Month: February 2007

  • Square or Oval or Maybe Squoval?

    As many of you might have noticed, I have a new bio picture.  I have curly hair by nature, but it’s not super curly. If I wear it up in a bun, it usually goes frizzy straight. Yesterday, when I woke up, my hair was straightish. “Hmmm,” thought I, “I wonder what will happen if I take a straightening iron to it?”  You can see what happened.  I doubt it will look like that any time in the future, so I thought I’d post for all to see.  Since I was out in public yesterday (baby shower), I had a lot of people who commented. “You look so different!” most crowed.  My favorite comment was from Ruthi who told me, “You look five years younger!”  If I didn’t love her already, I would now.

    Today is sore throat day.  I’m quite temped to put jammies on and try out this laptop in bed.  Anna and Christopher play a siren song…”Write me! Write me!”  I do spend an awful lot of mental energy swirling plots around in my head. How can I make this or that believable? Have I dropped enough hints to foreshadow such and such?”"  Is writing fiction always like this?  I appeal to my knowledgeable readers.

    Two words I cannot seem to spell: knowledge and privilege. Am I the only one thus mentally impaired?

    Last night, I finished the third Lauren Willig book and discovered a fashion trend I did not know existed at any time of history. The hero observed the heroine’s hand and thought, “Even though she had square palms and oval palms were fashionable…”  Huh? Square palms? Oval palms? I’d never even though to look.  Mine are more of a rectangle than square, but no one would accuse me of having the early 1800′s fashionable palms.  How about you. Are you in style? 

  • What’s Going On

    To answer the most-asked questions, we leave for England the night of July 7th and return July 22nd.  Our Globe tickets are for the night of the 21st.  Our credit card was not denied due to overcharging, but due to the fact that they thought someone stole our credit card.  And, I do like Lauren Willig’s books very much.

    Today, my Photo Impressions software arrived, and after a bit of hassle with installing to Windows Vista, it now works.  Hopefully, I should be able to post amazing shots sometime. Maybe. Well, I’m no AimeeAnne, but sometimes I get a good shot.

    Three people have read my first two chapters of Veritas (working title, The King of Veritas), and they have all said that it is indeed a young adult novel. Yeah!  I’m happy.  Now, I just have to fix all the things that I think need fixing, add more character depth, and write 100,000 more words.  I’m excited about the project and not fretting, even though I know I have hundreds of hours ahead of me. I should devote an hour a day or more to writing, but I think I’ll finish my Willig book tonight and make some notes on the devotional I’m doing tomorrow night for a baby shower.  Down time after the Bible study!

    I was wondering. This trip to England is a life-long dream for me. Do you have a life-long dream? It doesn’t have to be travel or even expensive. What’s your dream?

    EDIT–Entries to GhostFroggy’s newest contest–Beautiful Baby!

       Seven month-old TeacherPerson.

    Little Miss at five months. This picture she chose, but I played with my new Photo Impressions to blur the background.

     

  • What I Did Today

    • Booked a hotel in Reading, England (A Comfort Inn)
    • Booked a bed and breakfast in Bath, England (Brock’s)
    • Had my credit card refused when I tried to order tickets at the Globe
    • Called Citibank to let them know that all the charges from England really were legitimate
    • Bought two tickets to Love’s Labors Lost at London’s Globe Theater for our last night in England
    • Went to the library and to Panera for some uninterrupted story writing time all afternoon
    • Wrote almost 6,000 words of the story (This would be 1/20th of the total I imagine I will have when finished)
    • Ate supper at Panera (yummy broccoli cheddar soup, bread, and honey ginseng green tea)
    • While at Panera, saw a shirt which just reinforces my overall impression of NJ. The front of the shirt read, “Jersey Pride” with an outline of NJ below. The back read, “It’s a Jersey thing…F*** off.” (except there were no asterisks.  Sorry Jersey Fam, Godfather, and Tim223.

    Now, for the story.  I am not sure if it is good. You see, I write what I like to read. I like to read twaddle. So, I’m writing twaddle. But, is it good twaddle or bad twaddle? 

    A funny bit for the day. When I was reserving my Globe Theater tickets online, I had to fill out some basic info. One of the needed bits was my credit card number. The site was helpful, as under “Credit Card Number” it read, “The long one in the middle.”  Brilliant.
     

    Now, I am going to curl up on the couch and watch a video with my dear husband. 

  • Vair Annoying

    I still have that icky, anxious feeling in my stomach. It’s quite annoying. But, I shall continue not worrying over it and will dose myself with Pepsi, that miracle cure.

    Believe it or not, I started writing today. 632 words. Woo. Please, do not fall over from the shock of how much I could write in a day.  At this pace, I should have the first three chapters done by 2009. 

    I like the quote on the back of the book I’m reading. “If Jane Austen had written The DaVinci Code, she might well have written this elegant novel.”  Actually, the blurb is turning out to be more interesting than the novel. The characters are a tad flat. 

    I had a conversation with natureg0d about just this idea.  We were discussing books written by men versus books written by women.  I said that I though “women books” were character-driven while “men books” were plot driven.  NG replied with this pithy summation:  “You die; I win” instead of: “You drop the knee, I make a choice, we’ll see who wins.”  I tend to like the latter. I have nothing against a good story, but if it doesn’t have characters I like, then forget it.  Even in LOTR books, the characters are interesting, but most of them are not all that complex.  Frodo, yes.  Pippin? Even Gandalf?  Not really.

    What do you think? I realize all books don’t fall into male/female categories. To which type of books do you find yourself drawn?

    P.S. Way Cool Game  Draw a track for the little biker guy. Then, click on the triangle at the top to watch the biker guy ride on your track.  Not so fun for me, but my kids all love it.  I’m impressed with the user-friendly variables.

  • The New, the Cool, and the Anxious

    I was going to call this entry, “Master Card Is Going to Call Me,” but they did this afternoon, which blew that option.  Why would I have been expecting this call?  In addition to those plane tickets, I went out yesterday and bought a new laptop!  TGD and I had been kicking around the idea for a few months, but for some reason, yesterday was the big day!  I’m now the proud owner of an HP Pavilion dv6000 with Windows Vista, the newest OS.  Woo for me! 

    For those of you who think more like me, it’s really pretty, all shiny black and silver, and it weighs 6.1 pounds, which is pretty light for a laptop, or so I’m told.  It also came with a tiny remote control (for all my music and DVD needs!) and those cool earphones which just stick in the ear.  They keep falling out of my ears.  Currently, I’m importing CDs while I type this entry and making good use of those black bits of nonsense.

    Another fun laptop bonus–new fonts!  I really like this one:

    It looks just like
    what I’d like my handwriting to look like. 
    It’s called Segoe Print, if that means anything to anyone.

    (and who knows if
    this font will show up on your machine!)

    Those astute readers among you may be saying, “Hmm. We’ve heard about the new (laptop) and the cool (laptop thingies). But, what about the anxious?  I just feel anxious. Setting up a computer takes forever, it seems.  However, it is entirely possible that my stomach isn’t feeling anxiety; it might just be gearing up for the stomach flu.  On a note of praise, all fevers here have subsided, I believe, leaving only coughs and nose misery in their wake.  LibbyK had a fever for eight days, so I’m glad to bid that bug farewell. (Or, fare-poorly, as I hope no one else catches it.)

    Since I have my new laptop, I have no excuse in the world to postpone the writing of the novel. Unless, of course, you can come up with some good ones for me?

  • Tavern and Tickets

    On Saturday, we ordered our tickets for our trip to England!  We are to leave July 7 from Pittsburgh and return on July 22.  Woo!  I’ve always, always, always wanted to go to England, and, Lord willing, I shall be going this summer!  We found a nice hotel in Reading (where TGD’s math conference is the first week), and I found a nice bed and breakfast in Bath.  We don’t have reservations at either place yet, as we just want to check a detail or two before committing.

    Also on Saturday, TGD took me out to one of my favorite restaurants, The Tavern.  It’s a local place, very Penn State, with a median dining age of at least 53 years old.  They had one of my favorite dishes on the menu, too, Beef tips over noodles in a Burgundy wine sauce.  (The menu is printed daily at The Tavern.)  We also ended the meal with chocolate chip cheesecake. It was a delightful time to eat and flirt with my husband.

    Little Miss is sitting on my lap as I type this, runny-eyed and nosed and coughing. Yes, the diseases just linger on here.  Grinner and LibbyK are coughing and tired, still.  But, I can’t bear the thought of loosing another day of school to this illness!  (Unless, of course, I come down with it. Then the whole world will just have to stop.)

    I finally got my “Christmas” cards out to church friends this weekend.   I made them on the computer (just for something else to go in the envelope with the family picture), and they read:  Our Christmas cards were late this year.  Now February is already here.  So with good wishes we do say… Have a very merry President’s Day! 

    When was the latest you ever sent out Christmas cards?  Do you even bother?

  • Bad Drivers Lead to Crashes

    You may have thought I was speaking of automobiles, but, thankfully, I’m speaking of computers.  For the past two months, my computer has been freezing up indiscriminately. Sometimes it will go days and not do it; sometimes it does it three times in an hour.  I’ve replaced two power supplies, scanned the hard drive, blah, blah, blah.  It’s more than likely “a bad driver.”   I think the whole driver/crash/information superhighway/navigate thing is a bit funny.  Who thought to link driving and being on the computer?

    My new bio picture is a dry-erase marker portrait of me done by Little Miss, age 7.  I thought it was a good likeness.  I especially like my nose.

    Thanks for all the wonderful comments. I feel like a movie star or something–forty-three comments? Wild!

    This weekend, I hope to tackle the sewing of Hunter’s King of Peach Fuzz costumes.  The “royal clothes” are from this pattern. I copied the colors fairly closely, except I wanted black boots.  Pity they didn’t have a pattern for the crown. I’ll have to think of something for that.


    Do you have a catalog or two which gets snatched from the mailbox and then is the recipient of many hours of drooling and wishing and even actual purchasing?  For me, that catalog comes from The Wallaroo Hat Company. I do love hats! This year, I think I’d like to get a nice, spring jacket and then get a hat to match it.  I have a jacket, but it’s more the “camping and bike riding” variety instead of the “go to church and wear it with a skirt” model.  

    What catalogs set your heart to pounding?
     

  • My Valentine

    Seventeen years ago today, these two got engaged.



    Today, the tall, handsome one had a wonderful Valentine’s Day surprise for me. First of all, the roads were so miserable that Penn State University canceled all classes and office work. So, my dear husband got to spend the whole day at home with us.  When I came down for breakfast, he had prepared a scavenger hunt.  Hidden around the house were eight little, white envelopes with great clues.


    For example, where would you have looked for the clue, “Every time I leave for work, I am reminded of the line, ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow.’–W.S.”  First, I looked in the comb drawer (parting–get it?). I also checked the front door, his briefcase, all the candy areas, the sugar canister. Nope.  Give up? It was in my Riverside Shakespeare on the correct page in the Romeo and Juliet play!

    Where would you have looked for, “I think your are such a deer wife and mother. Thank you for taking care of all of us.”

    Every other envelope was in a blue gift bag along with one of these.

    He is a wonderful man.

    Not to be left out, LibbyK had a treat for me as well. She actually bought me a heart-shaped box of chocolates!

    And, she made me the initial pin. Little Miss made me the heart with the M. 

    Both girls made me nice cards. The boys, being boys, said, “Huh. Did
    you get us anything?”  I had–Little Debbie pink icing heart cupcakes.

    PS–The “deer wife” on was in the freezer with the venison.

  • Highs and Woes

    The Highs–Much snow is coming down, Hunter is better, Wit is mostly better, I worked some on the novel today (preliminary stuff, not on the computer), TGD is bring home pizza and videos, last night’s Bible study went quite well

    The Woes–Grinner woke up with full-blown stomach/regular flu, my computer won’t turn on at all (hence no story), no one can play in the snow as most are sick

    EDIT–When I finished posting this entry, TGD via phone said we should finally install the replacement power supply that we got for the computer. Hunter did it. I’m now typing on my own machine. Happy dance.

    Since several of you asked, the new Dave Barry book is worth reading. It’s short–as in under an hour, maybe less, to read. It’s also free of swearing, which can’t be said for other Dave Barry novels (Ridley Pearson duos excepted).  The novel is set in the 1960s. The hero, Doug, recounts some memories of Christmas and his life.  Imagine A Christmas Story, but a girl wanted instead of a Red Rider BB gun and with much less intensity. Toss in a Christmas pageant, bat dung in the attic of the church, goofball friends, and a dying dog.  Even the dying dog isn’t too sad in Barry’s hands.

    Today, I was thrilled to figure out a pseudonym for the main character guy for the book. (The book will also need a new name, as The King of Peach Fuzz will not fly for a novel).  In the play, King Christopher goes by the name “Fur” when he is acting the part of the peasant. (Fur/ChristoPHER and the whole peach fuzz idea)  However, a romantic lead in a novel cannot be called “Fur.” I simply could not have it.  But, what to name him?  I thought I’d come to you to pick a good nickname, but I think I came up with one on my own. I took the letters of Christopher and wrote them in anagram fashion (in a circle) to make up a new name and came up with “Tris.”  That’s not so bad, is it? Plus, it gives me the option of introducing a sister of Christopher who gave him the nickname when she couldn’t pronounce his name. Everybody don your sweetest baby accent and lisp, “Twis.”  Awww. We should all be smacked with lollipops now. 

    If anyone has another nickname, by all means tell me!

    I was also able to work out some details of who these people are.  It’s all well and good to operate on stereotypes for a play, but the main characters have to be likeable in a book.  (Okay, not always true (Lolita’s Humbert–eww!), but I want my characters to be likeable!)  Why does Anna make fun of the suitors? Is she really such a brat? Why should anyone care about her? Should I have two beds in the bedroom or not even mention where everyone sleeps? (Still don’t have that detail worked out.)  I am thinking that this book will be a young adult novel in the tradition of Shannon Hale and not a children’s nor an adult book.

    So, what title should I give to this literary endeavor?  (For those who do not know the story, read the general idea HERE.)

  • A Day Off

    Yesterday, I had a low-grade fever, upset stomach, headache, and great fatigue.  This morning, I was lying in bed debating whether or not I should pretend that today’s stomach bubbles were worthy of not getting up when TGD said, “Nathan’s sick.”  Uh-oh.  Then, I heard what sounded like whimpering. Upon investigation, I discovered LibbyK with a fever and upset stomach.  TGD then informed me that Grinner was downstairs on the couch not feeling well.  Mother to the rescue!  Wit, who woke Saturday morning, paid obeisance to the porcelain throne, and has had a fever and general misery ever since, is also among the fallen.

    I have run out of couches for the contagious.

    Little Miss is feeling fine and was eager to start her Saxon Math 2 book today. (She finished Math 1 on Friday. We had started it in K.)  The lepers are all in the living room watching a History Channel movie on building a Viking longboat.  It has nothing to do with the Revolutionary War, which we are still studying, but it does serve to educate and entertain.

    Tonight, I have Bible study. I’m hopeful I won’t fall prey to anything worse than what I have now and will not have to cancel my part (leading the study and driving two other ladies) at the last minute. 

    And, I want to say, “What have I done to deserve such wonderful people in my life?”  Thank you so much for all your advice, suggestions, and general good-wishes on the book writing.  Health permitting, I shall be hard at work soon!

    Medical science has determined that attitude influences susceptibility to disease, especially infection by bacterial agents. People who, by their nature, are cheerful and upbeat are less prone to
    illness than are those who are consistently grumpy malcontents.


    Thus, the surly bird gets the germ.