Stuff I've done in the last few days

[annathepiper]

In addition to writing last night, I also did another workout for the first time in a while. I have already remarked to myself about really needing to do that more often, but it bears repeating. I'll have to see about making myself work out on Saturday.



I also tried to take another stab at Der kleine Hobbit, but realized that it's been days since I last looked at it, so a lot of the vocabulary I posted about before has gotten fuzzy in my brain. I tried to look at a new paragraph last night, and had an inordinately difficult time trying to get into the right mindset to try to parse my way through what I was seeing. I got as far as "Eines Morgen, vor langer Zeit...", and my brain just gave up right there. I got "One morning" out of that, but the "vor langer Zeit" threw me. "Zeit", I know, is "time". And I'm fairly sure that "langer" in this context is some form of "long". But the "vor" was giving me issues. From what apel was saying to me yesterday about "die Vorfreude", "vor" seems to me like it ought to be "before", but that wasn't making sense to me. "One morning, a long time ago", maybe?

I lamented about this to risu and solarbird, the former of whom informed me helpfully, "If it helps, the words are in German!" Snicker.

Anyway, it seems as though I'm going to have to jumpstart the part of my brain in charge of German, and give it another go. I'm going to have to review those posts and THEN take another stab at it.



And oh yes, I did finally read The Bourne Supremacy, which mamishka loaned me. I am amused at myself for seeming to get more into critique mode on writing I don't like, which kind of happened with this book. Don't get me wrong--the story was gripping. But ol' Robert Ludlum seemed to have this awful habit of overusing both exclamation points and italics all over his text, both in the narrative and in dialogue. I no longer remember where I was taught that such things ought to be used sparingly, but I certainly have that ingrained into me now. I'm more lenient about it with dialogue, but in narrative... it makes the text start to feel cheesy, and that was at odds in my brain with the story Ludlum was trying to tell.

That said, I did actually like the story, and am reminded that I saw something about them making a sequel to the recent movie treatment of The Bourne Identity. It makes me wonder exactly how they're going to condense this second book into two hours' worth of movie; they condensed the hell out of the first book's plot and dumbed it down to fit into the film, so I have to wonder how this will affect their ability to do the second one. And Matt Damon still strikes me as too damned young to be Jason Bourne. ;)



Had a big talk with solarbird last night about one of the potential houses we'd looked at recently. She's starting to get at her wit's end with all the looking we've done for a house--but while this one in Lake Forest Park was big enough and in the right location, it just struck me badly. And it took me a while to be able to articulate why. The overall short form of it is that I didn't feel like there was any grace in the house--and yet, that was incredibly hard for me to actually say. I am still not sure why. Possibly because this was not a logical reaction on my part; I have no architectural background, so it's not like I can quantify such a reaction with actual educational experience.

Stupid real estate market. Bah.



No surprise here...


Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

Comments

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

ha! i got the same result, which is funny b/c i wouldn't think of you and me as having similar character :)

[annathepiper]

Heh! Yeah, that is pretty weird. ;)

[emmacrew.livejournal.com]

Yay, INFP!

"One morning, a long time ago" is what I'd translate that as.

My thought is if something strikes your gut as wrong about a house, it's wrong. Even if you can't articulate why. One of the houses we looked at for mom was like that, she was all excited because "OMG I can afford this house-beautiful-esque place for what my enh place in the bay area sold for? sign me up!" But it wasn't a house that suited the way she lives her life. It was a house for people who like to entertain and garden. However, it took me days or even weeks to come up with just WHY it was wrong...

[annathepiper]

Thanks, Emma! That would seem to make sense in the context of the sentence, based on what's actually in the original English, too.

And we're going to pass on this house that's wrong, yeah. I just hope we can find one that is... less wrong. As I told Dara last night, I'm scared of having to settle for a less-than-ideal house, which we're going to have to do anyway--but there's degrees of less-than-ideal.

[mamishka.livejournal.com]

I concur that if you don't like a house, for any reason, defineable or not, then you shouldn't buy it. I know that Dara is really having a hard time with this and can only suggest that she (if she hasn't already) put some of that time and effort that's going into finding a house into figuring out why this is so very hard for her, healing up that hot button, or working on some coping techniques. It's of course your (both of you) choice, but I personally don't understand buying a house that isn't really what you want. It's kind of like trading one ill for another. I'm glad you stood up for what you wanted, or rather, what you didn't want. :)

[annathepiper]

*snugs* Thanks babe! Wise suggestions, all around.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

THe Matt Damon film was not the first filmed version of The Bourne Identity. They made a for-tv miniseries of it in 1988 in which Richard Chamberlain played Bourne. It followed the book considerably more closely.

It was stupifyingly dull, too. :) The Damon vehicle, while dumbed down, perhaps, was a much more entertaining *movie*. I thought they got most of what I remembered from the book (which I hadn't read since 1993) and made a fun movie to watch. Goes to show that making a movie that's true to the book isn't necessarily a good idea. (As, in fact, I would argue by pointing out the Harry Potter movies, too, since you've got a HP quiz there. :))

But Damon *is* too young to play Bourne. :)

[annathepiper]

I knew about the miniseries, actually--Meems mentioned it to me! I just haven't seen it yet. :) And despite my cracks about dumbing down the plot for the Damon movie--I actually was, I will happily grant, entertained by it. If a sequel comes out, I'll probably go see it.

And nope, I was having a hard time buying Damon as Bourne--he looked pretty tough, sure, but he looked just too damned young! He still had that boyish fresh-facedness about him, which was just jarring against my mental picture of the character.

[annathepiper]

Hmm, imdb.com has The Bourne Supremacy listed on Matt Damon's filmography as being in post-production, so looks like we're definitely getting a sequel.

[annathepiper]

Whoa. Matt Damon is older than I thought--imdb.com says he's 33! He doesn't look it. Though this may be a good thing; it should stand him in good stead over the next 10-15 years. ;)

[murson.livejournal.com]

33? He does look younger right enough.

Still a whippersnapper though... :)

[annathepiper]

I told mamishka tonight that I found myself thinking of the description of Indiana Jones in the novel version of Raiders of the Lost Ark, of all things--wherein the good Dr. Jones is described as having the sort of face that was blandly handsome in his youth, but which gained character and interest as he got older and more experienced.

I find myself wondering whether this can be said of Matt Damon, and whether I will find him significantly more interesting looking in another six or seven years. ;)

But I'm not sure you're old enough to be licensed to use the word whippersnapper yet, sir! ;)

[murson.livejournal.com]

It's unlicensed use of the word, I'll admit, but I do find myself using it more frequently as time goes on... wonder why? I'm sure it ain't because I'm getting older. Eek! Everyone else is getting YOUNGER!!!

I guess I could try switching to "whelp", as I'm sure that's GPL'd, thus avoiding the licensing issues with "whippersnapper"... :-)

As for Mr Damon, I'll leave tracking his attractiveness/"interestingness" to yourself: it's in good hands there, and I fear he doesn't interest me that much personally.

[annathepiper]

*snicker* He doesn't interest ME that much, personally--I'm quite busy ogling Mr. Doyle and Mr. Crowe. ;)

And I'm just sayin', I'm fairly sure you have to be at least eighty-seven years old in order to be legally entitled to use the word 'whippersnapper'... hee!

[murson.livejournal.com]

I'd have said sixty-five (retiral age here), but fair enough, as I'm not even that old yet - well, not in this lifetime anyway! :-)

How about we agree that you can ogle Mr Crowe and Mr Doyle, and I'll shut up about whippersnappers and ogle assorted actresses (say, Ms Jolie, among others)?

[annathepiper]

You got yourself a deal. ;)

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

*laugh* I knew he was about that old. He's still too young to play Bourne. :)

[annathepiper]

Yeah, the character's just done too damned much to be that much of a puppy. ^_^

[llachglin.livejournal.com]

I'm INFP, too. Though I think I'm a fairly soft P.

[annathepiper]

I'm pretty down with this result, yeah. :) I think the last time I took one of these kinds of tests--one that had nothing to do with Harry Potter--I got INFP, too. (Though I am sheepish to admit that I forget what the letters stand for!)