Porthole

June... she'll change her tune?

I can only hope. May has alternated between nice and nasty. We need the rain. The snow was amusing.

I need to get out of here.

At least the bridge is open. When they start working on the other side it'll be quite noisy again... maybe worse as it'll be time to keep windows open.

Trying to interact with fellow bloggers:

198. osirantinous
199. cathartes02
200. judithd
201. reamie
202. eager2write
203. marvinschrebe
204. dunkelhetstern
205. elle

In response to 30dbc prompt, as related to Robert: "From Thai BL TV series:

1. Use expressions and body language. I don't know Thai but the acting and camera work was riveting. Chemistry between the main stars is crucial. Ohm/Singto and Mix/Earth are mathmatically 1+1=3.
2. Break cliches. In these series it's 'toxic girlfriend', 'homophobia', 'engineer', 'school/university setting'. Almost everyone is wealthy. "Lovely Writer" pokes at most of these.
3. Setting matters. "1000 Stars" was mostly in the hills of northern Thailand. "Together with me" has the canals of Amphawa. One gets tired of the same interior sets commonly used in most series. At least "He's coming to me" had the Chinese cemetery.
4. Music matters. "1000 Stars" was incredible. The score of "He's coming to me" was moving and the use of 1990s music appropriate to the story.
5. "He's coming to me" is basically a mystery. Many watchers wanted more 'hot and steamy' scenes but the story evolved as did the characters. Cross-genre really helped move the story along.
6. Humor is nice unless it's totally juvenile and/or mocking like in "Fish in the sky" or the depiction of the parents in "Together with me". The parents in "Lovely Writer" were believable. The humor in "1000 Stars" was good-natured and natural.
7. The BL genre is exploding at the moment. Off-screen the actors are suffering from their fans false and inappropriate expectations. Not adhering to cliches can hurt a series. Not adhering to a character can hurt an actor.

What then am I learning? Layer your story. Know your characters so well that they come alive. Small gestures and interactions can say a lot. 2 main characters don't exist in a bubble. We all have supporting actors in our life. Make the setting memorable in some way. Use all the senses. Food works well in "1000 Stars" and "He's coming to me". Add music, poetry, natural or human sounds even in writing a story. Evoke emotions. Recurring images, sounds, sights... add a certain lyricism and structure when they are chosen well.

42 degrees and raining at 12:33 am.

I ventured out. Scored meatloaf and 1% milk. Walked across the new bridge. The walking path is 4 meters wide. It's ab-fab wonderful. It will be even better for viewing paddle boats, rafters, surfers, kayakers and the sunset.

52 at 2 pm. A few stray rays. Same at 5:37. Clearing and 55.

Scored roast beef sandwiches!

Facetime with Bryan. Showed him my uncut hair. He was with me in San Carlos the last time it was cut. Nov. 2019.

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