The CSB in Hamilton

I'm glad I went to church this morning.

( cut_for_the_protection_of_those_who_don't_care_about_the_Salvation_Army )

Book stuff

I've spent most of my writing time this weekend adding in character journals and adjusting them to fit. I've discovered that there were some pretty big holes in what we all wrote last summer/fall. For instance, there's a huge scene missing where Salvatore offers the bat astrologer a position on his ship. I'm in the midst of writing it right now.

So far, I've converted some three thousand words' worth of journals to chapter format, changing mostly minor stuff but also cutting some things that didn't fit. I've got the bluebooking between Annarisse and Rianna, and also between Annarisse and Salvatore. In total, this section will run at least five thousand more words, maybe a third of which is already written.

This part isn't fun, at the moment. There are "let's get through this to move the plot along" scenes in every book, and I'm in the midst of several. They're necessary down-time after the big climax of sinking the Corrado, but they're boring to write. I should get to the encounter with the bats later this afternoon, though. That will be more fun.

Oh, and if any player-characters have a problem with me using bluebooking you wrote, speak now or forever hold your peace. I've been cutting and pasting like there's no tomorrow. :) You'll all get acknowledgements and such, of course.

Experiment

I've been singing along to my Delovely CD quite a bit the last few days. One song, one that grabbed my imagination and has held on tooth and nail through every distraction for two weeks, is finally percolating through to the point where I can think about it.

The song is called "Experiment", and it's sung on the CD by Kevin Kline. (As an aside, I love his voice in everything I've ever heard him sing, but especially this CD. It's perfect for this type of music.) The prelude section of the song sounds like a lecture given to graduating students, and talks about doing what all good scientists do:

You all have learned reliance
on the sacred teachings of science,
so I hope to life you never will decline,
In spite of philistine defiance,
Do what all good scientists do:

Experiment
Make it your motto day and night,
Experiment
And it will lead you to the light.
The apple on the top of the tree
Is never too high to achieve,
So take an example from Eve,
Experiment!

Be curious
Though interfering friends may frown,
Get furious
At each attempt to hold you down,
If this advice you always employ,
The future can offer you infinite joy
And merriment!
Experiment,
And you will see.


I loved it at first for the breadth of melody and the movement of it. It's just generally a catchy tune. Then I got to thinking about the words (because, as a singer, I'm simply not able to separate melody from lyrics. I sit through band programs at church, singing the hymns that they base the pieces on. It's just what I do.) What the song does is set up science as a new religion. It uses Biblical imagery, mostly in a positive way. The part that made me take notice was the line about Eve. Let me get this straight: I'm supposed to take an example from the person who brought sin into the world and caused the fall from grace of mankind? It sounds like the composer is poking very sly fun at the new religiosity of the scientific community. I love it.

I love the whole song, but that line suggests to me that I'm meant to take it with a grain of salt. Nothing is perfect, and experimentation as a way of life has its own inherent problems, just as living by a rigid moral code brings with it certain issues.

In any case, i can't imagine myself not humming it constantly for the next few weeks, as well. It's engraved on my psyche now, a part of my mental culture, and that's just where I want it to be.

The answers

I'm cutting this for the sake of those who didn't see the meme, and want to guess before they do.

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