Music Tolerance

I’ve discovered that my musical tolerance apparently does have boundaries.

I’ve always had what I prefer to call ‘eclectic’ taste in music. It’s hard to find music I can’t enjoy. From Perry Como to ABBA, the Bee Gee’s to Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion to Diana Ross. Pretty much any genre, any era is acceptable. I’m not a huge fan of acid rock or hip hop and rap. But, I can tolerate them.

However, in the last couple of weeks, I’ve discovered two artists I can’t handle listening to - Earth, Wind & Fire and Cat Stevens. Now, before you flip out and start posting lengthy comments extolling the greatness of these artists, let me say that I realize I am probably in the minority here.

Both artists are legends in and of their own right, and have had tons of mega hits. Just the fact that they are still well known names 30 some odd years after their peak says a lot for the longevity of their music. I am NOT disputing their star power.

I am saying that they find my last nerve and boogie all over it. Cat Stevens is aptly named. In my opinion the man can’t sing. He can however write great songs. And in support of this statement, I find it very apropos that all of the songs he wrote that became big hits are better known by the remake version song by a different artist.

Earth, Wind & Fire are very groovy, they can do funky disco with the best of them. Here my biggest problem is that, in general I’m not big on this genre. But where as I LOVE the Bee Gee’s soprano voices and disco stylings, EW&F make me cringe.

So I guess I’m not quite as tolerant as I thought I was. My apologies to those of you, who are now deeply offended by my opinion, but as turnabout is fair play – I love NSYNC. Imagine the kind of crap I take for THAT one.

Oh well, music still makes the world go round. I march to the beat of my own drum. Boogie on down to yours.
A.

Tongue Tanglers & Bass Ackward

Today has been a tongue-tangling, word-twisting, trip-over-simple words day. No one here at work can speak right. It started with Angel. She was trying to tell me about our Nephew’s wrestling match. She called it a wrestling ‘tourmanent’. I laughed. Silly me. Ten minutes later I told her I had eaten a ‘Smoot Froothie’ at Sonic. Later I told my office mate that Dakota Fanning was one of the ‘Toppest’ Grossing actresses last year.

But in my defense, I’m not the only one turning words around. Another office mate (Who has begged to be Mo or less nameless.) was telling me how much she liked ‘Fried Dickles’. She meant Fried Dill Pickles, but honestly, isn’t Fried Dickles much more creative and fun? I think it’s going to be my new word for the day. Fried Dickles.

Speaking of ‘word of the day’, my office mate has used his so often, that now I’m using it. Whenever he completes a project or is ready to start a new one, he looks around and says, ‘OKAY.’ Usually I just tune him out ‘cuz guaranteed I hear it at least twenty times a day. But for some reason, today I can’t and I keep asking him. “HUH?” Which then throws him off kilter, cuz he doesn’t even realize he’s saying it. To top it off, all day long I’ve had this chipper little cheerleader voice in my head chanting, “Ready! OKAY!”
Thank goodness it’s finally Friday. I think all our tongues need a break.

I think I’ll go eat some Fried Dickles.

A.

Sleepy and Singed

Well, the flames have died down somewhat today. It felt more like embers with an occasional flamage outbreak. Needless to say, my fur feels much better today. To be honest, my biggest problem today was trying to stay awake. My sister and nephew came over last night for dinner and cards. At ten, Angel decides she wants me to make her magnets for her fridge. See, I made some ‘hottie’ magnets to use as prizes at the party and they went over so well, everyone wants more. Angel started picking out pictures for me to use and by the time we’d resized them, printed, cut and laminated them, and glued them to their magnet backs, it was nearly 1am.

You’d think I’d be smart enough to just crash at that point, but I decided to read ‘for a few minutes’ before I turned out the light. BIG mistake. It was nearly two am before I made myself turn the light out. I wouldn’t have quit then, except I knew that I’d still have to make it through the rest of ‘Hell Week’ and sleep deprivation doesn’t improve your outlook in an already stressed environment. But, joy of all joys; it’s nearly the weekend again. I’ve survived this long; I think I’ll make it to the light at the end of the tunnel.

As a side note, I’ve discovered a new blog I thought you all should check out. It seems I’ve got competition from my dog Jack. Turns out he’s picked up more from me than I thought, while hanging out in my home office. He’s started his own blog. You can check it out at http://www.blueeyedjack.blogspot.com/. Be sure to read his bio, too. He’s quite serious about this new effort, so I won’t stand in his way – as long as he doesn’t shed too much on my keyboard at home.

Until tomorrow,
A.

Does anyone smell burnt fur?

Well this week we’ve gone beyond the living nightmare of Ground Hog’s day. I’ve moved on to ‘Living Hell’ week. I think if you try hard enough, you can smell my fur getting singed. I won’t whine too much, just enough to say that if work doesn’t improve soon, I’m going back down my gopher hole permanently and you won’t see me for AT LEAST six more weeks.

On a happier note, Pink Poker Night seemed to go over well. It was loud and a little confusing, but that’s kind of how it is when you get that many females in one room all talking. I had a ‘Gambler’s Gift Bag’ for all my guests. They got hot pink feather boas, black visors, girly playing cards, a mixed CD of gambling songs and a $170 in Pink Chocolate Poker chips. You should see my house. I’m still finding pink feathers. Boas shed like crazy! I tried wearing mine during the party, but I about caught myself on fire trying to lean in and get something out of the oven. Who knew they could be a health hazard?

In addition to poker, we tried out my Hottie Bingo board game. I actually think that went over better than poker. There was so much drooling over the hotties (Brad Pitt, Matt McConahunk, Johnny Depp….) I was really glad I had thought to laminate the boards.

Sunday was kind of a family day for us. My brother tried to teach me how to play chess. I won, but only because he wouldn’t let me make any stupid moves. (I made a lot.) He’d make me go back and then talk me through my options. Funny thing is; I had several guy friends try to teach me when I was in school, and it never made any sense to me. But this time, it did. My goal now is to practice until I know what I’m doing. Then I’m going to go back and whoop his butt. Well, at least that’s the plan. We’ll see how well I execute it. Until then, I’ve just got to find myself a Check – Mate (You know, a mate to play chess with? Sorry, really bad pun. I blame my father.)

Now, back to the brimstone,
A.

The End of Ground Hogs Day

Yay!!! It's FINALLY Friday. I'm hoping this weekend puts a stop to this feeling of reliving the same day over and over. Tonight a group of us are taking Lindz out for her birthday. Dinner followed by the new Underworld movie. Very psyched about this one. :)

Saturday I'll be running around like a chicken with it's head cut off as I try to get all the final preperations made for my Pink Poker Night. Nine women armed with chocolate and lots of Margarita's. (Virgin of course, none of us are drinkers.) Besides chocolate poker, we'll be breaking in my newly created Hottie Bingo board game. I've got some 'Hot' prizes lined up for that.

Sunday we're going to visit my brother, so I guess I don't really have any downtime this weekend, but it should be a blast just the same.

Hope your weekend rocks,
A.

TOO well rounded

I've always heard that it's a good thing to be well rounded. Intellectually that is. (I'm well rounded every where else too, i.e. hips, thighs... But that's not the point today.) I've taken lots of different personality tests and, interestingly enough, they all show that I am quite balanced in the different areas. I'm not a beaver... i'm a Beaver/Lion/Golden Retriever/Otter. Figure out which one I am at any given point in the day and you'll know exactly who I am... at that moment.

SO, why I thought this most recent quiz would be informative, I don't know.

I bought a new book called " Organizing For Your Brain Type" by Lanna Nakone, M.A. It came highly recommended by some of my fellow writers and I was really excited about getting my writing schedule worked out. The books premise is that each of the four brain types process and organize information differently and if you know which you are, you can set up your organizational style to match, making it easier to STAY organized.

I took the quiz over lunch and discovered that I test out nearly equal in three of the four types. NOW what am I supposed to do. I'm a Maintainer/Innovater/Prioritizer. That sounds great doesn't it? But they all three organize differently. Guess this book will end up in my pass along pile. Maybe I'm already as organized as I'm gonna get.

A.

Lizard Love

I'm in love with a lizard... it's voice that is, actually it's a Gecko... are Geckos lizards? I think they are. Anyway, have you seen the latest commercials with our little green studmuffin traveling to the remote jungles to spread the good news of cheap insurance? He's had a voice makeover. He sounds just like Callum Blue. (I've tried to verify whether it actually IS him, but haven't yet confirmed.) If you aren't familiar with Callum Blue's voice, watch Related on the WB. He's Bob, Jenni's husband. A Brit with an absoloutely adorable accent. I'm not usually so swayed by the Brittish accent, but his is just so.... cute? Is that the right word?

But I digress, our Gecko Don Juan has always been adorable. Green suits him so well and he's so talented. I loved watching him do the robot. But up until this most recent series of commercials, he was merely a cute little icon. But the new accent? I could listen to him talk all day. (Of course, that goes for Callum too, and he's certainly a 10 on the adorable scale as well.) Like when he's telling his lizard buddy that getting a free quote is like getting free pie and chips. "Everybody likes pie and chips. It's pie... and chips... and it's free." Okay, so it's not the same typing it out, but if you could hear it in my head, you'd agree. It's freaking adorable.

I don't have Geico insurance. I don't want Geico insurance, although I'm sure they're a fine company. I just want to take their little Gecko mascot home. I'd keep him in a little house on my desk and call him "Bob". (I'd take Callum Blue, but he'd take up too much room on my desktop.) He could talk to me all day long and keep me sane. Then when I have a Ground Hog Day Week like I am now, at least there would be a bright spot in it.

I think I'll go have some pie... and chips.
A.

I'm living 'Ground Hog Day'

I was wrong. Today was Monday. At least that’s what it felt like. (Is today Ground Hog Day by any chance? My days are repeating.) We were short 3 employees, so the phones were bananas. ( I said B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Sorry, couldn’t resist a little Ms. Gwen.) ANYWAY, back to my poor, stressed out little self. The only relief in all this is that my office mate was one of the missing three. That probably sounds mean, but it’s really not.

See, when I’m stressed I listen to music. Comfort music - music that drives him up the wall. So, I’m sure he was just as happy to be home sick then in our office. I listen to music all day every day, but on REALLY bad days, NSYNC comes out. I know every song, I’ve memorized all the albums and if these had been tapes rather than CD’s, I would have worn them out 10 times over.

Today, the boys went into the player around 10:30 and they’ve been on solid replay all day long. Today it’s “No Strings Attached”. Every song speaks to me in some way.

“Makes Me Ill”, ah, let me count the ways THAT one has been appropriate today. SO many customers, SO little time.

“Space Cowboy” – yes, I want a Space Cowboy. Or an Urban Cowboy or a Redneck Cowboy… Yippee Yi Ya Yi Yo.

“It’s Gonna Be Me” – Yes, SOMEDAY, it will be me. I’ll be the one with the Christy Award, waving goodbye to my accounting position for EVER!

“Just Got Paid” – Not yet, just two more days though and I can Party! Pink Poker Party!

“No Strings Attached” – Really. I can trip, fall and stumble all on my own. I don’t need strings to trip me.

“Digital Get Down” – Um, Okay, maybe this one doesn’t speak to me on the same level it does for JC. But, I like digital photography…

“Bringin' Da Noise” – That’s what the phone has been doing to me all day long.

“I Thought She Knew” – That’s what I keep hearing. I thought she knew I was taking a long lunch, I thought she knew about that unadvertised special…

“I’ll Be Good For You” – I don’t believe it. No one’s been good for me today. But I hold great hope for tomorrow.

“That’s When I’ll Stop Loving You” – Never. That’s when. Sigh, this song makes me melt.

“This I Promise You” – I won’t make you listen to NSYNC on repeat – unless you want to. If you do, call me, we can NSYNC together, I have all the DVD’s.

“Bye Bye Bye” – What I’ve longed to say to this office all day long.

And what I’ll say to you now.

Bye, Bye, Bye!
A.

Monday again...

Friday night kicked off with dinner out with Lindz. We were all watered up for a new Indian restaurant, but it wasn’t open yet. By the time we realized that though, all the other restaurants had an hour wait, so we ended up eating Fazoli’s in the car. WHOO HOO! (Sorry, sarcasm is something I have in spades today.) Lindz made it fun though, so I won’t complain too much. (Except to say they totally screwed up my order…)

After dinner, I went with my sisters and nephews to see “The Ringer” with Johnny Knoxville. Now, this was not a movie I especially wanted to see, but Ben did. So I went anyway. And, surprise, surprise, I liked it. REALLY liked it. It was funny. I was afraid it was be totally moronic and offensive to Mentally Challenged individuals, but I don’t think it was. At least in my opinion, it was handled really well. Johnny’s even kind of cute.

Saturday was Angela’s birthday. (Happy birthday, SUPAH-STAH!) It was a girl’s only day out. We hit Joe’s Crab Shack (I hate seafood, so I ate salad. Probably just as well. But I had to watch everyone else crack legs, peel shrimp and disembowel their food. NOT pretty!) It was worth it in the end though, because they made Angela do a cheer for herself, pom-poms and all, in front of the whole restaurant. It was pretty funny. After lunch we watched “Tristan and Isolde”. VERY good movie. It is sad, but soooo romantic. Plus James Franco looks pretty hot. :) I like sad movies though, so I’ll probably end up adding that one to my collection. I think I’m the only one in our group that likes movies that make you cry.

The weeks already off with a BANG, it’s so totally a Monday. Four more days until the weekend….

Counting the minutes,
A.

Grimm News

I've discovered a great new series of books and I'm thoroughly addicted to them. It's the 'Sisters Grimm' by Michael Buckley. There are two books available now, "Fairy Tale Detectives" and "The Unusual Suspects". Book three, "The Problem Child" is available this spring. I'm so psyched I can hardly wait to get it.

The Sisters Grimm follows the adventures of the youngest members of the Grimm family, Sabrina and Daphne. They're the descendents of the Grimm brothers, those recorders of fairy tale legend. Only they're not just fairy tales, they're historical documents of real magical happenings. Sabrina and Daphne's parents were kidnapped by a mysterious fairy tale group called the "Scarlett Hand". Orphaned in the eyes of Social Services, they are sent to live with Grandma Grimm in Ferryport. There, their adventures begin as they discover not everyone in Ferryport is human. The Mayor is really Prince Charming, Snow White teaches school and the three little pigs run the police department (if that isn't a poke at 'the man', what is?)

The mysteries and adventures are so well written and Michael Buckley has done a fabulous job of weaving in every possible fairy legend there is. I recognized them all, but was surprised at how many there were to draw from. They're really worth reading. I admit I'm a bit of a kids book buff, but I think these are right up there with the works of J.K. Rowling and Cornelia Funke.


You can check out the website at: http://www.sistersgrimm.com/newsite/index.html

So there is your literary critique for the week, go out and read them. I promise, you'll love them! (Sorry, no money back guarantee here. If you don't love them the fault is with you, not the writer or critiquer.) :)

Happy Reading,
A.

Apptitude Schmapptitude

Have I mentioned how bored I get doing accounting? How some days it feels as if my job is sucking the marrow of life straight from my bones? How the thought of adding up one more column of numbers causes my inner child to scream in horror and pull her hair?

Well, I've mentioned it now.

Today I decided to take one of those career apptitude tests again. I took one back in high school, but don't really remember much about the results. I seem to remember High School English teacher being pretty high on the list. I think the reason I didn't pay much attention then, was because I already had decided what I wanted to do, so I just tuned it out. What I wanted to do, was become an OB/GYN and deliver babies. Then, my senior year, right before graduation, I had second thoughts. I couldn't afford medical school and I wasn't sure my math and science scores were high enough. I mean, I had a 4.0, but still you have to have strong skills in that area. I decided to take a year, go to community college and figure it out. What I've figured out in the last 10 years, is that I would have hated the high-stress level of medical school, I hate taking college courses that seem pointless to my chosen goal and I'm better in math than I thought. I've also discovered that my love for writing could be used for financial gain. (Minimal so far, but the potential is there.) I also found myself with a career as a bookkeeper, something I NEVER would have chosen for a life career.

SO, today I decided to see if my desire to become a writer full time was really the way I should go, or if there was another career out there that could earn me a better living, and more quickly. Wanna take a stab at what my results were?

Writer/Journalist was my top match at about 98%. Medical science came in at a close second at around 95%, and Educational Instructor was third at about 90%.

Well, GEE, what a surprise. I would never have guessed that those would be my best fields. Sorry, that's sarcastic, I know. But, really. I guess what I needed was a test that could tell me how best to get into those fields and make a living without having a degree or a giant life savings to support me while I get my new career up and running.

This means, that for now, I must stay in my tedious accounting position while trying to write a bestselling novel in my spare time. (Ha! Spare time!) My now bald inner child weeps.

I suppose I should focus on the positive. At least I know I'm on the right track. Maybe 10 years from now, I'll be celebrating a long and productive career as a novelist, as opposed to this year when I celebrate 10 years as a bored numb bookkeeper.

Keeping the dream alive,
A.

Survey says...

I got another great email today. Usually these silly survey things are all alike. What's your favorite color? Favorite food? Do you cry? And as silly as they are, I answer them all anyway, because it's something to do. But today, I got a good survey. I liked it so much, I decided to post it and my responses here. Feel free to pass it on to your friends too. We need more surveys in the email world.

Okay guys, you know the drill. Copy and paste and send your answers to all your friends so they can know how daring and crazy you are!

1. Have you ever been or do you ever want to go hang gliding? I’ve never been and I don’t intend to. (Shudder!)

2. Do you have any interest in going spelunking (cave exploring)? Only if it doesn’t require repelling.

3. Been scuba diving? Where? No, but I absolutely want to.

4. Seen any ancient ruins? Where? Does my old ’86 Ford LTD count? No? Okay, I guess I’ve not seen any yet, but I plan to see them all – Italy, Egypt, Scotland…

5. Been on a cruise? Where? Not yet, but want to real bad. I'd like to start in Hawaii, but eventually end up in Japan.

6. Gone on a hot air balloon ride? No, and I’m unsure about this one. Angel wants to and I told her I’d go with her, but I may huddle in the bottom of the basket and whimper the whole time. :) Despite that very real possibility though, I would love to shoot some pictures from a balloon.

7. Flown a plane? Flown one? I’ve not even been ON one.

8. Bungie jumped? No way in HELL will I be doing this one.

9. Hiked through the wilderness and camped out survivor style? Does Skylark’s camping count? We learned how to do it, it’s just not been put into practice much. Although with a Dad like mine, I probably know every way possible to survive with just a tin can, flint and string.

10. Slept under the stars? Yes. And technically, I sleep under the stars every night, the roof just gets in the way of seeing them.

11. Slept on a boat on the ocean? Not yet. But I intend to. In fact, if I nail that cruise, I’ll have hit two birds with one stone.

12. Swam with the dolphins? Only in my dreams. This is the first priority on my list of things I want to do before I die.

13. Held a new born baby just hours after he or she was born? Yes, and she was beautiful. :)

14. Started a fire with no matches? Yep, I prefer lighters, they’re less hassle. :) Actually, I have started fire with a flint.

15. Been terrified that a wild animal was going to get you? Yep. When we lived in the country we had a pack of coyotes that lived in the woods across the road from our front door. One night they made a kill close to the road. They were so loud it sounded like they were on the front porch. I was scared to go outside for a week. I was sure a coyote was gonna carry me off. (Hey, I was seven. It could happen!)

16. Been lost in a foreign country? No, but it sounds like fun.

17. Met anyone famous? Yep, although you may not have heard of her, Wanda Dyson is a best selling author in the Christian Suspense Genre and I met her last May in Colorado. Very cool lady.

18. Accomplished something you at first thought was impossible? Most Definitely and I intend to keep doing so.

19. Did something you were terrified of doing and felt proud of your achievement? Oh golly, I do this all the time.

20. Ran a marathon? Nope - and not likely to either, not even if I was a skinny chick. Running is not my thing. Running so long that my lungs burn out in my chest and my legs turn to rubber, - MOST DEFINITELY not my thing.

I didn't do too horrible. I've done a few things. I think it's time to update my list of things to do before I die though.

How about you?
A.

I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor...

I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor, I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor, I'm being swallowed by a boa constrictor, and I don't like it much! Oh No! Oh No! He's swallowed my toe, he's swallowed my toe. Oh Gee! Oh Gee! He's up to my knee, he's up to my knee... .

How many of you can identify with that kid's song? ME! I can! It's been running through my head for days now. Only, I'm being swallowed by filing cabinets, and laundry and broken t.v.'s... . The list could just go on and on . I can't believe it's been this long since I posted, but Golly Gee! It's been a whang-bang few days.

Work has been elevated from a Rat Race to an all out Mad Dash for Disaster. If something could go wrong, it has. From computers crashing to equipment malfunctions and shorthanded staff. Friday, to ice my cake, we added ANOTHER filing cabinet to our office. Now, it's not that I didn't want or need it, I did. We were running out of room. But you have to understand what our office looks like.

I share this 10x12 cell with an office mate. He has two desks, I have one. His two desks are opposite each other, sandwiching his chair like a Oreo. My desk butts up against the desk facing me. I have two and half feet to roll my chair back before I hit the file room. Actually, it's just a row of filing cabinets (five now, to be exact) and a five shelf bookcase loaded with binders. I'm flanked by printers and filing trays have completely taken over one corner of my desk. I can't even hang a calendar, because the only wall space left available to me is actually a rock pillar. The path running beside our desks to the door is two feet wide (as long as my office mate hasn't left a filing drawer open. That shrinks the walk way significantly. And due to my absolutely inherent klutziness, I never see the drawer in time to keep from tripping over it or taking off a chunk of myself.)

Filing is my job for the most part and the bane of my existence in the accounting world, because we file EVERYTHING! It can get to be a feat of balance to file in the cabinet directly behind my desk, but I've learned to do the backbend and still get the files put away. As you can imagine, we're rather cramped. (Actually, to be honest, I think a clown car would be roomier, but I don't need any more office mates.)

So now that you have clear picture of how the layout goes, you'll understand my disbelief when my office mate told me he was feeling 'closed in' with the new filing cabinet in place. (Remember - him, two desks. Me - one, encased in a filing room.) I think you would agree that I had the right to laugh maniacally while repeating, "You feel closed in? YOU FEEL CLOSED IN?" Thankfully, he had the grace to laugh a little sheepishly and agree that it was crazy. He said it was because he had to look at them and it just felt like they were all looming down on him. I guess I can concede him that. But I absolutely put my foot down on any more filing cabinets of any kind. We put any more in there and I'll have to suspend a 'Johnny Jumper' from the ceiling and use it instead of my desk chair. Grant it that could be supremely entertaining for my office mates, but I do not want to know what this body would look like as it bounced and somersaulted around just to get drawers open and files put away. (Shudder!)

I was okay Friday though, despite our incredibly hectic day. Wanna know why? 'Cause "I got new Stargate, I got new Stargate!" (I sang this to Angel periodically throughout the day and she would respond with a resounding "Woo-Hoo!") Stargate's air dates are a little odd, they play half a season in the summer and the other half in the winter. We'd been bereft of Daniel, T'ealc, Sam and Cameron for three months. Needless to say, Friday I was psyched to spend the evening watching my all time favorite shows. (Numb3rs is on afterwards - it's like icing on the cake.) Imagine my horror when I turned my tv on Friday night to hear nothing but static. Yep, my new (used, but new to me) tv had died. I ended up watching it at Angel's and I spent Saturday hunting for a t.v. that was just right. (Just the right dimensions to fit my new cabinet, just the right picture quality and just the right price - cheap.) I found it at the third store. I'd conned my nephew into helping me haul the monstrosity home and set it up. That took quite a bit of wrangling. Those things are HEAVY!

SO, you'd think after all that, I'd be due an easy Monday. (Or at least a normally hectic one.) Nope the craziness continues. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. To make a long story short (I know, WAAAAYYYYY too late.) that is why (among other things), I haven't posted much lately.

Excuses, Excuses....

Just tryin' to keep up with the crazies,
A.

I'm my own twin...

Have you ever felt like you are two people in one body? A chimera of sorts, or conjoined twin without the extra limbs? A split personality (or maybe 2 or 3 or 4... ?)

On my best days I'm organized, effecient, articulate, driven and upbeat. (I said my best days - not okay days, so-so days or pretty good days.) On my worst days I can't find anything, I'm clumsy, (quit laughing Angel, I meant more than normal.) dazed and confused. I suppose most people have days like these, at least I hope so, otherwise I'm more of a freak than I supposed. (Patsy Clairmont says that Normal is just a setting on your dryer. I'm begining to realize she's hit the nail on the head.)

What gets me though is all the in-between days. The days where I have two little voices arguing back in forth inside my head.

"Go wash dishes before you read."
"Nah, I don't wanna. I'll do them later."
"NO, do it now. You're a grown-up, be responsible."
"I am a grown up. I can do what I want, you can't make me do them now."
"Wanna bet? I can guilt you till the cows come home."
"When did you start sounding like Mom?"

Am I the only one who carries on these little internal arguments? Even when my selves aren't arguing amongst themselves, I still find procrastination and perfectionism pitting themselves against drive and determination.

"I need to go work on the re-write for the book."
"Eh, you still haven't worked out the placement for all the plot changes yet. Wait until you do that. There's a good movie on."
"Yeah, but if I don't work on it, I'll never get it done."
"I'm not feeling inspired right now."
"But you will once you sit down and start writing."
"I sat in front of a computer all day, I don't want to now."
"You really need to do something. It won't write itself. You love to write, just go do it."
"Okay, I'll just check my email first... ."

What's up with that? I know writers say that they hear voices in their heads, but I always assumed it was the characters talking. My characters don't talk to me that way, but I think that's because I am all the characters. Some part of me makes up each of their different personalities. It just makes sense when they do things. I don't have to ask them why they do something. So if it's that simple, (which, it's not really, there's plot and voice and narrative and, well you get the picture) why doesn't it just flow like a river and flood my monitor? Then again, if I actually got my butt in front of the monitor more often, it might.

It's amazing how you can love something so much, like writing, and long to do it as a full time career and yet still dread actually doing it. Once I get started, the dread disapears and I get lost in the story. It's actually a blast, but for some reason I just have a hard time getting my butt in that chair.

That's why I've made a New Year's promise to myself (all of my selves) to have a set writing schedule this year. I'm sticking to it. I'm going to go do it right now - Just as soon as I check my email again... .

A.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone. Wow, what a weekend. Friday night I worked until ten pm so we could close out the year in the accounting office. Saturday started our 3 day weekend and Angel and I celebrated by going to our favorite restaurant (Bua Thai) and seeing the movie "Family Stone". Which was really good by the way. Very funny, but moving too. It was a great ensemble cast that really worked well together. I was afraid it might be another 'Royal Tannenbaums', which I totally hated, but it was so much better. Really, not even in the same category. I especially loved Luke Wilson's role. What a great actor.

New Year's eve was a girls night (including my 3 yr old niece). We played Hottie Bingo- my own board game creation that is getting rave reviews. Even the 3 year old played. She was quite intrigued by the different 'hotties' on her game board. It was very cute. Once she was asleep, it was on with a Hugh Jackman Chick Flick.

Sunday was a lazy day and Monday wrapped up the weekend for us when we saw "King Kong". Another incredible movie. Peter Jackson is the bomb. I love his work and he didn't disappoint. I know some of my friends were complaining that it took an hour to get to the island and see Kong, but I truly liked the setup. I've never seen the original (or any of the remakes previous) so maybe that's why the story set up worked well in my eyes. I think Jack Black was a fabulous choice, it was nice to see him stretch his acting wings a little. The CG is incredible and it's definitely one you MUST see on the big screen. No waiting for rental on this one. I especially loved the humor scenes. Kong was so real, you knew what his emotions were. Watching him laugh or tease with Ann was great and the ice skating incident is a great touch too.

So the holidays are officially wrapped and it's back to the grindstone. I've got a six month countdown until our next paid holiday. I guess that means plenty of time to work on those new year resolutions with out distraction. My biggest one this year is to get my latest novel from synopsis to completed draft. That should keep my plenty busy.

Have a great year!
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