October Goodness

Holy canoli. It’s October. I guess summer’s truly over. But today is a good day because:

a) I have bare feet (click here to see why this is a big deal for me);

b) I have the day off after working 40 hrs in the last four days (okay, many people work that much all the time, but I admit it’s a real stretch for me — I love my down-time);

c) much writerly fabulousness happens this month, including the Surrey International Writers’ Conference AND the release of some YA books that I’m reeeally looking forward to (Paper Towns, by John Green, for example, and more by “The Class of 2K8”) AND nominations are open for the Cybil awards (you nominate your fave kids/teen books, and kidlit bloggers judge them and give them fancy schmancy awards); and…

d) October means Thanksgiving (here in Canada, that is), and despite how screwed-up the world seems when I watch the news, I know I have so incredibly much to be thankful for and I like to celebrate that fact.

So I think I’m okay with it being October. And now, back to revisions! My WIP* is coming along nicely… I might even take time out to watch the premiere of Pushing Daisies (I’ve never seen it – so not a TV-watcher – but I’ve heard good things).

Peace….

(*WIP = work in progress, meaning the novel I’m currently wrestling with)

More crazy bendy fun

My favourite crazy bendy guy* is in a commercial!

*Robert Murraine

Obsessive… who, me?

I’m back! Did ya miss me? We had a super relaxing week camping here:

And I finally got some reading done — wanna see what I read?

Now I’m in the reading zone and am loving working through my huge TBR pile. So many great books! Soon, though, I have to turn my attention back to writing, cuz I’ve got some major revisions that I want done by the end of September. I don’t do the reading-and-writing-at-the-same-time thing very well (I’m more of a get-totally-obsessed-about-one-or-the-other kinda girl). I figure I’ll read a bunch more this week, and then get serious about revisions in August. Maybe with a little reading on the side….

Last night, I actually closed my book long enough to watch the first two episodes of the first season of Prison Break. Since Gilmore Girls disappeared, I haven’t been much of a TV watcher at all (aside from hockey and the occasional DVD movie), but I fear I may get hooked on that one. I wonder how many episodes my DH rented? I’m terrible with those series that take a whole season to tell the story — I rent them and then watch like crazy ’til I get through them all. I think I’ve watched whole seasons of 24 in about, um, yeah… 24 hours. Not so disciplined. But not watching them all would be like stopping a movie in the middle! Can’t do it. Guess that’s another page in my gets-totally-obsessed story. Sigh.

Well, it’s good to be back here in blogland, but I’ve got a couple chapters left in the book I’m reading, so I’m outta here. Take care, y’all.

[ETA: Okay, I was wrong. I just watched two more episodes of Prison Break and I'm already tired of the over-done uber-sleazy bad guys. I'm not hooked. Back to my books....]

Crazy Bendy Fun

Have you seen this crazy bendy guy? Amazing! Thanks to strugglingwriter for finding this one (and right when I was needing a happy diversion, too).

Retro TV and re-visiting childhood

In case you think I’m all grown up – gasp! – this is the movie I’m most looking forward to seeing:

So I’m not exactly highly cultured or fancy-schmancy. Actually, though, my excitement over this movie is indeed normal and, dare I say, mature, because it’s based completely on nostalgia. Well, that and a warped sense of humour. But I digress…. Nostalgia is part of normal adult behaviour. Yes? And if you’re anywhere near my age, you probably did exactly what I did after school when you were little — watched this:

So it’s all about re-visiting my childhood. Which I didn’t exactly leave, but that’s beside the point. Nostalgia is good. And this movie’s going to be great!

By the way, I also watched The Partridge Family…

and The Brady Bunch…

but I have no desire to re-visit those childhood memories on the big screen. ::shudders:: Sometimes it’s good to leave the past behind.

So what childhood TV show would you most like to see revived?

Telling Stories

Let me just say right off that I’m glad Rory and Logan didn’t end up together. But whew – that was a close one. Now as long as Lorelai and Christopher don’t get together in the finale, I’ll be satisfied. (Yes, I know these are not real people, but I’ve been following their stories for quite a few years now, so I care. Not sure that I like that I care, but I do.)

I don’t actually watch much TV (except during the playoffs, I watch a lot of hockey). I get bored of most shows after about half a season or so. I just don’t think there are that many shows that have consistently great writing (but there are a few shows that often amaze me with how well they tell the story – like a great book that, when you finish it, you just say “wow” and wish there were more pages to read). Oh, btw, I will admit here that I always watch 24. It’s definitely not one of those shows with amazing story-lines and incredible writing. Fact is, I’m addicted. I don’t like it; it’s not good for me; I watch it anyway. Yup – addicted.

And speaking of telling stories…. In real-people news, I came across this story of a new college graduate who wants to travel the world as a story-teller – and she’s 95 years old. I’d bet she has some incredible stories to tell.

Dilemna, disappointment, disgust, delusion, and disbelief

These are the things on my mind today:

1. Dilemna. Only one Canadian team remains in the NHL playoffs. But they’re so not my team. Sigh. Now I have the big debate about who to cheer for. Do I go for the “Canadian team”, which for all I know could have more European and/or American players than Canadian players, or do I go for the under-dog, which is always pretty fun, emotional, and often ultimately depressing (but when your under-dog team wins, it is so sweet) . I can’t not watch the playoffs, so I definitely need to pick a team to back.
2. Disappointment. As all my fellow Gilmore Girls fans must know by now, the show is ending in a couple weeks. Another sigh. And maybe a sniffle. I’ll be okay, just so long as Rory doesn’t marry Logan. And Lorelai and Christopher shouldn’t end up together (again). The relationship between Rory and Lorelai has always of course been central, so I hope the finale has some really great moments between the two of them.
3. Disgust. A judge thinks his pants are worth $65 million. Must be some niiiice pants. This better get turfed out of court mighty fast.
4. Delusion. My daughter managed to convince me that it would be, um, fun to enter an off-road triathlon with her and my hubby as a relay team. Time to get training! I’m the “running” member and, I fear, the weak link. But I’ve got three months to whip myself into shape. No problem.
5. Disbelief. I picked up four pizzas for the six teenage boys that I knew would be at my house when I got home from work today. They were gone in about 7 minutes (the pizzas, not the guys). How do they do that? That’s like 1500 calories per person. In 7 minutes. I would explode if I ate like that.

So there you go. Maybe tomorrow I’ll think about more intelligent things. Or not.

The ABCs of my day (Anatomy, Books, and Chauffeuring)

Not a lot happening on the writing front today, although I’ve printed off one of my critique partners’ submissions to have a look at this afternoon. The evening, or part of it anyway, is reserved for Grey’s Anatomy. I’m telling you, this storyline better get resolved tonight. I hardly EVER watch anything three weeks in a row, and I can’t imagine actually managing to watch it again next week. Whether Meredith lives or dies, she better do it tonight.

The rest of my evening is for reading: I’m looking forward to starting Vincent Lam’s Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, the winner of the 2006 Giller Prize.

Before I do anything else, however, I’m on chauffeur duty. Time waits for no parent….