Currently Reading: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Steig Larsson Currently Listening to: Morgan (my cat) purring
When my friends and I try something new and interesting, it’s called “fun.”
When my friends and I try something new and interesting and then I put it in a book, it’s called “research.”
I like to do lots and lots of research. And this year, I’m going to document it! Join me on this blog for a background look at my first trilogy (starting with How Beauty Met the Beast, and releasing from Carina Press at a date TBD) as we attend burlesque shows, interview veterans, learn aerial moves, tour Brooke Army Medical Center, visit some of Austin’s coolest hot spots, and much more. While a lot of writing is sitting behind a desk (butt in chair, fingers on keys, as we like to say), one of the absolute pleasures of it is trying all kinds of new things so they can go in a book!
So one of my resolutions for 2012 is to get back in the habit of reading some quality lit. I was listening to two of my friends discuss books at a party this weekend and realize how far off the wagon I’ve fallen as of late. I’m a sci-fi fantasy type gal, so I would love any recommendations along that line! So far, I have acquired and will be reading:
Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
Diana Gabaldon – Outlander
Marion Zimmer Bradley – Mists of Avalon
Tim Powers – The Anubis Gate
Richard Matheson – I Am Legend
Aldus Huxley – Brave New World
Philip Pullman – The Golden Compass
Patrick Rothfuss – The Name of the Wind
George R.R. Martin – A Game of Thrones (although I’m a bit terrified to start this one before he finishes the series)
I haven’t acquired but plan on it:
Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett – Good Omens
H.P. Lovecraft – something… which one is your favorite?
Phillip K. Dick – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
What do you think I should be reading? (And yes, I’ve read The Lord of the Rings. They are amazing, but no, I will not read The Simarillion. Just thought I should throw that out there.)
For those of you also looking for some sci-fi/fantasy love, I found this amazingly hysterical chart. Let the good folks at SFSignal help you decide what to read next!
Don’t keep that crap in the house. Then you can’t eat it.
*sigh*
Last night we had a dinner thing for some of my DH’s co-workers and their kids. Since there were kids, we did hamburgers and potato chips (and a cucumber salad) and I made cookies. Wheatless cookies ’cause there is no sense in inviting pain, but cookies. And, because I always make too much food, we have a ton of leftovers. So guess what I have eaten all frickin’ day? I finally made myself an omelet with some vegetables in it and my sugar-spiked system is thanking me.
One good thing did come out of today. Do you want to know the best reason ever for eating potato chips and cookies for lunch? “The sooner they’re out of the house, the sooner I’ll quit eating them.”
One of my favorite movies from childhood is Adventures in Babysitting. We own it because it’s one of those films I can pop in whenever I just want to smile, and I know I’ll have a good time. The quotes are fabulous; can anyone who’s seen it forget:
“Don’t f*** with the Lords of Hell!”
“Don’t f*** with the babysitter!!”
Or, my personal favorite:
“Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues.”
The characters are iconic – the nice kid, the horny teen, the bratty little sister, and the beleaguered babysitter – and the cast plays them with just the right tongue and cheek. And, of course, 80s fashions are the delightful icing on the cake. (Plus, seeing Elizabeth Shue and Anthony Rapp – better known as the original Mark in RENT – as young’uns is fun.)
But this time as I watched the movie, I had a revelation. I fundamentally agree with the moral foundation of the film. Now, I’m not sure if I love it so much because I have this link with it or if if this movie influenced me, but I realized (to paraphrase the old Fulghum book) “All I really need to know (about working with people) I learned from Adventures in Babysitting.”
Just because somebody looks frightening doesn’t mean they plan to do you harm (John Pruit, the guy with the hook, who pulls over to help them)
If someone is nice and helpful, they can still lack good judgment. (Pruit drives them to his house to shoot his wife’s lover)
The lower a person is on the crime tree, the more likely they are to have similar values to you; it’s the higher ups who are truly dangerous (the car thief vs. the mucky-mucks in the thieving ring)
Most people don’t want to hurt you, they just want to get their job – whatever that is – done. The best way to stay safe is to not get in the way. (If they hadn’t stolen the magazine, they probably wouldn’t have been chased)
People will appreciate you if you get into the spirit of things; they don’t really care if you’ve got talent. (“Babysitting Blues” – Best. Scene. Ever.)
Most people are helpful if you give them something concrete that you need (the college guy and the $50)
The hardest hearts can be softened by a gift given sincerely (Thor and the helmet)
You deserve people who respect you for who you are and the choices you make (Chris’s old boyfriend vs. the college guy)
True friendships are made through shared struggle (Chris, Brad, Daryl, and Sara through the movie)
With few exceptions, everyone is a combination of good and bad. We will get through life best if we look for both. Expecting everyone to live up to your expectations of what people “should” be will get you taken advantage of (not to mention you will be disappointed when people inevitably fail your impossible standards). Expecting everyone (particularly everyone “different” than you, however you define that) to be dangerous will leave you alone when you need help the most. Never pigeonhole anyone as a “bad person” or a “good person” – accept that they’re both. Only then can you figure out how to work with them.
See? Isn’t that way more profound than a comedy should be? And because there is no help for it, I present one of my all-time favorite scenes from any movie: Babysitting Blues.
Today Daryl and I got into a discussion about the fruitlessness of arguing, and he told me: “When somebody get angry, you gotta paint the same picture they do or they don’t hear you. It don’t matter how pretty your painting is. It don’t matter if you right. You gotta paint the same picture and then they’ll calm down.”
