Meh Monday.

Weather: High: 79 degrees and partly sunny. Weekend was unseasonably cool as well.

So. Weekend got away from me again. Went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on Sunday, which kind threw my plans to write that day to the wind. And Saturday was kind of off kilter anyway, so not much got done there either. Snoots took a tumble off the counter late Saturday and was favoring his hind leg for a bit. Seems okay now, but we’re watching him.  Think he may have sprained it. Doesn’t seem like a break, because he’s still jumping up and down and walking with no trouble. ::is typical paranoid CatMommy::

I hate lost weekends. Always want to kick myself for wasted time lost.

Half Blood Prince was good, but it was the first HP movie that I actually came away from a little irritated at what was cut out. I’m all for the movies taking a little creative license in editing to get the story out, but losing the big battle at the end? Kinda dampened the impact. As did the revelation of who the Half Blood Prince was. The revelation was kind of a throwaway statement that had no resonance because any build up or interest in that plot point had kind of been buried in the rest of the story. Still, they are my small quibbles and I still thought the movie was pretty damn good. Saw the full trailer for Sherlock Holmes and nearly wibbled myself into a coma. Yes I know it’s anachronistic and the purists are practically apoplectic, but it looks like 40 shades of awesome to me.

Torchwood: Children of Earth starts tonight on BBC America. Sadly I’ve been spoiled for a bunch of things (All inadvertently. Really. I was trying to stay spoiler free for this.) But Hubby and I will still be watching. It’s been a dearth of Whoverse this year, and I’m starving for some Captain Jack.

Also, I’m really looking forward to watching True Blood tonight. Really need to look into getting the first season on DVD. Really have loved this series so far.(More Eric is all I can say. )

And Being Human starts this Saturday. This is the show I’ve actually been looking forward to for quite  bit of time. A vampire, werewolf & ghost living together. Sounds like the start of a great joke, but truth be told, the show looks nicely dark and angsty and they have a tasty Irish actor playing Mitchell the vampire. Not complaining here. And they do the full black eyes for the fully vamped. Dear to my heart that is. 🙂

I know I seem to posting  a lot of television related stuff today, Unfortunately I’m feeling a little under the weather today, for reasons I won’t go into, and I’m having a damnable time trying to focus on anything. Thus insight is giving way to trivia.  It happens. Also think I may have to stop taking St. John’s Wort every day as I’m starting to feel a little dizzy and lethargic. It IS helping regulate my moods though, so that’s a good thing. Probably will just scale it back to when I seem to be going through a down cycle.

Have found a wealth of new friends and good writing advice by way of the #writegoal hashtag over on Twitter. Writers of various stripes are using it to network and track their writing goals, wordcounts and just generally passing along good advice. Very helpful and motivating all around.

Alas, my hazy brain and troublesome gut have to get going home. Actually got some work done today, in spite of my lessened capacity.

New quest! I need to find Strange on DVD. Apparently the BBC have either never released it or it’s out of distribution. Watched the marathon on The Chiller network over the weekend and LOVED IT. Was nice to see Richard Coyle (Jeff on Coupling) doing a dark & scary role for once. 🙂 It was only one season but my Google Fu is not yielding much in the way of DVD sale information.

Speaking of DVDs, and then I must sign off, Coraline Collector’s Edition will be on my doorstep tomorrow. So there will be squee tomorrow on that front.

Anyway. Enough rambling. More writing related stuff tomorrow. If my brain decides to actually kick in, that is.

—————-
Now playing: Folk Implosion – Natural One
via FoxyTunes

LOSTnesday and the cold is back. Sigh.

weather: High: 53 degrees with PM showers.and Guess who forgot her umbrella ella ella, eh eh?

Amusing followup to yesterday’s train shenanigans. Gossip Girl was on the train again and I actually sat across the aisle from her. (There were two seats between me and the aisle and one between her and the aisle. So we were in no way adjacent. ) Amusingly enough, she GLARED at me when I sat down. I just smirked and got myself situated. I put my headphones on and she went back to sleep. I listened to my usual mix at usual volume and didn’t get an uppity request to STIFLE THAT NOISE ZOMG! INstead, she reserved her pinched face annoyance for people who had the gall to walk by her seat and wake her up. Bri texted me that I should tell the conductor that her existence was annoying me and he should make her stop. HEE!

The weather is pulling shenanigans itself, dropping us out of the lovely 70s from yesterday and keeping us in the high 40s today.

Wow is Facebook & Twitter eating up my day. Need to minimize Firefox and get some work done. Have a metric tonne of disc burning to do for the new software.

Had a fantastic salad for Lunch.  Go here and scroll down to Hilltop Salad.
Their Chicken Caesar is awesome, but I think I’m gonna try the Famstand Salad next time, because ZOMG GOAT CHEESE!

Re-watched Repo! A Genetic Opera again last night and made Bri watch with me. He’s in no way, shape or form a musical fan, but he said he enjoyed it. Not “hills are alive with the sound of music” enjoyed, but he liked it. Was very impressed with the sets and cinematography.  The link above is to the official site for Repo, which has a WEALTH of behind the scenes vids and downloads. Worth a look.
In fact here: Watch “Zydrate” from the movie version:
(Apologies about the low sound, but it’s the only copy I could find. )

New Lost tonight (FINALLY ZOMG!) so I’ll have that to watch. And new Ghost Hunters as well.

In bad news, it appears actress Natasha Richardson has actually succumbed to her head injury from skiing. Latest report I read is that she’s been declared brain dead and they’ve unhooked her from life support. I really and truly hope those reports are wrong. 😦 She’s only 45 and has two lovely children with Liam Neeson. I don’t care that she’s famous. She’s a person first and this is just horrible across teh board.

On that chipper note ::facepalm:: I’ll be heading out to go home.

Monday and it really feels like it…

Weather: High: 69 degrees (woo!) and sunny.

Managed to survive bossless week and a rather disheartening weekend.

Finances= Teh Suckorrr! Most of my paycheck was sucked into the oblivion known as bills. Managed to get out to Costco this weekend and actually did a stellar job of stocking up on what we needed and saved a little over a hundred dollars doing so. Very proud of ourselves for not buying trivial stuff (we’re stocked up on cat food for the next two months! ) and nothing we won’t be able to store and therefore get our money’s worth.

Still gobsmacked that Neil Gaiman is gonna be on the Colbert report tonight. Woot!

Watched the shuttle launch yesterday. Found it sad that we felt more nervous about the potential for an accident than just enjoying the wonderment of the endeavour.  Used to be we would all be so excited for a launch,  now we spend most of the time bitning our fingernails wondering if it will clear the atmosphere in one piece. Such is the nature of an accident and tragedy strewn history.

Saw a few things over the weekend that I really enjoyed. First, Russel Brand’s comedy special on Comedy Central was HILARIOUS.  I’ve alwasy held that he’s a better stand up than show host. He even skewered the whole MTV awards debacle by reading what was originally scripted for the show. Very funny. I have to get my hands on his book.  Also, Bri and I caught Penelope on cable and really liked it. For me there was James “nom nom nom” McAvoy and hey wasn’t that Russel Brand in a cameo? And Nick Frost? It was a beautifully filmed movie and the story wasn’t  as straightforward or cliche as the critics would have you believe.

Day has gotten away from me again.

Here:

Have some Russel Brand to cheer you up.
This is the full length Response to Death Threats bit. HYSTERICAL

T Minus three days to New Year!

Weather: High: 43 degrees and partly cloudy. Most of the ice is gone finally!

So…survived round three of the Christmas Crud, and thankfully seemed to have sidestepped the bronchitis. (Thanks Sandy! the expectorant worked wonders!)  I still have a lingering cough, but it’s no where near as nasty as it was on Christmas Day.

Have come to the conclusion that one of my major new year’s resolutions is to trim back the time I’m spending online.  I find myself spending many an hour refreshing LiveJournal and Facebook, almost as if I’m scared I might miss something. Truth be told, even when my friends are posting, I’m still doing a lot of skimming. It’s not that I’m not interested but the bulk of what gets posted anymore is like this: “meme, meme, joke, comics, meme, AH! A real post!, meme, meme,..”  And of late I’ve been unusually unable to come up with anything helpful or insightful to comment with.

In addition to this, I realized that the time I’m wasting waiting for something to come around to respond to, I could be writing. Or catching up on my reading which I am WOEFULLY far behind on. I have a stack of books as tall as me that I need to get through. And Movies that I got for Christmas LAST year are still waiting to be watched. We’re losing money on Netflix because we haven’t been watching the movies that have come through.  So lots of real life enjoyment and priorities are getting back seat relegation due to the Interwebs. Online is not real life. And a lot of my friends who are online have much more free time than I do for a variety of reasons. So trying to keep up with them is really not possible.  I think I’m gonna start a regimen of just checking my FList twice a day and Facebook  a few times a day. I’m gonna be dropping my Vox as soon as I archive my posts from there. I’m keeping my MySpace, but only because of the bands I have linked there. Most of the people I have linked on MySpace are on Facebook or LJ anyway. I don’t really post there or do too much other than check it periodically.

This is sort of indicative of what my New Year’s Resolutions are going to be like. A lot of scaling back and simplifying. Bri and I have major plans on our plate for the first half of 2009 and we’ll need less distractions to accomplish our goals, not more. Also, I’m going to start posting more about my writing goals and accomplishments. Time to start treating this hobby like a serious job.

ETA: Just finished archiving all my Vox posts…well the ones of note at least. And deleted the blog. One less thing to worry about. I’ve also printed out the manuscript so far. Ninety-six pages. And I still have 3 or so more pivotal scenes to write. This is gonna end up about 75 k. It’s at a little over 40K right now and I can already see some scenes need serious fleshing out. I need to just sit for one evening without distraction and read through it from beginning to end. And corral Brian into reading it as well. I have some other Beta readers lined up once I get a finished rough draft. I’m actually getting nervous about finishing the damn thing!

Bri and I have made a pact to keep each other on the path to better health come the new year. He’s gonna quit smoking and I’m gonna get in shape. My knees and my heart can’t take the excess baggage anymore. Besides, how will I be able to squeeze into a corset and dazzle the masses at Dragon*Con if I don’t start now?

Can’t believe I’m gonna be 42 in a couple weeks. Wow. Life, the Universe and Heidi. Too funny. Told Brian I wanted a REAL bottle of Absinthe for my birthday this year. WOO! Green Fairy time!

Yeah..I’ll be very happy to see the back side of 2008. This year has sucked harder than a $2 whore when the fleet’s in town.  Too much bad health, bad news , bad economy, family drama and crap politics.

2009 is gonna be “I’m sick to death of this crap and I’m taking the bull by the horns and MAKING it a better year!”

Both Brian and I are tired of waiting for things to fall into place.  Bollocks to that! Time to become masters of our own destiny. Sometimes if circumstances don’t wander by, you need to go out with a big ole net and a harpoon and GET THAT SUCKER YOURSELF. (Suddenly I have Front 242’s Headhunter going through my head! )

HA!

In all seriousness, I feel pretty good about next year. A little apprehensive at the major things coming up, but excited as well.

And maybe, the publishing gods willing, I’ll get something published next year.

Gotta dash. More later. And my big ole New Year’s resolution post is on the horizon. 🙂

::humming Dancing Queen::

weather: High: 82 degrees and HUMID! GAH! IT’s BACK!

So this weekend was full despite not really getting a lot of house stuff accomplished.

Friday night we did a spontaneous get together with Tom & Lisa to watch Doctor Who (WOO!) and play battling DJs on the computers. Lotsa fun, but a late night after that.

Saturday was a nice languorous day. Got up around 8ish, made coffee and breakfast for me and the hubby, then kinda pottered around the house for a bit before hunkering down with the laptop and pounding out 1500 words of text. WOO! Had the telly on in the background, and sat through both a Paranormal State marathon and a Heroes marathon, catching up on both shows. In the evening Bri and watched some Graham Norton and I watch Sin City for the umpteenth time. (CLIIIIIIIIIIIVE!!) Was VERY happy to get the writing done and break through this bloody writer’s block I’ve had lately.

Sunday I went to see Mamma Mia with my mum, sister and our elderly neighbor, Mrs. Mahoney. It was MUCH better than I thought it would be. Mum, Kirsten and I had seen it in the theater in Chicago on it’s first run and loved it. Here’s the thing: If you’re not an ABBA fan, you won’t like it. If you’re expecting theater quality vocals, you won’t like it. But if you know the lyrics to every ABBA song, are easily distracted by hot men being shirtless and adorable, and love Meryl Streep in comedies? YOU WILL LOVE IT. (Yes, this movie defines chick flick, but some guys will enjoy it, if only for the scads of bikini clad women and the racy humor in spots. ) I’m actually buying this one when it comes out on DVD. There were parts that had me in tears, some for laughter and some, just for overwhelming emotion. It’s not as saccharine sweet as you think and it doesn’t end how you think it will. And the humor, as I said before borders on raunchy. Oh and Bjorn from ABBA makes a couple of cameos as well. BIG GRIN.

Here’s a list of the songs performed in the movie:
I have a Dream
Honey, Honey
Money Money Money
Mamma Mia
Our Last Summer
Dancing Queen
Super Trouper
Slipping through my Fingers (Bawled my eyes out here)
Lay All your Love on Me
Does Your Mother Know?
SOS
Waterloo
Chiquitita
Take a Chance on Me
Voulez- Vous
Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man after Midnight)
Thank You for the Music
Winner takes it all (Meryl Streep KILLS on this!)
So yeah– I was in ABBA Karaoke heaven!

I found out this morning that a particularly dear friend of mine is going through some health issues.  It really gutted me that I live too far away to be any use, and am broke enough that I can’t even contemplate making the trip down to help out. It sucks on a level that just hurts. I’m so tired of all y friends having to go through these tough situations. When do we start to get a break? Hell, even Bri and I have been through the wringer the past 3 years. And honestly? I’m sick to death of it. It’s exhausting to live paycheck to paycheck and not know if you’re gonna make ends meet from one week to the next , dreading the next unexpected expense.

SIGH.

Hopefully things will start to turn around. For ALL of us.

Twilight Tuesday does not Dazzle pour moi!

Weather– high: 90 degrees and ZOMG! WHO UPENDED THE SWAMP ON MY HEAD???

Well, according to zee Witches’ Almanac, today the moon goes into my sign, and the advice for the day is “Fashion a Poppet“. Looks like I’ll be doing sympathetic magic tonight. Huh.

Feeling gross. Overweight and pms’d. Not a good combo. ESPECIALLY in light of the wonderful weather we’re having right now.

Am practically chomping at the bit to see The Dark Knight. Seeing all the positive reviews is just making the anticipation worse!
[clearspring_widget title=”The Dark Knight” wid=”483c67963f1fc829″ pid=”487cea1a634c593d” width=”350″ height=”270″ domain=”widgets.clearspring.com”]

I’ve been using Google image to look at shots of the Oregon coast, which is making me sigh a lot. Then I checked the current weather. 76 degrees and 44% humidity. It’s enough to make a grown woman cry.

Ah well, end of day and not much posted here.

I did get something like 250 words written which is pretty much the definition of LAME. Really will have to apply the schnozz to the grindstone or this damn manuscript is gonna sputter and die. SIGH.

OH! And all of you! GO SEE THIS ONLINE NOW!
Doctor Horrible’s  Sing-along BLOG

ETA: (You may have to use i-tunes to see it, because their server has gotten hosed from the mass number of hits!)

ETA AGAIN:

A Message From the Doctor Horrible team:

“We love you for crashing the site, we really do. In the meantime, those of you who have iTunes capabilities can go there and get your fix. Our site should be up and running again in a few hours. Your support is warming our hearts and kicking our asses. So thank you thank you. J, M, J, Z”

Short description: Joss Whedon and a cast of several made a show during the writer’s strike. It’s very funny. GO WATCH NOW!

Ta till tomorrow peoples..

New Mooon on Wednesday….(Nope, doesn’t have the same ring)

Things at home are settling down a little. Snoots has been enjoying the added attention and we’ve been happy with a grey furry distraction.

Bri got the call today from the vet that Apache’s ashes are ready. We’ll be burying her near my dad’s gravesite. I think it’s appropriate.

Need to get my damn laptop fixed. My writing is suffering from not being able to type it out. Writing longhand is only good for a short term as I have a tendency not to be able to read my own writing after a few days. Sad but true.

The 4th is this weekend, Friday to be precise. Bri and I will be visiting my dad’s grave and then heading back to Chez Nous for a quiet dinner and movies. We both have just decided to make the Fourth our own holiday. I hate traveling with all the psychos and drunks on the road when we return from the relatives’ places. Besides, our big celebration for this day was my dad’s birthday…and let’s be blunt. We’re not really doing that anymore.

Want DESPERATELY to go see Hellboy II when it comes out next weekend. I mean COME ON!!!

MUST SEE!

Monday: The maligned start of the work week…

Weather: High–77 degrees and partly sunny.

Well, I’ll deal with the elephant in the room first. I’m okay. Apache’s passing hit me hard, but relief at the ease in her pain has overtaken my sadness at her loss. I think I’ve seen her twice in the house already, so I think she may be lurking. I did a small release ceremony for her on Saturday evening. I asked the Lady Bast to intercede and help her across. I felt when she went and there was a large overwhelming sense of peace. Maybe that’s why I’m not bawling constantly. I miss her but she’s happier now.

Now onto things of a less melancholy nature.

Went and saw Wanted on Saturday. I needed out of the house and we figured mindless violence might counteract my anger and sadness. And god love em, it did. I’ve seen a lot of pooh-poohing the movie across the intrawebs, mostly by people who are wont to pooh-pooh anything that doesn’t fit their tiny definition of “good film”. This was a popcorn film in the best possible sense. Black humour, ultra-violence, and various states of undress for the cast members. Woot! I loved it.  It was snarky and visually stunning and yes, required an IMMENSE suspension of disbelief. It wasn’t supposed to be a frikkin’ documentary or straightforward drama. GET OVER IT PEOPLE! I came out of it with a huge smile on my face, which was amazing considering the circumstances. Really wanted to get in shape, get a tattoo and take up some assassin training. SRSLY!

Work is extremely busy today so I’m gonna cut this short. End of month and more projects that need some attention.

More tomorrow including my long awaited New York Trip write up part 2!

Daily Vid:

A Bit of Wanted, just for kicks. This is the R-rated trailer, so probably NSFW.

Don’t Blink! Blink and you’re DEAD!

Weather: High- 61 degrees & Partly Sunny (::checks calendar:: It’s MAY right??)

Sooo. Weather is kinda chilly and gloomy. The kind of weather that makes you want to nap, regardless of how much sleep you got the night before.

A brief sideline into Geeky Fandom: I’m all asquee because it was just announced that Stephen Moffat will be replacing Russell T Davis as the head writer for Doctor Who. Those of you who have watched the new series will remember Stephen as th guy who wrote the “The Empty Child/Doctor Dances” (introducing us to Captain Jack), and “The Girl in the Fireplace” (With my Moonlight home girl Sophia Myles), and that damnably creepy “Blink” with it’s scary weeping angels. He’s also previously worked on the British comedy “Coupling” and “Jekyll” which ranks very high on my list of wicked awesome miniseries. Needless to say, I think Doctor Who is in FANTASTIC hands. SQUEE!

Movies update:

1. Finally saw Pirates of the Caribbean: 3— Liked it but didn’t love it. Was a little disappointed they made Will and Elizabeth have such a bittersweet ending and ZOMG THEY KILLED NORRINGTON!
2. Watched Sunshine: Cannot praise this film ENOUGH! It was amazing. Kind of a cross between Event Horizon and Solaris. Bri and I agreed that the tension was THICK throughout the entire film. I was just happy I got to sit through 2 hours of Cillian Murphy, though I missed his lovely Irish accent in this one.
3. Caught Surf’s Up on cable and found it adorable and eminently quoteable. Loved that they made it look like it was filmed by a documentary crew. VERY funny in parts.
4. Saw Becoming Jane. Am going to BUY it. LOVED THIS MOVIE!!! James McAvoy just needs to be bronzed and put on my mantle. Or read the phone book to me in his lovely Scottish brogue. And yes, I realize it is nowhere near biographically accurate. DON’T CARE!

Next up: Elizabeth: the Golden Age, The Golden Compass, Sphere (I’ve seen it, hubby hasn’t), Death at a Funeral (Because Alan Tudyk, Matthew Macfadyen, & Keeley Hawes? SO THERE) and The Namesake (which has sat bereft on the entertainment center for a month now.)

DAILY VID:

A Perfect Circle — Judith (I’m an unabashed Tool and APC fan. This was on the first APC album – Mer De Noms.)

Mephisto Walz — Mephisto Waltz (Needed a Goth Vid today and I love this song to distraction. )

Spring…seems to have left the building…

Weather: high — 49 degrees (!!!) and partly sunny. (It’s colder than a witch’s left….::looks down:: well YOU KNOW!)

So…wee bit chilly round Chi-Town way today. Walk to the office was a treat. But I have coffee and homemade chocolate chip Writer’s Block bread to warm me back up.

Apache seems to be doing well. The vet has me keeping an eye on on her for the short term, but she seems to be back to her old self.

I’m so frikkin tired today. Eyes are watering constantly which does not make for happy eyes.

Okay, confession time.  Ready? ::deep breath::

I’m a huge “Twilight” fan. Yes I know the books are brain candy for teens. Yes I know they’re hardly literary classics. But they’re like crack. And I honestly cannot wait for the damn movie to come out this December.  I mean SRSLY. I’ve been having dreams about the characters.
I know I’m usually pretty obsessive about vampire related stuff (Remember my feverish refreshing of the YouTube of Mick’s turning on Moonlight? Yeah. OBSESSIVE).  It’s an obsession I’ve had since I was very little. I used to sneak out of my room when I was supposed to be napping at age 3 and surreptitiously watch Dark Shadows from the doorway of my mum’s sitting room. She knew I was there and would “Discover” me if things got too scary, but for the most part she let me watch. My vampire love was born early. I have a huge collection of vampire related books, movies and thematically related music. Hell, I’m even writing a Vampire novel as we speak! Fell sideways into the Goth subculture in my teens as well.

So why the lengthy ramble? Because I think the one thing that Stephenie Meyers books have that has captured my attention is she put a new bit of twist on the mythology. Her vampires don’t have fangs, just very sharp teeth, which are coated with venom. To turn a human you have to put them through days of sheer burning agony. She’s taken the pleasure of the Turning and, if you’ll excuse the expression, turned it on its ear.
Vampire mythology is an interesting area to write fiction in since there is no definitive canon and probably has the most vicious arguments raised over what a vampire is supposed to look like, act like and a host of other sundry minutiae. There have been so many variations written, some to good effect, some not so much. We have romantic vampires, vicious vampires, animalistic vampires, fangless vampires, vampires who can walk in the sun…the list goes on and on. It’s almost impossible to find a creative twist on the vampire mythos that hasn’t been done into the ground already, or without going so far off the grid, your vampire resembles nothing that can be CALLED a vampire. SIGH. And it should be noted that Werewolves have a similar dilemma.

Anyway. enough with the rambling for the day. Have month end reports lurking like the smoke monster behind my monitors, just waiting to leap on me when my attention is diverted…should go deal with that! Also have some writing to do today.

OH!  forgot to mention I started my workout regimen yesterday and have sore abs as a result. Gonna keep up with it though, so hopefully I can look decent for the wedding in June.

Daily Vid post:

This song has been stuck in my head for the past few days…and the vid is just a neat visual mindf*ck. So without further ado –more homeboys from Chicago:

Chevelle — Vitamin R (Leading us Along)

and just for S & Gs, (G being GOTH) Heres’ a Peter Murphy vid for y’all//

Peter Murphy –Cuts you Up