Alyssa Goodnight's Blog, page 19

Thwarted

Today had the potential to be particularly lovely.  And while, I suppose, it still could be, it no longer has the potential it once did.  Because you see, this is summer, and I have my kids with me almost 24/7.  But today–all week in fact–they both have camp.  You're probably wondering what I'm complaining about.  The WHOLE WEEK stretches ahead of me.  Errands without kids, lovely quiet, no insessant, never-ending Pokemon conversations…  But I had a plan.  And that plan has been thwarted.

You may remember that I wanted to see Midnight in Paris.  Really wanted to see it.  Well then I found out it was only playing at an 'arty' theater in the middle of Houston.  So I was going to have to wait for the DVD (just because it's easier that way).  Well I recently found out that it's now playing at my local theater, and I wondered how I could make that work.

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And then, like a ray of light in movies, it hit me:  I'd go while the boys were in camp.  I'd have a lovely, relaxed day out having fish tacos ($1.99, Monday only) and taking in my first-ever movie by myself.  I imagined the perfection over the weekend as I fought some sort of sickness and tried to be patient with Butters as he bark-coughed every twenty seconds.  (Patience tends to dry up a bit after Day 10 and still no doctor visit…he's going this morning).

And then I checked movie times.  And the first showing was at 12:30!!  Which would have the movie ending AFTER I needed to pick up the boys.  BLAST!  So now I'm in the same boat as before…with fish tacos.  blast.

Bumper Crop

I think what happens when I don't have a vacation planned for the foreseeable future, a little section of my brain is left unfocused, thus resulting in ideas and possibilities zinging around in there, making impressions, bouncing into other sections of my brain, causing mental wish lists to pop up constantly to overshadow my day-to-day life.  That's what's happening to me now…and the wish lists aren't limited to vacation ideas either.

Suddenly I'm craving Cracker Barrel biscuits with apple butter, fettucini alfredo, and Buc-ee's cranberry walnut muffins (note, all things I don't actually have to make myself).  I'm craving beach vacations, leisurely canoe trips, cruiser tours through the neighborhood, and jetting off to somewhere I've never been.  I'm also craving summer barbeques, homemade ice cream, and New Mexico red and green chile.

You'd think my first week of summer had been lame, but nothing could be further from the truth.  I've seen movies in the theater, I've been swimming, had watermelon, and enjoyed some rather lovely evenings for south Texas in June.  That said, I've also been dealing with a sick husband and a renovation-in-progress kitchen.  No stove (until yesterday) and no dishwasher.  Maybe it's no wonder I'm dreaming of vacations.

Let me live vicariously…where are you going this summer?

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Starting over…again

I've started to brainstorm my next book, but just barely: I've probably only had about thirty minutes to work on it so far.  I'm jotting down my ideas on a fancy notepad rather than typing notes on the computer.  The reason for this is simple.  If I type them into the computer and then change my mind about something, I won't be able to resist deleting it.  With all the notes on paper, I can always go back and look at my original scribblings to see what I was thinking at the very beginning. 

The writing itself, I absolutely cannot do with any efficiency on paper.  Finished rough drafts of papers I wrote in high school used to be almost totally composed of scribblings from the margins and teeny tiny additions penned in above the crossed out first pass draft.  They were almost completely illegible.  I am not typically a first pass kind of writer.  I'm an edit, edit, and edit some more sort of writer.  Except with this latest book…the one I finished in less than a quarter of the time that it took me to write my first two.  With that one, I had copious notes and a collage (!) and I knew the characters.  (Nevermind that only bits and pieces of the collage make sense now…I still liked gazing at it during pauses in my writing).

The point I was trying to make when I started this post was that it struck me, after thirty minutes, that all I had written down were basic character sketches, with details that were beginning to flesh them out.  I had no plot elements at all.  But maybe that's how I roll.  Maybe if I can pin down the characters, the plot will just flow freely from them.  That's what happened last time, and what I'm hoping for that this time around too.

I'm also thinking I'm going to give Scrivener for the PC at shot.  From what I've seen, it seems like a really great writing tool.  We'll see…

I totally think I could make the canoe method work…

Movie Love

Before Friday, I hadn't seen a movie in about a month, and the last one I did see lost sound three-quarters of the way through.  So let's just say I hadn't had a good movie experience recently.  Well Friday I took my boys to see Diary of Wimpy Kid 2, which we all enjoyed, and then yesterday, we went to see Kung Fu Panda 2…we simply couldn't hold back any longer.  I'd (sorta) promised my mother-in-law that I wouldn't take them so she could, but I sorta didn't.  And in my defense, I don't even think she's seen the first Kung Fu Panda, so really she shouldn't have dibs on #2.  I love Kung Fu Panda and Jack Black, and the animation in these movies is just fantastic.  So we went, and I don't feel guilty.

Well now I'm in a movie frame of mind.  I know I posted that Muppet homage last week, but Green With Envy doesn't come out until November.  I am hankerin' for a summer movie…a romantic comedy…a movie to fall in love with.  And I've found a contender.

I present: Midnight in Paris!  First of all, I love the movie poster.  Love it.  Then there's Owen Wilson, who I find charmingly goofy and Rachel McAdams, whom I love.  Throw in the allure of Paris, a little magic, and a dash of the Roaring 20′s, and it's just perfect!  Or, at least I hope it is!  I found a review from the The Arizona Reporter, written by Susan Granger, and here's a quick summary:  "On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Midnight in Paris" is an amusing, whimsical, time-traveling 10, an inventive cinematic celebration of the iconic City of Lights."

That's what I'm talkin' about.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Which movie are you looking forward to this summer?  (Besides Harry Potter.)

First Day of Vacation

Birthday party today at the Bay Area (as in Galveston Bay) Raceway.  Go-karts!  I have not been in a go-kart in decades.  Seriously. And I wasn't planning on getting into one today.  Although it was really a very nice setting, right next to the creek, sunny, breezy…  Somehow I got conned into saving my son's place in line, and then when he didn't show up in time, I took the kart out by myself.  And I have to admit, it was a little exhilarating!

After that I had the opportunity to ride with each of my sons, because they don't meet the minimum height requirement to drive alone, and what did they both say the minute they sat down in front of me?

"Just hold your foot down on the accelerator, Mom, and don't let it up."

All I can say is that they don't know their mom very well…

So we were off, and it was soon obvious that someone (probably Butters) told them that the best way to drive was to hug the curves.  Meanwhile, I'm yelling over the engine for them to take a more leisurely path.  When the boys started zig-zagging across the course just so they could 'hug the curves,' I admit, I took control of the wheel for a few seconds (more than once).  As you can imagine, that didn't go over well.

What we learned?  They drive like maniacs, and I drive like a grandma.  A very responsible grandma.

Book Review Club ~ June 2011

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@Barrie Summy

I considered reviewing NINE COACHES WAITING, by Mary Stewart for this installment of Barrie Summy's Monthly Book Review Club, but then I decided I'd said my piece on Ms. Stewart, and it was time to talk about another author.  Or, in this case, authors.

I stumbled over Lisa and Laura Roecker on Twitter, with their pink hair and bubbly personalities, and it wasn't long before I knew I had to read their co-written debut, THE LIAR SOCIETY.

THE LIAR SOCIETY is the story of how Kate Lowry takes back her life after her best friend Grace Lee dies in a fire that almost everyone insists was an accident.  In the year after Grace's death, Kate is wallowing in despair, distanced from her friends and her parents, and seeing a therapist regularly. 

And then she gets an email from Grace…an email that hints that there are secrets surrounding her death.  Galvanized into action but clueless how to start, Kate forces herself to think back, to remember that night, to wonder at the little inconsistencies that stuck out in her mind.  And then, as the emails begin coming in regularly, Kate starts sleuthing around, asking questions, finding clues, and discovering that the mystery is really more of a conspiracy.  Enter Seth, a geeky neighbor dude with a mean crush on Kate and Liam, a cool, mysterious bad boy who Kate just might let herself crush on, and you've got a motley crew of amateur detectives/conspiracy theorists trying to keep up as the secrets spiral into a veritable black hole of lies, cover-ups, and other secret society stuff.

That's all I can tell you.  If you want in on the secrets, you're just going to have to read the book.

What I loved about it (other than the pink hair and pearls…):  Kate is an excellent protagonist and totally her own person.  She is feisty and funny and the perfect combination of daredevil and careful.  She is sentimental but not sappy, and she does the absolute best she can given her limited life as a teenager.  I was totally cheering for her.  I loved both Seth and Liam and wasn't totally sure who'd make it as the boyfriend material in the end.  And I loved the rare group dynamic of Kate and Seth and Liam.  And the geeky side of me loved the school crests, the Latin phrases, and the word puzzles.  Really, there is so very much to love about this book.

And I think…I hope…there will be a sequel.  Things didn't totally tie up in the way you like things to tie up in a single book…so I have my fingers crossed for Book the Second.  (Plus, THE LIAR SOCIETY website has a menu option for 'The Books'–as in plural.  How's that for good detective work?  Uh-huh. )

I Survived!

Well, one down and one to go.  Last night we performed in an evening show for kids and their parents, and this afternoon we will perform one more time for the whole school.  I admit…I fumbled it a little on one part, and that would have been barely noticeable if I'd been where I'd wanted to be, second row left.  But no.  I got moved to the front row, and then moved again to front row center with my partner, so consequently, my bauble was BIG AS LIFE!  But that okay.  As soon as I made it, I was less nervous and more relaxed.  All in all, it went good.  And today…well, we'll see.

A couple slightly blurry snaps with my phone from last night…

Dance Number!

Tonight, after weeks of practicing and tweak after tweak to the dance number, I will be performing with the rest of the PTA board to Phineas & Ferb's Gitchee Gitchee Goo.  Somehow this morning I even got moved to front row center, smack in the middle of the action.

Here's a preview shot–we're all dressing as Perry the Platypus in black fedoras (and denim capris, which he doesn't wear).  Perry does not look happy, does he?

Wish me luck!  Send your good vibes in my direction…

Imaginary Escape

A friend of mine is going on a girls' trip to Key West this weekend, and that has me yearning for a beachy getaway myself.  Seeing no prospects on my horizon, I decided to put together a little bit of inspiration here on the blog, where I can pull it up whenever I want…

OPI 'Austintatious' nailpolish–how can I resist??

Where are you yearning to go?

fruit pops, lanterns, (cannot find the credit for the beach photo)

Muppets!

The Muppets are back, and I could not be more giddy with excitement!!

I used to love the Muppets.  My family sat glued to set when The Muppet Show came on, giggling and cackling over Miss Piggy's antics and Gonzo's craziness, and Beaker's unfortunate accidents.  And the celebrity guests raised things to a whole other level.

Then came the movies…The Muppet Movie was a little artsy, The Great Muppet Caper, about a jewel heist in London , was my favorite, and The Muppets Take Manhattan was another classic, with Kermit getting amnesia and Piggy planning a wedding, starring the comical Dabney Coleman.  Things went a little wonky with Muppets Treasure Island and The Muppets from Space, but I'm convinced the crew is back on track.

That's right, the Muppets are back with another movie this Thanksgiving!  More kookiness, more musical numbers, more herds of Muppets shuffling around…  It's gonna be great.  And with Amy Adams (whom I love) and Jason Segel (Marshall on How I Met Your Mother) joining the mix, there's no reason not to head out for a movie before the big dinner!

So Save The Date!  The Muppets Are Coming November 23rd!!

Click here to view the embedded video.