the Heart who wanders all over the city and calls many houses home. He's just a smart, independant stray cat. But in The Cat Returns he is a talking cat who knows the Baron. So in that sense, he "returns" for a second movie as well. But more to the point of the actual story, he is a famous criminal from the cat kingdom, and returns there with the Baron and the heroine... so within the context of the movie Muta is probably the cat that the title actually refers to.
Anyway, one thing I had not realized the first time through, is that the villian of the movie in the English version is voiced by Tim Curry. He's played a lot of villians, and says something in the "behind the microphones" section about how much he enjoys doing it, and how each villian is villianous in a different way. I can't remember all the different villians he's done... aside from Frankenfurter there's the demon in Legends, and the smog villian thing in Ferngully... and several others I'm forgetting.
It was also a nice touch that when they dubbed Whispers of the Heart, they brought back the same voice actor to do the Baron again. ^_^
Last night I was thinking about several groups that I kind of like that I might want to get other cds of theirs, and I did a little research using all music guide and amazon. And basically in each case I convinced myself that I didn't want to buy another cd of theirs after all.
The first case was Crash Test Dummies. I have their first two cds -- The Ghosts That Haunt Me, and God Shuffled His Feet. I was thinking that maybe one or two other cds of their would be worth picking up.
Well, basically I came to the conclusion that I probably wouldn't get much out of any of their other cds. The first two are the only ones that people seem to almost universally like, and the others get a lot of bad press from critics and fans. I mean, you have to read between the lines sometimes, you can't just trust what people tell you, but when more than half the people who are big fans of the group don't like a cd, there's probably a reason. AMG said something about the band writing "smug, self-concious lyrics" and I had to think about that for a moment. I tend to rush to the defense of band that I like, at least mentally, but upon consideration I realized that I don't so much like the band, I just like three songs of theirs. Aside from Superman's Song, God Shuffled His Feet, and Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm, there isn't a lot about the band that really grabs my attention. That's when I realized I probably wouldn't like their other work, because if there were any more songs as good as those three, I might have heard of them.
The next group was Stellastar. Their second cd was out last Summer and I still don't have it. I read some reviews on it, and most of them said it was disappointing in one way or another. There's a chance I'd still like the cd, and I might get it someday, but this was one of those bands that I liked in part because they showed tremendous promise, but it sounds like they haven't gotten any better with their second release, and probably have produced a cd that isn't as interesting as the first was.
After that was Idlewild. This is one of those bands that -- well, their cd 100 Broken Windows is just fantastic in my book, from begining to end. But I have the cd they did before that, and I didn't like that at all. I'd heard they changed again for their third cd (they have a fourth one out too). After reading the reviews, I still couldn't decide on whether I wanted to pick the third one up or not. Odds are I'll like it okay, but I also get the impression that it won't be nearly as good as 100 Broken Windows. But I love that cd so much that I'll probably give in eventually and give the next one a listen. Maybe I'll be surprised, who knows.
What I really need to do is forget all that other stuff and pick up the most recent White Stripes cd, or maybe the recent Kate Bush cd.
I made some sandwich wraps tonight. I made four of them and ate two... the others are for taking to work.
I used spinach wraps/tortillas and spread some chives and onion cream cheese, then added shredded lettuce, lunch meat, sliced tomatoes, some fresh cilantro, and some "wasabi mustard" that I bought on the way home. The last one I ran out of tomato slices and so I put in some hamburger dill pickle slices. That was a good idea, I need to do that when I make more.
These were very yummy and easier to make and eat than a regular sandwich. I think I need to do this more often! Maybe add some thin-sliced carrots or cucumber, or different meats and cheeses.
I've been doing a lot of cooking since I moved, partly because I want to save money and partly because I don't have a microwave so if I want to cook something I have to plan ahead a little bit. Not that I really used my microwave that much before -- I just very rarely cooked. I'm not sure exactly what the difference is, although having a kitchen to myself where I'm responsible for any dishes that get dirty or whatever definitely helps. Also I suppose, getting home nearly an hour early helps, and getting to leave nearly an hour later allows me to make breakfast in the morning. This morning I had two eggs, carmelized potatos (they got very dark brown, but I like them that way), orange-strawberry-banana juice, and hot chocolate. ^_^ Then for lunch I had some of my leftover corned beef with steamed potatos, onions, and cabbage. ^_^
