truepenny: artist's rendering of Sidneyia inexpectans (Default)
[personal profile] truepenny
yesterday, Kekropia, 503 words


[livejournal.com profile] heres_luck and I were talking yesterday about the fact that the Golden Age of my LJ seems to have come and gone. "You seem burned out on LJ," she said.

"No," I said, "I think my brain's just burned out. I hope it grows back soon."

Which is true, both the general burn-out and the hope for regrowth. In the meantime, I'm doing the best I can. Which mostly means getting this book written. I have a lot of posts I want to make, about The Revengers Tragedy and [livejournal.com profile] pameladean's Tam Lin, about Jirel of Joiry and the subversion of misogynistic stereotypes, about The White Devil, which is the play I most wanted to put in my dissertation and didn't. But, as I realized properly when I thought about it, I just don't have the mental energy to go around.

I hope this state of affairs changes. There's nothing I can do except keep trudging along. Get the book written. Hope the more intellectual parts of my brain can be coaxed out of hiding given time and distance from the dissertation. Because it's true: I like myself better when those parts of my mind are at home to visitors. But it's not something a person can force--that would just make it all that much worse.

Date: 2004-09-25 08:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] maureenkspeller.livejournal.com
Hope the more intellectual parts of my brain can be coaxed out of hiding given time and distance from the dissertation. Because it's true: I like myself better when those parts of my mind are at home to visitors. But it's not something a person can force--that would just make it all that much worse.

Yes, I understand what you're saying here, particularly the part about not forcing it. I came to a similar conclusion about my LJ early this morning, as I reveiwed the litany of posts about university bureaucracy. This wasn't what I wanted to be writing about but the things I wanted to write about had somehow gone AWOL (which is why, as of this morning, I'm taking a sabbatical from posting new stuff, just commenting on other journals until I feel like writing my own material again). Like any other thing, I think there are times when LJ is great to be involved with, other times when it sucks up too much of my time and energy or just loses its ... not appeal, maybe urgency, because other things have to come first. But I think the online diary format actually brings this into sharper relief than suddenly realising you've not seen X around the bar or coffee shop or library for a few days. Or something.

But brain regeneration is a good thing, and I for one am really looking forward to hearing about Jirel of Joiry, in between hoping I can coherently put down some thoughts on Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, which I finished last night.

Date: 2004-09-25 08:24 am (UTC)
libskrat: (Default)
From: [personal profile] libskrat
Okay, so, in the last six or eight months you've finished a dissertation... bought, moved into, and fixed up a house... gotten a book contract... lobbed a hell of a lot of turnips...

... and you're worried about the state of your LJ? For Pete's sake, woman, how about spending a little time on a sense of perspective? And the same goes for [livejournal.com profile] heres_luck too. :P

Oh, and Jirel! Jirel! Jirel!

Date: 2004-09-25 08:29 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] truepenny.livejournal.com
I'm not worried about the LiveJournal, except insofar as it's the outward symptom of an inward difficulty.

Date: 2004-09-25 11:22 am (UTC)
libskrat: (Default)
From: [personal profile] libskrat
Bah. There is no difficulty. You simply need R-E-S-T, that's all.

And a sense of perspective.

Date: 2004-09-25 12:38 pm (UTC)
heresluck: (food geek)
From: [personal profile] heresluck
Well, burning out the undergrowth *is* an important part of many time-tested cultivation strategies.

And, let's face it, The White Devil will still be there whenever you feel up to writing about it. And we'll still be here to read the writing. So no worries.

Date: 2004-09-25 01:01 pm (UTC)
ext_6428: (Default)
From: [identity profile] coffeeandink.livejournal.com
I miss you posting more often, but I can't *blame* you for focusing on other things. You have things you need to do, and only limited time & energy with which to do them.

So, basically, yeah. I'll still be here when you get back.

Date: 2004-09-25 03:27 pm (UTC)
larryhammer: floral print origami penguin, facing left (Default)
From: [personal profile] larryhammer
Recharging is not only good, but necessary.

---L.

Date: 2004-09-25 08:05 pm (UTC)
vass: Small turtle with green leaf in its mouth (Default)
From: [personal profile] vass
It'll grow back. Probably not directly after you finish the book, but a little while after that.

I look forward to seeing it, but not as much as I look forward to the book.

Date: 2004-09-27 06:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] oracne.livejournal.com
I think my LJ is more boring than yours, lately.

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truepenny: artist's rendering of Sidneyia inexpectans (Default)
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