the joys of starting out

Quite recently I'd finished something that was definitely cause for celebration. Or for doing something celebratory. Nothing big, but a small, personal celebration. So...I have this small bottle of nice champagne that I'd received as a gift awhile back and I figured now was as good as time as any to open it.

Only one slight problem. No champagne flutes.

I didn't think about champagne flutes when I moved into my apartment. It was one of those "things I'll eventually buy." Like a toaster. I went about two and a half years without one because I didn't think I'd use it, I did fine without it, and living in my shoebox sized apartment in downtown DC...I couldn't completely justify the counter space.

I have since gotten said toaster, and I love it. Bagels and cream cheese every morning.

Anyway...back the champagne flutes. I figured that would be my celebratory purchase. I found a set of six that I loved from Crate & Barrel (can't go wrong there!) and also a set of rounded bowls that will be perfect for salads with my "rabbit-food" diet.* My roommate had bowls similarly shaped senior year in college, and I loved them! We could make the best huge salads with lots of added toppings, like raisins, lots of nuts, etc., and not have to worry about them dropping over the sides.

So there's one thing I can cross off my list, nearly three years after graduating. Next up...I'm thinking a casserole dish. Or at least some more larger dishes that are oven friendly. Or mixing bowls. Right now I use some of my oven-friendly dishes. And I'm thinking about a TV. Or a really comfortable chair to read, write and watch the aforementioned TV. Hmmm...

*When you grow up a vegetarian in Texas with family members that really enjoy their steak, your "weird" food tends to get made fun. Not that salads are weird, but the fake chicken nuggets and fake bacon I like are. To them.

upcoming projects

I had a couple of ideas for posts over the weekend, and just really wasn't around a computer to get them up. And of course now I think they're sort of irrelevant. Anyway.

I have a couple of upcoming, and I guess continuing, projects that I'm really excited about. The first, as some of you know, is the YA series I've worked on lately. It's been so much fun to write and really develop the four main characters, the sisters. They're so different from each other and it's been fun to slip into each one for awhile and give her a voice.

The second is that April is fast approaching and I'm going to participate in Script Frenzy. In college I dabbled a little in screenplays but it's been years since then. And I've had this idea that I love that never quite seemed to work as a novel. I tried different voices, different beginnings, first person and third person and...nothing. I was never satisfied with where it was going. But then as I started talking to people about Script Frenzy, I started thinking that maybe it would work as a movie. And then I started picturing scenes and how they'd play out.

So I expect April will be a little busy. In addition to attempting to write the first draft of a script in a month, I do have a nice long weekend vacation coming up right in the middle. And quite possibly another weekend trip up to New York. Busy month!

Anyone else participating? Wish me luck!

sláinte!

If you're lucky enough to be Irish...
You're lucky enough!

There's something to the playing of the pipes that makes one think of misty mornings up on stone filled mountains, with green for as far as the eye can see. The sound takes you back through history, and to the myths of Erin's emerald shores and a culture that no matter what, wouldn't fade into the mists like the gods before. It's what makes the Irishmen far and wide want to go home to Ireland.

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind always be at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
and rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

So in honor of that and of my ancestors and the past, have a great day today. Don't forget to wear green!

May the lilt of Irish laughter
lighten every load.
May the mist of Irish magic
shorten every road.
And may your friends remember
all the favors you are owed!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

birthstones and meanings

This morning I did a quick search for September/Virgo's birthstone for the novel I'm finishing up, and came across a really interesting website about the meaning of each birthstone. The only ones I really knew were January (for obvious reasons...it's mine), February (again, my zodiac sign has February's birthstone and my Mother's birthstone) and June (my sister's birthstone). Oh, and for some reason I knew the emerald was May...I think from high school when I debated getting that or a garnet in my class ring, my high school's color or my birthstone.

I went with the emerald. But was able to get a garnet for college since my colors were maroon and grey.

Anyway. while looking up September (a sapphire, by the way), I came across the American Gem Society's site that went by each stone for each month, even if they have two or three stones, and told the meanings behind each stone and a little bit about them like where they're from and what they've been used for historically.

For instance, a garnet was so named because of its resemblance to the pomegranate seed. Hmmm...I wonder if stones were also assigned to the gods and goddesses if in Greece this stone was then Persephone's stone. But the stone is also said to represent trust and friendship, which, interestingly enough, relates to the Aquarius trait of loyalty...even though I know Aquarius is technically amethyst, the sign starts in January.

And it dates back to 3100 BC.

Ok, I think that's cool. It also makes me want to go buy some more garnet jewelry. I only have my college class ring now, which I still where every day.

I'd like to hear what you found interesting about your birthstone if you take a look.

je suis ici

I'm still here! I know it's been awhile, but the past week has been crazy, or the past two weeks I guess. And of course my weeks are busy since Wednesday nights I have my writers' group and then the night after is Italian. And have also just been trying to figure some things out.

And on that note, today I stopped at the bookstore to buy a workbook on Italian Grammar Drills to have some extra practice with articles and eventually, when I know more, verbs. While there I also picked up a book on French Verb Drills for a refresher. And I've been pleasantly surprised that I remember more than I thought. Words that I rarely used when I was learning the language and may rarely use in the future.

And of course there's the novel I'm working on. I had a pretty good response from my writers' group with the first chapter and the basic idea, so that was good news. But that also means that I'm hunkering down and making some major edits to the first chapter and then finishing up some edits/plot lines for the rest. So...we'll see.

But I'm here! And I'll try to post some more excitement. I'm glad to see my Monty Python post was a hit. Maybe I'll have to start watching some Flying Circus and post my thoughts on that.

Only kidding.

the declining relevancy of monty python?

Over the weekend I started watching a few episodes of Fawlty Towers, with Monty Python's John Cleese and Connie Booth. I started watching the show probably back in junior high school after discovering the genius of Monty Python. And I remember finding these shows a riot.

I recently saw that Netflix had the show on their instant viewing, so I sat down one evening and starting watching it. I cracked a smile many times and even let a couple of giggles escape, but there wasn't that riotous laughing that I remember.

I mentioned this to a friend and wondered if maybe my humor had changed since then, as things often change. And she said possibly, or maybe I'd just seen it so many times (although that never stopped my friend and me in high school with our movie nights rotating the same three or four movies).

Then I had a thought: What about Monty Python? If my humor was changing, would I still find Monty Python the type of side-hurting humor that I used to? Would I still spend the entire movie/episode laughing so hard I could hardly breathe?

That's a horrible thought.

I hope I never sit through Monty Python and the Holy Grail with only a giggle or two.

And this led me, somehow, to think of future generations. We've got the most brilliant special effects these days, that it can be disappointing to watch older films (I have The Six Wives of Henry VIII on my Netflix list and many of the comments suggest putting aside the poor film quality and occasional bad acting, using the excuse that it was the 1970s). And no one can argue that the Black Knight is realistic.

So if I ever have kids and eventually have them watch Monty Python, will get I get a surly teen look in return and a haughty "why are we even watching this? This is so bad!" Will the poor quality detract from the humor or will the humor have changed so completely that the Python humor is just not funny...to them. Will they even care about an African or European swallow?

I did recently watch Holy Grail several months ago and was very pleased to have found it just as funny, even if my reaction was a little more muted since I knew (by heart) what came next. But...I can only hope that our generation's children will have the same experience I had on that first magical viewing where they may be left wiping tears from their eyes at the end and caught trying to catch their breath.

One of my favorite episodes from Fawlty Towers is up next, so there may be hope left. Here's hoping I get even the slightest cramp in my side from merriment.

to chop or not to chop

Senior year in high school I made the decision to cut my hair into a pixie cut. I chopped possibly over a foot of hair off. And, I loved it. I loved that it hardly took any time to style for the day, that it took almost no time to dry and I didn't have to worry about bumps from a pony-tail or not drying it completely straight.

What I didn't love was the time it took to grow out. I got a little creative with pinning it back so that I wouldn't have to keep getting it cut so often while it grew out (I was in California and the salon I preferred and knew was in Texas). And since then I've kept it long, only cutting off a few inches a year ago to take it closer to my shoulders.

But lately...I've been getting antsy. Especially in the summer when I have to worry about humidity and how hot it can be with my hair down. And for the last year or so I've debated chopping it all off again. I really, really want to, but I don't want to have to go through growing it out all over again. But then it's so much fun having it so short.

I will cut it probably in the coming weeks, and I have one almost shoulder-length style in mind. But there is a growing part of me that things maybe I should just chop it. Have fun with it. So...maybe I should. Hmmm...any thoughts?