well, that's the one thing we got.

[damkianna]

My movement toward less laziness went pretty well on Friday, but then it got kind of derailed over the weekend - partly because the wood-stacking on Friday left me with a ridiculously sore back, and partly because one of my mother's college friends came up to visit, and so most of Sunday got sucked up with meals out and tours and such. (Not that I mind; the meals out were nomtastic.)

I've mostly finished the outline/notes overhaul that was dragging my ladiesbigbang fic down, which is absolutely fantastic; I hate hate HATE getting stalled out on something I'm really invested in. And, bonus, I think it'll be easier to write this way - it's gotten trimmed down a bunch, which means that while it will still likely be really long, it will not be really long and full of stuff that didn't really need to be there. \o/ I wouldn't have wanted to wait 'til the editing process to do a trim this big, so I'm glad it's getting sorted out.

My family watched The Blind Side, and ... I really didn't know what to think. I mean, on the one hand, it was decently written and relatively funny, and I don't want to dismiss the generosity or goodwill of any of the people involved; but on the other hand, it just ... put me on edge, I don't know. The stuff about Michael's protective instincts was kind of weird, it reminded me of the tendency people have to attribute special powers or skills to marginalized groups in an attempt to mitigate the consequences of their marginalization. And, of course, there was a part where the white family rejected "real" racism, in the form of unpleasant comments from friends; I have to admit I almost rolled my eyes. And the part at the end about the other black kid who was very like Michael and was killed rubbed me the wrong way, hard - I still can't figure out what the point of that bit was. "Michael got help from white people, so his life turned out well; if only this kid had had white people invested in his life, too, he wouldn't have died"? What? That made it seem like the overall point really was that if POC can just manage to make themselves "white" enough, they'll be way better off - which is so far from okay that I feel like I must be missing something, because how could a movie possibly be saying that? D:

It also felt weird to me to make such a big deal out of how accepting and forbearing the family was about people being confused by the young kid saying Michael was his brother, and suchlike - I can only assume that happens to multiracial families all the time, but ... only white people who wouldn't normally have to put up with it are saints for handling it well? I don't know. I don't know enough to put forward any kind of really thoughtful, painstaking critique; just enough to have some idea why it made me uncomfortable in places. :P

Anyway, it's probably about time I went to go weed so that I don't have to feel guilty when I don't want to get anything done this afternoon. :D