quotidiana, rainy season edition
Jun. 7th, 2023 09:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nnozomi·I don’t think I’ve posted about this year’s veranda plants yet—I have cherry tomatoes (promising green fruits), eggplant (purple flowers and gigantic leaves), chili peppers (I bought the wrong kind! These are huge, longer than my index finger and about as thick, pardon the innuendo), habaneros (rather wimpy flowers so far), last year’s strawberries (still just about hanging in there), this year’s strawberries (one very promising fruit and a few others on their way so far), a lemon tree (no lemons but some new leaves), and three morning-glories (very small and feeble so far). This basically takes up all the free space on the veranda. On the bright side, no pun intended, the rainy season means I don’t have to water them very often.
·Writing: As noted in my previous post, I finished my zeroth draft of book 2; now I’m struggling with revisions, or rather cheating by inserting three scenes that should have been in there in the first place. So much easier to write than to revise. I do have a lot of ideas about what needs done, and I think they will work, it’s just HARD. (clevermanka and I were saying it would be fun to have an open thread somewhere for chat about the writing process in general, although I’m afraid I would just end up complaining like mad…).
·Rereading Lois Lowry’s Taking Care of Terrific, a favorite all the way from fourth grade. Enid and Tom and Seth (who, on reflection, I bet is Jewish, not that it’s relevant, but I like seeing a member of the tribe in there) and Hawk and the bag ladies, putting together their loneliness to make something extraordinary. The Swan Boat ride always makes me cry—“…their voices almost magically grew stronger; they began to blend together. They became less hesitant. They became a choir.” Splendid Enid.
· Aguas de Março covered by the pianist Rogerio Plaza, with his 11-year-old daughter Bia Plaza singing, adorable and also a damn good musician.
·New adventures in eating: plum and chili pepper tea is delicious, more like broth than tea. Also I learned the Chinese for granola bars/energy bars, 燕麦棒 or 能量棒. (Just the same word for energy as in Guardian; do you think they sell 黑能量棒 down in Dixing?)
·Oh dear, this thing that made me laugh (and kind of scream) at work; I do a little bit of manga translation, and some of it is X-rated, BL stuff. (I asked them not to give me eromanga, they gave me it anyway, aagh.) I’m not going to cite the exact line I was translating, but let’s say it was a very explicit request pertaining to a specific m/m act then in progress in the manga. The proofreader left a note reading, I quote, “if you haven’t ever heard someone say this in real life, then it’s probably not gonna work.”
·Less funny work stuff: translating the last of these 1940s files, a long round-table transcript among various big wheels of Fukuoka Prefecture in 1940 on the topic of Koreans there, and oh God, the more things change.
*They also mention the hated 鮮人, a derogatory version, sometimes used in the expression 不逞鮮人 “malcontent Koreans,” which the anarchists Pak Yeol and Kaneko Fumiko played on in their journal 太い鮮人, pronounced the same way but meaning “cheeky fucking Koreans” or words to that effect.
·More cheerfully, just a few photos, not that exciting. Two cats: the beauty salon cat in the process of melting (what it does best), and a little half-stray near the school I volunteer at, who comes out of the shrubbery when it’s raining and meows like hell at me and purrs reluctantly when stroked. Cats who understand the value of an umbrella, I’m telling you. Also some early hydrangeas and some…I don’t know what the pink ones are? I always want to say windflowers, but I think that’s wrong. Also some baby persimmons, and a closeup of an old Chinese apothecary cabinet in a drugstore window, partly for research purposes and partly because I like it.
Be safe and well.
·Writing: As noted in my previous post, I finished my zeroth draft of book 2; now I’m struggling with revisions, or rather cheating by inserting three scenes that should have been in there in the first place. So much easier to write than to revise. I do have a lot of ideas about what needs done, and I think they will work, it’s just HARD. (clevermanka and I were saying it would be fun to have an open thread somewhere for chat about the writing process in general, although I’m afraid I would just end up complaining like mad…).
·Rereading Lois Lowry’s Taking Care of Terrific, a favorite all the way from fourth grade. Enid and Tom and Seth (who, on reflection, I bet is Jewish, not that it’s relevant, but I like seeing a member of the tribe in there) and Hawk and the bag ladies, putting together their loneliness to make something extraordinary. The Swan Boat ride always makes me cry—“…their voices almost magically grew stronger; they began to blend together. They became less hesitant. They became a choir.” Splendid Enid.
· Aguas de Março covered by the pianist Rogerio Plaza, with his 11-year-old daughter Bia Plaza singing, adorable and also a damn good musician.
·New adventures in eating: plum and chili pepper tea is delicious, more like broth than tea. Also I learned the Chinese for granola bars/energy bars, 燕麦棒 or 能量棒. (Just the same word for energy as in Guardian; do you think they sell 黑能量棒 down in Dixing?)
·Oh dear, this thing that made me laugh (and kind of scream) at work; I do a little bit of manga translation, and some of it is X-rated, BL stuff. (I asked them not to give me eromanga, they gave me it anyway, aagh.) I’m not going to cite the exact line I was translating, but let’s say it was a very explicit request pertaining to a specific m/m act then in progress in the manga. The proofreader left a note reading, I quote, “if you haven’t ever heard someone say this in real life, then it’s probably not gonna work.”
·Less funny work stuff: translating the last of these 1940s files, a long round-table transcript among various big wheels of Fukuoka Prefecture in 1940 on the topic of Koreans there, and oh God, the more things change.
assorted depressing examples
“Training programs” for Korean farm laborers, ie getting dirty work out of them at low pay for a few years, see also Japan’s technical trainee program now; landlords who won’t rent to Koreans, who have to get Japanese friends to rent apartments for them, just the same now; achieving success in the form of “the child who managed to graduate elementary school without anyone learning that he was Korean,” see also passing names now; adult Koreans learning Japanese who struggle with voiced/unvoiced consonants, I hear these accents all the time; the distinction between 朝鮮人 (Korean, a word disliked by Koreans, if this discussion is to be believed) and 朝鮮の人 (person from Korea, preferred, ditto)*, see also “colored person” vs “POC”, and so on.*They also mention the hated 鮮人, a derogatory version, sometimes used in the expression 不逞鮮人 “malcontent Koreans,” which the anarchists Pak Yeol and Kaneko Fumiko played on in their journal 太い鮮人, pronounced the same way but meaning “cheeky fucking Koreans” or words to that effect.
·More cheerfully, just a few photos, not that exciting. Two cats: the beauty salon cat in the process of melting (what it does best), and a little half-stray near the school I volunteer at, who comes out of the shrubbery when it’s raining and meows like hell at me and purrs reluctantly when stroked. Cats who understand the value of an umbrella, I’m telling you. Also some early hydrangeas and some…I don’t know what the pink ones are? I always want to say windflowers, but I think that’s wrong. Also some baby persimmons, and a closeup of an old Chinese apothecary cabinet in a drugstore window, partly for research purposes and partly because I like it.
rainy season photos
Be safe and well.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-07 04:06 pm (UTC)The pink flowers look like hollyhocks to me. I wish all your veranda plants well!
Where are these 1940s files going, eventually? Are they getting translated/preserved for the historical record in a specific way?
no subject
Date: 2023-06-08 09:09 am (UTC)Not really? Sort of like broth with a delicate flavor of sour plum and spicy chili. aah, hard to explain!
Hollyhocks! Thank you. Now I can look up the Japanese name too.
Where are these 1940s files going, eventually?
Gee, I wish I knew! The translation agency won't tell me these things (and yup I've asked). Can't be a bad thing to have them available in English, though.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-07 04:24 pm (UTC)There could always be two different threads 🤔
no subject
Date: 2023-06-08 09:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-07 06:12 pm (UTC)They grow enthusiastically round here, but for some reason, not for me.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-08 09:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-07 08:10 pm (UTC)Sweden is literally doing this right now in the agricultural sector. /o\ Well, not to Koreans, but to other migrant workers.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-08 09:11 am (UTC)Oh dear :( Yeah, Japan's "trainees" now are mostly Chinese or Southeast Asian, and mostly working for smallish companies rather than agricultural, but the principle is very much the same.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-07 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-08 09:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-08 01:18 am (UTC)I meant to comment on your last post - congrats on finishing your draft!
I just re-read Lois Lowry's Number the Stars, a favorite, and I don't think I've ever heard of Taking Care of Terrific. I love her work, so I will try to get my hands on it. Thank you for mentioning it!
Thank you also for sharing some of your translation work. Information found in historical documents is one of many reasons I continue to work towards competence (and maybe some day fluency) in Spanish.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-08 09:13 am (UTC)I will let you know if I ever manage to actually grow any :) I bought the lemon tree plant on a whim at a plant fair a couple months ago, so I'm flying by the seat of my pants.
thanks for congratulations <3
Let me know if you like the book. and yeah, historical documents are such a treasure trove (and Spanish must give you access to A LOT of them).
no subject
Date: 2023-06-09 10:31 pm (UTC)Oh yes, please do! And good luck!
no subject
Date: 2023-06-12 08:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-08 01:14 pm (UTC)And your garden sounds awesome! I've likewise tried to grow strawberries and they seem temperamental. I hope your lemon tree produces fruit for you too!
no subject
Date: 2023-06-09 05:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-08 02:12 pm (UTC)Oh no! Laugh-scream, indeed.
I asked them not to give me eromanga, they gave me it anyway, aagh.)
>.< I don't like that one bit. Not cool, publisher.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-09 05:39 am (UTC)I spent quite a long time NOT writing a reply to the comment along the lines of "hon, I don't know about YOUR sex life, but..."
It's a small and rather inefficient publisher and the pay is lousy, but for the moment it's decent experience if nothing else...
no subject
Date: 2023-06-09 02:18 pm (UTC)Well, that's not nothing. But still, oh dear.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-12 08:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 12:48 am (UTC)I've found that the degree of organization varies WILDLY, unsurprisingly. ^^;
no subject
Date: 2023-06-13 11:36 pm (UTC)Fair, and yeah, not surprising at all...
no subject
Date: 2023-06-10 05:24 pm (UTC)The proofreader left a note reading, I quote, “if you haven’t ever heard someone say this in real life, then it’s probably not gonna work.”
It's a good note, but I also have to laugh at the assumption that one would have enough experience to say whether or not someone might have said this in real life before 😂
(Just the same word for energy as in Guardian; do you think they sell 黑能量棒 down in Dixing?)
Dark-energy-infused food, now that's a thought. Or maybe any edibles left too long outside in the dark energy heavy air of Dixing just automatically becomes a dark energy bar...
So much easier to write than to revise.
Truer words *sigh* I'm waiting to hear back from my editor for an anthology short story and I already dread the inevitable 'this needs more plot and less vibes' comment.
no subject
Date: 2023-06-12 08:38 am (UTC)Isn't it? I love those cabinets.
It's a good note, but I also have to laugh at the assumption that one would have enough experience to say whether or not someone might have said this in real life before 😂
Precisely! This is, like, one of the few situations where this very good dialogue advice JUST DOESN'T WORK.
Or maybe any edibles left too long outside in the dark energy heavy air of Dixing just automatically becomes a dark energy bar...
I like that!
I already dread the inevitable 'this needs more plot and less vibes' comment.
Hoping the editor appreciates the vibes in their current percentage!
no subject
Date: 2023-06-10 06:37 pm (UTC)And CATS. ;D I love the contrast between the two kitties. (and I only knew windflowers by their other name; windfolwers is such a pretty name!). And what a pretty yaogui; it looks so satisfyingly worn.
The proofreader left a note reading, I quote, “if you haven’t ever heard someone say this in real life, then it’s probably not gonna work.”
Oh my goodness. xD It's not an easy note to respond to, is it...
no subject
Date: 2023-06-12 08:40 am (UTC)windflowers is such a pretty name!
It is--it turns out these flowers are actually hollyhocks, according to helpful commenters above! Now I know. and glad you enjoyed the cats 🐱
xD It's not an easy note to respond to, is it...
I thought of ALL KINDS OF ways to respond to it, believe me ;)
no subject
Date: 2023-06-11 02:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-12 08:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-06-11 12:03 pm (UTC)Beautiful, thank you!
Dark Energy Bars, omglol! :DDD
some of it is X-rated, BL stuff.
I'd say 'nice', but most of these are terribly rapey, so... ugh, no. Sorry you have to look at those for work. <3
just a few photos
Love the meowy cat!
The pink ones look like hibiscus, if the spindly thingy the flowers grow on (omg no words today) wasn't different...
no subject
Date: 2023-06-12 08:43 am (UTC)Glad you liked it! One of my very favorite Brazilian songs. <3
I'd say 'nice', but most of these are terribly rapey, so... ugh, no. Sorry you have to look at those for work. <3
Oh, it could be worse, at least in the title I'm working on all the sex is very enthusiastically consensual believe you me. I think I'd turn a rapey one down flat, they don't pay me enough to consider that.
The pink ones look like hibiscus, if the spindly thingy the flowers grow on (omg no words today) wasn't different...
I thought so too--agree the stem is different, and also hibiscus have that thing where they stick their tongues out at you. Helpful commenters above tell me these are hollyhocks.