First of all, wow -- isn't that ironic? Two "Into's"...

Anyway.

Yesterday was a very busy day.

As suggested in the comments section of the last entry, based on some thoughts I had previous to the post, and as a result of a conversation I had with Rice that night, I rewrote "Into the Woods". Again. Version 3.1 and 3.2. It's better now.

When I do things like this, I'm not always sure I'm making good art in the end, but I sure am learning a lot, and it's good practice.

So instead of a 4,000-plus-some word story, I have a 6,000-plus-some word story. I've saved it and it's sitting on-site and off-site and down in Campbell, simmering. We'll bring it up again sometime.

There was also much playing with the kids, some parkage (with a much nicer group of children this time), and I watched some of Into the West, which just started arriving from Netflix. It's utterly amazing. I have spent so much of my life reading about many of the events/experiences/practices presented in this miniseries, and it's mind-blowing to see it on screen.

The bison stampedes are incredible. Because so many of the bison were killed off during western expansion, when one does see them (which isn't necessarily an odd occurrence, especially out here) there aren't anywhere near the numbers one used to see in a herd. And the hunt scene? Incredible.

I have also read a great deal about the Sun Dance and a lot of the rituals that occur during this time, and some of that was presented. They did a great job with this part of the story. Wow. I mean really.

The story itself is only sort of holding my attention. I think it's because my mind is so busy analyzing, considering, and trying to remember what I learned from anthroschool instead of following the plot. (Not that the plot is that complex or hard to follow.) And I am constantly focusing on the scenery, dress, language, etc.

And this is so cool: During the Lakota scenes, I occasionally pick up bits of what they are talking about without the help of subtitles. WOOO! I am very excited about that.

Avadore loves this kind of stuff, but it is too violent for him, too heart-wrenching in some places. (And yes, they do have a red shirt issue, only the people aren't wearing red shirts. It's western expansion, you know people will die, and it's not too terribly hard to guess who, though they have killed off a lot more people than I expected.) When he's older.

I really, really, really hope they get into the Ghost Dance stuff and Wounded Knee. Since they're dealing with the Lakota and the story is a mini-series and takes place over a long period of time, I suspect they will.

I am such an anthro geek. Still.

You can take the girl out of anthro, but you can't take the anthro out of the girl.

Besides, I have a personal history invested in this, and that's an incredibly strong tie for me.