Below are the 4 most recent journal entries recorded in fabu's InsaneJournal:

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007
7:24 am	Holmes Sweet Holmes, As My Whimsey Takes Me, and Safe as House, or Adventures in Intertextuality Poe may be the father of the modern detective story, but when mystery writers look to a model on which to base their sleuths, it's not Poe's Dupin they turn to but Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes (aka Mel's first literary crush). I'm reareading A Study in Scarlet (the first Holmes novel), a chapter at a time, while also working my way through the first Lord Peter novel, Whose Body, and watching the first season of House, a medical show about diagnostic mysteries. This collision of texts wasn't planned, but it's been a fascinating exercise in literary influence, watching the ideas Doyle introduced mutate and spread. As many times as I've read ASiS and WB, you'd think I would have noticed how much Sayers owes to Doyle. Sayers' detective is distinctly un-Holmes-like on the surface (deeper similarities crop up in later books) and Bunter makes a much more competent Watson than, well, Watson, but there's the bumbling Scotland Yard detectives, the mysterious body, even a plotpoint that turns on a piece of jewelry (I was momentarily confused when I got to the scene in ASiS where the "old woman" comes for the ring, because I had briefly conflated the pince-nez from WB with the ring). I don't think Sayers deliberately cribbed the entire plot from Doyle, but the influence is there, easy to read when viewed side by side with the original. It's my understanding that House was deliberately modeled on Holmes (hence the name) -- his mysteries are medical in nature, rather than criminal, but his approach is similar: bring me the facts and I'll sit in my parlor office and solve the case, with the assistance of underlings who I'll rely on to do most of the legwork. Both Holmes and House are superficially cranky and misanthropic, with hidden soft-spots, both are brilliant enough that others overlook their eccentricities because they're so damn good at what they do (and they're both addicted to narcotics). I like the supporting characters on House, and the mysteries are compelling (although I could do without some of the more grisly and graphic medical procedures), but the real attraction is House himself, in all his iconoclastic glory (and it doesn't hurt that he's played by Hugh Laurie). And now I'm getting the urge to read something even more deliberately derivative - I think I'll pick up Laurie King's The Beekeeper's Apprentice next (even though the second book in that series, when the subtext between Holmes and Mary becomes text, is still my favorite). (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007
7:01 am	More from LJ LJ has issued another clarification, which actually clarifies things and introduces the notion of a warning before they delete a journal (for some classes of infractions). I'd be better satisfied if they hadn't previously issued what sounded at the time like reasonable clarifications which they then rescinded without warning, but this is a good first step, I think. It doesn't change much for me at this time, although if they stick to this, and there's a consistent improvement in the transparency and customer service at lj, I might be convinced to stay. Ultimately, I'm still hovering indecisively, waiting to see where (the majority of) fandom jumps. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 9th, 2007
7:17 am	Crossposted - recs and links Looks like the user tags will switch to whatever journaling system you're posting in, which is good if people have the same user names on different platforms, but could cause confusion. I don't have time to check all these - all user and community names only confirmed as correct for lj. (Also, will get some icons uploaded this weekend.) From the happiness_projt: 9 simple and easy tips to take stress out of your day, also on the benefits of over-the-counter medicine (I tend to forget this one as well) Via rusty76, lost words of the English language and 147 Tiny Tips to Live Healthier, Happier, Greener and Better mecurtin links to and discusses a disturbing article about "sundown towns" (towns where black people are expected to leave by sundown, meaning they can work there, but not live there). jonquil puts into words something I've been struggling to say through the last few rounds of sexism and racism debates: It's not who you are, it's what you do - The constant defense of "But I'm not a racist/sexist" is irrelevant. People who are not consciously and actively racist or sexist can still contribute to discrimination and bias against people of color or women. All the focus on whether or not someone is a racist or a sexist detracts from the real point at hand, which is whether her/his words or deeds had racist or sexist results. It's International Blog Against Racism Week - related posts are being gathered in an IBAR del.icio.us account - I highly recommend reading all of these. isabeau on being in a wheelchair ( Posts about LJ's customer service/TOS issues and possible Fannish Migration ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 8th, 2007
7:57 am	It's me Hi! This is fabu from lj. (2 Comments |Comment on this)