Slogging forward

[babarnett]

It's been tough getting back to something resembling my normal routine this week. Monday was almost nothing but work and rehearsal, neither of which put me in a happy place. And I had been hoping to get a lot done today, but no such luck. I got a later start than I wanted today (I've been having a tough time getting my butt moving in the mornings this week), and my afternoon was mostly eaten away by sitting at the DMV to renew my driver license. And then it was off to Philly for dinner and an opera--Wozzeck, which is one of my favorites. (The production wasn't perfect, but good overall. And bloody.) So the only thing I managed to get done today was a bit of work stuff, a few little errands, and some reading.

On that note, I present to you the weekly productivity report:

Reading: I read two more stories in Prime Codex, leaving only one more to go. Of the two I read today, I enjoyed "Rainmakers" by Ruth Nestvold--engaging writing and engaging characters, and it felt very real to me how we got enough closure to give the story a satisfactory ending, but without everything being tied up with a neat bow.

I also started Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell this week, which I would so far describe as the love child of Charles Dickens and Harry Potter. Getting an audio book to listen to in the car was a good idea. It makes my drive to work far more tolerable. And I think Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell was a good choice as it's interesting, but also the sort of book I would have had a harder time getting through if I was reading instead of listening as it's rather long, and the narrative moves very slowly--not a good combination if a slow reader like me wants to finish something in a reasonable amount of time.

Exercise: Getting back into the exercise routine has been tough. I managed 20 minutes on the elliptical strider two days this week. And when I couldn't get in real exercise, I played lots of Wii sports--especially boxing, which has got to be burning some calories because I'm totally wiped afterwards.

Music: Except for today, music is about the one thing with which I've managed to maintain normality this week with the usual chorus rehearsals, piano lesson, and practicing schedule.

Writing: About 200 words on Sunday, and about 500 on Wednesday. I'm rubbish.

Comments

[marshall-payne.livejournal.com]

I read 200 pages of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell a couple of years ago. I liked it, just that I'm bad about finishing novels. Reading them anyway. I'm good about finishing the one's I write. (Weird, huh?) But "the love child of Charles Dickens and Harry Potter" sounds about right. If there was anything that turned me off about it was all the footnotes. I do plan on reading it again someday. :-)

[justin-pilon.livejournal.com]

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell has been sitting on my bookshelf for a while. I really ought to give it a shot. Maybe after I finish The Haunting. But it'll have to wrestle for my measly reading attention with about a dozen other books.

[pea-faerie.livejournal.com]

I hate Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I couldn't finish it... which is very very rare for me. I usually can't not finish books. This one, I felt like a good editor should have slashed about 30% of it! That being said, I'm NOT a fan of the victorian novel. Middlemarch damn near killed me when I read it years ago. And while I liked David Copperfield, that's the only Dickens I've really liked (A Christmas Carol doesn't count 'cause it's so short). I also don't like Jane Austen, so JS & MN was probably a bad choice for me. Plus, the ending, which I won't spoil, left me really cold. I had a friend just tell me how it ended because I wanted to know how it ended but I didn't care to take the journey to get there... That's since become my judge of whether a book is likable. If I liked not only the wrap up, but I loved the journey as well. And if I'd take it again. :D

But, I knew a lot of people who liked JS & MN, so, who am I to say? Plus, I'll give it that it was well done. I just didn't like it. (Kind of like Joyce for me. I get the talent he has, but I don't enjoy it.)

[musingaloud.livejournal.com]

I also couldn't get into JS & MN when I tried it a while back. I don't think I got beyond page 3 or so and gave up. A "didn't grab" to paraphrase F&SF! heheh.

Don't worry, the writing will come back sooner or later. Just push on through.