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Laptop on the way!
Jun. 10th, 2004 10:39 amYesterday I spent much of the morning going over microfilms in the Library of Congress, which was boring, and that night from eight to ten I attended my brother Daniel's graduation from high school, which was also boring. I finished with the microfilm research, though, and the graduation business wasn't all bad. Daniel got a certificate of merit as well as his diploma because he took a lot of AP courses and some classes at Montgomery College. After the ceremony we put the cap and gown on Benjamin and took some pictures of him. He looked ridiculous in a cute way. Since we get to keep the cap and gown, he plans to wear them on his last day of school, when he "graduates" from the sixth grade.
In between the microfilms and the graduation, I did some work on my fanfic when I should have been reading over the stuff I printed from the microfilms (oops!) and I made great strides in the getting-my-laptop department. After work I went to Dad's office down the block, and we went on the Dell website. We looked at an Inspiron 8600 and I picked the features I wanted. We haven't bought it yet, since Dad wants to get it with the Bryn Mawr or New York Times discount (whichever's cheaper) and he has to do that over the phone. He's also worried because we can't see the laptop before we buy it, since Dell doesn't sell the things in retail stores (at least not around here). We're not sure how many ports it has either (we think it has only 2 USB ports - not great, but I can live with that), so Dad wants to do some extra checking. Well, at least I know I'll get the thing before August. I went for the fifteen inch screen, so it's heavy and not as mobile as a smaller laptop, but it suits my purposes and it's mobile enough for me. If I carry it around in a backpack it shouldn't be too much trouble.
I'm having a bit of trouble with my Ruse fanfic. I had to revise something and the revision I made is only marginally less lame than the thing I revised. I think I can fix it by not explaining the problem in question until later - heck, it's a mystery, and a little more suspense will do it some good. There's also a problem with Victorian custom - in that season, a lady like Emma would generally carry a parasol. I thought I should mention it in the text, and what she does with it, but that seems to make things awkward. I decided that, since she doesn't carry a parasol around all the time and probably doesn't give it much thought when she has one (after all, carrying it around is quite natural to her, though not to us in this day and age), I wouldn't mention it. In the comic they would take care to include it, but in simple prose there's no need for it. People who know about these things, or people who want to, can imagine that she has one or doesn't have one. It's not essential to the story so I don't need to take much trouble over it.
Another problem is Victorian customs having to do with hats. At one point mentioning her hat is essential to the story. People will notice that she does not take it off inside - well, she does in the Residence, but not in another person's house or place of business. This is at odds with modern American and British customs, in which a lady does not usually wear a hat and is expected to take it off inside. I found out that, in the Victorian era, a lady going on a formal visit (or a business visit, in Emma's case), did not remove her hat and gloves indoors. She would if she were staying for tea or dinner, but on a visit of a few hours or less the hat and gloves would stay on. People might find it odd that she wears the hat indoors in the fic, but it's probably not odd enough for them to mention, and they'll just go away confused...
Ah, I'm making too much of an issue over this. Maybe I should just provide a link to a website on Victorian etiquette or something.
In between the microfilms and the graduation, I did some work on my fanfic when I should have been reading over the stuff I printed from the microfilms (oops!) and I made great strides in the getting-my-laptop department. After work I went to Dad's office down the block, and we went on the Dell website. We looked at an Inspiron 8600 and I picked the features I wanted. We haven't bought it yet, since Dad wants to get it with the Bryn Mawr or New York Times discount (whichever's cheaper) and he has to do that over the phone. He's also worried because we can't see the laptop before we buy it, since Dell doesn't sell the things in retail stores (at least not around here). We're not sure how many ports it has either (we think it has only 2 USB ports - not great, but I can live with that), so Dad wants to do some extra checking. Well, at least I know I'll get the thing before August. I went for the fifteen inch screen, so it's heavy and not as mobile as a smaller laptop, but it suits my purposes and it's mobile enough for me. If I carry it around in a backpack it shouldn't be too much trouble.
I'm having a bit of trouble with my Ruse fanfic. I had to revise something and the revision I made is only marginally less lame than the thing I revised. I think I can fix it by not explaining the problem in question until later - heck, it's a mystery, and a little more suspense will do it some good. There's also a problem with Victorian custom - in that season, a lady like Emma would generally carry a parasol. I thought I should mention it in the text, and what she does with it, but that seems to make things awkward. I decided that, since she doesn't carry a parasol around all the time and probably doesn't give it much thought when she has one (after all, carrying it around is quite natural to her, though not to us in this day and age), I wouldn't mention it. In the comic they would take care to include it, but in simple prose there's no need for it. People who know about these things, or people who want to, can imagine that she has one or doesn't have one. It's not essential to the story so I don't need to take much trouble over it.
Another problem is Victorian customs having to do with hats. At one point mentioning her hat is essential to the story. People will notice that she does not take it off inside - well, she does in the Residence, but not in another person's house or place of business. This is at odds with modern American and British customs, in which a lady does not usually wear a hat and is expected to take it off inside. I found out that, in the Victorian era, a lady going on a formal visit (or a business visit, in Emma's case), did not remove her hat and gloves indoors. She would if she were staying for tea or dinner, but on a visit of a few hours or less the hat and gloves would stay on. People might find it odd that she wears the hat indoors in the fic, but it's probably not odd enough for them to mention, and they'll just go away confused...
Ah, I'm making too much of an issue over this. Maybe I should just provide a link to a website on Victorian etiquette or something.
