Dear Diary

Finished Reading: Last Summer Series, "Something For You".

I've finally made it to the last part of the "Last Summer" series by Richard Lobinske. Oddly enough, this work of fan fiction was completed almost four years ago, but no one can say that I didn't finally get around to reading it.

(* * *)

The story starts with Daria, Jane, Jodie, and Mack finishing their last meaning of the "Lawndale High School Student Leaders Honor Society" -- an organization solely crafted for the purpose of giving Jodie Landon a break from work and errands. Everyone states their plans, with all of them heading off to college and Jane heading off only after the first semester.

Daria also concludes her time reading to Mrs. Blaine. We learn that Mrs. Blaine's "deafness" was caused by waiting for a hearing aid to be repaired; with it she can hear normally. Mrs. Blaine thanks Daria for their time together, and gives her a present -- a fountain pen given to Mrs. Blaine by her mother in 1929. Mrs. Blaine tells Daria that it seems fitting to pass the pen on to a writer.

Daria watches Jane photograph the "padded walls" room at the Morgendorffers. Helen plans on remodeling Daria's room while she's gone and undoubtedly, the padded walls and broken window bars will be removed. Jane can at least provide a visual memento. Daria plans on taking books and other items with her, but is trying to think about how she can have a more concrete memento of her room to take with her to Raft.

Helen and Daria chat as Daria turns in the final assignment of the summer. Quinn arrives with the Three Js and Jamie finally notices the painting of Daria on the wall...and notices Daria for the first time. As Daria and Helen chat about Jamie's odd behavior, Daria is interrupted with a call...Mrs. Blaine has had a stroke and has died.

Daria attends the Blaine funeral. Mrs. Blaine's son thanks Daria for visiting his mother -- Len Blaine lived in Oregon and Mrs. Blaine didn't want to leave Lawndale. A lawyer arrives at Lawndale to give Daria Mrs. Blaine's final bequest -- seventy so years of Mrs. Blaine's diary.

The summer, however, is running out. It's time for Daria to take her leave of Lawndale and head to Boston. Daria finally figures out a way to save a memento of her room...and makes good use of one of Mrs. Blaine's gifts to her....

(* * *)

At first, I thought there were too many extraneous scenes -- scenes which could have been cut out. However, the theme of the story is "wrapping things up" and we get to watch Daria wrap up things with people who have been important in her life.

Many the scenes in "Something for You" bring up the whole question of "fanon vs. canon". Fanon encompasses everything that fans believe to be true about the series; canon encompasses everything that can be verified with an appeal to the sixty five episodes, two movies and two books.

It's always been a part of 'fanon' than Jamie White, out of all of the Three Js, is the one who is most loyal and most devoted to Quinn. There's nothing in the series that states this is the case; all we have is Daria assigning Jamie to Quinn at the end of "Write Where it Hurts". I found Jamie's sudden noticing of Daria through Jane's painting a bit implausible, but that's more a matter of personal taste that it is me trying to build an argument against such a thing happening...even though if Jamie had seen the "Foxy Daria" at the end of "Quinn the Brain" he might have dropped Quinn a few years earlier. (Hmm...Jamie falling in love with Daria...now that would be an Iron Chef!)

Aside from the "fanon vs. canon" argument, I'm never happy with any scene where Daria cries. In my opinion, Daria holds her emotions in. I've always cast a jaundiced eye towards any scene where Daria lets the tears flow; to me it seems as if the writer doesn't know how to write a moving scene and uses Daria's tears as an emotional shorthand. "See, we know X affected Daria deeply...because she's crying!" ("...and crying is something that all females do!") But once again, my interpretation and the interpretations of others may very.

At the end of the story, we get a little too much information regarding what's going on in Jake's mind and Helen's. Once again, "show, don't tell". I'm never a fan of entering the mind of a character and writing out long prose paragraphs...it's an act of didacticism, of saying, "and now, this is what Jake believes, so listen up". All I could think of while reading Jake's thoughts about his daughter leaving was the real lack of closeness between Jake and his daughters. Jake has to realize that he's been an absent figure in his daughters' lives, and I think he'd be feeling a lot more regret than is let on by the author.

The question is also begged: "if Mrs. Blaine can hear just fine, and can write well enough to keep a diary, then why does she need someone to read to her?" It would probably have been better just to have Daria and Mrs. Blaine chat, although I can believe that Daria would make use of Mrs. Blaine as an editor for her stories.

(* * *)

I'll wrap up "The Last Summer" by noting that I liked the use of one of the plot components at the very end of the story. I probably won't be reading "Falling Into College" -- it doesn't seem to be my type of story; nothing wrong with that. I hope, however, that Mr. Lobinske made use of the Blaine diaries at some point in his future work.

I also hope that he addressed that whole Jamie thing. And hey, if Daria's not hanging around Lawndale High anymore, well, there's always Stacy Rowe....

All One or the Other

Finished reading: Last Summer #6 - "It Was Your Idea"

I'm going to be taking a break from blogging for about a week so that my wife and I can travel a bit. Undoubtedly, you might have had your suspicions that the blog might be abandoned, to be left a shell of itself like Fortress CINCGREEN.

Part of that feeling is that I'm "written out". Right now, I have three writing projects going on. Two involve baseball message boards for which I write. The other involves this blog, and it seems I try to juggle these many balls but one always comes close to hitting the floor.

Furthermore, there's so much I want to do. My wife introduced me to Helium...I suspect that she'd like me to earn a little money from all this time spent in front of the keyboard. In addition, there are multi-player baseball leagues that sound interesting.

Oh Daria Fandom! You are such a fickle mistress and I am such a fickle suitor! Should we get married, or should I start seeing other people?

(* * *)

Anyway, back to "The Last Summer Series" and "It Was Your Idea", the most recent installment.

When we return to Daria and Jane, they are planning their summer "road trip" to the beach. Jane reminds Daria that one of the conditions in going is that Daria has to wear a bathing suit. The Morgendorffers say goodbye, Trent says goodbye, and Daria and Jane are on the road.

While driving, Jane asks Daria if she should take a job as an assistant to Ms. Defoe at Lawndale High, just for the fall semester. Jane's parents can help pay for college, but they didn't plan for it so money is tight all around. Daria concurs, and has a secret of her own to share wtih Jane -- she doesn't plan on returning to Lawndale during the summer, planning to spend every summer in Boston and working on a double major. Jane wonders if Daria is trying to cut her parents off, but Daria states that her parents are good people but she needs distance.

The two arrive on the beach and eat at a local pizza shop. Jane asks what Daria will do if they meet any "interesting" guys and Daria promises to remain civil "if they show signs of higher brain function".

Daria and Jane commit to wearing swimsuits (Daria says she feels half-naked and Jane says that she feels three-quarters-naked), and prepare to hit the beachfront. As Daria and Jane bring their beach belonging, two college-age students watch Daria and Jane unloading their car. The two begin to walk over and Jane thinks the guys should be encouraged -- and not frightened off by Daria. Daria promises to hold her tongue.

The two introduce themselves as Will and Greg. Greg pairs up with Jane and Will keeps Daria company. Daria at least admits that Will is interesting to talk to. As Daria and Jane go for a swim, Will and Greg decide to surprise them by setting up lunch for the four of them before they get back.

The four of them visit a cheap beach shop and Daria and will begin swapping one-liners regarding the kitchy items. Greg offers on behalf of both Will and himself to take everyone out to dinner.

While dressing for an informal dinner, Daria wonders if she and Jane know what they're doing. Jane figures that as none of the guys has hinted at playing grab-ass, they should be all right. Daria is forced to admit that she thinks Will is cute.

The four go off to eat seafood and exchange pleasant chat. At the end of the night, Jane gives Greg a light kiss, which Greg returns. Daria figures that Will will expect the same, but at the same time, concedes that he's been a nice guy. She gives Will a kiss, which actually surprises Will.

As Daria and Jane depart, we learn that Greg and Will are in the same situation that Jane and Daria are. Greg has been trying to convince Will to let himself have a good time, and Will admits that he's pleased with the results.

At the end of the night, Daria comes to the same conclusions. She learns that "not everyone's a bastard or a lecherous pervert". Furthermore, the night convinces Daria to have no further regrets about breaking up with Tom. She knows that Tom wasn't the right guy, and that there are a lot of fish in the sea (so to speak).

The two return home, and Daria tells her family about the trip and about Greg and Will as well. Daria admits to Quinn that the guys bought them dinner, and teases Quinn about helping her pick up guys. Quinn sasses back that Daria hasn't seen a pro do it, and Helen wonders that Daria and Quinn seem to be getting along a lot better...and wonders how powerful Daria and Quinn could be if they cooperated.

(* * *)

All and all, this was an interesting story. The main theme is an important one, namely that all men in the Daria universe aren't crazy (DeMartino, Jake), wimps (O'Neill), unreliable (Trent), lechers (Upchuck), spoken for (Mack), stupid (Kevin) or lying, cheating bastards (Tom). Mr. Lobinske decides to do this by comparing and contrasting Greg and Will with Jane and Daria. Will and Daria have a lot of similiarities -- down to even wearing glasses -- but Lobinske doesn't shove the similarities in our face. A younger (and less talented) author would have made Will a carbon copy of Daria ("Daria with a penis") and Greg would have probably been an art major or something. Luckily, Mr. Lobinske spared us that.

There are a couple of flaws in the story, but not major ones. There's a section where the writer devotes a paragraph to both Daria and Jane describing how each has changed during the run of the series. The problem is that the paragraphs are so close to each other -- and so alike in format -- that the paragraphs seem more exposition than explanation. This is a part of the story where "show, not tell" would have been a good idea.

The other flaw is a part of the story where it is implied -- I think -- that Daria might still like Trent. The problem is that the dialogue is so awkward that I don't know what the writer was intending. I think Mr. Lobinske tried to hint at a Daria/Trent attraction, but his attempt to foreshadow turned to pure obfuscation. I could be completely wrong about that, and after reading that paragraph, I wouldn't be surprised if I was.

There is one section of the story worth a more detailed discussion because it brings up an interesting point. Daria mentions that she plans on not returning to Lawndale during the summers, and Jane zeroes in to ask whether Daria is trying to keep her family at arm's length, to sort of cut them out of her life.

During the run of the show, Daria's personality vis-a-vis her family has been one of two sides of a coin. Either Daria is proudly obstinate, enjoying the chaos her attitude brings, or wounded and retreating in self-pity. The final regular episode of the series, "Boxing Daria", took this to its logical conclusion with Daria literally retreating to the psychological comfort of a large cardboard box. At the end of the episode, however, Daria is able to abandon the cardboard box, to actually hug Jane impulsively, and to admit to her parents that at times, she's been a pill:

Daria - It's not the fight. It's the sudden realization that all these years, when I thought they were torturing me, in reality I was the one torturing them.

Jane - First of all, I don't think it's either-or. From where I'm sitting, you and your folks have done a great job of torturing each other. And second of all, you mean to tell me you don't know when you're busting them?

Daria - Yes, I know when I'm busting them. What I didn't realize is what a pain I've been when I thought I was just being me.

Jane -- and Daria -- are right. The two sides have been tormenting each other over the years, with Helen trying to drag Daria into "proper" behavior and Daria trying to drag the family into chaos. At the end of the episode, both side seemed to come to grips with their dysfunctions and have decided to stop dragging, so to speak. I don't know if I'll ever read "Falling Into College" -- as someone said about something else, "the reason I don't read anyone else's work is that it gets in the way of the work I want to write" -- but I hope that Daria can be herself and still be aware of how she affects other people. Trust me, Daria fans, it doesn't have to be all one or all the other.

Tattoo Yoo

Finished Reading: Last Summer #5 -- "Comforting a Confused Soul"

If there's anything I don't like, it's the feeling of being tied down to a routine. Last week, that same-old, same-old feeling began to settle in and I took a nice week's vacation from blogging.

This is also why I try to avoid doing fan fiction reviews by request, or even beta-reading. What was formerly fun becomes a chore, some sort of social obligation and just one more item on my list of many things to do. Now that I'm a bit more refreshed, hopefully I'll be reading some more fan fiction.

(* * *)

Aside: two nights ago, I had my second part of the sleep study. This time, they hooked me up to the CPAP machine ("continuous positive airway pressure"). The idea being that with the right amount of air pressure, my airways could be held open and my brain could finally get some oxygen.

I was hooked up to a nasal CPAP. This meant that I would have to keep my mouth closed during the night. I've probably been breathing through my mouth at night for thirty years; it was such an adjustment that they had to give me a sleeping pill to get me to sleep.

Five hours later, the attendant came to wake me up. I knew I had dreamed, but didn't remember much about sleeping. It wasn't so much sleeping as though someone had stolen six hours off the clock. That morning, I was almost hyperalert with the oxygen infusion I had had the previous night. My conclusion? If this CPAP thing works out all right, I'm going to have to go off the caffeine.

(* * *)

And now, back to fan fiction.

We're on part five of seven from the Last Summer series, "Comforting a Confused Soul." We arrive with Jane planning to pain a picture of the entire Morgendorffer clan in formal attire. Her original plan was to only paint Daria in formal attire, but the fact that Helen and Jake remembered Jane's first major sale led Jane to change her plans and commemorate the whole family.

Trent and Jane talk about the fact that Jane has purchased real food. It's certainly something that Trent isn't used to. Trent notices the reference photos for Jane's painting project and Jane states that aside from Trent, the Morgendorffers are the closest thing Jane has to a family.

Daria and Jane meet at the Good Times Chinese Restaurant. Daria presents Jane with a copy of her new story, "Depth Takes a Holiday". Jane suggests that Daria and Jane take a road trip to commemorate the final summer before college.

When Jane returns home, she finds her mother Amanda in the kitchen. Amanda is puzzled about the food in the kitchen. Jane has some residual bitterness about Amanda's absences and asks if Amanda even remembers how old she is. Amanda knows how old Jane is...and asks if Jane should be graduating soon. This sends Jane into a rage -- it's been six weeks since Jane graduated -- and Jane storms out of the house.

Jane goes on a jog to clear her mind. After fending off Upchuck, she bumps into Axl, the local tattoo and piercings man. Axl knows quite a bit about the Lanes, given Trent's musings to Axl at the tattoo parlor. Axl manages to point out to Jane that Jane and Trent are more adult than Amanda and Vincent are and that Amanda must care if she managed to attend the ceremony of Daria's faux "honor society".

Jane returns home to find Amanda working at the kiln. She shares with her mother the fact that she was hurt that her parents never showed up during the graduation at Lawndale. Amanda answers that she didn't think Jane would attend her own graduation, as none of her brothers or sisters attended theirs. Jane answers that it would have been nice if Amanda and Vincent had at least checked, and gives Amanda credit for showing up at the Honor Society. (Vincent, apparently, isn't comfortable at social occasions.)

With college imminent, Jane asks Amanda if the Lanes can help her out financially. As it turns out, Jane had forgetten to tell Amanda that she was now interest in attending BFAC. Jane is slightly embarrassed, but Amanda tells her daughter that the Lanes will indeed be able to provide some financial help for Jane while she is in college.

Jane gathers the Morgendorffers together to reveal the finished painting. She tells them that the Morgendorffers have provided closeness that was missing from her own family, and presents the painting as a "thank you". Daria gives Jane a simple "thank you" with a hug, and Jane knows that her gift was the right thing to do.

(* * *)

While reading "Comforting a Confused Soul," I was very wary of Mr. Lobinske's reputation for writing sad but upbeat stories. The problem is that once you get a reputation as a certain writer, it's hard to shake it. If this were a story by The Angst Guy, I would probably be waiting for Trent's car crash or Amanda dying in a freak kiln accident.

So my sugar sensitivity was set on high during my reading. However, there are no sugary moments to "Comforting a Confused Soul" (except at the end, and I'll get to that). Jane's interaction with Amanda is pretty much true to canon. Amanda is sort of off on her own tangent, and Jane holds her resentment in until she has a rare outburst. The maddest I've ever seen Jane was after she visited Tom in "Dye! Dye! My Darling!" and Jane's outburst isn't even at this level.

It was a smart touch that Jane finds good advice from Axl, of all people. Axl, being familiar with Trent, would probably know as much about the Lanes as anyone. I'm sure Trent has unloaded on Axl through many a tattoo, although I suspect Trent was probably talking about his relationship with Monique more than talking about his little sister. It also fits into the meme that independent shopkeepers like Axl are probably a lot smarter about things than they let on. (Trent would have never gotten that kind of attention at Tattoo-Mart.)

And now, on to the ending...the ending was probably my biggest problem with the story. No, there's nothing particularly out of character about how the scene "plays" -- Daria's simple "thank you" and hug are spot-on canon, as Daria has never been comfortable with verbal expressions of her emotions.

Rather, my problem is with the concept of the Morgendorffers being a surrogate family for Jane. Granted, Jane has a good relationship with the Morgendorffers. She's probably shared so much with Daria that Daria seems like a sister and Jane probably knows more about the Morgendorffers than any other family in Lawndale, thanks to Daria's tale-telling. We also have evidence that the Morgendorffers are at least sympathetic to Jane -- they let Jane stay with them during the events of "Lane Miserables" and certainly cared about Jane's well being during "Daria!" when both Daria and Jane were threatened by a hurricane. But I don't think that the Morgendorffers have really gone out of their way to bring Jane into their family circle. I don't think that it's supported in canon. No, I'm not a prescriptivist, I just don't even see an interpretation where you could conclude that Jane's relationship with the "non-Daria" Morgendorffers is as close as she thinks it is.

Maybe Jane is just projecting, due to the sorry state of her own family. I don't know. If Jane was really that close to the Morgendorffers, then wouldn't she seek advice from Helen instead of from the guy who runs the piercing parlor?

Anyway, that's just me. Two more "Last Summer" stories to review, and then on to something else.

Assigned reading: Five Geek Social Fallacies. Determine how these fallacies relate to the state of relationshps in Daria fandom.

Honor Society

Finished reading -- Last Summer #4 -- "Out of the Frying Pan"



No new news here, except that it's Valentine's Day! My wife got me a card that reminded me of Love and Rocket, one of our favorite Futurama episodes. It's a card with a picture of candy hearts on the front. Ruth wrote the quotes, "These candies are chalky and unpleasant!" and "You leave me breathless!", two of my favorite quotes.

I got her a much more standard card, with a plastic bowl (hand decorated) filled with Sugar Babies and Junior Mints. The above just goes to show you -- you don't need to buy diamonds for someone to show your love and appreciation.

(* * *)

The Fashion Club are doing a post-mortem on Daria's appearance in a ballgown. Daria interrupts to let Quinn know that she'll be at Jane's for dinner.

At the Pizza Prince, Daria shares news with Jane that she got a second rejection, meaning that she can now call herself a writer. The two meet a dejected Mack, who states that he had planned to have lunch with Jodie, but Jodie's father continues to overload Jodie with work. Daria and Jane decide to liberate Jodie from her drudgery.

When Daria returns, she finds that her latest Melody Powers story will be published in Literature in Action. The family decides to celebrate Daria's success. Daria, however, still has her mind on helping Mack.

Mack shows up the next day and Daria presents her plan. Daria will have a dinner party at the Morgendorffer's to celebrate Daria's success. Jodie will be invited and Mack and Jodie can spend time together there.

Unfortunately, the plan fails. Mr. Landon has Jodie in charge of catering a business dinner, and Jodie can't get out of the obligation. Daria has Helen call Mr. Landon, who hears that Daria has become a speechwriter (apparently, she wrote the speech for Helen to honor Carol Murphey). Mr. Landon concludes that it would be good for Jodie to "network" with a speechwriter and lets her attend the party.

After the dinner, a new plan is formulated. An honor society for past LHS graduates will be created. Jodie, Daria, Jane and Mack all have accomplishments that would qualify them to be inaugural members. The catch is that unbeknownst to all, no real work will be planned at any of the 'meetings' -- the society is just an excuse to give Jodie free time.

With the help of Carol Murphy, and recommendations from the Lawndale Faculty, the Lawndale High School Student Leaders Honor Society is formed.

The only drawback is that the society requires a formal inauguration in everyone's Sunday best to make it look convincing. Daria is given the presidency as the price to Murphey for setting the whole thing up. The inaugural members make the most of their time...by watching "Sick Sad World".

(* * *)

I enjoyed reading "Out of the Frying Pan". It wasn't as eyeopening as "Shifts in Mood", but it was a rather pleasant piece.

One of the problems of reading any work of fiction is 'hitches' -- can you suspend your disbelief enough and be drawn into the author's universe? Daria getting published by Literature in Action might be a hitch to some readers, but the low-key ceremony indicates that this is not the same as being published in "Esquire". It's much more realistic for Daria to have her work published in minor journals first.

Perhaps the only hitch of the story is why Daria would go so far out of her way for Jodie, an acquaintance at best, but even that hitch is negligable -- who wouldn't have sympathy for someone in Jodie's situation? Daria managed a realistic solution to a problem.

(This leads me to conclude that the reason Andrew Landon keeps Jodie so busy is that he doesn't want her to have free time. Why? Because he hates Mack Mackenzie, and doesn't want Jodie to have any spare time to hook up with him. It's a good excuse for him to keep her away from him. Now, all he has to do is solve the problem of Jodie resenting him for the rest of his life, and everything will work out perfectly.)

Cynicism and Sarcasm

Finished reading: "Last Summer #3 -- Succeeding In Your World"

On this side of the internet, nothing new but work, followed by more work. I worked about 12 hours on Wednesday and 16 hours on Thursday. Then, I spent the weekend recovering. Looking very much forward to a visit to Toronto soon.

(* * *)

And now, on to LS3....

Interesting items arrive in the mail for the Morgendorffers. Daria gets a mail from Aunt Amy, who has sent her a "dorm survival kit" with several useful items for her first semester at Raft. Meanwhile, Helen gets a registered letter from the State Bar Association, leading Helen to conclude that it can't be good news.

After Helen reads the letter, Daria is pulled from a visit at Jane's for an important dinner table announcement: the State Bar Association will be presenting a Lifetime Achievement Award to Carol Murphey, and Helen has been asked to present the award. Furthermore, Helen wants the family to be there. While Quinn protests, Daria knows that Murphey is a long-time woman's rights activist and wants to meet her. Helen tells Daria that she'll have to be in a formal gown for the occasion.

Quinn wants to help Daria with the choice of the gown, but Daria declines. Quinn has worked hard to bring her grades up, showing that she has at least the potential to succeed in Daria's world. Most of Quinn's success has been unaided, and now Daria feels that she needs to made an independent venture into the world of fashion -- or at least, enough of one to be passable. Quinn at least gives Daria some starting advice: stick with a classic look.

Jane is bribed with some caffeine to go with Daria gown-shopping. Daria remembers the awful time she had getting a bridesmaid's dress fitted ("I Don't"), but the seamstress states that the other seamstress was obviously a hack.

Daria manages to "clean up" well, according to Quinn. Jake is brought to tears at Daria's new apparance and Helen and Quinn are impressed.

At the presentation, Daria finds herself surrounded by college age and older men. Daria manages to verbally fend them off, winning admiration from Carol Murphey, who happens to be watching.

(* * *)

I didn't care as much for this story as the one before it. It was more aggravating than illuminating.

Daria's attempts to succeed in "Quinn's world" were fairy down-to-earth -- Daria didn't become a model instantly like in a Nemo Blank story -- but having Jake crying over his supposedly-now-beautiful little girl made me conclude that the author was fishing for an "awwww" moment. It's a bit cloying.

More annoying was the interplay between Carol Murphey and Daria. Murphey's first line is "Cynicism and Sarcasm, not just a philosophy, a way of life." Undoubtedly, this line is supposed to echo Aunt Amy's line in "I Don't" that sarcasm is "a great way to deal". However, Amy was speaking about sarcasm in the context of her life growing up with Helen and Rita. Sarcasm, in Amy's case, was a great way to deal with her sisters who never listened to her anyway.

As for Murphey's leaden line, I don't think I've heard of anyone speak of 'cynicism' or 'sarcasm' as capital-letter philosophies, except when talking about the ancient Greeks. As for Sarcasm (capital-S), I went to Wikipedia and found Dostoyevsky's line of sarcasm being "the last refuge of modest and chaste-souled people when the privacy of their soul is coarsely and intrusively invaded." I think a real philosophical discussion regarding sarcasm and its uses might have helped the reader give more credit to Murphey.

I believe Dr. Lobinske was trying to figure out a way to make Murphey cool, and tried way too hard to cast her as Aunt Amy. Oddly enough, it had the effect of dumbing down Murphey's intelligence instead of giving me an appreciation for her work as a lawyer and activist.

There is a small ending scene which falls flat. I won't give it a way, but it probably would have made more sense for the protagonist to ask if Helen had a third daughter (say, Veronica)?

(* * *)

Anyway, onward and upward to "Out of the Frying Pan". The teaser -- "To what extremes will Daria, Jane and Mack go to give Jodie a break from her summer activities?" -- sounds promising.

Radio Friendly Mood Shifter

Finished reading: Last Summer #2 -- "Shifts in Mood"

Well, we now have the news from the MD. The diagnosis is "moderate sleep apnea", diagnosed by waking up in mid-sleep an average of, oh, about 25 times an hour.

So what are the options?

1. CPAP, a continuous positive airway pressure machine. Almost one hundred percent effective if used correctly.
2. Orthodontic appliance. Less than fifty percent effective. costs about $1000 to make.
3. Throat surgery. Also less than fifty percent effective.

Obviously, he recommends the CPAP. Which means (unfortunately) that I get to have another sleep study on the 20th, this time with the CPAP machine. I'll meet with the MD on March 11th for the results of the second study.

(* * *)

Now, back to the fun.

"Last Summer #2" picks up from "Last Summer #1". Daria is still trying to figure out what went wrong with her relationship with Young Thomas. She goes back to her diaries in a hope of reconstructing the relationship.

However, she bumps into a line from Trent (after the Morgendorffer kitchen got scalded in "Fire! Fire!") that as a musician, Trent was "very sensitive to shifts in mood". She remembers that Trent steered Daria to Jane to talk to even when Jane didn't want to talk after Tommy Sherman's death ("The Misery Chick").

This poses a question. If Trent was so perceptive regarding Daria's feelings, and if he was one of the first to note that she and Tom had feelings for each other, then how could he have missed Daria's crush on her? Maybe he didn't, and Daria decides to call Trent over to find out more....

(* * *)

"Last Summer #2" is rather different from "Last Summer #1". LS1 could be seen as a setup-punchline type of story -- Daria is faced with an ugly problem and manages to spin the situation around so it suits her -- but LS2 turns out to be an examination of Daria and Trent's entire relationship with each other, with the series over and both of them willing to talk face to face.

I know that Dr. Lobinske (*) is criticised for happy endings. Well, I suppose you need a happy ending every now and then. "Last Summer #2" is one of those compelling reads that you can't take your eyes off of. It might be a bit hard to imagine two people having a conversation like this, but not Daria and Trent. Daria, who believes in honesty and Trent, who is the kind of person completely open to self-examination, almost guileless. You almost wish you were at the table listening in to them.

The only criticism I might have is the appearance of Helen, who didn't have much of a part in the tale and really wasn't needed at the end. However, this is one of those times where one doesn't have much pointed commentary, except to say "good job" and look forward to reading the next segment.

----

(*) -- Damn you, Angst Guy. Now you've got me self-conscious.

Time Management

Finished reading: Last Summer Series #1, "Saving One Last Summer"

This is going to be a very short post. Nothing is going on at work, and I ended up reading a very short story. Tomorrow, I learn the final, horrible, unspeakable truth about my sleep apnea study. I'll tell you about it later.

(* * *)

With the PPMB in its wonderful state of board-crashing wonkiness, I have decided to take on Richard Lobinske's "Falling Into College".

I believe that I've actually read at least FIC #1, and I might have reviewed it somewhere, but I honestly can't remember where. Therefore, if the old review clashes with the new review, take the new review instead. I'm not a politician; like any other human being, I'm allowed to change my mind on things.

As I visited the hopefully-to-be-reactivated Outpost Daria, I learned something I didn't know -- there was a "prequel" series to "Falling Into College" called "The Last Summer Series". The series deals with that few months between Daria's graduation from Lawndale High School and her first days at Raft.

Since the story's not long, I'll sketch it out for you. Daria wakes up some short time after her final graduation speech at Lawndale High. However, she realized what happened the summer before -- Helen corralled Daria into taking an awful job that she didn't really like. True enough, when Daria walks downstairs, Helen is there to remind Daria of the importance of having a summer job. Mr. O'Neill is needing volunteers for the "Okay to Cry" Corral and...well, the rest doesn't need to be said.

The problem? How can Daria find a job that she wants to do instead of ending up at "Nut World" or some other awful place?

Lobinske solves the problem very simply, almost too simply. Without reading any of his work, Lobinske has mentioned that he's aware of criticism that things go too easily for Daria and company in his stories. And indeed, it appears that Daria and Jane have it easy at the end....

...until you read the end. Daria has found a way to beat the system. I had to chuckle at the ending.

(* * *)

P. S. It turns out I get a credit for giving critical suggestion. I didn't remember doing such a thing. I'll certainly take no credit for Dr. Lobinske's work, but maybe I can bask in Dr. Lobinske's glory. As Homer would say, "Mmmmmm...glory!"