This is who my instructor reminded me of all week: this guy.  Remember him from Just Shoot Me?  Anybody else watch that?  You know, it's that show with David Spade.  Our instructor wasn't quite as monotone as Brian, but he was definitely bald with glasses, and spoke out of his nose.

Speaking of TV shows, I'm still keeping up with Last Comic Standing.  Kick-ass that the girl's still in it!  Even if Iliza wasn't from Dallas, I'd still cheer for her.  I'm also rooting for Jim Tabare, the celloist.  Oh, and the guy who won immunity this week - Jim Dyer?  Is that his name?  I'm bad with TV reality names. 

Anyway, we're headed back to New Orleans this weekend for Ronnie's 10 year high school reunion this time.  I'm taking Monday off from work, too, so we've got the last flight out Monday night.  For once, I got ahead in my hours at work, so I won't have to spend all my time catching up in my hours.  I can work an almost normal schedule next week.

You see, my sci-fi book, the book which I absolutely adore, starts off with my MC in a ship's brig. A brig is a very boring setting. My MC's quite tired of the gray walls. Sure, there is the sleep slab that pulls out of the wall, a couple of chairs for when the interrogators come in, and a data-table which she can't use because she doesn't have a log in, but other than that, the room is empty. Nothing to really interact with.

This is something I worried about when I began this project, but now I'm worrying a bit more because this girl is in the brig for at least 2/3 of the book. She's not just sitting - there's always some interesting character coming in to try to make her talk - but maybe the interactions with the other characters won't be enough to keep the reader interested?

I do switch POVs to the male MC who is on the ship. He gets to at least see other places, but it's an old warship. Nothing really pretty there.

I am trying to get girl MC out of her cell as fast as I can, but security is tight and it's really not that easy.

I guess I won't know if I'm pulling it off until I finish the thing and have some betas read it.

Off to write some more. I think my MC is going to try to carve her initials into the wall. (I told you she was bored.)

Tags: sci-fi, writing

My sister's baby finally got to come home yesterday after a week in the hospital. She had a few issues to work through because although my sister was technically full term, the baby wasn't quite ready baking yet. She is so beautiful and tiny at a whopping 5lbs :) Pictures to follow on Flickr very soon.
Anyway, we went to visit her yesterday and my sister was busy preparing things and asking questions and being overall nervous about the responsibility of this new life. I remember exactly what that was like the first night. Sort of an "Oh S***!" moment, what do I do now without doctors or nurses constantly around to help you and answer questions. But you make do and things turn out just fine. I was happy to be on the flip side this time though, knowing that I would come home to a full night's rest :)
In Drew news, he is finally crawling on both knees and not scooting, so I know walking is a short time away, and I am scared :) You cannot turn your back on him for more than 30 seconds because something will be broken or eaten. Then he smiles at you, and you can't be upset. Last time we went to the doctor he tested anemic, so we are going back today to check on that and also on a cold that he picked up from my mom. I have been giving him Robutussin, but it's not doing such a great job, so I want to make sure he doesn't have an infection or something. This is is first sick visit to the doctor since he's been born, so I can't complain. You just hate when babies are sick because they can't tell you what's wrong, so you have to do your best job guessing, and it's not easy. There are lots of tears involved, and it's hard. But I guess the hard days make the good days so much better, you know?
The exciting thing going on for me right now is that Brad and I are going to NY in August. We have most of the trip planned, and I am pumped! We have tickets to the Yankees Game and the musical Wicked on Broadway. I also think we will try to eat at Mesa Grill - Bobby Flay's restaurant - because I love him a little :) Brad was able to get a government discount at a hotel in Manhattan, so we are close to all of the action. I am very excited about our little romantic getaway. It is the first time in a long time that we are taking a trip just the two of us (without family or friends), and I think it will be great.

When I was preggers with Stryker, he used to get hiccups in my belly every day. And my mom said I used to get hiccups all the time when she was pregnant with me, too. I still get hiccups all the time. I either get only 1 hiccup (which people think is strange) or the last forever and are really strong. Stryker gets hiccups every day, too. I know the experts say the don't hurt the baby, but I think the experts are wrong. OK, they won't "hurt" but they must be totally uncomfortable, because they're uncomfortable when I get them. And Stryker cries when he gets them until they are gone. And I'm sure Stryker's are as powerful as mine are. I only bring this up because I've had them myself for the last 10 minutes.

Experts aren't always right!

What's the proper etiquette for saying "excuse me"? Who should say it? Is it the responsibility of the person who almost caused a collision or is it good manners for both parties to say no matter who's at fault? I think that I am too liberal in saying "excuse me" to people.

Let's say I'm walking down the hall when a door opens right in front of me, and someone comes out and almost runs into me. I was just walking, minding my own business (on the right side of the hallway too!). You'd think the other person should say "excuse me" to me for almost running into me. So, why am I the one saying it? "Excuse me, I didn't realize you'd be coming out of that door and I should have gotten out of your way. Totally my fault" is what I feel like I'm saying. And that just makes me feel stupid.

Today was a good writing day. It was much needed because I killed a character yesterday. Actually, I shouldn't say 'killed', I should say 'uncreated'. I uncreated a character yesterday and he took 2,700 words with him. He just wasn't doing anything for me, so he had to go. The new character that replaced him is working out much better, but still, I've been feeling like I was making backwards progress for the past 24 hours.

I'm *almost* to 30,000 words. Yes, it's taking me over a week to write ten thousand words, but I got stuck on this chapter and then this other part wasn't feeling right, and I wasn't sure where Chapter Ten was going and...and...and...

Okay. Whine over. I guess ten thousand words in a week isn't bad progress, but I really want to finish this book so I can read it. It's kind of hard to explain. The best way I can put it is that, when I'm reading this book, I can almost pretend that somebody else wrote it and that I'm simply reading it for pleasure. I stop critiquing every line and just let myself enjoy the story. I think that's a good thing, but at the same time, I know that's going to hurt me when it comes time to revise. I won't be able to see problems as well as when I think my story sucks.

In other news, Trey and I watched Training Day tonight. He's seen it before, but I hadn't. Anyway, guess what. Come on, guess.

Have you figured it out yet? Come on. Just think about it.

Yes, yes. You're right. I came up with yet another idea for a new story. This makes three in the past week and a half. If I could just kick my butt into gear and *write faster*, I'd be one of the most prolific writers in the world. The only thing I know about this story is the first line, which reads:

I didn't kill him because I was curious.

Now, come on. Doesn't that make you want to read the next line? I sure do. I just don't know what it is yet. Why was this chick curious? Why should she have killed him? What about this guy made her stop? And just who the heck is she and he? (Who the heck *are* she and he? I have no idea the correct grammar here.)

So many questions, so few answers.

Man, I'm really rambling tonight, aren't I? I guess that's enough writing randomness for one day. I'll leave you with this:

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Ok, looks like we had some misleading info. Apparently, it's some other network/servers that are getting blocked. Shame on you dallastwin!

I'm starting to get more and more smiles from Stryker. I can't tell you how cute those big, toothless grins are! He's also starting to make little cooing sounds more. I really do think we have the world's cutest little man.

I have a bridal shower to go to this weekend. Everyone knows showers aren't my favorite things, but I'm looking forward to getting out without Stryker for a few hrs. I did go out with dallastwin for dinner last weekend. It was just the two of us and I had a great time. Mike really is a great dad and I appreciate my alone outings.

Here's a list of website categories that will soon be blocked by Raytheon:

Alcohol
Tobacco
Instant Messaging
Chat
Web Mail
Web Phone
Mobile Phone
Messaging
Text / Spoken Only
General News
Digital Postcards
Web Ads
Internet Radio / TV
Media Downloads
Media Sharing
Entertainment
Humor / Comics
Dating / Social Networking
Personal Pages
Sports
Restaurants
Online Shopping
Auctions / Classifieds
Marketing / Merchandizing
Pharmacy
Fashion / Beauty
Real Estate
Non-Profit / Advocacy / NGO
Politics / Opinion
History
Religion / Ideology
For Kids


Not that I look at too many alcohol, tobacco, or dating web sites, but say goodbye to my webcomics, cnn and msnbc, online radio, and above all else GMAIL!  Seriously?

I didn't realize how much I needed to get out of the apartment until yesterday.  Trey and I went in to London to see St. Paul's Cathedral (pretty, lots of steps to the top, my calves hurt) and to see the Lord of the Rings "musical".  I wasn't really expecting much from the show, but this was it's last weekend for a while and, since we've seen just about everything else, I thought "why not?"  It was about as good as I expected, meaning it was pretty bad.  I think my greatest disappointment was the music, but that's probably my fault.  I mean, seriously, singing hobbits?  Yeah, that's about as good as you'd expect.  I guess I'd hoped that there might be one song by the elves or Aragon or someone that would be memorable but, um, no.  The music sucked.

The story line was okay, I guess.  Lots of talking and explaining, but that's to be expected when you're cramming an epic trilogy into three hours.  The stage was pretty cool, lots of moving and spinning and rising and falling, but I was disappointed with many of these "scenes".  I think the director/writer/producer/whoever-is-responsible missed out on many opportunities to create a breathtaking scene.  The balrog scene was lacking to me even though they turned the smoke machines on full and blew a fan and pieces of confetti over the audience.  The spider scene was pretty okay. The spider (I forget her name) was cool, but was only on stage for maybe two minutes.  The rest of it was just people walking from one place to another, explaining the plot or occasionally singing (I hated it every time the music started).  Anyway, I am glad I went because if I hadn't, I would have been wondering if it was any better than what the critics said.  Plus, it did get me out of the apartment, and I really needed that.

Best thing:  Gollum.  He was as good as he was in the movies.  Wicked and evil and entertaining.  The actor did a fabulous job.

Worst thing:  Gandalf.  Oh. My. God.  He was horrendous.  He was cheerful.  No solemnous at all.  He was like "Oooh, this is a bad rrrrrring.  We should go on a quest and destroy it!"  He was Irish.  He rolled his r's every single time he said ring.  I had to clap a hand over my mouth more than once to keep from laughing.  Terrible.  Just terrible.

Best line:  "Let's praise them...with great praise!"

Worst line:  "Let's praise them...with great praise!" 

Oh, I have to add the choreography was really, really, really bad.  There's not an adjective horrible enough to describe how abysmal it was, particularly the elves.  They kept waving their hands around, sometimes like they were stirring a pot, sometimes like they were swimming, sometimes like...hell if I know.  It was just plain bad.  Their wavy arms resulted in me having to clamp my hand over my mouth again.

But all in all, yesterday was a Very Good Day. 

Edit:  I forgot to mention the best thing I got out of the musical:  a new book idea.  Yes, this is the second new book idea this week, but this one is great, too.  It's about a playwright, a really, really cool and revolutionary playwright.  It's a fantasy.  That's all I know right now.  I have to get a couple of books written before I can get to this fabulous new idea.  

I really need to learn to write faster.  The 2,700 words I deleted today from my current WIP isn't helping.

I'm typing this with one hand, because I'm holding my baby while rocking.

So, please forgive any odd spelling mistakes kas2662 tells me she does this with every comment. That must take talent.

I finished the 2nd book in a series today and it made me realize how many book series' I'm in the middle of because the authors write too slow (or have sadly passed away; guess I can't begrudge them that).

Here's a list:

• The Gentlemen Bastards series. Currently only 2 of about 8 planned is released. This is what I finished today.
  
• Wheel of Time. He passed away before finishing the last book (#12!), so they've asked a ghost writer to finish.
  
• Mistborn trilogy. Only one more book to go. But this is the author that's ghost-writing WoT, so who knows when he'll get around to it.
  
• Kingkiller trilogy. Trey lent this to me without telling me it was a trilogy and #2 doesn't come out till 2009. Damn him!
  
• A Song of Fire & Ice. When will he finish book 5!? Sources say September.
  
• Sword of Truth. Least favorite of all these. May not finish.
  

My arm hurts. Hat's off to kas2662

I don't like that picture.

I found this discarded fortune laying above the F7 and F8 keys on the keyboard of one of the computers in the lab at work.  The fortune cookie was probably eaten months ago, but here's what it says:

"Doing what you like is freedom.
Liking what you do is happiness."

It seems like a very profound thing to say so I wanted to share it with all of you. 

And the other side of the fortune says this:

Salt

huh?

Hey everybody. D is typing for me. I just wanted to let you know that things went OK today.

There was one minor complication. The doctor had some trouble getting the needles through one of the muscles in my low back due to its strength (yoga rules!). It ended up causing the muscle to strain and spasm. Everything else went fine.

Because of the muscle strain, I am a little immobile right now. Sitting for long periods or moving is difficult and I can't put weight on my right side. But, I have good pain pills that make me very sleepy, and the doc said it should go away in 2 to 3 days.

My lower back still aches a little, but my hip seems to be doing great, so I'm hopeful that once this heals, we'll see major progress.

Anyway, that's it. Just wanted you to know so nobody worried. My husband is awesome. And he hated typing that. :)

Hugs.

I think that there should be a standard way to navigate hallways or grocery aisles that everyone should follow. Hear me out. If everyone walked down hallways the same way we drove cars, everything would be a lot simpler! Stay to the right side; anytime you come to an intersection, pause briefly to make sure no one else is coming. How many times have you had to step aside because a large group was coming at you and wouldn't move? Or nearly run into someone because they fly out a door without looking. Or been run over by a shopping cart when the owner wasn't watching. It especially bugs me in places like Sam's Club or Walmart where people are pushing their cart the "wrong" way, against the flow, and you have to slow while they try to squeeze by you (I'm talking about the larger aisles that have piles of goods in the middle; the kind obviously seperated into a left side and right side). Or in the mall, where everyone is walking one direction, and suddenly you have to dodge out of the way because someone is coming at you against the flow. Of course, in England, it'd be backwards. Just a thought...

I'm happy.  I thought of a great first line for a new book (three, four, five books down the line).  It's a grabber, a good hook and, better yet, it hasn't been used.  At least, I'm going to assume that it hasn't because Google didn't find it.  Yeah, I know this isn't the best way to come to a conclusion, but short of reading every book ever published, it'll have to do.  I have no clue what the book is about, but it's going to be great.

I was (almost) inspired to do laundry today by a man in his PJs.  I didn't mean to see him, but I was at the gym doing cardio (I am pitifully out of shape, btw).  The treadmill was positioned so that the only thing I had to look at was this ugly building with these tiny back "yards".  I was a little confused by PJ Guy.  There was what looked like a perfectly good clothes line already strung up and waiting, but he brought out this metal rack.  He started to lean the rack against a barbecue pit, but fortunately realized that was probably a bad idea (duh!).  Then he started to lean it against the fence, thought better of that too, and finally settled for leaning it against this shed thing.  I watched him hang up lots of socks, boxers, and shirts on the rack.  The shirts, he hung on the clothes line, not the metal thing.  There was plenty of room for all the stuff to go on the line so I have no idea why he lugged out the metal thing.   Seems like a waste of effort.  Anyway, this entertained me.  It helped that PJ Guy was kind of hot.  :-)

Random Observation of the Day:  Dogs in this country are amazing.  They walk by their owners without leashes.  I'm serious.  I've seen it more than once.  Trey has seen it too.  Today, I saw the owner walking a good fifteen, twenty feet in front of his dog.  I don't think the owner realized the dog wasn't at his side.  I don't think the dog realized he wasn't at the owner's side.  Then there was this moment when both kind of woke up to the other's absence.  The owner glanced over his shoulder just as the dog sprinted back to his side.  My mouth dropped.  Not one word was said.  

Haley and Indy so would not make it here.

So, being a nerd, I like board games. Being a loner nerd, I like board games I can play by myself. And, finally, being a somewhat thrifty loner nerd, I like free board games I can play by myself. I discovered a nifty little civilization-type game called Pocket Civ on the geek (or BoardGameGeek for the uninitiated).

I'm not big on civilization games where you have to build up cities and research different technologies to unlock more technologies to get the big points. There's always so many choices and I never plan ahead well enough to get anywhere. But, for some reason, I really like this little game. For one, you can play it on a whiteboard or just a scratch piece of paper (if you don't mind erasing), which makes it highly portable. There's also the afore-mentioned loner, free aspect of it. But, it's the event cards that make the game fun and challenging. Each turn, after you've moved tribes around, but before you get to build or upgrade something, you draw from the event deck. You could draw an earthquake that destroys tribes in one area, or a civil war where two connecting zones begin battling, or an epidemic which has the possibility to spread across your nation and wipe your tribes out. Just when you think you have the game under control, you're suddenly fighting just to stay alive.

Anyway, check out the link if you're into this kind of thing. It's a great way to kill time when you're at work and your environment is hosed. :-D

Lately Stryker has been doing so well at night. He's only just over a month old and for the last 2 nights he's slept for 7 hours at a time. Then after he eats he'll usually go back to sleep for 2 hours. This morning I even went ahead and woke him up before he got up himself since it had been 7 hours, and I'm not sure how long I should let him sleep for. I'm sure I should just let him wake up on his own, but who am I to complain about 7 hrs consecutive sleep.

The bad part is that he doesn't take naps during the day very well. (He probably gets this from his mom, his dad has no problem taking naps.) Sometimes I'm lucky and he'll go down for 1-2 hrs at a time. Mostly he'll do 15 minutes and get back up.

Other than that it's all going pretty well. I'm starting to learn his cranky schedule, and he's looking like we're getting into more of a schedule.

Stryker loves music! Loud Alternative music is one of the only things that seems to calm him down. Right now his favorite is Dashboard Confessional. He's totally my son.

 

I found Rip Rykus's theme song! It's called Proud of You by the band 10 Years. It totally captures Rykus's emotions 3/4ths of the way through the book, and it's freaking beautiful. Take a listen. 



 10 Years is one of my new favorite bands.  Wasteland was a song on their first album that made it to the radio.  Their newest album has the song Beautiful, and they have a lot of others that haven't received any play time.

That is all.