This and that

Time to start week two of the writing sprint. Wish me luck! Some things to clear up first:

Reading report for April: I read seven books, but four of them I'd read before. I read two more LeGuin novels (The Lathe of Heaven, which used the Tao idea of the uncovered block in a really cool way and also contained the word "odiose" (Backspacers will get why I'm geeked about that), and The Eye of Heron, which was a bummer). I had a few more to go but wanted to get away from Tao novels while I'm reaching the Tao part of my own novel. So I picked up The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke. If you loved Dr. Strange and Mr. Norrell, definitely pick this one up. It's a collection of short stories, some connecting to the novel and some not, but all very good. (I'm totally jealous; I would kill to write something that was illustrated by Charles Vess). Then I decided to dig back in to Gibson. I read Gibson like I read Harry Potter; every time I want to read a new one I'm compelled to re-read all the prior novels first. Which is probably how I came to have four of them stacked up unread. So I read Neuromancer, Burning Chrome, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive, and I'm working on Virtual Light right now, which is the last one I've read previously.

I admit, I'm a heathen. While I'll admit that Neuromancer is his most important work, I actually like MLO and VL better. Kumiko and Chevette are deeper characters than Molly, I think is what does it for me. I particularly like Kumiko and how she wears her mother's expressions.

To be read stack now stands at 253. Yes, I'm moving backwards.

One other thing before I start my daily sprint. I've been nagging my husband for months and months to go back to our kung fu class and record some of the instructors going through the forms. I can only half remember them, and my favorite form, 18 point, I can't remember at all. He finally went and filmed one Sunday in December (when I was of course working), but he was using someone else's camera (it was nicer than ours).

I finally just this weekend got to see that tape (my husband lives in a different time stream then I do, I swear). I'm working out a way to get some of it on the PC so I can post some clips. I might have that worked out by Wednesday. In the mean time, here are some clips from You Tube to whet your appetite.

The first one is just Toph, the Earthbender who practices Kwong Sai Jook Lum, the style of kung fu I've done and hope to do again. The clip is long and very roughly edited (basically, someone took my favorite episode "The Blind Bandit" and cut it down to just the fight scenes). Toph's stance, the way she holds her hands, the way she walks her horse, are all spot-on for our style. And I love when she does the three point strike.

(Some would argue that I worry too much about the details when I write. I generally don't argue, but secretly I know how I geeked I am when someone goes through the effort to get something right. I would guess the number of people who watch AVATAR who can appreciate what they got right with Toph is in the 50s, maybe. Was it worth the effort? See, I just don't think the creators think of it that way. I don't think of it that way. It's a labor of love; it's all worth it).

At any rate, here's Toph:



This one doesn't have as much Toph in it, but it's set to "Kung Fu Fighting". There's another on their set to "Mortal Kombat", but this one won by a hair with me: