ups and downs . . .

[dbskyler]

So Real Life is not going that well at the moment, which means I've been spending more and more time messing around with TV, videos and the internet as a means of escape / avoidance / procrastination. Although I really do not need any further help in procrastination, being already quite good at it.

On the up side, I've been writing fairly steadily lately, and that's also been an excuse to procrastinate on What I Really Should Be Doing Instead, but a good excuse. It's funny how I can spend an hour watching "Wife Swap" reruns and come out of it with nothing except an hour of aging, but if I spend an hour writing instead, I come out of it feeling productive and energized. At the moment I am working on ficlet #3 for 50ficlets, and this one is crack!fic, which means it really doesn't "go" with my plan for turning the ficlets into one longer story, but that's okay because I'm having too much fun with it to care. It's also 578 words already, and probably almost done except I am still trying to figure out how to end it. But it makes me giggle, which is a good sign. If I still like it once it's actually finished, I think I'll go ahead and post it here as soon as it's done instead of waiting to include it in a later "50ficlets" batch post.

Finally, I've been trying to decide if I should buy the DVD boxset of the specials or not. I'd be getting it mostly for the boxset extras as the only one of the specials that I have any particular desire to own is "Waters of Mars" -- anyone know if the extras are any good? They look good, and I have been in the mood to spend money lately . . .

Comments

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

No clue about the extras on the Specials boxset, sorry. I'm not planning on buying it until it's a reasonable price...

Hooray for crack!fic, says I! And boo to real life being a pain!

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the price here isn't too bad (on sale at Amazon), although if I wait it might go lower . . . I'll have to think about it.

I think the desire to write crackfic is a pretty direct response to RL being a pain, actually. At least it's a healthy coping mechanism, right?

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Amazon prices usually do come down...

I'd say it's a very healthy coping mechanism - and has the added bonus of benefitting everyone! :D

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Amazon prices usually do come down...

True, but it's not bad now. I checked out of curiosity, using a currency converter, and the price over here is 13% cheaper than the price over there. Don't ask me why!

and has the added bonus of benefitting everyone! :D

:D

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Because our DVD prices are an utter rip-off! Which is why I rarely buy brand new DVDs in the shops - they're normally cheaper online, and if I wait, they'll become even cheaper. If I desperately want to see a new film, I'll rent it.

[thisbluespirit]

I'm sorry to hear RL isn't great. That is where writing and LJ sort of things comes in handy - I know the feeling only too well right now. I suppose there has to be something to drive us both to want to write 50 ficlets!

I'm very amsued to hear the next is cracfic and await with anticipation. :-D

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

My only problem is, one of the big RL problems right now is being behind on deadlines, and the writing and the LJ are not helping with that. Well, they are in a "coping" sort of way, but not in a "get going on this you idiot" sort of way. Although I am very much trying to fight the "idiot" feelings, since they never help, but I always seem to fall into that trap of making a bad situation worse by making myself feel horrible over it.

I think the 50 ficlets is a positive outlet, though. One of the nice things about it is the word "ficlet," which makes me feel that I can just toss these off without putting a whole lot of effort and angst into them -- they're for fun! They're writing exercises! I can just play around, and not worry if what comes out isn't any good.

Unfortunately, while that worked well for ficlet #1, I spent more time on ficlet #2 and now #3 is looking like it's in for a major overhaul, because I no longer think it's that funny now that I'm not as sleep-deprived as I was when I wrote it. Rats.

[pitry.livejournal.com]

My only problem is, one of the big RL problems right now is being behind on deadlines, and the writing and the LJ are not helping with that. Well, they are in a "coping" sort of way, but not in a "get going on this you idiot" sort of way. Although I am very much trying to fight the "idiot" feelings, since they never help, but I always seem to fall into that trap of making a bad situation worse by making myself feel horrible over it.

Sigh. Sound familiar. But yeah, you should fight the "idiot" bit, this has nothing to do with being an idiot and (I think?) everything to do with more stress and more deadlines kill your motivation to deal with them, hence making things worse.

(Sorry if this is not the case, I guess this is exactly where I am at the moment so I assume the rest of the world shares the same problem...)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Sigh. Sound familiar. But yeah, you should fight the "idiot" bit, this has nothing to do with being an idiot and (I think?) everything to do with more stress and more deadlines kill your motivation to deal with them, hence making things worse.

(Sorry if this is not the case, I guess this is exactly where I am at the moment so I assume the rest of the world shares the same problem...)

No, actually this is EXACTLY it. That and the fact that when I am feeling extremely stressed and nervous about something, I go into avoidance mode. Sorry that you're sharing that same mental space right now, but at least you know that you are definitely not alone!

[thisbluespirit]

Hmm, yes, know that feeling, too! Oh dear... :-/

Yes, I was finding that useful in the same way, too, although I've had a little more time this week - and a looming ficathon deadline!

Btw, DWM says that the Specials DVD set has some great extras, but is lacking in commentaries for several of the shows, which seems a fundamental omission to me, although it has non-cut down Confidentials for about the first time.

[pitry.livejournal.com]

*RL hugs & chocolate* - what? Chocolate is the solution for everything! Really. :)

And I'm definitely await the crack with anticipation! Good crackfic is a bit like chocolate.

As for the specials DVD - well, I guess it depends what you like. I enjoy all the commentary/ DW Confidential nonsense so having that + full confidentials is a plus. Deleted scenes are always fun although I think this is the first DVD deleted scenes I ever saw when I fully understood why everything was cut... comic con/ video diaries are fun to watch once but there's also a one hour version of the DW at the proms concert, which IMO is worth the whole thing on its own (if you're like me and want the episodes anyway, I mena :))

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

*gratefully accepts hugs and chocolate* Chocolate is indeed always the solution!!

I'm not feeling as good about the crack today, but I'm going to see what I can do to make it funnier . . . I still like the basic idea if I can get it to work.

On the DVD extras, yes I love it all -- commentaries when the people are good at it (and I think DT is extremely good at it), the DW Confidentials and the video diaries. The proms concert sounds interesting, too. As for the episodes themselves, I want to own "Waters of Mars," but "Next Doctor" and "Planet of the Dead" are "maybe I'd watch them occasionally" and "End of Time" is "I will probably never ever ever want to see this again." But maybe the commentary on it would make it worth owning anyway.

[pitry.livejournal.com]

I still like the basic idea if I can get it to work.

Ah, most crack ideas can still be salvaged, even if it takes a while for the execution to be funny. Besides. The middle of the night sort of humour really is the funniest. Some of my favourite jokes are the kind you can't understand unless it's gone 3 a.m.

On the DVD extras, yes I love it all -- commentaries when the people are good at it (and I think DT is extremely good at it), the DW Confidentials and the video diaries. The proms concert sounds interesting, too. As for the episodes themselves, I want to own "Waters of Mars," but "Next Doctor" and "Planet of the Dead" are "maybe I'd watch them occasionally" and "End of Time" is "I will probably never ever ever want to see this again." But maybe the commentary on it would make it worth owning anyway.

Oh, the commentaries ARE real fun. EVEN though they're just for EoT (which, I admit, was a tad disappointing). DT & CT for part 1 (I think with Euros Lyn? *checks* yup - with EL), and part two has DT and John Simm.

Aww, you would never want to watch EoT again? Not even the heart to heart scenes between the Doctor and Wilf?... :( ;)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do still like the crack idea, so hopefully it won't be too hard to figure out how to salvage the story. What I have written right now is mildly amusing (especially at 4 a.m.), but I want better than mildly amusing to go with this idea because I think the possibility is there. Well, hopefully it is. We'll see!

Oh, the commentaries ARE real fun. EVEN though they're just for EoT (which, I admit, was a tad disappointing).

Wait, they didn't do commentaries for the other specials???? Well, at least I have the podcast commentary for "Waters of Mars" (DT, RTD and JG) which was a free and legal download (yay!) and I'm glad DT is on the EoT commentaries. Not, I hasten to add, just because he's the star, or even just because I like him, but because he's damn good at commentaries. Unlike, unfortunately, some of my other favorite DW actors.

Aww, you would never want to watch EoT again? Not even the heart to heart scenes between the Doctor and Wilf?...

True, those scenes were good, and you never know . . . I recently re-watched "Fear Her" and spent most of it going "Oh yeah, this really is as bad as I remember, isn't it?" So maybe four years from now I'll want to re-watch EoT! Or if I still can't stand most of it, there's always the fast-forward button. : )