Newspeak

I don't think it's possible to realize what an impact working in the world can do to you especially if you've been writing marketing plans, researching the latest tech, writing to clients, etc until you take a break from it. Until you take a step back from your writing and start seeing those phrases couched in there, tech speak, bizspeak finding their way into your creative projects. Being here has successfully rid me of that thinking (although I doubt I'll ever be able to coax the entrepreneur out of me completely) and from its literature seeping into my work. It's part of the reason I'm seriously considering journalism as a possible next step, if only to serve as a brief interlude before (hopefully) diving into the world of the creative writing MFA and taking those next steps in the academic world. Many of the popular Pakistani Gen-X writers took the same path, getting their MFAs, getting published and moving into the world of teaching creative writing. It's a smart choice, if you think about it. It keeps you involved, enmeshed in that world--creating words--and helps to pay the bills. Things will be different this time though: I'm not going to quit prematurely. I'm going to wait it out until I know for absoluteness that I'm in, that I've gotten the visa and have the ticket in my hand before moving onward. For starters, I want a more cushioned existence in terms of savings. You live, you learn right?

I've been reading an interesting book...well, three really. The Tiger's Wife (Tea Obreht), One Day (David Nicholls) and The Patience Stone (Atiq Rahimi). I don't think I've ever read anything quite like the latter; it's minimalistic but oddly powerful. What Daniyal Mueenuddin was supposed to be, imho. It's also, interestingly, a translation from French. Apparently, there's going to be a movie starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess adapted from One Day so that was the first (unfortunate) sign that the book would be a typical rom-com. Gladly, it hasn't been although I wouldn't know seeing as how I've never read rom-com chick lit. But I don't think this is fluff, so there's that. And then there's The Tiger's Wife which is...well, it's interesting. I'm trying to see if I can learn anything from how she's approached setting her characters in an entirely different world. Of course, the same can also be said of the poetic prose of The Patience Stone set in Afghanistan. One Day's dated chronological structure was of implicit interest to me because of what I'm undertaking in my own project. It seems so surreal to call it a "novel", even though that's what it is and that's what it's referred to on the course. It's one thing calling it that surrounded by writers who've gotten to know you and your work, it's quite another talking about it in public. It almost seems sacrilegious, callous even. Colloquial. Like everyone does it and of course, everyone does...or at least, thinks they can. The argument "art is in the eye of the beholder" really takes out a good chunk of the process of creation. Any person who's written a rhyming couplet that begins with rat and ends with cat/bat/sat/mat, can be considered art. And that's just terrible. I'm sorry, but it is.

The mood, as can be seen, is much better but the thoughts behind my last entry remain unchanged. It's interesting in what was brought up in the comments about companionship, but you can have companionship outside of marriage and absolutely no companionship in marriage. So there's that. The argument that man's natural state isn't in solitude, is flimsy. It's not good enough. I can't be surrounded by people all the time and at times can be great company and at other times, just pure lousy. There's too much fluctuation, too much moodiness. Putting someone else through that seems cruel in a way. I'm not saying I'd like to end up alone, but what if I did? Would that be so very wrong? If companionship is the answer, then I'm surrounded by "companions" and yet, I can still feel alone. So what's up with that? No. I'm not cut out for marriage unless some openminded writer/artist/filmmaker comes along and it all fits into place. Bah! I'd never marry a writer, was once my argument--we could never cohabitate the same space. The argument's still a valid one but I think with some flexibility, it could be managed. While considering the follow ups to that thought process (we'd be dirt poor; the parental units would be terribly disappointed; don't think I could ever be too poor, etc), it comes back to that important little detail: too many expectations. But I'm going to stop talking about this, just felt I should clarify that comment for whatever reason.

The weather is surprisingly good today and I've realized what another writer said on the course holds true: never trust the forecast. It was supposed to be 13 degrees and sunny but it feels more like 20 and sunny. Of course, this could be because my body's acclimatized to the weather now. God knows, I had a warm woolen overcoat that I only really broke out for those initial few weeks. That changed very quickly.

Now I'm just rambling. No place for that in a blog.

Off to do some reading, possible writing, weather enjoying, you get the picture.