Yes, I'm doing this instead of increasing my page count. So sue me.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Twitter-pated
Crazy girl. Another distraction.
I actually signed up for Twitter a few months ago. Sean McCann of Great Big Sea has a Twitter account--GreatBigSean. It was fun to read his snippets about the band, being on the road and especially about being a mostly stay-at-home dad of a two-year-old. Amy's on Twitter because of work, so she says. ;-) But neither of them post very often so I'd only check it once or twice a week online. I don't have it set up to go to my cell phone.
Then yesterday, I got a note that someone named BigDaddyMe is "following" me. You can follow people, like I do Sean and Amy, and they can follow you if they'd like, like Amy but not Sean. More's the pity. Anyway, I clicked on his profile and can't tell if I know this person or not. Now here's where you can fall down the rabbit hole. You can see who someone is following. On BigDaddyMe's list was Peter Hilleren, one of my old MSTie pals. So I decided to follow Peter. Now Peter is following Courtney (who has commented here and is linked at the right). Then I started searching for names from my past. And I found Cheryl. Someone I've been out of touch with since I lost my old Yahoo! account. Groovy, huh?
So now I have to check it a bit more often. Maybe see if I can figure out how to get them to show up on the dreaded, not yet loved, cell phone.
Anyone else here tweeting? Yes, that's what they call it.
I actually signed up for Twitter a few months ago. Sean McCann of Great Big Sea has a Twitter account--GreatBigSean. It was fun to read his snippets about the band, being on the road and especially about being a mostly stay-at-home dad of a two-year-old. Amy's on Twitter because of work, so she says. ;-) But neither of them post very often so I'd only check it once or twice a week online. I don't have it set up to go to my cell phone.
Then yesterday, I got a note that someone named BigDaddyMe is "following" me. You can follow people, like I do Sean and Amy, and they can follow you if they'd like, like Amy but not Sean. More's the pity. Anyway, I clicked on his profile and can't tell if I know this person or not. Now here's where you can fall down the rabbit hole. You can see who someone is following. On BigDaddyMe's list was Peter Hilleren, one of my old MSTie pals. So I decided to follow Peter. Now Peter is following Courtney (who has commented here and is linked at the right). Then I started searching for names from my past. And I found Cheryl. Someone I've been out of touch with since I lost my old Yahoo! account. Groovy, huh?
So now I have to check it a bit more often. Maybe see if I can figure out how to get them to show up on the dreaded, not yet loved, cell phone.
Anyone else here tweeting? Yes, that's what they call it.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
What Have I Done?
I just signed up for American Icon is what I've done.
Panic attack already starting.
It's one of those get outside your comfort zone things that Ali-demon loves to talk about. And I realized last night that I've been avoiding reading at Icon. The first year I was there to cheer on Geoff and Moe. Second year I was there to cheer on Bret. Last year I wasn't there but still cheered on Jenny. But I never even considered getting up there myself. Like most people, I hate standing in front of a crowd.
So that's why I'm doing it. Because I don't want to--if that makes any sense. I'm also submitting a proposal to the PPW Conference planning committee to give a workshop on how to make a magazine editor happy. Again, standing in front of strangers. And not just reading, but teaching. Yikes!
Am I crazy? Well, yeah. You already knew that. But there is a method to my madness. The more I do things like this now, the easier it will get. The ultimate goal is to get those books published and sold and, fingers tightly crossed, on the Best Seller lists. Which means interviews and readings and the like. Better I make a fool of myself now in a local venue where I know most of the people than on a larger scale. Chances are I'll still find a way to make a fool of myself, but maybe not as big a one.
Okay, I'm going to go breathe into a paper bag now.
Panic attack already starting.
It's one of those get outside your comfort zone things that Ali-demon loves to talk about. And I realized last night that I've been avoiding reading at Icon. The first year I was there to cheer on Geoff and Moe. Second year I was there to cheer on Bret. Last year I wasn't there but still cheered on Jenny. But I never even considered getting up there myself. Like most people, I hate standing in front of a crowd.
So that's why I'm doing it. Because I don't want to--if that makes any sense. I'm also submitting a proposal to the PPW Conference planning committee to give a workshop on how to make a magazine editor happy. Again, standing in front of strangers. And not just reading, but teaching. Yikes!
Am I crazy? Well, yeah. You already knew that. But there is a method to my madness. The more I do things like this now, the easier it will get. The ultimate goal is to get those books published and sold and, fingers tightly crossed, on the Best Seller lists. Which means interviews and readings and the like. Better I make a fool of myself now in a local venue where I know most of the people than on a larger scale. Chances are I'll still find a way to make a fool of myself, but maybe not as big a one.
Okay, I'm going to go breathe into a paper bag now.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Wow! And Disappointment
First the Wow! Dark Knight would have knocked my socks off had I been wearing any. Very dark, very disturbing. Without going into spoilage territory for the handful of people who haven't seen it yet, it's about choices and where a person draws the line and then what would make them cross that line if anything. Add the additional layer of a tour de force performance by Heath Ledger and the obvious thought of what he might have been able to do as he matured even more as an actor and it gets darker and more disturbing. Great performances by all, with maybe the exception of Maggie Gyllenhall who seemed to be trying for a Katie Holmes impersonation.
Now for the disappointment. Not total, but enough. As promised, I picked up my copy of Breaking Dawn, the final installment of the Twilight series, on Saturday morning and dove in. All seven hundred and fifty-four pages of it. Even with it being the longest book in the series, it didn't seem to have the bloat the other three did. One of the things I like about the books is the humor--particularly from Edward and his brother Emmett and that's in brilliant evidence. And I have a feeling that the teenage readers will be thrilled with it. Let me just say before the break that I think Meyer copped out. And that makes me want to retract what I wrote about the first 3 books. To rate them lower than I did on first reading. Not the way you want fans to react.
Again, I'm trying to avoid spoilers, but I would say that if you plan to read the series yourself, STOP HERE--POTENTIAL BREAKING DAWN SPOILERS AHEAD (highlight with cursor if you want to read it):
Early on there is a choice one of the main characters has to make. It should be a difficult and scary choice that at least takes into consideration another character's opinion. There is no hesitation nor consideration. Just, done. There could be dire consequences, but no. Meyer's religious bias is apparent. I wouldn't have had a problem with the choice, if there had been some deliveration at least. And throughout the book there is not one bit of sacrifice on the part of the main character. None. Gets everything without losing anything. Makes it sort of hollow. And sad in a way.
So a fifty-fifty weekend. Although I devoted a lot more time to consuming Breaking Dawn, I have and will spend much more time thinking about Dark Knight.
Now for the disappointment. Not total, but enough. As promised, I picked up my copy of Breaking Dawn, the final installment of the Twilight series, on Saturday morning and dove in. All seven hundred and fifty-four pages of it. Even with it being the longest book in the series, it didn't seem to have the bloat the other three did. One of the things I like about the books is the humor--particularly from Edward and his brother Emmett and that's in brilliant evidence. And I have a feeling that the teenage readers will be thrilled with it. Let me just say before the break that I think Meyer copped out. And that makes me want to retract what I wrote about the first 3 books. To rate them lower than I did on first reading. Not the way you want fans to react.
Again, I'm trying to avoid spoilers, but I would say that if you plan to read the series yourself, STOP HERE--POTENTIAL BREAKING DAWN SPOILERS AHEAD (highlight with cursor if you want to read it):
Early on there is a choice one of the main characters has to make. It should be a difficult and scary choice that at least takes into consideration another character's opinion. There is no hesitation nor consideration. Just, done. There could be dire consequences, but no. Meyer's religious bias is apparent. I wouldn't have had a problem with the choice, if there had been some deliveration at least. And throughout the book there is not one bit of sacrifice on the part of the main character. None. Gets everything without losing anything. Makes it sort of hollow. And sad in a way.
So a fifty-fifty weekend. Although I devoted a lot more time to consuming Breaking Dawn, I have and will spend much more time thinking about Dark Knight.
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