A Time For Everything

With all the excitement of the 4th of July, I forgot to review my progress of my goals. Let's take a look!

Goals are just there to the left...

How'd I do?

Oh--I just noticed it still says 2016 Goals--oh goodness. Okay, changing to 2017.

Now let's gauge progress...

1) I've been writing Grandma in Denmark, but not staying as on schedule as I'd like.
2) I'm not doing as well calling my mom's either, though to be fair, the last time I tried to call my mom, I think she was camping and had no cell service. Will call both moms before the week is out.
3) Am I cooking and eating better? I might have been during the first quarter, but I haven't been so well as of late. But the Fitbit's capabilities have got me swinging back that direction, so during the next two grocery shopping cycles, I'll make changes as needed.
4) I haven't cleaned out my writing room/office/craft room. *shrugs* It's not a high priority.
5) Cleaning plan is nowhere in sight.
6) I have not pulled the trigger on the publishing journey. I've lamented my ups and downs in other posts, but the new goal is November.
7) Because of my lapse in exercise, I've gained back about 4 pounds, but I think I can lose that fairly easily and quickly and be within 5 pounds of the high end of my target weight.
8) No, I still haven't taken that poor dog out for a walk...

So the second quarter of the year has come and gone and it's time once again to report on how I'm doing toward my goals...

Remember, they're listed on the left there. Let's take them one by one...

1) do more crafts  -- check -- I finished the last two cross stitched Christmas ornaments


I do admit that only because I wanted to start on a new cross stitch project and couldn't justify it without finishing these.

I also did a little fan girl project... the door to 221B Baker Street in miniature. I made one for myself and one for my fellow Benedict Cumberbatch fan girl Janie Crouch.


2) self-publish a book -- in progress actually -- The first very rough draft is finished and waiting for serious revisions. I lack certain skills and have taking class after class trying to hone them. Not making much progress and so I will have to just knuckle down and trust whatever writing skills/instincts I have to pull it off. But it's scary.

3) research degree programs -- haven't thought about this one in a few months, to be honest... I was busy writing the book and then fireworks season happened, so...

4) work on the yards -- between a rainy spring and fireworks season and laziness, I haven't done much. Then the mower broke and so I have a jungle. I think we're going to take a bit of the funds we made from fireworks and pay someone to clean it up nice. Then we can maintain. After we fix the mower and buy a new weed whacker.

5) ramp up the proofreading -- I did great for the first half of the year, not doing so great at the moment. I need to put out a few more feelers out into the universe.

6) clean up/clean out the house -- not much going on there. I was super lazy while DH was away selling fireworks. But I'm ready to get back on the housekeeping wagon.

7) get healthy and well -- haven't invested much time and effort into this lately either, but I can definitely feel the difference. Now that DH is home, life can back to normal in all ways.

8) write 2500 words a week -- that'd be 65,000 words by now and I don't have it. My book is at 30K and the fics I've written equal approximately 18.5K, so that's only 48Kish all total...

9) read 3 million words -- yeah, covered that by February. I'm just over 8 million right now...

10) reach the 120lb. mark -- not doing so hot there -- gained 10 pounds over the last two months, so obviously my eating and exercise habits also need to get back on track

And there you have it... doing good on some, not so good on others. But it's been helpful to review and see what's what so that I can make the proper adjustments.

How about you? How are you doing on your goals for the year?

I'm feeling glum today and stressed out. Last night I watched another movie and some more Glee. There'll be no more comments on Glee as it's a re-watch and I've said what I need to say. If you try it and like, we can talk!

First movie attempt: Batman Forever starring Val Kilmer, Nicole Kidman, Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carey. After about twenty minutes I had to stop. This version, a sequel to Batman Returns, was too cheesey, too comic book like, too many stupid cliche jokes and caricaturish and no. I'm not overly fond of Jim Carey either. I much prefer the remakes, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight starring Christian Bale as a more likeable, flawed, *human* superhero. (And I find him much more attractive to boot.)

Second movie: The Family Stone. Ah, Dermot Mulroney whom I love and first discovered way back in the mid-eighties in a series of ABC Afterschool Specials. Anyway, it's Christmas and Dermot's character Everett brings his stuffy, uptight girlfriend home to meet the family. Hilarity and calamity ensue. While I enjoyed the film, I didn't quite get it the first time around as there were a few key issues left too ambiguous, but now it's just a fun dramedy and I laughed throughout. And I want a house like the one the Stone family grew up/lives in:



Anyway, maybe more tomorrow, however we're on the downhill slide to my retreat weekend so I'll be busy prepping for that...

This weekend is the annual writers retreat that my writing chapter sets up just for chapter members. My critique partners and I will all be attending and sharing two adjoining rooms between the five of us.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

I've attended every band event since school started, waited on humid buses with rowdy/antsy kids during rain delays, gotten wounded in the line of prop duty, served countless dinners and snacks, but I will be missing this Friday's football game. DD will be serving dinner and handing out snacks in my stead while I hang out with my writer buddies.

Food, friends, fun and writing!

I'm swinging back towards writer mode, though what I'll be writing remains to be seen. Probably nothing new. I have a dozen things in various stages of completion so I think I'm going to concentrate on finishing a few things. (What a concept, huh?)

I've also been in watching mode.

Last Friday, I re-watched The Notebook for the first time in many years, maybe for only the second time ever. The first time I watched it, I blubbered big time. This time, yep, I cried again, though the blubbering at the end wasn't quite as intense since I did know how it ended this time 'round. But why did this film evoke such strong emotions in me? Partly because of the chemistry between the younger leads. I had read previously and then again on Friday that Ryan Gosling (whom I think is really a spectacular actor) and Rachel McAdams had quite an adversarial relationship. There's a fine line between love and hate (I'm not saying they hated each other--they dated for three years) and that passionate emotion spilled onto the screen. Partly I think because the writers took the time to build the relationship. There are twelve steps to intimacy and romance writers are encouraged to include as many steps as possible in their books to create a believable relationship between the hero and heroine. No, you don't have to follow the steps in order, that's another blog post for people who are interested. Anyway, I don't know if the screenwriters followed them in order or included all of them, but they built a believable relationship--

This wasn't supposed to be a dissertation on The Notebook, just a little review. Many people think it overly sappy or whatever, but I like it. And I think it requires a bit more study and breakdown to see just why it works for me.

On Friday, after the movie I was still bored and needed something else to do. So I moved on to Glee. Glee is the FOX comedy about a high school glee club whose members all struggle for acceptance and popularity in their school. The kids are a mish-mash of religions and ethnicities; half girls, half boys; one kid in a wheel chair; and every sexual orientation.

They've sung songs from R&B to show tunes to pop to classic rock and from every decade since the 20s (Louis Armstrong's "When You're Smiling"). The story lines are very over the top, but it's funny, though I don't recommend it for youngish children. I wouldn't even recommend it for high schoolers, to be honest.

So anyway, I blew through season one over the weekend and have started season two.

Last night, we watched Miracle--the-based-on-a-true-story story of Herb Brooks who led the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team to victory over the highly favored Russian team overcoming tremendous odds to do so. Highly recommended!

Then, at the request of my son, we watched Facing the Giants, the second inspirational movie written, created, filmed, acted and produced by Sherwood Baptist Church in a subdivision of Albany, Georgia. The film doesn't match blockbuster quality and it's a bit slow at the beginning but it's a feel-good movie full of positive messages about God and faith.

As for writing mode, I've finished an exchange fic I signed up for and am ready to send it off--as soon as I come up with a title. Yesterday, I read through the first chapter of another fic that I am thinking of posting as a WIP hoping I'll be motivated/pressured to finish it. I'm still on the fence about that. I might wait until I have a few more chapters under my belt. I also did a read-through of one of my short original works-in-progress. That one needs some work and it's been teasing me, so I think that's what I'll be tinkering with for a little while.

And that's all folks. :)

A combination review/rant of ABC Family's teen drama Make It or Break It...

I have a love/hate relationship with this show. There's no doubt it's compelling. I've blown through thirty-seven of forty episodes in less than a week. The main male lead, head coach Sasha Belov, played by Neil Jackson, is very lovely to look at. :)


(not the best picture...)

The show revolves around the lives and drama of a quartet of elite gymnasts, living and training in Boulder, Colorado.

The second season also poses as a public service announcement for eating disorders, having one of the girls become anorexic. After a quick Google search for something else, I discovered Candace Cameron Bure (of the 80s sitcom Full House) suffered with Bulemia as a young woman, so it was probably a story line close to her heart.

Anyway, every time I yell at the screen, usually something along the lines of, "Why can't something good happen to so-and-so just once??!!" I remember from my own learning curve in writing that readers or viewers don't want to watch nothing but fluff and rainbows.

But my rant comes from the fact that one of the girls, no matter how conniving and ugly she is, no matter what she does or says or who she hurts, she hasn't once really gotten her comeuppance in public. Everyone else plays nice with each other but they constantly have drama to deal with, whether of their own making or not. Oh sure, she has rare moments of contrition, but they are usually short-lived. And then not ten minutes later she's back to her old tricks. GAH! It's really making me mad. I understand where her motivation comes from, I do, but when is she going to learn the lesson she SO badly needs to learn?



There are a few other frustrating aspects of the show, and I realize some of them are on purpose.

I was going to call it enjoyable, but that has such an up/positive connotation and I do like the show and I do enjoy it, but the show itself is a drama. Is it GOOD? I don't know. Maybe my standards are too high. Do I recommend it? Um, not for young teens necessarily even though it's on the ABC Family channel.

Or maybe I'm just mad at it for not allowing Sasha to find happiness with Summer (Candace's character). They had a sweet little romance going on until recently. And I'm all about the happily-ever-afters after all. :)

...can see Jupiter. Yes, really. There's been a very bright dot up in my night sky for the last several nights, maybe weeks, and using my GoSkyWatch app on the iPad, I can't see any major constellations with stars bright enough to match that of this particular celestial body. Not only that, but the app shows Jupiter to be in that spot. Uranus is there also, just beyond it, but you can't see it without a telescope.

After some research (not conclusive by any means, but good enough for me), I have determined that, yes, Jupiter can be seen with naked eye and this body is probably it. Not only for the reasons mentioned above, but because apparently stars provide their own light (the little hazy halo you see around them) and planets do not. So this bright spot in my night sky has a clearly defined edge and no halo. I say it's Jupiter!

On to the sort of promised reviews...

TV

The Tudors ~ a Showtime series based on the life and wives of King Henry the VIII of England. Four seasons of fast paced, rich settings and costumes, gratuitous sex scenes, and some historical facts. The show doesn't claim to be completely historically accurate and one official site states plainly certain things that were modified to provide the maximum entertainment--that's what TV's all about after all.

I finished season two this past weekend and Anne Boleyn has just lost her head. I did learn that she was, of a sort, the mother of the Reformation. This period of history isn't one of my strong suits, but now I am reading and learning. That's always a good thing. :)

Movies

Bright Star ~ another documentary in movie format of the love affair, such as it was, between the poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne. I found the pace to be too slow for my taste, although I suffered through most of it before I got fed up and quit watching a mere twenty minute from the end. Not recommended unless you just really really love the poetry of John Keats.

Coach Carter ~ a sports film based on the life of Ken Carter, high school & college basketball player. The film was a bit more feel-good than actual events according to the bit of Googling I just did, but that's not such a bad thing. Coach Carter's (the film) main point is that academics are just as, if not more, important than sports. Sure, talent will get you to college, but if you're going to fail all your classes once you get there, what's the point? Over all, I enjoyed it.

Hoosiers ~ another sports film loosely based on the Milan High School team that won the 1954 Indiana State Championship. This film, set in 1951/52 very rural Indiana, is another feel good movie. No big message to impart, however, only that hard work and sometimes a little luck can go a long long way. If you like sports movies, this one is worth the time investment, too.

All right, that's it for now. I'll be back in a day or two, I hope.

Have a good day.

Oh, and though she doesn't read my blog, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sister Kristen who turns 28 today. Wow, is she really that old now??? Not that 28 is old, I just wonder how time passed so quickly. :(

Books and Movies

In the past week I have read three books, cover to cover (started #4 last night), and watched three movies.

Books:

HOT by Julia Harper was okay. A small town librarian has been planning revenge for the framing of her uncle in an embezzling case. She develops an attachment to the FBI Special agent assigned to the case as their relationship develops via cell phone while she's on the run and trying to find evidence. I liked it well enough, it kept me interested, although I was able to put it down as needed, like to sleep or eat. :)

Hill Country Holdup by Angi Morgan, my NTRWA chapter mate and dear friend was great. Her first book for Harlequin (or anyone, but her dream publisher). A super smart woman's child is kidnapped and she must go to the child's father, a FBI Special Agent, to help her. Only he doesn't know he's the child's father. Action packed from beginning to end as Jane and Steve travel across the Hill Country of Texas in search of clues. Full of twists and turns until the end. And I didn't guess the villain.

Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas was WOW. Written in first person, which I didn't mind nearly as much as I expected. Rich heroine is cut off from daddy's millions when she marries her boyfriend. Narcissicism and abuse ensues until she finally gets away. A well done PSA on the disease of narcissistic personality disorder of which there's apparently no real cure. Once safely back in the fold, the heroine must learn to set boundaries and enforce them and, of course, learn to love again. Very well told all the way around. That fourth book I mentioned at the beginning is the third book in this series; this book being the second. I'll be after the first one later.

Movies:

Star Trek 2009 - a perennial favorite in our house and I've seen 60+ times at this point. Don't ask me why, but I love this movie. Not going to really write a review per se on it, but I watched it. If you're a fan of the original series, you may or may not enjoy the modernization of the characters and the relationships. I think it was intended as a reboot of the franchise, bringing younger viewers into the fold. Two more movies are planned. Even if you don't like the premise of the reboot, you have to admit, the actors all did a fabulous job with the legendary characters. It's hard to pick a favorite, though. Least favorite of mine was Chris Pine in the Kirk role. I've never been a big fan of Kirk's. Sulu, meh. Uhura, Spock, Chekov and Scott were awesome. The Bones character was great. The music was fabulous and I do have the soundtrack.

Ice Castles - the 2010 remake of the original 1978 film. Believe it or not, I've never seen the original. The remake was blech. Not that the actors weren't fine, performances were fine. But the whole thing was a bit slow. First of all, it took to just past the mid-way point of the film for her to finally have the accident and lose her sight (well, most of it). So I'm supposed to believe that she overcame whatever fears she had and the physical obstacles in less than half the movie? Nope wasn't buying it. I really had to suspend my disbelief on this one. I'm sorta tempted to watch the original just to see how that aspect of the story was presented, but I've got better things to do with two hours (like read Lisa Kleypas's other book ;).

The Young Victoria - The story of Queen Victoria's young life, her ascension to the throne, and the development of her love affair with her husband Prince Albert. Very well done all the way around, except I really didn't get the point of the plot until the movie was over. It was more along the lines of a documentary in movie format. But the actors were wonderfully cast and for a history lover like me, well worth the time investment.

So any good book or movie recommendations?