QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I will eviscerate you in fiction…I was naked for a day, but you will be naked for Eternity.”—Chaucer, A Knight’s Tale
Random question of the day: Why is it that your kids play their WORST soccer when you’re filming them for posterity, and as soon as you put the video camera away in embarrassment, they go on to score two goals and five major assists and play the best they ever have?
It's all a mystery.
A few fellow soccer moms and I were lamenting that fact on Saturday, during Thing One’s last soccer game of the season. To put it kindly, all of the girls on her team were playing horribly bad, and at one point their coach yelled out at the field in exasperation: “Did you girls all have a sleepover or something? WAKE UP!!” Thank heaven they did wake up (AFTER I put the camera away) and won the game. Close one, if you ask me. (At least Thing One did well in the water balloon fight afterwards-- I did get some stellar footage of her braining one of her coaches with a major water bomb).
Weekend was busy, I got absolutely no writing done, but my goal is about 1000 words a day every day this week. Going to make myself sit down and do it. I also have a lot of running around to do, which should be interesting to do with all of my children since school is now out for summer.
I have decided that my kids are officially old enough for (drum roll please) CHORES. Granted they have been doing chores sporadically for a few years now, so the concept of chores isn’t entirely foreign to them, but I think until they get into the “swing” of doing chores on a routine basis, said chores will be right up there on the Enjoyment Factor List with…say, going to the Dentist and taking cough medicine.
But I’m determined to do it. I’m making up these cute chore charts too. And I’ll go to Walmart and buy a bunch of dollar toys, and put them into a huge basket. Every Saturday, if they’ve done their chores for the week, they will get to pick out of the basket. I’ll let you know if it works.
I have about 6 men currently in my yard—they’re trenching out our downspouts, re-mulching our flower beds, replacing our shrubs and trees that died in the winter (all of my shrub roses perished—wahhhh!) and so I guess we won’t be playing on our playground for a couple of days. My kids are already whining, so I guess we’ll be having lunch at the neighborhood park today.
Ah, the beginning of Summer…
Monday, June 13, 2005
Friday, June 10, 2005
Oh NO They Didn’t! (Yes they did!)
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It is impossible to travel faster than the speed of light, and certainly not desirable, as one's hat keeps blowing off."—Woody Allen
Okay, this is too funny. Don’t you love it when people actually DO what you only "think of doing" in your head? Let’s hear it for this brave (OR abysmally stupid/bored/needing to get a life) person!
Click here to see what I’m talking about. From what I understand, this website is starting to take off in the “gaining in publicity” department. I’ll do my part to help it along, because after all, I suspected something was amok and afoul all along between these two…at least on HIS part...but I digress…
Eeked out 1200 words on the novel yesterday. Go me. I am brilliant. Actually, I have a lot of sentences that go like this:
“Oh, my dear girl, my favorite city in Egypt is (insert some Egyptian city here). The (insert random observation about said city here) and the way the (insert more random observations about said city here). Would you like to go for a stroll down by the duck pond?”
When I really just want to get the story out, I write the bare bones of it, and go back and add the details. That way, the “story” part of it gets written. Then I can go back and spackle and fill in holes with authentic details. This way, I'm freed up to just go go go on the story.
I’m feeling like a WRITER again! Hooray!
Kids’ last day of school is today. I did something very, very naughty. I didn’t get gifts for the teachers. Yes, I know, but my kids made cards for them and it was all good. I didn’t feel like doing the Extravagant Gift thing this year. Does that make me a bad person?
I had a weird episode with Thing One last night. She has been staying up late (talking to her brothers) at night, and waking up early, and she’s been having playdates and soccer practice and school functions, (they always crowd everything in at the end of the year) and frankly, I think she’s tired out of her wits. She's been on power overdrive all this week, and she finally snapped, I think.
The reason I suspect this is because last night, she burst into tears when I told her what we were having for dinner (she wanted something else), and then when I told her she couldn’t go play with her friend across the street because it was time for dinner, she started literally sobbing.She was a mess all through dinner, whining and crying because she was upset we weren’t going to have dessert (we’ve had it the last three nights straight) and then she started bawling when I only had a game of Catch with her out in the backyard for 20 minutes afterward. (she wanted to go longer, but the mosquitoes were eating us alive).
Finally, exasperated to the bone and realizing that she was probably tireder than Snot, (and yes, I know "tireder" isn't a word) I told her she was going to bed at 8pm, and that REALLY sent her over the edge.
At 8, I got her into bed and she sobbed through her prayers, sobbed when I left, and sobbed for a total of about two minutes because when I went back in to ask her if she wanted a drink of water, she was OUT COLD. Just like that. Poor thing. I think she’s finally burned out. She is such a busy little girl, and she has been running all week.
When I put the boys to bed at 9pm, she hadn’t even moved. Hopefully I’ll be able to wake her up this morning. I’ll let her sleep as late as I possibly can. Poor tired Thing One!
Hubby comes home from New York today. I am looking forward to the weekend. We'll all be together. And the weather is supposed to be beautiful!
Have a good & safe weekend, everyone!
Catch you on Monday.
--post script--okay, okay, I folded on the teacher gifts thing. Luckily I have lots of cards ready made, and I buy lots of stationery, journals, candles, etc. and never use them. So I packed a few things in bags for the teachers. I am such a dork!!!
Okay, this is too funny. Don’t you love it when people actually DO what you only "think of doing" in your head? Let’s hear it for this brave (OR abysmally stupid/bored/needing to get a life) person!
Click here to see what I’m talking about. From what I understand, this website is starting to take off in the “gaining in publicity” department. I’ll do my part to help it along, because after all, I suspected something was amok and afoul all along between these two…at least on HIS part...but I digress…
Eeked out 1200 words on the novel yesterday. Go me. I am brilliant. Actually, I have a lot of sentences that go like this:
“Oh, my dear girl, my favorite city in Egypt is (insert some Egyptian city here). The (insert random observation about said city here) and the way the (insert more random observations about said city here). Would you like to go for a stroll down by the duck pond?”
When I really just want to get the story out, I write the bare bones of it, and go back and add the details. That way, the “story” part of it gets written. Then I can go back and spackle and fill in holes with authentic details. This way, I'm freed up to just go go go on the story.
I’m feeling like a WRITER again! Hooray!
Kids’ last day of school is today. I did something very, very naughty. I didn’t get gifts for the teachers. Yes, I know, but my kids made cards for them and it was all good. I didn’t feel like doing the Extravagant Gift thing this year. Does that make me a bad person?
I had a weird episode with Thing One last night. She has been staying up late (talking to her brothers) at night, and waking up early, and she’s been having playdates and soccer practice and school functions, (they always crowd everything in at the end of the year) and frankly, I think she’s tired out of her wits. She's been on power overdrive all this week, and she finally snapped, I think.
The reason I suspect this is because last night, she burst into tears when I told her what we were having for dinner (she wanted something else), and then when I told her she couldn’t go play with her friend across the street because it was time for dinner, she started literally sobbing.She was a mess all through dinner, whining and crying because she was upset we weren’t going to have dessert (we’ve had it the last three nights straight) and then she started bawling when I only had a game of Catch with her out in the backyard for 20 minutes afterward. (she wanted to go longer, but the mosquitoes were eating us alive).
Finally, exasperated to the bone and realizing that she was probably tireder than Snot, (and yes, I know "tireder" isn't a word) I told her she was going to bed at 8pm, and that REALLY sent her over the edge.
At 8, I got her into bed and she sobbed through her prayers, sobbed when I left, and sobbed for a total of about two minutes because when I went back in to ask her if she wanted a drink of water, she was OUT COLD. Just like that. Poor thing. I think she’s finally burned out. She is such a busy little girl, and she has been running all week.
When I put the boys to bed at 9pm, she hadn’t even moved. Hopefully I’ll be able to wake her up this morning. I’ll let her sleep as late as I possibly can. Poor tired Thing One!
Hubby comes home from New York today. I am looking forward to the weekend. We'll all be together. And the weather is supposed to be beautiful!
Have a good & safe weekend, everyone!
Catch you on Monday.
--post script--okay, okay, I folded on the teacher gifts thing. Luckily I have lots of cards ready made, and I buy lots of stationery, journals, candles, etc. and never use them. So I packed a few things in bags for the teachers. I am such a dork!!!
Thing One's Poem
I went to an "end of year" poetry reading for Thing One's class two nights ago. She has graciously allowed me to post her award-winning poem: (and I have to say, with the pride of a writer/parent--it's pretty dang good for a SEVEN year old!)
THE MOON, by Thing One:
The Moon
I imagine
is
a
creamy
ball
of
light
covered
in
tiny
bits
of
diamonds
sparkling
during
the
night.
*sigh* I love her imagery!
O.K. I'm done gloating now...on to normalcy!
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Hazards of Historical Fiction...
Quote of the Day: "Never go to bed mad. Stay up and fight."--Phyllis Diller
Well, it's happening again. I am spending WAY too much time on the Internet. I guess we all have our vices, but when I'm spending a few hours a day online (ahem, usually for research, yeah, that's right) that's a "bit" much I'm afraid.
Instead of going outside into the backyard with my kids, I tend to "watch them" from my office window, as I tap tap tap happily away on my writer's forums, threads, blog, and basically everything except my novel, which I MUST get done. I might lower my word count expectations for this one--60,000 words is a bit hefty for a YA novel. I think I might try for 50K to start out with. Unless it takes more to tell my story.
Historical fiction is very tedious. First there is the research. People who read historical fiction find it jarring when things don't "add up" historically or make sense. (I mean, people freaked out because Tom Hank's character's wife in Apollo 13 used a wall phone in the movie, and wall phones hadn't been invented yet!)
Yes, people like their history to be accurate. So even if you're writing fiction, you better be darn tootin' sure that you're at least making it believable and historically accurate to a certain degree.
You're usually talking about things that people don't "do" (or know anything about) anymore and so there is some wordage wasted on explaining things--because not everyone knows what, for instance, the game of Whist was, or what a Smoke pin was, or what a Barouche was, etc.. (you get the picture.) Granted, it's not like I explain everything when I use terms relative to the time period I'm writing about, but I have to put action verbs and adjectives around the archaic word, so people can at least guess.
So, I will spend anywhere from 3 to 6 months gathering info about my time period, before I even write one word (or go past the first chapter anyway.)
I think that's what's stalling me on this one. My characters go to Egypt (in 1890) and I'm intimidated about writing it because I've never even been to modern day Egypt, and I have to rely on the accounts of others to glean enough knowledge to make the reader feel like they're really in 1890 Cairo.
It's not easy, by any means. Like I said, I think that's the holdup for me. I am worried about my Egypt not sounding authentic, even though I have exhaustive resources on the subject at this point. (too much to read, even!)
Well, as one of my writer friends is fond of quoting: just "Get the sh*t down." I need to get a spine (or courage or whatever) and just write out the story, and go back and add authentic details later. There isn't anything more embarrassing than having an editor tell you that there's a major historical inaccuracy in your story. (That's happened to me once, thank heaven the editor liked my story enough to have me revise it for her!) Even though ultimately she rejected it, at least I have that "glaring error" fixed for future editors.
Well I need to go pay attention to the babies now. Gamecube is NOT a good babysitter. It's absolutely gorgeous outside. I think it's about time my boys learned how to build proper sandcastles.
*grin*
Well, it's happening again. I am spending WAY too much time on the Internet. I guess we all have our vices, but when I'm spending a few hours a day online (ahem, usually for research, yeah, that's right) that's a "bit" much I'm afraid.
Instead of going outside into the backyard with my kids, I tend to "watch them" from my office window, as I tap tap tap happily away on my writer's forums, threads, blog, and basically everything except my novel, which I MUST get done. I might lower my word count expectations for this one--60,000 words is a bit hefty for a YA novel. I think I might try for 50K to start out with. Unless it takes more to tell my story.
Historical fiction is very tedious. First there is the research. People who read historical fiction find it jarring when things don't "add up" historically or make sense. (I mean, people freaked out because Tom Hank's character's wife in Apollo 13 used a wall phone in the movie, and wall phones hadn't been invented yet!)
Yes, people like their history to be accurate. So even if you're writing fiction, you better be darn tootin' sure that you're at least making it believable and historically accurate to a certain degree.
You're usually talking about things that people don't "do" (or know anything about) anymore and so there is some wordage wasted on explaining things--because not everyone knows what, for instance, the game of Whist was, or what a Smoke pin was, or what a Barouche was, etc.. (you get the picture.) Granted, it's not like I explain everything when I use terms relative to the time period I'm writing about, but I have to put action verbs and adjectives around the archaic word, so people can at least guess.
So, I will spend anywhere from 3 to 6 months gathering info about my time period, before I even write one word (or go past the first chapter anyway.)
I think that's what's stalling me on this one. My characters go to Egypt (in 1890) and I'm intimidated about writing it because I've never even been to modern day Egypt, and I have to rely on the accounts of others to glean enough knowledge to make the reader feel like they're really in 1890 Cairo.
It's not easy, by any means. Like I said, I think that's the holdup for me. I am worried about my Egypt not sounding authentic, even though I have exhaustive resources on the subject at this point. (too much to read, even!)
Well, as one of my writer friends is fond of quoting: just "Get the sh*t down." I need to get a spine (or courage or whatever) and just write out the story, and go back and add authentic details later. There isn't anything more embarrassing than having an editor tell you that there's a major historical inaccuracy in your story. (That's happened to me once, thank heaven the editor liked my story enough to have me revise it for her!) Even though ultimately she rejected it, at least I have that "glaring error" fixed for future editors.
Well I need to go pay attention to the babies now. Gamecube is NOT a good babysitter. It's absolutely gorgeous outside. I think it's about time my boys learned how to build proper sandcastles.
*grin*
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Going to the Grocery Store...
Quote of the Day: "Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home."
I only dribbled out 700 words yesterday on my novel. I was just too darn upset to really get into it. What happened:
I guess I had a moment of weakness last night. When hubby is gone, I like to make things fun, and so, to "break it up" a little, I suggested to the kids that we go to the grocery store to get stuff for icecream sundaes, and then we'd take a walk around the neighbhorhood, and have our sundaes afterwards.
Well, in hindsight, maybe I should have taken them on the walk first, instead of the store. Then they would have been all worn out and possibly calm during our little sojourn.
I don't know what it was--maybe the Fates aligned a certain way or whatever, but last night's trip to the store was so dab-blasted awful I was reminded of the earlier years when EVERY trip ANYWHERE was awful.
Just a little background: all three of my children are 19 months apart. (Yes, I had three children in diapers at one point--I think I have blocked most of that time from my active memory) When they were all younger, I was loathe to take them anywhere.
My kids are...well...very energetic. They are "full of life" as my Mother-in-Law says (which I believe in "Mother-in-lawspeak" translates to: Tasmanian Devil Minions from Hell) and frankly, anywhere I took them until about two years ago was a complete Odyssey, to say the least. Thing Two, my middle child, has ADD and so he's the most "energetic" of the bunch. He always got his siblings "going" in the spazzy sense. (Granted, he's calmed down SCORES more than he used to be like when he was four and younger, to say that those were dark times would be kind.)
I remember not really wanting to take the kids anywhere, when they were younger. Church was a disaster, my hubby and I would tag-team each other on whoever was acting up the worst, and of course if I took one child out of the meeting, they ALL wanted to go out...don't even get me started on visits to the Doctor, Dentist, school and of course, the dreaded GROCERY STORE.
You know those women who trudge through the grocery store with screaming kids, demanding this and that (or just outright having a tantrum) and the mother resembles Joan of Arc going to the Stake? That was me for several years. The grocery store was a dreaded event, and since all my children were too young for school, I had to lug all of them with me. (I would never have gotten a babysitter; my kids were too much of a handful and I was tired of paying exhorbitant amounts to babysitters so they wouldn't run away screaming and tearing out their hair the NEXT time we asked them to sit).
For five lovely months in Texas I had groceries actually delivered to my house. It was wonderful. I would order them online, and the next day, Ta-DA! I had a very nice gentleman deliver them in a van and I didn't have to go anywhere.
But then I realized that the only way to get my kids used to behaving in public was to actually take them out in Public. I am happy to say it worked in the end, but getting there was nothing short of painful.
Take the grocery store for instance: If I didn't have one of those double-seater carts, I would turn right back around and go home. At least with the double seaters, I could strap in Things One and Two (then 5 and 4, respectively) and Thing Three, who was 2, sat buckled in the cart seat. It was perfect. I could at least restrain them. Unfotunately straight jackets are frowned on for kids, so of course they were whacking each other, kicking each other, yelling, etc. (Mom!!!! So-and-so was looking at me! MOMMMMM!! So-and-so is playing with the cereal! MOMMMMM!!!)
Argh. Whack whack whack. (Lara whacks her head against the cart). It was a nightmare. What was even worse was when Thing Two grew out of being strapped into the cart, he would run around me in circles, or do this horridly spazzed-out Lord-of-the-Dance parody in the aisles while simultaneously making a repetitive noise (VERY loudly I might add) and flapping his arms like a bird, which always looked so mortifying I wanted to die from embarrassment.
Well, to make a long story short, my kids have more or less grown out of their antics: Thing Three (who I swear came out of me an Adult brainwise) has always been mostly good, Things One and Two have calmed considerably, and I haven't had major problems for at least a year, now. But then again, because of school and timing, I don't think I have taken ALL THREE of them to the store together for a year...
So, last night, we get to the store, I put Thing Three in the cart (he's just a little big for it but likes to ride) and Things One and Two rode on either side. I walked in, and Thing Two saw a display he was interested in, and promptly left the cart and ran off. Pretending he was deaf, he ignored my hissing and loud whispers to return to where I was, and finally, I had to march over there and grab him by the arm, at which point he spun off and began to do his horrible Lord-of-the-Dance-Arm-Flapping Routine, which I haven't truly seen him do in a while, and I was like STOP IT! What are you DOING??? You are SIX years old!!!
I think he just must have been excited about the prospect of going to the store, or getting icecream, or both, because the whole ten minutes we were in there (I wouldn't have lasted much longer) he kept doing his "dance," alternated with running away, and of course his brother had to keep yelling at him to "stop it So-and-so" (which sounded vaguely just like the way I do it) and then of course his sister HAD TO HAVE one of the stupid Strawberry Shortcake toys in the toy aisle (which I would normally avoid walking down but printer paper was on the same aisle and we needed some) Later, Thing Two and his sister had to run off and accost the fuzzy stuffed-toy dispenser while I was stuck in line, and couldn't do much about it. (At least they asked first--I think I allowed them to go because it would get them out of the line and people would stop recoiling from their antics.) I slapped my checkbook down on the counter all frazzled, and the store girl (smart a**, if you ask me) asked me a tad too cheerfully: "And how are you today M'am?" Grumble grumble. I should have told her. I almost did, believe me.
So, afterwards, we went out into the parking lot, got into the Expedition and once the doors were shut I started yelling. I couldn't understand why they had all acted like that, and told them NO icecream and NO walk and STRAIGHT to bed when we got home.
YUCK. Awful memories came surging to the forefront after that debacle. My kids have been so well-behaved lately, I don't know what got into them last night.
I guess kids wouldn't be Kids if they were predictable, you know? Predictable is for Husbands.
*wink*
I only dribbled out 700 words yesterday on my novel. I was just too darn upset to really get into it. What happened:
I guess I had a moment of weakness last night. When hubby is gone, I like to make things fun, and so, to "break it up" a little, I suggested to the kids that we go to the grocery store to get stuff for icecream sundaes, and then we'd take a walk around the neighbhorhood, and have our sundaes afterwards.
Well, in hindsight, maybe I should have taken them on the walk first, instead of the store. Then they would have been all worn out and possibly calm during our little sojourn.
I don't know what it was--maybe the Fates aligned a certain way or whatever, but last night's trip to the store was so dab-blasted awful I was reminded of the earlier years when EVERY trip ANYWHERE was awful.
Just a little background: all three of my children are 19 months apart. (Yes, I had three children in diapers at one point--I think I have blocked most of that time from my active memory) When they were all younger, I was loathe to take them anywhere.
My kids are...well...very energetic. They are "full of life" as my Mother-in-Law says (which I believe in "Mother-in-lawspeak" translates to: Tasmanian Devil Minions from Hell) and frankly, anywhere I took them until about two years ago was a complete Odyssey, to say the least. Thing Two, my middle child, has ADD and so he's the most "energetic" of the bunch. He always got his siblings "going" in the spazzy sense. (Granted, he's calmed down SCORES more than he used to be like when he was four and younger, to say that those were dark times would be kind.)
I remember not really wanting to take the kids anywhere, when they were younger. Church was a disaster, my hubby and I would tag-team each other on whoever was acting up the worst, and of course if I took one child out of the meeting, they ALL wanted to go out...don't even get me started on visits to the Doctor, Dentist, school and of course, the dreaded GROCERY STORE.
You know those women who trudge through the grocery store with screaming kids, demanding this and that (or just outright having a tantrum) and the mother resembles Joan of Arc going to the Stake? That was me for several years. The grocery store was a dreaded event, and since all my children were too young for school, I had to lug all of them with me. (I would never have gotten a babysitter; my kids were too much of a handful and I was tired of paying exhorbitant amounts to babysitters so they wouldn't run away screaming and tearing out their hair the NEXT time we asked them to sit).
For five lovely months in Texas I had groceries actually delivered to my house. It was wonderful. I would order them online, and the next day, Ta-DA! I had a very nice gentleman deliver them in a van and I didn't have to go anywhere.
But then I realized that the only way to get my kids used to behaving in public was to actually take them out in Public. I am happy to say it worked in the end, but getting there was nothing short of painful.
Take the grocery store for instance: If I didn't have one of those double-seater carts, I would turn right back around and go home. At least with the double seaters, I could strap in Things One and Two (then 5 and 4, respectively) and Thing Three, who was 2, sat buckled in the cart seat. It was perfect. I could at least restrain them. Unfotunately straight jackets are frowned on for kids, so of course they were whacking each other, kicking each other, yelling, etc. (Mom!!!! So-and-so was looking at me! MOMMMMM!! So-and-so is playing with the cereal! MOMMMMM!!!)
Argh. Whack whack whack. (Lara whacks her head against the cart). It was a nightmare. What was even worse was when Thing Two grew out of being strapped into the cart, he would run around me in circles, or do this horridly spazzed-out Lord-of-the-Dance parody in the aisles while simultaneously making a repetitive noise (VERY loudly I might add) and flapping his arms like a bird, which always looked so mortifying I wanted to die from embarrassment.
Well, to make a long story short, my kids have more or less grown out of their antics: Thing Three (who I swear came out of me an Adult brainwise) has always been mostly good, Things One and Two have calmed considerably, and I haven't had major problems for at least a year, now. But then again, because of school and timing, I don't think I have taken ALL THREE of them to the store together for a year...
So, last night, we get to the store, I put Thing Three in the cart (he's just a little big for it but likes to ride) and Things One and Two rode on either side. I walked in, and Thing Two saw a display he was interested in, and promptly left the cart and ran off. Pretending he was deaf, he ignored my hissing and loud whispers to return to where I was, and finally, I had to march over there and grab him by the arm, at which point he spun off and began to do his horrible Lord-of-the-Dance-Arm-Flapping Routine, which I haven't truly seen him do in a while, and I was like STOP IT! What are you DOING??? You are SIX years old!!!
I think he just must have been excited about the prospect of going to the store, or getting icecream, or both, because the whole ten minutes we were in there (I wouldn't have lasted much longer) he kept doing his "dance," alternated with running away, and of course his brother had to keep yelling at him to "stop it So-and-so" (which sounded vaguely just like the way I do it) and then of course his sister HAD TO HAVE one of the stupid Strawberry Shortcake toys in the toy aisle (which I would normally avoid walking down but printer paper was on the same aisle and we needed some) Later, Thing Two and his sister had to run off and accost the fuzzy stuffed-toy dispenser while I was stuck in line, and couldn't do much about it. (At least they asked first--I think I allowed them to go because it would get them out of the line and people would stop recoiling from their antics.) I slapped my checkbook down on the counter all frazzled, and the store girl (smart a**, if you ask me) asked me a tad too cheerfully: "And how are you today M'am?" Grumble grumble. I should have told her. I almost did, believe me.
So, afterwards, we went out into the parking lot, got into the Expedition and once the doors were shut I started yelling. I couldn't understand why they had all acted like that, and told them NO icecream and NO walk and STRAIGHT to bed when we got home.
YUCK. Awful memories came surging to the forefront after that debacle. My kids have been so well-behaved lately, I don't know what got into them last night.
I guess kids wouldn't be Kids if they were predictable, you know? Predictable is for Husbands.
*wink*
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Excuse me...Could you bathe?
QUOTE OF THE DAY: When your life flashes before your eyes, make sure you've got plenty to watch.
I sat myself down last night and worked on the Novel, and eeked out 1100 words. Not spectacular, but at least it’s something. Of course after that I watched a movie: A Knight’s Tale and went to bed around 1am.
Every time I watch that movie, I remember how clever it is. And fun! The first time I watched it I was put off by the modern music interwoven with an ancient setting, but now I just think it’s…cool.
Such a primitive time—the age of Jousting and Knights and Edward the Black Prince (played quite yummily by James Purefoy).
One thing I have always marveled over, is the fact that these people had no indoor plumbing, and if they took a bath more than three times a year, it was considered "above" the standards of cleanliness. I mean, these people didn’t have toothbrushes, and they literally wore their clothes until they rotted off of their bodies.
I don’t like to set romance novels in such primitive settings, because my heroine would probably have greasy hair, MASSIVE B.O. and my personal favorite...nasty teeth. In the biography of Elizabeth I that I just finished, Elizabeth in her later years was reported to have black teeth, and several of them missing, which made her hard to understand when she spoke. Apparently she kept sucking on sweets to make her breath “sweeter” when in actuality she was destroying her teeth even more.
YUCK.
But then reality dawned on me. People back then would have been used to nasty B.O. smells, and it would have been accepted as the norm, rather than the exception.
Thank Heaven for Technology! (Maybe that’s why the majority of my novels have been set in Victorian Times—they were so fastidious about being clean.)
The sun has been coming up around 4:30 in the morning now, and my kids (bless them) pop right out of their beds. Thankfully, they know not to wake Mommy up if she’s still asleep--in that way I've trained them well. I woke up to the whining of the dog at 5:30—and Things Two and Three (my boys) were already in the basement watching Sponge Bob. If it weren’t for the darn dog, I could’ve slept in until 7am. (When Hubby is home we’re up at 6.) *Yawn*
I think I’ll try for another 1000 words tonight. I’ve been working on my hubby’s Father’s Day present, (I’m putting together a scrapbook with pics and things from his younger years) and that takes up a lot of time. I think I bit off a bit more than I could chew with this project. I’ll be glad when it’s done. I hope he likes it.
Well, off to wake up Thing One! It’s Trash Day, so I get to suffer through all the bickering/hitting/name calling/whining that ensues when I have the three kids emptying all the garbage cans in the house. But at least they’re getting faster at it. So the time I have to suffer through bickering/hitting/name calling/whining is at least getting shorter!
I sat myself down last night and worked on the Novel, and eeked out 1100 words. Not spectacular, but at least it’s something. Of course after that I watched a movie: A Knight’s Tale and went to bed around 1am.
Every time I watch that movie, I remember how clever it is. And fun! The first time I watched it I was put off by the modern music interwoven with an ancient setting, but now I just think it’s…cool.
Such a primitive time—the age of Jousting and Knights and Edward the Black Prince (played quite yummily by James Purefoy).
One thing I have always marveled over, is the fact that these people had no indoor plumbing, and if they took a bath more than three times a year, it was considered "above" the standards of cleanliness. I mean, these people didn’t have toothbrushes, and they literally wore their clothes until they rotted off of their bodies.
I don’t like to set romance novels in such primitive settings, because my heroine would probably have greasy hair, MASSIVE B.O. and my personal favorite...nasty teeth. In the biography of Elizabeth I that I just finished, Elizabeth in her later years was reported to have black teeth, and several of them missing, which made her hard to understand when she spoke. Apparently she kept sucking on sweets to make her breath “sweeter” when in actuality she was destroying her teeth even more.
YUCK.
But then reality dawned on me. People back then would have been used to nasty B.O. smells, and it would have been accepted as the norm, rather than the exception.
Thank Heaven for Technology! (Maybe that’s why the majority of my novels have been set in Victorian Times—they were so fastidious about being clean.)
The sun has been coming up around 4:30 in the morning now, and my kids (bless them) pop right out of their beds. Thankfully, they know not to wake Mommy up if she’s still asleep--in that way I've trained them well. I woke up to the whining of the dog at 5:30—and Things Two and Three (my boys) were already in the basement watching Sponge Bob. If it weren’t for the darn dog, I could’ve slept in until 7am. (When Hubby is home we’re up at 6.) *Yawn*
I think I’ll try for another 1000 words tonight. I’ve been working on my hubby’s Father’s Day present, (I’m putting together a scrapbook with pics and things from his younger years) and that takes up a lot of time. I think I bit off a bit more than I could chew with this project. I’ll be glad when it’s done. I hope he likes it.
Well, off to wake up Thing One! It’s Trash Day, so I get to suffer through all the bickering/hitting/name calling/whining that ensues when I have the three kids emptying all the garbage cans in the house. But at least they’re getting faster at it. So the time I have to suffer through bickering/hitting/name calling/whining is at least getting shorter!
Monday, June 06, 2005
Harry Potter and Snippets and Nippets
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "The men may be the head of the house but the women are the neck…and they can turn the head any way they want." --Maria Portokalos, My Big Fat Greek Wedding
First off, a ROUSING rendition (preferably by a mob of drunken Scots) of Happy Birthday to my mom, Ana, who turns 58 today. (Heh heh, that will stop her from telling people about her daughter’s blog—I have revealed her age!) All kidding aside, have a good one, Mom!
In the news (this actually broke Friday but the full story is now available) a 19-year old publishing company security worker, (who apparently thought he was bloody brilliant) stole a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from the printing facility and tried to sell it to the highest bidder (and in a show of complete brilliance—yes you’re detecting sarcasm here…he called NEWSPAPERS to start the bidding), and then, as if he hadn’t actually proven his stupidity enough, fired a shot from his really big gun to scare the SUN reporter who scoffed at his price, while the police and video crews closed in. You can read the full story here.
It just goes to show, you never mess with the sacredness of Jo Rowling’s books. The righteous indignation of fans over this git’s attempt to prematurely reveal the plot/details of the book to the news media is highly alarming. For them (and I know this because I read the threads at The Leaky Cauldron and HPANA respectively), hanging, disemboweling and being drawn and quartered aren’t punishment enough for this guy. Of course I am not of the “mob mentality”. Since it's not Book Seven, I am merely thinking: what a PRAT.
Poor Jo Rowling’s lawyers. They are going to have Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome when this is all over, from all the jumping around and imposing court-ordered injunctions and gag orders and lawsuits on unscrupulous would-be-spoiler people, as the publication dates of the books draw near.
I am also thinking, heaven help Bloomsbury and every other publisher when the currently untitled Book Seven (the Final book in the Harry Potter Series for those of you non-Potterheads) is being printed. They’re going to have to print it at Fort Knox for Cripes sake! I mean, if these crazies are coming out of the woodwork now, just for the identity of the Half Blood Prince, imagine the massive security measures that will need to be in place to protect the details of whether young Harry defeats You-know-who or not! I shudder to think...
And can I JUST SAY (little mini-rant here) that I saw the recent pictures from the new Goblet Of Fire movie, and what is the deal with the hair on the main actors? Ron and Harry are nothing short of scruffy and bushy, (Ron’s hair is downright long, you can barely see his nose poking out) and by the seventh movie they’re going to have to either A) braid Ron’s hair and wrap it about 50 times around his head to keep it from tripping him up, or B) carry it around behind him in a wheelbarrow.
CUT YOUR HAIR ALREADY BOYS!!! Last time I checked, Harry Potter DID NOT have a mullet, and Ron did NOT have a curled-under shag/mop do. End of rant.
In other news, this is officially the last week of school for my kids, and I am dreading….um…er…looking forward to all the quality time I’m going to get to provide for my children. Thank heaven they can at least entertain themselves, and don’t need me constantly by their side to do it. (Although they seem to all get along better together when I’m involved in the playing, as opposed to, say, sitting in my office and writing while observing their backyard play.)
Hubby left for New York today—he’ll be there a week, and apparently he was invited to a big to-do where they’re re-premiering one of James Dean’s movies (East of Eden? I can’t remember) and supposedly Tom Cruise and his hired girlfriend…oops, I mean LOVE OF HIS LIFE/ABOUT TO BE HIS WIFE #3 Katie will be there.
I’m jealous. I was a James Dean nut when I was younger, I had posters of him all over my walls. Funny, I had almost forgotten about my obsession with him. It seems so long ago now. I don’t think Hubby is going to the event—maybe I’ll have to smack him upside the head over that one…
ANYWAY, since I turn into a horrible insomniac when Hubby travels, I think I should get a fair amount of writing done. Or movie-watching (hee hee hee, Lara rubs her hands together in fiendish glee). Or not. Depends on how motivated I’m feeling.
Well, time to wake up the kids! I hope it's a good and busy week!
First off, a ROUSING rendition (preferably by a mob of drunken Scots) of Happy Birthday to my mom, Ana, who turns 58 today. (Heh heh, that will stop her from telling people about her daughter’s blog—I have revealed her age!) All kidding aside, have a good one, Mom!
In the news (this actually broke Friday but the full story is now available) a 19-year old publishing company security worker, (who apparently thought he was bloody brilliant) stole a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from the printing facility and tried to sell it to the highest bidder (and in a show of complete brilliance—yes you’re detecting sarcasm here…he called NEWSPAPERS to start the bidding), and then, as if he hadn’t actually proven his stupidity enough, fired a shot from his really big gun to scare the SUN reporter who scoffed at his price, while the police and video crews closed in. You can read the full story here.
It just goes to show, you never mess with the sacredness of Jo Rowling’s books. The righteous indignation of fans over this git’s attempt to prematurely reveal the plot/details of the book to the news media is highly alarming. For them (and I know this because I read the threads at The Leaky Cauldron and HPANA respectively), hanging, disemboweling and being drawn and quartered aren’t punishment enough for this guy. Of course I am not of the “mob mentality”. Since it's not Book Seven, I am merely thinking: what a PRAT.
Poor Jo Rowling’s lawyers. They are going to have Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome when this is all over, from all the jumping around and imposing court-ordered injunctions and gag orders and lawsuits on unscrupulous would-be-spoiler people, as the publication dates of the books draw near.
I am also thinking, heaven help Bloomsbury and every other publisher when the currently untitled Book Seven (the Final book in the Harry Potter Series for those of you non-Potterheads) is being printed. They’re going to have to print it at Fort Knox for Cripes sake! I mean, if these crazies are coming out of the woodwork now, just for the identity of the Half Blood Prince, imagine the massive security measures that will need to be in place to protect the details of whether young Harry defeats You-know-who or not! I shudder to think...
And can I JUST SAY (little mini-rant here) that I saw the recent pictures from the new Goblet Of Fire movie, and what is the deal with the hair on the main actors? Ron and Harry are nothing short of scruffy and bushy, (Ron’s hair is downright long, you can barely see his nose poking out) and by the seventh movie they’re going to have to either A) braid Ron’s hair and wrap it about 50 times around his head to keep it from tripping him up, or B) carry it around behind him in a wheelbarrow.
CUT YOUR HAIR ALREADY BOYS!!! Last time I checked, Harry Potter DID NOT have a mullet, and Ron did NOT have a curled-under shag/mop do. End of rant.
In other news, this is officially the last week of school for my kids, and I am dreading….um…er…looking forward to all the quality time I’m going to get to provide for my children. Thank heaven they can at least entertain themselves, and don’t need me constantly by their side to do it. (Although they seem to all get along better together when I’m involved in the playing, as opposed to, say, sitting in my office and writing while observing their backyard play.)
Hubby left for New York today—he’ll be there a week, and apparently he was invited to a big to-do where they’re re-premiering one of James Dean’s movies (East of Eden? I can’t remember) and supposedly Tom Cruise and his hired girlfriend…oops, I mean LOVE OF HIS LIFE/ABOUT TO BE HIS WIFE #3 Katie will be there.
I’m jealous. I was a James Dean nut when I was younger, I had posters of him all over my walls. Funny, I had almost forgotten about my obsession with him. It seems so long ago now. I don’t think Hubby is going to the event—maybe I’ll have to smack him upside the head over that one…
ANYWAY, since I turn into a horrible insomniac when Hubby travels, I think I should get a fair amount of writing done. Or movie-watching (hee hee hee, Lara rubs her hands together in fiendish glee). Or not. Depends on how motivated I’m feeling.
Well, time to wake up the kids! I hope it's a good and busy week!
Friday, June 03, 2005
Whining Children!
Quote of the Day: "Don't take life too seriously. You'll never escape it alive anyway".--Elbert Hubbard
My nearly 8-year old daughter (whom I call Thing One) is driving me batty. BATTY I tell you. Every morning, she whines about what she wants to wear. She whines about her choices of breakfast. She whines about the school hot lunch being "gross" and why can't she take cold lunch instead, etc. (The answer, because I've prepaid for her hot lunches, darn it, and until the money is gone from the account, she's eating HOT LUNCH.)
She whines incessantly. Please tell me that this is a normal young girl thing. She whines about the way I do her hair, without fail, every morning. ("Mommy, I wanted braids today! Not pulled back!)
And then she whines about the snack I give her for school. (Some mornings, in exasperation, I tell her that I'm going to shove her out to her school bus NAKED, with schmuck hair and no snack, if she doesn't shut up about wearing the brown sandals and the one ponytail (she wanted to wear the pink sandals and two ponytails) already. AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!
Girls are so tedious. I have two boys, and they are so easy. They go obediently back to their rooms and change when I tell them that the clothes they are wearing are unacceptable. (Um, sweetheart, it's going to be 80 degrees outside, you need to go change out of the sweatshirt and jeans and moon boots.. okay? Okay Mommy!)
They don't care if their hair is done one way or another. They are just happy to get dressed and go to school and play sports and hang out with their buddies. My point: they don't WHINE over every detail like my daughter does!
So what is it with the whining? I certainly don't whine. And that annoying thing where her voice goes up SEVERAL octaves, it makes my blood boil.
The bottom line is, this child is tap-dancing on my last nerve. I'm losing patience very quickly. This morning I told her to LEAVE MY BATHROOM and I didn't do her hair at all for school. I don't care. She can have uncombed hair.
---well I'm back.
Of course, sensitive emotional thing that she is, she started crying and I felt horrible. So I've done her hair. I am such a pushover.
I wonder if I whined like this when I was a child? I don't remember... but my mother seems to have such barely concealed glee when I tell her all my child woes, I'm beginning to think I was quite the little sh*t myself...
My nearly 8-year old daughter (whom I call Thing One) is driving me batty. BATTY I tell you. Every morning, she whines about what she wants to wear. She whines about her choices of breakfast. She whines about the school hot lunch being "gross" and why can't she take cold lunch instead, etc. (The answer, because I've prepaid for her hot lunches, darn it, and until the money is gone from the account, she's eating HOT LUNCH.)
She whines incessantly. Please tell me that this is a normal young girl thing. She whines about the way I do her hair, without fail, every morning. ("Mommy, I wanted braids today! Not pulled back!)
And then she whines about the snack I give her for school. (Some mornings, in exasperation, I tell her that I'm going to shove her out to her school bus NAKED, with schmuck hair and no snack, if she doesn't shut up about wearing the brown sandals and the one ponytail (she wanted to wear the pink sandals and two ponytails) already. AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!
Girls are so tedious. I have two boys, and they are so easy. They go obediently back to their rooms and change when I tell them that the clothes they are wearing are unacceptable. (Um, sweetheart, it's going to be 80 degrees outside, you need to go change out of the sweatshirt and jeans and moon boots.. okay? Okay Mommy!)
They don't care if their hair is done one way or another. They are just happy to get dressed and go to school and play sports and hang out with their buddies. My point: they don't WHINE over every detail like my daughter does!
So what is it with the whining? I certainly don't whine. And that annoying thing where her voice goes up SEVERAL octaves, it makes my blood boil.
The bottom line is, this child is tap-dancing on my last nerve. I'm losing patience very quickly. This morning I told her to LEAVE MY BATHROOM and I didn't do her hair at all for school. I don't care. She can have uncombed hair.
---well I'm back.
Of course, sensitive emotional thing that she is, she started crying and I felt horrible. So I've done her hair. I am such a pushover.
I wonder if I whined like this when I was a child? I don't remember... but my mother seems to have such barely concealed glee when I tell her all my child woes, I'm beginning to think I was quite the little sh*t myself...
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Writer's Block and Jumbalaya
Quote of the Day: If we had no faults of our own, we would not take so much pleasure in noticing those of others.-~Francois duc de la Rochefoucauld
I haven't written a darn word this week, unless you count this blog. I've cleaned out the garage, learned how to grill, organized my craft room (Egads that took forever) and taught a rubber stamping class to eight very enthusiastic Brownies. I cleaned out my freezer, planted flowers, removed a large wad of chewing gum successfully from Thing One's hair (using ice cubes first and then peanut butter) and finished HENRY VIII by Robert Lacey.
...But no Writing. Tick tock. Tick tock. And I don't have a novel written. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??? The weather here in Wisconsin is so dang beautiful. My lilacs are beautiful, my grass is green and my shrubs are exploding, and all the tree-lined streets are breathtaking. There is so much beauty outside, so why am I not inspired? (All I've gotten from spending my time outside is a bunch of freckles and the need to shower more than once a day).
So maybe I should stay inside and concentrate on writing. Maybe if we get a day of rain, I'll be able to. Writer's block seems to be happening a lot to me, lately.
I guess being in LIMBO (see previous post) is affecting me more than I want it to. (Again, can't talk about it now, but hopefully there will be news soon.)
Tonight I am going to make Seafood Jumbalaya. I'll try and tone down the spices for the kids (they all have weenie mouths like me) but I have to find a happy balance because Hubby likes it spicy. He could eat Jalapenos straight from a jar.
I tried a jalapeno once...and I think I have blocked the unpleasantness that followed from my memory. Yes, it was that bad for me.
Well, it's off to the dry cleaners and the bank and the store, among other things.
I haven't written a darn word this week, unless you count this blog. I've cleaned out the garage, learned how to grill, organized my craft room (Egads that took forever) and taught a rubber stamping class to eight very enthusiastic Brownies. I cleaned out my freezer, planted flowers, removed a large wad of chewing gum successfully from Thing One's hair (using ice cubes first and then peanut butter) and finished HENRY VIII by Robert Lacey.
...But no Writing. Tick tock. Tick tock. And I don't have a novel written. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??? The weather here in Wisconsin is so dang beautiful. My lilacs are beautiful, my grass is green and my shrubs are exploding, and all the tree-lined streets are breathtaking. There is so much beauty outside, so why am I not inspired? (All I've gotten from spending my time outside is a bunch of freckles and the need to shower more than once a day).
So maybe I should stay inside and concentrate on writing. Maybe if we get a day of rain, I'll be able to. Writer's block seems to be happening a lot to me, lately.
I guess being in LIMBO (see previous post) is affecting me more than I want it to. (Again, can't talk about it now, but hopefully there will be news soon.)
Tonight I am going to make Seafood Jumbalaya. I'll try and tone down the spices for the kids (they all have weenie mouths like me) but I have to find a happy balance because Hubby likes it spicy. He could eat Jalapenos straight from a jar.
I tried a jalapeno once...and I think I have blocked the unpleasantness that followed from my memory. Yes, it was that bad for me.
Well, it's off to the dry cleaners and the bank and the store, among other things.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Bloody Limbo
Quote of the Day: "You'll eat THAT... (Sushi) but you won't accept a guy's tongue in your mouth?"--John Bender, The Breakfast Club
I hate being in limbo. My hubby and I are going back and forth and wondering what is up, and getting frustrated because we DON'T know what is up, and I wish I could go into detail about it but it's the internet. All I can say is, until I get OUT of bloody Limbo I won't be able to divulge much. Just rest assured that I am frustrated...more to come on this subject.
Thing Two asked me, point blank, at breakfast today "Mom, where do babies come from?"
I swear I'm cursed. It's especially ironic because I blogged about this just a day or two ago.
I am panicking because the end of the school year is approaching fast. And I need to buy GIFTS. For some reason here, an apple won't suffice. Kids give their teachers bunches of flowers, spa gift cards, condos in the Bahamas, etc.
So this year I have to get gifts (well, I should say I GET to get gifts) for: Three teachers, six T.A.'s, and five bus drivers. Eek. I'd better get shopping. But at least it's something to do. After all, I'm in BLOODY LIMBO!!!
(sorry, like I said, more to come on that subject.)
I hate being in limbo. My hubby and I are going back and forth and wondering what is up, and getting frustrated because we DON'T know what is up, and I wish I could go into detail about it but it's the internet. All I can say is, until I get OUT of bloody Limbo I won't be able to divulge much. Just rest assured that I am frustrated...more to come on this subject.
Thing Two asked me, point blank, at breakfast today "Mom, where do babies come from?"
I swear I'm cursed. It's especially ironic because I blogged about this just a day or two ago.
I am panicking because the end of the school year is approaching fast. And I need to buy GIFTS. For some reason here, an apple won't suffice. Kids give their teachers bunches of flowers, spa gift cards, condos in the Bahamas, etc.
So this year I have to get gifts (well, I should say I GET to get gifts) for: Three teachers, six T.A.'s, and five bus drivers. Eek. I'd better get shopping. But at least it's something to do. After all, I'm in BLOODY LIMBO!!!
(sorry, like I said, more to come on that subject.)
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