davetheanalyzer

Already around two-thirds into my Albertus Magnus semester, and the month involved some great work in both of my classes. I sent not only one but two writing samples in for feedback for my writing project. I guess I was a bit overconfident with the one I sent in for Writing Portfolio, since the first reaction I had to the feedback was annoyance and resentment. There was criticism of adverbs and the moments of exposition, as well as not showing some characters and a few other things. I thought I did well with the first writing sample and didn’t think there was much that needed to be changed. After a day or so away though, I cooled off and thought there was some validity and potential in the feedback. I wrote down notes on how to revise the sample, which won’t be due until December 19^th. Hopefully, I can remember to start revising the sample early, because writing at two pages a day for six double-spaced pages was a bit much with the other work I also did.

The sample I did for The Creative Process appeared to go down much better. I wrote with criticisms of the first sample in mind and when we all met in person, the in-class was warmer to the piece and I didn’t hear as much critiques. Granted, that might be because all of us were having writing samples reviews for our classes, so there wasn’t as much time but it encouraged me. To make sure no one forgets the feedback, we later posted it on the forums, where we can be more detailed. Having recently looked at my thread there, there were some suggestions for improvement but I took them reasonably and the tone suggested I had improved from the first time I wrote. There is another writing sample session next month and I’m leaning toward revising the second sample. I’ll ask if that’s allowed.

The week leading up to that in-class meeting was also pretty busy, since not only did I have to give feedback to all of my classmates in The Creative Process but I had to review two more in Writing Portfolio as well. That’s seven works I had to read over and write reviews for in a few days. I used to do that amount or maybe more weekly in the writer workshop and poetry classes but it has been awhile since I went through that, so it was pretty exhausting. Nevertheless, it was great to have an in-person class meeting discussing these works and others. Though I’m used to online classes by now and am an introvert, I do appreciate the face-to-face education. It can be not as exhausting to talk as write replies to everyone.

In the Creative Process, we are reading Margaret Atwood’s Negotiating with the Dead, apparently adapted from some speech she gave at a university. It’s partly about her life as a writer and partly about bringing up the issues and debates that revolve around writing. I have run across a lot of these arguments before, about whether writers should suffer and their responsibility to society, among other things, but the book did help clarify some of them somewhat. I didn’t quite get the concerns Atwood had during her formative years about writing but I suppose she was a different person in a different time. It was interesting to hear about Canada in Atwood’s childhood and how it didn’t respect writing or art as other countries.

Saw Professor Marston and the Wonder Women last week. I heard it takes creative liberties with their relationship and a descendent of theirs claim it isn’t true but it was an interesting take on what a healthy polyamorous relationship might look like. This was one of the few R-rated movies I decided to see and it showed with the sexual content, though no private parts were ever shown. It also showed the rating with the complexity of the relationship. Though there were happy moments, there were also moments of struggle, as they tried to figure out and accept their bond as well as deal with the personality flaws they all have.

The Marston of the trio had the Disc Theory that was fair for its day for feminism but kind of hokey. He can be insistent on pressing his theories and opinions on others, though that can be both a strength and weakness. Elizabeth tended to be coarse and stubborn, resisting new ideas and acting like they don’t bother her until she has no choice but to confront them. Olive was younger and more sensitive, eventually beginning to assert herself and it took some prodding for her forgive and come back into the Martsons’ lives. Having not seen much realistic relationships in media, it was hard for me to tell what was the normal conflicts that came with a healthy relationship, especially one as unique as theirs, or if it skirted the line. But I guess realistic relationships do have those moments and the line can be blurry.

It was heartening when they come to a point where they enjoy each other’s company, particularly during the sex scenes. Those normally aren’t my thing but they showed how much the three participants were enjoying it. Olive taking on the costume in a BDSM ship that would apparently come to inspire Wonder Woman, how she stood in the light, how a formerly recalcitrant Elizabeth wrapped rope around her as they explored this new world, was quite beautiful.

It wasn’t objectifying either. I knew beforehand this movie had a woman director and here among other scenes boy does it show. It was sweet they were willing to go along with these BDSM sexual acts into the homes, showing how much they loved and enjoyed each other’s company. Though if they thought to do their business while the kids were away, they should have thought to lock the door so no one could stumble in and discover them.

The conflict with their neighbors not accepting them and threatening to withdraw their kids from school if the trio’s kids don’t leave, leading to that conflict among the three, was saddening. Olive and her kids leave. Marston getting sick, leading to Olive showing up and him pressuring Elizabeth and her to reconcile was moving, to not only make sure they didn’t deny who they were but so they could have each other since he didn’t have long to live. It was good to see them be together again and read they lived what time they could have together as happily as was possible.

Even my mother, who had a wary view of polyamorous relationships due to cheating spouses using them as cover and abusive relationships falling under that title, was moved. She said the three genuinely loved each other consensually, and that endeared them to her. She admits she can’t picture loving more than one person at the same time but was open to accepting it, I think even prior to seeing this film. Even with the issues of historical accuracy, I hope it doesn’t cause too much issue with the descendants of the family and does lead to some conversation about consensual polyamory. With how, erm…not well this film is doing, I hope the director and crew don’t have difficulty finding new work, since they did a good job and it’d be a pity if they couldn’t tell more stories.

A few final things. Halloween is here but I’m not going to be dressing up. Lost interest in the holiday. Instead, I’ll be writing. The strong winds on midnight Monday knocked down a tree that knocked out the lines for the house across the road and caused a brief brownout for us. It might have damaged our connection and needs to be fixed. Hopefully that can be done without too much issue. By the end of November, I’ll be nearing the end of classes and maybe made some progress on my writing projects.

That’s all for now. Anyway, see you!