Day 25: Return from Blogcation

Yes. I'm back after a little blogcation -

Did I cheat a little on my original goal? No doubt. My goal of writing every single day for 365 days turned into a goal of 365 posts - which left me so much leeway that now - I've used my loophole to avoid writing for twelve days.

But I came back.

I gave myself permission to not log in and write. I told myself it was okay because I was "thinking about writing" the whole time - unfortunately - there's no machine to take my thoughts and turn them into words on a page (see The Tommyknockers).

And on one level, I am thankful for that (see picture). On another - wow - the amount of writing that I would have finished by now. No one would ever, ever want to hear all of the garbage that runs through my head at any given time (no - trust me - you really wouldn't! stfub :)

So, given there's no Alienware to sub-atomically turn my thoughts into novels - I need a clone. With a clone - one of me could do my day job and one of me could write all day. On second thought, I might need two clones. One for day job, one for running the house (OMG, the house could finally get cleaned!), and the final one for writing all day. Hmm. Scratch that - I need three clones. One for day job, one for housework, one for writing, and one for gaming (thank you Blizzard and Battle.net for beta free weekend!).

This reminds me of David Brin's Kiln People. It's been years since I've read the book, but from what I remember, people could make duplicates of themselves to go about their tedious tasks - or illegal activities- while keeping the "real" person safe and sound. I can't tell you how much time I spend at work trying to figure out how to be in two places at once. Sometimes, I think I'm close to figuring out how to make it happen.

Once I do, I'll write about it - or "I" 2.0 will.

Sneak Peek: Visit tomorrow for a discussion on Stephen King's latest novel, The Wind Through the Keyhole: A Dark Tower Novel. 

NOTE: All of the books I write about, can be found here: My Little Bookstore!
NOTE 2.0 Check this out Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Day 23: Zombie Typist

Here we are - Day 23 - the big 2-3. Yup. That's right.
I'm not even a month in. And for those counting - yes, it's been more than 23 days - but I've decided I will stand by my 365 posts - but they do not necessarily have to be consecutive. I will let myself have a day off now and then - especially when RL is a bit hectic.
I know - it's a cheat - but if I don't guilt myself about not writing, then the guilt won't keep me from coming back and facing my own failure.

The biggest thing I haven't worked out - the best time to blog.
For some crazy reason, I keep working on this late at night, while my dog, Dusty, lays on top of me chewing up his toy. Overall, I feel I'm doing pretty well if I'm done by 2am. So yes, when I say I'm sitting here asleep while blogging, I really am many nights (which is why some stop so quickly hehe).

Here's an unexpected side effect of this whole thing -
I can't get to sleep for a couple of hours after I close my MacTop2 - then once I fall asleep, I can't stay asleep for another two hours.
Some days I come home and nap after my "day job." Most days, I don't.

So, here I sit, eyes barely open, struggling to stay awake, knowing my minutes are ticking away - Until I reach the conclusion that I just can't keep it up for tonight and tell myself I'll make up for it tomorrow.

Really.

And maybe, just maybe, tomorrow I will try starting earlier.

Much, much, earlier.

Day 16: Walking Cliff Notes

First, let me clarify something from my previous post -

I know what you might be thinking - No, I didn't have or consider having a sex-change, nor did I have relations (by any definition) with women. I am married to a wonderful man (a reader, of course!) with three amazing children, two dogs, and three cats. I just wanted to hang with the boys - and have all of the advantages boys had that I didn't (I've been rejected and practically laughed at for going for jobs as a female - furniture store in Colorado Springs - hiring manager said, "I can't believe he[district manager] sent a female for this job. That's just what we need, another woman." And Wal-Mart - manager said to me, "You'll only make a quarter more an hour and we don't need women with children in these positions. We need men because they can work in any store.")

With that out of the way - On to something more interesting, if not a little sad -

Mega Millions - Who didn't have a moment of thinking about what you could do with all that money? I rarely play - maybe once a year or every couple of years. I never let myself think too much about things like that, but even I had a moment of excitement figuring out what I would do with all that money.

In reality, even a thousand would make a difference. Oh, this brings up a thought - "Deal or No Deal" -
I was always shocked when someone would say, "I didn't come here to win $25,000. No Deal!" I always thought, "Well, why not? It's $25,000 more than you came with!" I don't know about you, but $25,000 - okay call it $16,000 after taxes- would help me considerably. I mean it won't clear off significant debt (doesn't even touch college tuition plus interest x 3), but it certainly would help out along the way. As much as I always wanted to go play the game because I was pretty good at it from the sofa, I would bail as soon as they offered anything. I mean, here - I guarantee you $30 - or turn it down and maybe you'll double it or maybe you'll get nothing. I don't see the problem. Something is better than nothing.

Sure, it would have been fabulous to win $640 million. Instead, I'll go to work on Monday morning, live paycheck to paycheck, and continue to be haunted by the one thing I truly want to be -

A writer.

SSDD

Day Twelve: The Path of Writeousness

So, yes - we all know movies based on books can never be as good as the novel. Well, I should say - Readers understand that films adapted from novels will never be as good as the written word.

Some movies are adapted with the understanding that readers are the audience - at least that's the only explanation that I have come up with, so far. I think on some levels, this is true for the entire Harry Potter series. Movies - from the reader's perspective - should be seen as a supplement to the written story. While, with some films, I've gained a deeper understanding of characters and/or plot.

There are times, though, when something doesn't necessarily scare me - like clowns or spiders (okay, I do squeal a bit with spiders and maybe hold my breath while releasing this odd choking sound, but in the end - I know I'll kill it if I have to). So reading It wasn't incredibly scary in parts (SPOILER - can't believe I'm writing that considering the book came out over 20 years ago...). Like in the end, when they were chasing down the spider. I mean, sure, going into dark tunnels with creepy-crawly things everywhere and some murderous thing you're not even sure what it is, of course it's scary - but when it came down to a spider, I remember thinking, "Hmm. A spider? Really?" That doesn't mean King didn't find many other ways to scare me to death in the story - there was plenty of other creepy things (like drains - I agree, Mr. King. Drains are just about as creepy as they get... especially when they might have a "shit-weesel" swimming in the toilet - wrong book, same idea! See Dreamcatcher).

Stephen King is such a master of horror because he knows very well how not scary something can be if you name it too quickly. Who doesn't stop and think about King on Family Guy with his (oooo) "Haunted Lamp!" - or was it "Lamp Monster?" (Now I digress -King on Family Guy cracks me up! You gotta watch). It's the unknown that's really scary because we, as readers, fill in our own deepest fears. Once it is named - the same thing can happen to you - maybe spiders just don't scare you, either. (Just like clowns don't scare me - but Pennywise sure does.)

The thing is - Stephen King could write the story about a haunted lamp monster and scare the crap out of all of us - because we wouldn't know it was about a haunted lamp until half the people in the story had been either eaten, sliced, diced, smashed, slashed, or split (or all of the above), but by then, he's got us, up alone at night, trying to finish the last 40 pages of the 1200 page novel. Lights on, doors and windows locked (hopefully), and a phone within reach with 911 punched in and ready.

Just in case...


Coming Soon:
I will be reviewing Stephen King's new book: The Wind Through the Keyhole: A Dark Tower Novel next month!

Day Ten: Visual Words Continued

So, where was I? Oh yes, vaguely talking about book to movie translations -
Since I was a child, I've longed to see movies made from books, but so often, I'm disappointed. I've tried through the years to enjoy the movies separately, but the first few times I see a book adaptation, every change is a glaring reminder that the "Dirty Birds" got it wrong! (See Misery)
Like Harry Potter - Am I the only person who noticed that his scar is in the wrong place? I mean, I get that some things don't translate well to film, but couldn't we get the small things right? What's the problem with hanging onto a modicum of integrity to the written word?

This is where I have to take the movie for what it is - a separate telling of a similar story. I've found that once I've seen a movie a few times, I lose the memory of some of the details (the scar is STILL in the wrong place!), but not all.

Now, this is how I try to watch films on the first go 'round, but it's just so difficult. I went to see The Hunger Games again today. (SPOILER ALERT) Yes, some changes bother me although some of the changes I understand.

I totally get why the mayor's daughter is removed from the film. She's really a secondary character that doesn't move the plot along to speak of - except for that one little moment where she gives the mockingjay pin to Katniss. Unfortunately in the film, the pin loses a lot of its power  when Katniss finds the pin on her own while she's trading in the black market. The mystery behind the pin's history held much of the plot together. Now that I think about it, the loss of the game player's tokens, in general, weakens the historical link so prevalent in the books - from the meaning of the mokingjays in that evolved from the oppression of the people but became the voice of the people through song.

On the other hand, additions to the film filled in some back-story that was interesting to witness - like the gamekeeper's death. Other films have additions that often become bigger than the film and book ~ see Jack Nicholson in The Shining. There are amazing moments in so many films -

But nothing compares to those moments that reading a novel brings. Reading allows each of us to bring our own ideas, thoughts, and dreams into a new world of amazing characters filled with new hopes and dreams.

Find your words - Find your dreams