|
END NOTES
Thank you
to those of you who put up with my lack of updates and your
patience with the story. I could not have sustained this story for this long if
it wasn’t for all the kind
comments- you always made my day, whether it was a simple ‘hello’ asking
when I was to update next or comments on the latest chapters- thanks for keeping
with it and sticking through, you have no idea what it means.
Girly, I know you’re reading this- thanks for being the first to give
me feedback on the chapters, your contribution has not gone unnoticed.
I had a great time developing Minna, although by the end of it you’re
wondering ‘how on earth?’ (Hehehehe…) It was a spur of the moment thing I
did in the middle of an Australian summer night (15th January 2001,
to be exact), four days before I was meant to fly out to Hong Kong- I thought
all my ideas would have flown out the window by the time I got back, but luckily
they didn’t, and I think the last say… twenty chapters (last? LOL!) were
truly inspired by some incredible songs (Gunning Down Romance, Everywhere), a
couple of situations I witnessed and a lot of stress due to finals (I had to
release it all somewhere!)
A couple of quick notes though:
Finished: 15th January 2002- I know my last update
was later than this, but I had actually finished on the day I started a year
ago… spooky, eh?)
Final
update:
22nd January 2002
Where
did the character of Minerva come from? Minerva is an extreme version of me… I’m
extremely cynical when it comes to the male species, and some of the detriments
(well, not some, probably most, LOL) of Minna herself come from things I’ve
experienced… this was an avenue for me to lay the conceptions I had about men
to rest… um… I don’t know whether it worked, but I had a ball developing
Minerva!
So
have I actually met AJ? Hell….
NO! If I did, I think I’d be, one: a total bitch- he’d be wondering what’s
up my ass- I’d be all coy (not in a good way, either). Besides, I couldn’t
have put Minerva and AJ in some of the situations I did if I had met him- it’d
be way too weird! Can you imagine if he read some of the stuff we wrote out
there- wooh hoo, I’d be scared!
Is
there going to be a sequel? Well… I don’t know… I got inspired by the new 112 album, ‘Part
III’ before I had even put up chapter 22… I have written a couple of notes,
started the first chapter or so...but I don’t know- sequels always seem to be
so tacky, I’m afraid it might ruin the actual story line- what do you think? Email
me with your answers, or better yet, sign the guestbook!
Some things which you probably missed
(probably cos most of it’s ‘Australianised’ or ‘Brit’)
- The
title of the story ‘When Words Just Aren’t Enough’ is a
play on some of the lyrics of Coco Lee’s ‘Just No Other
Way’-
‘…baby
don’t just say you love me/ ’cos words are not enough/ I wanna see it
in your eyes/ believe it deep inside…/
I
spent about a week tossing between that and ‘Don’t Call Me Baby’ by
Madison Avenue, which is kinda where the summary came from.
- Minerva
was one of the most important goddesses in ancient Roman mythology. She was the favourite child of Jupiter, the king of the gods. One myth tells of her being born out of Jupiter's forehead, fully grown and dressed in armour. Minerva resembled the Greek goddess Athena and like her was a virgin goddess.
Minerva had a variety of functions. Originally, she represented skill in handicrafts, particularly those associated with women, such as spinning and weaving. Later, Minerva came to symbolize general skill. Still later, the Romans worshipped her as the goddess of wisdom. The owl has traditionally been considered wise because it was the bird of Minerva.
The Romans, who believed that warfare involved the higher mental powers, worshipped Minerva as the goddess of the intellectual aspect of war. Most artists showed her wearing armour and a helmet. Minerva carried a magic shield called the
aegis.
World
Book, 1998
- Minerva
always referred to her father by his name, Lysander. She does
not once call him ‘father’ until the epilogue.
- The
word ‘love’ was never used between AJ and Minerva. The
closest they came was ‘I care’ and “I feel you’
- A
lot of this story was written at three in the morning after I
got home from uni! LOL!
- The
word ‘fuck’ was first used by Minerva, accusing AJ for being
promiscuous
- AJ
and Minerva’s mouths were ‘clean’ of the word ‘fuck’
before Minerva used it- after that, the same word was used to
varying degrees 47 times - wooh hoo, someone’s mouth got a
work out!
- ‘Rosalind’
was inspired by Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It.
-
- ‘Lolita’
was and still is one of the most controversial movies of all
time. It is about a fourteen year old girl engaging in a
sexually charged relationship with a forty year old man; her
‘sugar daddy’ so to say. There are two versions; one made in
the 1940s, and a more recent one, directed by the late Stanley
Kubrick- this one was banned in Australian cinemas after only
being up for two weeks.
- The
‘Rat Pack’ was made up of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin
and I cannot remember who else- Sammy Davis Jnr, I think… The ‘Brat
Pack’ consisted of Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald, Judd
Nelson, Rob Lowe and a few others… based on the movie ‘The
Breakfast Club’.
- Kylie
and Louise are real artists; Kylie Minogue is Australia’s
‘Soapie-turned Pop Princess’ who seems to sell more albums
the less she has on. She’s huge in the UK and Australia loves
her to death- she dated the late Michael Hutchence (INXS),
before he got together with Paula Yates. She was a huge part of
the Sydney Olympics in 2000- she was the older version of
‘Australia’. She did have a hit called ‘Confide in Me’
in 1996.
- ‘Louise’
was part of a UK girl band (either All Saints or Eternal,
something like that!) in the mid 1990’s. She left to pursue a
solo career, but I have no idea whether she was successful…
she did perform at the 1997 Smash Hits Winner’s Poll Party. I
have NO idea whether AJ and Louise got together after the show
or not, that was from my imagination, so don’t go asking about
it! It’s not true.
- The
Backstreet Boys did perform ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s
Back)’ on the 1997 Smash Hits Winner’s Poll Party- AJ’s
pants were about to fall off during the performance; his pact
was too heavy- that is a fact! The Boys
were voted ‘Best Band in the Universe’ by the Brit Public in
both 1997 and 1998. Nick also won for ‘Best Hair’ in 1997.
- I
don’t know whether they appeared on Top of The Pops that year,
or at the same time if they did.
- ‘Hello!’
is a real UK magazine-it’s even spelt that way, right down to
the exclamation mark.
- The
chatroom dialogue and names are not people I speak to- I made
them up, so if you really did come across yours- I’m sorry, I
didn’t know it was real… I don’t go into chat rooms at all
(well, not BSB ones), I do chat on AIM though- sweetsaya101 (Do
I think I’m sweet- hell no! I couldn’t think of an inventive
name, so this is the only one I came up with)
- ‘Stubbies’
is actually an Aussie term for bottled beer; I’m not sure
whether they use it in England- ‘Guinness’ is an Irish beer,
like Foster’s is an Australian beer.
- ‘Fawlty
Towers’ (no, it’s not a typo!) and ‘Men Behaving Badly’
are British sitcoms- whether they are still running in the UK is
another question. Fawlty Towers is a satire, set in a posh
looking hotel in London, and has been on since I remember.
‘Men Behaving Badly’ is… well, just that… men behaving
badly, what else, girls?
- UK
band 5ive broke up late last year (2001)- they did admire the
Boys and did ask for advice in the beginning of their career,
like Irish band Westlife (who thanked the BSB on their first
album – I am NOT kidding, check it out if you get a chance,
there is a brief mention)
- I
don’t know if the rest of the Spice Girls met the Boys, but I
do know at least Emma Bunton met Howie, during the Boys ‘Into
the Millennium’ Tour in 1998-1999.
I
hope I cleared up some of the references in my writing, I know not everyone
knows who Kylie is and stuff, so that’s cool… this is just to give you a bit
more info on who they are.
For
the girls out there, who think like Minerva and act like her in some way-
please don't do it, you'd be alienating yourself from some of the most precious
things only men can teach you (no, I'm not talking about sex!) It's
great to fraternise with your girlfriends, but don't shut out boys all together,
no matter how barbaric they seem, whether they broke your heart or what not- cos
it's not worth it, your making yourself miserable, not them. Show them that you
bounce back as easily as you take the blow, because challenges are what life is
about; dealing with the male species is just one of them.
Now
that I’ve finally finished blabbing-
Thanks
for reading and voting (wwjae won for ‘Best AJ Story’ in both the Dreaming
Awards 2001 & Affectin’ Our Realities’ 2001-2002) once again… you read
all the way to the end, I feel so honoured!

|