M.J. Fredrick's Blog, page 37

Sunshine Blog

Celia Yeary tagged me for the Sunshine Blog Award! Check out her blog here!

Now I’ll answer the eight questions:

1. What is your favorite Christmas/festive movie?

I’m torn between National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and Elf. I watch both over and over.

2. What is your favorite flower?

Hibiscus, because they only bloom for a day, so you have to enjoy them while they last.

3. What is your favorite non-alcoholic beverage?

Right now? Diet Cherry Coke from Sonic. Mmm-mmm.

4. What is your passion?

Writing Planning to write. Having written.

5. What is your favorite time of year?

Erm…well, summer because of vacation, fall and spring because of the weather. Winter because it’s cozy. Mostly I like the changes between them.

6. What is your favorite time of day?

Early morning, quiet time.

7. What is your favorite physical activity?

Climbing into bed

8.What is your favorite vacation?

One without a strict agenda. A few years back we went to the Grand Canyon where our only schedule was sunrise and sunset. Last summer we went to California and meandered north. I loved the laid-back aspect of it, since I’m so NOT laid back the rest of the time!

I tag Natalie Damschroder, Elisabeth Crisp, Sherrinda Ketch, Jane Myers Perrine, Shannon Stacey and Jennifer Shirk.

Glee, The New Normal and Revolution

So, just when I thought I was going to turn my back on Glee and let it slide, they introduced the new girl, the cafeteria lady’s daughter. LOVE her. Also love Blain. And still love Kurt’s dad. SOBBED when Kurt left. SOBBED when he met up with Rachel.

I started watching The New Normal because the book I finished at the end of summer has a similar plot. I absolutely love it. Cried during the first episode also. Ellen Barkin is hilarious as the bigoted grandmother (I know, that sounds weird). The couple is so sweet, the daughter is adorable. I love it.

I’m watching Revolution because I have this post-apoc I’ve been trying to write for years and I’m interested in shows/books/movies about it. I was not particularly drawn to it–too much happened in a short amount of time, there were too many coincidences and like my husband said, where did the make-up come from? I’ll keep watching on demand, and record Hawaii 5-0 instead.

Watched anything new? What did you think? I’m excited because my TiVo To-Do list goes into October now. I love October!

Goals for the Week of Duty and Meetings

I color-code my 4-month calendar (best $20 I ever spent) by school events, family events, and writing. School is green, family blue, writing red. I have a LOT of green this week.

See, I volunteered to lead the United Way drive at my school. I’ve done it in the past but things have changed and…anyway. Last week I went to the coordinator meeting and they were all like, “We’ll come talk to your people for you! Just ask us!” I’m relieved, because I get nervous speaking. Then my principal is, “Let’s get the meeting done Tuesday!” No one can come speak Tuesday, so I will do it. I outlined it and everything but am still nervous, esp. since we don’t usually have meetings on Tuesday and people are grumbly. I want to get them out quickly. So that’s my stress for the week.

So….

1) Prepare for United Way meeting and have meeting

2) breakfast duty

3) Food Bank volunteering

4) Work on expanding Very Short story into novella

5) Sew something

I’m going to not stress about cooking this week because last week I did and nothing went as planned. So this week, if we have ingredients to cook, we’ll eat in. If not, we’ll eat out!

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Shows Season Premiere Week

Late night at school last night. Tired now!

Big change on Wednesday nights, with Supernatural moving to Wednesdays after the show Arrow, which is a superhero show with a CUTIE as a star. Definitely looking forward to both of those.

ABC will stay the same with The Middle (which we love. Axl is so like Josh!) and Modern Family. I watch Suburgatory now and then, but don’t love it.

Thursday nights will be busy. I love Vampire Diaries and Big Bang Theory, and now ABC is putting a military drama called Last Resort against them. Well, bother. I may have to bump BBT and watch online.

I’m still mad at Grey’s for killing off a main character last season, and I understand another main character will leave after only a few episodes. It will be against Glee, which was only MEH last season, and a new show I want to see called Beauty and the Beast, with Lana from Smallville. No idea what the show is about, but I want to see it.

Then there’s Scandal, a show I loved last year.

Friday will be sloooooowwwww with only Fringe and Haven on my list. I guess I can catch up on Thursday shows then!

Any of those on your to-be-watched list?

Tuesday Shows Season Premiere Week

Tuesday seems to be sit-com night.

I love Raising Hope, so I’m looking forward to that.

The new shows I scheduled on the TiVo are Ben and Kate because EW said it’s good, and because Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith’s daughter is in it. It’s about a brother and sister, instead of a romantic couple, so we’ll see.

The New Normal has a similar storyline to the book I just finished and submitted to Carina, so I’m interested to see that. It’s by the creator of Glee, so I’m hoping it’s good.

I liked Happy Endings, and Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23. Those will be on Tuesdays now.

Hart of Dixie is moving to Tuesdays, but I’m not crazy about the love triangle, so I’m not sure I’ll stick with it.

I think I’ll try Vegas, the 50s set show about how the mobs formed Vegas, starring Dennis Quaid.

Are you a sit-com person? That’s a lot of happy for one night

Season Premiere Monday Shows

Monday I wrote about shows I’m looking forward to on Sunday nights. Monday nights will be my tricky nights. One of my late shows will have to slide, because I don’t stay up late on Mondays, and NBC added a show I need to see on Mondays.

We usually watch How I Met Your Mother, but I don’t feel a drive to watch this year. The trouble lies with the addition of Revolution, a post-apocalyptic show created by Supernatural creator Eric Kripke. I wasn’t planning on watching until I found out about that. Soooo… I have to leave off either Hawaii 5-0 or Castle, and after last year’s season finale of Castle, I can’t leave off that one. It will have to be Alex O who goes. They do rerun the show in the summer, and it’s nonlinear, really. Also, I can catch it online. I’m sad, though. NBC couldn’t schedule it an hour earlier?

Are you going to watch Revolution?

The Entertainment Weekly Fall TV Preview

Ever since I was a kid, I loved getting the fall TV preview, be it TV Guide or Entertainment Weekly. Even as a kid, I’d plan out with my family what shows we’d watch. My mom always made a big deal out of season premiere week. We’d eat early, take our baths, get in our pjs while Mom made snacks, and we’d snuggle in the living room to watch TV. Very cozy.

When Josh was little, we did the same thing, though he likes movies now more than TV.

I’m about half-way through the EW and am excited about the new TV season. They’ve shuffled some shows around, and I’m grateful for my TiVo so I don’t have to keep track.

I’ll go by day so I don’t overwhelm you with my TV addiction.

Sunday night we have the return of Once Upon a Time, which ended so neat last year with everyone remembering who they are.

Also, there will be Hell on Wheels, which has already started and which I LOVE.

Revenge, which I also love, has been moved to Sundays from Wednesdays.

The Walking Dead will be back in October. That’s my husband’s favorite show.

And the new show I want to see is 666 Park Avenue with Lost’s Terry O’Quinn. It’s said to be a cross between Rosemary’s Baby and The Shining. Love stuff like that!

Do you love season premiere week? Any of those sound good to you?

Goals for the Week of Late Days

We have meet the parent night this week. I’ve already had a couple of parent phone calls (as music teacher!) so I’m not really looking forward to it.

This week:

1) finish skirt

2) finish revisions on my novella

3) start revisions on a new novella

4) work on a super-short story for an anthology

5) work on plotting for my post-apoc

6) faculty meeting (last week’s was until 5:40! We have to finish it this week.)

7) parent night

I cooked every night last week. I think I’m not going to try to do that this week. But there have been several recipes I’d been wanting to try on Pinterest that had to wait until I wasn’t making vegetarian meals, and I don’t want to get in the habit of going out to eat. But I have a lot of writing I want to get done. So we’ll see.

The Drive to Write

A recent conversation about writing’s role in our lives had me thinking. I’ve known several of these women since I started writing seriously, when Josh was little and we lived in our old house. I’ve seen several of these women publish, then realize writing is not the center of their lives.

I wouldn’t say writing is the dead center, but it’s pretty close to the middle of the circle. I write every day, I’m thinking about writing hours a day. It may be treatable by medication, (only joking a little about that) but it’s a burning drive. If I haven’t written, I get cranky.

Part of the drive is the ideas that just bubble in my head. Again, medication might be useful. But I have a good dozen ideas partially outlined and tentatively scheduled on my writing calendar.

One of my favorite quotes is from Isaac Asimov. In an interview, Barbara Walters asked, “But what would you do if the doctor gave you only six months to live?” He said, “Type faster.” That’s what drives me, the need to write stories.

What drives you?

A recent conversation about writing’s role in our lives ...

A recent conversation about writing’s role in our lives had me thinking. I’ve known several of these women since I started writing seriously, when Josh was little and we lived in our old house. I’ve seen several of these women publish, then realize writing is not the center of their lives.

I wouldn’t say writing is the dead center, but it’s pretty close to the middle of the circle. I write every day, I’m thinking about writing hours a day. It may be treatable by medication, (only joking a little about that) but it’s a burning drive. If I haven’t written, I get cranky.

Part of the drive is the ideas that just bubble in my head. Again, medication might be useful. But I have a good dozen ideas partially outlined and tentatively scheduled on my writing calendar.

One of my favorite quotes is from Isaac Asimov. In an interview, Barbara Walters asked, “But what would you do if the doctor gave you only six months to live?” He said, “Type faster.” That’s what drives me, the need to write stories.

What drives you?