Episode 920: What Shall I Start Reading?

So I woke up before noon today, which was incredible. Might try it again sometime. Am feeling quite ambivalent about work at the moment, which is a bit of a shame because I really thought I was getting back into the swing of things, what with banging out that poem recently and that review yesterday. Still have another one to do, and if I get that in before the very end of April, who knows, I might get another review to write. The trouble with me is really that I dither too much. If I didn't, I think I would have accomplished (a lot?) more by my age, being just a month shy of 24. Then again, part of me thinks there's a fair chance I still wouldn't have bothered. Too much ambition to do nothing, too little to do something. (Other than putting together syntactically parallel clauses, apparently.) Certainly nothing like the hunger for success that Natch has in David Louis Edelman's Infoquake, which I finished reading a few hours ago. It's a good book, and the corporate setting gives it a twist that makes it stand out from more generic science fiction fare. The closest comparisons I can reach for are Nick Sagan's Idlewild trilogy and Tony Ballantyne's Watcher trilogy. Now I can't quite decide which new book to start on. The next book in the Jump 225 trilogy, MultiReal? Paul Glennon's The Dodecahedron: Or A Frame For Frames? Christopher Nosnibor's The Plagiarist? Ashley Stokes's Touching The Starfish? David Wong's John Dies At The End? There are worse problems a person could have, definitely, but at the moment, this one's pretty pressing to me. Maybe I should use that annoying new Questions feature on Facebook?

Episode 919: That's One Review Down...

After a third consecutive day of waking up after noon, I told myself that I needed to get my act together and start going to bed at more sensible hours. So that means 2 am instead of 3. Was explaining to David Tait that I blame my shift in sleeping patterns entirely on my iPhone, since it's made it impossible to disconnect from social networking, and I have way too many fun games on it. It's a fact that once I'm in bed, I usually spend at least half an hour going back on Facebook, checking my e-mail, or playing some totally inconsequential game. Jury's still out on whether I'm going to go to bed any earlier tonight, although even if I don't, it's okay because I've finally finished reading and reviewing Unthology No. 1! Sat down in the conservatory (because it was warm) and made myself finish it, and then came to my laptop and spent a few hours dithering over the review. It's done though, and I discovered a new writer who excited me enough on the basis of a short story (told House Of Leaves-style) that I went and bought his debut novel. Also ordered a couple of books by Christopher Nosnibor, postmodernist stuff that I may or may not enjoy, although the blurbs suggest that I will. If I don't, I'll just send them back to Amazon UK like I always do. I really do need to stop buying books online, don't I?

Episode 918: The Curious Case Of Jacqueline Howett

I think the Internet just made my day. Recently, we had Rebecca Black's annoying 'Friday' going viral. (In all fairness, she didn't write the song and she's only 13, so she really doesn't deserve to be crucified by total strangers.) Now a contender for a literary counterpart has emerged in the comments thread of a book review blog. I should note that her self-published novel doesn't sound like the sort of thing I would want to read anyway (and she is also a terribly bad poet), but the review seemed forgiving enough. I mean, I've been reviewing for a while now, and I suspect if I had had to review this book, I would've been a lot harsher, given its flaws. Case in point: I'm baffled as to how Jacqueline Howett is unable to see that the two sentences cited are clunky constructions. Her attempt to use her 'style and being English' as a defence is just plain ridiculous, and honestly, I find it rather insulting both as a writer and a reader. Her reaction as the thread developed was hilariously unprofessional, and I would be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy the train wreck immensely. The poor woman was probably having a meltdown, since no one in their right mind would have carried on like that if they wanted to have any sort of future career in writing. As the Internet has pointed out though, she could always write under a pseudonym. Until the next bad review comes her way anyway. Winter 2011, since that's when Howett plans on offering up the worthy tome of literary genius that will be her second novel.

Episode 917: Resisted An Online Sale!

To yesterday's anonymous commenter, thanks for pointing that out, but fact still remains that I have a queued reading list that literally stretches from one end of my bookshelf to the other, so The Angel's Cut is going to have to wait. Woke up an hour earlier today than I did yesterday, which all things considered, is an improvement, I guess. Baby steps. Resisted the temptation to buy two pairs of £85 Dolce & Gabbana shorts, even though this was a steeply discounted price from vente-privee.com. This means that my £8 voucher is probably going to go to waste, unless I see something I want in the upcoming shoe sale. Don't think I'm trying to save that £170 though. I'm just squirrelling it away to buy more books. Or some back issues of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern. Part of me wishes all the issues could be converted for the McSweeney's iPhone application, but then again, I think part of the literary journal's appeal is how each issue comes in a different format. Wikipedia says that there are only going to be 56 issues of the journal, and we're already up to Issue 36 at present. Probably not the best idea to buy them this year though. Partly because I think some of the older issues are being republished later this year so I can hopefully get them for less money, partly because I am quickly running out of floor space in my room.

Episode 916: Somewhere

Missed church today because I'm still too tired from Friday night's lack of sleep. I did stay up last night to finish Elizabeth Knox's The Vintner's Luck though, which was heartachingly beautiful in a way that reminded me of Joanne Harris's Chocolat, incidentally also a book set in France that revolves around something we consume. Knox has written a sequel, The Angel's Cut, but as that's at least twice as long, I don't think I'm going to start on it until I've cleared the other books that I've already been trying to read for the past couple of weeks. A shame that the film adaptation of The Vintner's Luck is apparently really, really bad though. Speaking of films, I've just seen Sophia Ford Coppola's Somewhere, and I'm not sure if I like it. The dynamic between Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning was interesting to watch, but I didn't feel like there was ultimately enough emotional payoff at the end of the film. I mean, it's beautifully shot, I suppose, and you do feel a bit sorry for Dorff's character, but at the same time, he's a bit alienating because of how clearly privileged his existence is as a member of the Hollywood glitterati. I get that the film is trying to show how vacuous that existence can be, but I don't think it quite works on the whole. Since the film clocks in at 98 minutes, I'm also torn between thinking that a longer running time would have allowed for more development and thinking that it would have been unnecessarily prolonging the dullness. I've been reading things Coppola's said about the film and its style, and I see her point. I'm just not sure if I want to get it.

Episode 915: Too Little Sleep, Too Much Sugar

Ended up sleeping at the foot of the bed after the party, which wasn't the most comfortable of places, but I still managed to nap for a couple of hours. Have stayed awake the rest of the day mostly through sheer willpower and sugar. One good thing's come out of it though: I've finally written another page of my PWP! It's the first of a four-part sequence called 'The Wives Of Jacob', so you can imagine which women I'm writing about. (I considered 'The Merry Wives Of Jacob', but felt certain that while Michael Hulse would note the punning reference, he would probably consider it gratuitous, and he would be right.) I think it's going to be an interesting long poem, as I'm trying to realise ideas about the relationships between the four wives that have never occurred to me when reading the Bible previously, but which are entirely plausible, just unsubstantiated in the Biblical text as we have it. Didn't get to eat my customary meal of KFC before I left London because I started a 30-minute sprawling conversation with Eugene just as I was about to leave for Victoria Coach Station. Topics covered included my excitement that Abercrombie & Fitch is finally opening a store in Singapore and how I think it's okay that I like the brand because I'm being ironic about it. Totally. Also, Dolce & Gabbana online sale on Monday! I'm actually tempted. This is bad news...

Episode 914: LSE's Guys & Dolls

Went to London to see the LSE production of Guys & Dolls because Eugene is one of the directors. Got to London earlier than I expected, so I had time to hit both Oxfam Marylebone and Bloomsbury. Disappointingly small haul this time though, although I did chance upon another Laura Wade play in the Bloomsbury shop. Managed to read a fair amount of Elizabeth Knox's The Vintner's Luck, which only arrived this morning before I left the house. Its central structuring conceit is interesting, and it's set in France, so what's not to love about the book? Also bought the sequel, The Angel's Cut, which is considerably thicker. Anyway, I randomly bumped into Diego when I went to collect my ticket, so I ended up sitting with him and his friends, and we had dinner after the musical at Fire & Stone, which has one of the most impressive pizza menus I've ever seen. I really liked the musical, especially the Nathan/Adelaide pair. I thought some of the singing could have been better, but that's me being picky purely because I've had some training from being in the choir for four years! Now we're off to the cast party at Eugene's...

Episode 913: Provisional Examination Timetable's Out!

Didn't make any money from the DR@W experiment, but it was still 17°C today, so I would say the day wasn't a total bust. Provisional examination timetable's out, and I finish on 26 May. Have two papers on 25 May, which does not make me happy, but at least the DFP Affaires B2 written paper is a lot easier than our internal LL251 one. Plus we get to use the dictionary and they include a page of useful vocabulary for writing a business letter, even though that basically consists of stock phrases that anybody can memorise and regurgitate. Final paper is once again going to be a creative writing one, EN236, which means we can all go and get soused straight after the paper's done. Doesn't that sound absolutely wonderful? Then there'll be just over a month of, well, sun and fun, I suppose. Currently rewatching The Matrix trilogy (finally), am smack in the middle of The Matrix Reloaded. Just got to the scene where the Merovingian appears, with his brilliant little speech: 'I love French wine, like I love the French language. I have sampled every language, French is my favorite. Fantastic language. Especially to curse with. Nom de dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperie de connard d'enculé de ta mère. It's like wiping your arse with silk. I love it.' You got that right, Lambert Wilson. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Episode 912: 17°C Today!

Mild progress on that to-do list. Have read a bit more of Unthology No. 1 and will at least finish the second story before going to bed. Haven't rewatched The Matrix trilogy, although I have rewatched the companion collection of short films, The Animatrix. Ah, the things I do to procrastinate! Was in the Library this afternoon to swap some books out, and I nearly finished the Barry MacSweeney volume. Would have read the last poem, but that might have made me miss the U1 home, and there wasn't going to be another for at least half an hour. Have to go back to campus tomorrow anyway, as I've signed up for a DR@W experiment and I managed to take out two identical Geoffrey Hill titles without realising. For some reason, one copy was shelved with the other books but another was boxed with the pamphlets, and I grabbed the pamphlet copy thinking it was something else. Oh well. Plenty of time to swap the right one out tomorrow. Randomly, I bought Tim Burton's The Melancholy Death Of Oyster Boy And Other Stories from Oxfam before heading to campus. It was £2.99, £5 off the RRP, so I figured, why not? The book was in decent condition, and I like the quirkiness of the stories. Some of them are rather adult though, I must say. I think the last time I read it was actually in Kinokuniya. Just stood there and read it because it's such a short book. Also somewhat randomly, I had an idea on how to rework my insomniac story for the portfolio. It's now going to have a (quite literally) killer ending, and the main protagonist has become a twin whose brother, unlike him, stayed behind in Singapore to do NS. Haven't actually written anything, but I think the idea's pretty solid now, and all it needs is to be written down and fine-tuned.

Episode 911: Pseudo-efficiency?

Made a to-do list on Twitter last night, none of which has actually been done. I did, however, manage to send off all four books that need to be returned to Amazon UK. Turns out that the Leamington library has a copy of The Secret History Of Costaguana by Juan Gabriel Vásquez, and since I doubt any of my friends actually have a local library card, I don't think anyone's realised this fact. There's a few more copies scattered throughout Warwickshire, the nearest being in Kenilworth. Was going to pick up something from the Library from the EN236, you know, just part of reading for revision, but ended up taking out Barry MacSweeney's The Book Of Demons for no particular reason. It's a slim volume, so I should be done with it soon, and then I'll get something off the EN236 reading list. I suppose I wouldn't have got much done today anyway. Completely slipped my mind that it'd be Tuesday, and that means lots and lots of television to catch up on. Seven episodes this week, and only because some shows are on hiatus. The season finale of MTV's Skins is really boring, by the way. It's weak compared to the UK original's first series finale, and Eura isn't mysterious like Effy was, she's just annoyingly opaque (and not as pretty).