I'm setting a new record... Two posts in ONE week!!!! Look at me go! Check out my post at Word Flirts :o)
April
Friday, September 21, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Rad Racer, Here I Come....
Things around here have been nuts. I turned 30 this past weekend. For my birthday, my darling husband got me a Richard Petty Driving Experience.For those unfamiliar, the experience means I go to a race track, probably Lowe's Motor Speedway because it's close, and take a class on how to drive the cars and safety instructions. Then I'm unleashed for 8 timed laps driving a race car around the track. The student with the best time wins! My family even gets to go and watch... To my mother's relief. She's not as happy as me about this gift. :o)
I had joked some time ago that I would be REALLY GOOD at this. And hubby thought it was time I made good on that boast. And to be honest, I'm REALLY excited! This definately ranks in the top 3 best B-day presents ever.
How about you? What's your most favorite present ever?
April
Monday, September 03, 2007
So Refreshing....
This labor day has been quite refreshing for me. After weeks of not getting to even crack open my wip, I not only opened it and renewed my relationship with its characters, I even added 5500 words! YAY!
It feels wonderful to get somewhere. Anywhere. And I'm sure my poor characters feel the same.
Who knows what the next week will hold. I have a ton scheduled, so I may not get much more added. But at least I have it percolating in the old noggin'.
How about you? How's your writing going?
April
It Has Started...
I'm not the tomboy I used to be. And even then, I played most neighborhood sports in my plastic high heels. But the one thing I have yet managed to release from my childhood is college football.
I live south of the good ole M-D line and here, college football rules the fall. And this weekend marks the beginning of the fanatical season.
We used to have season tickets. Back when the football season actually felt like football weather because we had to take sweaters to games. But anymore it's sweltering. Which made letting our season tickets go not so bad. My dear hubby gets press passes and watches the game from the sidelines... A little too close to the action for my blood. And he's willing to give up those passes a couple of games each season so I can go and we can sit together.
But there's more to games here than three and a half hours of watching guys butt heads. College football is a culture. The week before a game, people with RVs more expensive than our house begin arriving at specially designated parking areas. They set up their 56 inch satellite TVs which show pregame shows from the side of the RV while crowds of tailgaters gather near and their TEC Bar-B-Ques in preparation for gameday.
If a game begins at 7PM, tailgating will start as early as 9 or 10AM. But the average fan starts just after noon. Yes, that's almost 7 hours before the game even starts. And we're talking HUGE spreads. You'd think people were storing up food for a famine.
Not to mention the cost of tailgating spots. Some parking spaces sell for as much as $20,000 a season. And then there are condos and special tailgating units selling anywhere from $250,000-$500,000. You at least get ownership of the units, but that's still pretty expensive for a couple of hours enjoyment each weekend. But hey, who am I to complain about the way other people spend their money?
This all occurred to me because during the pregame radio show this past weekend a lady called in to the show. She'd recently moved here from California and she was complaining. She said that when August rolled around everyone here acted as though nothing else existed other than college football. The hosts played with her for a bit, but it made me realize it isn't like this everywhere else.
College football does rule here. Team spirit is a very lively thing. But it's more than that. It's a cultural event, a social gathering. Our first two seasons with season tickets we sat next to the same couples every game. You eventually come to know the people you sit or park next to. You come to know their families, and before long, you're connecting all of the people you both know and you realize this really isn't that big of a place after all. And for a couple of hours, everyone comes together to cheer on their team.
The energy that camaraderie generates is unequalled anywhere else I've been. And so each year I look forward to the count down to gameday and I enjoy the electricity which enters the air as it comes near. It also helps that I spend the Saturday's my hubby is away watching the game muted on TV and writing.
How about where you live? Does college football rule? NFL? NHL? NBA? college basketball? Anything?
April
I live south of the good ole M-D line and here, college football rules the fall. And this weekend marks the beginning of the fanatical season.
We used to have season tickets. Back when the football season actually felt like football weather because we had to take sweaters to games. But anymore it's sweltering. Which made letting our season tickets go not so bad. My dear hubby gets press passes and watches the game from the sidelines... A little too close to the action for my blood. And he's willing to give up those passes a couple of games each season so I can go and we can sit together.
But there's more to games here than three and a half hours of watching guys butt heads. College football is a culture. The week before a game, people with RVs more expensive than our house begin arriving at specially designated parking areas. They set up their 56 inch satellite TVs which show pregame shows from the side of the RV while crowds of tailgaters gather near and their TEC Bar-B-Ques in preparation for gameday.
If a game begins at 7PM, tailgating will start as early as 9 or 10AM. But the average fan starts just after noon. Yes, that's almost 7 hours before the game even starts. And we're talking HUGE spreads. You'd think people were storing up food for a famine.
Not to mention the cost of tailgating spots. Some parking spaces sell for as much as $20,000 a season. And then there are condos and special tailgating units selling anywhere from $250,000-$500,000. You at least get ownership of the units, but that's still pretty expensive for a couple of hours enjoyment each weekend. But hey, who am I to complain about the way other people spend their money?
This all occurred to me because during the pregame radio show this past weekend a lady called in to the show. She'd recently moved here from California and she was complaining. She said that when August rolled around everyone here acted as though nothing else existed other than college football. The hosts played with her for a bit, but it made me realize it isn't like this everywhere else.
College football does rule here. Team spirit is a very lively thing. But it's more than that. It's a cultural event, a social gathering. Our first two seasons with season tickets we sat next to the same couples every game. You eventually come to know the people you sit or park next to. You come to know their families, and before long, you're connecting all of the people you both know and you realize this really isn't that big of a place after all. And for a couple of hours, everyone comes together to cheer on their team.
The energy that camaraderie generates is unequalled anywhere else I've been. And so each year I look forward to the count down to gameday and I enjoy the electricity which enters the air as it comes near. It also helps that I spend the Saturday's my hubby is away watching the game muted on TV and writing.
How about where you live? Does college football rule? NFL? NHL? NBA? college basketball? Anything?
April
Friday, August 24, 2007
Song of the Times...
I'm taking this idea from Emma. It's ok though. She gave permission so I'm not stealing!
Here are the rules:
1. Go to this link at Pop Culture Madness (scroll down - see the list of years on the left? And make sure you scroll down to the actual years, not just the decades, it’s kind of far down on the left.)
2. Pick the year you turned 18
3. Pick five songs from that year
4. Wax nostalgic about each song and why it’s special
5. Pass it on
Cotten Eye Joe - Rednex
What can I say about this song? I live in the south, and even here it was annoying. It sounded like a hoe down mixed with techno or something. Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from Cotton Eye Joe... I never really got the point of this song. I guess that's not very poetic, huh?
We've Got It Goin' On - Backstreet Boys
I rode the NKOTB train, so by the time the Backstreet Boys came around I was disenchanted with boy bands. But I do remember sitting on my hubby's (at that time my boyfriend) couch watching MTV and making fun of their video... You know, back when MTV had music videos on... Novel idea, I know.
I Could Fall In Love - Selena
My darling hubby and I had been dating about a year at the time this song came out. And of course, what starry eyed adolescent in the throes of puppy love could resist it? Not I. But at least we turned out to be the real thing! I also remember this song playing at our prom. Not because it was a sweet ballad but because my best friend who went with one of my hubby's friends was being dragged all around the dance floor as he did a warped version of a Tango. It was definitely a memorable moment!
This Is How We Do It - Montell Jordan
Was there ever a pep rally where this song didn't play? Not the year I turned 18. This high energy sugar pop song would pulsate through our gym several times each month in hopes of jazzing up our school spirit. I'm not really convinced it ever worked... But I got out of class to go sit in the gym and watch people do weird stuff, so I never complained!
One Sweet Day - Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men
I will admit something terrible. I thought this song was Corny and overly sentimental when it first came out. I'm not sure if it was the song so much as the artists singing it though. But then, in June my dad had a massive heart attack and spent 3 months in ICU with us thinking he wasn't going to make it and this song touched an entirely different cord with me. Thankfully, he recovered enough to spend another 2 1/2 years with us. But this song hasn't ever been so Corny since.
Now you do it and let me know when you do so I can read yours!
April
PS Thanks, Emma! That was a fun trip down memory lane!
Here are the rules:
1. Go to this link at Pop Culture Madness (scroll down - see the list of years on the left? And make sure you scroll down to the actual years, not just the decades, it’s kind of far down on the left.)
2. Pick the year you turned 18
3. Pick five songs from that year
4. Wax nostalgic about each song and why it’s special
5. Pass it on
Cotten Eye Joe - Rednex
What can I say about this song? I live in the south, and even here it was annoying. It sounded like a hoe down mixed with techno or something. Where did you come from, where did you go? Where did you come from Cotton Eye Joe... I never really got the point of this song. I guess that's not very poetic, huh?
We've Got It Goin' On - Backstreet Boys
I rode the NKOTB train, so by the time the Backstreet Boys came around I was disenchanted with boy bands. But I do remember sitting on my hubby's (at that time my boyfriend) couch watching MTV and making fun of their video... You know, back when MTV had music videos on... Novel idea, I know.
I Could Fall In Love - Selena
My darling hubby and I had been dating about a year at the time this song came out. And of course, what starry eyed adolescent in the throes of puppy love could resist it? Not I. But at least we turned out to be the real thing! I also remember this song playing at our prom. Not because it was a sweet ballad but because my best friend who went with one of my hubby's friends was being dragged all around the dance floor as he did a warped version of a Tango. It was definitely a memorable moment!
This Is How We Do It - Montell Jordan
Was there ever a pep rally where this song didn't play? Not the year I turned 18. This high energy sugar pop song would pulsate through our gym several times each month in hopes of jazzing up our school spirit. I'm not really convinced it ever worked... But I got out of class to go sit in the gym and watch people do weird stuff, so I never complained!
One Sweet Day - Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men
I will admit something terrible. I thought this song was Corny and overly sentimental when it first came out. I'm not sure if it was the song so much as the artists singing it though. But then, in June my dad had a massive heart attack and spent 3 months in ICU with us thinking he wasn't going to make it and this song touched an entirely different cord with me. Thankfully, he recovered enough to spend another 2 1/2 years with us. But this song hasn't ever been so Corny since.
Now you do it and let me know when you do so I can read yours!
April
PS Thanks, Emma! That was a fun trip down memory lane!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
What Did He Say?
Ok, I've been bad blogger lately. I know! I'm hoping to make the rounds this weekend because I have a LOT to catch up on.
We've been busy... Doing what you ask? Lots. Including watching tv, though not TOO much ;o). But while watching the tv, hubby and I picked up on a commercial for a new tv show coming to CBS this fall.
It's about a Cuban family who are apparently really wealthy. Other than that, I don't know what it's about. Because every time it comes on, I get distracted by one little word... The last name of the FAMILY the show is centered around. It's spelled Duque. And pronounced "Do-kay". And if you grew up in the early 80's the word bears and VERY close resemblance to a word for "poop".
Every time the guy says, "The Duque family..." Hubby and I of the five year-old mindset, break into laughter. And they say it over and over.
So I have to wonder is the usage of that word just such a bygone that it didn't occur to them? Is someone playing a terrible joke on the producers? Is my mind just so lost right now that I'm drawing lines of association where there is none?
Have you seen the previews? If not, visit here to see one. What do you think?
Special side note: I DO realize this is a real name. Please do not be offended by my post. There are also people with the name Butt... I have a good friend with it. And she laughs about it too. It's really the overly dramatic nature of the previews combined with the name :o)
April
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
A Change of View
So I was having trouble with a scene the other night. It just wouldn't come. I even sat and stared at the computer screen, but nope. It wouldn't happen. Then a voice from some talk some time in the past came to me...So I did and guess what... It worked! I was shocked. I had originally been writing the scene from the hero's POV. Mainly because I felt like I had spent long enough in the heroine's. But really the scene is more complex and emotional for the heroine.
I realized in hindsight that the reason I kept getting stymied is I wanted to write something about her thoughts. But I kept having to stop of course. Obviously I was more connected to her than him in the scene and I guess that means the reader should be too.
What about you? Have you ever been stuck in a scene and switched the POV and it take off for you?
April
PS I'm now more than 30% through... Finally this sucker is moving some!
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Lost Letters...
First it was "E", now it's "N" and "S" is soon to follow... Slowly but surely all of the letters are disappearing from my keyboard. There are all of the usual suspects... Buckley could be sneaking into the living room and licking them off of the keyboard (he licks everything else, why not?) of course that would require him to open the laptop, which is probably too difficult a task without opposable thumbs.
It could be the little elf un-helpers who come in while I'm asleep and put tons of grammatical errors in my wip (I know they exist, that's the only explanation for why my story would read, "He kissed her perched lips..." Perched on what? Her face?).
Or it could be the effects of the sugar sprinkles I dropped on the keyboard last Christmas. They put the "A" key out of commission for a day or two, so you never know... That was interesting trip to the computer repairman!
Oh the woes of a writer with disappearing key labels... If anyone sees them about somewhere, maybe struggling to escape the overly packed bag of a mischievous little elf, please let me know... They're missed and I'm willing to go to great lengths to bring them home!
April
Yes, that's correct, I write fiction. I know it's hard to tell, so I thought I should clarify.
Friday, August 03, 2007
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