Where did Saturday go?
Jun. 19th, 2004 10:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ksmithTraffic School. Never again, so help me. I'd almost be willing to take the insurance hit.
Awoke at 5am. Stayed in bed until a little before 6am, then dragged meself out and made ready to meet the day. Out the door by 7ish, wondering whether I'd make Skokie Courthouse by 8am, the class start time. Much to my surprise, I got there with about 20 minutes to spare--once I hit 41/94, the trip went fast.
I wish I could say the same for the class. 8 hours in one shot is just too danged long. What surprised me was how many folks were there who had already taken the 4-hour class. (Note: first offenses in Illinois can be wiped out by attending the 4-hour class. My ticket was out of state, and the judge determined that I take an 8-hour class). Most already had multiple tickets and class attendences, and most of these people were in their early-mid 20s. Makes sense, I suppose, but when you as a 45 year old are dealing with your first ticket ever, it's a little hard to adjust to the prevailing reality.
Too much sitting on a lovely, unseasonably cool day. Now I have a clogged head, and the weekend is already half over. Got my certificate, though. Fax it to the Covington Courthouse, and that, she said hopefully, should be that where that particular adventure in driving is concerned.
At least nifty stuff came in the mail. Moisturizers and stuff from Bliss, including a cute little sample bar of something called Minty Scrub Soap. Smells almost edible.
Reading--alternating between Forsyth's DAY OF THE JACKAL and CORPORATE WARRIORS, a study of the privitized military industry by PW Singer. WARRIORS is interesting so far, springing its surprises in a dry, academic sort of way. JACKAL is turning out to be quite the disappointment. My first exposure to this story was the Edward Fox movie, and so far the film is beating all hell out of the book with regards excitement and tension. I guess the needs of the story could be to blame, at least in part. Because the plot concerns a plan to assassinate de Gaulle, much of the development takes place inside the heads of the planners, the assassin, and those who would thwart the killing, and imho the resulting page after page of narrative (exposition? ) does not a tension-packed undertaking make. Describing characters actions without getting deeply enough into their heads to reveal their emotions--when hate is a driver, I would expect to feel it *somewhere* in the work, sense the betrayal that some of the characters felt instead of having it told to me. I will finish it, just to see how it goes. I could be missing something, I mean, the danged thing is in its 51st printing and has sold over 4 million copies.
Awoke at 5am. Stayed in bed until a little before 6am, then dragged meself out and made ready to meet the day. Out the door by 7ish, wondering whether I'd make Skokie Courthouse by 8am, the class start time. Much to my surprise, I got there with about 20 minutes to spare--once I hit 41/94, the trip went fast.
I wish I could say the same for the class. 8 hours in one shot is just too danged long. What surprised me was how many folks were there who had already taken the 4-hour class. (Note: first offenses in Illinois can be wiped out by attending the 4-hour class. My ticket was out of state, and the judge determined that I take an 8-hour class). Most already had multiple tickets and class attendences, and most of these people were in their early-mid 20s. Makes sense, I suppose, but when you as a 45 year old are dealing with your first ticket ever, it's a little hard to adjust to the prevailing reality.
Too much sitting on a lovely, unseasonably cool day. Now I have a clogged head, and the weekend is already half over. Got my certificate, though. Fax it to the Covington Courthouse, and that, she said hopefully, should be that where that particular adventure in driving is concerned.
At least nifty stuff came in the mail. Moisturizers and stuff from Bliss, including a cute little sample bar of something called Minty Scrub Soap. Smells almost edible.
Reading--alternating between Forsyth's DAY OF THE JACKAL and CORPORATE WARRIORS, a study of the privitized military industry by PW Singer. WARRIORS is interesting so far, springing its surprises in a dry, academic sort of way. JACKAL is turning out to be quite the disappointment. My first exposure to this story was the Edward Fox movie, and so far the film is beating all hell out of the book with regards excitement and tension. I guess the needs of the story could be to blame, at least in part. Because the plot concerns a plan to assassinate de Gaulle, much of the development takes place inside the heads of the planners, the assassin, and those who would thwart the killing, and imho the resulting page after page of narrative (exposition? ) does not a tension-packed undertaking make. Describing characters actions without getting deeply enough into their heads to reveal their emotions--when hate is a driver, I would expect to feel it *somewhere* in the work, sense the betrayal that some of the characters felt instead of having it told to me. I will finish it, just to see how it goes. I could be missing something, I mean, the danged thing is in its 51st printing and has sold over 4 million copies.
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Date: 2004-06-20 06:33 am (UTC)I got the impression from some of the younger folk that juggling tickets and dealing with traffic school was just something they did. No biggie. Just keep it down to a couple of tickets a year and make sure you wipe them off your record before you get any new ones. As one woman was leaving, she said something like "So long until the next time." She was caught for speeding in a construction zone, which is a Big Deal in Illinois ever since several workers were killed by speeders. Luckily for her, no one was working in the area when she was speeding.
Never read JACKAL--kept hearing the movie was better. Your description not only corroborates what I heard, but you put your finger convincingly on why.
I'm relieved to hear that, much as I dislike seeing a much-anticipated book slowly sink beneath the waves of So What. That means I'm seeing something that really is there for a number of readers, which is reassuring when one's aim is to write things that people want to read.