Time With Friends

Today I got to go out with two fellow Inkers, The Scarlet Tart, and The Diva.  I had a brilliant idea that I could secretly snap a photo of The Diva and post it here for all to see.

Then I sadly remembered that my dear husband took the camera with him to scout camp.  So still no photo of The Diva (who is surprisingly living up to her name).

Even without the sneaky picture it was still great to go out with these two.  Sometimes it is so nice to get away with friends and do something totally entertaining.  Not mentally stimulating, not challenging, nothing that will make me grow as a person, but something that was enjoyable.  And is there anything wrong with enjoying yourself?

Hello?

Is anyone out there?

Sushi Anyone?

Look you are all so lucky! I'm sharing my pictures of our Writer's Group meeting at Sushi House. We recieved plenty of strange looks, but we ignored them all and went ahead talking about lost memories, baseball, zombies, and hollywood premieres and eating more sushi than any 6 people have a right to eat.

Since Linda and I keep getting mistaken for each other, this will count as my picture too.


Sir Kirk-a-lot has all the best toys.


Arlene is more interested in the writing than the iPad, right?






DJ was trying to get through her 5 pages, but Debbie's removable sleeves were a bit distracting.

Casting Call

Since I am in the midst of reading the Hunger Games series and loving it (as mentioned in my post before last), I was curious about plans for a Hunger Games movie. After doing some brief research, I discovered there are quite a few rabid fans out there who have taken the time to post videos on YouTube which depict their idea of the perfect cast.

I must say I was appalled at some of the casting choices in the couple of videos I watched. Goes to show, even with the descriptions detailed by the author, everyone sees things their own way when reading a novel.

Here is a link to one of them: http://tinyurl.com/y9xd4cq

Then, I read an article from the LA Times (http://tinyurl.com/yk6x8au) which proposed actresses who should be considered to play Katniss, and about gagged when the writer suggested Kristen Stewart. I know she's all hot because of Twilight but she is one of the most annoying actresses I have ever seen. Her emotional range goes from sullen to really sullen, and her off-screen personality is no better.

I would like to see unknown actors cast for most of the roles (as long as they could really act and not just look the part - ahem Twilight), with some famous names in supporting parts such as Haymitch, Katniss's Mom, Cinna, and maybe President Snow. The idea of Johnny Depp playing Haymitch is interesting, and I bet he could pull it off, but physically he's not a great match. I would suggest Russell Crowe, although he's not usually a supporting player. For Cinna I could agree with James McAvoy. For Katniss's Mom I'd love Sally Field, but she's too old, so I'll say Marion Cotillard. President Snow could be done well by Liam Neeson, just off the top of my head.

Anyway, there are a lot of strong opinions out there, so it should be interesting when the cast is announced. However, although I am loving the series, I am not so obsessive as to create a video about it. Although, I guess I have now blogged about it twice. Hmmm.

Sushi Night and Writers Group

Tonight is sushi night!!  All you can eat sushi for our writers group (and all of us are together).  This may be the most serendipitous thing about us: We all love sushi.  How cool is that?

Now a few reminders about us: We consist of 1 man and 5 women and we all reside in Utah with the exception of Arlene, who lives in Reno.

The last time we went to All-You-Can-Eat Sushi, it was Valentines weekend.  In walks tall, innocent-looking Kirk with 4 women (Linda missed it that time) and NO other men.  I swear we got looks and assumptions were made.  We became somewhat loud (Debbie!) and we got even more looks.

I will report later on how it goes.  Tonight should be even more interesting because we are each sharing 5 pages of writing.  So, not only will it be a man out with 5 women, but we will be reading fiction out loud, in a sushi house.  I wonder how many looks we'll get! It is all worth it though for SUSHI!!

USA World Cup

I woke up this morning gearing myself up to watch the World Cup game between the U.S. and Algeria set to start at 10 a.m. In order to do this, I have to go down to my sister's house because I'm staying at my friend's house for a couple of weeks and she doesn't have ESPN. Now, I don't know how the signals got crossed, but my sister gave me the wrong time, so at 8:27 a.m. I got a text from her saying, "The game is already on!"

AAAAAAAAGH!

So, I set a record getting my kids ready and in the car and I arrive at my sister's in the 67th minute to a 0-0 score board. Now, I'm sure that many of you read Deb's post on Monday about how we got robbed in our previous game against Slovenia and my fear was that we wouldn't be able to recover, but HALLELUJAH! we scored in stoppage time and the U.S. has survived to play another day!

Everybody do a happy dance!

I Spy a Villain

On Friday, I watched a show with a really good villain. The heroes had fought a hard battle, coming back from behind to nearly defeat their foes. When suddenly, at the very end, when victory was in sight, the villain enters the scene, stripping the heroes of their glory.

I am, of course, speaking of the World Cup match between the USA and Slovenia, and referee Koman Coulibaly's decision to disallow a last minute game-winning goal from the US.

What were his motivations? What could he possibly gain by

making such a bad call? Or perhaps he wasn't man enough to admit his mistake?

The US had struggled through the first half, going down 2-0 in a game they were favored to win. But in the second half, they rallied, coming back to score two goals to tie it up. And then came the glory. A goal in the final minutes to give them the win. But a penalty was called. The ref declined to say who the foul was on or what they did, and to the shock of viewers around the world, the goal was disallowed.

On Wednesday the heroes journey continues as the US plays Algeria. A win will put them into the next round. A loss will eliminate them. Let's all cross our fingers that these heroes can overcome the evil forces of the referee.

Watch the disallowed goal here. (By the way, finding a clip of this was surprisingly hard.)

Thanks for Torturing Me. Here's $1,000.

Three visits to the dentist's office this week caused me to think about fictional dentists I know. The ones that immediately came to my mind were as follows:

--the famous scene from the movie Marathon Man where Laurence Olivier, playing a former Nazi dentist, tortures Dustin Hoffman by pulling his teeth without anesthesia and repeatedly asks "Is it safe?" Poor Dustin doesn't have a clue what the correct answer is.

--the 1986 movie version of Little Shop of Horrors where Steve Martin plays Orin Scrivello D.D.S., a sadistic and abusive dentist who accidentally asphyxiates himself when his gas mask spewing nitrous oxide malfunctions

--a very bad Daniel Day Lewis film I caught on late night cable years ago where all I can remember is him traveling around South America on a motorcycle shouting "I'm a dentist!" (with a quick Google search, I've discovered that little gem is called Eversmile, New Jersey)

So it appears that writers have easily made a connection with sadism, over-the-topness and dentistry. After my experience this week, I would propose an even more chilling characterization using an average, all-American looking dentist who is quick with a joke and a smile, and puts you immediately at ease.

He proceeds to drill into your teeth without giving you enough novacaine, then gives you so much novacaine you're numb into your forehead and your eyes resemble The Hunchback of Notre Dame, prescribes you antibiotics too late so you are in major pain from infection for several days waiting for them to kick in, followed by an overdose of nitrous oxide that sends you into shock, all of this resulting in a week of overall discomfort and some of the worst pain you've felt in your life.

And the worst part? You have to pay him $1,000 of your hard earned, don't-have-it-to-spare money for his "expertise".

Prince of Persia

Lots of action sequences.

Smoldering looks.

Decent plot, feisty romance, and plenty of scenery.

What's not to love? I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. What are your thoughts?

Family History

Recently my father-in-law sent us his life history.

Before I delve into how this is good for writing, allow me a personal moment. When we showed our kids the baby pictures of their grandpa, my son says, "He looks like me". I saw a young photo of my husband's grandfather and I saw the family resemblance. I had only seen pictures of him as an old man and therefore I had never seen the family resemblance. My husband is a trim, younger version of my Father-in-Law and my son follows suit. Now the chain has been lengthened--they all look like the earlier generations. In fact the resemblance is so pronounced that a woman in our congregation has a half brother who's last name is Conger and he has the same eyes as my husband.

OK, now back to writing. I am currently working on a few middle grade books with boys as my main character. I love hearing stories about how boys think--because it is completely different than the way girls think. My father-in-law shared a story about him and his friends. They collected rubber bands with the goal of creating the longest rubber band ever. They used their allowance to buy them, they stole them from their parents. When they finally thought they had the longest rubber band ever, they stretched it out. This creation stretched three blocks!!! Can you imagine a rubber band that stretches three blocks? Sadly, a truck went through one of the intersections and ripped the rubber band out of the boys' hands. All their hard work went barreling down the hill to lower Seattle.

Boys brains amaze me. Someday that story may be in one of my stories. I love hearing "true" stories that are so better than fiction.

So, its time to spill it. What are some of the crazy hair-brained things that you've done in your pre-teen years?

Pool.

Pinewood Derby.

Vacations.

Is everyone else as busy as I am this summer?

First Date

I have heard great things about you. Still, as I prepare to meet you, I wonder. Could you really be all that? Or, will it be like other times when I ended up bored, disgusted, or otherwise let down.

Our first interaction is encouraging. You make me care about you immediately, draw me in. I want to hear more about you. Your world intrigues me. I empathize with your struggles. Although I barely know you, I'm rooting for you to be everything I hope you will be.

It's getting late. I really should go. It's so hard to part from you. You already have a place in my heart. Tomorrow night? Yes, I'm available. I'll look forward to getting to know you better.

Now that we're apart, I find myself thinking of you often, wondering where we'll go from here. Please don't disappoint me. We're off to such a good start. I think I may even be in love with...

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

Find a happy place...find a happy place

This is mine...go find your own.

Oh the Media

In a random conversation with myself (yes, I talk to myself--now go away, you are interupting) I thought about menopause.  I realized that I first learned about menopause from the Cosby show.  It got me wondering what things have you first "learned" about from TV or Movies?

You Wanna What Now?

I've been at the pool with the kids. I'm getting a tan/sunburn on various parts of my body, but my book is not getting written.

It's the old double-edged sword of Summer....

p.s. The title of this post has nothing to do with anything. It's just a funny part in Avatar: The Last Airbender and I thought I'd share. :)

p.p.s. And it's my mom's birthday. Soooooooooo....Happy Birthday, Mom!

Karaoke

Karaoke: Good or Evil

Discuss.

Movie Magic

Today I fulfilled my parental duty and watched "The Sound of Music" with my kids.  It is one of my favorite movies.  In 9th grade I did a report on  movies and I learned that Sound of Music helped to heal some of the hurt from a war 20 years earlier.

As I watched it I was amazed at the story.  Yes, it has lots of schmultz and saccharine.  Kids, music, and nuns add up to some very sweet goodness, and having the Nazi's be the evil is almost a stereotype.  But it really happened.

I was amazed at the sub-arcs.  Having the teenagers start in love and end with him turning her family over to the enemy.  And the try-fail cycles--wow!  It was a great reminder to me to strengthen my plot. 

Plus it is just a feel good movie.  I actually cried at parts.  Go watch it!

Roman Fever and Iron Man 2

I just read Roman Fever by Edith Wharton. If you've never read it, you can find it here.

I'm not a particular fan of Edith Wharton, especially after being tortured with Ethan Frome in high school. However, I have a friend who has been insisting I read Roman Fever for a couple of years now and I finally did. It's very short. It takes about 20-30 minutes if you're a fast reader. An hour if you're slow. It's mostly a conversation between two woman who are remembering their past friendship. I can't decide how I feel about it just yet, since I literally finished reading it 10 minutes ago. I really want someone else to read it and comment so I can solidify my opinion. Just like most classic lit, it has beautiful descriptions and fully formed characters, but I can't decide about how it ends. So, please, somebody take pity on me and read it.

Also, I saw Iron Man 2 last night. I know, I know. It's been out for a couple of weeks, but it's like pulling teeth trying to find a night when I can go see a movie. Anyhow, I really liked it (big surprise). Everyone says that the banter between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts is the best, and I agree, but I also really enjoyed Micky Rourke's performance. The action was great without being overly intense. Overall, the movie had a lighter feeling than I thought it would have, but I think that's a good thing. A movie that takes itself too seriously can be really obnoxious. So that's it. Go see it!

And read Roman Fever!