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Aldo All Day
Dec. 7th, 2010 12:53 amI can tell things are finally settling down because I have time to be alarmed about my student loans. I am in effect back to yellow threat level. Last month was rough on money because of moving costs, and the months before that funded the film. Next month, the various changing-over-IDs fees and building my savings account back to a reasonable level to deal with emergencies. But it's making me crazy not to be paying down loans faster than anyone but Val would find practical. I feel like I'm paying $200 a month to rent my own money.*
Saturday, we went downtown for a carol sing that hoped to break the world record, but at 3500 people didn't come even close. I got to sign an affadavit to this effect and was given a free elf hat. So as to get our parking validated and because he needed a second pair of shoes, Ciro got rockstar boots. Consequently, he now looks like a rockstar. And then we bought a Santa outfit for Scarlett's cat. Consequently, he now looks like a rockstar.
We also went back into Cambridge for the poetry reading we tried to go to on Friday that was on Saturday.** I am always talking up the Grolier, who of course put it together. It was a new translation of Hafiz by a pair of translators who always work together, one American and one Persian, and first the American would read the translation and then the Persian would perform the poem in Farsi, so it was like getting to read the libretto before the opera.
Something that was brought to my attention on another blog (I forget which) last week was the increasing popularity of translations. I feel like this is driven more by translators than by readers or publishers, and it reminds me of the pleasures of fanfiction for a writer. When you're writing fanfiction, you don't have to focus on establishing characters or worlds, or creating emotional attachment to your story for the reader. You can just enjoy playing with a scene or a dialog.
Similarly, when you're doing a translation, you don't have to worry about what to write about, and can just focus on phrasing. It seems to me both practices are the writerly equivalent of musicians playing other people's compositions in other people's styles for pleasure and practice.
Sunday, unpacked a bit more and bought a second office chair since Ciro and I were having to wheel the single one back and forth. The room is starting to come together.
Today, I finished the last of my Christmas shopping (with the exception of presents for Val which I couldn't order online). Once I get various car stuff dealt with over the weekend, I'll be finished finally with all the externally-imposed deadline and tarrif stuff and will be back to projects to my liking . . . and paying off student loans.
Meanwhile, since REL is temporarily out of the house, the rest of us have been able to relax with relief in to our normal living situation, which means playing a lot of Settlers of Catan while listening to classic rock. REL always says she wants to play Canasta, but is never home and social at the times when we would naturally play Canasta.
Watched Inglorius Basterds yesterday.
* This is in fact almost exactly what I'm doing, and not simply similar to it, for financial juggling reasons I find inherently fascinating, but don't tend to bore other people with. I keep having to remind myself that I manage my money this way for complicated and multi-dimensional reasons and it will work out in the long term. The neat thing about money for me is that is like playing a strategy game. The difficult thing about money with me is it takes as much of my attention as a strategy game. But I can't not do this any more than I can not pay attention to music.
** At a gallery showing work by Aldo Tambellini. And the name in the guest book just before me was Alan Dershowitz. I must have just missed him. Indicentally, the reason for this entry title is because of Aldo shoes and Aldo Tambellini in the same day.
Saturday, we went downtown for a carol sing that hoped to break the world record, but at 3500 people didn't come even close. I got to sign an affadavit to this effect and was given a free elf hat. So as to get our parking validated and because he needed a second pair of shoes, Ciro got rockstar boots. Consequently, he now looks like a rockstar. And then we bought a Santa outfit for Scarlett's cat. Consequently, he now looks like a rockstar.
We also went back into Cambridge for the poetry reading we tried to go to on Friday that was on Saturday.** I am always talking up the Grolier, who of course put it together. It was a new translation of Hafiz by a pair of translators who always work together, one American and one Persian, and first the American would read the translation and then the Persian would perform the poem in Farsi, so it was like getting to read the libretto before the opera.
Something that was brought to my attention on another blog (I forget which) last week was the increasing popularity of translations. I feel like this is driven more by translators than by readers or publishers, and it reminds me of the pleasures of fanfiction for a writer. When you're writing fanfiction, you don't have to focus on establishing characters or worlds, or creating emotional attachment to your story for the reader. You can just enjoy playing with a scene or a dialog.
Similarly, when you're doing a translation, you don't have to worry about what to write about, and can just focus on phrasing. It seems to me both practices are the writerly equivalent of musicians playing other people's compositions in other people's styles for pleasure and practice.
Sunday, unpacked a bit more and bought a second office chair since Ciro and I were having to wheel the single one back and forth. The room is starting to come together.
Today, I finished the last of my Christmas shopping (with the exception of presents for Val which I couldn't order online). Once I get various car stuff dealt with over the weekend, I'll be finished finally with all the externally-imposed deadline and tarrif stuff and will be back to projects to my liking . . . and paying off student loans.
Meanwhile, since REL is temporarily out of the house, the rest of us have been able to relax with relief in to our normal living situation, which means playing a lot of Settlers of Catan while listening to classic rock. REL always says she wants to play Canasta, but is never home and social at the times when we would naturally play Canasta.
Watched Inglorius Basterds yesterday.
* This is in fact almost exactly what I'm doing, and not simply similar to it, for financial juggling reasons I find inherently fascinating, but don't tend to bore other people with. I keep having to remind myself that I manage my money this way for complicated and multi-dimensional reasons and it will work out in the long term. The neat thing about money for me is that is like playing a strategy game. The difficult thing about money with me is it takes as much of my attention as a strategy game. But I can't not do this any more than I can not pay attention to music.
** At a gallery showing work by Aldo Tambellini. And the name in the guest book just before me was Alan Dershowitz. I must have just missed him. Indicentally, the reason for this entry title is because of Aldo shoes and Aldo Tambellini in the same day.
