Affairs of states

The days slide by and I haven't been posting. Part of that is a lack of discipline. I'll go to the gym everyday but I won't write everyday. How will I ever make any progress with the literary craft if I don't jot down a few things? Although in my defense I have been working on short stories that I haven't been posting. I'm pretty excited about them. I am rather unexcited about the recent string of blog posts I've been doing about the hipster kids in SF. I've found that hipsters are boring. Hipsters are young people who emulate the people that are actually doing things, the people making music, art, writing etc.

I have been reading a fair amount which is always nice. I recently went through a horde of China Mieville's work. Mieville writes dark fantasy, weird sci fi or some other genre. His work is a mix of fantasy and sci fi. His latest novel is hands down his best. I don't really like Mieville's writing style. It is belligerent and slow to come to meaning, but what he lacks in technical ability he makes up in imagination. The City and the City is his latest. Its about two cities that inhabit the same geographic location but are considered two separate locations. Residents of one city teach themselves not to see the residents, streets, and vehicles of the other city. They do this by recognizing only their own cultural signs and ignoring the other city's. A murder happens and a detective has to cross the border. Its a really great idea. The plot is so so, but the idea really carries it. Along with The City and the City I read a series of his short stories which were good. The collection is called "Looking for Jake." The novella called "The tain," is excellent along with a story called Varmint way. I think its called varmint way at least. The latter story is about disappearing streets. A street will come into existence for a little while and then vanish. The story is told well, using a series of letters that accidentally were delivered to Mieville.

While I've been reading a lot I've also caught most of the summers blockbusters, "The Hangover," "Transformers," "Drag me to Hell," and "Terminator: Salvation." The two best were "The Hangover," and "Drag me to Hell." The former was great with this bearded dude who does awkward humor. Awkward style humor is becoming quite popular. People like watching other people feel uncomfortable and they like watching people cross cultural boundaries. One of the opening scenes in "The Hangover," has the bearded dude wearing a jock strap and hugging his soon to be brother in law. Laughter from the crowd emitted as the odd incest, homosexual, and undergarment taboos were slightly breached. The latter movie, "Drag me to Hell," was one of the scariest.... no scratch that frightening movies I've seen in quite some time. The movie surprised me continually, but didn't necessarily scare me. The film weds in a good sense of kitschy-humor into its macabre moments. There is a great scene involving a stapler and a car fight along with some great gross out moments.

In other news I've added a new link to my blogroll. I was checking it out last night and its called bldgblog. Its about architecture, space and that sort of shit. Looks good. I look forward to following it. Check it out.