1. Home
2. Santorini, Greece - eating Greek yogurt and honey while watching bronzed Greek gods fishing in the Mediterranean.
3. On a luxury cruise ship in the middle of the ocean sitting on deck reading a trashy novel.
4. On a white sandy beach somewhere sipping a rum punch.
5. In a coastal Irish cottage with a peat fire burning while I write my novel.
6. Having lunch at Spago with my agent.
7. At a book signing - with me as the author.
8. On a Hollywood sound stage watching my film being made.
9. Eating a hot dog at Gray's Papaya in Manhattan.
10. Austin, Texas.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Things I Miss About Las Vegas
1. My family.
2. My dog.
3. My family.
4. My bed.
5. My family.
6. My TV.
7. My family.
8. Cooking in my own kitchen.
9. My family.
10. My friends.
11. Fresh & Easy.
12. Did I mention I miss my family?
2. My dog.
3. My family.
4. My bed.
5. My family.
6. My TV.
7. My family.
8. Cooking in my own kitchen.
9. My family.
10. My friends.
11. Fresh & Easy.
12. Did I mention I miss my family?
Things I Don't Like About New Mexico
1. Crappy cable TV at the house. (Bad)
2. No TV at all in my room - not even with the antenna I bought at Wal-Mart. (Worse)
3. Bad Mexican food - how is that possible in a place named New Mexico? (Awful)
4. Long drive up and down the mountain every day.
5. The gate guard who takes ten minutes to look at my ID every morning and still can't figure out where the expiration date is on my license.
6. Wal-Mart (Of course, I hate that in Las Vegas too but at least in Vegas there is a Target.)
7. Police vehicles painted silver/grey with little tiny lights. (LVMPD has giant black and white cruisers with giant lights you can see a mile away.)
8. Albuquerque news that never gives you Alamogordo weather.
9. My family isn't here.
10. Lack of grocery stores. (Two? Two stores for thirty-five thousand people? And one is Wal-Mart? Ugh!)
2. No TV at all in my room - not even with the antenna I bought at Wal-Mart. (Worse)
3. Bad Mexican food - how is that possible in a place named New Mexico? (Awful)
4. Long drive up and down the mountain every day.
5. The gate guard who takes ten minutes to look at my ID every morning and still can't figure out where the expiration date is on my license.
6. Wal-Mart (Of course, I hate that in Las Vegas too but at least in Vegas there is a Target.)
7. Police vehicles painted silver/grey with little tiny lights. (LVMPD has giant black and white cruisers with giant lights you can see a mile away.)
8. Albuquerque news that never gives you Alamogordo weather.
9. My family isn't here.
10. Lack of grocery stores. (Two? Two stores for thirty-five thousand people? And one is Wal-Mart? Ugh!)
Things I Like About New Mexico
1. Working with "my" Bill.
2. Zero traffic.
3. The way the wind sounds in the high trees in Cloudcroft.
4. Blue Bell ice cream.
5. The guys I'm working with, they are really cool. (Yes, even Ed.)
6. Learning all those crazy armed forces acronyms.
7. Green chile cheeseburgers.
8. Hastings - what a totally cool store. (Why don't we have these in Vegas?)
9. Really nice people.
10. The weather (warm during the day, cool at night, just the way I like it!)
11. Convenience stores that charge regular, not inflated, prices.
12. Pretty place with lots of cool scenery. I want to film a movie here.
2. Zero traffic.
3. The way the wind sounds in the high trees in Cloudcroft.
4. Blue Bell ice cream.
5. The guys I'm working with, they are really cool. (Yes, even Ed.)
6. Learning all those crazy armed forces acronyms.
7. Green chile cheeseburgers.
8. Hastings - what a totally cool store. (Why don't we have these in Vegas?)
9. Really nice people.
10. The weather (warm during the day, cool at night, just the way I like it!)
11. Convenience stores that charge regular, not inflated, prices.
12. Pretty place with lots of cool scenery. I want to film a movie here.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Driving Miss Shae
Most people know I don't love driving. It's okay, I'm not like my mother who panics in traffic and plans a route that takes her fifteen miles out of the way but which keeps her from ever having to make a left hand turn. My brother loves to drive, he claims it relaxes him. I never understood the facination with driving, for me it's just a way to get from point A to point B withoug having to move my lazy butt much.
So coming to New Mexico with a forty-five minute commute down a mountain every day seems like something I'd hate. But, surprisingly, I don't mind. Mostly, I think, because there is no traffic. From the time I hit the highway outside our house to the bottom of the mountain I see maybe a half dozen cars in either direction. It gets a little busier as I head to the base but it's nothing compared to the traffic in Las Vegas. Granted, the population is about a tenth the size. But also because the planners of Alamogordo did a little thinking.
There is a main street in Alamogordo called White Sands Blvd. It's the main throughfare through town. It can get crowded during 'rush hour' just because it's pretty much the street most businesses are on and there are a lot of stoplights. So the city planners built the Charlie T. Lee Memorial Relief Route, an expressway about a mile west of the main drag. I take it to the highway to the base. There are usually less people on it than there are coming down off the mountain (so about five). I'm glad it exists and I'm sure as Alamogordo grows it will be used more. But it seems like I'm the only one using it right now.
I also don't mind driving because my rental car has XM radio and they have a comedy channel. I like listening to music on the radio but this comedy thing is pretty cool. If the comedians are good I just get to laugh all the way to work. The downside is that XM radio has commercials. Isn't the point of satellite radio that it doesn't have commercials. Guess not. And they are the same commercials over and over again. All for male enhancement and home loans, I feel like I'm being internet spammed in my car. XM is also a lot like cable TV, I have over two hundred channels and I only listen to like eight of them. Oh well, it's nice to have and I get reception even in the mountains, except for a few minutes when I'm going through the tunnel, which is what the picture is, the tunnel to Cloudcoft.
Anyway, there is a moral to my tale. My brother once said I wasn't an outdoor kind of girl and I said I was, just not in Las Vegas where it's a hundred and ten degrees and desert. So I said I don't like driving but now I think I like driving, just not in Las Vegas where the traffic is heavy and the drivers are crazy.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Wedding Bliss
I love weddings. Do you know the movie "Wedding Crashers"? Well I'd love to go weddings all the time. Not to hook up, like the guys in the movie, but because I think weddings are so wonderful.
First of all, one of the key components of a wedding is cake. I adore cake. It's hard to be sad around cake. That's why they serve cake at celebrations and rarely ever at solemn functions like funerals. Cake is festive and fun, And a wedding cake? High tiers of fluffy white cake covered in mounds of butter cream icing, it sends me over the moon just thinking about it. I'm not as fond of the tradition of smashing cake into the face of the bride or groom because that's a waste of perfectly good cake. But hey, as long as they leave enough for me, I'm happy.
Weddings make everyone feel like family. You chat with strangers as if you knew them because you are all related by how you know the bride or groom. And it doesn't matter that you haven't seen the groom since third grade when you were in Little League together, if they invited you to the wedding you're still family. You can dance with the bride's strange Uncle or just watch your friends dance like crazy people. (Whoever invented the line dance had a wicked sense of humor). You can Macarena or Hokey Pokey or Chicken Dance and not feel like a complete idiot. (And there are so very few places you can flap your arms in public and not be taken in for a twenty-four hour psych evaluation.)
But I think the reason I like weddings so much is because they are all about hope. It's easy to get cynical about love when the divorce rate is so high. But at a wedding there is a sense that here is the basic idea that love does exist and two people believe in that love so strongly that they want to commit themselves to that love for the rest of their lives. Only the future will tell if a couple can endure the trails and tribulations that life serves up but for those beautiful moments at a wedding, one can believe in 'happily ever after'. It's special to see a groom cry at the beauty of his bride, or a father tear as he gives his daughter away. It makes you believe that love is possible, life can be romantic and that there is someone for everyone. What a lovely way to be reminded of the happier side of life.
So thank you, Nicole and Michael, for letting me share a tiny bit of your joy. I wish you both a life as wonderful as that night was. Enjoy the magic and be happy. And the cake was delicious.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Good Friday?
Happy Good Friday everyone, even though I think it's a really misnamed holiday. I don't think it was a very good day for Jesus when he got crucified. Yeah, I know, he was dying for our sins and all that. Still, that Friday had to pretty much suck for him.
Speaking of the Easter holiday, there are a lot of churches in Cloudcroft, New Mexico where I am staying. By a lot I mean there are six churches in a town of less than eight hundred people. That's quite a few. I might not be in the bible belt, but I think I'm in a belt loop at least. Last night the Methodist Church had a 'living last supper' and I keep wondering what they served. I'm not a regular churchgoer (although I don't burst into flame when I cross the threshold of a church or anything) but there is a very pretty little Catholic church just a few blocks from where I am staying and I think I might head there for Easter Mass. Their stained glass windows are 'nature themed', I'll have to take a picture. It's unusual to see a stained glass window with a deer head on it.
Anyway, to all of those loyal readers celebrating the Easter holiday, I wish you a happy one!
Speaking of the Easter holiday, there are a lot of churches in Cloudcroft, New Mexico where I am staying. By a lot I mean there are six churches in a town of less than eight hundred people. That's quite a few. I might not be in the bible belt, but I think I'm in a belt loop at least. Last night the Methodist Church had a 'living last supper' and I keep wondering what they served. I'm not a regular churchgoer (although I don't burst into flame when I cross the threshold of a church or anything) but there is a very pretty little Catholic church just a few blocks from where I am staying and I think I might head there for Easter Mass. Their stained glass windows are 'nature themed', I'll have to take a picture. It's unusual to see a stained glass window with a deer head on it.
Anyway, to all of those loyal readers celebrating the Easter holiday, I wish you a happy one!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Hello From Alamogordo!
Hello from Alamogordo, New Mexico!
Sorry, loyal readers, that it has taken me so long to write but it has been busy here. I got into town Sunday night after driving in the dark from El Paso, Texas. I'm staying in the lovely mountain town of Cloudcroft which is nice but a really long commute to where I'm working at Holloman Air Force Base. It's about a forty-five minute drive down a twisty mountain and then across the desert. There is little traffic but it's still a long drive.
I've been helping my friends at Newcom get their office running which has involved setting up vendor accounts, organizing the office, getting them on an insurance plan, setting up some accounting functions....wait, didn't I just quit a job? Now I'm doing the same darned thing. Once I get home it should just be some remote accounting functions but I can tell you that having been off a month and just writing, going back to work is no fun. I want to be working in my pjs with no commute. I can't wait to get back home!
New Mexico is, well, a lot like Nevada frankly. Mountains, desert, it's all here except not as much glitz and glamour here. Everyone seems friendly though and I've been enjoying what little time I have away from the base.
Can I just say that military bases intimidate the hell out of me. All of those people in uniforms saluting and carrying guns and security acronyms is just kind of scary. God Bless the men and women of the armed forces who can do the thankless job we ask them to do to support and defend our country. I couldn't do it. Everyone calls me "ma'am" which we know is a woman's least favorite thing but I know they are just being polite. And this afternoon if I can sneak out of the office the Stealth Bomber will be on display. That might be cool. It's also cool that I have my little "Federal Contractor" Badge so I can get on base. But I can't shop at the Base Exchange or buy gas, tobacco or alcohol on base, that's only for military personnel. Good for them , they deserve something for all of their hard work. I can go to the 'shopette', a little convenience type store that has everything. Seriously. I need one of those "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser's" yesterday and they had them at the shopette, and they weren't more expensive there either. Later, Bill needed starter fluid for one of the engines and they had that too! Strange store but I like it. They have little mini bottles of alcohol which of course I can't buy but I'm endlessly fascinated with. They have a gourmet wine selection too. I'm telling you, it's an amazing store.
Okay, I have to run, I'll post more later. Miss you all, loyal readers!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Things I Need to Do Before I Go To New Mexico
Figure out how to pack two weeks worth of clothes into one tiny suitcase.
Figure out how to pack my jacket (Bill says it's cold in Cloudcroft).
Buy tapes for the camcorder.
Buy crap at Walmart, like luggage tags, razors, etc.
Go get my Mac from the Apple store and bring it home.
Go to the library.
Reschedule Java's vet appointment (I didn't know I was leaving town when I made it last week).
Look for a retractable mouse to pack with my laptop.
Smigits meeting at the new office (yay for the new office!)
Zillion things I haven't though of yet!
Figure out how to pack my jacket (Bill says it's cold in Cloudcroft).
Buy tapes for the camcorder.
Buy crap at Walmart, like luggage tags, razors, etc.
Go get my Mac from the Apple store and bring it home.
Go to the library.
Reschedule Java's vet appointment (I didn't know I was leaving town when I made it last week).
Look for a retractable mouse to pack with my laptop.
Smigits meeting at the new office (yay for the new office!)
Zillion things I haven't though of yet!
Garden Update
So here is an update on the garden. I planted tomatoes, basil, sage, thyme, lavender and mint and am still looking for parsley, cilantro and pepper plants. It was far more difficult to find herbs than I expected. But after getting really dirty digging in my little plot I got them in. The tomato plants already have some tomato blossoms so I'm hoping for a good crop. I have my "Master Gardener" mother looking after them while I'm gone and today we are shopping for the right fertilizers. (Apparently we want one fertilizer for the herbs because we want leaf growth and a different one for the tomatoes because there we want fruit growth...who knew?)
By the way, working in the garden is good exercise...my 'squat' muscles tell me so!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Computer Go Boom
I was right in the middle of typing the previous post and was inserting a picture when my screen went black and nothing would bring it back. Poof, gone, nothing. I though it might be a power issue but everything else on the power strip worked. So I called technical support. They told me that I was 45 days past my warranty, which seemed odd to me since I only bought the computer 36 days ago. I had to fax them my receipt and jump through a variety of hoops but I have an appointment today to take it in to the Apple Store so hopefully they can get it fixed quickly since I leave town in three days. And I hope they rescue the hard drive since it has my scripts on it (Aughhhhhhh!)So I have switched to my laptop. Computers are truly wonderful and amazing things...when they work. The battle of Mac vs. PC has begun!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
A Little Work
My plan for the 'year of writing dangerously' was to live on my meager savings and depend on the kindness of strangers until I could sell something. But, as they say, plans were meant to be changed. A friend and former colleague offered me a job that I can do part time and from home. Yes, I can still work in my pajamas. (Some day I'll turn the webcam on and scare you all but maybe I'll wait for Halloween). It's my hope that this part time employment will mean that perhaps I can stretch the 'year of writing dangerously" out a bit and not use my saving for a while. But, while the job will be from home, I am going to New Mexico for two weeks to help them get everything set up and running.
I'm hoping there will be some downtime while I'm in New Mexico. I'll be in Alamogordo and the White Sands Film Festival is going on while I'm there. It's not too far from Alamogordo to Roswell, NM. While I'm not a UFO freak, I am a huge fan of kitch and I want to go visit.
I hope you all won't think of this as selling out, I wasn't looking for a job but when one fell in my lap that would let me hold off on using up my savings it just seemed prudent to take it, especially one that I can do from home. I promise it won't interfere with my writing, my new boss understands that the writing comes first.
I'm leaving for Alamogordo on Sunday and I'm taking my laptop with me so I'll try to post while I'm there. I'm also taking my cameras with me so I'll post pictures and I'm hoping to make a short little film about the trip.
ADDITION: I tried to insert the same picture of Roswell that I did yesterday and just as I hit the insert button my computer shut down the same way it went dead when I tried it on the Mac. Spooky.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Farmer Girl
Here is a picture of my new "garden". Okay, it's just a plot at this point but I spent yesterday clearing away the leaves, cleaning the debris, digging out the weeds, etc. I am going to plant an herb garden so I don't have to spend several dollars every time I want some fresh basil. This spot should be pretty good (according to my mum, the master gardener) because it gets morning sun and afternoon shade. Today I'm going to turn the soil and then tomorrow go and buy the plants. I'd like to put in basil, mint, chives, thyme, sage, cilantro, tomatoes and maybe some jalapenos. Yes, I know, tomatoes and jalapenos aren't herbs but I love home grown tomatoes and with some jalapenos and cilantro I can make my own salsa. Of course, all of this depends on what I can find at the plant store.
Boy, gardening is a lot of work. My muscles are screaming today. I got a heck of a workout. You might be wondering what having an herb garden has to do with the 'year of writing dangerously'. Well, this year is about exploring things I want to do but haven't had time for, and a little garden is something I could never have in my old apartment. Plus the time in my garden is going to be kind of a 'zen' thinking time, which can only help my writing. (Maybe I should but in some lavender, heroines in historical romances always have fresh lavender.)
My time off is kind of like when you graduate from college and take a year of to see the world, decide what you want to do with your life, etc. I know I want to be a writer but I have a zillion other things I'd like to explore. I'm going to shoot a short documentary. (I've been playing with my video camera, it actually shoots pretty well for a consumer camera). I shot some footage at the Las Vegas Zoo and now I'm playing with the editing software to learn how it works. I'm going to bottle my own soda (I've invented a new flavor, as soon as I start bottling I'll be looking for a tasting panel.) I have an idea for a Las Vegas themed novelty I'm going to produce (I already have had success with the prototype.) So I want this to be a time of exploration and learning and creativity. Or perhaps I'm just indulging my schizophrenia.
Back to the garden. I'll post pictures of it's progress. And hopefully, in a few months, I'll be sharing it's bounty!
Monday, March 10, 2008
I will miss you Aunt Martha
My great Aunt Martha passed away this morning. It wasn't unexpected and she was eighty-four but we will miss her nonetheless.
I didn't meet my mom's aunt until I was around eleven years old because she lived in Medellin, Colombia (Yes, the home of Pablo Escobar and the drug cartels, if you watch Entourage). In my family we always called them "The Colombians". It was Aunt Martha and her husband Tommy, her daughter Martha Inez and her husband Billio and thir sons Juan and Jose. They came to visit one Christmas and it was like aliens had come to visit. Billio and the boys only spoke Spanish (except Juan and Jose could say Rice Crispies and Coca-Cola). But it didn't matter because Aunt Martha talked enough for everyone.
Aunt Martha had an interesting life. She was raised in Clarksburg, West Virginia, a pretty small town (but bigger than Salem, where my Grandmother's side of the family came from). She was the middle child, my Grandfather was the oldest and her other brother Tom was the youngest. She went to the hospital during World War II for a medical condition (my grandma can't remember what it was but she's eighty-seven so we forgive her) where she met dashing Tommy Duarte, the son of wealthy South American landowners who was in the U.S. for treatment for polio. They married, against my Great-Grandmother's wishes (apparently her wish was that all of her children remain single and lived with her their entire lives...none of them followed her wishes). Apparently it wasn't bad enough that Tommy Duarte was South American but he was also, gasp, Catholic. But Martha loved Tommy and she converted to Catholicism. Her mother did not attend the wedding. They got married and had a daughter, Martha Inez. Soon after they moved to Colombia. While Tommy was actually from Venezuela, his family owned many plantations in Colombia and they setted in Baranquilla, Colombia. I'm not sure when they moved to Medellin but they were living there when they came to visit us. Aunt Martha taugh English at a local college and Martha Inez's husband, Billio, was a respected dentist and college professor.
The 1990's brought great turmoil to Colombia (again, those infamous drug cartels) and living in Medellin became a very dangerous place. Even when we were little, Aunt Martha was amazed at the freedom my brother and I were allowed, since children didn't play unsupervised (it was the 1980's and we could wander our streets freely, as long as we were home when the streetlights came on, something that today seems like less of a good idea). Children left unsupervised in the late eighties and early nineties in Colombia were kidnapped by the cartels and held for ransom. Billio was kidnapped, held for three days and released to die in the jungles of Colombia. Bandits on motorcycles snatched the necklace from Aunt Martha's neck while she was driving her car in traffic. Uncle Tommy would go to the college with her and wait in the car while she taught class so that she wouldn't be alone and a target for thieves or worse. Finally the American consulate recommended that order was beyond their contorl and our Colombian relatives came to live in the U.S. (Matha, Matha Inez, Juan and Jose all being U.S. citizens). They came to live in Las Vegas but life was far harder in the U.S. They had to leave a lot of money and land and valuables behind and while Billio was a respected doctor in Colombia, in the states he had to find work as a dishwasher. They eventually decided to move to Louisville, Kentucky.
I will always remember Aunt Martha as a robust woman who wore shoes that were way too small. (Why is it heavy women still insist they have a size five foot? Her shoes looked soooo uncomfortable. Not me, give me a pair of size tens and pass the cookies.) She talked constantly and would finish your sentances for you, everyone's, not matter who was talking. I will remember her generosity, she was always willing to help out no matter what. I will remember her love of family, and how she cared for her family above everything else. I will remember her tutoring me through college Spanish ( Thank goodness for Aunt Martha, I wouldn't have passed without her. I got a C, which was not her fault, I just suck at grammar, even though Aunt Martha praised my accent as perfect.) I will remember the giant diamond ring she wore and when she cooked us filet mignon with peas cooked in lettuce and the pendant she bought me that first Christmas which was gold with a flower basket woven in gold and semi-stones as the flowers and the basket weaving spelled out the word "mother" but I don't think she noticed and I never told her. (I also never wore the pendant, sorry.) She was an amazing woman and someone who's presence always seemed larger than life. I can't believe she's gone but her last year was one where she was in pain and I truly believe she is in a better place. Heaven today is a bit brighter and a whole lot more talkative.
My thoughts and prayers are with the whole Rincon-Duarte family. I love you all.
My friend Jimmy lost his dad yesterday. My thoughts and prayers are with him as well. It's a difficult thing to lose a beloved family member. No words can express how truly sorry I am. My condolences.
I didn't meet my mom's aunt until I was around eleven years old because she lived in Medellin, Colombia (Yes, the home of Pablo Escobar and the drug cartels, if you watch Entourage). In my family we always called them "The Colombians". It was Aunt Martha and her husband Tommy, her daughter Martha Inez and her husband Billio and thir sons Juan and Jose. They came to visit one Christmas and it was like aliens had come to visit. Billio and the boys only spoke Spanish (except Juan and Jose could say Rice Crispies and Coca-Cola). But it didn't matter because Aunt Martha talked enough for everyone.
Aunt Martha had an interesting life. She was raised in Clarksburg, West Virginia, a pretty small town (but bigger than Salem, where my Grandmother's side of the family came from). She was the middle child, my Grandfather was the oldest and her other brother Tom was the youngest. She went to the hospital during World War II for a medical condition (my grandma can't remember what it was but she's eighty-seven so we forgive her) where she met dashing Tommy Duarte, the son of wealthy South American landowners who was in the U.S. for treatment for polio. They married, against my Great-Grandmother's wishes (apparently her wish was that all of her children remain single and lived with her their entire lives...none of them followed her wishes). Apparently it wasn't bad enough that Tommy Duarte was South American but he was also, gasp, Catholic. But Martha loved Tommy and she converted to Catholicism. Her mother did not attend the wedding. They got married and had a daughter, Martha Inez. Soon after they moved to Colombia. While Tommy was actually from Venezuela, his family owned many plantations in Colombia and they setted in Baranquilla, Colombia. I'm not sure when they moved to Medellin but they were living there when they came to visit us. Aunt Martha taugh English at a local college and Martha Inez's husband, Billio, was a respected dentist and college professor.
The 1990's brought great turmoil to Colombia (again, those infamous drug cartels) and living in Medellin became a very dangerous place. Even when we were little, Aunt Martha was amazed at the freedom my brother and I were allowed, since children didn't play unsupervised (it was the 1980's and we could wander our streets freely, as long as we were home when the streetlights came on, something that today seems like less of a good idea). Children left unsupervised in the late eighties and early nineties in Colombia were kidnapped by the cartels and held for ransom. Billio was kidnapped, held for three days and released to die in the jungles of Colombia. Bandits on motorcycles snatched the necklace from Aunt Martha's neck while she was driving her car in traffic. Uncle Tommy would go to the college with her and wait in the car while she taught class so that she wouldn't be alone and a target for thieves or worse. Finally the American consulate recommended that order was beyond their contorl and our Colombian relatives came to live in the U.S. (Matha, Matha Inez, Juan and Jose all being U.S. citizens). They came to live in Las Vegas but life was far harder in the U.S. They had to leave a lot of money and land and valuables behind and while Billio was a respected doctor in Colombia, in the states he had to find work as a dishwasher. They eventually decided to move to Louisville, Kentucky.
I will always remember Aunt Martha as a robust woman who wore shoes that were way too small. (Why is it heavy women still insist they have a size five foot? Her shoes looked soooo uncomfortable. Not me, give me a pair of size tens and pass the cookies.) She talked constantly and would finish your sentances for you, everyone's, not matter who was talking. I will remember her generosity, she was always willing to help out no matter what. I will remember her love of family, and how she cared for her family above everything else. I will remember her tutoring me through college Spanish ( Thank goodness for Aunt Martha, I wouldn't have passed without her. I got a C, which was not her fault, I just suck at grammar, even though Aunt Martha praised my accent as perfect.) I will remember the giant diamond ring she wore and when she cooked us filet mignon with peas cooked in lettuce and the pendant she bought me that first Christmas which was gold with a flower basket woven in gold and semi-stones as the flowers and the basket weaving spelled out the word "mother" but I don't think she noticed and I never told her. (I also never wore the pendant, sorry.) She was an amazing woman and someone who's presence always seemed larger than life. I can't believe she's gone but her last year was one where she was in pain and I truly believe she is in a better place. Heaven today is a bit brighter and a whole lot more talkative.
My thoughts and prayers are with the whole Rincon-Duarte family. I love you all.
My friend Jimmy lost his dad yesterday. My thoughts and prayers are with him as well. It's a difficult thing to lose a beloved family member. No words can express how truly sorry I am. My condolences.
I Can't Afford to Be Cool
Okay, so this weekend was a story about how one couple felt they were ripped off at one of the local "ultra lounges", the hip new term for a dance club. In brief, they made a reservation where they were told they needed to buy two bottles of alcohol at three hundred seventy-five a piece to reserve the table. When they got there they had to tip two hundred and fifty dollars just to get to their 'reserved' seats. Apparently you have to tip to avoid the bathroom line, tip to get 'security' to do gosh only knows what, etc. They were charged five hundred dollars a bottle for the alcohol instead of three seventy-five and the night cost them several thousand dollars. The man said he feld "financially raped".
Okay, I can understand how they felt abused. But no means no. They didn't have to buy into the hype, they could have refused to pay the outrageous charges, they could have gone somewhere else. But they wanted to be cool, hang at a place with the popular people and be hip. I guess it's actually a very democratic system if you realize that those who aren't 'cool' can buy their way into cool. Aren't wearing the 'right' clothes? Tip the door guy enough and he'll overlook it. Don't fit in? Bring cash and you'll be accepted and loved...for as long as your money holds out anyway.
Now I'm going to reveal how uncool I really am (I know, big shock to those who know me). I used to love to go dancing and we would go to clubs. (Not ultra-lounges, but clubs). We never had to wait in line, and I never paid for a table and drinks were about five bucks apiece. (But most of the time when I'm dancing I drink water, gotta stay hydrated when you are gyrating) If we found a table that was empty, we took it and someone in our group had to protect it or we would lose it. (This is called 'purse patrol' since if there was a table protector all of the girls would leave their purses rather than take them on the dance floor.) You left your drink on the table and placed a napkin over the top of it to let the staff know that you were still drinking it. (Not a good idea today in the era of GHB.)
So back then an evening out might cost me ten dollars. Five for my drink, a dollar for a tip and four bucks for breakfast at some casino with a cheap breakfast special in the wee hours of the morning after the night out. Hopefully we would find men to buy us additional drinks. This happened most of the time because my friends were kind of slutty and had big boobs, and I have a great personality.
Several thousand dollars isn't a night out, it's rent and groceries and car payments. I don't know how anyone, no matter how weathy, who can justify to me spending that kind of money on a dance club. A trip to France, I understand. A cruise to Alaska, yup, I can see that. But too loud music, warm alcohol and paying to pee? No way. I will admit that on the hip scale I fall far closer to 'dweeb' than to 'cool girl'. And I'm okay with that, because I can afford to be a dweeb. I can't afford to be cool.
Okay, I can understand how they felt abused. But no means no. They didn't have to buy into the hype, they could have refused to pay the outrageous charges, they could have gone somewhere else. But they wanted to be cool, hang at a place with the popular people and be hip. I guess it's actually a very democratic system if you realize that those who aren't 'cool' can buy their way into cool. Aren't wearing the 'right' clothes? Tip the door guy enough and he'll overlook it. Don't fit in? Bring cash and you'll be accepted and loved...for as long as your money holds out anyway.
Now I'm going to reveal how uncool I really am (I know, big shock to those who know me). I used to love to go dancing and we would go to clubs. (Not ultra-lounges, but clubs). We never had to wait in line, and I never paid for a table and drinks were about five bucks apiece. (But most of the time when I'm dancing I drink water, gotta stay hydrated when you are gyrating) If we found a table that was empty, we took it and someone in our group had to protect it or we would lose it. (This is called 'purse patrol' since if there was a table protector all of the girls would leave their purses rather than take them on the dance floor.) You left your drink on the table and placed a napkin over the top of it to let the staff know that you were still drinking it. (Not a good idea today in the era of GHB.)
So back then an evening out might cost me ten dollars. Five for my drink, a dollar for a tip and four bucks for breakfast at some casino with a cheap breakfast special in the wee hours of the morning after the night out. Hopefully we would find men to buy us additional drinks. This happened most of the time because my friends were kind of slutty and had big boobs, and I have a great personality.
Several thousand dollars isn't a night out, it's rent and groceries and car payments. I don't know how anyone, no matter how weathy, who can justify to me spending that kind of money on a dance club. A trip to France, I understand. A cruise to Alaska, yup, I can see that. But too loud music, warm alcohol and paying to pee? No way. I will admit that on the hip scale I fall far closer to 'dweeb' than to 'cool girl'. And I'm okay with that, because I can afford to be a dweeb. I can't afford to be cool.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
List #2
Here is a list of things I though about yesterday. It's kind of fun, like a stream of consciousness exercise.
1. The lady at the fitting room at Ross must hate me because I try on a pile of clothes and she has to hang them back up.
2. Why is that guy following me around the shoe department? Is he a stalker? Is he store security and do I look like a shoplifter? Does he just like women's shoes? He's creeping me out.
3. Why am I looking at clothes? I'm unemployed (er, I mean, self employed) and I work from home. I don't need clothes.
4. This dress is so retro, I feel like Emma Peel from the old "Avengers" series. Except I don't have an Emma Peel body. More like Un-a-Peel. Still this dress is so cute I want a beehive hairdo and a pair of white go-go boots to go with it. Nah, I could never pull it off.
5. I like Target. Probably too much. I spent forty-eight dollars. I went way over budget.
6. Having no shopping money sucks.
7. How is my dog's ass doing? It's strange to worry about your dog's butt. How can a little dog butt cost so much? I wonder how much the follow up vet visit to check my dog's butt is going to cost?
8. What am I going to make for dinner tomorrow? Will can be picky.
9. Don't forget to buy sour cream. Do they sell sour cream at Target so I don't have to go to the grocery store? They do.
10. Okay, if I start some laundry before I make the meatloaf, then when I put the meatloaf in the oven run in and take a shower, then when I get out of the shower put in another load of laundry before I make the mashed potatoes, will that work out to have inner ready by 6:30?
11. This is the greatest meatloaf ever. I'll have to put it on my food blog. I should have my own cooking show. Real cooking for real people. I'm a good cook with a great personality, I could host my own cooking show. Who would I call? Do they have fat cooking show hosts? Paul Prudhomme was so fat he cooked sitting down in a chair. I'm not that fat. But girl cooking show hosts are uber skinny, like Giada. She looks anorexic. I don't really believe she eats all the food she makes. I eat all the food I make and I look like it. Sixty percent of the population is overweight, aren't we really underrepresented in the cooking show realm? Man, this is good meatloaf.
12. Why do I watch Big Brother?
13. I hate when I'm watching live TV and I hit the fast forward button and I can't fast forwards the boring parts. I should DVR everthing so I can fast forward whenever I want.
14. "Secrets of the Psychics Revealed" or "Pussycat Dolls Present Girlicious"? Is that really what I'm deciding between? Mensa is going to come revoke my membership just based on my television viewing habits. Okay, I'll watch the "Secrets" show and just flip to "Girlicious" to se who get's kicked off. I hope it's Natalie. I've never met her but they sure edit her to look like a total bitch. I want Illise to win. Go you Glamizonain redhead!
15. So that's how psychics do that, it's all trickery. I feel both vindicated and dissapointed.
16. Law and Order has been on forever. But I love Jeremy Sisto. I wish Law and Order was more like Law and Order: SVU so that Jeremy was on the whole show instead of just the first half. Christopher Meloni is so hot on SVU. He was even hot on that prison show where he was a criminal and he raped that guy. But he's hotter as a good guy cop.
17. I was really tired and now I can't go to sleep. What's up with that?
1. The lady at the fitting room at Ross must hate me because I try on a pile of clothes and she has to hang them back up.
2. Why is that guy following me around the shoe department? Is he a stalker? Is he store security and do I look like a shoplifter? Does he just like women's shoes? He's creeping me out.
3. Why am I looking at clothes? I'm unemployed (er, I mean, self employed) and I work from home. I don't need clothes.
4. This dress is so retro, I feel like Emma Peel from the old "Avengers" series. Except I don't have an Emma Peel body. More like Un-a-Peel. Still this dress is so cute I want a beehive hairdo and a pair of white go-go boots to go with it. Nah, I could never pull it off.
5. I like Target. Probably too much. I spent forty-eight dollars. I went way over budget.
6. Having no shopping money sucks.
7. How is my dog's ass doing? It's strange to worry about your dog's butt. How can a little dog butt cost so much? I wonder how much the follow up vet visit to check my dog's butt is going to cost?
8. What am I going to make for dinner tomorrow? Will can be picky.
9. Don't forget to buy sour cream. Do they sell sour cream at Target so I don't have to go to the grocery store? They do.
10. Okay, if I start some laundry before I make the meatloaf, then when I put the meatloaf in the oven run in and take a shower, then when I get out of the shower put in another load of laundry before I make the mashed potatoes, will that work out to have inner ready by 6:30?
11. This is the greatest meatloaf ever. I'll have to put it on my food blog. I should have my own cooking show. Real cooking for real people. I'm a good cook with a great personality, I could host my own cooking show. Who would I call? Do they have fat cooking show hosts? Paul Prudhomme was so fat he cooked sitting down in a chair. I'm not that fat. But girl cooking show hosts are uber skinny, like Giada. She looks anorexic. I don't really believe she eats all the food she makes. I eat all the food I make and I look like it. Sixty percent of the population is overweight, aren't we really underrepresented in the cooking show realm? Man, this is good meatloaf.
12. Why do I watch Big Brother?
13. I hate when I'm watching live TV and I hit the fast forward button and I can't fast forwards the boring parts. I should DVR everthing so I can fast forward whenever I want.
14. "Secrets of the Psychics Revealed" or "Pussycat Dolls Present Girlicious"? Is that really what I'm deciding between? Mensa is going to come revoke my membership just based on my television viewing habits. Okay, I'll watch the "Secrets" show and just flip to "Girlicious" to se who get's kicked off. I hope it's Natalie. I've never met her but they sure edit her to look like a total bitch. I want Illise to win. Go you Glamizonain redhead!
15. So that's how psychics do that, it's all trickery. I feel both vindicated and dissapointed.
16. Law and Order has been on forever. But I love Jeremy Sisto. I wish Law and Order was more like Law and Order: SVU so that Jeremy was on the whole show instead of just the first half. Christopher Meloni is so hot on SVU. He was even hot on that prison show where he was a criminal and he raped that guy. But he's hotter as a good guy cop.
17. I was really tired and now I can't go to sleep. What's up with that?
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Lists
My friend had been doing lists on her blog and since I'm kinda tired today, I though I'd cheat and copy her idea.
List of things I thought about yesterday
1. Java has to go to the vet, how much is that going to cost me?
2. I love the library, I got like a ton of books for free. Of course, I do have to give them back.
3. How can they charge $180.00 to fix the fuel door on my mom's car? It's like a 5 minute job. Dealerships rip you off.
4. Election results
5. Why people are so mean to each other on "Big Brother"? If I was on that show I'd cry all the time.
6. Ooh, they released the second season of the old Hardy Boys show on DVD.
7. How incredibly lame am I that I care that they released the second season of the old Hardy Boys show on DVD?
8. Well, I must not be the only lame person who watched that show as a kid, right? Right? It's not on DVD for just me, right?
9. If you mix Mike's Hard Lemonade with Mike's Hard Limeade, will it resemble a margarita in flavor?
10. I love Del Taco's "3 for 99 vents" Taco Tuesdays.
11. I love my Mom, she's a truly great person. I wish I had enough money to make all of her worries go away. Tacos and a fake margarita aren't enough to show her how much I appreciate her. New toilets would be a start. And a new fence. And getting her house painted. Bet that costs more than 99 cents.
12. If I shop at Fresh & Easy every day, is that an obsession? How many days a week can I shop there without becoming 'that weird lady who is in here every day'?
13. What am I going to make for dinner on Thursday?
List of things I thought about yesterday
1. Java has to go to the vet, how much is that going to cost me?
2. I love the library, I got like a ton of books for free. Of course, I do have to give them back.
3. How can they charge $180.00 to fix the fuel door on my mom's car? It's like a 5 minute job. Dealerships rip you off.
4. Election results
5. Why people are so mean to each other on "Big Brother"? If I was on that show I'd cry all the time.
6. Ooh, they released the second season of the old Hardy Boys show on DVD.
7. How incredibly lame am I that I care that they released the second season of the old Hardy Boys show on DVD?
8. Well, I must not be the only lame person who watched that show as a kid, right? Right? It's not on DVD for just me, right?
9. If you mix Mike's Hard Lemonade with Mike's Hard Limeade, will it resemble a margarita in flavor?
10. I love Del Taco's "3 for 99 vents" Taco Tuesdays.
11. I love my Mom, she's a truly great person. I wish I had enough money to make all of her worries go away. Tacos and a fake margarita aren't enough to show her how much I appreciate her. New toilets would be a start. And a new fence. And getting her house painted. Bet that costs more than 99 cents.
12. If I shop at Fresh & Easy every day, is that an obsession? How many days a week can I shop there without becoming 'that weird lady who is in here every day'?
13. What am I going to make for dinner on Thursday?
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Writing Update
So, for those of you checking in on the 'year of writing dangerously', here is an update on how the writing is going.
Novel - The love story of Miss Gemma Merryvale and Lord Simon Farrow is progressing nicely. No bodice ripping yet, but they are definitely interested in one another.
Screenplay #1 - "Imaginary Boyfriend" - Screenplay started and opening scenes written.
Screenplay #2 - I'm re-writing "Arnie Johnson's Big Break". For those Arnie fans out there don't worry. I'm just making the film a little more noir, but the basic story isn't changing. Just tweaking and polishing, making it a little more edgy, like "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang". I had the idea for the re-writes and since I hadn't looked at Arnie in a while I re-read the script. Honestly, it wasn't half bad for a first script. I even made myself laugh at a few scenes. I'm just freshening Arnie up, he could use a new pair of shoes. My goal is to get him ready for the Nicholl competition, deadline is May 1st.
Smidigits - I hope some of you are checking out the work I've been doing at www.smidgits.com If you haven't checked it out, may I suggest "The Sign" or any of my "We're Cookin' Now" episodes. I have been writing and directing a new series called "The Jerseynaut" which will premiere soo but I think the trailers for the show available right now.
Thanks to everyone who has been checking out the blogs (this one and www.gourmand-girl.blogspot.com) and if you keep reading, I'll keep writing!
Novel - The love story of Miss Gemma Merryvale and Lord Simon Farrow is progressing nicely. No bodice ripping yet, but they are definitely interested in one another.
Screenplay #1 - "Imaginary Boyfriend" - Screenplay started and opening scenes written.
Screenplay #2 - I'm re-writing "Arnie Johnson's Big Break". For those Arnie fans out there don't worry. I'm just making the film a little more noir, but the basic story isn't changing. Just tweaking and polishing, making it a little more edgy, like "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang". I had the idea for the re-writes and since I hadn't looked at Arnie in a while I re-read the script. Honestly, it wasn't half bad for a first script. I even made myself laugh at a few scenes. I'm just freshening Arnie up, he could use a new pair of shoes. My goal is to get him ready for the Nicholl competition, deadline is May 1st.
Smidigits - I hope some of you are checking out the work I've been doing at www.smidgits.com If you haven't checked it out, may I suggest "The Sign" or any of my "We're Cookin' Now" episodes. I have been writing and directing a new series called "The Jerseynaut" which will premiere soo but I think the trailers for the show available right now.
Thanks to everyone who has been checking out the blogs (this one and www.gourmand-girl.blogspot.com) and if you keep reading, I'll keep writing!
Monday, March 03, 2008
Wii and the Pathetically Unathletic
Okay, so I got a Wii for my family for Christmas. Yes, I stood in line early one cold December morning in hopes of scoring one of these video game systems, after even thinking about buying a black market Wii at double the price.
Why? I'm not a video game person by nature. Sure, we had Pong whan I was a kid but that was no more than an animated Etch-a-Sketch really and my bouts of playing were pretty short, as Barbie's life was far more interesting (some day I'll post about why Barbie is the reason I became a writer). Sure, I played Ms. Pac Man like all of my friends, since I was a child of the 80's, but I was never a high score, as most of the time I heard that blooping sound as Ms. Pac Man was eaten by the ghosts. So why was I so obsessed with obtaining the Wii? Because I heard it was a video game system for the video game retarded like me.
Families could use the Wii, not just the shaggy-haired video game obsessed teenage sons, hunched over their controllers furiously killing assorted, aliens/terrorists/cops/whatever or battling orks/elves/hobbits/whatever in the modern day version of Dungeons and Dragons. (Geek that I was, I never got into DnD, but I watched my brother play and it always seemed too complicated with their many sided dice, graph paper, thick books and folders of character information). Older people in nursing homes were using Wiis, I figured, why not me?
So we began playing Wii as a family. My brother and his fiancee had used the Wii at other peoples homes so they became our guides. We played for hours on New Years Eve for hours and every Sunday since. My mother can kick our butts in bowling and she's pretty good at golf too (she's not so good at tennis, she still tries to play during the replays too.) My grandma likes the bowling although we had to make a few modifications for her 87 years (she holds the Wii remote upside down to make it easier) and my brother and I are pretty competitive at tennis.
Now I am athletically challenged (the PC term for spazz). But in my mind's eye I'm athletic. I can always imagine that one day I'll suddenly enjoy exercise, that perhaps it's just a matter of finding the right sport. We had tennis rackets as kids and while I could never actually play tennis, I was really good at serving the ball not just over the net but over the high fence surrounding the court as well. (In baseball this would be considered a home run but in tennis it's frowned upon). I had my parents buy me a football and a basketball one Christmas (they were shocked when their chubby little bookworm daughter wanted athletic gear as a present but, bless them, they got them for me) I was convinced that all I need to become athletic was a little practice. So I would take my balls over to the schoolyard and practice in secret, knowing that one day the moment would arise when I could show off my athletic prowess and impress all of my teammates. After all, that's how it works in movies, right, the nerdy little kid catches the winning touchdown or shoots the winning basket in the last second of the game? But I could only make a basket by 'grannying' the ball (holding the ball with both hands between your legs then thrusting them forwards, hoping it would arc towards the basket and not end up behind you) but since this move is time consuming and embarrassing (and never used in the NBA) I never made that glorious shot. I might have made a winning catch in football, had anyone ever thrown the ball even vaguely in my direction but knowing me, I probably would have just ducked to avoid it. So I was always the last kid picked for teams (except once, and David Newton will be my hero forever and ever) and I never did find a sport I can excel in.
But then along comes the Wii. You create your own character (a Mii) that looks like you (mine even has my double chin) and you play a variety of games - tennis, baseball, bowling, boxing and golf. And with a little practice I have become marginally competent. And for me, marginal competence is the equivalent of Olympic level excellence. I can now play tennis and actually volley the ball for more than ten seconds. I have broken the score of 100 in bowling (something I have yet to achieve in the real world) and I can shoot for par on a nine hole course. Best of all, my Wii age has come down from sixty-eight to twenty-seven! The Wii has given me back my mind's eye vision of myself as an athlete. When I'm playing Wii, I'm Maria Sharipova or Tiger Woods or some dude who's the top guy in bowling. (His name is probably Herb, but I don't know that for sure, which goes to show you how little respect the sport of competitive bowling gets). And I don't even have to go out in the heat, or put on rented shoes, or lug a heavy bag of clubs around. You can do it in your air conditioned living room in your underwear if you want (not that I do that). And you can impress your family that, at last, you don't suck quite so bad.
Next I want to get Guitar Hero for my Wii. After playing Wii sports, I suspect that if I get Guitar Hero I may be something of a musical genius and destined to become a rock star. Which would be quite an accomplishment for a girl who couldn't even play the Flute-a-Phone in elementary school.
Why? I'm not a video game person by nature. Sure, we had Pong whan I was a kid but that was no more than an animated Etch-a-Sketch really and my bouts of playing were pretty short, as Barbie's life was far more interesting (some day I'll post about why Barbie is the reason I became a writer). Sure, I played Ms. Pac Man like all of my friends, since I was a child of the 80's, but I was never a high score, as most of the time I heard that blooping sound as Ms. Pac Man was eaten by the ghosts. So why was I so obsessed with obtaining the Wii? Because I heard it was a video game system for the video game retarded like me.
Families could use the Wii, not just the shaggy-haired video game obsessed teenage sons, hunched over their controllers furiously killing assorted, aliens/terrorists/cops/whatever or battling orks/elves/hobbits/whatever in the modern day version of Dungeons and Dragons. (Geek that I was, I never got into DnD, but I watched my brother play and it always seemed too complicated with their many sided dice, graph paper, thick books and folders of character information). Older people in nursing homes were using Wiis, I figured, why not me?
So we began playing Wii as a family. My brother and his fiancee had used the Wii at other peoples homes so they became our guides. We played for hours on New Years Eve for hours and every Sunday since. My mother can kick our butts in bowling and she's pretty good at golf too (she's not so good at tennis, she still tries to play during the replays too.) My grandma likes the bowling although we had to make a few modifications for her 87 years (she holds the Wii remote upside down to make it easier) and my brother and I are pretty competitive at tennis.
Now I am athletically challenged (the PC term for spazz). But in my mind's eye I'm athletic. I can always imagine that one day I'll suddenly enjoy exercise, that perhaps it's just a matter of finding the right sport. We had tennis rackets as kids and while I could never actually play tennis, I was really good at serving the ball not just over the net but over the high fence surrounding the court as well. (In baseball this would be considered a home run but in tennis it's frowned upon). I had my parents buy me a football and a basketball one Christmas (they were shocked when their chubby little bookworm daughter wanted athletic gear as a present but, bless them, they got them for me) I was convinced that all I need to become athletic was a little practice. So I would take my balls over to the schoolyard and practice in secret, knowing that one day the moment would arise when I could show off my athletic prowess and impress all of my teammates. After all, that's how it works in movies, right, the nerdy little kid catches the winning touchdown or shoots the winning basket in the last second of the game? But I could only make a basket by 'grannying' the ball (holding the ball with both hands between your legs then thrusting them forwards, hoping it would arc towards the basket and not end up behind you) but since this move is time consuming and embarrassing (and never used in the NBA) I never made that glorious shot. I might have made a winning catch in football, had anyone ever thrown the ball even vaguely in my direction but knowing me, I probably would have just ducked to avoid it. So I was always the last kid picked for teams (except once, and David Newton will be my hero forever and ever) and I never did find a sport I can excel in.
But then along comes the Wii. You create your own character (a Mii) that looks like you (mine even has my double chin) and you play a variety of games - tennis, baseball, bowling, boxing and golf. And with a little practice I have become marginally competent. And for me, marginal competence is the equivalent of Olympic level excellence. I can now play tennis and actually volley the ball for more than ten seconds. I have broken the score of 100 in bowling (something I have yet to achieve in the real world) and I can shoot for par on a nine hole course. Best of all, my Wii age has come down from sixty-eight to twenty-seven! The Wii has given me back my mind's eye vision of myself as an athlete. When I'm playing Wii, I'm Maria Sharipova or Tiger Woods or some dude who's the top guy in bowling. (His name is probably Herb, but I don't know that for sure, which goes to show you how little respect the sport of competitive bowling gets). And I don't even have to go out in the heat, or put on rented shoes, or lug a heavy bag of clubs around. You can do it in your air conditioned living room in your underwear if you want (not that I do that). And you can impress your family that, at last, you don't suck quite so bad.
Next I want to get Guitar Hero for my Wii. After playing Wii sports, I suspect that if I get Guitar Hero I may be something of a musical genius and destined to become a rock star. Which would be quite an accomplishment for a girl who couldn't even play the Flute-a-Phone in elementary school.
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