if it were easy, everyone would do it. . .

. . . I haven't been blogging about the progress of my "novel project" in a while. I had run into a plot snafu, which, after some incredibly slow contemplation, a solution may have presented itself. Not completely thought out, but on its way. One thing this means is doing some research, which once upon a time would have been considered an extreme hassle. Now, I am looking forward to it. Items to research? The NHL, and Greek mythology. I am not sure about the mythological aspect just yet, but it merits a glance, particularly with my opening scene.

I haven't written a lick of poetry since I have been back from Europe. Although I have some ideas percolating on that too. All these ideas and nothing written.

I am still bogged down in the Pessl book. It is incredibly dense with language and scene. At times I find it incredibly clever, and at others I get frustrated with its slow movement and extraneous scenes. In thinking about this today, I wondered at what point my personal criticism diverges from being critical of the piece on its own merits, and being critical of how I would have done it differently. This sort of bothers me in some respects, because ultimately, I want to respect the intention of a writer, and on the other hand, I want to be able to discern when a piece works and when it doesn't, and have that be based on some concrete concept. Thinking this way all the time can hinder my enjoyment of a book. My expectations for literature are high. Let downs are easy. On the other hand, I totally chilled with a Dan Brown book the other day as a nice break from Pessl. I haven't made up my mind about her yet - we'll see when I finish. But I didn't expect anything from Brown other than some entertainment.

Other news...well, there is no other news. A month from now, new MFA orientation. The birds are adjusting well to their new cage. Phoebes got into Buddha's side tonight and snuggled up before becoming evil. I had to separate them. Yummy, the gerbil, may be sick. He will be finding a vet tomorrow. Sigh. He is such a cute little guy.