Hula, Kung Fu, and some more Captain Hook fangirling

On this windy, rainy autumn day, I began by rounding up my pack of dogs and herding them off to my parents' house so that I could get to Hula early today. We're back at the studio now, which is just a bit closer to Green Cloud, but I knew I'd have to leave early, so I got there early. Good thing, too, because Camille and Claudine were early, too. So, we did a warmup and then thought out an agenda for what we wanted to accomplish in class in the next few months. We picked four dances and decided to choreograph our own Tahitian one. Ali wasn't there, and I missed her, but Melissa also wasn't there, and I hope like hell that it can stay that way. I'd be so happy with just four of us and not having to deal with her attitude and insults.

Then I headed over to Green Cloud. Tristan wasn't there again, and Chris led the class. We drilled the same sparring drill we've been doing for about a week and a half. At first I thought I'd be bored, but it was such a small class today and I was sparring with Lee (older-than-me- orange belt, super sweet and very interesting,) instead of Nicolette (who was out today,) so a different sparring partner kind of broke up the monotony. Lee is taller and I could kick higher, too. Then Erica came in and corrected something I was doing wrong with my kicks, which was that I was not turning my grounded foot out far enough, which was making me kick somewhere between forward and from the side, instead of doing a decent roundhouse. Once she corrected that and I started paying attention, the whole entire thing changed.

At first I was afraid to really let loose while sparring with Lee. I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm really afraid of hurting people. Anyway, Chris (blue belt Chris, this is, our sweet and humble prodigy,) came over and told me that I was lacking power. I really thought about that for a second before realizing that I holding back in the biggest way. Finally I told him I was afraid to really kick hard. (If Sifu had been there, he would have let me have it. He hates it when people "baby" their sparring partners.) But Chris took over from Lee. I told him that I was still afraid to kick, because it wasn't just Lee--I really don't want to make a mistake and hurt anybody. And he very kindly told me to stop thinking like that and just do the kick. All at once I knew I would feel worse about looking like a weakling than I would if I kicked too hard, so then I just went for it. The cool thing was that, when I did, Chris said, "Damn! That's what I'm talking about." He also pointed out, "You have a really high high kick; I didn't realize your legs were so long." He noted that Lee and I had been standing too close, and Lee needed to step back a good foot or so and hold the pad up to her head instead of chest level.

This we did, switching sides and with me hold ing the bags, on and off for most of the class. At the end of class, Chris said we should try doing this really brutal knee-strike, where you grab your partner around the back of the neck with both hands and drive your knee into the pads your partner is holding together at waist level. It's kind of involved, with both partners having to pull against each other to A) simulate real fighting and B) avoid getting hurt. Only, Lee didn't pull back, and I ended up driving both pads right into her face. At first I didn't even realize it, but Chris did, and he suggested she put her glasses down for this. This, of course, set me right back to the beginning. I was so afraid of hurting her again that I just sort of pretended to finish the knee-strike for the rest of the class--which was really only a minute or so, so I suppose I didn't miss much. But I still feel bad for knocking her glasses askew.

That was this morning, and aside from that one incident, I was completely happy to be driving home on such a nice day, knowing I don't have to work for another few days. ^_^

Then I remembered that I finished Capt. Hook last night and I didn't have that to look forward to anymore. I am completely mad at myself for tearing through the last few chapters the way I did. I know I could re-read it, but it's not the same; I already know what happens and the suspense is over.

Aside from that, I was disappointed. I know, I've been fangirling this book for two weeks (I really took my time reading this one, only allowing myself to read it for about a half an hour every night before bed,) but I expected a much more fulfilling ending. The reason is because I enjoyed it so much, I think it should have been at least double the length it was. I feel like I only read half a book. If he is working on a sequel, then I will rescind my disappointment, but in the meantime, too much was left undone at the end. ( Spoiler... )

I just wanted more, is all.

But of course, for the most part, I loved it, and I loved it more the more I read of it. In retrospect, the beginning was actually kind of slow compared to the middle and the end. I adored this author's characterization of James. I thought it was fabulous that he not only made James the hero, but made him heroic ("not wholly unheroic" was Barrie's phrase for him,) but still kept him sadistic. James could completely cruel, but he reserved his cruelty and brutality for the people who deserved it: bullies, people who took advantage of weaker ones, and people he felt were immoral. The jacket of the book describes James going on a msyterious ship and a "nightmare voyage" or something like that, and while I took that to mean ( spoiler... )

what it really was was a ( spoiler... )

And James completely loses his mind over this. I adored that. I loved him for it. I loved that part where James is ( spoiler... )

and he starts screaming just because he's so pissed off he has no words, and also because he likes the sound of it. That was such a dramatic image.

And he was just such a snarky bastard, too. I dote on snarky bastards.

I didn't like the illustrations, though. Those seemed kind of weak. Maybe I'll do some fanart and ruin the image of young Captain Hook even further.

Anyway, while reading this book, I got a sinking feeling, because I began to understand the huge difference between this style of writing and my own. In this book--and in all good action/adventure books--there's tons of, well, action. In my own, the characters spend so much time in their own heads that stuff seems to just go on around them. Even in the middle of an action scene, my narrative is focussed on what's going on in the character's head--how they feel about all of this, what they're thinking, what their plans are, what kind of tea they like. And while some charitable soul might call that "introspective," the truth is that it's just boring.

Only, the entire novel is like that. If I took out all of that thought, I swear it'd only be about three pages long. So now I'm stuck on, how do I make my own writing not suck? It seems a bit late for that when the entire first one is finished already.

It doesn't even bear thinking about right now. What I should do is work on my costume while the dogs are fairly mellow. Damn, dude, I've only got six days to make it and I've barely started. O_o

Hula, Kung Fu, and some more Captain Hook fangirling

On this windy, rainy autumn day, I began by rounding up my pack of dogs and herding them off to my parents' house so that I could get to Hula early today. We're back at the studio now, which is just a bit closer to Green Cloud, but I knew I'd have to leave early, so I got there early. Good thing, too, because Camille and Claudine were early, too. So, we did a warmup and then thought out an agenda for what we wanted to accomplish in class in the next few months. We picked four dances and decided to choreograph our own Tahitian one. Ali wasn't there, and I missed her, but Melissa also wasn't there, and I hope like hell that it can stay that way. I'd be so happy with just four of us and not having to deal with her attitude and insults.

Then I headed over to Green Cloud. Tristan wasn't there again, and Chris led the class. We drilled the same sparring drill we've been doing for about a week and a half. At first I thought I'd be bored, but it was such a small class today and I was sparring with Lee (older-than-me- orange belt, super sweet and very interesting,) instead of Nicolette (who was out today,) so a different sparring partner kind of broke up the monotony. Lee is taller and I could kick higher, too. Then Erica came in and corrected something I was doing wrong with my kicks, which was that I was not turning my grounded foot out far enough, which was making me kick somewhere between forward and from the side, instead of doing a decent roundhouse. Once she corrected that and I started paying attention, the whole entire thing changed.

At first I was afraid to really let loose while sparring with Lee. I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm really afraid of hurting people. Anyway, Chris (blue belt Chris, this is, our sweet and humble prodigy,) came over and told me that I was lacking power. I really thought about that for a second before realizing that I holding back in the biggest way. Finally I told him I was afraid to really kick hard. (If Sifu had been there, he would have let me have it. He hates it when people "baby" their sparring partners.) But Chris took over from Lee. I told him that I was still afraid to kick, because it wasn't just Lee--I really don't want to make a mistake and hurt anybody. And he very kindly told me to stop thinking like that and just do the kick. All at once I knew I would feel worse about looking like a weakling than I would if I kicked too hard, so then I just went for it. The cool thing was that, when I did, Chris said, "Damn! That's what I'm talking about." He also pointed out, "You have a really high high kick; I didn't realize your legs were so long." He noted that Lee and I had been standing too close, and Lee needed to step back a good foot or so and hold the pad up to her head instead of chest level.

This we did, switching sides and with me hold ing the bags, on and off for most of the class. At the end of class, Chris said we should try doing this really brutal knee-strike, where you grab your partner around the back of the neck with both hands and drive your knee into the pads your partner is holding together at waist level. It's kind of involved, with both partners having to pull against each other to A) simulate real fighting and B) avoid getting hurt. Only, Lee didn't pull back, and I ended up driving both pads right into her face. At first I didn't even realize it, but Chris did, and he suggested she put her glasses down for this. This, of course, set me right back to the beginning. I was so afraid of hurting her again that I just sort of pretended to finish the knee-strike for the rest of the class--which was really only a minute or so, so I suppose I didn't miss much. But I still feel bad for knocking her glasses askew.

That was this morning, and aside from that one incident, I was completely happy to be driving home on such a nice day, knowing I don't have to work for another few days. ^_^

Then I remembered that I finished Capt. Hook last night and I didn't have that to look forward to anymore. I am completely mad at myself for tearing through the last few chapters the way I did. I know I could re-read it, but it's not the same; I already know what happens and the suspense is over.

Aside from that, I was disappointed. I know, I've been fangirling this book for two weeks (I really took my time reading this one, only allowing myself to read it for about a half an hour every night before bed,) but I expected a much more fulfilling ending. The reason is because I enjoyed it so much, I think it should have been at least double the length it was. I feel like I only read half a book. If he is working on a sequel, then I will rescind my disappointment, but in the meantime, too much was left undone at the end. ( Spoiler... )

I just wanted more, is all.

But of course, for the most part, I loved it, and I loved it more the more I read of it. In retrospect, the beginning was actually kind of slow compared to the middle and the end. I adored this author's characterization of James. I thought it was fabulous that he not only made James the hero, but made him heroic ("not wholly unheroic" was Barrie's phrase for him,) but still kept him sadistic. James could completely cruel, but he reserved his cruelty and brutality for the people who deserved it: bullies, people who took advantage of weaker ones, and people he felt were immoral. The jacket of the book describes James going on a msyterious ship and a "nightmare voyage" or something like that, and while I took that to mean ( spoiler... )

what it really was was a ( spoiler... )

And James completely loses his mind over this. I adored that. I loved him for it. I loved that part where James is ( spoiler... )

and he starts screaming just because he's so pissed off he has no words, and also because he likes the sound of it. That was such a dramatic image.

And he was just such a snarky bastard, too. I dote on snarky bastards.

I didn't like the illustrations, though. Those seemed kind of weak. Maybe I'll do some fanart and ruin the image of young Captain Hook even further.

Anyway, while reading this book, I got a sinking feeling, because I began to understand the huge difference between this style of writing and my own. In this book--and in all good action/adventure books--there's tons of, well, action. In my own, the characters spend so much time in their own heads that stuff seems to just go on around them. Even in the middle of an action scene, my narrative is focussed on what's going on in the character's head--how they feel about all of this, what they're thinking, what their plans are, what kind of tea they like. And while some charitable soul might call that "introspective," the truth is that it's just boring.

Only, the entire novel is like that. If I took out all of that thought, I swear it'd only be about three pages long. So now I'm stuck on, how do I make my own writing not suck? It seems a bit late for that when the entire first one is finished already.

It doesn't even bear thinking about right now. What I should do is work on my costume while the dogs are fairly mellow. Damn, dude, I've only got six days to make it and I've barely started. O_o