Blibber Blabber

No rhyme, no reason

 

Novel Update, Day 15

Words for today: 1,801
Words so far: 28,734

I got some late birthday presents yesterday from my youngest sister.  Four, count 'em, FOUR Disney guidebooks, a cookbook, and a poster for "The Nightmare Before Christmas" in 3D from the El Capitan theater in L.A.  Ah, she knows me so well. ;)

Happy Halloween!

posted by: athenawj at 07:47 | link | comments |
writing

Novel Update, Day 14 & Happy Anniversary

Words for today: 2,432
Words so far: 26,933

Today is my and Mr. Calm's 15th wedding anniversary.  Fifteen years ago this afternoon, on a windy, rainy day in Massachusetts that would later turn out to be known as "The Perfect Storm", Mr. Calm came home early from work with a bouquet of roses and money for the marriage license and JP.  Twenty-month-old OD, wearing her pink flowered dress, and I, wearing my nifty red sweater-dress, waited in our Cambridge apartment.  I'm sorry to say I was a little pissed that he was late, but I soon found out that his boss at Harvard Management had not believed that he was getting married and refused to let him off until the last minute (nice lady, huh?).

Under an umbrella, we walked the two blocks to the Cambridge courthouse and waited for the JP.  The girls behind the counter thought OD was so adorable that they gave her a sucker and cooed over her.  Then the time came, and we went up to an empty courtroom.  The JP stood before me and Mr. Calm, and OD stood to our right (and YD was inside me, so in a technical sense she was there, too, albeit not much looking like a baby at that point ;)).  I don't particularly remember any of the words the JP spoke, but I do know that when he asked me if "I do", I barely got it out because I caught a case of the giggles.  I remember Mr. Calm looking down at me.  It looked like he was trying to suppress a laugh as well.

When we were pronounced husband and wife, OD lifted the skirt of her dress, began flapping it, and yelled, "YAY!!!"  And that just goes to show you that twenty-month-olds are more aware than we sometimes give them credit for.

And that was that.  We made our way home, had a nice dinner, then probably sat in front of the t.v.  Not exactly a dream wedding, but it's still one of my happiest memories.

We got married during the perfect storm.  I wore red to my marriage ceremony, and preggers to boot.  No honeymoon, either (although we're finally getting that in less than a month).  We were young.  And yet we're still here, flipping off the statistics. ;)

Now I have to go make mini cherry cheesecakes for my honey.

posted by: athenawj at 08:39 | link | comments (3) |
writing, marriage

Novel Update, Day 13

Words for today: 1,726
Words so far: 24,472

Sometimes it seems like it gets harder and harder every day, but it's only the keeping-in-mind-of-clues and making sure the story's moving along at more than a snail's pace that does it.  I'm approaching that 30,000-word hurdle that I've heard gives writers problems, but I don't really care about that because I only heard about it til recently.  I would think, with the length of books today, that 40-50,000 words would be a bigger hurdle.

I also seem to not be able to type "crayon" without adding a "g" to the end.  Crayong?

***

Mr. Calm and I went to dinner last night, then we went to the Dia de los Muertos art exhibit at Plowhaus.  Actually, we took quite a drive in between, as I misread my directions and thought we should go to 17th Avenue South instead of 17th Street South.  Oh, well.  Got to see the ASCAP and Sony/BMI buildings.  Anyway, the exhibit was small, but it had a lot of really interesting art; direct and indirect art inspired by Day of the Dead, and all at extremely affordable prices.  We saw a big painting that Mr. Calm took to more than I did, but it was already sold.  We also saw a black cat puppet (papier mache head with soft body) that we loved, but we were both like, "What're we gonna do with a puppet?  Freak out Ollie?"  There were also some paper dolls on wire chains that were absolutely gorgeous, but so fragile that I'd be afraid they'd tear, so we finally settled on a small wooden diorama, a traditional piece.  We get to pick it up next Sunday.  For the life of me, though, I can't remember what it's called.

The funniest piece there was one with a picture of the Captain and Tennille on it.  I loved it, but then again, it had a tackiness and hurriedness to it that didn't appeal to me, so I didn't get it.

Afterward, we went home and watched "Slither".  Funny and gross.  Love me some Nathan Fillion, too.

posted by: athenawj at 09:22 | link | comments |
art , movies, writing

Novel Update, Day 12

Words for today: 1,688
Words so far: 22,746

You know, I'm getting tired of all the problems I have with motime.  Way too many times where I can't get in here to post or check comments, and even WAY more times where the front page gets frozen and I have to close down IE. 

Nice day today.  Too bad my mood doesn't match it.

 

 

posted by: athenawj at 13:15 | link | comments |
writing

Novel Update, Day 11

Words for today: 1,985
Words so far: 21,030

Very easy going this morning, and I've got in mind what I want to write tomorrow, so there's at least two days where I won't be banging my head against the desk.

I forgot to mention that OD got a job at Build-A-Bear Workshop.  Her first day was Tuesday.  They don't have her working much now, but her hours will pick up as Christmas approaches.  She's been going to this store since she was nine, and she just loves the job.  Last night she got to stuff a bear for a customer for the first time: a pregnant woman bought a bear for her impending arrival.

We got ahold of her six-year-old cousin the other night to tell her, because it's her favorite store in the whole world, yet she's only been once because there's not one around where she lives.  She thinks it's totally cool. :D  She still has the bear I got for her when she was a baby.  It's a Halloween bear (I got it for her first Halloween), and it has a little recording device in it that I put a ten-second message on, telling her happy Halloween and that I loved her.  Wonder of all wonders, it still works.

Since we can get 20% off, and one day in November OD can get 40% off any stuffie in the store, I guess I know what we'll be getting the little ones in the family for Christmas this year. ;)

posted by: athenawj at 08:25 | link | comments |
writing

Novel Update, Day 10

Words for today: 2,160
Words so far: 18,991

Yeah, that's skewed, especially looking at yesterday's results, which look like I really only wrote 1700-something words.  I had to chop a few paragraphs-- things were just going too far down that cliched horror movie route for my liking.

A special thanks goes out to my sister A. for listening to me on the phone as I sounded out the plotline and what I wanted to do, and offering suggestions.  I was stuck and really needed the help.  And for the deliciously horrified squeal she let out when I read her my nursery rhyme.  Hee.  That's always fun.

posted by: athenawj at 08:34 | link | comments |
writing

Novel Update, Day 9

Words for today: 1,858
Words so far: 17,274

I also wrote a nursery rhyme.  31 words.  That counts, right?  Especially since I'll be using it tomorrow.

***

Even though the girls' school doesn't have a football team or Homecoming, they have Spirit Week.  Monday was Pajama Day (though no slippers allowed), yesterday was Barbie and Ken Day, and today is Opposite Day.  YD decided to go as a boy, and got her costume together yesterday.  She looks HEE-larious, especially since I found an old pair of jeans of mine that she could have.  Yes, she's going as one of those boys who wears their jeans down below their ass (she IS wearing shorts underneath them), and I just couldn't stop laughing as she walked around, belt clinching the waist, her waist now halfway down her butt.

Several of her boy friends are going as girls and wearing dresses.  She's taking pictures on her phone-- I can't wait to see them.  One I especially want to see is her friend C.  He's one of those boys who got facial hair really early, and has one of those wispy moustaches.  Seeing him pretending to be a girl is going to be hysterical.

posted by: athenawj at 09:05 | link | comments (2) |
writing, kids

Novel Update, Day 8

Words for today: 1,916
Words so far: 15,406

Shit.  Today was a toughie.  I went a different course, wrote a couple of paragraphs, then decided, "You suck!", and went another way.  Since I hadn't planned it out it was extremely slow going, but I think I'm caught up from my failure to meet the minimum yesterday.  Tomorrow will be much better, I'm 100% sure.

Too much to do today, so, see you tomorrow.

posted by: athenawj at 09:51 | link | comments |
writing

Novel Update, Day 7

Words for today: 1,424
Words so far: 13,490

Sorry, I just can't get into it today-- I didn't think any further than the end of Chapter Three, and I really just can't sit down and write; I've got to think the next chapter through, which I'll do today.  Plus, I ended up chopping about 370 words from yesterday's work, but I'll play catch-up another day, I'm sure.

We watched the remake of The Omen last night, and I'm going to say something sacreligious: I feel this was better than the original.  It wasn't exactly a remake as it was a retelling in a different way (and yes, to me there's a difference).  The mood, the lighting, the cinematography, the choice of colors: all different, and what a gorgeous movie.  Very well made.  There were a few scenes added in to differentiate the story from the original, but for the most part it was the same, so don't go into it expecting a different story. 

One of the problems I had with the original, and the book, was how the mother (IMO) seemed so much more oblivious than her husband, although she was the one home with him all the time, not the busy ambassador father.  This movie showed her reservations, then her fears, and also nicely showed how conflicted she was about feeling that way about her son.  A big improvement from my pov.  On the downside, there were a couple of times where I found myself questioning the story, and unable to suspend my disbelief.  Since you're pretty much required to do that whenever you read or view horror, the screenwriter and director should have given those instances more thought.

Mostly, the performances were very good: Liev Schrieber chose to play Thorn as a reserved, quiet man, and I thought it fit; Julia Stiles was good as always, and it was nice to see David Thewlis and Pete Postlethwaite.  I'm not too sold on the kid who played Damien, though, especially how he seemed to change from normal little kid to weirdo zombie almost overnight.  Eh, maybe it was the sight of seeing his nanny hang herself from the house that did it.

Overall, like I said, better than the original, although I'm not seven years old and didn't get totally freaked out, but there is a spectacular jump in this new one that I won't give away.  Out of four t.v.s, I give it:

posted by: athenawj at 08:33 | link | comments |
movies, writing

Novel Update, Day 6

Words for today: 2,044
Words so far: 12,415

Yeah, I can't figure out how I lost some words yesterday, especially since I specifically remember adding a sentence or two.  Oh, well.  My average is 2,069 words per day.

posted by: athenawj at 09:39 | link | comments |
writing

Novel Update, Day 5

Words for today: 1,965
Words so far: 10,411

It probably doesn't add up, these totals from day to day, but I do edit every day, so that deviates a little from what I post here.  I post right after I'm done with the "official" daily writing.  Still going well, but I wasted fifteen friggin' minutes searching for the location of a coroner's office.  Which, I might add, I never found.  Dumb Google.

I hope someone comes in here and reads this question: How do you spell 'dreds'?  As in 'dredlocks/dreadlocks'?

Adios!  See ya tamarrah!

posted by: athenawj at 09:45 | link | comments (1) |
writing

Novel Update, Day 4

Words for today: 2,087
Words so far: 8,294

No unusual typos today. ;)  A short chapter, but definitely a defining one.  The story ended up taking a different turn than I'd thought about, but it's a satisfying one and exactly what it needed.

In other news: what the hell were bras invented for?  Do we really need to fight so much against the pull of gravity?  I read a book a long time ago called The History of Sex, which isn't as lurid as the title suggests: a lot of it was about how sex has been treated and viewed throughout history, and also the various contraptions and clothing that have been invented in the name of/because of sex (like corsets and chastity belts); but I can't remember who invented the brassiere.  Sounds like some French idiot (and please, my husband's half French, so I can get away with saying that).

I hate wearing a bra.  As soon as I can, that sucker comes off.  Time and childbirth have not been wholly kind to me, but they ain't down to my knees.  I just don't appreciate living in a society where we have to wear one, because men can't keep their eyeballs in their sockets if they catch a little glimpse o' nipple pokin' against fabric.  Because women would think you're on the slutty side.  Because... whatever.  It'd have been nice if the bra-burning movement had taken hold nationwide.

Bras.  Fuck 'em!

posted by: athenawj at 08:32 | link | comments (4) |
writing, the seriousness of it all

Novel Update, Day 3

Words for today: 2,435
Words so far: 6,218

Tough going this morning; trying to finish up the setup of the novel.  But I'm done with that, and also set up the first couple of clues as to what's going to happen further in.  I must say that it was a nice moment when that happened, but again, damn happy that I'm done with the setup.

I'm not too worried by the usual things that worry me about writing long-form horror.  I think the premise of just writing to write is actually helping: I know I have to churn out a set number of words every morning, and the minimum help keep things moving.  I'm also not thinking too hard about the reasoning, because reading horror in the last few years has taught me that sometimes there doesn't have be a reason.  In horror, things just are.  It's very weird that I used to think that way, because for an overly-emotional person, I'm pretty analytical when it comes to plotting out my stories.

Anyway, something funny to wrap up this post: before I begin each writing session, I edit the previous day's work.  This morning I ran a spell-check because my main character's name (Maris) keeps popping up as a typo.  During the spell-check I found this misspelling:

crapapple

Hee!  I'm not sure how tasty crabapples are, but I don't think I'd even want to try crapapples.

posted by: athenawj at 09:46 | link | comments |
writing

Novel Count #2

Words for today: 1,851
Words so far: 3,781

Does anyone know any spooky nursery rhymes?  I mean, actually spooky, as opposed to those that just allude to scary stuff (like Ring Around the Rosie)?

By the way, my working title is "A Hole of Bones", but that just sucks so much ass, so I'll be coming up with something better soon.  Hopefully.

And I had an "A-HA!" moment this morning in regards to the story.  Those are just so much fun.  Truly.

posted by: athenawj at 09:05 | link | comments |
writing

Novel, anyone?

I decided to go ahead and do the NaNoWriMo thing early, on my own.  Through November 16, I'll be writing at least 1,666 words a day-- I got 1,913 this morning, with probably a little more later this morning, so I'm already ahead of the curve.  I just don't like the prospect of trying to cram 50,000 words into 23 days, because you know on Thanksgiving I gotta cook, and then there's packing and taking off for FL.

So... any of you good people out there, feel free to kick my ass from time to time.  I know it can be a good book, and I'm hoping that it'll be an unsettling one, too.  50,000 words will not be the end of the novel, but it'll be a nice chunk of it.

posted by: athenawj at 08:52 | link | comments |
writing

So, I like checking my AwStats every morning for Miss Millificent's World- finding out which links are working, approximately how many people are adding me to their Favorites list, etc.  What's always funny (like, funny-interesting) is the search terms people enter and end up finding me.

The ones for this month are: "mary engelbreit prismacolors" and "miss world poster".  Now, the first one's understandable: I used to color with prismacolors, so it's probably on the site somewhere, and Mary Engelbreit is one of my inspirations.  But "miss world poster"?  Hrm.  What a surprise, too- some guy's looking for poster of a hot young woman, and comes across my big-headed characters.

Hee.

Although I've sort of railed against it before, because of the crap that's undoubtedly turned out, I went ahead and registered for NaNoWriMo.  Why did I become a hypocrite? ;)  To get motivated.  But while I was registering, I realized I don't think I can do it- at least, I won't be able to "win".  I'm going out of town November 25.  50,000 words is hard enough in 30 days; 50,000 in 24 might be damn near impossible, although my average is usually well over 1,666 words per session.

We'll see.  I guess I have a couple of weeks to decide, huh?

posted by: athenawj at 06:27 | link | comments |

Friday the 13th: the perfect day for weird artwork!

"Entertain Me"

"Discarded"

"Entertain Me" took hours into the double digits to do, and I'm totally pleased with it.  My style is pretty sparse, so doing the extra detail, and having it turn out much like what was in my mind, was exciting.  Both are available at Zazzle, AW, and I have a new shop at PrintsofDarkness.net, which sells high quality giclees.  You can't rate or comment on artwork there. ;)

In other news, I've updated over at Two Ladies & Their TVs.

And I'm itching to write again.  It's just a matter of putting all the little bits and pieces together.

posted by: athenawj at 10:24 | link | comments (6) |
art , writing

My husband is a big fan of one of Michael Scott's (The Office) frequent lines.

We went to the farmer's market yesterday for lunch (gyros, Jamaican meat patties, carob cake- Oh My!), and afterward went across the lane to the war memorial, which is sprawling, peaceful and beautiful. The girls sat on one of the circular stone benches and I decided to get some pictures of them; getting down on my knees so I could get closeups.  Toward the end I said, "Not much longer- I want to get off my knees."

Mr. Calm, immediately: "That's what she said."

God, what a turd.  OD nearly fell off the bench laughing, and YD didn't get it.  The older he gets, the looser he gets with the innuendos.

I admit, though, I ended up laughing.

***

Last night, I walked right into the corner of a metal sign that was sticking out from a shelf in Mr. Calm's office.  No, I pretty much don't pay attention while I'm walking to things that 99.9% of the time are not there and not SUPPOSED to be there, and I walk fast-- it's why I've broken so many toes.  So, now I have a little dent and cut an inch above my left eyebrow.  Still smarts, too, when I bend over.

***

My favorite picture from yesterday:

Yes, that's fuschia you're seeing.

posted by: athenawj at 08:02 | link | comments (3) |
real blibber blabber

Mr. Calm, OD and I watched United 93 last night.

This is a very good movie, told in a straightforward manner, mostly in real time, and made without the benefit of hindsight.  I think that's what sets it apart from most movies like this (like this??? Movies based on real events)-- everyone in the movie was as shocked, terrified and bewildered as we were on 9/11. 

But I've never watched a movie where I saw many of the people and couldn't get out of my head how they were going to die, and feeling this incredible sadness and tension.  Twenty minutes into the movie and I was already tearing up.  I know that what happened on Flight 93 was pieced together from all the phone calls the passengers made, but you do get the distinct feeling that the filmmakers got it right. 

Although the movie did well on initial release, I can see why a lot of people wouldn't go to see it.  Afterward, I could barely move.  It may seem like an overstatement, but you're left with a feeling of being traumatized, witnessing what these people went through, what happened as the plane went down.  And I had to hold back a lot of tears because I finally looked at OD and saw how near a complete breakdown she was.

She was eleven when it happened, in sixth grade.  I may be wrong, but I feel when kids are young, and they're not directly affected by a major 'crisis', they think about it pretty quickly then move on.  It's probably their way of adapting; part of their growth or whatever.  So, I think this may have been the first time that she really realize what happened on 9/11, in an emotional way.  My poor daughter. All I kept thinking as I hugged her was that I hoped she never had to see something like this again.

I'm not going to go over which events in the movie affected me the most-- although we all know what happened, I feel a viewer should go in without re-reading about them or thinking on them too much.  This is a movie that's supposed to affect you.  And although I feel the word "hero" is bandied about too much, these people were, but I'm so sorry they had to become heroes.

Four out of four stars.

***

I've been feeling down the past week.  I'm allowed self-pity, to an extent.  But when you see someone's house on fire, and firefighters frantically trying to put it out, things are put into perspective.

***

Today is my mommy's birthday.  For the housing update: they'll be back in my grandparents' neighborhood soon-- right behind them, in fact-- and back in a good neighborhood.  And I think a great belated birthday present is coming up for my mom: they get several hundred trick-or-treaters on Halloween.  And my mom loves Halloween just like me.

 

posted by: athenawj at 07:40 | link | comments |
movies

Long-Distance Phone Call

New artwork up.

Might be what you think.  Might not be what you think.  Either way, sometimes a picture's just a picture. :)  And unlike what my dear YD thinks, a picture doesn't have to make sense, either.  Hee.

Got raves from the singer I did the cd cover for.  So, there's that nice news.

posted by: athenawj at 09:30 | link | comments |

I went to the allergist today.  I don't think I've ever had a doctor talk to me so much.

No skin tests, no needles.  He did determine that since I don't have an anaphylactic reaction with my egg allergy, that I can get the flu shot, but unfortunately, he no longer has them in his office (he used to give them to his asthma patients).  So, he's writing a letter to my gp, telling him that I can get it; if my doctor still won't give it to me, I can get it, take it back to the allergist, and he'll give it to me.  The letter will also absolve my gp of all liability and put it all on the allergist.

That surprised me.  "And you're okay with that?" I asked.

He made a face and answered no, but it comes along with the job.

Hm.  Impressive to me, one of the biggest cynics when it comes to doctors.

But I'm bothered, because my blood pressure's high.  Not high-high, but both numbers are about twenty points higher than before I gained all this weight.  Ten points higher than last year, for God's sake.  I'm not sure if it's the way it is now, or that I always get nervous when I go to the doctor, no matter what the reason.  Either way, I guess, maybe I should keep an eye on this, since my mom's stroke was caused by her blood pressure.

To go from perfect pressure to this is a bit upsetting.

***

I drew something last night that completely confounded YD.  Apparently there should be a reason, in a piece of art, that sheep would stack themselves on high, then place a phone call.

posted by: athenawj at 14:20 | link | comments |
art , the seriousness of it all

Sourpuss

Yeah, I'm in a sour mood today.

I did make my first cd cover today, and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out, but I don't get paid.  Yet again, I don't get paid for my hard work (and right afterward, I said no to another non-paying job.).

After all these years, there's still 10% of me that'll do it for free.  I imagine if I was a hooker, I'd have stopped saying yes a loooong time ago.

(BTW, I did it free because Mr. Calm asked me for help.  It's not like some singer on the street came up to me and asked me to do their cd cover.)

Sales have been pretty shitty since Valentine's Day in my shop.  For awhile, I had a suspicion that one or two arseholes were ordering shirts, then immediately cancelling them.  It was the same shirt, over and over, so it seems strange if it was all coincidence.  And although I was one of the ones who got a mass email about Xmas templates, I've largely been ignored by Zazzle for months now.  With so many sellers, it's hard to get noticed.

And with the exception of one fan from Myspace who bought prints from my AW shop last month, I've not sold any of my other original pieces (I didn't forget you, miss funny-- I'm talking about all the stuff I've done since this summer).  Either I'm not as good as I'd like to think I am... or it's time to start marketing more.  I've got the art show in December; that's all I have planned.  There's a downside to extra marketing, though-- I can't spread myself too thin.  Believe it or not, it can get exhausting.

I have always had the utmost confidence in myself re: my drawing skills, but now I'm starting to feel the way I did before I started getting published.  And yes, I know it takes time to build a fanbase... but there's a lot of people looking.  Just no one cares to actually own the work that's dear to me.

It may all be because the people who like my kind of art aren't seeing it.  That's not exactly uplifting, though.

Screw it.  I don't even know if I'd be any happier if my talent was math.

posted by: athenawj at 18:10 | link | comments (4) |
art , wallowing in self-pity

The Proposition

The Proposition is the best movie of the year. 

I wanted to see it when it was released in the US, but it never played around here.  Finally came out on DVD and I rented it to keep me company while Mr. Calm was gone.  Read the description toward the bottom of the page- despite its few grammatical errors, it puts across the plot well and succinctly.  All I can say is that the entire film is perfect: the cast, the dialogue, the music (God, the music was terrific), the landscape and sets.  Right down to the damn flies. 

And at the opposite end of the spectrum: Please don't watch the shitheap that is Domino.  Ten minutes of watching a movie try to be something it's not and Kiera Knightley as sexy and I wanted to puke.

 

posted by: athenawj at 21:35 | link | comments (2) |
movies