Tuesday, November 1, 2011

This and That--

This weekend is the annual writers retreat that my writing chapter sets up just for chapter members. My critique partners and I will all be attending and sharing two adjoining rooms between the five of us.

It's going to be a lot of fun.

I've attended every band event since school started, waited on humid buses with rowdy/antsy kids during rain delays, gotten wounded in the line of prop duty, served countless dinners and snacks, but I will be missing this Friday's football game. DD will be serving dinner and handing out snacks in my stead while I hang out with my writer buddies.

Food, friends, fun and writing!

I'm swinging back towards writer mode, though what I'll be writing remains to be seen. Probably nothing new. I have a dozen things in various stages of completion so I think I'm going to concentrate on finishing a few things. (What a concept, huh?)

I've also been in watching mode.

Last Friday, I re-watched The Notebook for the first time in many years, maybe for only the second time ever. The first time I watched it, I blubbered big time. This time, yep, I cried again, though the blubbering at the end wasn't quite as intense since I did know how it ended this time 'round. But why did this film evoke such strong emotions in me? Partly because of the chemistry between the younger leads. I had read previously and then again on Friday that Ryan Gosling (whom I think is really a spectacular actor) and Rachel McAdams had quite an adversarial relationship. There's a fine line between love and hate (I'm not saying they hated each other--they dated for three years) and that passionate emotion spilled onto the screen. Partly I think because the writers took the time to build the relationship. There are twelve steps to intimacy and romance writers are encouraged to include as many steps as possible in their books to create a believable relationship between the hero and heroine. No, you don't have to follow the steps in order, that's another blog post for people who are interested. Anyway, I don't know if the screenwriters followed them in order or included all of them, but they built a believable relationship--

This wasn't supposed to be a dissertation on The Notebook, just a little review. Many people think it overly sappy or whatever, but I like it. And I think it requires a bit more study and breakdown to see just why it works for me.

On Friday, after the movie I was still bored and needed something else to do. So I moved on to Glee. Glee is the FOX comedy about a high school glee club whose members all struggle for acceptance and popularity in their school. The kids are a mish-mash of religions and ethnicities; half girls, half boys; one kid in a wheel chair; and every sexual orientation.

They've sung songs from R&B to show tunes to pop to classic rock and from every decade since the 20s (Louis Armstrong's "When You're Smiling"). The story lines are very over the top, but it's funny, though I don't recommend it for youngish children. I wouldn't even recommend it for high schoolers, to be honest.

So anyway, I blew through season one over the weekend and have started season two.

Last night, we watched Miracle--the-based-on-a-true-story story of Herb Brooks who led the 1980 US Olympic Hockey team to victory over the highly favored Russian team overcoming tremendous odds to do so. Highly recommended!

Then, at the request of my son, we watched Facing the Giants, the second inspirational movie written, created, filmed, acted and produced by Sherwood Baptist Church in a subdivision of Albany, Georgia. The film doesn't match blockbuster quality and it's a bit slow at the beginning but it's a feel-good movie full of positive messages about God and faith.

As for writing mode, I've finished an exchange fic I signed up for and am ready to send it off--as soon as I come up with a title. Yesterday, I read through the first chapter of another fic that I am thinking of posting as a WIP hoping I'll be motivated/pressured to finish it. I'm still on the fence about that. I might wait until I have a few more chapters under my belt. I also did a read-through of one of my short original works-in-progress. That one needs some work and it's been teasing me, so I think that's what I'll be tinkering with for a little while.

And that's all folks. :)

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