Another Earth

Has anyone seen the film Another Earth? Ben and I watched it recently and it's been nagging at me. I can't let go of the central idea of the movie, which is what if you did something utterly unforgivable, something that ruined many lives, but then discovered a way to see what your life--and theirs--would have been like if you had never made that mistake? I love love love this concept and all of its inherent hope and heartbreak. There were other aspects of the film that are bugging me, though, and not in a good way. Like, say, the ending. And the "romantic" "relationship."

Anyone whose watched it, care for a spoilery discussion?

Random Updatery

I'm eating croutons as a snack right now. Is that weird? I think that's weird.

Anyway.

I apparently have to resign myself to the fact that my blogging is simply going to be sporadic. *le sigh* I have the best intentions, really I do. For now, other things continue to worm their way ahead of my LJ on the priority list. I am trying to keep tabs on all of your blogs, though, even if I don't always have time to comment. :)

I started a new project. I feel like I have multiple personality disorder, as I've cycled through several project ideas since finishing TLOS but there it is. I guess, thinking back, I did something similar when I finished B&S. It still strikes me as both strange and wonderful that the things my brain wants to write do not always bear any relation to the things my creative heart wants to write.

I am INSANELY IN LOVE with the new project, though. It's another YA, which is one of the reasons I decided to delay again on the idea I mentioned in my previous post (the old notes), which was definitely adult. Also, the research is FASCINATING! I have two words for you, people: Shaun Ellis. If you can find the National Geographic documentary on him called A Man Among Wolves, watch it. Unbelievable stuff.

(P.S. No, I'm not working on a werewolf book.)

ETA: I meant to point you to this excellent post on Marjorie Liu's blog about how to differentiate yourself as an artist. Really, really great stuff. I've been thinking about it a lot.

Old Notes

Do you ever look back at something you worked on a long time ago and think, "Really? I came up with all that? Huh..."  :)

I've spent the morning going over old notes I made on a book (working title abbreviated: PR) that was Absolutely Going to be the Next Book I Wrote No Really...back before I started on TLOS. This story will not let me go. I have really good notes on it and I like the characters and the potential for conflict between them. Now I just need to figure out plot and how to tell the story. The backstory is huge and essential (I know, I know, everyone thinks that about their characters' backstories but this one really is) and I have to think creatively about how much of that information needs to get to the reader and when.

Hmmm. Time to get to work!

Best. Game. Ever.

Saturday night was Game Night at my brother-in-law's and sister-in-law's house. Some folks rotated between games but I spent the entire night playing Telestrations or, as I like to call it, The Most Hilarious Game of All Time. I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. I even got a headache from the laughing. So much fun.

The game comes with a handful of miniature dry erase spiral bound notebooks, dry erase markers, and word cards. Everyone gets a word, which they write on their notebook. They then have 90 seconds to draw the word on the following page, like you would in Pictionary. When time's up, you flip the notebook page over to hide your drawing, pass the notebook to the person on one side of you and receive a notebook in the same condition from the person on the other side of you. The timer starts again and you have to look at the drawing in your newly received notebook, guess what the word is and write it in the notebook. Flip page over, pass notebook. Timer starts again and you now have to draw the word in the notebook. And so on until you get your original notebook back. Sort of like a combination of Pictionary and Operator. You score points if the word at the end matches the word at the beginning (and you can also score points for most creative and most hilarious).

Let me show you why this game is so freaking hilarious. My word: Director.


My (admittedly too complicated) drawing depicting "Director":

A great guess:


A clever depiction of "romantic comedy":



Aaaaaaaaand here's where it really starts to go downhill:

Almond Joy? Ooookay. Let's see how the next person drew that:

Freaking awesome. And the final guess was...?


This is why I love this game. "Director" to "Hula Dancer" in six short steps. :D

This was another favorite from the night. I laughed so hard, I cried:

Seriously. Best game evar.

On becoming a label whore

So I bought my first Coach bag over the weekend.

This is a big deal for me. First, I have never been the kind of girl to want things just because everyone else has them or because they're the cool things to have. Particularly not with clothes or accessories. If I buy trendy things at all, it's usually ages after the trend is truly trendy, when I have been beaten into submission by the overabundance of said item permanently imprinting itself on my consciousness. You know, sort of like how I am finally warming up to Adele's "Rolling in the Deep."

However, I have recently experienced an irrational yearning for... gasp... trendy things. Like Ugg boots. (I bought Bearpaw boots because they're cheaper but still well made and holy jesus are they amazing. Why did I wait?? Like wearing slippers everywhere.) Or a Coach bag.

I do not spend big money on handbags, people. I set my bag down on the floor of restaurants, kick it under tables at weddings, and cram my lunch into it on weekdays. Really, the notion that I would "invest" in a nice handbag is a joke. Also, I carry the same handbag all year round, every year, until it wears out.

So why, you may be asking, did I just spend an absurd amount of money on a Coach bag? I honestly have no idea. I did learn that part of the reason they're so expensive is that they're very well made and come with a lifetime guarantee. But I just keep repeating that to people in order to justify my unholy love of The Precious.

I absolutely adore my new bag. I can't even pretend that I'm not insanely infatuated with it. Which means, I suppose, that it was a worthwhile purchase, considering I bought it at a discount, am 36 years old and have a good job (meaning I can theoretically afford it and, damn it, I'm old enough to buy ridiculous, expensive things for myself).

But I continue to be plagued by the question... who have I become? Why am I fulfilled by a Coach bag?

Disturbing. And yet... I love my bag. So much. Did I mention that?

Revisions Series

Remember when I was all, "Dudes, you should go check out this Maggie Stiefvater post on revisions right now"? Well, Maggie has turned it into a multi-author series (all starting from this post here). Ten authors post dissections of early and final drafts, explaining why and demonstrating how they shaped their first drafts into the final product. Very, very cool. I highly recommend all you writer-folks check it out.

Logan's ancestry revealed!

You all know my dog, Logan, right? We adopted him when he was about two years old and I've always been curious about what mix of breeds he is. He's unusual enough looking that even vets tend to stop mid-sentence and go, "What *is* he?"

For xmas, Ben got me a dog DNA kit from this company Wisdom Panel. Basically you swab your dog's mouth, mail the sample off and three weeks later, voila! You get your dog's family tree, back two generations.

I would never have guessed Logan's.

I can definitely see the Italian Greyhound. His body shape mimics the Italian Greyhound's and his head shape is like a more fleshed out version of the Greyhound's. And he does have really crazy fur, which I could attribute to the Lhasa. And he has no concept of stepping *over* things that are on the floor, which I can chalk up to the Lab, assuming my stepmother's Lab is any indication. :) But, really, a Lab mix? Never would have guessed.

The even funnier part, to me, was their analysis on the Mixed Breed component:

To be clear, he is not necessarily all of those breeds but those are listed by strength in terms of how they showed up on the DNA analysis and therefore, by most likely possibility.

A Cane Corso? Really??? They're huge dogs (80-100+ lbs) that are more like mastiffs. Logan is small! Petite! He is pretty fierce, though. Despite his size, my understanding is that he rules the daycare yard (not that dominance is always tied to size, etc.).

Anyway, I thought it was pretty interesting and would definitely recommend the product to anyone who is curious and has $70 to burn.



(Lab ears, maybe?)

*photo credits: TAB Photograpic