Saturday, January 12, 2013
Let's Play
My girl and I had some sweet one-on-one time while Daddy and Ell-man were at the grocery and Special K was napping. Chris and I are trying to be intentional about everyone getting time alone with one of us, so this satisfied that and my need to stay in pajamas and not leave the house today. I forget how much I love this age. I want to stop time.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Ending with a . . .Whimper
I love to read. Forever and always. There is secret joy in enveloping myself in the cloak of a good story, immersing myself in the characters, the anticipation of turning a page to find the next twist, the reflection of self in the words on the page. Or wisdom, simply stated but so elegant that I wonder how it is a new revelation. The skill in a well-crafted sentence, ahhhh--my first escape. My first best friends. Books. The feeling of sadness and withdrawal when the friends made in several hundred pages meet the end of their story.
But I've noticed a flaw of late. The endings. The author seeming to tire of the story, rapidly wrapping up hundreds of pages of story in a chapter, maybe two. The let-down that results from loose ends that leaves me frustrated, disappointed. I don't understand this being overlooked by editors, accepted by other readers. Is the pressure of the publishing world so intense that there are page limits, a rush to publication that leaves wrapping up a story to a natural conclusion an after-thought? I don't know, but I do know that reading so many poor endings lends appreciation for those well-crafted. AND that I now judge a book not just by the premise, character development, but the ability to see the story to conclusion. Conclusions. Seeing something through all the way to the end--this quality is difficult to find in society today--in life and print.
But I've noticed a flaw of late. The endings. The author seeming to tire of the story, rapidly wrapping up hundreds of pages of story in a chapter, maybe two. The let-down that results from loose ends that leaves me frustrated, disappointed. I don't understand this being overlooked by editors, accepted by other readers. Is the pressure of the publishing world so intense that there are page limits, a rush to publication that leaves wrapping up a story to a natural conclusion an after-thought? I don't know, but I do know that reading so many poor endings lends appreciation for those well-crafted. AND that I now judge a book not just by the premise, character development, but the ability to see the story to conclusion. Conclusions. Seeing something through all the way to the end--this quality is difficult to find in society today--in life and print.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Eye-Popping
I've been tweaking my photo editing skills again. By again, I mean always, only this time I actually added a new skill to my tool bag. Mostly I just try to teach myself by playing with the sliders in Lightroom and then being dissatisfied when they don't look like I envision. So yeah, some motivation. And I actually learned something: how to make eyes pop a bit.
This girl and her eyes are going to be trouble.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)