RWP

[arguchik]

READING: grass by sheri tepper. i'm only about 30 pages in. so far it's fascinating--deeply estranging, as good SF should be. it seems that the cultures of earth (why do they always call it terra in SF novels?) have scattered throughout the universe, and now there's a plague that's killing humans everywhere except on the planet grass. and on grass, the culture of british aristocracy prevails. the novel opens with a young woman's first experience on the hunt. this hunt is complete with "mounts" and "hounds" and "foxes," but the young woman's extreme apprehension signals that this is not a typical english hunt. the hunt itself bears that out, though i couldn't quite express, yet, what is "off" about it. for one thing, the hounds seem to be in charge; for another, the humans seem deathly afraid of offending their mounts; and for another, each mount picks its own rider. then there's the treeing of the fox, and the getting it out of the tree...which the humans accomplish with harpoons. then they "watch" as the hounds do whatever they do to the fox--but whatever that act is causes a sexually ecstatic response in the humans that renders them almost completely unobservant. crazy. there is obviously more to this hunt than has yet met my eye.

i'm going to include a movie in this category, too. last night i needed to get out of the house...seeking distraction...walked over to the guild 45th to see waitress. i highly recommend it. it's funny and sad. the ending--by which i mean the last ~5 minutes or so--is a bit cheesy, but everything leading up to that is great. in addition to making me laugh and cry, it made me hungry for pie. oh, and it co-stars nathan fillion (of firefly / serenity fame). eye candy... the main character is played by keri russell, who is smart and hot, and apparently played felicity in felicity, which i've never seen; and her horrible husband earl is very well-played by jeremy sisto (of six feet under--he plays brenda's brother billy, the one who's always going off his meds).

WEARING: nothing special. jeans. blue v-necked t-shirt. no shoes or socks. no jewelry (except the permanent stuff).

PLANNING: nothing special, revisited. i have no plans yet for tonight. i might go take in a SIFF film, and then...? tomorrow i'm probably going to check out the fremont solstice doings. my roommate (who will be juggling in the parade) tells me there will be a big festival at gasworks park following the parade. i'm curious. i hope it doesn't rain. sunday i'm hoping to take an epic walk, or perhaps a series of them. i definitely want to go to pike place market this weekend, so i'll probably start there and maybe walk around downtown, pioneer square, the ID--wherever my feet take me. that's the point of an epic walk. get lost. find things. if the weather is agreeable, maybe i'll take a bus over to discovery park. i've been wanting to walk by the water for awhile, and i'm dying for something resembling a hike. trees, dirt, water, sweat... sunday night my friend L and i have tickets to see offscreen, another SIFF film. next week summer quarter starts. for me, that means, primarily, working on my dissertation. i'm also going to be working for upward bound starting on 6/27, and we're supposed to have an introductory staff meeting next wednesday.

Comments

re: Earth v. Terra

[writerpunk.livejournal.com]

Well, according to the OED, "earth" has had a long, mixed, and sordid history of meanings, which has been difficult to trace -- and it has not always meant "the planet" (at least till Copernicus).

SF writers picked up "Terra" I think because it's more "scientific" (it follows the Latinate classification system) and since our planets have Roman names it seems strange that Earth was Earth (which is Teutonic in etymology, ahh the privilege of the English language) and not Terra (as in terra mater or terra firma).

Again, according to the OED, Terra was first used in sci-fi:

2. Science Fiction. (With capital initial.) The Earth.

1947 E. F. RUSSELL in Aldiss & Harrison Decade 1940s (1975) 157 This world..was ten times the size of Terra. But his weight didn't seem abnormal. 1952 P. J. FARMER in Aldiss & Harrison Decade 1950s (1976) 215 It follows the moon around Terra..a much smaller and unseen satellite.

Something like that.

Re: Earth v. Terra

[arguchik.livejournal.com]

aha. thanks, sweetie! i love the oed...it never ceases to amaze.