Weekend Warriors

I think it's funny that I don't ever update this thing over the weekend, you know, when I actually have time to be buggering off. That's right I said "buggering." Instead, I do it while I'm at work, in my little moments of downtime. Which is good because it's a way to pass the time while I'm waiting for people to answer my questions. *sigh*

I decided recently (again), that I want to be famous. I want to walk down the street and get stopped by someone with wide eyes and stuttering speech: "Hey, aren't you...?" That'd be pretty sweet. Problem is, I haven't figured out what I'm going to be famous for. I guess I have a lot of things to ponder.

Meanwhile, here's something that I just reminded myself of. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiuysqDjhzE Whew! For a second there, I thought someone was going to be reading our eugoogally. (P.S. - the blond guy cracks me up).

Anyway, this weekend was my friend's birthday, so we went out to Hoboken. We went to this little joint called Bahama Mama's, which I thought was a bar, but ended up being more of a club. At least, they played club music. There's a place down the street called the Whiskey Bar that sometimes has live music, and mostly plays rock. That's a bar. What we went to, with the dance beats and Michael Jackson medley, was a club. That's usually not my scene, but Friday, I had fun. Like a lot of fun. 3 shots worth of fun, haha. And we danced a little. Or at least, I did my version of dancing. A creepy guy scoped me out, and another creepy guy tried to dance with me. I didn't see him as he chose to go for a surprise, rear attack. But I can just imagine my face when I felt those hands on my hips. Yikes. Luckily my other friend saved me. We had to do a lot of that: dancing with each other and pulling each other away from creepy guys. It's one thing to get hit on, it's an entirely different banana to be hit on by creepy men. *shudder*. But it was fun, haha

On Saturday, I went to the city. We went in for a little light stalking, but our object of affection was not to be found. Not that we looked real hard, but whatever. He wasn't in the one spot we looked (though neither of us actually had evidence that he would be there, haha). So instead, we went to Barnes & Noble, where I bought this really hilarious book. I haven't bought a book in a while, so I figured I was justified in spending the $13.99. It's called Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Crane. It's really funny and snarky. I can identify with both of the main characters (1 guy, 1 girl), and they are just so sarcastic and fun. I haven't gotten to read much, but so far the gist is: Girl loses her dream job and has to get a job at a restaurant with snooty clientele. Boy breaks up with his girlfriend and has to find a new apartment. The apartment he finds is right next to Girl's. They annoy each other, and yet they seem to keep coming back for more. Girl is twenty-five, cynical and sarcastic. Boy is a earlier-thirty-something schemer, not quite ready (or willing) to grow up. Hilarity ensues.

As far as I can guess this will be one of those Boy meets Girl, Boy and girl annoy each other, but probably something about them will inspire each other kind of things, haha. No word yet on if they live happily ever after. I'll have to get back to you on that. But I'm excited to read. You should check it out!

back later for more (probably),

christinA

P.S. - I was just spellchecking this, and blogger suggested Heineken for Hoboken, haha. I found that amusing.

Whole Lotta Fiction

I finished reading all the Sookie Stackhouse books. I feel triumphant and a little sad. It's lonely now not being constantly surrounded by the residents of Bon Temps and owners/proprietors of Fangtasia. *Sigh* I'll be alright.

In the meantime, I'm trying to work more on that piece of fiction I told you about in the last couple of posts. I haven't really done more research. I'm trying to plan more of the prospective plot before I delve too far into researching. I've kind of hit a speed bump though. I'm not really sure where to go with it. I kind of came up with the idea of having it sort of be a grungier The Five People You Meet in Heaven. But I don't want my protagonist to be dead. What I really need is a struggle, or a goal. I need an inner goal and an outer goal. What I mean is, I need her to want to achieve something, and in achieving that, she achieves something else. It's a basic formula, but it works. I'll think on it some more.

Speaking of basic formulas, I was thinking about movies, and how a lot of them follow similar plots. That led me to remember the whole "every story/movie is based on a Shakespeare play" thing. I'm not sure how true that is, but it does make good sense. Tried and true plot formulas, you know? I know there are a million movies that are all: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl's heart again, or some other version of that. But I was thinking, there's an even more specific version of that that I've seen at least 3 times. Can you think of any more?

Boy needs to create something or suffer the consequences. Fair Maiden assists. They fall in love.
1. Music & Lyrics
2. Alex & Emma
(These two are almost identical, but Music & Lyrics was way cuter. I think it has a lot to do with Hugh Grant. But really: boy needs to do something or will lose big paying job/will be beaten up. Boy meets girl who is there to help. Boy and girl mostly annoy each other. Girl has something in her that inspires boy. Something about boy almost breaks them up. Boy and girl realize they love each other. Boy and girl live happily ever after. Right?)
3. Shakespeare in Love
(This one is a little different, but still mostly the same. Boy needs to do something or will be stolen from and essentially tortured. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl annoy each other a bit before boy discovers truth about girl. Girl has something in her that inspires boy. Something about boy almost breaks them up. Boy and girl realize they love each other. Boy and girl... end up not so happily ever after, but her inspiration serves as his muse to write one of boy/Shakespeare's plays, a pretty good romcom called "Twelfth Night").

I suppose #1 and #2 would be like "A Midsummer Night's Dream" minus the fairies and the actors, sort of, and #3 would be "Romeo and Juliet" seeing as they couldn't be together. But then that just makes me wonder... did Shakespeare rip himself off? I mean, a lot of writers end up writing the same kind of stories with the same kind of characters, just with little nuances. We find plotlines we like, and we stick to them. It's called genre, haha.

So, then... big revelation here... maybe Shakespeare was no better a writer than any of us. He just did it first. Yes, he had other plotlines, but even "Twelfth Night" had elements of boy meets girl (in disguise), lots of plot lots of plot lots of plot, boy and girl fall in love and live happily ever after (that stupid Amanda Bynes movie was a modern update of this. The one where she disguised herself as her brother so she could play soccer... wtf was that called? who cares?). Wait... wasn't "As You Like It" about this too, a girl in disguise in love with a boy who doesn't know the truth until the end? Never Been Kissed anyone? (i love that movie). Ever After too, for that matter. Gosh, they're all coming to me now!

So what say you? Was Shakespeare a brilliant writer, a man with hackneyed albeit proven plotlines, or both because of the latter and the fact that he did it 400 years ago? I'd go with both. Any thoughts?

The Research Has Begun

So, I've started doing research for my next work of fiction. I don't have a well thought out plan yet, just bits and pieces of interesting information. I'm trying to mould a character, which will be a girl, but I don't have much info on her yet. I know she's going to be not quite and adult, as she will still be in school. I just haven't decided if that school is high school or college. The decision will alter many things, and I need to figure what I really want.

I'm also toying with a couple plot lines/character quirks, but I also need to figure out how I am going to execute them in the way/medium I want (which I'm not going to disclose here just yet. I need to work out some of the logistics first).

So, for now, I'm toying with the ideas I've come up with so far. All 2 of them. I've started the research. For example, did you know that singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley spent most of his childhood going by the name Scotty Moorhead? I didn't either. We'll see how that tidbit will play into things, haha.

I wish I could give more details, but, sadly, I don't have them. I'm wary about giving too much information. Not like many people read this, but I don't like to share unless I know something concrete, you know? We'll see what happens.

Until later,

christinA

(Edit: I just noticed this. I now have more posts in June than I do for the rest of the year so far. I like this. I'm going to try to keep it up, and keep you abreast of my life-doings. Yeah.)

Impending Withdrawal

I've finished all 8 of the Sookie Stackhouse books that are in my possession. I went online and found the first chapter of book #9, Dead and Gone. I feel like I'm on crack. I need more. I can't live without it! Haha. I don't know what I'm going to do once I do get my hands on the last book and finally finish it. There aren't any more after this one. I think I heard #10 should be out next year or something, but really? Next year? Next year! I don't know what I'm going to do.

Maybe I'll delve into some fiction of my own. Yeah... that sounds like a good idea. Maybe I'll start planning now, so that when I do finally come to the painful goodbye-for-now at the end of book #9, I'll have an idea of what to do with myself.

Heh. This shit's even more addictive than Twilight. And we all know how addictive that is.

In related news: Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart are apparently dating. That's kind gross. I mean, she's kinda gross. She does have a certain nonchalance to her, which is appealing I guess. She made a bad decision with that mullet hairdo thing, though.

Okay, enough with the celebrity gossip. Gonna start my fiction planning while I eat lunch!

(Edit: I'm getting better at this whole posting more frequently thing! Right on!)

(Edit #2: I got my fix! Got my grubby hands on book #9. Withdrawal postponed... at least for a day. Though it may only be enough to hold me over a couple of hours. Eek!)

Let Them Eat Cate, and Other Vaguely Amusing Typos

I don't know what's gotten into me today, but I've had the giggles like no other. Maybe it's all the sugar. A few people in my office decided that today would be "Let Them Eat Cake" day, which consisted of a handful of people making baked goodies that the rest of us freeloaders got to sample. I had a little chocolate brownie and a chocolate cupcake with homemade icing. In hindsight, this was not such a great idea.

First of all, added to my soda, I think I have enough sugar to last me the rest of the day. Said sugar has done very interesting and fun things to my nervous system. Though, admittedly, they are not Work-Safe. Up there, in the first paragraph, I mentioned my giggles. As I was explaining about "Let Them Eat Cake" day, I originally typoed, "Let Them Eat Cate." I had to stifle the giggle that would have betrayed me. Just 4 minutes ago, while attempting to post this entry, I googled "blooger" instead of "blogger." Stifle again. Luckily Google knew what I wanted. And the whole thing that started this? I was tweeting (www.twitter.com/clrumbaugh) about how I had just scratched my lip and it hurt like hell. Thankfully I caught it, but I originally typoed, "I just scratched my life." That was the worst offender of all.

I'm sure none of this is funny to you right now, but just thought I'd share (in the nature of an online journal).

In other news: I'm planning a work of fiction for the near future. I'll fill you in on the details once I have enough to share. Stay tuned...

christinA

Stop! Stalker Time!

I was just thinking: I haven't had an adventure in a long time. I mean, I went down to NC for Amy's wedding two weekends ago (which was awesome, btw), but I haven't had a REAL adventure, you know? I think I need to go to NYC to explore. I haven't done that in a LONG time.

Maybe I will go Rob Pattinson hunting, haha. I know that makes me sound like a 13-year-old girl, but it sounds like fun. But it also makes me feel like a hypocrite because I hate that he's being mobbed by teenage girls constantly, most recently while he's trying to film a new movie, Remember Me. Apparently, yesterday, he was even clipped by a taxi whilst trying to get away from a mob of said teenagers. I don't know how true that is, as I've seen conflicting reports. But I wish they would leave him alone and let him do his job. Now, I'm not going to get all Chris Crocker/Leave Britney Alone! about it, but screaming girls give me the willies. And I read something once that said Mr. Pattinson doesn't like crowds either. In fact, he's apparently so afraid of them, he fears that in mobs, there's nothing stopping someone from stabbing him. Poor kid with his paranoia.

So I'd opt for the more creepy, but less invasive form of hunting -- standing on the other side of the street, looking on with longing and affection haha... Yeah, that's LOADS better. But I still think I might do it, haha.

I'll let you know what happens.

I did it again.

Happy 100th Post to me! Yay! This is a milestone!

Though, technically, a few of the 100 remain unpublished, saved-as-draft lost entities, but we shall forgive me that. Happy 100th Attempted Post to me! That's more like it.

Anyway, like I said, I'm going to try to return to this ol' thing more frequently. Thus, I have returned.

Last post I expounded on the joy of reading. Well, I did it again. And there's no "oops" about it. I meant to... sort of. Last night I deprived myself of sleep because I was too into the book I was reading. I had meant to go to sleep at 12:30 a.m. What time did I eventually setting down into my bunk? 2:00 a.m. Whoops.

I had to. I was so close to the end, I couldn't justify sleeping until I had finished it. And I did. And it was good. Too much of a cliffhanger, as I wanted the two people in the last scene to do more than coyly flirt with each other. Like in last post, I'm still reading the Sookie Stackhouse books. Last night's conquest was Book #5. Now I'm about 20 pages into book #6, and I had to force myself to stop. Bringing books to work is a bad thing. It's distracting. I end up catching myself looking at it longingly. I sometimes allow myself 2-minute reading intervals before I resume my work again, but it's never enough to satisfy my narrative-loving heart. These books are fairly easy reads, but still. I don't think I've read this much in a long time. The success of last night's wee hour reading, make 7 books that I have finished in less than a month. This is liberating. This is what I've wanted to do since I graduated college.

Not a very lofty goal, I know. But I know so many people who are like "oh, I'm excited because now that I'm not in school I can just read! And read stuff I want to read, not just stupid school-related books!" But not a lot of people I know have actually done it. And it's taken me over a year, but I'm doing it! Woo! This is exciting.

Alright, back to the grind. More updates on my life later.

In other news: If you're on Twitter, please follow @peterfacinelli (www.twitter.com/peterfacinelli). He's trying to amass 500k followers by Friday. If he does, we get to see his friend Rob DeFranco dance to "Single Ladies" in a bikini on Hollywood Blvd. If he loses, he loses the backing of his chair for Twilight. At the time of this post, Peter has just 130 shy of 200,000. Let's do this!

Unofficial Reading Day

You know what I love, but I feel like I haven't really been able to do in years? Just read. Just spend an entire day reading. I did that on Saturday, and it was AMAZING.

Now, to be fair, I was able to accomplish this feat a few times last summer, but I was also unemployed then, so I kind of felt like I was cheating, doing something I shouldn't have been doing. Having fun when I should have been looking for a job. But now, since I have a job, the prospect of spending an entire day reading was beyond ecstasy. I woke up at about 10:30 a.m. and started reading. I read all the way to noon, then started laundry. I read off and on as I waiting for my clothes to finish getting clean, and briefly ate lunch. But then I just kept on reading. I stopped reading at 8:00 so I could go have dinner with my friend, but my God, that was a blissful day.

I was reading book 4 of the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series (you know, I'm not actually sure what the official name of the series is, haha). I could not put it down. I started it at like 2am Saturday morning, but forced myself to go to bed at 3. Then just read and read and read when I woke up. It's so freaking entertaining! For those of you who don't know, these books are about Louisiana barmaid Sookie Stackhouse. In her world, vampires are now "out of the closet" and most of them are trying to become members of mainstream society. Sookie meets one of them, Bill, and they start dating, and falling in love, and having mad passionate sex. You know, the usual, haha. Then then, trouble arises for our fair barmaiden. In every book. Of course. But they really suck you in (no pun intended). Book 4 REALLY sucked me in, and I kind of fell in love with the bad boy vampire. There's so much drama, but it's so much fun (and raunchy!). I can't wait to read more!!!

In other news: This is the most adorable blog I have ever seen. http://www.mymilktoof.blogspot.com/

I want a milk toof!

christinA

Rebirth of an Online Journal?

I've been reading through a few of my posts (again) over at LiveJournal.com. Damn, I haven't been on that site in a long time. I like to revisit every once in a while, to remind myself of what my life used to be like. A lot has changed since that last post there, made 4/22/06. That was the last post I made before permanently switching over to Blogger.

Reading through the entries, I noticed something. I was kind of depressed for a lot of those posts (though, not that that's not a trait of some of my posts here), but I've mentioned that somewhere here before. But I noticed something new today. The posts I made over at LiveJournal were so much freer than these. Maybe it's because I'm older. Maybe it's because I realized that people can actually read these. Maybe it's for a hundred reasons, but you know what? I kind of miss it.

I've been trying to do that again here, trying to use this regularly as an online journal like I did at LJ. There, I would post about anything, but here, not so much. Am I afraid of my "image" or something? Nah, I don't think so. I mean, I posted a lot of content here that is the same as what I would have posted there, except that I don't often name names here, haha. Yeah, remember that post about song headaches, back, oh gosh, like 2 years ago? Yeah, that song I was referring to is actually a person. Can you dig my metaphor? haha.

But see, I haven't written anything like that for, well, probably two years or so. Every once in a while, I'll come out with a substantial post, but I'm not free anymore. To hell with being judged. I want to try to post freely here again. Who cares that I'm 23 and angsty? I am Generation Y. That's who we are. So be it.

Alright. I make this promise almost every post, but I want to try to post here more often. I'm going to try to use it as a journal again, albeit a very public journal because I don't necessarily want it to be private. I'm weird about stuff like that. So mundane details, here I come.

Hope y'all don't mind too much :)

christinA