It's Wednesday!

( That means it's time for a reading update )

Steve had a meeting in Tulsa last Friday, so the day before we drove to nearby Tahlequah to see the Cherokee Female Seminary building, which is now "Seminary Hall" at Northeastern State University. We wandered around inside for a while before Steve insisted I ask for more information in the Liberal Arts & Sciences office. I really hated to bother them, but the woman I spoke to immediately brought me a file with all sorts of goodies, including the architectural drawings for the building -- which she copied for me!!! She also gave me the names of an NSU librarian and archivist who know everything there is to know about the Female Seminary -- yay!

( two pictures of Seminary Hall )

I am done with revisions for a while. Now I can tidy up the house, organize the office, and do more reading. Of course my TBR fiction pile is towering (why do I keep borrowing books from other people?), but I also plan to start some background reading for the next story. Yay! Starting research is the bestest of times in the writing process!

( Wednesday reading report )

Happy Birthday to lavidaessueno! May your year be filled with lucrative and breezy editing contracts, as well as lots of time for your own writing. Oh, and good health and happiness, too! Have a great day!

Steve is out of town until late Sunday evening -- yes, it's time once again for "boys' weekend." These days I get plenty of time to myself, so it's not so much of a treat anymore to be on my own. The glums might just get me. I plan to organize the house and work on revisions. And maybe watch some movies? Yeah. Any recommendations?

I managed to read FIVE books this week! All were MG/YA -- so it wasn't quite like reading five George Eliot novels in seven days -- but rest assured each was terribly clever and sophisticated in its own way. If you haven't read an MG/YA book in a while, you need to check out the newer stuff in these age groups!

( the details on what I've been reading )

I missed starsperse's birthday! HAPPY, HAPPY DAY! Actually, I already know that she had a fabulous time. I'm still reeling from the fact that she met Philip Glenister a few days back. Star, I should have asked you to ask Mr. Glenister if he would be available for Costume Drama Con!

OMG I am, like, having an 80s flashback!

Back in the day, my Frankie Says t-shirt was white. And oversized, of course. How did boys even know we had bodies back then?

I wrote many, many words today!

*happies*

Last night I saw a trailer for the CBS fall show Eleventh Hour starring Rufus Sewell. Yes, it's a remake of the British series starring Patrick Stewart, which I personally thought was dreadful. From what I've seen, this Bruckheimer version will not be an improvement (check out this preview and this reaction to a screening). Oh, Rufus! I will watch because it is you, but why must you torture me so? (Maybe he'll win the Tony this weekend and then be overwhelmed by offers for amazing film roles? Hmmm . . .)

( Wednesday reading report )

The conclusion to The Andromeda Strain was kinda laughable. ( snark, snark ) Anyone else watch?

Remember when I mentioned gardening over the weekend? Well, my thighs were killing me last night! I go the gym 2-3 times a week, but I never do squats because I HATE THEM. So now I am in pain. What a pansy!

( Wednesday reading report )

Hope everyone in the States had a lovely Memorial Day weekend. We were quite lazy -- went to see Indy and watched a lot of TV at home. I did some gardening and laundry and managed to work through a tricky scene in my ms (something I had to completely rewrite after doing research on location), but otherwise it was a weekend of indolence.

Tomorrow is a reading update, but for now I'll bore you with what I've been watching:

--Stay (2005) -- part of my Ryan Gosling film festival. A ghostly and surreal film. The stylized cinematography and editing would have made for good discussions in the film class I used to teach. I found it interesting but did not care enough to watch again after I knew what it was all really about.
--Master of the Moor (1994). I read the book in January 2007 and since then have been mildly intrigued by the thought of Colin Firth as the main character. The scenery was beautiful and Firth was quite good, but the pace was grindingly slow and the writers messed about with the story line. I can't really say that I enjoyed this.
--Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) -- yes, ever since watching Iron Man I've been searching about for all the Robert Downey Jr. films I've missed. This was a funny, sexy, action-packed film noir. RDJr was fabulous, but I expected that. What I didn't expect was for Val Kilmer to be so endearing. Great film!
--Indiana Jones and the blah blah (2008) -- hey, I liked it! Indy has always been pulp fiction, so I wasn't expecting anything particularly new or clever in the script. I expected action and fun, and that's what I got. Loved Cate Blanchett and thought Shia LaBeouf was good (I've had a not-so-secret secret crush on him since Disturbia). If you're feeling down about the Indy disappointment, read Ebert's effusive (& spoilery) review. It'll perk you right up!
--Steve and I also watched two Season 3 eps of Midsomer Murders yesterday and I was amazed by how much I'd forgotten. The characters were vaguely familiar, but I could NOT remember who the murderers were. My crap memory really comes in handy sometimes!
--Oh, and we watched the first ep of The Andromeda Strain on A&E last night. So far, so good. Some stiff acting on the part of the Wildfire team, but thankfully Benjamin Bratt gets most of the lines.

Oh no! Sydney Pollack died!

In other news, you might have seen that Oklahoma has been slammed with storms and tornadoes lately, but so far we've been okay. *knocks wood*

Belated wishes for a Happy Birthday go out to hollywdliz! I already know that she had a great day!

First off, belated birthday wishes go out to jedishampoo -- I hope you had a fabulous day!

My contest entries went out in the mail today. Big thanks go to elspethsheir and Brandi for their help. (Brandi -- if you're reading this, you really must get on LJ!) Now I desperately need to get the house and laundry in order before the next bout of writing.

I saw Iron Man this past weekend and it was awesome! I'm so happy Robert Downey, Jr. is drug-free and employed once more -- let's hope it sticks. This upcoming weekend is Prince Caspian and after that is Indiana Jones! Huzzah for summer blockbuster movies!

Speaking of movies, I finally watched the 1985 Room with a View! ( Yay! )

And for the grand finale: ( my Wednesday reading report )

All you lovely scholars of Classical civilization (elspethsheir? Who else?) -- would you look at this fresco of Apollo and please tell me what the spiky things coming out of his head would be called? And what is their purpose? I can't seem to find any information on this particular piece.

I would be ever so grateful for your help!

I've been tweaking and tweaking the first few pages of my latest ms for a contest. What I really should do is set it aside for a week and come back with fresh eyes, but I've already missed the first deadline (meaning now I have to pay a larger entry free) and if I don't get it ready this weekend I will miss the contest altogether. Argh.

The good news is that I can move forward with the ms after this. It needs to be in solid draft form by July 31 because I am going to the SCBWI summer conference in LA (Eeeee!) and that seems like a good time to have it ready to go, right? I'm really excited to be going to this conference. I was so worried about finding a roommate because, as some of you can attest, I am a crazy light sleeper who goes bonkers when my roomies dare to even breathe loudly in the night. But after much equivocation (and some tears of on my part over the extent of the waffling) Steve finally decided to go with me. Registration is paid, the hotel is booked, and our plane tickets are purchased. Not sure how much time we'll actually get to spend together, but I'm sure he can occupy himself quite nicely in LA.

This will be my last conference/convention of the year. It's all just so expensive and therefore hard to justify when I'm making so little money. I need to make this one count, which means lots of work beforehand and a great deal of energy expended toward learning and networking at the conference itself. I hope to meet some of my f-listers there!

What else . . . I forgot to mention last post that Steve and I were delighted by the first installment of Cranford on PBS. What a stellar cast! Such amusing and poignant story lines! As I was telling elspethsheir, I haven't read the book for ten years and all I could remember was how frequently Dr. Johnson was referenced. This adaptation seemed much more complex, which made more sense once it was made clear to me that it's based on three of Gaskell's short novels. So, if it's languishing on your DVR/Tivo -- WATCH IT! If you forgot to record the first episode, you might still be able to make sense of it all if you jump in for the last two eps.

I've also been watching the first season of Shameless, which came to my attention when watching Craig Ferguson's interview with James McAvoy in which McAvoy revealed he met his wife (Anne-Marie Duff) on the show. Gosh, he's just so cute in it! But the show is not for everyone -- funny, but very adult and graphic. And I have to watch it with subtitles! More on that later.

Finally, I will share a photo of our new "lodgers" -- ( here )

ETA: as most of you know, the latest news on Brontë movies is that Ellen Page (of Juno) is set to play Jane in a new adaptation of Jane Eyre. (The world groans. Another adaptation? Ellen Page?) In better news, Natalie Portman has dropped out of Wuthering Heights (which, really, I think is a good thing) and Michael Fassbender is being approached to play Heathcliff! MICHAEL FASSBENDER! He's gorgeously intense, if perhaps a wee bit too old? Wait -- he's younger than I thought. He'll be perfect if actually cast. Let's hope. (More here)

Happy Friday!

I've been a been a bit droopy of late. Struggling with revisions, not sleeping well, feeling sorta sick. I think I've regained the upper hand with the writing (maybe?), and I'm trying some dietary changes for the physical stuff. (Less caffeine, less chocolate, and no artificial sweeteners. *sob*)

We'll see.

This weekend is the OWFI conference and I'm in charge of the autograph party. Think good thoughts for me, please, 'cause I haven't done this before!

Man, I wish I had something more interesting to share. I'll leave you with: ( a reading update )

I was tagged by viabloomington!

Grab the nearest book, open to page 123, find the fifth sentence. Then post the next three sentences. Tag five people and post a comment to viabloomington ( your taggees will post to me).

[Alright, I must disclose that the nearest book was actually the Lonely Planet guide to Wales -- the passage on 123 was, as you might imagine, rather dry -- so I fumbled around in the stacks on my desk and found this.]

From Exile by Denise Mina:

"She was still alive and having another day, losing herself in the problems of Jimmy and Ann and feeling all right sometimes. She looked at the people on the street and realized that the world must be busy with people who tried to kill themselves last night, people who woke up this morning, nauseous and disappointed, and had to go to work, living the afterwards. She thought of Pauline, and it struck her that suicide was never the definitive statement; it was an impulse, a comma, not a stop."

Rather dark, eh? But lovely.

I'm trying to find peeps who haven't done this already . . .

tagged:
dm_lunsford
de23
valancy_s
filthy_bonnet
inkstaind_stars

We filed our taxes on time. For the first time in many years, we did not file for an extension. Yay us!

My dad is coming to visit this weekend. How will I ever keep him entertained? Eeep!

I'm way behind on reading updates. Think I'll just switch back to Wednesday updates because I never seem to have my act together on Mondays.

( what I've been reading )

And now, having been inspired by my walks on the beach at Half Moon Bay, I'm re-reading Have His Carcase. *happy sigh*

I just watched A Room with a View (2007) on PBS.

( brief reaction )

Our luggage arrived late yesterday morning. This means that I have my toiletries and camera back, as well as endless mounds of dirty clothes that need washing. So far I've done a really good job of playing with my camera and ignoring the laundry.

I uploaded my pictures and was very annoyed to see that my lens had a distracting smudge that I couldn't see on the LCD. Argh. It's not too noticeable in these photos, however.

( some pics from Half Moon Bay )

Two weeks ago we dodged the American Airlines cancellation bullet when we flew through Chicago. Yesterday we took the bullet right to the chest, or perhaps I should say we took it to the gut, because the bleed-out certainly was slow and painful.

Our flight from San Francisco to Dallas was late, but eventually happened. Our 7:15 connection to OKC was cancelled, so we were re-booked for 9:15. That one was late boarding because the crew was late arriving, but we were reassured that everything was a go and finally we got on the plane.

We proceeded to sit on the plane at the gate for THREE HOURS. (We had no air-conditioning for the first hour and a half.) The problems: the plane had passed inspection earlier, but the paperwork had been lost. Once the paperwork was found, we were told there was another mechanical problem that needed to be fixed. Then THAT needed to be inspected. It didn't pass. The work was re-done. At the 2 1/2 hour point we passed inspection. At the three hour point, the flight was cancelled due to weather. (Heavy rains, tornados, flooding, etc. -- you might have seen it on the news.)

American put us up at a hotel (we finally got to bed at 2 a.m.) and booked us on the 10:15 flight tonight. We decided to rent a car instead. We got home late this afternoon. Our luggage is still en route, according to the baggage person in OKC. What a mess. But at least we didn't crash in a storm, right? And I know there are lots of people who were/are stranded for more than one night. Yuck.

In all the hoopla I missed ruralstar's birthday. I hope you had a great day, my friend! And today is nmissi's birthday! Best wishes to you! You both deserve lots of pampering!

Saw Definitely, Maybe yesterday and quite enjoyed it. It has a Charlotte Brontë connection -- I love how bronteblog tracked all references to Jane Eyre in the reviews!

( Monday reading report )

Writing progress:

7851 / 10000 words. 79% done!

I am writing some really lame stuff these days. I know it'll get better during revision and I just need to soldier on to the end, but . . . it depresses me.

And I'm pretty sure I'll still have at least 5000 words to go even after I hit my goal of 10000.

Progress:

6037 / 10000 words. 60% done!

I have a couple of pictures to share -- they made me smile and I hope they'll do the same for you!

( take a look )

A friend asked me this morning -- is "mushroom" a compound word? Why or why not? I gave her my answer, but would love for my f-list to chime in on this great controversy.

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of my first date with Steve. (Well, March 3 was when he first asked me to lunch. A day or so later we had a "real" date -- dinner & a movie.) Of course, Steve had to remind me of this anniversary. I'm impressed that he remembers such things.

In news of scary-happenings-that-give-me-a-heart-attack -- Cedric escaped today. I left him out on the back patio napping in the sun. When I checked on him twenty minutes later, he was gone! I guess he's not too fat to jump the wall, after all. I ran out in my t-shirt and socks to find him, then came to my senses and ran back in for my coat and shoes. (I had pants on the entire time, btw.) I looked and looked all over the neighborhood, panicking at the thought of him being run over by one of my senior citizen neighbors, but finally found him sniffing around next door. He tried to run away when I first called out to him, but when I got closer he seemed to recognize me. True to form, he came running when he saw I had treats.

When I brought him back inside he flopped in his box and looked adorably penitent, as you can see below:



Writing progress:

4166 / 10000 words. 42% done!

This week I've been taking my laptop out of the house in an attempt to get serious writing done. (Otherwise I am so easily seduced by the Internet -- "Hey! I wrote a sentence! Now I can reward myself with an hour of surfing!" Argh.)

The first day I went to Barnes & Noble. Sure, they don't hand out coupons like candy, but the atmosphere is conducive to writing. That is, until the tutoring session begins at the next table. Undergrads are so loud!

The last two days I've spent at Borders. But what's with the people in the cafe watching videos at full volume on their computers? Can't they see I have serious work to do? My iPod didn't even begin to drown them out. After packing up my stuff in a huff (not that they noticed), I found a table in the fiction section. That was quite nice for a while, but I felt rather exposed when people walked behind me to scan the shelves. Were they sneaking a peak at my screen? Were they snickering? (It's silly and paranoid, I KNOW, but I would sneak a peak! And probably snicker! It doesn't help that I have to jack my font up to 200% in order to read it without getting a headache.)

Where do I go next? Anyone have a suggestion? I'd like a quiet spot where I can drink tea. (That rules out the public library, but not the university library. Hmmm . . . parking is always a problem on campus. And they don't actually sell hot beverages in the library.)

Where do you like to do your writing?

Progress update:

3167 / 10000 words. 32% done!

I'll leave you with some helpful writing tips from Elmore Leonard. I point in particular to #s 3, 4, 8 and 9. #5 is staring at my LJ and not liking what it sees. (!!!)