Okay, I wrote that whole thing yesterday about how I was going to focus more on writing on this site, and then I went away and wrote this whole thing on Doctor Who on my Doctor Who site. It’s based on a request for stuff for a book about Doctor Who and autistics, but I don’t know anything about autism, so I skipped those questions. I just love babbling about Doctor Who.
That being said, I have in mood a random post. Here goes:
It’s wonderfully warm and breezy and the sun is out. Naturally I am feeling tired and crappy. Y U hate me, body? I have a couple of film cameras I want to play with — a Kodak Instamatic 104 that I got working, along with a 126 film cartridge that I managed to pry open so I can put 35mm film in it and use the camera to take photos; and a Yashica J rangefinder that is in great condition except the spring or something that holds the back closed seems to have gotten loose or busted, but it came with a nice leather case and I can also tape it up if I have to though it seems to stay shut, and it’s completely manual so no dead meters to worry about — but I’m feeling too blah. I will force myself to do one load of laundry, though. That’s kind of necessary at this point.
Did I say less photos on the site? Here, have one from yesterday:
I’m not done with you, internet! You know, I have a problem with movies. I can’t watch a lot of them. Yesterday my friend wanted to watch The Big Clock. It was very good, light noir with Ray Milland, Charles Laughton, and an extremely modernistic building. Really, this movie made in 1948 could have moved its entire set into a 21st century movie and except for the phones and how all the men wore hats people would have thought it was a science fiction film just based on the furniture. Anyway, I do enjoy movies even though I have trouble watching them, because they require me to sit still and pay attention, and take up more of my senses than I want taken up, usually. Still, there are certain types of movies I refuse to watch. They are as follows: slasher horror, films where gruesome violence is shown being done to children, chick flicks about spoiled middle-aged women dumping their nice “but dull” husbands and going to luxurious locations and having affairs and in general acting as if anything but a life of 24/7 pleasure and catering to her whims is Oppression, movies set in current times where all the white males are Racist Oppressors and all the brown people are Suffering Victims and the hero is always a White Oppressor Who Comes To See The Evils Of Western Civilization (let’s just say I’m full up of these), movies where the handsome hero is doing incest with his mom (yes I saw Spanking The Monkey and I wanted to punch the friend that made me go to the art cinema with her). Let’s just say life is too short and I don’t need these plots taking up any more brain space in my head.
Speaking of friends, this leads me to an observation: have you ever had a friend declare that the sort of people her or she most respected were people who were “brutally honest”? Beware: it’s been my experience that this is the friend who will be most likely to lose their shit when you decide to be one of the “brutally honest” people and tell them what you really think. (In case you’re worried, this has nothing to do with any recent event in my life; it’s just a notion that’s been floating around in my head for years that I finally pieced together into a coherent sentence.)
I forgot who said it, but I saw a quote to the effect that it is better to be kind than to be frank–the sort of person who compliments themselves for their “honesty” is not a decent sort, but a sadist who enjoys inflicting unnecessary hurt on others.
Okay, I do remember who said it, and that that particular writer is not one for which you have much regard. Name here redacted to prevent possible fanboy infestation.
Okay, now I have to know what writer you’re talking about.
OMG YES. I have — HAVE — had that sort of weird honesty-friend-thing happen. Exactly as you described. Ugh. Just ugh.
It’s Robert A. Heinlein, Andrea. I just finished re-reading “Job, A Comedy of Justice” (tolerable) and started in on “To Sail Beyond The Sunset” (egads, he was trying for a work that would be hailed as an erotic classic–tough for me to wade through), anyway, I searched and found it:
I’m fairly certain I recently read something you wrote which amounted to a “Meh” as regards RAH. I like most of his stuff, I agree with the quote about the sort of miserable creature that thinks “honesty” is an unassailable reason to piss all over people they are speaking to, but thought I might do my part to keep the comments on the subject of the post, instead of attracting the fanboys and girls. At least, that’s the way I gauge the way you run your blog.
Heinlein’s okay. I was somewhat into him in my teens — I read most of his stuff for younger people, though I was not enough into them to reread them. The only ones I sort of remember are Podkayne of Mars (didn’t like the downer ending), Starship Troopers (haven’t seen the movie), and there was that one about the slave kid who ends up on a trade ship run by a multi-generational family, and one about a family in space that included a pair of twins named Castor and Pollux. I couldn’t get into his straight adult stuff at all.
If it makes you feel any better, I can’t get into Philip K. Dick either. My favorite scifi writers are Jack Vance and Andre Norton.
The problem with Heinlein’s later works was identified by Larry Niven: Heinlein achieved a status that allowed him to dispense with editorial assistance, resulting in sprawling, unfocused works.
Still and all, Heinlein’s adult stuff holds up fairly well, though it’s not for everyone.
The important part about “brutally honest” people isn’t the honesty but the brutality. Coincidentally I just reread “Arms and the Man” so Captain Bluntschli’s line is still fresh:
“You said you’d told only two lies in your whole life. Dear young lady:
isn’t that rather a short allowance? I’m quite a straightforward
man myself; but it wouldn’t last me a whole morning.”
I love the photo! That’s great.
People who say they like “brutally honest” people only like it when people they agree with are “brutally honest”. (“Brutally honest” is what the rest of us call rude.)
Eh… didn’t quite word that right but you know what I mean, right?
Oh I got it.