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Heroes: Well I missed some of the first episode this season because my DVR has a mind of its own.
Apparently a lot happened while it wasn't recording because I no longer have any idea what's going on. The plot doesn't seem to have thickened so much as gone off in a million different directions at once. If I wanted to have to think this much, I'd read mysteries. Which I don't read. Because I don't want to think that much.

Claire and West: I love Claire. I hate West. Are we supposed to hate West? I don't think so, cause the writing on this show is borderline lame. And the flying power, also lame.

Peter Petrelli: Ok, I get it, he's heterosexual. And it's very important we the audience get that he's heterosexual. Cause he seems a little gay, and he can't be gay. The show that wants to be all things to all people is working hard at showing once again that there are no gay people anywhere, and if there are, well, they're not interested in including them in the audience base. Because if one gay person pokes out his/her intrusive little head the show will be all about gay issues. Like that show Julie or Julia or whatever it was called way back where nothing ever happened because it was a show about a black woman. Ok, I get it and I'm mad as hell about it. When are we going to get past this point?

Mohinder and Parkman: See above note. It's a toss up between Parkman and Hiro for my favorite character. Parkman has a cool power.

Sylar: I wish Sylar would move over to Supernatural. I think he would be more comfortable there. I would be more comfortable, too.

Monica and Micah: Cool powers both. Like them both. And Micah's family, hey, interracial! Another group that is usually invisible in the TV world.

Hiro: Not loving the story arc so far.

Mr. Bennet: Wait, maybe he's my favorite character. Clark Kent, only darker.

Maja and Alejandro: Points for trying, but only a couple cause it's pretty lame. Hey there's a large Hispanic population, let's try to draw them in, too. If that irritates some racist people into not watching, well, hey, racism is just wrong. See note on Peter Petrelli.

The Haitian: Tall, dark and mysterious. Like to see more. The whole loyalty to Bennet pushes my buttons, too. I like sidekicks.

I sleep for about 90 minutes and then I wake up and think things. Then if I'm lucky I go back to sleep for another 90 minutes and so on through the night.
At 4 am I was thinking about Kid A (I'm obsessed). Specifically the part where John gets out of the infirmary after being zapped by the strange plant and he tries to go to sleep in his room but he can't sleep so he goes into Rodney's room and sleeps there. Rodney comes in and yells at him for being there and John says:

"Shut up," John says, "and get into bed."(No, I don't have the story memorized- well, not completely- I clicked over to see exactly what he said.)

I realized that when John says this he's really saying, "I can only sleep when you're close by," which is kind of a thing

cesperanza has about John ( a wonderful thing). This was obvious even though I didn't notice it the first 10 or so times I read the story. Sometimes it takes me a long time to understand something, but in the end it comes clear.( Unless it's something

cathexys says, then I only understand about 50% even if I bookmark and go back and reread and look things up on Wikipedia and so on. Ok, that's a lie, it's more like 20%. But that 20% is so intriguing). See, this is why I suck as a writer. I would have had John say, "But, Rodney, I can't sleep unless you're close by" or some other equally dumb ass thing.

I've been wondering how I could have spent so much time reading and have so little idea how to write. And I realized that all my reading time is spent trying to understand the story and experience the mood and I have paid zero attention to how writers do what they do.

synecdochic's writing meta is awesome but really it's too advanced for me. I'm hung up on the mechanics of writing. I don't know if I can learn this, but I'm going to give it a good try. So I've decided to spend a little time every day actually looking at and thinking about the how of writing from books instead of concentrating on the story.

Yesterday, while watching (and bitching about) House, I asked my husband to tell me about authorial intent. He says, "That's what the writer meant to say," because disingenuousness is the heart of most of my husband's comedy routines. I smacked him with The Decameron, which is sitting looking neglected on my bedside table, but that only encourages him. He figures if I'm hitting he scored. I've been thinking about, uh, I believe it was Doris Lessing who said that as soon as a book is no longer reaching you, you should stop reading and go on to something else. A piece of advice I totally agree with and I hardly ever follow because it conflicts with my obsessive compulsive, goal oriented ideas.

When I read a book I read the introduction, the notes, the acknowledgements,for Christ's sake. I hardly ever read magazines because I feel compelled to read them cover to cover. The Decameron is full of repetitious tropes, and, yeah, I don't have a problem with that per se, but the tropes are outdated, or maybe they never would have been interesting to a woman, they seem to be man tropes. In my wishy washy way, I just put it aside with the half-formed intention of finishing it later rather than admitting there's nothing more for me to learn from it. Time is so limited and there is so much stuff to read.