What My Husband and Daughter Did Over the Summer

Two weekends ago my husband wanted us to jump in the car and drive up to Yosemite to see all the extra waterfalls brought on by the extra heavy snows from last winter. As beautiful as Yosemite is, and as much as I love waterfalls, my instincts told me I would be unhappy with the spur of the moment EIGHT HOUR road trip that would include at least one of our children. Our twenty-year-old twins opted out, preferring to spend the weekend with their friends than with their family. Our ten-year-old was up for it, so her father and I decided it would be a daddy/daughter trip, which would also save money. Below are some photos taken from the trip. My daughter too the pictures, with the exception of the photos she is in.

Charley wearing his Simon and Garfunkel concert T-shirt. 

I think they wanted to show the juxtaposition of the snow and the tourists in shorts and tank tops. It was very crowded that day, so I am not sorry I missed the trip.

They actually saw this young buck while they were walking along a trail. There is a better picture somewhere of this, but I couldn't find it. 

What a beautiful view! And Yosemite looks good too! 

Crocheting a Lacy Sweater

So the theme for August is "Fiction" yet, more often than not, I'm writing non-fiction posts. Glad it's optional!

In addition to reading Mockingjay, I'm also working on a crochet-a-long sweater with a pattern from Interweave Crochet.

If you follow the link, you will see photos of how the finished product should look. I am way behind on my sweater. I'm making it for my daughter. She preferred a different color. I'm using Naturally Caron.com SPA, which is a bamboo blend. The color is called "Greensleeves."

Here are some photos of my WIP*
*Work In Progress

The flash kind of washes out the color

I put a standard sized ball point pen here as a size comparison.

This is supposed to be the "wrong" side, but I think I prefer it to the "right" side shown below

The "right" side

Random Thoughts

I know this is a Jerry Seinfeld bit, but really, I thought of it before I heard him say it. Why do I suddenly have to go to the bathroom as soon as I'm inside a bookstore? My bowels just suddenly drop and thank god they have a bathroom!

Starbuck's Protein Bistro Box is the same thing as their Protein Plate, but in a box.

I really like their Berry Hibiscus Refresher. I keep forgetting to get it in a vente instead of a grande.

That is all for today because I'm only 1/3 of the way through with Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. Yes, I am 43 39 years old and am reading a young adult novel. What of it? I AM a young adult. I mean, I'm not a senior citizen, right? I am an adult and I'm young (ish).

Starry Night

This counts as a blog post, right? Because normally, I don't go on the computer on Sundays. It isn't a religious thing, it's just that I like to have at least one day where I'm computer-free. Sometimes I skip Saturdays as well. See you Monday!

Daniel Craig in Chaps/Catching Fire

I just came back from watching Cowboys and Aliens. It was freaking awesome! I would pay full price to see it again! I don't want to give you any more spoilers than you'll get from going to the Official Movie Page, but lookee here:

(You're welcome.)

I'm going to be a bit flaky and not write much because I am so engrossed in the second book of the Hunger Games Series, Catching Fire. I have less than 100 pages to go, then on to the third and final book in the series, Mockingjay. So....um...bye for now....

  

Nothing Comes to Mind...

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....
That is the only opening line that immediately comes to mind*. Obviously, it isn't my creation. My own opening line? I can't think of any offhand. I've been sitting here for several minutes and still, nothing comes to mind.

What does keep coming to my mind recently is how I have apparently been watching too much BBCAmerica because there I was watching a program where one of the characters is supposed to be from London, but I turn to my daughter, and say, "Actually, she sounds more like she's from Wales, doesn't she?" My daughter looks at me like she has no idea what I am talking about. That would be due to the fact that she had no idea what I was talking about.  But then, she doesn't watch as many programs on BBCAmerica as I do. I am now beginning to differentiate a few UK dialects from each other. Possibly around the same amount of US dialects that I could tell apart from each other--and I was born and raised here, in Southern California! Maybe I should start watching some telenovellas on Univision and see what happens?



*NaBloPoMo's writing prompt for today is: What is the best first sentence you can think of off the top of your head?

Is There a Doctor in the House?

NaBloPoMo's writing prompt for the day: Which character would you most like to meet?

Here's my answer:

And just to make things perfectly clear:

Clear enough?

Yes, I Do Realize There is No One Else in the Room

I am reading a novel and really getting into it. The writer has done an excellent job of making me feel outraged at the behavior of one of the antagonists. I don't realize quite how outraged I am until my daughter walks in the room and asks, "Who are you talking to, mom?"

"Um...no one," I reply, while attempting to avoid eye contact with my fifth grader.

"Then why did I hear you talking?" 

That's when she notices my book.

"Oh, are mad at your book again?"

"Yes..." I'm still avoiding eye contact, while uselessly attempting to stifle a grin. 

My daughter just laughs quietly and rolls her eyes on her way out of the room. She knows she can't say much because she has been caught talking to empty rooms on many occasions; though I have yet to catch her telling off a troublesome fictional character --this does not mean it hasn't happened-- just that she hasn't yet been caught!

I have been known to spend a good fifteen minutes or more (at least until the back light in my NOOK Color times out) having heated conversations with some character, attempting to verbally rip them a new one for all the horrible things they are doing to the protagonist. I hoped that my sharp tongued lectures would shame Jane Eyre's wicked aunt, Mrs. Reed into decency. I fantasized about having Miss Scatcherd drawn and quartered.

When I was younger, I wanted in on all the action in the Chronicles of Narnia. I seriously wanted to meet Reepicheep. I didn't realize that I might also like to meet Mr. Tumnus, though until I saw him portrayed by James McAvoy, but then, that's another story...

(Rawr!) 

Should Be Reading's Teaser Tuesdays/ Favorite author?

This morning I learned about Teaser Tuesdays from the NaBloPoMo site. I am supposed to take the book I am currently reading, turn to a random page, share 2 teaser sentences (no spoilers) and post them to your blog along with the title of the book and author, sharing the link in the comments section of the Teaser Tuesday's post on the Should Be Reading blog. If you don't have a blog, then post the information directly in the comments of the Teaser Tuesdays post.

The book I am reading, I downloaded to my NOOK Color, so I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to "turn" to a random page. It doesn't seem to have a feature for that, so I'm bookmarking the page I'm on, closing my eyes and turning pages back for a few seconds. Hopefully I will find a good couple of teasers when I land. I don't know if the rule is that the sentences have to be consecutive, or just on the same page. I'm going with "on the same page, but in the same paragraph."

Here goes:

"One kiss equals one pot of broth....To say my thoughts aloud would be tipping off the audience that the romance had been fabricated to play on their sympathies and that would result in no food at all."


Pg. 209, "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

I don't know if it is against the rules to post a second teaser from another book, but I also happen to be reading another book --this time a book with actual pages, so turning to a random page feels a bit more random. Here ya go:

"I guess the world isn't perfect. If it was, Milky Ways would only have one gram of fat and Tim Burton never would have made a musical."


Pg. 101, "It Looked Different on the Model" by Laurie Notaro


My Favorite Author


NaBloPoMo's writing prompt for the day asks, "Who is your favorite author?" Like, I'm supposed to choose one?

I'm looking at my bookshelves, and "Koontz" and "King" seem to be standing out. Also, some Michael Crichton, Elmore Leonard and Dick Francis. So far, I haven't read any Elmore Leonard or Dick Francis, but a local used bookstore was having a going out of business sale, so I stocked up.

Growing up, Judy Blume, Madeleine L'Engle, and C.S. Lewis were favorites. When I was a bit younger, I read and loved all the "Little House on The Prairie" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I tired to get into "Nancy Drew" and liked that series a bit, but never quite got as excited about them as the generations before me.  My 6th grade teacher read the "Great Brain" series by John Dennis Fitzgerald.

I also love Laurie Notaro, Douglas Adams, Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Sylvia Plath, Dave Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs.
How can I choose just one??

And Here I am Whining About a Broken Air-Conditioning Unit

In Barbara Kingslover's "The Poisonwood Bible," she tells the story of a family brought to the Congo in 1959 by their missionary father. It is told from alternating points of view of the four sisters and their mother. What stood out for me were the many hardships they faced, simply trying to stay alive and how their situation affected each of them differently, in most cases helping to build their characters for the better.

Here I am in my 1900 sq foot tract home, and I'm getting ancy and have been complaining because our A/C went out this weekend. The guy is coming out today to fix it, but I've been complaining because I'm feeling suffocated in my home where temperatures have shot up all the way to 84 degrees (it's 91 degrees outside today). Yet here is this family --albeit, fictional--who are living in the CONGO with NO CENTRAL AIR. They get to have the excitement of lizards climbing on the walls, worrying about black mambas and an ant attack that makes The Naked Jungle look like a cake walk. Mmmmm.... cake.

We have a new kitten so I am not getting much sleep lately.

Yep.

I thought if I didn't mention NaBloPoMo, maybe I wouldn't jinx it and maybe I'd remember to post everyday, or at least not forget to post on the very second day of the month. Nope.

I Will Call This "New Post"

Not sure what I want to write for this first post of the month. Just sitting here in pain from over doing it yesterday cleaning my room. I'm watching "Mr. And Mrs. Smith." Haven't seen it since I saw it at the movies. Hilarious! Now that I'm recovering from yesterday, Charley is taking his turn at the room. Apparently I take all of my stressors and soak them into my body. I wish I knew how to release them.

Ugh

Why?? Why do I forget about NaBloPoMo on the very second day?? And of course, once I forget that, is there any point trying to continue? Okay, sure, I might do the occasional blog post this month, but I guess I don't see any point in making the daily effort.

My daughter went to a slumber party, so my husband and I went out to dinner and a movie. We saw Source Code with Jake Gyllenhaal. We thought it was fantastic and will be a catalyst for many interesting theoretical discussions.  We ate at Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ. The food was delicious. Too delicious. When we got home, we writhed on the bed groaning, "Why?...Why?...Why?" This was April 2nd and I still hadn't thought about NaBloPoMo despite my post on April 1st.

The next morning we picked up our daughter, had an early lunch at Denny's then drove down to San Diego --Coronado Island actually and rented a bicycle surrey at the Coronado Ferry Landing and pedaled around a little bike path a little bit past the bridge and then back to the Bikes and Beyond shop.  This is basically what it looked like:

After that, we had a snack at the Coronado Cupcakery. I had a Black Bottom Betty:

which was DELICIOUS!!  Here is the description: Chocolate cupcake with cheesecake and chocolate chips baked into it and cream cheese frosting. It was so moist and flavorful!  Charley and Ceana shared a Coconut Carla:

I didn't taste that so I can't say how it was, but Charley ate the whole thing. Ceana actually didn't share much of it because she thought it was too sweet and just had the muffin (we aren't sure what kind of muffin, but she finished almost the whole thing and it was pretty big.)

After that, we went to Seaport Village, had dinner at Marion's Fish Market. Charley and I had the Two Fish Tacos Combo --meaning it came with a choice of soup. I had the clam chowder and Charley had the seafood gumbo. Ceana got the kid's meal of popcorn shrimp and chips. The fish tacos weren't the best I've ever had, but not the worst. The clam chowder was very tasty. I'd go there again just for the clam chowder.

Then Ceana and I made our way to shops that I wanted to visit. The first stop was The Mugger. Ceana got the Joe Cool mug:

And I got the Beatles Anthology mug:

I also wanted the Yellow Submarine mug: 

 but we still had two more shops to visit....

So off we went to The Upstart Crow. This is my most favorite shop in Seaport Village. This shop makes me want to move walking distance to the village just so I can go here daily. Ceana got one of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books that she hasn't read yet, some gum that contained Shakespearian insults inside the little boxes they in which they were packaged, and pad with a form to fill out that says "I Tried It!" to record new things she has tried.

I got "The Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath" and I bought Charley the book, "This is Your Brain on Music."

   

Finally, we went to the California Candle Gallery. They don't have a webpage but the woman making the candles (Angie) does beautiful work. We bought a small candle for $15. The large ones are $25, but I figured we'd already overspent for the day. Here are a couple of pics of Ceana's candle:

Until next time!

Should I Even Say It?

Though I did better with NaBloPoMo last month than I have in a long time, I still failed to post something on my blog every day in March. There was no excuse for this since I can even post from my phone by sending a text. The only solution is to keep trying it every month until I succeed and then continue to continue....

I'm watching Rachel Ray right now while I type, so I will try to not worry that I'm feeling too distracted right now to come up with anything to write about. Later this month, maybe even tomorrow I'll be writing about our trip to Disneyland and California Adventure.
Cheers!

Commenting on Christine Fonseca's Blog

Today, I made a comment to Christine Fonseca's blog post. The comment turned into more of a blog post itself and in my own frenetic way, going from the topic of P.O.V. and writing tense, to Jonathan Franzen's writing style, I thought it a great example of a Manic Meandering:

When I am reading a novel I prefer past tense. Present tense to me, is for story pitches like for a screenplay or a TV script, etc. –just the pitch, mind you, not the actual material. I remember us talking about this when Temecula Valley Writer Group was more active –a lot of YA books are present tense and it has to do with building suspense because you can’t know whether the character is going to die or not since it is all happening as you read it. If the story is told in first person, I can see this, though I feel like there can still be plenty of suspense even when told in first person past tense –the reader may know that the narrator isn’t going to die (unless they are speaking from the great beyond…) but there are plenty of other characters who could die. (yay!)

However, if a story is being told third person, past tense, ANYONE can die! The main character, ANYONE! So I am still unsure why it is so popular for YA novels to be in first person present tense.
***SPOILER ALERT***
In Barbara Kingsolver’s “The Poisonwood Bible,” the story is told in first person by several different characters. ***SPOILER ALERT*** one of these characters dies, so this character is simply not a narrator anymore, and the others go on with the rest of the story.

I have no preference between first person or third person when I am reading a novel. It depends on which fits better with the story and I really have no rules about that. I don’t recall reading something and thinking, “This would have been better in third person…this would have been better in first person.” I have heard there is some “literary rule” that says that it is better to write a story in third person unless you are a very experienced writer. I’m not sure why that is (maybe if I was a more experienced writer, I would know…), but I try to follow it anyway: Perhaps because of my lack of college education, and my lack of ever getting paid for writing anything, I tend to cast aspersions on my own writing experience. Oddly enough, some of my favorite novels have either been in first person: Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” and the above mentioned “Poisonwood Bible,” Or they have been in letter format: Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Everything is Illuminated” and Stephan Chbosky’s “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” which has the feel of first person because the people in the letters ARE speaking in first person.

How do I decide whether to tell a story in first or third person? If it is my OWN story about something that happened to ME, first person (I guess that’s kind of obvious) –unless I want to fictionalize it, then third person. If I started to write a novel or short story in third person and it seemed like telling it from one or more character’s first person P.O.V. then I will go back and re-write/write it that way.

I like to tell a story in third person from the P.O.V. of many different characters. I either dedicate an entire chapter to a new P.O.V. or I will make a page break if the P.O.V. changes in the middle of a chapter. Either way, I want it to be clear –unlike Jonathan Franzen’s “The Twenty-Seventh City,” where he has character P.O.V. and location changes right in the middle of a paragraph with little to no segues! I swear, if I had been reading the paperback version and not from my Nook, I would have thrown that book across the room several times! Fortunately, (for him and for us) Franzen’s style has improved over the years.

Blog Party!

I am "meeting" so many writers today! A writer, Carolina Valdez Miller in my friend's (Christine Fonseca) blog chain just signed with an agent!! There is a long list of blogging writers who are helping her to celebrate by giving away a bunch of great swag! Visit Carolina's site or Christine's site to learn more.

Busy reading the Bar Karma website and thinking about helping develop an episode. Www.currenttv.barkarma.com

Just Stuff

Watching Bobby Flay's Ireland. Makes me want to go to cooking school. In Ireland. We had stir-fry tonight. Amanda made it under duress.  She didn't put enough veggies in it. Like barely any. Ugh. The flavor was good though. She did a good job with the chow mien noodles. A Kohl's commercial is on. I feel like they are a more expensive version of Mervyn's. I miss Mervyn's.  I wish it would come back, but it won't. It has gone the way of The Broadway, Bullock's, Robinson's, May Company. At our mall we only have J.C. Penny, Sears and Macy's. The Macy's Men, Children and Home store is where our original Macy's was and the Macy's Women is where our Robinson's May Co. used to be.

This woman is boiling the potatoes in sea water!

Awww, he brought his 14-year-old daughter, Sophie.  He just made her eat some blood pudding. She was like, "Eww!" She tried it though --she nibbled it, but was not impressed.

Charley is making a big project out of cleaning out Nick's room. Getting things in boxes for him, etc. He has found a lot of things we all thought were long lost--like a lot of his tools and dishes, cups, mugs, flatware...

After I post this, I will probably either go back to playing mahjongg online while watching Bobby Flay, or maybe I'll knit while watching Bobby Flay.

Late But Ontime

Another late post. Posting from my phone so it won't have a title till i get online in the morning. My youngest was home sick with a high fever and had been throwing up in the early morning hours. I've been spending most of the day working on a hat for my sis-in-law. Kind of a complicated pattern so it's been frustrating at times. Watching "Fringe" now.