Category Archives: writing

TGIF!

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This week has felt unbearably long and tiring for some reason. So long, in fact, that I gave myself today off. I wanted to try and find some relief for my back/shoulder pain. I wasn’t able to get an appointment today, but I’ve got one for Monday, so yay…I’m very happy it’s the end of the week, even though I’m looking a relatively busy weekend.

Congratulations to Rand’s brother and sister-in-law, who had a baby this week! We’re probably going to be seeing them tomorrow. 🙂

I ventured out briefly today and got myself a yoga mat at Marshalls. (there were “higher-end” mats there for not much more $, but the one I got has its own little mesh bag w/strap for carrying.) I was also lured in by the book outlet next to Marshalls and ended up buying three books. (they were so cheap! I couldn’t resist.)

OH! and my contributor’s copy of Buffalo Spree came today. The very first thing in the issue’s Money section (which was the focus of the May/June issue)? The profile I did of Adam English! Yay! I also profiled Thomas and the principal of Tapestry Charter High School.

There was one sad little snafu…my name is spelled wrong in the issue. Ah well.

Also profiled, though not by me, Buffalo’s sexiest bagpiper. 😉 (He plays a mean accordion as well. And don’t forget the penny whistle!

I also got a cute pair of Tevas, which I found online for a very reasonable price. Yay! Photos to come.

Best websites for writers!

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Toasted Cheese has once again been named one of Writer’s Digest’s 101 Best Websites for Writers. Whoo!

😀

Disturbed about Disturbia

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So I was watching TV earlier today, and I saw a promo for the movie Disturbia. Plot synopsis:

A teenager on house arrest starts to spy on his neighbors. He spies on a pretty girl neighbor who gets caught up in his spying, and they begin to suspect that one of their neighbors is a (gasp!) serial killer.

Sound familiar? It should. It’s pretty much the plot of Rear Window. Which is what came to mind when I saw the promo, so I headed to IMDb to check it out. There’s a snarky debate going on in the comments section about whether it’s a remake or an homage, or whether everyone should just shut up and get over it already.

I headed over to the official site, and saw that the screenwriter had this to say:

“One night, as I was driving home from my sister’s place, this idea just popped into my head–a story about a kid who is stuck in his house and begins to notice bizarre things happening across the way. He eventually comes to suspect that his neighbor is a serial killer.”

Uh huh. And you’ve never seen Rear Window.

It’s not that I’m opposed to remakes on principle…yeah, they’re rarely as good as the original, and they’re usually about Hollywood types making a quick buck instead of coming up with something original, but whatever. I only have a problem when a writer pretends the idea was original when it clearly was not.

People adapt screenplays all the time. There’s a whole category for it in the Oscars, after all. But taking someone else’s idea and pretending it was your own? That’s just wrong.

TC Spring writing contest

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Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Grrrrr! Clear your calendars! It’s time for the Spring Three Cheers and Tiger Writing Contest!

The 3 Cheers contest challenges you to write a complete short story in just 48 hours. The spring contest has a mystery theme. This year’s contest opens at 5PM ET Friday, March 23 with the topic and word limit posted at Just the Place for a Snark.

Full Contest Rules.

Reading, watching, listening

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Reading: Mostly student work these days…other than that, I managed to do a read-through of my NaNoWriMo novel. I wrote a bit about it at my writing blog, if you care about that sort of thing.

I also skimmed a bunch of grammar-type books to write this month’s Absolute Blank article over at TC. I began reading Spunk & Bite, which you can see along with all the others in our Amazon Store.

I read the first issue of the new Buffy comic, which I did enjoy, but I’m not sure I have the patience for monthly comics. Then again, do I have the patience to wait until it’s collected? Hmmm…

I have a bunch of things I’m looking forward to reading, like Laurie Halse Anderson’s new book Twisted, which was released today.

Watching: I think Lost is the only current show w/new episodes that I’m currently watching. It’s been fantastic lately, if I do say so.

Rand and I finished the second season of MASH last night. (How many more seasons is Frank on? Gah.) Toward the end of the second season, there was an episode that had to be groundbreaking television in 1974, dealing with a gay soldier. I was impressed.

Over the weekend, we saw Catch and Release at the dollar fifty movies. I liked it okay, and cried a bit at the end, but there were a few too many distracting plot holes for me to love it. The movie stars Jennifer Garner as Gray, a woman whose fiance has died just before their wedding. The question I had to keep asking myself was “doesn’t she have any friends? Or family?” It’s possible, I guess, that the answer to those questions is no, but that was never explained. I’m just pretty sure that if my fiance died, my family and friends would be there. I’m just sayin’.

Jen cries like no one else out there, and Kevin Smith was indeed as great as everyone said. Oh, and Timothy Olyphant (of Deadwood) is hawt.

I also watched Mean Girls…Rand had never seen it. 🙂 Oh, and I almost forgot…we watched The Full Monty, which I had seen before, but Rand just bought on DVD.

Listening: At present, I’m listening to KT Tunstall’s Eye to the Telescope, which I finally purchased from iTunes. I *heart* iTunes. And having an iPod. (I like the album quite a bit, too!)

As always, any recommendations are welcome. 🙂

UPOP

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I finished reading Eden’s new novel today. It’s brilliant, and it made me cry, just like her first novel. 😉

I wish I could have taken a photo of myself weeping as I finished reading it. That would have been pretty cool…

Promotion

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My good friend Eden has been a busy girl.

First, she updated the Toasted Cheese Cafe Press shop. This is one of the new items. I ordered one:

A bit of shameless self-promotion…all proceeds benefit Toasted Cheese, which is entirely run by volunteers. Including me, of course. 😉

And second, she finished her new novel! Go tell her how cool she is. Oh, and buy some stuff too. 😉

Reading, watching, listening

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So, I’ve decided this is going to be a regular Monday feature.

Reading: As most of you know, I haven’t been doing much novel reading, mostly due to the fact that I spent the past month writing a novel of my own. (more of my thoughts on NaNoWriMo and the fruits of my labor to come soon) Additionally, it was the month of reading submissions for the December issue of Toasted Cheese, up now! I think it’s a pretty strong issue, and the editorial staff was in very solid agreement about our picks this time.

Apart from that, I’ve been reading collections of Calvin and Hobbes strips, which I’m enjoying very much.

I’ve added a couple of things to the “to-read” pile…The Awakening, so we can get on that book club thing, and I Was a Non-Blonde Cheerleader, which I picked up used for under $5 with shipping. Hardcover, even. 😉

Watching: I am continuing to adore Heroes…we’ve got the last episode before it goes on hiatus tonight! I admit, I’m a little skeptical about how this whole Sylar thing is going to play out…last week’s episode left me going, the-wha?

ETA: I forgot to mention my favorite moment in last week’s episode. Hiro, upon discovering that he has sent himself 6 months into the past, says “Great Scott!” hee.

Got the second disc of Veronica Mars S1 last week. I just watched episode 5. It made me cry a little. I *heart* this show.

Rand and I are working our way toward catching up on Studio 60…we watched up to The Wrap Party last night, and I thought it was a fantastic episode. Yay for the Sorkin! Now that the characters and issues have been introduced, we really get to see some of the actors shine. I’m really enjoying the Christine Lahti character, who seems to occupy the same space as Felicity Huffman on Sports Night and Allison Janney on The West Wing. They have the same vibe, the same speech rhythms, and even a sort of similar look.

And in a blast from the past, Rand picked up a DVD of the first season of Night Court. I did love me some Night Court…the pilot episode was kind of scary, but the show quickly got on track. I remember why I liked it. 🙂

Listening: John Denver and the Muppets, A Christmas Together. Who can hear the Twelve Days of Christmas without thinking of the Muppets?

Jellyfish, Spilt Milk. I’ve heard much of this before, on Rand’s iPod, but I took the CD to listen to in the car. I really enjoy The Ghost at Number one, and I think New Mistake was the other one that really stood out when I listened.

Happy Monday, everyone!