"wah wah wah," I know

[bironic]

Was supposed to hang out with friends this morning but it was a rough week and I finally managed to sleep in, and it turns out I don't feel well, so that didn't work out. It is maybe a mini return of this intermittent mystery illness that started over the summer, which is unfortunate timing as I just saw a doctor about it yesterday and told him it hadn't been back since Columbus Day. Sigh. They are still sending me for a test on Friday so I guess we'll see.

Meanwhile I tried to work on my main Festivid and discovered we are at the stage of the process where I become convinced it will take psychotherapy to get me through the draft. :/

Fittingly, therefore, after giving up on staring at Premiere, I have spent the afternoon/evening watching episodes of that TV show In Treatment that was on HBO a while back, with Gabriel Byrne. Never saw any until now. Specifically, I'm watching the thread involving Sophie, played by a very young Mia Wasikowska. She's so great. It's like a less sophisticated David Mamet play. I would watch the two of them talk in a room all day.

...I have been watching the two of them talk in a room all day.

It's raining. But the show is good. And I'm about two-thirds of the way through rereading The Queen of the Damned, and while it's of course not as magical as it was in the early years, there are still many moments to love, or to remember loving.

And, to be honest, still a lot of ♥Marius♥-type feelings. I don't think I'd realized how much of my fondness for Marius came from what was written right there on the page in TVL and QotD. Lestat (and therefore likely Anne Rice) had a now-quite-obvious crush on him. Plus it's been a joy to reexperience personal favorite moments: his boot heel hooked on the rung of the stool at the vampire bar; the description of him crushed by the ice; him being all bitter and grumpy about what happened with Akasha's awakening and the elders' aloofness, then getting worried that his impudence will prevent him from being able to reunite with Armand, and melting when he finally gets to see him. (Seriously, won't someone write and/or point me to the story where Armand reads TVL and learns that Marius is still alive?) Looking forward to a remembered moment toward the end of the book where he lounges against a door jamb in a red turtleneck. I may have imprinted on Spock as Hanok Henoch.

The trouble remains that these few books make you want more, and then you read later books and... they're not what you wanted. Like, with The Vampire Armand (er, excepting Certain Scenes) and Blood and Gold, it's as if she shouldn't have expanded the stories. As if she's best, or you're best able to lose your heart, when she gives a character or a relationship just enough enticing attention and then moves on. And then there's hardly any fanfic to be found, whether because of the Geocities takedown or the cease & desist letters over the years or my not knowing where the right archives are, or all of those things. So no easy "more" to be had. Hence the desire to write, I suppose. For so long as it lasted.

How're you??

Comments

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

Oh, I loved In Treatment so much! It made me a big fan of Israeli TV, they seem to be able to think outside the box and come up with ideas that are fresh, compelling and based in real life ( thinking original Homeland premises here, for example). They're also not afraid of 'talky' TV, which fits my (true or false) assumption that the jewish/hebrew tradition is much more interested in the magic of debate, talking and listening..

I would strongly recommend to watch the hole series, there are a lot of stellar performances, and the skipping between different storylines adds something to the narrative. Not all story archs are equally strong, and there is one in the first season that catered to a trope I'm not at all in love with, but I still think that the show generally uses the the different stories very well, as comments, reflections or counterpoints to each other and the therapist.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Do you mean the original Israeli series (BeTipul) or the American remake? I was watching the American version. The original sounded great, too, and I seem to recall that roga was a fan (?), but I'm not sure I have access to it.

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I wasn't able to watch the original, it's really hard to get hold off, plus I don't speak Hebrew, and with such a talky show I think subtitles would really distract from the subtle performances. But I read about it Be Tipul, and it sounds that all that's great about the American show stems from there. I've been considering watching Hatufim (the original version of Homeland), though, since they made a lot of changes to the story for the US version.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Okay, cool. I wasn't sure which version you were recommending in particular.

Homeland is another show that is gradually rising up my list. Along with Breaking Bad, it seems like a show not to be watched before bed, so it keeps having to wait. If you do watch the Israeli version, I look forward to your opinions.

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

The US version of Homeland starts out really stong, and then loses it's way as they were trying to force the initial premise to last beyond it's natural conclusion and avoid the inevidable. They've now reinvented the series, so it bears even less resemblence to the original than initially, but it's back in working order. Great acting here, too.

[roga.livejournal.com]

I've heard that too! I loved the first season, enjoyed the second well enough, and stopped a few episodes into the third because I was so bored. But there are so many people talking about how great season 4 is now that I think I'll just kip forward and watch from there.

[roga.livejournal.com]

A few weeks ago there was actually a short discussion over here about where to get a hold of Israeli TV with English subs and which shows to watch. I personally have not watched Hatufim, but Jae and I believe also Hagar enjoyed it (and apparently it's available with English subtitles too!)

I used to love Anne Rice's books, too...

[litalex.livejournal.com]

But have now stopped reading her.

You gonna read Prince Lestat?

RE: I used to love Anne Rice's books, too...

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Already did! http://bironic.livejournal.com/337773.html The release is what inspired this mini-reread, in fact.

RE: I used to love Anne Rice's books, too...

[litalex.livejournal.com]

I guess I'll have to wait for the paperback, then, since my local library isn't getting it (it has many other Anne Rice books, so I don't know what's its problem...).

[cincodemaygirl.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear you're still not feeling well! That sucks. I hope the test gives them some good info!

I had a dream yesterday morning that I went to visit you in Boston. You lived in a truly giant apartment complex, which was sort of like the Blairs aboveground and District 13 below. I kept going out for things and being unable to get back in because the building didn't make any sense, and sometimes I couldn't get a cell phone signal underground and sometimes my phone was so old it didn't actually work. But it was more a frustrating situation than a scary one. Sorry, department of random there.