It's Never Too Late to Say Goodbye - Is It? (Part 5)

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

The plan was to try to do keep up with the goodbyes. That is obviously out the window.

The plan was to put them out in order. In bunches of 6 or 7 at a time.

That's out the window too! :)
It's a mix and mash. 4 more down. A lot more to go!


onda_bianca (Week 22) Hey Potter. Oh my chicken pot pie! It's your turn!
You were probably expecting it in a couple weeks. Unless of course you noticed that I was trip-trapping over your LJ. Which probably tipped you off! :)
Since you were kind enough to provide a true/false listing, with links to all of your entries, I'll go ahead and post a link to it as well http://onda-bianca.livejournal.com/328656.html for the people who want to go back for some bite-sized nuggets of something-or-other.

At your best you come across as a crafty and clever wordsmith, playing with language. At your worst? Hmmm. . . maybe that you need a little less caffeine? :p

Personally I liked the style and I know a lot of other people did as well. That's fairly obvious that they did. I think there were some people thoughwho either missed the boat or thought some of the stuff was trying a little too hard to be clever. Which of course is the danger with something like this when you are marking out your own territory with splashes of color thrown in. The "sex entries" (or in some cases "lack of sex entries" of course sold to some crowds and fell flat in others. That sort of thing tends to have a subject dividing line that runs fairly deep.

I do think that it is interesting how you can take the same take on the same subject with two very different rhythms: http://onda-bianca.livejournal.com/317229.html is a steady paced exercise in word play. Whereas the blunt frustration of http://onda-bianca.livejournal.com/326575.html just kind of hits you upside the head.

http://onda-bianca.livejournal.com/315657.html was an earlier blunt entry, and honestly I liked it a lot more. This and http://onda-bianca.livejournal.com/315657.html seemed to be loaded down with raw honesty. Which of course should have been the first clue that they were both fiction!!

Your honest-to-goodness truths seem to be based in frustration or the ability to laugh at yourself.

Although I have to say that the dismay of "something just isn't right" is palatable in http://onda-bianca.livejournal.com/320347.html and of course http://onda-bianca.livejournal.com/324342.html was squirm worthy in a different way.

It is interesting looking over your list and seeing what you marked as being among your favorite entries and those being ones that I didn't think were your strongest work. It just goes to show how selective the issue of taste really is.

The one thing that I think that anyone, regardless of their take, can take away from your entries (individually and especially collectively) is just how much fun you seemed to be having writing them. Which is something special right there, that you can take home to all your little school chums at Hogwarts. Have. Fun. Writing. Because that's what it *should* be.


thaliontholwen (Week 15) - Hilarious (to me) fact: Early on, I kept getting you and talonkarrde88 confused. Which is just weird since not only are the two of you nothing alike, your writing styles are completely different. I think it had to do though that no matter how things got changed up tribe wise, somehow the two of you always seemed to end up together! It's odd how the brain picks out the most arbitrary things to wrap itself around when it comes to singling people out in a crowd. But I digress. . .

It was an interesting twist adding links to your previous entries at the bottom of the current one. It's a chance for people to go back and read. I'm trying to think if I'd seen that before and that *might* actually be a new one. (http://thaliontholwen.livejournal.com/567520.html is the most recent, and thus the one with the few list for people wanting to go back and reread everything) All of the stuff is tagged as well though, http://thaliontholwen.livejournal.com/tag/lj%20idol so going either way to find stuff is workable.

I further digress, but at least that part has to do with pointing people toward your actual writing!!

I do need to go back up to that first point again though, because there is something that really strikes me. You *should have been* "the one with the song lyrics". By all rights, that should have been sticking out like a sore thumb and following the old "that annoys the grap out of people" you "should have" been sent packing long before Week 15.

BUT what I find so impressive about your work is that you *make it work*. The lyrics fit in so well with the flow of the piece, complimenting and interacting in a way that actually strengthens rather than distracts. Which is not something that I say often. I'm not much of a fan of the gimmick, but like I said, you are able to make it work.

I've already praised this entry during the holiday break, but it's worth another look for folks who might have missed it: http://thaliontholwen.livejournal.com/560006.html - heck, over time it is nice for *me* to go back to it. I still agree with my original assessment that it was spot on and just plain fun.

I do these goodbyes and sometimes it's a matter of going back through the entries and letting whatever it was spark back up in my head, reminding me of something that stood out at the time. Other times it's a revelation of something that slipped by the first time around.

I started jotting down entries to talk about further. I was going to add things to them, but honestly, I think I'm just going to leave the links as they are:

http://thaliontholwen.livejournal.com/551205.html
http://thaliontholwen.livejournal.com/554955.html
http://thaliontholwen.livejournal.com/565656.html
http://thaliontholwen.livejournal.com/563844.html
http://thaliontholwen.livejournal.com/563377.html
http://thaliontholwen.livejournal.com/561670.html - which makes me eager to read your novel actually.

Why would I not say anything more about them? Because in rereading them I completely fell for your voice all over again. But this time a lot harder.

People seriously need to go back and discover what they missed out on. Because with a second glance I can see that it's quite a lot.

I blame talonkarrde88 :P


drippedonpaper (Week 14 - sacrifice) - http://drippedonpaper.livejournal.com/137988.html was her final official entry before sacrificing herself to bring back worldofcharlie. People have expressed various "most shocking" sacrifices or moves throughout the season. FOR ME this was the pinnacle of them all. No offense to anyone else who sacrificed. But there's a reason this one had to be first to have a goodbye.

It was a contestant only vote. SHE HAD THE HIGHEST SCORE OF THE WEEK. All bold. All caps. Because for me it was like that in my head at the time. More contestants voted for that entry than any other for that week. Not knowing the outcome, she steps down from the post as a front runner and "the mark to beat".

From things I've said in the past, I'm not a fan of listing the name of the prompt or "topic ___ for ____" method of doing things. So obviously there was that obstacle to overcome from my perspective. But based on how she got away from it (other than the subject lines) in the last couple of Home Games entries, including http://drippedonpaper.livejournal.com/137988.html, I think there's hope. :)

Speaking of that entry, I think that's a decent example of what people do love about her work. Also http://drippedonpaper.livejournal.com/128462.html - there's a simplicity and earnestness in the language that really comes through.

Too many people end up over-complicating their work with various tricks or gimmicks. You don't find that here. The sincerity is something you can reach out and hold in your hand. Stuff like http://drippedonpaper.livejournal.com/144479.html from the Home Game highlights that aspect IMO.
There is something real in the words. I think it would have been interesting to see what she would have done had she stayed in - and how far she would have been able to make it!!


lyrical_liessss (Week 24) - There are a lot of people out there with work that you can read and come away with no real sense of who they are or what they are about. *A lot* of them.

That definitely is not the case with you. You connect with people, and with yourself. There's an immediacy to your work that brings people into your world. Because they live there too. Or in some cases, you use to, and reading your entries helps bring them back to that point in their lives.

From tips for college http://lyrical-liessss.livejournal.com/57106.html to relationships http://lyrical-liessss.livejournal.com/54140.html it very much captures that sense of place that can end up missing. That sense of self.

You know who are you or are at very least further along than most. :D Even if there are days where it might not feel like it's the case.

There is just such a powerful release in your words http://lyrical-liessss.livejournal.com/51294.html, I would call it "primal scream" but your structure is far from primal. But the raw honesty is definitely there in a material like http://lyrical-liessss.livejournal.com/46455.html and http://lyrical-liessss.livejournal.com/44379.html (although the text color does make it really difficult to read in your style!)

Your fiction is good. But I think your strength, your heart, is in your relating your personal experiences. Even the more fictional pieces from the season seem to draw on that raw emotion so close to the surface.

From my perch, it seemed like you were a bit unsteady coming out of the gate this season. Which is fairly common actually, people trying to figure out what the heck this is all about and how to fit it into their lives. The early byes may have cost you short term gains (the risk of going off people's radar) but I think actually ended up paying off for you in that it seems once you were no longer had the safety net, you seemed to get your footing.

Some people *never* figure out "what this is about" is *your experience*. Individuals have the power to make it whatever they put into it - if you come in with an attitude, you are very likely going to feel that people just didn't "get you" or you "didn't get the respect you deserve". If you come in with an open mind, and heart - coming in to write, share, and grow, letting the process be the process without trying to micromanage it - you're going to end up doing exactly that.

It's like pretty much every other aspect in life in that regard. :)

For whatever it's worth, taking a page from you, I'm glad you're alive and I'm glad to know you. I know there are quite a few people in Season 6, contestants and folks who have come along for the ride with us to read and enjoy the entries, who would say the same exact thing.



Miss one?
Part 1: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/330062.html
Part 2: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/347182.html
Part 3: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/348753.html
Part 4: http://community.livejournal.com/therealljidol/351336.html

Comments

[cacophonesque.livejournal.com]

I've been reading all of these... but it's hard to say goodbye. Even so many weeks later.

I like the nice things you say, though, Gary. It's fun to look back on the people who have come and gone and remember the things they wrote. It makes me realize I've read some really cool stuff over the last many months.

Also, Thali is awesome. I'm glad you got to do her goodbye.

[theafaye.livejournal.com]

What to say that you haven't already...?

I'm not surprised that drippedonpaper got the highest score. I'm sure I've said to her before that she really should have more faith in her writing because she is extremely good (and has some of my favourite pieces in the book). Onda has a wonderful mastery of the English language and I maintain that she should take some of her material to a poetry slam because I think it would work so well in a performance context. I'm glad that I'm not the only person that got Thaliontholwen and Talonkarrde confused (they both begin with T so my pregnancy brain clearly thinks they're the same) which really is daft because they are such distinctive writers and Thaliontholwen is fabulous in her own right. And as for Lyrical Liesss, I really thought she was going to do a Boxs and get stronger and stronger and sneak through until the end. She was a definite dark horse one to watch.

[spydielives.livejournal.com]

Nicely written, Gary.

[sra33.livejournal.com]

I really liked reading onda_bianca and lyrical_liessss's entries. ^^

And I'm seriously tempted to do a true/false from my entries as well..... *ponder*

[onda-bianca.livejournal.com]

You totally should...the true/false entry was one of the most fun ones to write.

And thanks...:)

[lyrical-liessss.livejournal.com]

I've been so MIA that I didn't read this until now. Thanks so much!

[sra33.livejournal.com]

not a problem at all, glad you read it :)

[onda-bianca.livejournal.com]

<3

:)

[onda-bianca.livejournal.com]

Aww, Dumbledore. You're so sweet. Thanks for taking me back through the memories, I did have a lot of fun in Idol. I wasn't expecting it quite so soon...but looking back it was nice to remember. :)