greeting card gripes

So it’s Little Bro’s birthday today, and I’m off to find him a card to go with his shiny new gift…

Since when did a couple inches of folded paper cost SIX DOLLARS?! Back in the day (read: maybe two years ago, maybe more) didn’t they only cost about $3? And those were the pricey, musical ones. Or the kind with the fake dollar bill inside. Jeez. Well screw Hallmark, I am going vintage and making my own cards from now on. Hope people will start re-appreciating construction paper and sparkly stickers…

hockey dreamin’

I have been having a lot of dreams lately where I’m going to play hockey – either it’s a practice, or a game or something, but I never end up playing as I either can’t find a piece of equipment, or by the time I get ready (which would have been pretty quickly! I was only a slowpoke when it came to the undressing part after the fact) and then the game/practice/scrimmage is over!

What does that mean? is my subconscious just telling me that I really miss playing hockey, or is it something else? Well, I know I am definitely missing the game. And I know I could certainly play in a rec league. Hm, something to look into for the fall!

on characters

I’m going through a bit of a writing slump these days, so bear with me as I get some stuff off my chest.

Now, I love working on villains as I’m sure most writers do… They are so much more interesting to develop than the good guys, and I think I like creating characters that. They can be ruthless killers, crooked politicians, the clinically insane, a schoolyard bully (I went to school with one that would pick her nose and then try to smush her boogers on you), or a megalomaniac bent on destroying the world and repopulating it with his fearsome robotic slaves. I’ve always had such fun working on background stories and personality traits for those kinds of characters – but heroes on the other hand… it’s the so-called good ones that have always given me trouble.

When I am creating a hero or heroine, I obviously don’t want them to be perfect, because well, that’s boring, however while striving for what I like to call the “opposite of perfection”, they end up less than satisfactory. If too many things are wrong with them (maybe they are blind, deaf orphans living in a Communist country with a lisp and a peg leg?), they can be a difficult character for a reader to believe exists, let alone relate to.

For that reason I have a hard time fleshing them out, and giving them appropriate “flaws” that don’t make them sound like a walking, talking cliché. You know the kind; the brooding young hero that lost both of his parents in a war, his home village ravaged by the enemy, and now he is traveling to find himself - trying to ignore his past even though it haunts him, follows him, hangs over him and every word he says… Hm, that doesn’t sound to bad actually. Perhaps not as interesting as a story about a peg-legged orphan might be, but cliché and all it could maybe make a decent short story? No, no, I kid.

dying of thirst here

Figuratively speaking, of course.

Our water purifier/filter thingy broke, and now there is nothing but tap water to drink. Well, for me there is anyway. I’m not a big fan of pop, or juice. I just like plain old H2O. But I’m a water snob, and the tap water in our house tastes funky, and I’m too lazy to go out to the supermarket and buy some of the bottled variety. I’ve been surviving on tea, and the occasional glass of Crystal Light-mixed beverage for the past few days – but it’s just not the same.

Today all I’ve had to drink is a glass of soy milk…

UPDATE: I tried a sip of tap water from the bathroom upstairs… for some reason it seems to taste better than the tap water from the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong, it still has that funny Fresh Out of the Tap after taste, but I suppose I will have to survive on this until our water situation gets fixed. I need to weather this drought somehow!

beowulf: computer graphic…ness

Finally had the chance to watch Beowulf with a friend of mine tonight (yes, I was looking forward to it, and yes, I am a huge dork). CG animation has come a long way, my friends – the detail they put into every little stitch of clothing or in some scenes, a lack thereof, was absolutely amazing.

The story, however, was only so-so, and I certainly didn’t like the ending… Or rather, how they animated it. I was somehow able to stomach the sexified shots of CG Sean Penn and the gory scenes with minimal cringing (although I admit I wasn’t expecting things to be so anatomically accurate in their graphic…ness) and I liked the subtle twist it brought about as the movie was coming to a close, but to watch that last scene… Well, it was slow. And I mean sloooow. It’s hard to describe here, but if you’ve seen it, you should know what I mean.

Anyway, if you’re a lover of medieval or fantasy-type things, or if you simply accept your inner geek like I do, then I say go watch Beowulf. Or at least see it on dvd when it comes out.

the obligatory new year’s resolutions

I should really be working on a brochure for work, but I decided my time would be better spent procrastinating instead! And since I have yet to make any New Year’s Resolutions, I say why not try to come up with some now. So here goes:

1. FINISH my freaking my book already! I’m about halfway through so I don’t see why I can’t achieve this before this time in 2009 if I really work at making some time to write each week.  Or maybe 2010. Although has been a while since I last touched it (beginning of December)… maybe I should start with some editing first. Hm.
2. I need to find more exciting/fun and interesting ways to get active. I don’t want to grow bored of the gym, which is sadly already starting to happen, sigh, and I’m already a serious procrastinator as it is. Not to mention incredibly lazy – such a bad combination - I’d get even lazier, if that were even possible. Not to mention fat!
3. Maybe not as important as the others, but I’d like to work on my spanish. Perhaps the french too. I used to be able to speak both so well, but I’ve been really out of practice. Good thing I still have most of my textbooks from uni lying around in my room. Somewhere.
4. I really am going to draw more, damnit!
5. I’m going to try something new every month. This month, for example, I signed up for bellydancing lessons! I am probably the most uncoordinated person in the world, and I don’t even like dancing, but who knows? Maybe I’ll find out I’m good at it.

There are more, of course, but they aren’t as exciting: spend more time with friends and family, focus on eating healthier foods, stop drinking so much, and cut back on the procrastinating. No, really.

something blue, by emily giffin

Yeah, Something Blew alright. (My apologies right now if you read this book and enjoyed it. You probably don’t want to read any further…) Yes, it was so bad I felt compelled to bitch about it.

Granted, it was one of those Shopaholic-type, chick-lit books. You know the ones with the heroines (and I’m using that term loosely here, the main character in Giffin’s book is no “heroine” by any means) that have no worries in life besides whether they can afford to buy those ‘adorable’ zebra print stretch pants on sale for $500, or if they should spend the money on a manicure for their poofy little dog instead. 

Well this particular character, Darcy, was all that, and she was a horrible, horrible b*tch! Relishing the many times she cheated on her fiance, how she could manipulate people with her looks, lying to get her way, always demanding to be the center of attention… I could go on forever about her flaws and how I wonder how Giffin supposed anyone would be able to relate to her in some way… but I’m nice, so I wont. Not now anyway. The book begins with the revelation that Darcy just discovered her best friend had slept with her fiance. One would almost think she was wronged by the way she was acting, until you discover, soon after, that she was sleeping with one of the groomsmen during that time anyway. That pretty much sets the stage for the rest of the book; we get to see Darcy being a hypocrite, throwing tantrums, crying, complaining and for the most part stomping her feet like a child and demanding that someone let her have her way for about a couple hundred pages. Lovely.

The only reason why I continued reading was in hopes that something terrible would happen to her. Each time I turned the page I was secretly hoping that maybe she would get hit by a bus - and then all of a sudden, she changed and was suddenly this warm, selfless, altruistic person practically overnight. That just doesn’t happen people! Not after 30 years of being a completely shallow, self-centered, whiny little spoiled brat, and certainly not within the span of one weekend. What followed was a series of tired cliches that went on until the ending, where it should come as no surprise that everyone lived happily ever after. How convenient. Made me think the author had grown as tired as I had of her own book, and just put it out of it’s misery.

Call me a grouch, call me no fun, call me Miss Angry Cranky-Pants or whatever you like, but I just could not get into this book, even as a ‘light read’ before bed (and picking up a book with more substance). If it wasn’t for the fact that it was a gift from a well-meaning relative, I think would have thrown it in the trash by now.

My Recommendation? If you’re looking for something to read in between soap operas, by all means have a go at it, Something Blue is packed with predictable drama. If, however, you’re like me, and you like your fiction with some semblance of depth or believability… I’d stay clear. I’m sure there are better things you could do with the few hours it takes to read this ‘book’. Like cleaning your toilet, for example. Wish I had done that instead, at least it would have been more engaging.

happy shopping

So despite my plan to lay about all day before my New Years festivities begin, I ended up going to the mall with a girlfriend this afternoon.

Lately I’ve been feeling stressed out about a lot of things, but I find when I am out at the mall, I don’t really have to buy anything, just the fact that I am there (and knowing that I can if I wanted to), I feel loads better. Although then there is the temptation to buy clothes and other such fun things. Much temptation.

I did try my hardest to resist – one of my resolutions for the new year I think should be to put away more money each month instead of spending it on frivolous things - but I ended up buying clothes anyway. Gotta love those End of Year sales.

And I was able to pick up the $50 that I won off my Christmas lottery ticket so I suppose it kind of cancels out the new shirts that I bought.

Well, I’d better be off to start cleaning up now. Again, have a happy New Years!

my stress-free new years

Today is the last day of the new year and my plan is to veg out and do absolutely nothing until my friends come over tonight. I’ve done enough “work” this past week that I can almost feel the stress I do during the work week - baking cookies for about a billion people, preparing for the many, many, courses of Christmas dinner (not to mention dessert), going out, making apperances at family functions, and the big Christmas dinner itself. And then were the many trips to the gym, in the days to follow. Hard work, these holidays.

I’m almost looking forward to going back to work. Wait no, no I’m not. Now I’m ready for a real holiday. Like maybe a cruise or trip down to Dominican or something. Or like sitting on my couch all day doing absolutely nothing. I’d better make the most of it!

At any rate, have a happy, stress-free New Years all!

merry christmas!

Hope that everyone is having a safe, relaxing day filled with fun and family. And food. Lots and lots of food. We had a fantastic breakfast this morning; Mom has made it a tradition for the past few years to make what she calls ’breakfast strudels’. It’s scrambled egg, bacon (turkey bacon for our family though), and I think some green onion and other little tidbits for flavour wrapped up inside a phyllo pastry. Deelish. 

I also helped her put together what we had hoped would be a new Christmas breakfast tradition, Champagne and orange juice parfaits. Next time I think we will have to up the fruit and juice to alcohol ratio – they were a little too strong for most. We were all spooning away at our glasses for most of the morning while we opened gifts and watched the Little Brother rip open his many toys and videogames.

Now I’m starting to get hungry again… I know I am definitely looking forward to dinner (and dessert – need to eat up the rest of those cookies, and I made a carrot cake with tons of icing, yum) tonight! Merry Christmas!