When to quit...

Very rarely do I start a book and not be compelled to finish. I do a fair bit of research when looking for a new book to read and I know what genres I like and don't like. I picked The Third Child by Marge Piercy out of a bunch of beach reading from a friend. I have read and enjoyed some of Piercy's poetry in the past. This book, however, is abysmal.

When I picked up this book I had no idea it was Piercy's 16th novel. I don't know if she's running out of things to write about or what, but I didn't get half-way through it before happily setting it aside. Have you ever written a book that made you think to yourself, "Hey, I can write better than this!" Well, I'm no novelist but I began to think that I had written prose like this in junior high.

Piercy describes people in such a way that you know she wants it to be subtle, but it's not. Perhaps the book bothers me so much because it's about privileged college students. Maybe it's because the book doesn't really depict college as I know it to be. Maybe because the main character, Melissa, is such a whiney little brat.

I just don't buy this story. The dialogue is weird and the characters aren't all that interesting to me. The relationships seem unrealistic. There's nothing original about the writing. I gave up.

Finished: Beyond the Pale

I grabbed this book by Elana Dykewomon off my roommate's bookshelf. She was a women's studies major in college and has lots of "women unite!" books from her years as an undergraduate. This book interested me for a few reasons:

1. It was about Russian immigrants during the early 1900s.
2. It was about the early women's movement in NYC.
3. It told the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company.

It's also about lesbians. Russian lesbians in fact. Now I have nothing against lesbians, but I have never really read anything where they were the main characters. And go ahead and get your mind out of the gutter -- there wasn't any erotic writing in this book at all.

I actually learned a lot. I also began to wonder how many women during that time disguised themselves as men to get better wages. I've always held a soft spot for immigrants who were successful doing whatever they did in their home country and then came to America for a better life and ended up doing a job that was vastly below their education level.

And while I'm not a feminist, I did like reading about the womens' unions during that time and what they fought for. I sometimes get cranky and tired working a 40+ hour workweek. I should be so lucky as to not have to fight tooth and nail for an 8-hour work day. Ah how literature puts things into perspective for me.

Unethical: Bangor Daily and the Press Herald

This morning on my way to work I heard a public service announcement about the upcoming election. One of the most popular votes on the ballot is one about gay marriage. There are two camps. The Vote No on 1 people: who want to uphold the referendum and allow gay married people to get married in Maine and the Vote Yes on 1 people: who want to axe the referendum and keep marriage in Maine to one woman and one man.

The PSA pointed out that both the Bangor Daily News and the Portland Press Herald back the Vote No on 1 people. They then quoted a lengthy statement from the BDN on how marriage equality in Maine is important and so on and so forth.

The fact that newspapers take a stand on any issue is one of my biggest pet peeves.

News organizations are supposed to be unbiased. It's their job. When newspapers release a statement saying they support a certain candidate or ballot issue, they're taking sides. They're making friends and enemies. But it's not their job to do so. How can people even begin to think that the BDN or Press Herald is unbiased and fair in their reporting if they are going to choose sides in an argument? How can readers have faith that the news isn't slanted?

If you are working towards a reputation of fair and balanced news reporting, choosing sides or backing candidates is the wrong way to do it. Newspapers should mimic Switzerland. Who hates Switzerland? No one starts a war with them because they never choose a side! That's the way a newspaper should be run. They should report the news as it happens and let their readers decide for themselves.

NOTE: I found this snippit on Al Diamon's blog for Down East:

On Oct. 18, the papers carried an explanation on their editorial pages of the process used to make political endorsements.

According to the item, decisions on ballot issues and candidates will be made by a majority vote of a board composed of editor/publisher Richard Connor and editorial writers at the three papers, as well as the company’s chief financial officer, human resources director and circulation director.

By adding members from outside the traditional circle of editorial employees, Connor said the endorsement process would “represent the entire newspaper” and add “diversity.”

It seems the people running these papers WANT to represent the entire newspaper.....

What Mimi Saw: Where the Wild Things Are

Last night I went to see Where the Wild Things Are. Note: going to a movie on a Monday night is great -- we practically had the theater all to ourselves.

While I was familiar with the storybook, I didn't really remember it so I can't explain to you how closely related the two are. I did notice that Maurice Sendak (author of the book) was one of the producers. What I loved most about the movie:

1. The names of the Wild Things: Carol, Ira, Alexander, and Judith just to name a few. Since when was a 'monster' named Judith?

2. The color. Subdued and almost dreamlike.

3. The soundtrack. The sweet voice of Karen O was a perfect choice for this film.

It was sort of a sleepy film...slow in some areas. Perhaps it was too long. Perhaps I just wasn't in the mood. But I noticed a lack of energy in a lot of the movie.

Feeling stupid at work...

I admit that I feel like an absolute idiot at work at least once a month. It comes with the territory I think. I have stepped into a leadership role as a relative rookie, working with a group of people who have been publishing a magazine together for the past five years.

My stupidness is mostly due to the learning curve. I came to this company fresh -- never having helped publish a monthly magazine in my life. Sure I had worked at as an online reporter for a national magazine in New York City, a newspaper in New Jersey, and as a blogger in Portland, Maine, but no glossy magazine stuff. I've learned a lot over the past year. I've been humbled and humiliated, too.

Luckily the media business is a fast paced one where one day your mistake is brushed aside the next. Not that YOU forget about it or that your coworkers forget about it...but dwelling on a mistake doesn't fix it. Best to learn from the mistake and try not to make it again.

How do I get over feeling like a total boob? I mope around my house. I cry on my boyfriend's shoulder. I complain to my sister, mother, and father. I make my 2-and-a-half year old niece give me big hugs, and I take a nap. All those things. And I move on and push forward...because deadlines stop for no one, no matter how pitiful you are.

I found this blog post on The Urban Muse on this topic. It has some good ideas on how to handle a crisis of confidence. For all you people out there, writers or not, who have felt like you reached rock bottom, read it. Practice it. Give yourself time to get over it. And move on.

5 Things I Learned on Recessionwire...

I read this post on Recessionwire.com today and felt both happy and sad. I'm happy that, while losing their home due to job loss, the couple in question is in a stable, loving, and supportive relationship. I'm sad that they bought a home with a $5,000 a month mortgage.

Their house of their dreams cost them $5,000 to own. That's a lot of money. Sure, it's outside of Los Angeles, but who needs a house that expensive? It's so...so...AMERICAN. The author of the post, Stephanie Walker, is a playwright, blogger, and freelance writer. What job did she have that she made that kind of dough...and how come she felt so secure being a writer?

Am I missing something? Her husband must be making bank and she must have had some hot-shot job to be able to afford a house that expensive. But I wonder...what made it expensive? Location? Probably. Size? For sure. Why do we need so much room? Why do our bathrooms need to be big enough to hold living room furniture?

I'm glad that losing their dream house made them realize what was so important -- their relationship. How do people lose sight of that in the first place?

Scary Monsters

I can not watch scary movies. Period. I have the sort of imagination that runs wild. The last scary movie I watched was The Ring several years ago when I was still living in Boston. It really freaked me out. For months afterwards I would look over my shoulder while walking around my neighborhood, convinced that the freaky long-haired girl that crawled out of the television screen was following me. I knew she wasn't, but my imagination ran with it.

My niece, Ayda, seems to enjoy movies with villans -- albeit Disney ones. She likes to pretend to be scared and grab on to anyone sitting next to her. One of her favorite movies is Sleeping Beauty. She loves Princess Aurora to the point that she likes to pretend she IS Princess Aurora and fake sleep until one of us kisses her to wake her up.

I hadn't seen the movie for years until she got it as a gift on DVD. I remember being scared silly by the evil witch, Malificent. She's even scary TODAY! Thos horns, that green face, the eerie music that comes along with her presence. She was the scariest thing in the world when I was a little kid...and to be honest, she's still scary. I can't believe Ayda can stand her.

A post on Scribbit made me feel a little better about my fear of this cartoon witch. Malificent made the list on Scribbit's Best/Worst Villans.

I'm including her on the list because she gave me nightmares when I was a kid. Serious nightmares. It was the horns I think, or maybe that whole thing about being able to change into a dragon? Nope, it was the horns, definitely the horns. - Scribbit

It was definitely the horns.