Derik Badman's Journal

Eric texted last night commenting that he was reading the site and catching up to the present. That brought a few things to mind. One, that he might be my first reader (hi Eric) (he also said he didn't care if I used his name). Two, that I still need to figure out some kind of lightweight, inobtrusive commenting system/method. There are fancy things like WebMentions I can setup, though they don't have a wide-ranging use, and there are complicated comment systems like Disqus that will add a lot of JS and probably tracking, but I'd rather keep it as simple as possible as I am not expecting much in the way of comments. Maybe just an email form. I don't know that I want to publish comments, but I'd at least like to receive them if anyone, unexpectedly, has them.

Three, I'm still mulling over this writing and audience and voice. I started out writing for myself and then just planning on publishing as is, but as soon as I put the site online I started thinking about someone reading what I wrote and I think that has changed subtly my thinking as I write. I can continue to straddle the line, or I can take a hard stance and focus on either just writing for myself or thinking about audience more clearly. Just simple things like, if I write something about a comic, book, or movie, do I include info like publisher, year, links, etc. I am still not sure.

Made the tvp mushroom stroganoff for dinner last night at ███'s. It was pretty easy and pretty good. Made it with a side of kale (garlic, salt, small tomatoes, and some sherry vinegar) that was a great accompanient (especially to add some color to the plate). We decided it might be even better with caramelized onions and mushrooms getting a little more roasted, so I'll try that and see how it goes next time. Since the cool weather is finally returning, I'm returning to some more hearty/warm dishes. Tonight a lentil potato spinach stew we really like that has a wonderful lemoniness to it (from lemon juice and zest) and is topped with crumbled feta when served.

Since I've been watching more movies lately, I started reading David Bordwell's Narration in the Fiction Film the other night. I've had it on my shelf for years, but I don't think I ever actually read it. My copy is used and some person (probably an undergrad film student) heavily underlined in the first few chapters and included little comments (a lot of "Yes"), which really frustrates my own attempts to decide what is important. So far it's a mix of the familiar (lots of narratology a la Russian Formalists and Genette) and more film focused content that I am less experienced with. His discussion of ways the spectactor watches a movie and creates hypotheses that are constantly tested is quite interesting, and I know I explicitly do this a lot when watching. I make guesses based on genre or director or other knowledge as to what is or will happen in a narrative, and then adjust those guesses as I get more information. There's a nice long discussion on Rear Window that makes me want to rewatch.