Guess who's 18 today!

Josh & Jon
Originally uploaded by mdesive.

Great American or Sexy Novel?

I was a bit distressed last week when I saw the list of the Best Work of American Fiction in the Last 25 Years by the New York Times Book Review and realized I haven't read a single one. Worse, I haven't even heard of most of the judges and have only read one of them. I was an English major! Gah!

I've done only slightly better on the 25 Sexiest Novels Ever Written as chosen by Playboy (I don't see where they said who decided. Their staff, I suppose). I own two of these books (#6 & #13) and have read one (#6). I've often thought I should have read Forever by Judy Blume (#23), but I usually feel like I missed the window on that one (After all, doesn't one read that one in high school?). Maybe I'll have to add it to my summer reading list. I think the only author to make both lists was Philip Roth.

I have no intention of filling in my reading with any of the New York Times' list. They really don't interest me. I'm reminded of what Alice Duncan says on her website: "...I realized that, not only do I not want to WRITE the Great American Novel, I don't even want to READ it." However, some of the "Sexiest" books have been on my TBR list for a long time. I really need to get to those. ;o)

P.S. Susie Bright interviewed the author of the piece & there he explains how he chose the books. They also mention some others that didn't make the list, but which have also been on my TBR list.

Celebrate Fairy Day June 24

The DaVinci WHAT?

Diet
Originally uploaded by mdesive.

This was in the checkout aisle at the grocery store today. All I can do is shake my head and laugh. I was much more interested in the book before all the hype came around. I've still never read it and I'm not sure I'll bother seeing the movie in the theatre (though I'll probably break down & watch when it's on DVD). I guess I'm now seeing the other side of my Titanic mania.

Too much time on your hands at work?

Maybe you should try this:

The Beatles do Shakespeare!

This is hilarious! And Paul ends up with Pyramus' line "Now am I dead." Does anybody else see the irony in this? I think this was before the whole Paul-is-dead thing, though. Thanks to Such Shakespeare Stuff for the link.

Yikes!

Still wasting time...but this is just too true: "You know you're in trouble when Lexus is part of your identity."

Skigersta, Isle of Lewis

Skigersta, Isle of Lewis
Originally uploaded by ßlϋeωãvε.

Wasting time at Flickr, again... at least I can say I'm trying to do research -- looking for pictures from the Outer Hebrides for my WIP.

And apparently there are still dragons in Scotland...look closely! :o)

Mostly, this is just a cool shot.

Another cool shot

Originally uploaded by deborah lattimore.

Yes, I spend too much time at Flickr. I think this is just such an unusual shot, though. The fireworks are just a wash of light in "reality" but you can see them just fine in the reflection. I'm sure there's something profound there...just give me time to think on that and I'll get back to you. :)

That's it, then...

That's it, then...
Originally uploaded by mdesive.

I guess I'll just have to stay home in bed. :o)

I saw this in the stacks this morning. Note the title of the white book inthe center - I think it says it all.

Recently Seen

I've managed to watch a few movies lately (these three were in the span of the past month...how pathetic)

Mrs. Henderson Presents - Judi Dench was in it, so of course it was great.

Whisky Galore! - Got this one from Netflix as "research" - my WIP is based in the Outer Hebrides, and this film is based in the Outer Hebrides. But it was rather full of stereotypes about Scottish people. And being in black and white, I didn't really get a good sense of how the islands look. The film had some cute moments, but it might have been more fun if it had been less full of cliches.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) - I laughed my a** off! I've got to see if the script is out there and buy it, because I couldn't keep up with all the crazy quotes I wanted to write down. For instance, "Juliet's" line "A nose by any other name would still smell." I didn't get to go when the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival did this a few years ago, so I was excited to find the DVD featuring the original cast.

Let's try this again...

Half-Moon
Originally uploaded by la_febbra.

Have to hit the right button...This is the photo I wanted you to see in the last post. And it only took me how many days to figure this out??? Gah!

Anyway, it's pretty cool, huh? Wish I'd taken it.

What a cool shot!

I've gotta train my eyes to see shots like this:

Half-Moon on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Happy Easter!

Easter Dog1
Originally uploaded by mdesive.

It's the Easter Bunny, er, Doggie...those ears, that pose...it's confusing!

As if I needed another reason to watch P&P

FrankenGirl: Film: Pride & Prejudice 2005 (I’m not proud. I’m just misunderstood.): "Watch it for sexy MacFadyen’s portrayal of Mr. Rochester – ooops! I mean, Mr. Darcy!"

:o) I said from the first preview this looked like a Bronte-fied version of Jane Austen...my jury's still out on whether that's a bad thing.

Yes, I'm caught in the blogosphere tonight when I should be doing other things...

Sad, but probably true...

I hate to say it, but I have to agree with this. I would probably still have read "Harriet Potter," assuming I found a copy, but it would have been one of those little books you read & enjoy, but nobody else you know has ever read. I've had a few of those on my shelf.

FrankenGirl: Harriet Potter vs. Harry Potter: "If she had chosen “Harriet” instead of “Harry,” would the series have changed dramatically? If she had called herself “Joanne” instead of J.K., would she be the richest woman in England? Or would she be working part-time in a bookstore to support her artistic aspirations?"

READ

READ
Originally uploaded by mdesive.

It's National Library Week! The library where I work did READ posters for everyone who wanted to. Here's mine. Of course, I had to take Jane (not to mention Colin Firth!) for my book.

Funny headline of the day...

Hooters Air Goes Bust

Guess what this is...

Guess what this is...
Originally uploaded by Cynewulf.

If you think you've got it, click on the picture to see other guesses (and the correct answer)

Once you find out what it is, the answer to your question is "No, I didn't take this." But it IS clever... ;o)

I'll never look at a Werther's Original quite the same way again. <>

The new addition to our family

Quinn
Originally uploaded by mdesive.

This is Quinn, our new puppy. He's half Rat Terrier, half Dachshund. We got him on St. Patrick's "eve" so we had to give him a good Irish name. He's was thisclose to being called Seamus. Thankfully, sense prevailed and we went with a simple, one-syllable name - easy for him to remember. ;o)

To see more pics of Quinn, click on the picture to go to my Flickr page

What the world needs now...

...is more Mr. Darcy!

I think I've said it before, but I love Whitney Gaskell's blog. I was reading it tonight (when I should have been doing my own writing *ahem*) and found this post.

In it, she says, "As far as I'm concerned, all movies would benefit from having more Mr. Darcy scenes. Just think of how much better March of the Penguins would have been, if right in the middle of all that marching and death, it suddenly cut over to Mr. Darcy asking Lizzy to dance."

I wholeheartedly agree, and I haven't even seen March of the Pengiuns yet. :)

Let's go eat at....

cloudy and crabby
Originally uploaded by It's not about the camera....

Um, I think I'll pass, thanks. :o)

Groundhog Day

My internal editor saw her shadow today, so I can finally get back to my story. I ended the month at only 25,180 words, so I've extended the deadline to Valentine's Day. After a productive brainstorming session with my critique group last night I'm pretty sure I can get there!

Book endings

Gah! I saw the heading for a blog entry that made me think I'd found someone who would tell me how to finish my book, because at this point, I only have the vaguest of ideas and I really should know within the week! But at least this blog entry at Squawk Radio made me laugh, especially this part:

"So I guess the only advice I can give you for ending your book quickly and efficiently is to avoid eBay, Amazon, on-line quizzes and Sudoku while you’re trying to do it. And to end your book in a way that will satisfy your editor, your readers and yourself, you should avoid killing or maiming your characters, and you should keep them mentally sound. And also you should avoid killing or maiming yourself, and you should keep yourself mentally sound. And, okay, maybe you should hide any cutlery in the house, just to be on the safe side."

I thinkElizabeth Bevarly has been peeking over my shoulder. And maybe she should add avoid blogging, too...Nah!

Woohoo!

Tonight, hubby and I went to see Underworld: Evolution. Yes, I know it doesn't open until tomorrow! :o) Earlier this week, I won tickets for an advance screening from a local TV station (sometimes it pays to still be up watching TV at midnight).

The movie was pretty cool! Scott Speedman is now my hunk du jour! Well, probably longer than that, but we've just exhausted my French vocabulary. I could have done with quite a bit less blood & gore - I know it's a vampire movie, but this was pushing the limits for me. It's a lot more violent and bloody than the first movie. Definitely not for little kids. I know a lot of the guys will be thrilled that they go in expecting to see Kate Beckinsale half naked, and what they get is a view of half of Kate Beckinsale totally naked (with Scott Speedman equally so, so I really won't complain). Okay, that's enough drool on the keyboard (that goes for you as well as me)! I've got more to say, but I'm afraid it would all be spoilers, so I'll leave them out for now.

And just to illustrate how this movie had me glued to my seat - I didn't get up to go to the restroom even once! (Those who know me know how amazing that is.) :o)

And now for a little fun

Today's cleverest headline: Debt ode by Burns to City's ladies

HeeHee! I know...you're all rolling your eyes...or maybe wondering what the joke is. I hope not, but just in case, here's a clue: It's an ode one, but a good one. :)

WriMo update

Tonight I get a star in my calendar because I made my nightly goal (plus a little)!

Totals:
Tonight: 2,203 words
This week: 3,383 words
This month: 24,447 words

And from the figuring I did tonight, I'm right on track, but I don't have any slacking days left, so it could get sticky from here on out.

Busy busy...not writing

Okay, I need a slap on my wrist for the last two days. Friday and Saturday night were "freebies" - I had worked them into my totals for WriMo since I knew ahead of time I wouldn't get anything done those two nights.

My writers' group had our annual retreat Friday night and Saturday, so it was definitely writing-related "slack" time, and there really wasn't much slacking going on at all. Over the two days (more like 24 hours, counting sleep) we did 4 90-minute plotting sessions, where we took turns helping each other plot our books. I was very into this Friday night and Saturday morning, but after lunch on Saturday I was brain-dead. Afternoon is my least-perky time. If I had a choice, I'd sleep every afternoon away and stay up more of the night. I did my book in the last plotting session, and just couldn't get my brain to work. I'll know to try to go early if we do this again (though this was really by the luck of the draw, so "trying" to go early wouldn't have helped anyway). I got out my handy calculator (math whiz I am NOT) and figured out we spent 6 hours plotting. Whew! We also spent an hour on a collage and freewrite. I'll have to take a picture of the collage and post it (I'll leave that for later in the week). It was all very fun, and I learned a lot. Even without that it still would have been worth it because I got to know the people in my group much better (I'm a newbie). Still, Saturday night I went home and crashed.

Sunday was sucked up by this that and the other family thing, not that that's a bad thing, and I could have written Sunday night, but I didn't (no excuses, even). Monday I had the day off, and had fully intended to write, but realized just how bad my house has gotten since I've been doing this WriMo (that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it. No, it's NOT just my usual bad housekeeping skills!). So, I spent all day doing dishes and laundry, and FINALLY took down the Christmas decorations (although at this moment, all the boxes are still sitting in the middle of the living room)

Tonight, my brain creaked and groaned, but I got some words down, and lo and behold, I hit page 100! Yay! Now I'm off to bed.

Words today: 1,180
Words this week: 1,180 (for shame!)
Words this month: 22,244

Wizards in Winter

You may have seen this house on a beer commercial (for the life of me, I can't remember what brand - marketing apparently works on me really well) where this guy has put his Christmas lights to music. You can now watch it on Google Video. If you search for Christmas Lights on Google Video, most of this hits are videos of this house (but all the ones I tried were THIS song, so maybe that's the only one they played? I don't know).

Tonight's totals

Finally found out why my villain does what he does!

Totals:
Tonight: 2,070 words
This week: 4,373 words
This month: 20,430 words

WriMo Update

Exciting stuff tonight, though a bit disjointed. It all flowed out much faster than the last few nights. I'm discovering big things about my characters! Yay!

Totals:
Tonight: 2,323 words
This week: 2,323 words
This month: 18,360 words

WriMo and P&P

Well, I was supposed to do 4,000 words today, to finish playing catch-up. The plan was 2,000 words, go see Pride and Prejudice (finally!) at the theatre, then come home and do 2,000 more words. Yeah...uh, that didn't happen. It started off well, I did 2,014 words before the movie. Then I went to the movie. It was pretty darn good as long as you don't compare it with the 1995 version (nothing beats Colin Firth in a wet shirt) and then my friend and I went to Old Chicago to start our World Beer Tour we've been talking about doing for a year. One (very large) beer, mozzarella sticks and lots of chatting later, I got home and really really really had to squeeze the brain to get the drek I got - 1,208 words. Well, drek is better than a blank page (I need to post that on the wall above my computer...next to the P&P poster). But it means catch-up continues tomorrow.

So, on to the totals:
Today: 3,222
This week: 16,037
This month: 16,037

Friday & Saturday WriMo update

I was a big slacker last night and didn't write a thing. Sat down & watched Valiant with the family instead (I was a bit disappointed in it, really. Guess I expected more.)

Tonight, I wrote 2,875 words. I've got serious catch up to do tomorrow. I should have done more of it today, but it was finally warm enough out to clean the garage. After living in this house for almost two months, we actually have a vehicle in the garage! Yay! And then there was the obvious blog-reading earlier, along with e-mail checking, etc. Bad girl!

Totals:
Tonight: 2,875
Total for Jan: 12,815

Life with a toddler...or a five-year-old

I recently discovered Whitney Gaskell's blog, and it's a hoot! (I need to fix my vocabulary..."hoot" just is not a flattering word on me) I haven't read any of her books yet (shame on me!) but I'm certainly going to keep my eye out for them, especially Pushing 30. Anyway, this post made me laugh, and roll my eyes, because my daughter STILL tries to do this to me (though, thankfully, not in public).

Getting back on track

2,216 words tonight. 9,940 total.

Wednesday's WriMo Update

Only 1,225 words tonight. That puts me 775 behind (I'll have to work that into my total for the rest of the week to make it up). My total is now 7,724 for January.

Tuesday's WriMo Update

Exactly 2,000 words tonight, and boy, were they tough. My total so far is 6,499 words for January.

WriMo Update

I've written 2,226 words today. My total so far is 4,499.

My WriMo update

Yesterday, I wrote 2,273 words. Time to get to work on Day Two...

I'd never thought of this...

...but it'd be really cool. Cheeser at the Harry Potter Automatic News Aggregator (HPANA) site says Book 7 "simply can't not be released on 07/07/07. It's too perfect." See the entire posting at News: Commentary: Harry Potter Book 7 on July 7, 2007

Of course, I'm still trying to get through Book 5. I really need to just make time to sit down and read it. Maybe if I really work at it, I'll have 5 & 6 done by the time 7 (might) come out. :o)

Happy New Year & Mary's WriMo

Gee, it's 2006 already! 2005 felt like a big waiting game & there were lots of big changes. 2006 is an action year! So, I'm starting it off with a goal of writing 50,000 words by the end of January. I couldn't do NaNoWriMo for 2005, and I don't want to wait until November comes again to try it, so I'm doing my own "WriMo" now. We're moved in to our house (finally!), the holidays are done (finally!); now it's time to write, write, write! Watch this space for daily updates! Nothing like accountability to keep you going, right?

Today is Pappy's 200th birthday!

James Pappy Woods
Originally uploaded by mdesive.

Today is my great-great-great grandfather's birthday. He was born Dec 15, 1805 in Ireland (if I recall correctly).

See what else was going on in the world in 1805.

Everything you ever (never?) wanted to know about Haggis

This is a fanciful "Haggisclopedia" about these little animals that live in Scotland. :o)

What I've been reading

I just finished Hatching Magic by Ann Downer. I'd never heard of it when I found it at a Scholastic Book Fair at work (exactly where I should NOT have been with money in my pocket). It sounded interesting, so I bought it and read it pretty quickly for me - about two weeks (that darn ol' real life won't let me just sit and read abook straight through ) . It'd be a good book for someone looking for a Harry Potter fix while they're waiting for the last book to come out (of course I'm only about a third into Book 5). As soon as we finish The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, I'm going to read this one to Ashley (that should tickle her little dragon-loving self!)

What else have I been reading (or listening to, as the case may be)?
Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper (on tape)
Heart of the Sea by Nora Roberts (on tape) - I've FINALLY finished this trilogy!

Still reading:
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Miss Fortune by Julia London

Oh Christmas tree...well, sort of

PB301004
Originally uploaded by mdesive.

After a drive home through the snow which took twice as long as usual, we pulled into the drive and Ashley yells "We have a tree!" My first thought was, "Duh, we put it up last week!" Then I looked in the yard. I have no idea what KIND of tree it is...guess we'll find out later when it's not dark...and snowing...and leaf-less.

So I spend waaaay to much time at Flickr now

DSCN0948
Originally uploaded by stepinrazor.

I found some pictures of a subway car done up like a Deadwood saloon. If you scroll through the photos, you'll see even the seats are made to look as if they're upholstered, even though they're still the hard plastic seats. Pretty cool.

My Little Pig Sty

My Little Pig Sty
Originally uploaded by Tosawyer.

Okay, it's not MY pig sty. I wish I even had my desk in the house! (hint, hint hubby!) This is somebody else's photo on Flickr.com. Flickr has this thing where you can draw little squares around things and label them, and, well, this person went kinda gung ho! It just tickled me, so I had to post it! Click on the photo to see what I mean. (And I'll go lie down after using so many exclamation points...)

We have sod!

I stayed home today to recover from all the moving and the unpacking and the unpacking and the unpacking....I took a nice long nap for the morning and when I woke up this afternoon, there was a truckload of sod sitting outside! We now have a lawn! It was too dark by the time they finished laying the sod, though, so I'll have to take pictures before I leave for work -- if I can see it. It's supposed to snow tomorrow...sigh. Oh well, it means Mother Nature will do my work for me and I won't have to water it that whole first day. :o)

Check out my pictures at Flickr

The house is DONE!

P1010946
Originally uploaded by mdesive.

It's ours! We moved some boxes & small stuff in today! I had to decorate the windows right away, of course. To see more pictures of the finished house, click on the picture. You'll have to sign in to see the rest.

Light in the front hall

Light in the front hall
Originally uploaded by mdesive.

I just love this light fixture, which is lucky, since we didn't get to pick these. But I really like it! And with the brushed nickel door handles, etc. (also not a choice, but cool) and the stainless steel appliances (a choice), I think it will help pull things together throughout the house.

To see more pictures of the house, got to www.flickr.com/photos/mdesive/. They're public for now, but soon I'll make them available only to "Friends and Family" so you'll have to sign in (if you already have a Yahoo! I.D., you should be able to get to them...if you still can't get to them, e-mail me so I can add you to the list.)

What day is this???

At first I thought I was just delirious from loss of blood (Mary the High-Maintenance Blood Donor strikes again), but apparently they ARE playing Christmas songs on a local station.

House update

We finally have a driveway! We also have drywall, a front door, and a garage door! We close October 26!

A Night Out

Friday night we went to Maggie McCall's to see Larry Garner (center) play. He's a Blues player from Baton Rouge, LA. He played some great music, told some stories and his guitarist (left)wasn't bad to look at. ;o)

House update

We now have front steps, shingles, some electrical wiring, and the fireplace has been installed! 

We have a back patio! 

House update

The front of the house (a bit washed out, sorry). But we have siding, the driveway and steps are ready to be poured, and there are shingles on the roof, though not actually attached yet ;o)

Pipes and ductwork are going in. 

The back of the house. 

Which Romantic Comedy Heroine Are You?

You're Jenna Rink
(Jennifer Garner - '13 Going on 30')

You are a sparkling, fun dynamo of a person. You
enchant people with your smile, laughter and
ever infectious spunk! You are sweet and always
good-natured. Even the cranky anti-morning
people can't be mean to you.

You're creative and spontanteous. You express
yourself in like mediums, but also keep a
tangible diary.

You feel deeply and believe in fighting for what
you want.
You love music, family, and friends. You keep up
with the trends and often set the fashion
standards.

All in all, you're a doll!


Which Romantic Comedy Heroine Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

We came home from vacation, and...

Our house is starting to look like...a house!


The front of the house

The back of the house 

The kitchen 

The living room (fireplace will be in the corner) 

The family room & laundry room in the basement. 

Vacation - Day Four

Today we went to the Crazy Horse Memorial and walked and walked and walked. It seemed like we walked forever. There was a lot to see, and we even got to take home pieces of rock blasted from the mountain. Since it's still bike week, of course there was a Crazy Horse-themed bike at the memorial. One picture of that is below.

Tonight we ordered in steak from Steak-Out. I had the "Surf & Turf" (shrimp & steak tips). It was pretty good.

Vacation - Day Three

We went to Sturgis today! It was cool, though without a bike it felt a bit like visiting Disneyland and not riding any of the rides. We went out to Thunder Road and saw the guys from Orange County Choppers. When we got there, Paul Jr. and Mikey were signing autographs. The line looked really really really long (I have no idea where the end was), but most of the people in the line were holding out for Paul Sr., who was supposed to be there in about half an hour. Most of them said if we weren't picky about who we got autographs from, then to go ahead, they were waiting. So we jumped in line and were about 5th in line when Paul Sr. came out. People were screaming and cheering. So we got Paul Sr.'s and Paul Jr.'s autographs (don't know where Mikey went, but he was gone by the time I got to where I could see them again (the line was along the semi trailer they were in, so you couldn't actually see in until you got up there). Here are some of the photos.

Vacation - Day Two

We saw lots of things today and didn't even leave Rapid. This morning we went to Prairie Edge, a store downtown with oodles and oodles of Native American-themed things. I bought two Paul Goble books I've wanted for awhile and a couple postcards. The gallery was full of gorgeous artwork - I'll have to organize my notes and find the artists' websites for a later post.

When we were done there, we went next door to the Firehouse Brewing Co. It's actually in an old firehouse. The French dip was one of the best I've had in awhile. Dan and I each tried one of their beers (can't remember which ones, and I can't find my notes)

After that, we went to Rapid City's Harley-Davidson dealership, where we saw gobs and gobs of Harleys. I even got a shirt to wear to Sturgis tomorrow (if it doesn't rain all day). We left the dealership just before the rain started. After that, we went to the Civic Center and saw MORE Harleys - good thing that was inside, because it poured while were were there. I think Ashley is hooked on Harleys now - we'll realize what a monster we created when she's sixteen, I'm sure.

Vacation - Day One

We drove to Rapid City today, with a few stops along the way. Too tired to write much tonight (must blog earlier in the day!) so I'll just post a picture or two tonight. The top photo is what the road looked like most of the way here - Interstate and motorcycles, motorcycles, motorcyles going both east and west. The second photo is Ashley riding the bucking bronco at Wall Drug. Didn't mean to do the stair-step effect with the photos, but I'm too tired to figure out how to fix it tonight. More tomorrow...