(no subject)

[aadler]

 
10:00PM Central Afghan Time

Another day, another 2,000 words on “Glass Ceiling”. I’ve done two dozen other stories; this one is already longer than all but six of them, and I’m not sure how much more it will grow. The length is immaterial, really, except as a mark of how consistently I can turn out copy, what matters is whether or not the story is properly told. After which, of course, I will promptly begin thinking of which project I want to tackle next.

This was also Veterans’ Day, and the people here take note of things like that. I got my Special Forces combat patch in a morning ceremony, and was happy to have it. (Theoretically I’ve earned it just by being here with these guys; I’ll still feel better when I’ve done something that allows me to believe I’ve held up my end of things.) We may or may not go out on a mission in the next few days, which will be a definite change of pace, I’ve been stuck inside the wire for close to a month.

Other things are changing. Where we are is a compound within the larger base at Kandahar Air Field; because of the organization of things, I’ve dealt on a regular basis with French SF and Australian SAS. Just in the past few days, we got in a contingent of Norwegian SEALs, and NATO is supposed to take on a larger role sometime in the immediate coming months. And, not very long from now, there will be the matter of snow. (High today was 75ºF. Not bad for November, but cold weather is coming.)

Some of our guys are going to Qatar for a quick pass. I saw Qatar during my Iraq deployment; nice, relaxing time, but not much excitement. Then, I was with six or eight other people from my unit, but we’re being spread out a lot more carefully this time through; so, when my time comes to make the trip, I might be out there without anybody else I know. I’m less comfortable in social situations than when I’m riding on a gun truck; there, at least, I know what I’m supposed to do.

I’m a little reluctant to start in on my Veronica Mars boxed set; remembering how Firefly took hold of me, I’m afraid I’ll get caught up in it to the detriment of writing progress. I do decent work, but forever have to guard against sloth. But I do like Veronica.

I don’t have a drinking problem. I’m quite good at it. Just haven’t gotten very much practice lately.

Comments

On this Veteran's Day...

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

...let me just say how appreciative I am and my husband is of your service. Because you're over there, I feel safer over here. Your hard work and sacrifice don't go un-noted. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

[chrisjournal.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you're a little down -- here's hoping the coming week is better.

Where VM is concerned, something to keep in mind is that it takes *several* episodes (6-ish, though some people need 8 or 9) before it all clicks together. I watched it from the beginning and liked it, at episode 6, I *really* liked it, but it wasn't until about ep 11 or 12 that the layers all came clear and I fell into obsession.

Now I have heard from some people who mainlined the whole thing on DVD rather than watching episode by episode, and these folks said it was a very intense experience. Frequently, though, what I see is that people react to the early episodes with a, 'meh,', and they either plow through and suddenly get it somewhere mid season, or they just give up and don't go back.

I think what I'm saying here is that there's a good chance that you can safely watch VM, at least up to a point, without killing the writing. But as you get farther in, it does consume far too many brain cells, which could be a problem for the writing.

VM is the love child of Picket Fences and Buffy (but not so much Angel), with Freaks and Geeks for godmother. Smart, clever, deeply emotional, and very complex. I'm really interested to see your reactions to the various characters -- this is one show where I have great difficulty thinking of a character that I don't enjoy (although there is no doubt that I am all.about.Veronica when it comes right down to it).

[aadler]

I’m not really down, I just tend to be a little tired and burned-out by the end of the day, which generally is when I post. Truth to tell, I enjoy this kind of life.

With one thing and another, I probably caught about half the Veronica Mars episodes the first time through; and I did like it from the beginning. I followed the same curve you described, but starting with immediate enthusiasm and then increasing from there.

I love the genealogy you quoted. Picket Fences got a little too self-congratulatory, and suffered from the lack of a central unifying theme, but it provided some fine moments. The chronicles of Veronica have no such deficits. And — glory, glory — VM actually is still on the air. Too many of my favorites are gone now, it’s a relief to have something I can enjoy while knowing there’s more to come.