tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29951307.post115946697796226818..comments2023-04-10T04:24:54.242-04:00Comments on Asian Fun and Then Some: The Curse Of The Perfectionistmai wenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15570452594754186072noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29951307.post-1159534362447763252006-09-29T08:52:00.000-04:002006-09-29T08:52:00.000-04:00I totally agree, if you're going to be a groupie a...I totally agree, if you're going to be a groupie at least it's a writer!! The cool thing about admiring writers is that it's usually genuinely for their talent, versus movie stars where most people admire them for superficial reasons rather than their talent.<BR/><BR/>What a cool experience, if I'm ever in the area I'll have to stop by the museum! :)mai wenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570452594754186072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29951307.post-1159499645414654072006-09-28T23:14:00.000-04:002006-09-28T23:14:00.000-04:00I agree, reading Dostoevsky is a strange, unsettli...I agree, reading Dostoevsky is a strange, unsettling experience. It's like being whacked over the head repeatedly. You know you're being manipulated shamelessly, but you keep coming back for more.<BR/><BR/>I was intrigued by my response to the museum: I gazed and gazed at his hat in a glass case. Usually I don't fetishise famous people's places and possessions, but I was utterly hooked, wandering around rooms he had lived in, seeing things he had seen. Yuk: it makes me sound like a gushing fan. Oh well, if I was going to be anybody's groupie, it probably would be a writer who set me off. But not a dead one??Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29951307.post-1159498662224747752006-09-28T22:57:00.000-04:002006-09-28T22:57:00.000-04:00That's amazing that you're able to let go of your ...That's amazing that you're able to let go of your piece of writing like that! I'm so jealous. I agonize over it and even after I send it out I still revise it and pick at it until I'm so sick of it I don't want to look at it Or submit it anywhere. Argh.<BR/><BR/>That's a Really interesting idea about missing out on starting out at something badly and persevering through it because I never really had much experience with that either. And I'm horrible at persevering through things even now. Like I'll start a yoga class and miss half the classes and never go back, or I'll try to take up training for a marathon and stop or I'll start a scrapbook project and only get halfway. Damn, now I'm seeing an ugly pattern of not finishing things and I think it's because I get frustrated when it's not going well and I just overwhelm myself by having high expectations of doing "perfectly" that I can't take it and give up. I never did sports except cross country in high school, and cross country's easy to get better at, you just keep running. I never really learned a skill either, school, writing, etc. - the things I'm good at - came naturally to me.<BR/><BR/>So, yes, I'm a perfectionist and also have a habit of not finishing things when it's not going well. This has been helpful. Thank you!<BR/><BR/>As for Crime and Punishment, unfortunately I had to put it down for a few weeks because of a couple of Crazy stressful weeks involving deadlines at work, GREs, family health issues, etc. and am just now getting back into it. So far I really like it, it is very heavy stuff. I've never read Russian before (not counting Lolita), so this is my first experience and it's very dark and I really love it. I'm so disgusted by parts of it but I'm so pulled in and morbidly intrigued too. It's great! I can't wait to finish it! That's so cool you went to the Dostoevsky museum. What was it like?mai wenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15570452594754186072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29951307.post-1159496326844029242006-09-28T22:18:00.000-04:002006-09-28T22:18:00.000-04:00I don't think I'm a perfectionist: I just have hig...I don't think I'm a perfectionist: I just have high standards! But not consistently across the board. For example, I'm perfectly happy to do housework in a slapdash fashion, if at all.<BR/><BR/>But I hear you on not wanting to do something unless you can do it really well. My theory is that I missed out on learning something when I was a child: how to start off at something, being really crap at it to begin with, persevere, and over time get better. The examples I'm thinking of that give you this experience are learning to play a musical instrument and playing a sport. Academic pursuits at school always came easy so I don't feel they count.<BR/><BR/>Writing is a peculiar case. Like most people, probably, every single time I believe I could have done it better, but at some point, almost of its own volition, I let go of a piece of writing quite naturally. It's almost as if I need to have my energies/brain space back for the next thing that comes along.<BR/><BR/>Off-topic: how are you going with Crime & Punishment? Powerful stuff. It used to be my favourite Dostoevsky novel, but currently I rank Demons more highly. I went to St Petersburg in 2003 and had a surprisingly good time poking around the Dostoevsky museum (an apartment he used to live in). I don't know why I loved being in that space so much.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com