Entertaining Me

Whew, I've been absent a while. I actually had some things to talk about, too, and haven't found time or energy to post! Sorry. :(

So, here we go, I think in chronological order...

Life UneXpected
I'm done. Haven't watched the last two eps (three now), because the thought of watching shrill, whiny Kate makes my skin crawl and my stomach heave.

Parenthood
Still in, because I do love the family interactions (as Mary says), but not eager to watch each episode.

Thursday Night
I cannot BELEEEEVE how much I watch (i.e. DVR) on Thursday night. Starting next week, when everything's back, I'll have five shows to watch. Still loving all of them. (FYI, that's Bones, FlashForward, Fringe, Supernatural, The Mentalist; have to make sure there's no misunderstanding about that LOL.)

Anyway, Supernatural...

While I won't put "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" up on my top 10, I loved the episode. I mean, besides the fact that Bobby without a hat is just WRONG. And that as good as the actress playing his wife was, I liked the one from "Dream a Little Dream" much better. This one was too old, really—she matched Bobby's real age, not the age she would have been when he killed her. Still, she did a lovely job.

I won't rehash everything everyone else is talking about (the gore, the funny, the heartbreaking), but I wanted to talk about the thing that a lot of people took at face value and were disappointed with: Death.

Yeah, at first analysis, it seems kind of odd that after War's and Famine's level of power and destruction, Dead seems kind of lame. He raised 20 people? In Bobby's town? To send Bobby a message we never heard? Um...okay. Anticlimactic much?

HOWEVER! I have a theory, borne immediately of that oddness. I wondered if Death's power is diminished because his brothers' is gone. War and Famine aren't dead, as far as we know, but the source of their power (ring, souls) was taken from them. So maybe Death just doesn't have the juice, like if the brothers have a synergistic power relationship.

Plus, we've had hints about Lucifer. He's still powerful, of course, can never doubt that, but his vessel isn't strong, and it's weakening. Zachariah said Lucifer couldn't do much until he found a vessel, so it's almost a no-brainer that if his vessel is deteriorating, so would be his control. Maybe the message to Bobby was desperation, because he needs Sam so badly. Or maybe it's just a taste of what's to come.

So that left me feeling, in the end, like the show wasn't lacking, it was actually chock full of interesting stuff. :)

Friday with Jason Manns
Hot friends, hot music, what more can you ask for? Jason was as good...no, this was definitely the best concert yet. He played "Journey"! I don't think he's done that at any other venue I've attended. That's my definite favorite. He also did "Perfect Spot," my second favorite, and a couple of new ones from the CD, which I of course purchased and had signed.

How to Train Your Dragon
Believe it or not, this is the movie of the year. At least, so far. I have high hopes for Iron Man 2. But really, HtTYD was sweet, and funny, and incredibly rendered (even in 2D—3D is fine, but too expensive for not a big enough difference). The characters were all very well wrought, the storyline nothing really unique but still very well written. The flying scenes and fight sequences were exciting, and I got teary more than once, even letting out an "oh!" near the end. EVERYONE should see this movie.

There was only one thing that was kind of negative, but not enough to ruin the movie, of course. I don't understand why the Viking adults sounded like Scots while the Viking kids sounded like whiny Americans. The voices were all great and fit their characters (or the characters fit the voices), but it was a little weird. I guess we don't know what Vikings sounded like?

Random Comments

Nestor Carbonell is fantabulous.

Felicity totally belonged with Noel.

Human Target gets more interesting every week, especially as they bring back secondary characters from past episodes; love Leila, where's Martin?

Nathan Fillion rocks my socks.

I just remembered, my kid accidentally deleted Modern Family, and it's (hopefully!) sitting on my iPod right now. I'm off to watch it! (Or pout, if it didn't sync properly...)

What has been entertaining YOU lately?

Upcoming Workshop!

April 2010 — The Pirates Guide to a Successful Publishing Career
Presented by Natalie J. Damschroder

Dates: April 5-17
Deadline: April 2
Fee: $16.00
http://lowcountryrwa.com/online-workshops/#APR

Course Description:
Based on the line in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, that the pirates’ code is “more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.” In almost every case, the “rules” of writing and doing business in the romance industry are actually guidelines. The reality is that there is no one path to success, and even some things that seem absolute have exceptions or nuances. The key is to know enough to be prepared for any eventuality, understand the expectations of the genre and the industry, and “violate” the so-called “rules” intentionally and positively.

Natalie J. Damschroder is certainly not the only author to embrace the reality of the pirate’s code, but she was one of the first. Applying the line from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, that the pirates’ code is “more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules,” she asserts that in nearly every case, the “rules” of writing and doing business in the romance industry are actually guidelines.

Being successful is not about copying another author’s path or habits, or following the Laws of Writing. It’s about taking in everything, determining your personal truth, and following your own path.

In this workshop, she addresses:
• craft
• the market
• networking
• contests
• and how best to achieve your own success, however you define it.

Instructor Bio:
Natalie J. Damschroder is the published author of seven novels and nearly two dozen novellas and short stories. She currently writes urban fantasy and romantic adventure. Over the nearly 17 years she's been part of the romance writing community, she has absorbed tons of information and has found that the Internet is like one gigantic game of telephone. She can't claim to have ALL the answers or be right ALL the time, but it's definitely one of her goals. A pragmatic, eyes-open approach to this business is her underlying philosophy.

Read more about Natalie at her website: www.nataliedamschroder.com

You can register for the following on-line class through April 2. Each class is $16.
FMI: www.lowcountryrwa.com/online-workshops/

Or email Online Workshop Coordinator, Veronica Alderson, lrwaonline@yahoo.com using the Subject line: LRWA ONLINE WORKSHOP. To subscribe to LRWA Online Workshop monthly mailing list, LRWAonlinecourses@yahoogroups.com

Thank you.

Veronica Alderson,
LRWA Online Workshop Coordinator

Random Thoughts

Today's randomness is brought to you by The Gab Wagon!

Waiting for Sunshine

The incomparable Sue Gourley/Susan Kelley bestowed this upon me. I can't say I agree that I deserve it, because this blog is sometimes FAR from sunny. :) But I thank her nonetheless.

It's been a few days since she posted this, but it rained all of those days, and today was gawjus, brilliantly sunny, so it seemed appropriate.

I'm going to mix it up a big and pass on this award to blogs of people I don't know personally. A couple might count as cheating, but I'm including them because they always make me smile. If this comes up in their Google Alerts, they can accept and pass on the award.

I Can Has Cheezburger (LOLcats)

I Has a Hot Dog (LOLdogs)

Amalah (mommyblogger)

The TV Addict (self-explanatory)

Around the 'Net

This week is Read an E-book Week! Guess what? I have tons of e-books. I mean, most of the books and stories I've written are available in various e-book formats. The story I wrote for Heartwild Solitaire Classic is also, technically, an e-book. :) But you can get a whole bunch for free this week! Maybe mine, I don't know, I guess it depends where you go and what the promotion is. I suggest you start here, at Jody Wallace's blog. She listed a bunch of stuff so why should I do more work? :) Thanks, Jody!

Speaking of e-books, Victoria Allen's new story, Aces and Eights is on sale!

On March 18th, the cover for CRUSADE, the new series by Nancy Holder and Debbie Vigue, will be revealed at WICKED SERIES on Facebook.

Vicki Smith blogged about Sam and Dean today at Supernatural Sisters today. It's quite funny and soooo true!

Monday I did some contest venting at The Gabwagon. It's not the kind you think.

March Madness has hit! No, not basketball, SUPERNATURAL. My friend Gail does it every year, and it's fun. And very difficult on occasion. Head over and vote for your favorite SPN episodes in head-to-head matchups! And make sure to keep checking as additional brackets go up.

The Good Kind of Busy

We had quite a weekend!

Obnoxious Parental Bragging Alert

Saturday started out with my local writers meeting, which was in a new venue that worked out very well. We had a great meeting, and it was especially wonderful to see everyone since our February meeting got snowed out. We had, like, 71% attendance, which is amazing.

I didn't get to talk to everyone, though, as I had to leave as soon as the meeting was over. Number Two was in a Math Meet! She missed it last year because when it was announced she'd committed to a soccer tournament already. But this year they were ready. To enter, anyway. LOL The program thanked all the parents who spent hours practicing with their kids. Number Two didn't practice, and she says none of her team did. Whoops!

They ended up going first of the 8 rounds (16 teams to start). She hated that! It was so nerve-wracking for her, and therefore for us. But WOW. They had white boards, but were doing all the problems in their heads, and buzzing in and answering immediately. The setup was 12 speed-round questions, where any of the 8 kids (4 per team) could buzz in and then had 3 seconds to answer. If they got it right, one point. Wrong, the other team had a try. After 12 questions, they did a Jeopardy!-type question, where they wagered up to their total points from the speed round, and answered the question as a team.

They won the first round 11-4! Then I had to go out to work the concession stand, and I kept running back and forth to check the bracket status, I was so afraid I was going to miss her next round! LOL They won the second round just as easily, 7-0. I was so proud of all of them. Two boys, two girls (only 5 of the 16 teams were co-ed, and most of those were only one girl), kids who work together in classes all the time and get along great, and who really supported each other. Best of all, they all answered questions. Most teams had one kid who answered, like, 10 or 11, and one who squeaked one in. I lliked how balanced hers was.

So then they went to the semi-finals, and of course it was going to be tougher. The questions were more complex, the competition stiffer. Two of our team members made a mistake and hit the buzzer too early (including Number Two once!) so that they didn't have all the info to answer accurately. And one of the boys kept getting flustered and giving the wrong format of answer (well, not "kept," it was only twice, and in two separate rounds). Anyway, bottom line, the end score of the speed round was 10-10. Of course, they both wagered 10, and both teams got the final question right, so they wagered again, and ended up tied 20-20. So they did a final speed round question, and Number Two buzzed in and got it! Woo hoo!

Unfortunately, they were outmatched in the final round, and lost by one point. That team had one kid who was just a whiz, and at least twice, they deliberately buzzed in early and lucked out with the question. The parents behind us really ticked off Number One. One father said the answers pretty loudly, though I guess they didn't carry to the stage. We heard remarks about our school, too. Slightly too much competition among the parents. The kids were all great, though, and we were extremely proud!

After that we went to dinner with the in-laws, and I had a great visit with my sister, whom I haven't seen in way too long. We brought them back here to play Band Hero, and Nana rocked the guitar, with Aunt Cindy bringing down the house with her singing! SO much fun.

That night was finished up with The Music Man, the high school production. Number One was on paint crew, and as a freshman was assigned a special task: because she did the wood panels on the train car so well, she was assigned all the wood on all the sets, for consistency. She did a REALLY good job. The show was top-notch, but the best part was leaning over to ask her, "what part of this set did you do?" :)

Yesterday was supposed to be more of a work day, but we shopped for new dishes, and had a lunch date, which was nice. Then we split up for Alice in Wonderland, as Number Two wanted 3D and Number One didn't. The movie was okay, though I dozed off about 3/4 of the way through. I did that at the musical, too. I think I should probably try to go to bed earlier this week. I need to recover from the weekend!

Coming Clean

Huh. I screwed up the rules. Honestly, I am NOT one of those writers who claims to be horrible at math. I've always been pretty decent at it. But somehow, I failed to add 1 to 6 and didn't end up with 7 things, but only 6.

Oh, well.

So, which are my truths and lies? Well, good liars know that good lies are always grounded in truth. So here's me coming clean:

1. I have been to several countries in Europe, and I don’t remember any of it.

This is 100% true. Some of the traveling was in utero, and some was postpartum, but all was before I was a year old. :)

2. When I was like 14, babysitting my brother, we got into a fight and I tried to stab him with a garlic press, and hit my hand instead. I still have the scar.

Again 100% true. I scared myself so badly when the blood welled up, I immediately stopped fighting with him. And went to tell the neighbor that no, even though I screamed I wanted to kill him at the top of my lungs, I didn't actually do so.

3. I have top security clearance because of my job at National Geographic, which means I could technically be told lots of state secrets.

HA! No one could have thought that was true. Pretty outrageous.

4. When I was dating my husband in college, his fraternity had a tradition that if a brother pinned his girlfriend, they carried him down to the sulfur spring, stripped him naked, and tossed him in. Then they gave him back his shoes and made him run naked back to the frat house, about half a mile. I got to see this happen to two of my husband’s brothers, but not him. He never pinned me.

Fully true. I think he gave me the pin after he graduated, but by then we were practically engaged, so it didn't count.

5. When I worked in DC, my aunt worked for Budget Rent-a-Car and she got me cars when I needed one for a trip home. One was a Lincoln Town Car. One was a red Mustang convertible. I kept that one a couple of extra days and took it up to 100 on the Beltway.

I hope she never reads this, that's all I can say.

6. In my summer job at Sarett Nature Center after my sophomore year of college, I got bit by all of the following: a raccoon, a barred owl, a black rat snake, a baby fox, an injured kestrel, and a tiny white mouse. Oh, and black flies.

Mostly a lie. I only got bit by the mouse and the flies. :) Someone else got bit by the black rat snake, when he was catching it (those puppies are FAST), and I don't think any of the others ever bit anyone.

Huh. I told more truth than lies. I guess I'm not that good at it after all! :)

Me? Lie? Never!

My friend Monica Burns tagged me for a very different kind of “award.”  I have to come up with lies to tell you people!  I don’t think I’m very good at this.  Certainly not nearly as good as Monica is!  But what the hey, I’ll give it a try.

First I’ll post the rules:

1. Thank the person who gave this to you. (Uh, thanks, Monica!)

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you.

4. Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth.

5. Nominate seven “Creative Writers” who might have fun coming up with outrageous lies.

6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.

People are going to get seriously annoyed with me if I keep tagging them. No one give me any more awards! LOL

Okay, first the lies/truths.  Guess which are which.

1. I have been to several countries in Europe, and I don’t remember any of it.

2. When I was like 14, babysitting my brother, we got into a fight and I tried to stab him with a garlic press, and hit my hand instead. I still have the scar.

3. I have top security clearance because of my job at National Geographic, which means I could technically be told lots of state secrets.

4. When I was dating my husband in college, his fraternity had a tradition that if a brother pinned his girlfriend, they carried him down to the sulfur spring, stripped him naked, and tossed him in. Then they gave him back his shoes and made him run naked back to the frat house, about half a mile. I got to see this happen to two of my husband’s brothers, but not him. He never pinned me.

5. When I worked in DC, my aunt worked for Budget Rent-a-Car and she got me cars when I needed one for a trip home.  One was a Lincoln Town Car. One was a red Mustang convertible. I kept that one a couple of extra days and took it up to 100 on the Beltway.

6. In my summer job at Sarrett Nature Center after my sophomore year of college, I got bit by all of the following: a raccoon, a barred owl, a black rat snake, a baby fox, an injured kestrel, and a tiny white mouse. Oh, and black flies.

Who knows me best? Guess away in the comments!

I tag the following, who I know can be really awesome liars creative bloggers:

1. Victoria Smith

2. Jody Wallace

3. Ava Quinn

4. Tracy Madison

5. Misty Simon

6. Megan Hart

7. Gail at Stream of Conscience

Disappointment and Victory

I got some bad news this morning. It was business, and it's not a bad thing in the long run, but it's a blow and a setback and has left me feeling a bit adrift and at loose ends today.

BUT.

Then I played Wii Sport Resort, Swordplay Showdown.

I've been trying for MONTHS to get past level 18. MONTHS. I once spent 2 hours trying. I've gone long stretches without playing, but I'm sure I've logged many, many hours at it.

And it's kind of metaphorical, when compared to this setback I had. You see, I had certain strategies that let me get to level 18, but they failed at that point. Sometimes they failed immediately, sometimes I got to 91% (as in, I've defeated 91% of my opponents) before they failed. But I never, ever got through. I even went all the way back to the beginning once, to rebuild my score, get it as high as possible, hopefully giving me more strength/power to defeat my opponents. But nope, it didn't work.

There was a strategy I knew I needed to employ, but never got the hang of it. My brain and muscles were too trained in the old way. Today, after a bunch of failures, I made it work, and I got through level 18!

Man, you should have heard me shouting. LOL But it doesn't end there. Of course, I had to move on, and level 19 only took me a few tries. Level 20 was harder, with far more aggressive opponents, but I kept trying, and finally broke through and won. I am now Swordmaster! :)

So the lesson: Patience, new strategies, and calculated aggressiveness can lead to success. I think I'm going to have to employ that elsewhere.