...and why'd they take my alter-ego?
There's a Jodi Henley over in Florida who sells houses, although I've got to be leery of a woman who calls herself "IbuyhomesinFL", a Jodi over in Olympia that's got to be thirty years younger and pretty, too. (No, I'm not, and yes--I wish I was). A Jodi on LinkedIn, which is cool. I'm not "that" Jodi, but if I were a businesswoman, that's who I'd like to be. A Jodi over in Arizona doing work on behalf of kids (I'm not that person, but I admire her)
With all the Jodi's out there, I created an alter-ego named Cup o' Noodles. She's a person over on Romance Divas, slightly crazed, a little anti-social, but basically a good sort with a talent for examples. Or so Kaige tells me, lol.
Whenever I want to access my blog without signing in, I google the name, "Will Work for Noodles" 'cause that's the name of my blog. Recently, someone over on MySpace co-opted my name--not that it's really mine or anything--and it feels weird. Not that the woman isn't nice and doing a lot with her life. But...*wah* I'd gotten used to being one of many Jodi's. I wanted to be the only Will Work for Noodles.
And when did I change my descriptor to "loather of green cheese"?
Sunday, September 27, 2009
More odd and ends
I put my mouse to sleep today. Not that it was really my mouse. It was my daughter's mouse. She talked me into getting her a pair--a white one and a black one--back when we first moved in. Not that I really wanted more pets.
So far I've managed to stop her from getting a dog or a cat, because I have kids. And no matter what anyone says, kids are a lot like pets. You take care of them, feed them and clean up after them--and after everything, they suck up time and money.
So far I've had hermit crabs, the perfect pet for someone who doesn't like pets. They live for years. Not that I knew that when my daughter went to Animal Jungle on a field trip and came home with the "complimentary" pet. Her class mates all killed their crabs. One mother stuck hers in a mayonnaise jar out on the porch and it fried to death in the sunlight, another left hers in the little shoebox and didn't bother to feed it. But I'm a sucker, and I went out and bought an aquarium. Nine years later, I still had it.
I've also inherited fish and a rat.
The rat didn't like my daughter, but then--it didn't like me either. Jack buried it for me.
The mouse (mine since I cleaned the cage, feed it and played with it) had been getting fat. Then one day, all the fat turned into a tumor. According to the info, it might have stayed the same size for years with no loss of quality of life, but in three weeks, it went from pea to ping pong and it bothered me--not that it wasn't cute anymore, but that it was obviously hurting.
It was smart, and I like smart things. But unfortunately, smart is self-aware.
People thought I was crazy to take it to a vet and pay for gas euthanasia. It's a mouse. It cost two dollars. But it was my mouse, and in the grand scheme of things, I've done many things I've regretted, but this wasn't one of them. Afterwards, I went out and bought stargazers. It's fall and the lady with the kalanchoes is back.
So far I've managed to stop her from getting a dog or a cat, because I have kids. And no matter what anyone says, kids are a lot like pets. You take care of them, feed them and clean up after them--and after everything, they suck up time and money.
So far I've had hermit crabs, the perfect pet for someone who doesn't like pets. They live for years. Not that I knew that when my daughter went to Animal Jungle on a field trip and came home with the "complimentary" pet. Her class mates all killed their crabs. One mother stuck hers in a mayonnaise jar out on the porch and it fried to death in the sunlight, another left hers in the little shoebox and didn't bother to feed it. But I'm a sucker, and I went out and bought an aquarium. Nine years later, I still had it.
I've also inherited fish and a rat.
The rat didn't like my daughter, but then--it didn't like me either. Jack buried it for me.
The mouse (mine since I cleaned the cage, feed it and played with it) had been getting fat. Then one day, all the fat turned into a tumor. According to the info, it might have stayed the same size for years with no loss of quality of life, but in three weeks, it went from pea to ping pong and it bothered me--not that it wasn't cute anymore, but that it was obviously hurting.
It was smart, and I like smart things. But unfortunately, smart is self-aware.
People thought I was crazy to take it to a vet and pay for gas euthanasia. It's a mouse. It cost two dollars. But it was my mouse, and in the grand scheme of things, I've done many things I've regretted, but this wasn't one of them. Afterwards, I went out and bought stargazers. It's fall and the lady with the kalanchoes is back.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Phone book? Please...
I don't have a landline and you can tell I don't have a landline because I call wired, home-based phones "landlines" instead of phones.
I do, however--have a lot of phone books. Every six months, the DEX people swing by and drop off a stack heavy enough to hold my door in a wind-storm. My kids kick them off the front porch into the bushes and I throw them away. I switched to cells years ago. My husband spent a lot of time on the road and it was the perfect way for us to stay in touch.
I'm not an early adapter, but I'm also not a technophobe. My phone tells me if someone called, takes messages, reminds me about homework, surfs the web and has all the 2008 RWA lectures loaded on a storage card in case I get bored.
One thing it doesn't have is a listing in a residential phone book. There's no way a cell phone book would stay current. People buy disposables and throw them away, get new phones, add lines, end service, stop paying. It's a logistical nightmare.
But I still see plots where the hero finds the heroine through the "phone book", or "calling all the same last names in the phone book". It's an instant turn-off.
Technology changes. It helps to be aware.
Romances have characters in the 18-38 age range and people need to be age-appropriate. A twenty year old doesn't have the mental processes of a much older person. My daughter has a cell. If she wants to find someone, she checks a free on-line people-finder. You can make anything happen if you justify it, but when you don't justify it and go on outdated assumptions, it showcases the best years of your life, even if it was forty years ago.
I do, however--have a lot of phone books. Every six months, the DEX people swing by and drop off a stack heavy enough to hold my door in a wind-storm. My kids kick them off the front porch into the bushes and I throw them away. I switched to cells years ago. My husband spent a lot of time on the road and it was the perfect way for us to stay in touch.
I'm not an early adapter, but I'm also not a technophobe. My phone tells me if someone called, takes messages, reminds me about homework, surfs the web and has all the 2008 RWA lectures loaded on a storage card in case I get bored.
One thing it doesn't have is a listing in a residential phone book. There's no way a cell phone book would stay current. People buy disposables and throw them away, get new phones, add lines, end service, stop paying. It's a logistical nightmare.
But I still see plots where the hero finds the heroine through the "phone book", or "calling all the same last names in the phone book". It's an instant turn-off.
Technology changes. It helps to be aware.
Romances have characters in the 18-38 age range and people need to be age-appropriate. A twenty year old doesn't have the mental processes of a much older person. My daughter has a cell. If she wants to find someone, she checks a free on-line people-finder. You can make anything happen if you justify it, but when you don't justify it and go on outdated assumptions, it showcases the best years of your life, even if it was forty years ago.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
random thoughts...
It's been a hectic couple of weeks. My daughter started school, my youngest son started vocational school, I started a part time job that involves me actually having to sleep Saturday night so I'll be intelligent Sunday morning, and the crazy Seattle weather is driving me crazy.
I love my deck and the trees, sitting out there in the late afternoon breeze and watching the clouds drift by is a quiet pleasure. I think I've been tree deprived. Virginia Beach suffers from a scorched earth policy and just the thought of a home or five hundred going in creates a mile of bull-dozed land with all the redemptive quality of the Bonneville salt flats.
The houses going up on the ever shifting VB greenline are sprawling monstrosities that take up way too much space, but then I moved to Seattle, and Seattle is weird. At one time there must have been some serious eco-minded developers. Even the cheaper houses have a little land around them and trees so tall they must have been growing for hundreds of years. The older subdivisions from the nineties are big swaths of green. The newer ones--not so much. I thought I'd seen it all when it came to greedy developers, but newer subdivisions are even down-scaling the roads.
Over in Snoqualmie Ridge, one of the fancy new subdivisions, the roads are barely wide enough for two cars to pass and the houses take up every inch of available space. It's all well and good to super-size your house, but if you and your neighbor have bathrooms on corresponding walls and you can pop the screen to pass toilet paper, you're too close.
My subdivision, with its old trees, greenbelts and roads big enough to allow parking for households with more than two cars is great. I'm trying to enjoy it while I think of where I'll go next. Sooner or later, we'll all split up and go our separate ways. My kids have been really good about helping me out over the last year, and in turn I did the mom-thing, forcing them out of their ruts so they'd go back to school for living-wage jobs. Not that my oldest son needs help, but I thought it'd be nice if he made at least double what he's making now.
It hurts, God knows--having the three of us back in school isn't comfortable, but the future comes whether we like it or not, and one day? It's going to pay off.
I love my deck and the trees, sitting out there in the late afternoon breeze and watching the clouds drift by is a quiet pleasure. I think I've been tree deprived. Virginia Beach suffers from a scorched earth policy and just the thought of a home or five hundred going in creates a mile of bull-dozed land with all the redemptive quality of the Bonneville salt flats.
The houses going up on the ever shifting VB greenline are sprawling monstrosities that take up way too much space, but then I moved to Seattle, and Seattle is weird. At one time there must have been some serious eco-minded developers. Even the cheaper houses have a little land around them and trees so tall they must have been growing for hundreds of years. The older subdivisions from the nineties are big swaths of green. The newer ones--not so much. I thought I'd seen it all when it came to greedy developers, but newer subdivisions are even down-scaling the roads.
Over in Snoqualmie Ridge, one of the fancy new subdivisions, the roads are barely wide enough for two cars to pass and the houses take up every inch of available space. It's all well and good to super-size your house, but if you and your neighbor have bathrooms on corresponding walls and you can pop the screen to pass toilet paper, you're too close.
My subdivision, with its old trees, greenbelts and roads big enough to allow parking for households with more than two cars is great. I'm trying to enjoy it while I think of where I'll go next. Sooner or later, we'll all split up and go our separate ways. My kids have been really good about helping me out over the last year, and in turn I did the mom-thing, forcing them out of their ruts so they'd go back to school for living-wage jobs. Not that my oldest son needs help, but I thought it'd be nice if he made at least double what he's making now.
It hurts, God knows--having the three of us back in school isn't comfortable, but the future comes whether we like it or not, and one day? It's going to pay off.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Mingmei Yip and Peach Blossom Pavilion
I was fortunate during the DC conference. I met a lot of people I admire and some who simply awed me. Mingmei Yip is one of them.
Her book on pre-communist Chinese geishas, Peach Blossom Pavilion, a very unique and different historical, came out to rave reviews last summer.
Curled up
RomRevToday
She received her Ph.D. from the University of Paris, Sorbonne, and held faculty appointments at the Chinese University and Baptist University in Hong Kong. She’s published five books in Chinese, written several columns for seven major Hong Kong newspapers, and has appeared on over forty TV and radio programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, and the U.S. I don't think there's much more she can do without exploding under the weight of all that knowledge. She was kind enough to agree to an interview and I'm happy to have her here on my blog.
Mingmei, you have an amazing academic background. Who are you?
I was pretty clear about who I was even as a child. Peer pressure was never a problem for me, because as a loner, I just ignored the others. I enjoyed being left by myself so I could let my imagination run freely to make things up – I always loved stories. As Chinese say, I wanted to be different – a red dot among the vast expanse of green.
Later I realized that being that “red dot” meant working extra hard and giving up leisure time. However, I have been able to fulfill my multiple dreams of being a writer, scholar, musician, and painter. Samples of my “red dots” are on my website.
What drew you to such a difficult subject and setting? Why the early 1900's?
Setting my novel, Peach Blossom Pavilion, in 1920's Shanghai meant doing a lot of research. However, this was the time during which the Chinese courtesan, or geisha, culture was about to fade into history. I felt both the urge and responsibility to capture this erotic sunset. Peach Blossom Pavilion is the first novel in English to have recorded this unique, exotic culture. PBP is also the first novel in English to introduce the guqin, the oldest Chinese stringed instrument with over two thousand years of history and a favorite pastime for both the cultivated gentry-women and the courtesans.
I have been performing on the guqin for over thirty years. You can hear me play and sing on my website. Just click on “qin music.”
Peach Blossom Pavilion is an amazing book--blunt, brutal, and honest, but lyrical and full of imagery. When you wrote it, was the style a considered choice on your part, or something that flowed from Precious Orchid's character?
I think this is my natural style, a balance of the yin and yang, the complementary forces that Chinese culture sees as underlining all of human experience. That’s also one of the reasons why I try to put humor in my writing, to maintain the dual nature of life as joyful and miserable. I try to have my words intermingle harmoniously like a tasty Chinese soup blended with the five flavors.
How long did it take you to find a home for Peach Blossom Pavilion? There are strong overtones of Buddhism, Daoist principles, and the art and culture of China in Peach Blossom Pavilion. Do you think being so true to your Chinese heritage made it a hard sell, or an easy sell?
As the Chinese saying goes: “No needle is sharp on both sides,” so being true to my Chinese heritage both helps and hurts. I remember years ago at a writer’s conference after I pitched my manuscript to an agent, he cast a quick look, then said that he was not interested in anything Asian. On the other hand, I also believe it is exactly because Peach Blossom Pavilion is about Chinese art and culture that it has been doing so well.
People read fiction to escape. I believe Peach Blossom Pavilion, filled with glamorous, exotic women, costumes, customs, music, poetry, exquisite temples and forbidden prostitution houses, possesses the ability to lure its readers into a different world filled with Eastern splendors and make them forget whatever dissatisfaction they have in reality.
Your book hit the bestseller lists in Hawaii. Do you think the time has come for more Asian-themed books?
I think Westerners have always been fascinated by the mysterious East. From the thirties on, popular novelists like Pearl Buck, Han Suyin, James Clavel, and more recently authors like Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, and Lisa See all have had huge followings. Now that China is opening up, it’s natural that more people want to know about things going on behind the bamboo gate which had been closed to the outside world for so long.
So yes, I think the time has come for more Asian, especially China-themed, books.
In addition to Peach Blossom Pavilion, you also wrote and illustrated a children's book. Was it difficult to go from children's literature to adult literature?
Actually, there’s no difficulty at all. I think because I am still very much a child at heart. For many years, I even refused to grow up, being so afraid of the adult world of hypocrisy and scheming.
I spent much of my childhood daydreaming and so never have a problem making up stories. I also have no difficulty in entering different characters’ minds. This is necessary for being a writer, whether for adults or children.
What are you currently working on?
My second novel, Petals from the Sky, a Buddhist interracial love story, will come out in April of 2010. In it, a young Chinese woman who had planned to become a Buddhist nun falls in love with an American doctor against the wishes of her nun mentor.
My third novel, a love story between an older woman and a younger man is set along the famous Silk Road. It will come out in 2011. Both are published by Kensington Books. I also have another children’s book in the works, to be published by Tuttle. So this will be a very busy writing year for me.
Mingmei is a cross between Jade Lee and Amy Tan. Hot, intelligent, and romantic. Check out her website at Mingmeiyip.com.
Her book on pre-communist Chinese geishas, Peach Blossom Pavilion, a very unique and different historical, came out to rave reviews last summer.
Curled up
RomRevToday
She received her Ph.D. from the University of Paris, Sorbonne, and held faculty appointments at the Chinese University and Baptist University in Hong Kong. She’s published five books in Chinese, written several columns for seven major Hong Kong newspapers, and has appeared on over forty TV and radio programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China, and the U.S. I don't think there's much more she can do without exploding under the weight of all that knowledge. She was kind enough to agree to an interview and I'm happy to have her here on my blog.
Mingmei, you have an amazing academic background. Who are you?
I was pretty clear about who I was even as a child. Peer pressure was never a problem for me, because as a loner, I just ignored the others. I enjoyed being left by myself so I could let my imagination run freely to make things up – I always loved stories. As Chinese say, I wanted to be different – a red dot among the vast expanse of green.
Later I realized that being that “red dot” meant working extra hard and giving up leisure time. However, I have been able to fulfill my multiple dreams of being a writer, scholar, musician, and painter. Samples of my “red dots” are on my website.
What drew you to such a difficult subject and setting? Why the early 1900's?
Setting my novel, Peach Blossom Pavilion, in 1920's Shanghai meant doing a lot of research. However, this was the time during which the Chinese courtesan, or geisha, culture was about to fade into history. I felt both the urge and responsibility to capture this erotic sunset. Peach Blossom Pavilion is the first novel in English to have recorded this unique, exotic culture. PBP is also the first novel in English to introduce the guqin, the oldest Chinese stringed instrument with over two thousand years of history and a favorite pastime for both the cultivated gentry-women and the courtesans.
I have been performing on the guqin for over thirty years. You can hear me play and sing on my website. Just click on “qin music.”
Peach Blossom Pavilion is an amazing book--blunt, brutal, and honest, but lyrical and full of imagery. When you wrote it, was the style a considered choice on your part, or something that flowed from Precious Orchid's character?
I think this is my natural style, a balance of the yin and yang, the complementary forces that Chinese culture sees as underlining all of human experience. That’s also one of the reasons why I try to put humor in my writing, to maintain the dual nature of life as joyful and miserable. I try to have my words intermingle harmoniously like a tasty Chinese soup blended with the five flavors.
How long did it take you to find a home for Peach Blossom Pavilion? There are strong overtones of Buddhism, Daoist principles, and the art and culture of China in Peach Blossom Pavilion. Do you think being so true to your Chinese heritage made it a hard sell, or an easy sell?
As the Chinese saying goes: “No needle is sharp on both sides,” so being true to my Chinese heritage both helps and hurts. I remember years ago at a writer’s conference after I pitched my manuscript to an agent, he cast a quick look, then said that he was not interested in anything Asian. On the other hand, I also believe it is exactly because Peach Blossom Pavilion is about Chinese art and culture that it has been doing so well.
People read fiction to escape. I believe Peach Blossom Pavilion, filled with glamorous, exotic women, costumes, customs, music, poetry, exquisite temples and forbidden prostitution houses, possesses the ability to lure its readers into a different world filled with Eastern splendors and make them forget whatever dissatisfaction they have in reality.
Your book hit the bestseller lists in Hawaii. Do you think the time has come for more Asian-themed books?
I think Westerners have always been fascinated by the mysterious East. From the thirties on, popular novelists like Pearl Buck, Han Suyin, James Clavel, and more recently authors like Maxine Hong Kingston, Amy Tan, and Lisa See all have had huge followings. Now that China is opening up, it’s natural that more people want to know about things going on behind the bamboo gate which had been closed to the outside world for so long.
So yes, I think the time has come for more Asian, especially China-themed, books.
In addition to Peach Blossom Pavilion, you also wrote and illustrated a children's book. Was it difficult to go from children's literature to adult literature?
Actually, there’s no difficulty at all. I think because I am still very much a child at heart. For many years, I even refused to grow up, being so afraid of the adult world of hypocrisy and scheming.
I spent much of my childhood daydreaming and so never have a problem making up stories. I also have no difficulty in entering different characters’ minds. This is necessary for being a writer, whether for adults or children.
What are you currently working on?
My second novel, Petals from the Sky, a Buddhist interracial love story, will come out in April of 2010. In it, a young Chinese woman who had planned to become a Buddhist nun falls in love with an American doctor against the wishes of her nun mentor.
My third novel, a love story between an older woman and a younger man is set along the famous Silk Road. It will come out in 2011. Both are published by Kensington Books. I also have another children’s book in the works, to be published by Tuttle. So this will be a very busy writing year for me.
Mingmei is a cross between Jade Lee and Amy Tan. Hot, intelligent, and romantic. Check out her website at Mingmeiyip.com.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Stuff about openings, hooks and random odds and ends...
Yeah, I'm not really feeling the title this time. Maybe because this is one of the few questions that stumped me. I thought I'd find a pattern.
In a sense, I did, but it wasn't what I expected.
What keeps a reader engrossed in your book or makes an editor/agent ask for more?
I put up a post on RD, asking for favorite openings and why they worked, but the responses split almost equally into four. Interesting character description, a situation that makes you want to know what happens next, a strong hook, and voice.
Voice was one I found particularly interesting because much as I admire Guy Gavriel Kay, I can't get into him "because" of his voice, and even Hambly--one of my favorite authors, is a hard-read unless I'm in the mood.
Halfway through the responses I realized I had asked the wrong question. The right question was--
When you found a new-to-you author you loved, why did that opening work for you?
I went and looked at all the writers I'd found--not people I've read all my life, but people I found browsing through Barnes and Noble or the library.
I like the library because I can "try" people without an investment, so I'm more willing to take a chance. Books I pay for have to be good. If I'm going to shell out eight dollars, I want a keeper.
Recently, I bought a A Taste of Shadows. It drew me in--for the first three pages, and let me go. The same way with Waiting for the Apocalypse. Good plot, decent hook--sagging middle and awright ending. Not something I'd read again.
Illona Andrews captured me for about two books. And in some ways, maybe this post is also about what turns me off. It's not that she's not a fantastic writer, but--while I like urban fantasy, I don't like gross stuff that sticks in my mind. I'm a writer. My imagination is vivid enough.
Probably why I don't watch or read horror, and can't stand dark romantic suspense. In The Professional Leon says, "No women, no children," and I agree with him.
The world sucks enough.
I agree with the character opening. Then again--I agree with the "what happens next" opening. I don't like the hook, because I've read too many stories that hook me and fizzle.
Not a perfect answer--and not generally useful. But openings vary depending on what you're trying to do. We all try to hook people, because that's what we've been taught to do.
Best first line. Best first page. What's your hook?
I think editors do look at the first line, but they also look at general impressions. Is there white space? Does the writer need a grammar refresher? Is it cliched or back story?
Is there a storm moving in? (guilty)
Is the hero/heroine traveling? (guilty)
Is the hero/heroine thinking about the situation? (ouch, yes--guilty)
Maybe the best opening is the character doing something that makes you wonder what happens next opening? I like it because it puts a strong focus on the people in your story and draws the reader in.
And that--I think is the key, not how you do it, because that's a matter of style, but involvement. Getting your reader involved. Making them think. making them wonder "what next?"
Start at the point of change? Maybe.
If you make your character interesting enough, if you engage your reader's brain/sympathy/curiosity, there's a greater chance the reader will turn the page.
Why is this character here? What's he doing? Why is he doing it? Question, question, question--tired=stream of conscious, lol.
I did a series of openings using the same situation and people, but in all four ways. I'll post them tomorrow. Tired=maybe a nap?
In a sense, I did, but it wasn't what I expected.
What keeps a reader engrossed in your book or makes an editor/agent ask for more?
I put up a post on RD, asking for favorite openings and why they worked, but the responses split almost equally into four. Interesting character description, a situation that makes you want to know what happens next, a strong hook, and voice.
Voice was one I found particularly interesting because much as I admire Guy Gavriel Kay, I can't get into him "because" of his voice, and even Hambly--one of my favorite authors, is a hard-read unless I'm in the mood.
Halfway through the responses I realized I had asked the wrong question. The right question was--
When you found a new-to-you author you loved, why did that opening work for you?
I went and looked at all the writers I'd found--not people I've read all my life, but people I found browsing through Barnes and Noble or the library.
I like the library because I can "try" people without an investment, so I'm more willing to take a chance. Books I pay for have to be good. If I'm going to shell out eight dollars, I want a keeper.
Recently, I bought a A Taste of Shadows. It drew me in--for the first three pages, and let me go. The same way with Waiting for the Apocalypse. Good plot, decent hook--sagging middle and awright ending. Not something I'd read again.
Illona Andrews captured me for about two books. And in some ways, maybe this post is also about what turns me off. It's not that she's not a fantastic writer, but--while I like urban fantasy, I don't like gross stuff that sticks in my mind. I'm a writer. My imagination is vivid enough.
Probably why I don't watch or read horror, and can't stand dark romantic suspense. In The Professional Leon says, "No women, no children," and I agree with him.
The world sucks enough.
I agree with the character opening. Then again--I agree with the "what happens next" opening. I don't like the hook, because I've read too many stories that hook me and fizzle.
Not a perfect answer--and not generally useful. But openings vary depending on what you're trying to do. We all try to hook people, because that's what we've been taught to do.
Best first line. Best first page. What's your hook?
I think editors do look at the first line, but they also look at general impressions. Is there white space? Does the writer need a grammar refresher? Is it cliched or back story?
Is there a storm moving in? (guilty)
Is the hero/heroine traveling? (guilty)
Is the hero/heroine thinking about the situation? (ouch, yes--guilty)
Maybe the best opening is the character doing something that makes you wonder what happens next opening? I like it because it puts a strong focus on the people in your story and draws the reader in.
And that--I think is the key, not how you do it, because that's a matter of style, but involvement. Getting your reader involved. Making them think. making them wonder "what next?"
Start at the point of change? Maybe.
If you make your character interesting enough, if you engage your reader's brain/sympathy/curiosity, there's a greater chance the reader will turn the page.
Why is this character here? What's he doing? Why is he doing it? Question, question, question--tired=stream of conscious, lol.
I did a series of openings using the same situation and people, but in all four ways. I'll post them tomorrow. Tired=maybe a nap?
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Male dominance behaviors
I feel better. Maybe it's the change in the weather. From pouring rain to occasional rain. There was a tornado in Enumclaw. People thought it might be a microburst, but it wasn't.
Apparently two tornadoes strike WA every year, both in Enumclaw, lol.
I was at work the other day, listening to the RWA 09 lectures. For some reason they don't fascinate me like they used to.
After a while, it's the same people doing the same thing, over and over. I understand wanting to say, "--this big-name author is doing this, and that big-name author is doing that." But what's the point? Or better--why am I spending upwards of a hundred to buy the disc?
This year RWA had a survey. How much did you enjoy this lecture? Was it interesting, informative, engaging? I went to a lecture every time period, sometimes two. I used to feel bad dipping out in the middle, but I've grown selfish. People who drone, condescend or wander off topic get a big thumbs down.
I definitely wrote comments in the comment box.
Some lectures were fascinating. "The Virgin Widow's Heart Stopped" was great (and not just because I moderated it). The speakers had chemistry and their info was fresh.
One lecture I didn't get to was Mary Buckham's Body Language. Big pity. While she tried to be funny-cool, the way she came across was wicked-smart. The lecture was dry, but the info? Good stuff. I learned more from her than I'd managed to pick up in years of people watching.
Work is broken down into two periods, one I spend by myself, one I spend surrounded by others. I watched feet, studied neck posture and crotch displays. When someone asked what I was doing, I told them, "Studying your crotch display."
"My WHAT!??"
"Y'know? The way you're standing with your feet planted, thumbs hooked in your belt, fingers pointing to--"
I think I scared him. He kept shifting his feet away from me, and every time he straightened, he'd look over at me and drop his hands.
Apparently two tornadoes strike WA every year, both in Enumclaw, lol.
I was at work the other day, listening to the RWA 09 lectures. For some reason they don't fascinate me like they used to.
After a while, it's the same people doing the same thing, over and over. I understand wanting to say, "--this big-name author is doing this, and that big-name author is doing that." But what's the point? Or better--why am I spending upwards of a hundred to buy the disc?
This year RWA had a survey. How much did you enjoy this lecture? Was it interesting, informative, engaging? I went to a lecture every time period, sometimes two. I used to feel bad dipping out in the middle, but I've grown selfish. People who drone, condescend or wander off topic get a big thumbs down.
I definitely wrote comments in the comment box.
Some lectures were fascinating. "The Virgin Widow's Heart Stopped" was great (and not just because I moderated it). The speakers had chemistry and their info was fresh.
One lecture I didn't get to was Mary Buckham's Body Language. Big pity. While she tried to be funny-cool, the way she came across was wicked-smart. The lecture was dry, but the info? Good stuff. I learned more from her than I'd managed to pick up in years of people watching.
Work is broken down into two periods, one I spend by myself, one I spend surrounded by others. I watched feet, studied neck posture and crotch displays. When someone asked what I was doing, I told them, "Studying your crotch display."
"My WHAT!??"
"Y'know? The way you're standing with your feet planted, thumbs hooked in your belt, fingers pointing to--"
I think I scared him. He kept shifting his feet away from me, and every time he straightened, he'd look over at me and drop his hands.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Not the Swine Flu, thank God...
I’ve been a bad blogger. My only excuse is that I’ve been sick. Not a cool thing when it’s sucking up my free time.
I thought it was just sleep deprivation, but apparently I have the flu. A really long, really bad case of the flu (although thankfully not the swine flu).
Aches, pains, sore neck, sore throat, congestion and general malaise. My kid thinks I need a checkup. I think I need more co-Tylenol. It’s hard to get over something when you’re burning the candle at both ends. Unfortunately, I’m allergic to co-Tylenol, (along with everything else in my life), so I’ve been popping Benadryl. Benadryl and co-Tylenol at the same time are like a mallet. Pop pills, zonk out.
I fell asleep during the middle of Dinner Impossible. No clue why I like it. The guy is crazy-rude. But there he was—running around the Philadelphia zoo—making live cricket Jello-shots. And I fell asleep. I don’t even know if he won the challenge.
And it’s been raining. Finally. After a summer-long drought. Rain pounds my deck and makes the frogs sing. Today, I threw a roast in the bbq because I was too tired to mess with the slow-cooker and it started to pour. Rain billowed up in clouds of garlic scented steam. A good thing. It kept the roast moist. :)
I rarely "cook" things on the grill. I just start a small, low fire, throw in some meat and let it go. Couple hours later, I open it up and pull out dinner. I approach cooking the same way I approach Thanksgiving. Turn on the oven, find a pan, fill it with food, close the oven and open it up later. It usually works.
My brothers are actual real-life chefs. Truffle this and balsamic that. Reductions and weird herbs. Saute pans.
I have a cast iron frying pan and a couple of dinged up pots I bought at an antique store. I also have sauces. Trader Joe's curry, Lee Kum Kee's Korean bbq, Noh brand teriyaki. Open jar, add meat. I'm not much of a cook. I could probably live the next five years with a bbq grill and a microwave.
Someone asked me a question! Yay for questions. They keep me occupied. Hopefully I'll finish thinking it through tomorrow. If I don't take more Benadryl.
I thought it was just sleep deprivation, but apparently I have the flu. A really long, really bad case of the flu (although thankfully not the swine flu).
Aches, pains, sore neck, sore throat, congestion and general malaise. My kid thinks I need a checkup. I think I need more co-Tylenol. It’s hard to get over something when you’re burning the candle at both ends. Unfortunately, I’m allergic to co-Tylenol, (along with everything else in my life), so I’ve been popping Benadryl. Benadryl and co-Tylenol at the same time are like a mallet. Pop pills, zonk out.
I fell asleep during the middle of Dinner Impossible. No clue why I like it. The guy is crazy-rude. But there he was—running around the Philadelphia zoo—making live cricket Jello-shots. And I fell asleep. I don’t even know if he won the challenge.
And it’s been raining. Finally. After a summer-long drought. Rain pounds my deck and makes the frogs sing. Today, I threw a roast in the bbq because I was too tired to mess with the slow-cooker and it started to pour. Rain billowed up in clouds of garlic scented steam. A good thing. It kept the roast moist. :)
I rarely "cook" things on the grill. I just start a small, low fire, throw in some meat and let it go. Couple hours later, I open it up and pull out dinner. I approach cooking the same way I approach Thanksgiving. Turn on the oven, find a pan, fill it with food, close the oven and open it up later. It usually works.
My brothers are actual real-life chefs. Truffle this and balsamic that. Reductions and weird herbs. Saute pans.
I have a cast iron frying pan and a couple of dinged up pots I bought at an antique store. I also have sauces. Trader Joe's curry, Lee Kum Kee's Korean bbq, Noh brand teriyaki. Open jar, add meat. I'm not much of a cook. I could probably live the next five years with a bbq grill and a microwave.
Someone asked me a question! Yay for questions. They keep me occupied. Hopefully I'll finish thinking it through tomorrow. If I don't take more Benadryl.
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