Fantastic!
things i like, really like, and have lost my mind over
June 22, 2011 at 7:20 (Art, Books, Miscellany, Movies, Shows, Vampires)
Vampires, solitude, silence, Christian Bale, anything Tanith Lee writes, The Dancers of Arun, sociopaths, Batman Begins, the original Mission Impossible theme, the show Mission Impossible, the original Star Trek, Star Trek (2009), my Mr. Spock doll, Rufus Sewell, Caitlin Kiernan’s writing, 30 Days of Night, Lord of the Rings, Alien, Aliens, coffee, cherries, Supernatural, Jane Austen, Twilight, B-movie horror films, Dark City, science fiction, colored inks, James Bond, Clark Ashton Smith, Clive Owen, Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Elizabeth George’s Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley, Spike, beetles, Idris Elba, Junior (my Toyota Yaris), Daniel Craig, fried chicken, Firefly, pomegranates, Tim Burton, maps of imaginary places, Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, the Harry Potter books, The Wind-Up Girl, rubies, my bronze veiled Alexandrian dancer, cats, Angry Birds, handmade paper, marbles, antique jewelry, my Star Trek coffee mug, swords, crawfish, shapeshifters, garlic, Sigourney Weaver, LEXX, ancient Rome, my vampire Tarot deck, the Renaissance, Closer, the Regency period, Dances with Wolves, cashews, China Mieville, All About Eve, Crystal Blue Persuasion, Bejeweled 2, True Blood, olive oil, Hieronymous Bosch, Shoot ‘Em Up, the Arts & Crafts style, Art Deco too, La Bacchante by Jean-Leon Gerome, Pre-Raphaelite art, ancient history, seafood, gumbo, all kinds of semi-precious gems, lemons, John William Waterhouse, Betty Davis, eucalyptus trees, Maxfield Parrish, fairytales, Star Wars, Drag Me to Hell, Kay Nielsen, Rome, The English Patient (novel), Pride & Prejudice (2006), Fargo … hmm, think I just spammed myself.
turtle
February 21, 2010 at 10:58 (Movies, Writing)
So I’ve signed up at NaNoEdMo (National Novel Editing Month) to revise BLANCHEFLEUR in March, have to log 50 hours of edit time. BLANCHEFLEUR, formerly titled TAKEN, is my 2008 NaNoWriMo novel. The first draft is a rough 50,000 words. I expect I’m going to spend March crawling through the edit and trying to keep my wits about me. Here’s hoping it goes well.
Forgot my Friday Report on Friday–
- Completed revision of Chapter 2 of BLANCHEFLEUR, wrote 6 additional pages to finish the “First Night” scene.
- Prepared January’s short story, BREATH OF THE GRAVE, for submission, but didn’t send it yet, have a few minor edits to do.
Yesterday I read the opening of Chapter 5 of SWEET TABOO at Wee Fictionaires. Not back to working on that yet, but want to keep it in mind.
Despite Friday night’s heavy rainfall, Saturday was beautifully sunny. I can see the wind ruffling through the trees this morning, the sky has that pale, moody look. Have to get some writing work done this morning, then I’m off to see SHUTTER ISLAND with a friend this afternoon. I’ve already figured out the twist from watching the previews, but Leonardo DiCaprio is always a treat to watch.
thirteen days
January 25, 2010 at 8:11 (Movies, Writing)
It’s been 13 days since I wrote a word on Sweet Taboo. That last scene, 1,222 words, has been lingering like the last leaf on the tree.
For the past two weeks my thoughts about how to go on have been scurrying around, running into that wood wall, bouncing off, scrambling up, running into it again, bouncing off again–same bat time, same bat place. But this morning, round about 4:30 a.m., a little voice said if you get your lazy butt out of bed, the words will come. And they did; 322 of them, one at a time. Glory be. Don’t know where they’ve been for the past 13 days.
Three Heartbeats, a short story I finished last year, is nearly ready to go out the door. I’ve found a place to send it. Now all I have to do is actually send it. We’ll see how that goes–the little voice says send it out this week.
I’m so close to the end of Sweet Taboo.
Sunny weekend–so nice to see sun brightening the sky after days and days of rain. Went to see LEGION. Liked it, despite its flaws. Won’t mind seeing it again. Looking forward to the sequel, ’cause yeah, there will be one, and even flawed movies about militant angels and the like (vampires) get my attention.
suite
January 10, 2010 at 9:43 (Art, Movies, Writing)
Balmy weather yesterday, felt like a day in early summer. Went to see DAYBREAKERS, liked it, think the story was given too short an execution for its premise: an unknown plague has transformed the world’s population into vampires and the human race is threatened with extinction.
At one hour and thirty-eight minutes run time, the movie rushed toward its conclusion, the plot twists somewhat startling. Good tension and one particularly amazing sequence that should’ve had a more profound affect on the plot than was expressed in the visual narrative, oh, I’m forgetting, there was one other amazing sequence too.
Good performances by Ethan Hawke and Sam Neill, and the ever-interesting Willem Dafoe. I give it a 7, plan to see it again ’cause the end left me feeling like I’d missed something, however, I will add it to my growing collection of vampire films when the dvd hits the market.
Yesterday went by like smoke on the wind, and I didn’t work on Sweet Taboo, although I did get something done for A Lamentation of Swans, but I completely forgot I was going to submit Auno’s Widow to another market. No new pages at all on January short story #1.
Today I must start the Olivewood Cemetery scene for Sweet Taboo, and I plan to see AVATAR in 3D, saw it in 2D already. Don’t want today going up in smoke so I better get to work.
why is that?
January 7, 2010 at 4:28 (Miscellany, Movies)
Reading a review of the movie, SHERLOCK HOLMES, which I loved by the way, I noted a comment by the writer about the homoerotic vibe between the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. This set me to thinking about how often I see this particular comment any time two charismatic male characters share a strong and affectionate friendship. Is it possible for such characters, portrayed as they are, to have such a friendship without hint of homoeroticism? I’m beginning to wonder.
Both characters are charismatic, both passionate about what matters to them, both bear respect and affection (normal qualities in any friendship) for each other, and both are clearly heterosexual. I think it’s the “respect and affection” qualities that give rise to homoerotic speculation, mis-coloring the psychologically masculine characterizations.
Over time culture and society changes—a long, slow process–and as social change takes place, as cultural philosophies alter to absorb new psychologies, people tend to forget the value of some qualities that are a part of human nature.
We decry the loss of courtesy and consideration toward one another, we know that naivety can land you in serious trouble (and that’s a constant), we recognize that like gender can attract like gender, and we try to cherish our friendships because people, afterall, need each other, but we forget that past cultures like the Victorian were more emotionally demonstrative even within the repressive confines of the society.
The friendship displayed between Holmes and Watson in SHERLOCK HOLMES is like that of two brothers, like that of two men who simply care about each other. I don’t see a reason why that cannot be normal too.
in the pink
November 29, 2009 at 7:25 (Art, Movies, Writing)
Crown Anemone, Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale
The lovely long weekend is drawing to a close. I spent today writing the first chapter of A Haunting of Roses, a fantasy novel set in Angharad, like A Lamentation of Swans. I’m not sure how long this novel will be, but I’m aiming for 75,000 words; it may be longer or shorter. I started on it early this morning, paused to take the garbage out, and discovered it was a beautiful warm day outside–so I took a walk up to the bluff and sat and stared at the ocean for a while. The breezes were warm, sweetly scented from the dried weeds and grasses on the bluff and the sea was glazed with a hard shimmer of late afternoon sunshine. I walked back home and went back to work on the novel for a while longer.
Last week I watched my STAR TREK dvd, enjoyed it all over again. What a great movie–a terrific reset to my all time, #1 favorite TV series (the original). Saw NEW MOON again over the holiday weekend, and enjoyed it very much. It’s a better done film than TWILIGHT, although I liked TWILIGHT, I felt the story could’ve been better developed. I’m looking forward to ECLIPSE, which opens next June.
I’m not looking forward to the start of the work week and the zombie run, but I’ll be busy in the early hours of the morning working on A Haunting of Roses–a good start to my day.
like water through a sieve
May 8, 2009 at 7:07 (Daily life, Movies, Writing)
The Danaides, John William Waterhouse
This week a wasted week as far as writing anything. I did nothing all week despite last week’s plan. The days slipped through me like water through a sieve.
Saw an early screening of STAR TREK, courtesy of a friend’s pass, loved it. Won’t say anything now ’cause my friend Michelle reads this blog and she has not seen it ’cause it opens today. Seeing the movie was the highlight of this wasted week.
too much fun!
January 11, 2009 at 8:58 (Books, Daily life, Miscellany, Movies, Netflix, Videos)
13,119, A Lamentation of Swans. What I did for fun in 2008:
Books Read
- Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
- The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, Ann Packer
- Inferno, ed. Ellen Datlow
- Veronica, Mary Gaitskill
- Plainsong, Kent Haruf
- Throne of Jade, Naomi Novik
- Working for the Devil, Lilith Saintcrow
- Dead Man Rising, Lilith Saintcrow
- The Devil’s Right Hand, Lilith Saintcrow
- Saint City Sinners, Lilith Saintcrow
- The Butcher’s Boy, Thomas Perry
- The Smartest Guys in the Room
- Parasite Rex
- Cocaine Chronicles, ed. Gary Phillips and Jervey Tervalon
- Saint-Germain Chronicles, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
- A Dangerous Climate, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
- Midnight Harvest, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
- Twilight, Stephanie Meyer
- New Moon, Stephanie Meyer
- Eclipse, Stephanie Meyer
- Clockwork Phoenix, ed. Mike Allen
- Beast of Desire, Lisa Renee Jones
- Betrayals, Janet Quinn
Movies Seen
- Twilight
- Burn After Reading
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Dark Knight
- Quantum of Solace
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- Prince Caspian
- Wanted
- Brideshead Revisited
- Michael Clayton (Netflix)
- Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (Netflix)
- Perfect Creature (Netflix)
- The Guardian (Netflix) (Ick!)
- In Bruges (Netflix)
- Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (Netflix) (delightful)
- Shoot ‘Em Up (Netflix)
- Mrs. Brown, Queen Victoria (Netflix)
- An Ideal Husband (Netflix)
- 30 Days of Night (Netflix)
Favorite Stuff of 2008
Favorite Movie: Twilight. (I just loved it! Loved it, I say!)
Favorite Book: Twilight (I’m going to read it again.)
Favorite Movie Sequence: vampire baseball in Twilight
Favorite Vampire: Edward Cullen (Don’t worry, Saint-Germain. There’s still room for you. Oh yeah, and you too Jean-Claude, and Asher; Oh yes, and Angel. Okay–so it’s hard for me to pick a favorite, favorite vampire. I love ‘em all. Y’all have to share, okay?)
Favorite Superhero: Batman
Favorite Anti-hero: James Bond (‘Though Jason Bourne runs a close second.)
Favorite Actor: It’s a tie between Christian Bale and Daniel Craig.
Favorite TV Show via Netflix: Supernatural
Favorite Heroes: Dean and Sam
Favorite dvd discoveries: Rome; The Tudors
i can hardly wait…quantum of solace
September 25, 2008 at 4:58 (Movies)
I’ve worn a groove in CASINO ROYALE.
