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deducecanoe:
prosthetical:
fixyourwritinghabits:
loudlysilent:
fuckyeahyoungadultlit:
citizen-zero:
YA literature? You mean books about Super Special White Girl and Her Mysterious Brooding Boyfriend?
Here’s a list of black YA leads! And ten Native American protagonists! And a list of ladies who love ladies in YA! And genderqueer / transgender YA leads! And more queer titles! And 2015 / 2016 YA books with Asian / East Asian leads! And bisexual YA leads! And Muslim YA leads! And asexual YA leads! And YA Interrobang’s entire section on diverse YA fiction!
*confetti*
PLEASE REBLOG THIS
PLEASE DO NOT THROW THE YA GENRE UNDER THE BUS it is filled with diversity that goes far beyond whatever makes it to the movies! Please give it a chance!
I love the YA genre. I also get so frustrated and distressed by the lack of diversity and creativity I come across. But it’s absolutely not the entire genre. There are tons of amazingly diverse, well-written books out there if you know where to look.
The problem is the stuff that publishers back and advertise the most are the same old tropes. There is other stuff out there but it isn’t in my list of previews when I do book ordering and I have to go hunting for it. YA collection development is harder than it looks.
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prosthetical:
fixyourwritinghabits:
loudlysilent:
fuckyeahyoungadultlit:
citizen-zero:
YA literature? You mean books about Super Special White Girl and Her Mysterious Brooding Boyfriend?
Here’s a list of black YA leads! And ten Native American protagonists! And a list of ladies who love ladies in YA! And genderqueer / transgender YA leads! And more queer titles! And 2015 / 2016 YA books with Asian / East Asian leads! And bisexual YA leads! And Muslim YA leads! And asexual YA leads! And YA Interrobang’s entire section on diverse YA fiction!
*confetti*
PLEASE REBLOG THIS
PLEASE DO NOT THROW THE YA GENRE UNDER THE BUS it is filled with diversity that goes far beyond whatever makes it to the movies! Please give it a chance!
I love the YA genre. I also get so frustrated and distressed by the lack of diversity and creativity I come across. But it’s absolutely not the entire genre. There are tons of amazingly diverse, well-written books out there if you know where to look.
The problem is the stuff that publishers back and advertise the most are the same old tropes. There is other stuff out there but it isn’t in my list of previews when I do book ordering and I have to go hunting for it. YA collection development is harder than it looks.
from Tumblr http://ift.tt/2b2RJKW
via IFTTT
Common Occupations in the Middle Ages
Aug. 7th, 2016 03:57 amannathecrow:
edgeoflight:
areniaagn:
voxnight:
thewritershandbook:
Almoners: ensured the poor received alms.
Atilliator: skilled castle worker who made crossbows.
Baliff: in charge of allotting jobs to the peasants, building repair, and repair of tools used by the peasants.
Barber: someone who cut hair. Also served as dentists, surgeons and blood-letters.
Blacksmith: forged and sharpened tools and weapons, beat out dents in armor, made hinges for doors, and window grills. Also referred to as Smiths.
Bottler: in charge of the buttery or bottlery.
Butler: cared for the cellar and was in charge of large butts and little butts (bottles) of wine and beer. Under him a staff of people might consist of brewers, tapsters, cellarers, dispensers, cupbearers and dapifer.
Carder: someone who brushed cloth during its manufacture.
Carpenter: built flooring, roofing, siege engines, furniture, panelling for rooms, and scaffoling for building.
Carters: workmen who brought wood and stone to the site of a castle under construction.
Castellan: resident owner or person in charge of a castle (custodian).
Chamberlain: responsible for the great chamber and for the personal finances of the castellan.
Chaplain: provided spirtual welfare for laborers and the castle garrison. The duties might also include supervising building operations, clerk, and keeping accounts. He also tended to the chapel.
Clerk: a person who checked material costs, wages, and kept accounts.
Constable: a person who took care (the governor or warden) of a castle in the absence of the owner. This was sometimes bestowed upon a great baron as an honor and some royal castles had hereditary constables.
Cook: roasted, broiled, and baked food in the fireplaces and ovens.
Cottars: the lowest of the peasantry. Worked as swine-herds, prison guards, and did odd jobs.
Ditcher: worker who dug moats, vaults, foundations and mines.
Dyer: someone who dyed cloth in huge heated vats during its manufacture.
Ewerer: worker who brought and heated water for the nobles.
Falconer: highly skilled expert responsible for the care and training of hawks for the sport of falconry.
Fuller: worker who shrinks & thickens cloth fibers through wetting & beating the material.
Glaziers: a person who cut and shaped glass.
Gong Farmer: a latrine pit emptier.
Hayward: someone who tended the hedges.
Herald: knights assistant and an expert advisor on heraldry.
Keeper of the Wardrobe: in charge of the tailors and laundress.
Knight: a professional soldier. This was achieved only after long and arduous training which began in infancy.
Laird: minor baron or small landlord.
Marshal: officer in charge of a household’s horses, carts, wagons, and containers. His staff included farriers, grooms, carters, smiths and clerks. He also oversaw the transporting of goods.
Master Mason: responsible for the designing and overseeing the building of a structure.
Messengers: servants of the lord who carried receipts, letters, and commodities.
Miner: skilled professional who dug tunnels for the purpose of undermining a castle.
Minstrels: part of of the castle staff who provided entertainment in the form of singing and playing musical instruments.
Porter: took care of the doors (janitor), particularly the main entrance. Responsible for the guardrooms. The person also insured that no one entered or left the castle withour permission. Also known as the door-ward.
Reeve: supervised the work on lord’s property. He checked that everyone began and stopped work on time, and insured nothing was stolen. Senior officer of a borough.
Sapper: an unskilled person who dug a mine or approach tunnel.
Scullions: responsible for washing and cleaning in the kitchen.
Shearmen: a person who trimmed the cloth during its manufacture.
Shoemaker: a craftsman who made shoes. Known also as Cordwainers.
Spinster: a name given to a woman who earned her living spinning yarn. Later this was expanded and any unmarried woman was called a spinster.
Steward: took care of the estate and domestic administration. Supervised the household and events in the great hall. Also referred to as a Seneschal.
Squire: attained at the age of 14 while training as a knight. He would be assigned to a knight to carry and care for the weapons and horse.
Watchmen: an official at the castle responsible for security. Assited by lookouts (the garrison).
Weaver: someone who cleaned and compacted cloth, in association with the Walker and Fuller.
Woodworkers: tradesmen called Board-hewers who worked in the forest, producing joists and beams.
Other medieval jobs included:
tanners, soap makers, cask makers, cloth makers, candle makers (chandlers), gold and silver smiths, laundresses, bakers, grooms, pages, huntsmen, doctors, painters, plasterers, and painters, potters, brick and tile makers, glass makers, shipwrights, sailors, butchers, fishmongers, farmers, herdsmen, millers, the clergy, parish priests, members of the monastic orders, innkeepers, roadmenders, woodwards (for the forests). slingers. Other Domestic jobs inside the castle or manor:
Personal atendants- ladies-in-waiting, chamber maids, doctor.
The myriad of people involved in the preparation and serving of meals- brewers, poulterer, fruiterers, slaughterers, dispensers, cooks and the cupbearers.
By Lise Hull READ MORE
( Oh this is a great chart! )
@thecyanbladesman
This is so useful! I’m always racking my brains trying to figure out what sort of job random Elves or Men might’ve had in Beleriand.
…dang. And all I ever think about when writing medialeval characters is “knight-merchant-peasant-clergyman”.
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edgeoflight:
areniaagn:
voxnight:
thewritershandbook:
Almoners: ensured the poor received alms.
Atilliator: skilled castle worker who made crossbows.
Baliff: in charge of allotting jobs to the peasants, building repair, and repair of tools used by the peasants.
Barber: someone who cut hair. Also served as dentists, surgeons and blood-letters.
Blacksmith: forged and sharpened tools and weapons, beat out dents in armor, made hinges for doors, and window grills. Also referred to as Smiths.
Bottler: in charge of the buttery or bottlery.
Butler: cared for the cellar and was in charge of large butts and little butts (bottles) of wine and beer. Under him a staff of people might consist of brewers, tapsters, cellarers, dispensers, cupbearers and dapifer.
Carder: someone who brushed cloth during its manufacture.
Carpenter: built flooring, roofing, siege engines, furniture, panelling for rooms, and scaffoling for building.
Carters: workmen who brought wood and stone to the site of a castle under construction.
Castellan: resident owner or person in charge of a castle (custodian).
Chamberlain: responsible for the great chamber and for the personal finances of the castellan.
Chaplain: provided spirtual welfare for laborers and the castle garrison. The duties might also include supervising building operations, clerk, and keeping accounts. He also tended to the chapel.
Clerk: a person who checked material costs, wages, and kept accounts.
Constable: a person who took care (the governor or warden) of a castle in the absence of the owner. This was sometimes bestowed upon a great baron as an honor and some royal castles had hereditary constables.
Cook: roasted, broiled, and baked food in the fireplaces and ovens.
Cottars: the lowest of the peasantry. Worked as swine-herds, prison guards, and did odd jobs.
Ditcher: worker who dug moats, vaults, foundations and mines.
Dyer: someone who dyed cloth in huge heated vats during its manufacture.
Ewerer: worker who brought and heated water for the nobles.
Falconer: highly skilled expert responsible for the care and training of hawks for the sport of falconry.
Fuller: worker who shrinks & thickens cloth fibers through wetting & beating the material.
Glaziers: a person who cut and shaped glass.
Gong Farmer: a latrine pit emptier.
Hayward: someone who tended the hedges.
Herald: knights assistant and an expert advisor on heraldry.
Keeper of the Wardrobe: in charge of the tailors and laundress.
Knight: a professional soldier. This was achieved only after long and arduous training which began in infancy.
Laird: minor baron or small landlord.
Marshal: officer in charge of a household’s horses, carts, wagons, and containers. His staff included farriers, grooms, carters, smiths and clerks. He also oversaw the transporting of goods.
Master Mason: responsible for the designing and overseeing the building of a structure.
Messengers: servants of the lord who carried receipts, letters, and commodities.
Miner: skilled professional who dug tunnels for the purpose of undermining a castle.
Minstrels: part of of the castle staff who provided entertainment in the form of singing and playing musical instruments.
Porter: took care of the doors (janitor), particularly the main entrance. Responsible for the guardrooms. The person also insured that no one entered or left the castle withour permission. Also known as the door-ward.
Reeve: supervised the work on lord’s property. He checked that everyone began and stopped work on time, and insured nothing was stolen. Senior officer of a borough.
Sapper: an unskilled person who dug a mine or approach tunnel.
Scullions: responsible for washing and cleaning in the kitchen.
Shearmen: a person who trimmed the cloth during its manufacture.
Shoemaker: a craftsman who made shoes. Known also as Cordwainers.
Spinster: a name given to a woman who earned her living spinning yarn. Later this was expanded and any unmarried woman was called a spinster.
Steward: took care of the estate and domestic administration. Supervised the household and events in the great hall. Also referred to as a Seneschal.
Squire: attained at the age of 14 while training as a knight. He would be assigned to a knight to carry and care for the weapons and horse.
Watchmen: an official at the castle responsible for security. Assited by lookouts (the garrison).
Weaver: someone who cleaned and compacted cloth, in association with the Walker and Fuller.
Woodworkers: tradesmen called Board-hewers who worked in the forest, producing joists and beams.
Other medieval jobs included:
tanners, soap makers, cask makers, cloth makers, candle makers (chandlers), gold and silver smiths, laundresses, bakers, grooms, pages, huntsmen, doctors, painters, plasterers, and painters, potters, brick and tile makers, glass makers, shipwrights, sailors, butchers, fishmongers, farmers, herdsmen, millers, the clergy, parish priests, members of the monastic orders, innkeepers, roadmenders, woodwards (for the forests). slingers. Other Domestic jobs inside the castle or manor:
Personal atendants- ladies-in-waiting, chamber maids, doctor.
The myriad of people involved in the preparation and serving of meals- brewers, poulterer, fruiterers, slaughterers, dispensers, cooks and the cupbearers.
By Lise Hull READ MORE
( Oh this is a great chart! )
@thecyanbladesman
This is so useful! I’m always racking my brains trying to figure out what sort of job random Elves or Men might’ve had in Beleriand.
…dang. And all I ever think about when writing medialeval characters is “knight-merchant-peasant-clergyman”.
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cat-tully:
Female Awesome Meme: [7/10] Females in a movie ♀ Dido Elizabeth Belle
My greatest misfortune would be to marry into a family who would carry me as their shame, as I have been required to carry my own mother. […] Since I wish to deny her no more than I wish to deny myself, you will pardon me for wanting a husband who feels “forgiveness” of my bloodline is both unnecessary and without grace.
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via IFTTT
Female Awesome Meme: [7/10] Females in a movie ♀ Dido Elizabeth Belle
My greatest misfortune would be to marry into a family who would carry me as their shame, as I have been required to carry my own mother. […] Since I wish to deny her no more than I wish to deny myself, you will pardon me for wanting a husband who feels “forgiveness” of my bloodline is both unnecessary and without grace.
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via IFTTT
Down in Flames....
May. 25th, 2016 01:33 pmWow, so Marvel and Nick Spencer really making a case for me never ever ever giving them my money ever again.
Captain America/Steve Rogers as Hydra Agent"
"[T]he one thing we can say unequivocally is: This is not a clone, not an imposter, not mind control, not someone else acting through Steve," said Spencer. "This really is Steve Rogers, Captain America."
Like. Apparently this has been in the works since 2014 and it makes me sick. Like can't-eat-my-lunch-crying-at-my-desk sick. How do you even come to the thought process that this is okay? How did this not get shut down hard before it ever got out of the concept room?
This is spitting on the graves of the people who created Captain America - Joe Simon and Jack Kirby were Jewish. Cap was created as a response to WWII and hell, the entire comics industry was built by Jewish creators. Everything we have today is due to Jewish creators, from Superman to Cap.
@Wheeler on Twitter put it like this: "Superheroes were invented by Jewish artists fleeing anti-Semitism. The fantasy of justice was a storyteller's response to genocide."
He's not wrong. Look at this paragraph from HOW THE JEWS CREATED THE COMIC BOOK INDUSTRY: Part I: The Golden Age (1933-1955) (bolded emphasis mine).
"I found a way to help the war effort by portraying the times in the form of comic characters. I was saying what was on my mind, and I was extremely patriotic!"
--Jack Kirby
With America's entry into World War II, Superman, Batman, and other comic-book superheroes were pressed into action. "As comics writers," Stan Lee says, "we had to have villains in our stories. And once World War II started, the Nazis gave us the greatest villains in the world to fight against. It was a slam dunk." Captain Marvel fought Captain Nazi, the Aryan assassin and super-soldier. Captain America, created in 1941 by Jewish cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, took on the Nazi agent Red Skull. "Two Jews created this weak little guy named Steve Rogers who gets shot in the arm [by scientist Dr. Reinstein, a reference to Albert Einstein] and, by way of a 'secret serum,' becomes this super-strong hero who starts destroying Nazis," explains political cartoonist Peter Kuper (World War Three Illustrated, The New Yorker, MAD magazine's "Spy Vs. Spy"). "What a distinctly empowering image." Simon and Kirby also created the Boy Commandos, a strip about an international group of patriotic children from Allied countries who aided in the war effort; the stories' final panels often depicted caricatures of Hitler being foiled by the children's covert operations. The lesson: even children--like those who read comics--could play a heroic role in the battle against evil."
And I just...I can't even fathom what went into this decision and why, but I've soured on the MCU as of late, and this is just the nail in the coffin for any further investment I was contemplating making in Marvel. I've been a Captain America fan for 25 years, but this latest turn of events? No. No more.
Never Again.
This entry was originally posted at http://bethany-lauren.dreamwidth.org/451995.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Captain America/Steve Rogers as Hydra Agent"
"[T]he one thing we can say unequivocally is: This is not a clone, not an imposter, not mind control, not someone else acting through Steve," said Spencer. "This really is Steve Rogers, Captain America."
Like. Apparently this has been in the works since 2014 and it makes me sick. Like can't-eat-my-lunch-crying-at-my-desk sick. How do you even come to the thought process that this is okay? How did this not get shut down hard before it ever got out of the concept room?
This is spitting on the graves of the people who created Captain America - Joe Simon and Jack Kirby were Jewish. Cap was created as a response to WWII and hell, the entire comics industry was built by Jewish creators. Everything we have today is due to Jewish creators, from Superman to Cap.
@Wheeler on Twitter put it like this: "Superheroes were invented by Jewish artists fleeing anti-Semitism. The fantasy of justice was a storyteller's response to genocide."
He's not wrong. Look at this paragraph from HOW THE JEWS CREATED THE COMIC BOOK INDUSTRY: Part I: The Golden Age (1933-1955) (bolded emphasis mine).
"I found a way to help the war effort by portraying the times in the form of comic characters. I was saying what was on my mind, and I was extremely patriotic!"
--Jack Kirby
With America's entry into World War II, Superman, Batman, and other comic-book superheroes were pressed into action. "As comics writers," Stan Lee says, "we had to have villains in our stories. And once World War II started, the Nazis gave us the greatest villains in the world to fight against. It was a slam dunk." Captain Marvel fought Captain Nazi, the Aryan assassin and super-soldier. Captain America, created in 1941 by Jewish cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, took on the Nazi agent Red Skull. "Two Jews created this weak little guy named Steve Rogers who gets shot in the arm [by scientist Dr. Reinstein, a reference to Albert Einstein] and, by way of a 'secret serum,' becomes this super-strong hero who starts destroying Nazis," explains political cartoonist Peter Kuper (World War Three Illustrated, The New Yorker, MAD magazine's "Spy Vs. Spy"). "What a distinctly empowering image." Simon and Kirby also created the Boy Commandos, a strip about an international group of patriotic children from Allied countries who aided in the war effort; the stories' final panels often depicted caricatures of Hitler being foiled by the children's covert operations. The lesson: even children--like those who read comics--could play a heroic role in the battle against evil."
And I just...I can't even fathom what went into this decision and why, but I've soured on the MCU as of late, and this is just the nail in the coffin for any further investment I was contemplating making in Marvel. I've been a Captain America fan for 25 years, but this latest turn of events? No. No more.
Never Again.
This entry was originally posted at http://bethany-lauren.dreamwidth.org/451995.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Nerd Holidays are the Best Holidays
May. 25th, 2016 07:32 amHappy Towel Day and Happy Glorious Twenty-Fifth of May! Vimes!Duck and Zaphod!Duck wish you the best!
Links about Brasil Crisis
May. 19th, 2016 10:11 amSome interesting thinkpieces here. Good food for thought concerning my other home.
The Real Lesson Behind Brazil's Mess
Time For Brazil To Look Outward
Brazil Needs Jobs, Not Apologies
The Real Lesson Behind Brazil's Mess
Time For Brazil To Look Outward
Brazil Needs Jobs, Not Apologies
Mid-Event Readathon survey
Apr. 23rd, 2016 08:02 pm1. What are you reading right now?
Pearl Harbor Final Judgement
2. How many books have you read so far?
I'm on book 8!
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
Probably even tie between the Janine Spendlove ones and the Young Wizards books.
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Some. Most of them were cat-related and lucky I'm bigger and faster than the kittens. They can be moved.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
I missed reading in long periods of time like this - more than I thought before.
Pearl Harbor Final Judgement
2. How many books have you read so far?
I'm on book 8!
3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
Probably even tie between the Janine Spendlove ones and the Young Wizards books.
4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Some. Most of them were cat-related and lucky I'm bigger and faster than the kittens. They can be moved.
5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
I missed reading in long periods of time like this - more than I thought before.
Readathon Updates
Apr. 23rd, 2016 05:09 pmBooks Four, Five, Six, and Seven all done. Also a few quick errands and a nap. Because I'm no longer in college and naps are very important.
So! Greg Rucka's Before The Awakening, George Washington is Cash Money by Cory O'Brien, and Dessa Lux's The Omega's Bodyguard and The Omega's Pack.
Now I am back on the couch with leftover shepherd's pie that my dad made (they're not here, they're unpacking all the things at their new house) and refills on caffeine and water since both of those are very very crucial to endeavors like this.
There's also laundry in the machines and kittens crawling all over me. They're very snuggly today.
Next on the list is another history/nonfiction book: Pearl Harbor Final Judgement by Henry Clausen, who was a Special Investigator for the Secretary of War.
So! Greg Rucka's Before The Awakening, George Washington is Cash Money by Cory O'Brien, and Dessa Lux's The Omega's Bodyguard and The Omega's Pack.
Now I am back on the couch with leftover shepherd's pie that my dad made (they're not here, they're unpacking all the things at their new house) and refills on caffeine and water since both of those are very very crucial to endeavors like this.
There's also laundry in the machines and kittens crawling all over me. They're very snuggly today.
Next on the list is another history/nonfiction book: Pearl Harbor Final Judgement by Henry Clausen, who was a Special Investigator for the Secretary of War.
Readathon Updates
Apr. 23rd, 2016 11:11 amBooks Two and Three are done! Shattered Empire trade by Greg Rucka and War of the Seasons: Book One - The Human by Janine K. Spendlove are now complete.
I think next up is another Rucka book, Star Wars: Before The Awakening before I do dice rolls for what's next after that. And after I finish reading all the things, I will put up mini reviews/ impressions of the books that I have during this thing.
My lovely and charming roommate is exceedingly supportive in this effort and has provided me with coffee AND breakfast as I sit here and read in front of her. She's the best, everyone should have a person like this (but you can't steal mine).
So I have had eggs and coffee and snacks of cashews and walnuts, omnom. Now to more reading!
I think next up is another Rucka book, Star Wars: Before The Awakening before I do dice rolls for what's next after that. And after I finish reading all the things, I will put up mini reviews/ impressions of the books that I have during this thing.
My lovely and charming roommate is exceedingly supportive in this effort and has provided me with coffee AND breakfast as I sit here and read in front of her. She's the best, everyone should have a person like this (but you can't steal mine).
So I have had eggs and coffee and snacks of cashews and walnuts, omnom. Now to more reading!
Readathon Updates
Apr. 23rd, 2016 09:40 amBook One is down. War Against The Weak - Eugenics and America's Campaign To Create A Master Race by Edwin Black is complete. A terrifying nonfiction book done by an investigative reporter that will give you a bone-deep chill.
Next up: Something lighter. Shattered Empire
Next up: Something lighter. Shattered Empire
Bookish Childhood
Apr. 23rd, 2016 08:01 amI started reading spontaneously one day when I was three, so the family lore goes. I asked my mother what the truck next to us said when we were out driving and she asked me which truck to which I promptly replied "Georgia Peachtree Windows and Doors."
Mom was so startled by this that once we got home, she pulled out a book that they hadn't yet read to me and asked me to read it out loud. And then she promptly called my father and told him that he had to stop bringing newspapers home because I was three and could read.
Small note about this story, I could read yes, but I hadn't gotten to the point where I really knew my alphabet? So I knew cat as "cat" and not as "c-a-t spells cat." This was an interesting problem to solve for when I actually hit kindergarten already reading on a third grade level, but with no knowledge about spelling and the alphabet.
But yes, my bookish childhood had several very happy memories - my parents loved reading to us and I credit them with inspiring my lifelong love of the written word. My life would be much poorer without it.
So the top five that I can give you right off the top of my head for my favorite childhood book memories:
1. I finished the first readthrough of the Narnia series at age 4 and I continually go back to reread them and they've given me a lifelong love of dark closets and the persistent idea of falling through to the fantastical from the mundane. Something that has affected how and what I write, I know.
2. Fourth grade recitations of Hamlet's Soliloquy on the playground at Wilder Elementary in Louisville. I was still a very tiny matchstick of a person but the words just sparked this wild thing in me and I was devouring the unabridged plays like no one's business.
3. Listening to my mother read the Fellowship of the Rings to us out loud. A memory I love now, but back then it drove me crazy that we couldn't read through the night. The anticipation was killing me. I'd already fallen in love with the Hobbit and everything about that book.
4. Enjoying the fact that someone had left the unabridged still in lyric form leather bound copy of the Odyssey on the children's shelf so that meant I was allowed to pick it up and read it. Wide -eyed and completely glued to the page, even as I'm hiding as I do it since I pretty much knew that I wasn't really allowed to read these without permission, but it HAD been left on my shelf so...
5. First time reading the Hound of the Baskervilles. I was 8 years old, it was midnight, I was reading under my covers with a flashlight because it was a schoolnight but I didn't care because I had to KNOW what happened next. Just as I get to the really good parts...the neighbor's dog howled and I have never been so terrified before. I'm amazed I didn't wake my sister up.
Mom was so startled by this that once we got home, she pulled out a book that they hadn't yet read to me and asked me to read it out loud. And then she promptly called my father and told him that he had to stop bringing newspapers home because I was three and could read.
Small note about this story, I could read yes, but I hadn't gotten to the point where I really knew my alphabet? So I knew cat as "cat" and not as "c-a-t spells cat." This was an interesting problem to solve for when I actually hit kindergarten already reading on a third grade level, but with no knowledge about spelling and the alphabet.
But yes, my bookish childhood had several very happy memories - my parents loved reading to us and I credit them with inspiring my lifelong love of the written word. My life would be much poorer without it.
So the top five that I can give you right off the top of my head for my favorite childhood book memories:
1. I finished the first readthrough of the Narnia series at age 4 and I continually go back to reread them and they've given me a lifelong love of dark closets and the persistent idea of falling through to the fantastical from the mundane. Something that has affected how and what I write, I know.
2. Fourth grade recitations of Hamlet's Soliloquy on the playground at Wilder Elementary in Louisville. I was still a very tiny matchstick of a person but the words just sparked this wild thing in me and I was devouring the unabridged plays like no one's business.
3. Listening to my mother read the Fellowship of the Rings to us out loud. A memory I love now, but back then it drove me crazy that we couldn't read through the night. The anticipation was killing me. I'd already fallen in love with the Hobbit and everything about that book.
4. Enjoying the fact that someone had left the unabridged still in lyric form leather bound copy of the Odyssey on the children's shelf so that meant I was allowed to pick it up and read it. Wide -eyed and completely glued to the page, even as I'm hiding as I do it since I pretty much knew that I wasn't really allowed to read these without permission, but it HAD been left on my shelf so...
5. First time reading the Hound of the Baskervilles. I was 8 years old, it was midnight, I was reading under my covers with a flashlight because it was a schoolnight but I didn't care because I had to KNOW what happened next. Just as I get to the really good parts...the neighbor's dog howled and I have never been so terrified before. I'm amazed I didn't wake my sister up.
Intro Meme for the Readathon
Apr. 23rd, 2016 07:22 am1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Nashville, Tennessee! In my hobbit house on a hill.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Honestly I cannot decide. I love them all. It's a good blend of sci-fi, fantasy, and history books.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
The Shepherds Pie for lunch
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I'm a writer and reader and historian! I've participated in Nanowrimo for the last decade and when I found out about this yesterday, I just had to do it.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
Finishing all these books! I'm so excited about that.
Nashville, Tennessee! In my hobbit house on a hill.
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Honestly I cannot decide. I love them all. It's a good blend of sci-fi, fantasy, and history books.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
The Shepherds Pie for lunch
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
I'm a writer and reader and historian! I've participated in Nanowrimo for the last decade and when I found out about this yesterday, I just had to do it.
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
Finishing all these books! I'm so excited about that.
Winter's War
Apr. 22nd, 2016 06:55 amI saw The Huntsman: Winter's War last night with my dad because we'd gotten free tickets from a coworker of mine and both of us had wanted to see that movie.
It was pretty decent and surprisingly self-aware for what it was and there'll be a more in depth review of it later on, but overall I was pretty happy with most of it.
It's also just reaffirmed my desire to write all the things.
This entry was originally posted at http://bethany-lauren.dreamwidth.org/448218.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
It was pretty decent and surprisingly self-aware for what it was and there'll be a more in depth review of it later on, but overall I was pretty happy with most of it.
It's also just reaffirmed my desire to write all the things.
This entry was originally posted at http://bethany-lauren.dreamwidth.org/448218.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
On the subject of Comfort Shows/Films
Apr. 20th, 2016 07:15 amEveryone has these, the things that you put on for background noise, when you're not feeling all that together, or when you just need to feel better. These are generally things that you have watched over and over and you never seem to get sick of?
The vast majority of mine are all "historical" period pieces(the quotations are there because when it comes to the comfort pieces, authenticity or accuracy in details is not necessarily something I'm looking for). My favorite film to watch and rewatch when I am feeling down is the 13th Warrior, there's something about Ibn's struggle with the different culture and language that appeals and soothes part of me.
Another one is Showtime's The Tudors because it's a lovely, beautifully costumed train wreck. Watching the evolution of some of the actors who keep their heads through all four seasons and the different cycles of wives and all the intrigue that happens in and around all of that.
The one I was watching last night was The White Queen, which is based off the Philippa Gregory Cousins' War books. It's very female driven, which is one of my favorite parts of it, but there's so much there that happens in every episode and the intrigues and political plays and motivations are fantastic. I'd put it on because it'd been an okay but also a little tiring and I was alone in the house except for my brother who'd been asleep when I got home.
He wakes up and fixes his dinner somewhere around the part in the first-second episode where Elizabeth and her mother are being introduced to Duchess Cecily Neville and I love that scene because of the various political maneuvering that goes on in that scene. How Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Woodville defuse Cecily's threats calmly and for the most part, rationally.
From that point on, my brother was transfixed, asking all these questions about who they were and why this was happening and what the significance of $thing over here was. He's not as up on his English history so it was great getting to share all of that with him. He'd commented that it had a very Game of Thrones feel and I told him that was because GOT used parts of the War of the Roses/Cousins War as inspiration for his worldbuilding.
Though he also stated that I should totally rewrite English history for my novel worlds, which I had been considering only half seriously. Some of my enablers were also encouraging this so we shall see what shakes out.
This entry was originally posted at http://bethany-lauren.dreamwidth.org/447873.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
The vast majority of mine are all "historical" period pieces(the quotations are there because when it comes to the comfort pieces, authenticity or accuracy in details is not necessarily something I'm looking for). My favorite film to watch and rewatch when I am feeling down is the 13th Warrior, there's something about Ibn's struggle with the different culture and language that appeals and soothes part of me.
Another one is Showtime's The Tudors because it's a lovely, beautifully costumed train wreck. Watching the evolution of some of the actors who keep their heads through all four seasons and the different cycles of wives and all the intrigue that happens in and around all of that.
The one I was watching last night was The White Queen, which is based off the Philippa Gregory Cousins' War books. It's very female driven, which is one of my favorite parts of it, but there's so much there that happens in every episode and the intrigues and political plays and motivations are fantastic. I'd put it on because it'd been an okay but also a little tiring and I was alone in the house except for my brother who'd been asleep when I got home.
He wakes up and fixes his dinner somewhere around the part in the first-second episode where Elizabeth and her mother are being introduced to Duchess Cecily Neville and I love that scene because of the various political maneuvering that goes on in that scene. How Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Elizabeth Woodville defuse Cecily's threats calmly and for the most part, rationally.
From that point on, my brother was transfixed, asking all these questions about who they were and why this was happening and what the significance of $thing over here was. He's not as up on his English history so it was great getting to share all of that with him. He'd commented that it had a very Game of Thrones feel and I told him that was because GOT used parts of the War of the Roses/Cousins War as inspiration for his worldbuilding.
Though he also stated that I should totally rewrite English history for my novel worlds, which I had been considering only half seriously. Some of my enablers were also encouraging this so we shall see what shakes out.
This entry was originally posted at http://bethany-lauren.dreamwidth.org/447873.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
(no subject)
Apr. 18th, 2016 10:43 amMom and Dad take possession of their new house on Friday which means that then the baby brother will stop sleeping on my floor and move into my spare room until he finishes the school year and then he will move back up to Mom and Dad's house.
They've definitely decided on the naming of the house and grounds (because there's 5.6 acres of grounds there) Vale de Serenidade (Serenity Valley) and they'll have their own creek, cemetery, and apparently a zipline too.
I'm super excited for them. They've been looking forward to something like this for a long time and it'll be good for them.
This entry was originally posted at http://bethany-lauren.dreamwidth.org/447366.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
They've definitely decided on the naming of the house and grounds (because there's 5.6 acres of grounds there) Vale de Serenidade (Serenity Valley) and they'll have their own creek, cemetery, and apparently a zipline too.
I'm super excited for them. They've been looking forward to something like this for a long time and it'll be good for them.
This entry was originally posted at http://bethany-lauren.dreamwidth.org/447366.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Because Dad was re-telling this story last night and I was too tired to type it up then, so I'm sharing it with you all now.
So the movie has JUST come out on VHS and we have watched it for The First Time. I am 3 and Sister A is a yearish. Mom and Dad are still in the living room when Dad hears some strange noises from the kitchen and his "dad senses" tingle. He walks into the kitchen and freezes because I am armed with a meat cleaver and Sister A has a barbecue fork. We are giggling as we are sword-fighting on the counters over the stove. (because EVEN THEN just playing with sharp implements wasn't enough, we had to add elements of height! and potential FIRE! to the equation)
Dad does the Owen Grady raptor trainer hands as he carefully and calmly disarms us and moves us off the counters. Then he hands us wooden spoons and tells us we can fight over there on the carpet where they can see.
Mom, when told, wants to know why he didn't spank us. Dad literally shrugged at her and went "They just needed safer weapons? They're just imitating what they saw in the movie?"
So the movie has JUST come out on VHS and we have watched it for The First Time. I am 3 and Sister A is a yearish. Mom and Dad are still in the living room when Dad hears some strange noises from the kitchen and his "dad senses" tingle. He walks into the kitchen and freezes because I am armed with a meat cleaver and Sister A has a barbecue fork. We are giggling as we are sword-fighting on the counters over the stove. (because EVEN THEN just playing with sharp implements wasn't enough, we had to add elements of height! and potential FIRE! to the equation)
Dad does the Owen Grady raptor trainer hands as he carefully and calmly disarms us and moves us off the counters. Then he hands us wooden spoons and tells us we can fight over there on the carpet where they can see.
Mom, when told, wants to know why he didn't spank us. Dad literally shrugged at her and went "They just needed safer weapons? They're just imitating what they saw in the movie?"
Jane Louise or Louise Jane?
Apr. 1st, 2016 09:53 pmToday has been a very interesting day. It started off as a day where GrayDad and I were going to go off and do amazing creative things out in a coffee shop somewhere until we needed food. However on our way to the coffeeshop, he got a call and it turned from a day out to A Day.
To make a very long story very short, we've been dealing with the curveballs hurled our way the best way we know how when we're in the "hurry up and wait" place. With movies. So Dad got me to sit down and watch Dracula Untold which was a lot better and a lot different from the movie that I had thought it was.
If you haven't seen it, I urge you to. I don't like horror films and this isn't so much of one really. It's a very fascinating story they've spun out and the plausiblity of something like that is very intriguing to complicate.
It addresses certain historical mysteries - why the Ottomans stopped when and where they did. Why there are exceedingly rare images of Vlad on coinage, stuff like that.
Now we've got Undercover Blues on and I'm in a weird nostalgic place. I've grown up with this movie, my parents and I have been watching it pretty much since it came out on VHS. This movie, Princess Bride, and Sneakers make up the core of movies that I grew up watching, still watch, and can quote backwards, forwards, and seven ways from Sunday. The acting is amazing, the plotline is hilarious, and I relate to this movie on a lot of levels.
Mostly because my parents are just like Jefferson and Jane Blue. If you've seen the movie, that scene with the trumpet? That is exactly my father. I have lost count of the number of languages he speaks and how many instruments he can play and the man has forgotten more than I will ever know (at least it feels like that sometimes). My parents flirt the exact same way as Jeff and Jane do in the movie (and it's just that disgustingly sweet sometimes in real life) and Dad's good with the BS just like he is.
The fact that the movie came out when I was seven is probably the only reason why my name isn't actually Jane Louise - my family loves the movie that much.
I also love that this movie while kind of dated in some parts does feature an incredibly badass main female lead, who doesn't get fridged for manpain, does have a lot of agency in the movie, and pretty much winds up saving the day.
The running gags are also some of my absolute favorites.
To make a very long story very short, we've been dealing with the curveballs hurled our way the best way we know how when we're in the "hurry up and wait" place. With movies. So Dad got me to sit down and watch Dracula Untold which was a lot better and a lot different from the movie that I had thought it was.
If you haven't seen it, I urge you to. I don't like horror films and this isn't so much of one really. It's a very fascinating story they've spun out and the plausiblity of something like that is very intriguing to complicate.
It addresses certain historical mysteries - why the Ottomans stopped when and where they did. Why there are exceedingly rare images of Vlad on coinage, stuff like that.
Now we've got Undercover Blues on and I'm in a weird nostalgic place. I've grown up with this movie, my parents and I have been watching it pretty much since it came out on VHS. This movie, Princess Bride, and Sneakers make up the core of movies that I grew up watching, still watch, and can quote backwards, forwards, and seven ways from Sunday. The acting is amazing, the plotline is hilarious, and I relate to this movie on a lot of levels.
Mostly because my parents are just like Jefferson and Jane Blue. If you've seen the movie, that scene with the trumpet? That is exactly my father. I have lost count of the number of languages he speaks and how many instruments he can play and the man has forgotten more than I will ever know (at least it feels like that sometimes). My parents flirt the exact same way as Jeff and Jane do in the movie (and it's just that disgustingly sweet sometimes in real life) and Dad's good with the BS just like he is.
The fact that the movie came out when I was seven is probably the only reason why my name isn't actually Jane Louise - my family loves the movie that much.
I also love that this movie while kind of dated in some parts does feature an incredibly badass main female lead, who doesn't get fridged for manpain, does have a lot of agency in the movie, and pretty much winds up saving the day.
The running gags are also some of my absolute favorites.
