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Post by Stuart Ellaway on Jan 16, 2004 10:29:58 GMT -5
Is anybody watching neighbours at the moment? I was wondering what people thought of the Stuart and the life mechanics story line?
For those unaware of the story, Life Mechanics is a seminar programme that uses euphamisms and car analogies to put across what appear to be satanic ideals. Its all about putting yourself first getting 'control of the wheel' and 'tinkering under the hood' to get your 'vehicle' where you want to go on lifes journey.
It all seems fairly obvious stuff dressed up in analogy to make it more accesible. It being a soap opera though means that there is bound to be dark overtones and sure enough its looking like a cult.
Strip away the cult aspects and the fraudulent money making side and it all looks good. The character Stuart however has taken everything to heart and has turned into a monster, it seems he hasn't got the ability to temper the programmes message with common sense. It made me think about whether young satanists are taking a similar approach.
If one puts themselves above all others all the time with no consessions whatsoever then problems can and will occur. Is the message of common sense really being put across enough to people?
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Post by Helen on Jan 19, 2004 11:19:06 GMT -5
You can't beat a bit of tinkering under the hood (hee, hee, hee...sorry.)
I have been on holiday for two weeks so I haven't seen it. But I think I know what you mean. Do you work your breaks from writing around certain programmes like 'neighbours'? That's what I used to do - ha ha!
I'll look out for this storyline now that I'm back and my essays are done.
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Post by Stuart Ellaway on Jan 19, 2004 12:59:42 GMT -5
Welcome back Helen we've missed you.
Actually the way things are going at the moment I wouldn't say I'm scheduling breaks from work at all. More like schedulling work into periods of non work. I am experiencing writers block which is driving me nuts.
But in essence yes i usually get up at 11ish and see to my online games and then try to work between 12 and 1ish. The tv comes on at 1 for the news and then neighbours. I'll normally stay off the computer then until after Countdown finishes.
Neighbours, read and note taking while Doctors is on, watch father Dowling Investigates mmmm Sister Steve, then flick over for countdown.
Sad eh?
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Post by Helen on Jan 20, 2004 14:07:39 GMT -5
I think everyone pretends to work harder than they actually do. My biggest vice is too much television. When the heat was really on to finish the dissertation I knuckled down terrified of not getting it in on time. But there was always time for Neighbours and Eastenders - and Countdown and probably about 50 0ther programs. Can I remember a single conundrum or plotline? Of course not. But I HAD to see them.
In the last house where I wrote my dissertation there were basically only two main rooms so I always had a DVD on the go while I was writing, but with the volume turned down very low. I always played The Ninth Gate, Haxan, A Nightmare Before Christmas, Nosferatu and Rosemary's Baby over and over. They still help me concentrate.
Everyone has their own way. The greatest myth is that you can just sit down in a dead quiet blank office space and just get into it. I just can't do that. I had to have my DVD playing, incense burning and a chocolate bar as a reward when I'd finished. And a steady supply of nice hot tea. Really intellectual work can be a sensual indulgence.
Good luck, I'm sure the block will pass.
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Post by Stuart Ellaway on Jan 20, 2004 19:20:29 GMT -5
Aha yes incense. Thanks for that I'll have to give that a try. Especially since i've been sat here too damn long. It's starting to get a bit ripe here.
At this point I'm ready to try anything so I'll be available for work ASAP.
The trouble with this thesis is that there is no hard deadline. Its not good. My brain just sits there with a I'll do lots of it tomorrow attitude. Many people don't seem to understand and seem to think I can just produce a thesis from my rear. Its quite frustrating.
Stu
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Post by Helen on Jan 21, 2004 13:37:16 GMT -5
What you are doing is so specialised that probably noone except you and perhaps your supervisor (I assume you've got one) will even know what you are talking about and how best to proceed. I don't even know what a thesis, other than a social science one, is like.
Deadlines are a pain in the ass but I find they help me get on with it. I would never be satisfied with any of my work and I would never hand anything up if it wasn't for deadlines. Having a deadline means you hammer out anything half decent just to get it done.
One of my tutors once told me that the best piece of advice anyone ever gave him when he was doing his thesis was 'it is an obstacle, think of it that way, get it out of the way as soon as you can'. I think that for a lot of people it ends up becoming their ouef of knowledge and they work on it with a view to not stopping until it is perfected. But of course it never will be.
The only thing I can think for you to do is to maybe just start writing anything as long as it is slightly related to what you are working on. It could be a mad tangent of some sort - but out of that there may suddenly start to emerge the next part of your work. I f you've got the time, use it like that. If you have no deadline you can afford to waste a bit on stream of concsiousness stuff. I'm almost certain that out of the mess an idea or a path of some sort will start to emerge. And the beauty of a computer is that you can delete it and edit it and so on until you are satisfied.
This ay or may not work for you but it at least might relax you out of the block.
But the worst vice is advice. Despite what I've just said I'd say don't pay attention to anyone else. Most will not understand what you are going through. Ah the price we pay for being great!
All the best, Helen.
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Post by Stuart Ellaway on Jan 21, 2004 15:20:47 GMT -5
I started writing a new chapter today. I realised the one I was working on was going nowhere and I was simply not absorbing the background material. I decided to just write no matter what I was writing on a different subject. It seems to have temporarily shifted the block and I'm working or at least have a plan of action for the week. Hopefully at the end of the week that chapter will be done and I can happily plough on with some more stuff and leave the bad chapter for a while until I'm on a roll.
I know what you mean about advice. Its like a depression spiral the only one that can do anything about it is you.
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Post by Helen on Jan 21, 2004 21:57:17 GMT -5
The more that people advise and act like they know better, the more self-destructive you become, at least that's my reaction because I'm very stubborn. I hate it when someone who doesn't know better thinks they've got grounds to say 'I told you so'. It seems I'd sooner destroy myself than let that happen. The depression spiral, I feel, is all about anxiety over lack of control, and the more people advise you the more you feel they are trying to take away whatever scrap of control you have left. So it's counterproductive to tell someone what to do to make it better. The only one who knows is the depressed one and you are right, they are the only ones who can change things. The worst thing about depression is that few people around you understand it and so they inevitably do all the wrong things.
Sounds like your work problem is getting solved.
I have all this to look forward to in the autumn. Yaay! Why oh why couldn't I have been the kind of person who wants to do something normal?
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