Update

[tarigwaemir]

Stanley Hall on the Feast of Ste. Teresa of Avila

Exams were handed back today. Quite possibly as unpleasant for me as it was for the students: one of my sections did very poorly compared to the class average. Although everyone has reassured me that I haven't done anything wrong, looking at the list of students who are in the D/F range and realizing that this particular section has more individuals in that range than any other section was rather demoralizing. I've been comforting myself with the thought that my other section, which gets more or less the same material, had a mean comparable to the overall class.

Anyway, I contacted the students who are doing poorly, and some of them have asked to meet with me to discuss how they're doing in the class. Thank goodness Berkeley undergrads aren't shy about talking to their TAs!

Progress in research has slowed, in part due to the teaching workload and in part due to my own fatigue/lack of motivation. Had talk with P.I. about my project and what I should focus on to be ready for quals. She kept telling me that I needn't feel pressured to take the project in a direction that I didn't find interesting, which made me think that I must be looking remarkably unenthusiastic. Admittedly, experiments haven't been going well, but when do they ever go well?

To comfort myself, a list of pleasant and cheerful things, in reverse chronological order:

1. The lab is going bhangra dancing on Saturday night. Plus, will be meeting up with jaebi_lit to hang out.

2. Made some progress on fellowship applications today.

2. Steve stayed over the last two nights and cooked me a cabbage-and-chickpea stew plus kugel. Yum. Also a relief since I've run out of fresh produce in the fridge.

3. Went to karaoke last Thursday with Steve and his friends. Realized that being a karaoke addict has enabled me to sing backup for the major Britney Spears hits. Sigh. Didn't try any new songs, although admittedly I haven't been following K-pop lately so I wouldn't have had many new songs to try. It was a good group of people for karaoke: people were enthusiastic and uninhibited. ^_^

4. Prior to that, I got to eat okonomiyaki for the first time! It was delicious.

5. Had lunch with tokyofish last Thursday where we ended up talking for nearly three hours. Cathartic ranting plus commiseration plus sheer fangirling = very relaxing.

6. Read a lot of Georgette Heyer ebooks. So far, not a single male protagonist other than Freddy from Cotillion has met my approval. They are either arrogant, condescending rakes--Alverstoke from Frederica--or violent, amoral rakes--Avon and Vidal from These Old Shades and The Devil's Cub--or rude, tactless rakes--Carleton from Lady of Quality. I think the most appealing male romantic lead so far has been Charles Rivenhall from The Grand Sophy, who is rude, arrogant and prone to belittling women but is puritanical rather than rakish. (Carleton is pretty much the same as Rivenhall except with a reputation for womanizing.) Would approve of the Earl of Rule in The Convenient Marriage for his laidback nature but alas, he too has a reputation for rakishness.

I understand that the whole appeal of the rake is that he reforms himself for the heroine; she is the exception that causes him to change. But the fact that the rake often becomes possessive and jealous isn't flattering; it's a double standard. Also, the excuse that the rake will never ruin a lady of Quality is also offensive. Anyway, courteous and slightly dumb Freddy is much more likely to win my heart than any romantic hero who seems "mysterious" and "dangerous" from the hint of scandal attached to his name. ::rolls eyes:: I wish there was a romance novel convention featuring Preternaturally Intelligent heroes, à la your favorite genius strategist/go player/absent-minded professor, but I suppose they won't pop up in Regency romances in any case. (Is there such a convention? Maybe I should be reading Heyer's mysteries instead.)

On the other hand, I was very fond of the practical, no-nonsense Frederica who is so very good of taking care of her younger siblings (plus, Felix and Jessamy stole the story in that novel), and Sophy, in her breezy disregard for English conventions, was also refreshing (especially when she trod down Cousin Charles' attempts to belittle her).

7. Picked up CDs from a pile of random free albums left out on the street next to Amoeba. Mostly unknown indie bands distributing free samples or demos to the record store. Rule of thumb: when rifling through CDs whose artists you don't recognize, look for interesting cover art. Apparently similar visual aesthetic = similar musical aesthetic.

8. Saw The Dark Knight (finally) with Steve two weeks ago. Went in with overblown expectations for Heath Ledger's acting; was a little surprised to realize that the Joker was actually a fairly standard sociopath. Also disliked the unambiguous moralizing of the ending. But the movie was still great, and I ate a Cinnapretzel and a whole box of Sour Patch candy (while stealing sips from Steve's giant Icee). How's that for artificial sugar intake?

Yours &c.

Comments

[lacewood]

You might like The Masqueraders - it has HILARIOUS CROSSDRESSING, retarded masked hero hijinks, and one of the lead males is INSANE (but not a rake! I think?) but the other lead male is not a rake and I quite liked him, though hm, I suppose he might come off as overbearing, I cannot recall if this struck me at the time.

The Quiet Gentleman is more of a mystery than a romance, and not that great of a mystery either, but I found the hero for that one quite likable too. XD

You... should probably not read Venetia, given that the hero is a) A RAKE and b) his very first appearance, though after that he actually becomes noticably less offensive.

Man, I would totally love more absent-minded scientist/super-intelligent romance heroes too. And heroines! Or even better, intelligent heroines who ARE as intelligent as the text says they are. XD

[troisroyaumes]

I'm reading The Masqueraders right now! I don't mind overbearing male heroes so much, but rakes irritate me for some reason.

I shall put The Quiet Gentleman on my download queue! XD I should probably add that I do like Heyer even if I don't really like her male leads. The female leads are generally interesting enough to keep me enjoying the story. What's Venetia about?

Intelligent heroines would be wonderful too! Why can't we have romance novels with intelligent heroine + intelligent hero as crime-fighting duo or generals of opposing armies or rival hackers or secluded letter-writing academics? XDDDD

[issen4.livejournal.com]

Hee! I had an inkling you might not like the rake stereotype, but I thought it was worth a shot. ^_^;;; The fun is not to take them seriously; don't be seduced by how awesome Heyer wants to tell us they are!

Also, try Foundling, which is NOT about a rake, but a genuinely nice guy who's been cossetted by servants all his life and how he sets off to have Adventures. It's more gentle, but excellent. It's actually one of my favourite Heyer books, but some might find it boring.

Venetia does have a rake, but he's a reformed rake and trying hard to be respectable... the novel is from Venetia's POV, and she rocks.

You might also like A Spanish Bride, which is a historical romance of real people, full of details about the Napoleanic Wars. (An Infamous Army is set in the same period, but I find it a bit melodramatic. Your taste might differ.)

[troisroyaumes]

Heh, I should add that I still liked the novels very much! I don't take the rakes too seriously but the romances would feel more indulgent to me if I could swoon over the heroes along with the rest of the female characters...^_^

Ooh, thanks for the recs. I think I'll give Venetia a try, even with the rake, along with the rest of the titles you mentioned.

[lacewood]

Venetia is a classical example of the inexperienced young woman meeting and falling in love with a notorious rake, who then tries to turn her away so he won't ~ruin~ her. Though in the rake's defence, I THINK he engaged in serial monogamy rather than romance all his ladies together, and he seemed to have a tendency to treat his women extravagantly well, rather than the opposite. XD

Heyer is a very fun read in general, and at least some of her girls have a awesome tendency to simply walk over their heroes doing their own thing, which I can only approve of XDDDD

(... I spent half my lunch dreamily constructing a, um, Victorian? Regency? mystery series involving a lady of nobility who ~ruins her good name~ and runs away to the continent and then comes back and becomes a private investigator. OR SOMETHING. ... Like Philippa redux meets Julian Kestrel basically orrrzzzz)

[troisroyaumes]

(... I spent half my lunch dreamily constructing a, um, Victorian? Regency? mystery series involving a lady of nobility who ~ruins her good name~ and runs away to the continent and then comes back and becomes a private investigator. OR SOMETHING. ... Like Philippa redux meets Julian Kestrel basically orrrzzzz)

WRIIIIIIIIITE IT!

Yes, I like most of Heyer's heroines. I suppose it's only realistic that their romantic interests are not quite as awesome. ^_^;;

[fromastudio]

I wish there was a romance novel convention featuring Preternaturally Intelligent heroes, à la your favorite genius strategist/go player/absent-minded professor, but I suppose they won't pop up in Regency romances in any case.

...you realise that is basically an invitation for us to go and create one. XD

[troisroyaumes]

Hahaha, well, if you plan on writing it, please do so, and I will adore the end result to pieces. ^_^

(Hmmm, Regency!Hikago AU? XD)

[fromastudio]

*solemnly* Unless you want me to commit some Ill-Informed Decision regarding use of genderswitch, we are stuck with Mitani as the male lead, which although, which somehow wasn't quite the genius strategist I had in mind!

WHY AM I SERIOUSLY THINKING ABOUT THIS I AM UP TO MY EARS IN FIC TO WRITE.

Also, I think my favourite Heyer novels are probably Friday's Child and A Civil Contract, partly because they aren't the prototype Alverstoke-like hero. I like Freddy, but I really wish he weren't so very vacant at times.
You might like False Colours; I remember Kit being an improvement over most of Heyer's other male leads.

*considers*

[troisroyaumes]

Haha, I think I've requested Mitani/Kaneko Regency from someone before, though I wouldn't object to genderswitch either. (Or we could just throw historical accuracy out the window and do what Pru did in her SGA Regency!AU...) XD But I'll be good and not urge the plot bunnies on too much.

Thanks for the recs! I'll definitely add them to my Heyer reading list. ^_^

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I admit, I did have a period where I loved the rake trope, but now? Yeah. No thanks. I do like the "one exception" bit at times, but it has to be with someone who can either hold their own against them, or who tells them to stuff it. (For example, in the first volume of Seimaden, laures gives Hilda the whole "mysterious protector who does not have you" bit and she tells him to screw it, she doesn't need that.)

[troisroyaumes]

Hm, I think the closest I've ever gotten to enjoying the rake trope was with Anne Bishop's Black Jewels trilogy, although Daemon was more a skilled sex slave than an actual rake. But in general, philanderers exasperate me, both in real life and in fiction. I also wouldn't mind the "one exception" trope if it wasn't used as an excuse for treating women badly. -_- Anyway, I agree that the heroine's response can mitigate the situation. I wouldn't mind seeing:

Male: "But you're different from other women because you're _____!"
Female: "That's no excuse for behaving abominably to them."

Or possibly:

Male: "But you're different from other women because you're _____!"
Female: "Have you been living under a rock? Many women are ____. It's your fault for not realizing it."

Alas, neither exchange is all that frequent...

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Hilda telling Laures to stuff it is a large part of why I decided to read more of Seimaden, just for that reason. It's one of those things where textual acknowledgement of flaws/stupidity goes a long way.

[tryogeru.livejournal.com]

Okinomiyaki. Learning how to cook them is responsible for at least 5 of all the pounds I gained before I graduated.

[troisroyaumes]

Make me some~ XD

[rilina.livejournal.com]

You might like the lead of The Unknown Ajax; he's not a rake IIRC, and Heyer is telling a slightly different variation of her usual story there. I only have vague memories of False Colours, but I also seem to remember that lead being somewhat more likable than Heyer's norm. But it's been a long time since I read that one.

The problem with Cotillion is that it's so much better than everything else Heyer wrote (oh, Freddy), that most of the other novels rather pale in comparison.

[troisroyaumes]

Ah, thanks for the recs! I'll add them to my reading list.

I think I made the mistake of starting with Cotillion; her other novels are good but after reading Cotillion, no one quite stands up to Freddy as a romantic hero. ::sighs::

[rilina.livejournal.com]

You might find some of the comments on one of my Heyer posts (here (http://rilina.livejournal.com/113718.html)) helpful. I think it's pretty easy to tell which ones to disregard, because some commenters clearly have a higher tolerance for rakes than you do.

[shoujo22.livejournal.com]

....Admittedly, experiments haven't been going well, but when do they ever go well?...

You took the words right out of my mouth.


I've yet to read any of Georgette Heyer's books. Which ones would you recommend? I checked out six books from the library on Monday, and had originally planned to read them over the next two weeks. Well, I kind of finished the last one around noon...yesterday ^^'. I need something new to read now.

The Dark Knight was a good movie. But you know, I didn't really go in expecting too much from Ledger, because I've read TDK series...and I already knew that the Joker was a fairly standard sociopath *lol*.

Okonomiyaki is very good! When I was learning Japanese in college, my teacher (who was from Kyoto) made some for me. She also had one of her friends perform the Japanese tea ceremony for me. It was one of the most amazing things that I'd ever witnessed.

[troisroyaumes]

I think Cotillion is my favorite so far, though I liked Frederica very much as well. They're both light, quick reads with predictable plot twists, but the characters are engaging and real, and the historical setting is very well-drawn.

Ah, I didn't know much about the Joker character other than vague memories of the Batman Adventures cartoons I used to watch as a kid. I guess I read too much into all the reviews raving about how disturbing and shocking Ledger's interpretation was.

I loved okonomiyaki and wish I could eat one fresh off the grill the way it's supposed to be served...^_^

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

What's a rake? ^^;

[troisroyaumes]

Wikipedia to the rescue! Basically someone who gambles and cheats on women? ^_^;;

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

Ooooh.

They're annoying :(

[athousandwinds.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank God, someone else who doesn't like Alverstoke. My least favourite hero has to be Edward Carlyon from The Reluctant Widow, though. He's possibly even more patronising than Avon.

That said, I actually don't mind Avon or Vidal. Partly because Avon isn't really redeemed by True Love - one of his last acts in the book is talking a man into committing suicide, after all. Léonie has just become one of his people to be looked after, like Rupert or Fanny. And Vidal comes across as more of a poseur than anything else. Both of those feel like sufficiently different takes on the rake storyline that I can live with them. (Though the sexism still just rolls off the page in some cases.)

Venetia ends up with the rake hero being less redeemed into respectability than the heroine abandoning respectability to hang out with him. That's all I can think of to say that everyone else hasn't already said.

Have you tried Sylvester? That one's interesting because Sylvester gets portrayed by all the characters as this Gothic villain (they don't say rake, because the focus of his villainy is his innocent nephew), but he's actually quite kind-hearted, just up himself.

[troisroyaumes]

I didn't loathe Alverstoke, but I did think Frederica was rather wasted on him. (I thought she was awesome!)

Avon and Vidal are interesting characters but I couldn't bring myself to actually like them. Okay, scratch that, Avon was interesting while Vidal was a bit of a caricature--you're so right that he's a poseur. I spent most of the book rolling my eyes at him indulgently. XD

I haven't tried Sylvester yet, but I'll put it on my list!

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Hmm, this is totally making me not want to read Heyer. I just really don't like the womanizing thing if I'm supposed to see the character in a romance light. I don't care as much if I'm not supposed to be, as reader, swooning over him, but it's a huge turn-off in a male romantic lead for me.

[troisroyaumes]

Yes, actually, that sums up my feelings too: I don't mind the rake if he's not the romantic lead, but when he is, it's irritating. >_> Well, not all of her novels have rakish heroes (Cotillion definitely doesn't, and it's been my favorite so far), so I wouldn't necessarily avoid all Heyer novels, but you would probably need to be more discriminating than I've been so far to avoid getting disappointed or annoyed.

[worldserpent.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay, and you also (or others?) seem to think Cotillion is the best anyway?