Thanksgiving Abroad

Edinburgh Expeditions

As I snoozed my alarm for the third time this morning, two thoughts came to mind. The first, that I hadn’t rendered my animation to a high enough quality, proved false as I sat in the computer lab at 8.45 this morning, watching it on three different machines.

The second was that tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It’s snuck up on me, worse than Halloween and my birthday. Thing is, I know that tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I really do. I’m going to a couple of Thanksgiving dinners over the course of the weekend. But it doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving.

It could be that I’m living in Edinburgh. I hang out with a few Americans, but the full work week (and major submission due Friday) kind of remove the Thanksgiving feeling. Knowing that I won’t be entering a food coma tomorrow is a bit strange.

Seeing my across-the-pond friends and family post messages about their Thanksgiving plans on Facebook is really what reminds me that, yes, tomorrow is the day of turkey-eating. Friends who have moved to Colorado and beyond mention that its strange not to be with family for Thanksgiving. Neighbours express their happiness of seeing their children again. And here am I, who otherwise would have forgotten.

No American football. No left-over turkey sandwiches. No pumpkin pie for breakfast the following morning. But I’ll be here with friends, my Uni family, celebrating. And for that, I’m thankful.

A far too early almost-Thanksgiving dinner.

Surviving the first six weeks of postgrad study

Edinburgh Expeditions

I’ve made it through my first six weeks as a postgrad. Or grad student. Take the phrase as you will. It strikes me as strange that in the US ‘postgrad’ is someone who’s finished undergrad, but in the UK its a student beyond the undergrad level. But, living in the UK, I’ve embraced this terminology.

Six weeks done, another seven and term is over. So far, these six weeks have been the craziest, hectic, most sleep deprived six weeks of my life, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I’m learning so much. I’ve had my frustrations with the computer programmes I’m using, but they only make me more determined to do well. 3D Modelling class provides the most challenges, but I will work through them. I’m already thinking of making a short animated film for my dissertation, perhaps an adaption of Roald Dahl’s “Beware of the Dog.”

I absolutely love what I’m doing. I’ve had no doubts. This is what I’m supposed to be doing, and where I’m supposed to be. Now to get a job and a work visa for when I finish…

Also been listening to a lot of music I hadn’t paid much attention to before. Swing dancing music, bands such as The Jam and The Smiths, blues, jazz…makes me smile.

Far too optimistic and happy for my own good. Or it could just be the three cups of tea and slice of pumpkin cake talking. That would explain the rambling. 🙂

A NaNoWriMo Confession

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

I’m not participating in NaNo this year. Well, not writing a story for NaNo. I like looking through the forums and putting in my two-cents. But I’m not writing a novel.

My muse is on vacation, and I am soaking in all that Edinburgh has to offer. Coursework, swing dancing, hwal moo hapkido, just sightseeing in general. I’m enjoying my experiences, tucking them away, to be explored at a later date.

I’m being absorbed by my world. With hope, the City of Literature will rub off on me. But I don’t foresee it rubbing off in time for NaNo. And where writing fiction and I are spending some time apart, I don’t think it would be wise to attempt NaNo. It just wouldn’t be fun. There is no point in forcing something creative–it just will not work.

When a writer isn’t writing, what is she?

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

I’ve been in Scotland for just over a month now. I’m writing every day, but not fiction. It’s a strange thing, to not be grappling over characters, writing to record what is going on in my life, more out of habit than anything else. There’s little delight in twisting words across the page, coming up with delicate phrasing and subtle descriptions.

But I’m not writing fiction. I feel as though something is missing. I return from my day, and I can’t do anything more than work and sleep. It isn’t writer’s block, as I don’t believe in it, but…I’m not sure how to respond. Something’s missing, and yet, I’m whole.

Dancing like a classy, talented person

Edinburgh Expeditions

When I moved here, I decided to take up a new hobby. Something fun, to keep me active, and take my mind off of my studies. I don’t want to get overwhelmed and go mad.

So, in thinking of ways  to get involved, I went to what I enjoyed before hand. Film clubs, theatre groups, even art club. But something stuck at the back of my head. I don’t know how to dance. Oh, I’ve done several types of dance as a kid and teenager, but I don’t really know how to dance.

So I’ve taken up the lindy hop. Why lindy hop? It’s fun. It’s cheap. It’s a social dance. I don’t have to be all serious like in tango, and if I mess up on the steps, I can easily fix my mistake.

That, and the social aspect of the club is really, really awesome. If I want, I can go dancing three times a week. Which, time permitting, I’ll go at least twice.

 

One of these days, I’ll be this good! But probably not for a couple of years.

Thoughts on Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

General Geekiness

Something I should never do is see a movie while rereading it. All of the additions are fresh, the omissions glaring, and the result is sometimes less than satisfactory. As in the case, I am sad to say, with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

The movie is a good one, don’t get me wrong. It is entertaining, tense, and often uncomfortable. When it ends, you’re left in a sort of silence, unable to speak, to explain what you saw (a different sort of silence from this weekend’s other movie, Almodovar’s The Skin I Live In). I enjoyed watching it, seeing how the film would handle certain scenes and situations. I really liked how Ann Smiley is a shadow, a hand, a dress, a blurred body, a presence, just as Karla is.

Because of film’s shorter run time than TV (or indeed, a book), character development is sacrificed for tension. We never find out what the motivations for the suspects are, we never know of their more shining moments and their faults. The mole gets more screentime than the rest of the suspects (with the exception of George Smiley). Relationships are shortchanged, neglected, largely forgotten. Characters are omitted entirely, the politics of the Circus around Control’s death pushed aside. There is no sense of truly bad blood, of the rift, of the betrayal.

In thinking about the movie, there are more things that I dislike about it than I like. In terms of casting, Gary Oldman was very good as Smiley, as was Tom Hardy as Ricki Tarr, but it felt like the rest of the cast never was quite enough. Benedict Cumberbatch, while a good Peter Guillam, wasn’t tough enough. Toby Jones wasn’t pompous enough as Percy Alleline. Colin Firth, whom I was incredibly excited to see cast as Bill Haydon, fell a little flat.

I also am a bit wary of their moving the Prideaux storyline from Prague to Budapest, and the Ricki Tarr-Irina tale from Hong Kong to Istanbul.

I’ve also read that, rather than filming the Quest for Karla series as a trilogy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley’s People may be combined into one movie. I guess The Honourable Schoolboy will have to wait to be its own movie.

Most amusing part? One of the production companies (I’m assuming John le Carre’s) is Karla Films.

Final verdict? Three of Five Stars.

Edit 21 September: It isn’t Prague that Jim Prideaux visits in the book. It’s Brno.