I was at Alison Goldfrapp’s show at The Tivoli tonight, but decided not to bring a camera. Earlier today, I was puttering around the garden with my Olympus, capturing moments in sunlight, thinking of my old chiaroscuro poem, and I knew that I did not want to photograph the gig. It was a lovely gig, and she played my favourite songs from Felt Mountain and Black Cherry. I had good company, one of my music/gig buddies who is one of the good folks (aka, an sff geek). However, the impetus for gig photography was no longer there.

Perhaps it was because I knew I did not want to be too close to the stage. Or perhaps it’s merely this:

I want to dream with my camera again. I want to move from the ontic quality of performance to the inarticulate possibility found within nature and inanimate objects.

Here’s a picture I decided to go crazy with. So I messed with different levels of color and saturation, and added some more of my crazy handwriting. Mostly, I wanted to capture the feeling of the ocean in another world, or another planet. There’s a beach in Malaysia with red sands, and I visited it once when the haze was thick in the sky, and the sea was almost green. That inspired a scifi short story I began but never finished. I should get around to finishing a draft at some point. Also, now that I am no longer a pauper, I should go to the beach! Soon!

Speaking of scifi, I finally got around to finishing Clockwork Phoenix, and was enchanted by the last three stories. I read it while waiting for Goldfrapp’s warm-up act, and finished it with a satisfied sigh. There were so many lovely tales in the collection but hands-down, my favourites were The Moon-Keeper’s Friend by Joanna Galbraith and Root and Vein by Erin Hoffman. I’m looking forward to reading Clockwork Phoenix 2 and Clockwork Phoenix 3. When I have the time.

This month is going to be all Nnedi Okorafor, all the way, since I have a conference paper to write.

P.S.: Hmm, looks like three years ago, in July, I had a lot to say about the craft of writing. Does me good to read these entries again.

For some reason, this picture makes me think of the last thing Brandin said to Dianora in Tigana. However, perversely enough, I’ve named it “No You Can’t Have It, It’s Mine. Give it Back Now.” Make of that what you will. No, I haven’t figured it out either. Some people do spontaneous writing. I do spontaneous art and photo-manipulation as well, apparently.

It’s been an extremely busy past couple of months for me as I rush to complete chapter drafts before my mid-candidature review, hence the sparsity of posts. All is well, however. I’m spending a lot of my days working rather steadily even if this does not necessarily result in commensurate wordcount. Having said that, I still have managed to chalk up a very satisfactory number of words, even if I am still not satisfied with my quality of academic writing. I’m told this improves with time and practice.

Right now, I have working drafts of three chapters, a rough skeleton of my introduction, and I’ll start a new chapter in May. There’s a conference paper that needs to be written, a coursework related essay, and an m/c reviews review that needs to be posted. In other news, I’m starting to think about my life-directions after this thesis is ended. My candidature ends next year, and I will be flying back to Malaysia to fulfill the terms of my scholarship agreement, which is, teaching for half a decade. However, there are things I want to achieve, inclusive of a postdoctoral fellowship, academic writing as well as my teaching goals. Right now, it’s keeping me going, knowing there are different horizons out there, waiting for me.

I keep forgetting to mention that I’ve reviewed Eugie Foster’s Returning My Sister’s Face over at m/c reviews. I personally loved the book and so, being given the permission and opportunity to review it was a pleasure and a privilege. Foster’s anthology was published by Norilana Books, run by Vera Nazarian, and it seems like I’ve been acquiring more than one book from their catalogue, lately.

Here’s one of them, Mansfield Park and Mummies:

I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but when I heard Vera Nazarian was doing one of the Austen monster mashups I was instantly intrigued, especially since Mansfield Park is my favourite Austen book. Here’s an interview with Vera Nazarian over at Jane Austen’s World about her decision to do this.

I have to say, I’ve been looking forward to reading this book for quite some time now and as such, I may have built it up in my head a little. However, again, one of the things I like best about Gaiman is the way in which he can make the transition between this world and the Otherworld seem so effortless. His comic timing is impeccable and I saw many elements in this story which can also be found in the movie Mirrormask. You can’t help but sympathize with Richard Mayhew’s position and that is one of the things that hooked me as a reader, apart from the delicious wordplay on actual places in London. Gaiman paints a very convincing “underworld” in London where the Tube can be taken to anywhere, even the British Museum.

I wasn’t too happy with the moment of last suspense though, it seemed a little too neat for me after the build-up throughout the book, but then again he did plant enough pointers to it. The ending was nice enough and I’d want to mention my favourite character in this novel but that would be a spoiler. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that my second favourite character is Old Bailey who is everything an Old Bailey should be.

Note: Reviewed as part of the Mythopoeic Award Challenge. (My list of projected reads is here)

I’m ranking this closer to the top amongst all the 7 books I read for the Mythopoeic Award Challenge. It has it all, the bawdy elements which I enjoy best about The Decameron, elements of the commedia del ‘arte, a Maze, mythical creatures and the seamless way in which the otherworld integrates with the gritty, earthy and often squalid realities of life in Renaissance Italy. I’m definitely of the school of “don’t explain too much” when it comes to explaining fantastical and otherworldly elements, but I think it has to be balanced with real-world details and to me this is where Snyder excels. Also, the mood and setting was – in my opinion – pitch perfect, if a little dodgy on the details. Since it’s a historical age that I am particularly fond of, I am glad that there is a fantasy set there, doing it justice. My favourite character is the stuttering Fabrizio, as his character develops slowly and in very intriguing ways. I did enjoy the duelist and the mask-maker as well, though.

Note: Reviewed as part of the Mythopoeic Award Challenge. (My list of projected reads is here)