h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Getting By - A1319177
Author: Speckly - newest groupie of a far from useless Hound. - U226818

I know it's a touchy subject so it this offends anyone I will remove it.

It's good.
Very disconcerting, but very good.
Pin

(You're a Miner, right? I always suspected that the UG was going to have to face up to a How-to-pick-our-own-without-looking-cliquish problem...)

Thank you.

It's always nerve-wracking to share stories that aren't entirely fictional.

The UG has already got one of mine(Game Play), though that predates my minership and in some ways caused it. Lizardy and I already had a micro version of this conversation, though no firm conclusions were reached except that we're not going to vote for each other's work.

The ethics of the subject could profitably be discussed more offsite though.

Anyway, thanks for the kind words.

I had a feeling it might not be entirely fictional.
There are places that imagination doesn't find alone.
You be OK now, yeah?
Pin

(...off-topic, but I'm excited. h2g2 is bristling again. It's been a while; last time I felt it was nearly a year ago when Boots burst in. Now there's you guys, and gaston has showed up again. High hopes)

I have Bi-Polar disorder, something that I'm working on being more honest about and coming to terms with. It's not ever going to go away but it's better now than it's ever been. At the moment I'm fine in all regards . Self Harm is difficult and in times of stress or madness the compulsion is there. I'm pretty good at resisting it now though. Time and Lizards heal all.

Thank you for caring. And I agree...hootoo is a good place to be at the moment, high hopes indeed!

My very own bi-polar bear.

Oh, specklyfisk.

How y'all doing, Pin?

Fatty, lay me on an open wound.

Might nibble a bit though.

My very own bi-polar bear.

Oh, specklyfisk.

How y'all doing, Pin?

Fatty, lay me on an open wound.

Might nibble a bit though.

Knickers! Sorry guys, I'm in error.

Fatty

I don't know where to put myself...
It's a good job I noticed the lizardly intervention before posting some unhelpful maudlin b*ll*cks, yeah?

OK, there's a piece of my own I remembered as soon as I read "Getting By".
I was going to point it out to you, and then the convo turned and it was too heavy, and now maybe it's OK again.
Maybe...
Shall I/shan't I?
Oh bugger this.
In for a proverbial, in for a wotsit...
A1125316

What do you think?

It's a fascinating sketch though disconcerting for a girl from Cardiff with a lizard called Grace I love coincidence.

It's always interesting to see these things from the other side and you've drawn the character beautifuly. Thank you for sharing it.

'Grace' is an ironic pseudonym, as you probably guessed. That one's my take on OCD Tourette's. You know Sachs' "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat"? The Tourette's story in there, also describing a musician, seemed much lighter than my observation, and that was the motivation.

I know a couple of people diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, one very recently and still somewhat tentatively, the other some years back. The latter is stable and generally OK now (in fact has been as long as I've known him) but the former's having a tough time

I re-read 'Game Play', now realising it was yours. It's good, and probably helped by being able to give it a little more context. I don't think it's as good as 'Getting By', or indeed some of your others, though. It isn't as real as this. The difference is the difference between quite memorable and quite unforgettable.

I've always seen 'Game Play' as being rather light, but it's fun, which is something I don't do in prose very often. I'm very fond of 'Getting By', but I make few claims for its literary merit. The story is too bound up with the time I wrote it in for me to be an impartial judge of it. My personal favourite out of my short fiction is Rusalka. I fell in love with it as I was writing it. It's just a pity it's so infernally long.

It's strange that the name Grace seems to be rarely used without irony, in fiction as in life. Lizardy gets much ironic amusement out of her name. As do I - the literal meaning of my name is hope!

Thank you for the compliments, always nice.

Tomorrow I'll read 'Rusalka' again. (OK, I confess I skimmed it first time)
No comment till it's read properly.
And now
Pin
(Bad seal...but if I'm allowed to plug another of mine too, this one's my favourite : A1071622)

Oh, dear lord, don't feel you have to read 'Rusalka'. I'm well aware that it's too long for its own good!

Never apologise for plugging, if we don't advertise ourselves who else is going to do it for us? I'll read it and get back to you.

Sleep well.

Quite.
But I will read it.
You too.

Pin

Hi Speckly, you're writing about something I cannot really grasp, so I don't know what to say except that I could cry for Sara, and Emma. And that you left me with vivid images, despite this being so understated (or so it seemed to me).

*waves to Pin*
I think the how-to-pick-our-own problem is much less when non miners have posted.
Waz

This was indeed very intense. I'm wondering what Sparkly's joy will look like, from here.



I've very carefully not become a Scout for my own peculiar reasons, not knowing all along that I have been serving an ulterior purpose.

I am very tentative her in AWW, because it's not yet clear to me just which of the many cool things we have right now we want to showcase. You may see me here or not, depending on how I feel and whether something grabs me and doesn't let go (like this one).

Thank you Waz, you seem to have grasped it just fine.

I'm glad that the reaction to this one has been so positive. That last scene could be read as condoning or approving of self harm, when it's more complicated than that. I was half expecting to get grilled.

Sea Change... my joy? That would be Rusalka, which Pin so kindly bumped and said nice things about this fine autumn afternoon Thanks Pin.

I admit the ending was unexpected, but I read it as supportive acceptance. No, more than that - a sort of reasurance of value. Wish my vocab was better, the word I want is dodging me. Anyway, supportive acceptance, maybe one of the hardest, but best, things to give.
Waz

I do percieve it as a condonation of self-harm, but I don't have a problem with that. I firmly believe your own body belongs to you only. It's even more apparent, though that there is a strong connection between the characters and they each would know more about what is truly achieveable and necessary than the reader would. Perhaps if the story were part of a larger chain of events, I might start second guessing.