What's that noise?

First off, I just wanna say that 1. I'm not crazy, and 2. I'm not crazy.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, I think my house is slightly haunted. Maybe not totally haunted or whatever, but some freaky shiz happens here. It kinda freaks me out, and I tell myself I'm over reacting, but when it happens again, I know I'm not imagining it.

We moved into our current home in December of 2008. Our house is a two bedroom, single story set up with an attic. Right after we moved in, things were weird, but I attribute that mostly to the fact that we lived in our previous house for so long, we were going through a period of adjustment. After a while the house became familiar, we got used to living them, que sera sera.

Then, in August of '09, some strange things began to happen. I began to see this tall, dark, shadowy figure. It would mostly pace the kitchen and I'd always see it out of the corner of my eye. I told myself it was nothing, just someone walking past the kitchen window. But the weird part is, in August 2009, a friend of mine - who just so happend to be fairy tall - passed away. I'm not saying the shadow was him, it's just a strange coincidence.

Now, here comes the real weirdness. A few days ago I was in the bathroom putting away soap and razors when above me I heard footsteps. I stopped what I was doing and turned around to see if Steve was still in our room and not up in the attic playing a joke on me (since we saw Paranormal Activity, he likes to do stuff like that just to scare me.) well he was sitting on the bed looking at a receipt. I said to him, "Did you hear that?"

He goes, "Hear what?"

*pointing at the attic* "those footsteps."

He shakes his head no and goes back to reading his receipt. By now I'm totally freaked out, but like, maybe the neighbors attic is over our bathroom. Later that night, I'm laying in bed, having trouble sleeping, when what do I hear? Footsteps over our bedroom.

I'm laying in bed, trying not to freak out as I listen to what sound like heavy boots on the ceiling above me. It can't be the neighbors, I think, it's well past 2 in the morning, what the hell would they be doing up there at this hour.

Well, the next day I went up there (which terrified me) to get a new shower curtain, and I'm looking around for evidence of someone walking up there and here's the freaky part. There's nothing for anyone to walk on above my room. Part of the attic has a floor, but the part over my room is just insulation and wiring. And over the bathroom? Well, there are a whole lot of boxes on that side of the attic.

So anyway...those are just two of my little tales of creepiness...there are lots more, but it seems like I'm the only one somewhat convinced that my house might be just a teensy bit haunted...

Some things I think you should know....

these songs are ridiculously awesome...Next Girl by The Black Keys and Love The Way You Lie by eminem..the video for Next Girl is hilarious..the singing dinosaur and the disclaimer at the bottom is so funny...and eminem...eh, well it's violent, but really, what do you expect? It's eminem, he's gritty and violent and angry and that's why we love him.

moving on, i had a photo eval today, basically where one of my managers storms my studio and literally picks apart ten of my sittings (sittings are photoshoots). Well, he picked apart ten of my sittings, eight of them were spot on, one was bad and another was just flat out terrible. the whole point of a photo eval is for us to see what we as photographers are doing wrong, what we are doing right and where we can improve. i learned a lot. i learned that the back light and hair light occasionally hate me and want to ruin my pictures, i learned that i take too many pictures (secretly scoffs at the notion, how can one take too many pictures?) and that i pose well, and have good attention to detail. i learned that i'm not as bad a photographer as i thought, and i learned that i have the ability to be phenomenal at my job. so that being said, i passed my eval and get these cool little points (basically you get so many and you move up. right now i'm an amateur photographer, after i get so many points i move up to the next level.)

then tonight on my way home from work, i got this awesome idea for a story. it all started a few weeks ago when i got florence and the machine's cd lungs. there is a song on the album called howl




(in case you want to experience the awesomeness personally)

however, this song inspired the idea. its obviously an idea about a werewolf, but i haven't written it yet because quite honestly, werewolf story lines are completely cliched and overrated right now. so i stashed it in my head, working and reworking the details. finally, it came to me, the way to make a werewolf story not so cliched and overrated. Once monster-face goes back to school next week, i can start taking my computer to work and start working on the story line, the plot, all that fun stuff.


aside from that, nothing much else going on. monster-face goes back to school on monday, turns 8 the following monday...and that's (really) about it. oh yeah, i almost forgot...harry potter and the deathly hallows part one looks UHHHMAZING. srsly.

Oh how I wish I was 8 again

In 22 days my daughter will be eight years old. Over the course of her short life she has said so many funny, insightful, random things...things that I will probably never forget. Recently, okay well not really recently, recently, she has decided that Jacob Black a.k.a. Taylor Lautner is cute.

For Christmas she got a Jacob Black poster from the New Moon movie from a relative. I hung it up in her room next to her Jonas Brothers and High School Musical posters. Two nights ago, we took an impromptu trip to Walmart after I got home from work. She was looking at posters with Steve while I was looking for a new book to read.

She came rushing over with a Taylor Lautner poster and tossed it in the cart, a cheesy grin on her face. On the way home, she debated about where it should go. When we got home, Bree decided it should go on the ceiling. I decided that it wasn't. She was bummed, but had a day to think about where to put it.

Tonight I hung it up. She pointed to a space next to her bed and asked for me to hang it there. I got out the thumbtacks and took the picture that was there down then hung it up. When I was done she tapped her fingers together like an evil villain plotting world domination.

"Look Mommy," she said running across her room to the New Moon poster. "It's like they are going to face off."

I laughed, thinking to myself, "only Bree." When I looked around at all the stuff taped and tacked to her wall - pictures of the Jonas Brothers, Zac Efron, Taylor Lautner (as himself and Jacob Black), Captain Jack Sparrow, Demi Lovato - I said to her, "It's like a total Taylor Lautner takeover in here."

She nodded enthusiastically and said, "I'm collecting them. Pretty soon my walls are gonna be full."

When she went to bed she smiled at the poster then turned her attention to The Great Mouse Detective. I found it humorous: old enough to be "in love" with Taylor Lautner and young enough to still think its cool to watch Disney movies.

My baby is growing up.

Things to think about

Today my district manager stopped by my studio to give me a hand because my schedule was BANANAS this morning (I had appointments literally every fifteen minutes all the way up until lunch)..anywhoo, back to the whole point of this...

Jodi, my district manager, was talking about an email she received and then sent to all the studios. It was from the husband of one of our photographer's in Tennessee. The email went on to say that the photographer, Mindy I believe was her name, started out have back pain, went to the doctor and was giver pain medications, etc. Well, instead of the pain getting better, it got worse.

She went back to the doctor and had an MRI upon which she found out she had a golf ball sized tumor on her spine. Upon further testing the doctors found out she has a total of five tumors. After her surgery they found out she had a mass in her left breast that turned out to be cancerous. One day this woman was living her life, and the next thing she knows she finds out she has a very aggressive stage four cancer and is now fighting for her life.

Jodi said that she wanted the district to sign a card and send her flowers, but what can that do when your battling a war against something which has no cure? So she decided to take up a donation which she would match, and our district is going to make a donation in Mindy's name to the Susan G Komen foundation.

She went on to say that one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and with those facts in mind, most of my district is made up of women, more than one of the women that I work with will be diagnosed with cancer. Possibly even myself.

It's a lot to think about, I mean, we all hear about people who find out they have cancer, but when you think about it, that one or more of the women you work with will be diagnosed with cancer, it kind of really hits home.

just wanted to say...

that the first time I saw this...

it was FREAKING AWESOME

just saying. we saved up some money and then went to see it in the theater...it was so much fun...tons of people showed up, all decked out like HP characters and the movie was phenominal...so anyways...as I was scrowling through the channels the other day, setting everything to record (boo, because I have to work late over the weekends) I saw Harry Potter on HBO Saturday night I literally jumped up and down squeeling...

i heart this movie

like this part

and this part

and this part

so yeah...it was awesome to see it again...(and again, and again and again because i saved it to my DVR)

okay...huge nerd out...

Some things

will never be forgotten

maybe there were never meant to be forgotten....

even still, almost nine years later it still shreds my insides to think about it. I still blame myself...I still feel the guilt...I still cry whenever I think about it. 

I wonder who you would have been...what you would be like...who you would have looked like...

then I force myself to forget...forget that night, forget how it felt, how it stil feels.

Season Finales

As far as season finales go this year...most were pretty lame...well...so far...Castle was so-so, Supernatural was so-so...Vampire Diaries was awesome...so far that's all I've seen....right now I'm watching the Grey's Anatomy season finale. 

Um...hello writers of Grey's. I worship you.

 Srsly.

These people know how to write a season finale. For realsies. I mean, think about season finales..the finale where Denny died a few seasons ago...EPIC, the finale where George got hit by a bus...EPIC...and now distraught husband of a dead patient running around the hospital shooting people...EPIC..I mean its not epic ppl are getting shot...but the drama and intensity is seven kinds of epic

oooh and they love me..hello Eclipse preview! Why yes, yes I am excited to see you.

Now I better scadattle and finish getting ready..I'm going to be late for work..

I don't really like "green" so I'm going...

Blue...lol..that and I'm not a sheep..I march to the beat of my own drum...but essentially blue is green...it's the new green..lol..

If you know me well you know I amass certain talents that "normal" people (I use that term very loosely..you see I think I'm normal, and the rest of them are a bit off..lol..jk) would never even think twice about. I can make my own french fries, potato chips..cereal, granola bars..other random items of food you can purchase at your neighborhood grocery store for ridiculous amounts of money I can make for about half the price, calories, fat...yeah, you get the picture.

Recently I added laundry soap to that list...yes, I make my own laundry soap. It's easy, quick and you wouldn't believe the amount of money I've saved by making it rather than buying it. I bought one box of Borax, one box of washing soda and three bars of soap and spent about six bucks. That was a month ago..I still have about 2.5 gallons of liquid soap left and a whole lot of borax and washing soda. The soap, sadly, I used because it smelled good..lol..so six bucks for five gallons of liquid laundry soap and about twenty minutes of my time...and I work a full time job AND  go to school..so if I have time you do too.

Now this past weekend we had a freak disaster...the toilet in our front bathroom decided it doesn't like us and flooded...it flooded the hallway, all the way out into my dining/living room, the hallway in front of my room, my linen closet and it seeped through the wall into my bathroom (which is on the other side of out front bathroom). My husband went all Martha Stewart with the shop vac, but living in Florida where it's hot and humid you can imagine what happened next.

If you guessed that the carpet didn't dry fast enough and started to smell funky, guess what, you get a prize. No, not really, but you'd be right. So naturally the sour smell came...we baking soda'd the rugs...still didn't kill it..used some Gold Bonds medicated foot powder..that helped (and made my house smell like Peppermint Town) but didn't eliminate the odor completely..so this morning I whipped up a batch of Borax, washing soda and high quality H2O (lmao..if you call city water high quality) and scrubbed the carpets. Let the mixture sit for an hour (to dry) then vacuumed it up. I think it worked because it doesn't smell anymore..

But the main point of the post...going "blue." I don't know about you, but I like to use carpet powders on my floors before I vacuum. I have this thing against cleaning products...my throat & lungs are sensitive..I think its because I used to smoke...but anyway...a lot of them make me cough, especially carpet powder..so I found a way to use it that doesn't choke me out.

I make my own! :)

It's easy...if you have a left over Parmesan cheese container that works great. Wash it out, let it dry, add some baking soda, some cinnamon or cloves or nutmeg or whatever spices float your boat. Mix it up and viola...carpet powder that is not going to make you cough to death, it's safe for kids and pets and smells like you are baking cinnamon buns..delish!

And if you were interested, the laundry soap directions are below:

1 quart boiling water
2 cups bar soap (grated)
2 cups borax
2 cups washing soda
2 additional gallons of water

Some Notes:
1 bar of Dial grated up (I use the food processor) makes two cups of soap.
The mixture, when done will look like congealed grossness, it won't bubble up when you add it to the wash..I don't know why, but it doesn't. However, it does get your clothes clean...in fact I think it gets my clothes cleaner than regular detergent. Just my opinion.

Ok now the directions:

1. Add finely grated bar soap to the boiling water and stir until soap is melted. You can keep on low heat until soap is melted.

2. Pour the soap water into a large, clean pail and add the borax and washing soda. Stir well until all is dissolved.

3. Add 2 gallons of water, stir until well mixed.

4. Cover pail and use 1/4 cup for each load of laundry. Once it's cool, add 5 - 7 drops of your favorite essential oil per gallon. Stir the soap each time you use it (it will gel).

I have nodded essential oil to mine because I have found that if you use a bar of pleasant smelling soap, you won't need the oil. If you use unscented soap then oil away. If you keep your soap someplace that is warm it will start to look like it is separating...give it a stir, it'll be fine. 

Take Time to Realize...

• I do not ask how you are so you can ignore me..thank you so much for making me feel like scum of the earth...I appreciate it
• I don't care if you ride my ass all the way down 9-A and all the way down 295...it is not going to  make me speed up..in fact it's going to make me slow down just to piss you off...if you don't like it, get your butt in the other lane and go around me..oh and say hello to the cop or state trooper who's waiting up ahead to give you that ticket...I will point and laugh at you as I drive by. Petty? You bet your ass it is, but you totally just got what you deserved.
• That those SOLID white lines on the bridge mean NO CHANGING LANES! I don't care if Grandma Verne is going ten miles an hour over the bridge..that bridge is scary! You swerving out of her line and into mine is scary too! Just because you have a huge gas guzzler does not make it okay. Thank you...now go choke on a twinkie
• That men are sissy's. Really. I'd like to see the male members of our government run it..in heels. Remember that song, the one where it goes, "anything you can do, I can do better, I can anything better than you?" Yeah, that's the one...dear men of this world, "Anything you can do, I CAN do better...want to know why? Because I do it in heels." kthnxbye. 
• that karma is a bitch. To the lady who made me lose that sale because you couldn't shut your big fat mouth, I hope you trip and fall. Thank you for making me lose the extra money I could have made on that..I appreciate it.
• Paramore is the best band in the world to listen to when you're stuck in traffic. For real. They have a way of making it seem better. It can also be made better if you point and sing at the guys in a pick up truck next to you at the light...well maybe you shouldn't point..that offends some people.

yes I just complained in bulletins...it was a sorta crappy day..I was attacked by my coffee...attacked by my anxiety especially hard today...going to work was definitely a chore...and it's not the actual work, its getting there..I have car anxiety...driving is not easy for me...I freak out unecesarily and its emotionally exhausting...today I had a bad case of it. But the day is over, tomorrows another day and all I can do is thank God I made it through this one in one piece.

Off to watch some dvr'd tv while Bree plays with her friends..

Rant 'o the day

I just took the most relaxing bath EVER! (and can I get a woot woot for a day off!?!?) lol..

Well while I was soaking away enjoying the seductive sounds of John Mayer, Martin Luther McCoy (While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Across the Universe {for those who still don't know, it's a Beatles song}) Nick Jonas, and many more..I was thinking about the Islamic mosque that was targeted last night.

I drive by it every day on my way to work. In fact, I quite enjoy seeing it because it means my exit is near and I'm almost there. But until today I never knew what it was, but it still intrigued me.

Then this morning I was catching up on all my DVR'd shows (Army Wives, Castle) and during a commercial break the morning news preview was talking about a book/TV show a mom said was inappropriate for kids.

Well naturally curiosity got the best of me so I went to the news site to find out what it was (which was a waste of my time...it was Gossip Girl..that show's seven kinds of lame) and while I was there I saw the article about the mosque, the one I pass everyday. There was an explosion there (during evening prayer) that led to a fire.

For the life of me I cannot wrap my mind around the hate some people posses. I really don't get it. I mean, I understand not liking someone because of something they may have done to you, but hating a whole race of people because...well, heck I don't even have a reason why one would hate a whole race...oh wait, yes I do, its because the people who hate are ignorant.

You can blame slavery, you can blame 9-11, you can blame segregation or family or location or the tool in the White House...but really, at the end of the day you only have yourself to blame.

Slavery, segregation, 9-11....it's all in the past. It's a scar on the skin of America...there's nothing left to pick or poke or prod...it's a scar, an imperfection on our skin that loudly proclaims, "Yes, I lived through this and made it through..I might be in a couple of pieces and I might not be as perfect as I was before, but at least I'm alive..at least I can look up at the sky and thank God for the air I breath, and the sights I see...I am here, and I'm not going to let that moment be the moment that defines who I am, it's not going to be the moment that holds me down, or holds me back. It's going to be the thing that drives me to be a better person."

Stop the hate...srsly...it's such a waste of energy...love one another as you love yourself...

That's all for my hippie-love-is-peace-and-here-have-a-flower speech...and I will kindly drag my soapbox back to its appropriate corner.

A Quickie

And you bet your ass I mean that in a dirty way ;)

I found this totally awesome site that let's you create stuff like this:

totally nifty right?

well I thought so...anywhoo...I'm supposed to be getting dressed so that when Steve gets home we can go harass the bank for the proper forms so I can set up my direct deposit at work...speak of the devil..I have to work tonight and have the world's grossest blister on my pinky toe..it's very red and very angry looking...it's really going to hurt after tonight...maybe I should wrap a band aid around it..so tight that it cuts off the circulation and goes numb...if it's numb it won't hurt, right?

lmbo...cut to: 12 hours from now, me, racing to the hospital because my toe is a lovely shade of purple...or blue...

and speaking of work..it's getting...better, I suppose...it's probably going to take a few more days to completely get over the shyness and the whole "I can't do this" feeling...I hate not knowing what to do...for those who don't know...I work in the mall, for Olan Mills and I'm supposed to stand at this little kiosk and harass people...I suck at it...well maybe not suck, but I'm definitely not good at it...

I keep telling myself that I'm biding my time until I can go upstairs and only have to deal with people who already want their pictures taken and have come to see me.

Wow this was supposed to be short and sweet and has turned into a total bitch-fest...

okee dokee world...I'm outtie like a bell button..

P.s. the new Nightmare on Elm Street was boss...Freddy was a little lamespice (definitely not as scary as the original) but it was a good remake...not really a remake remake..more like someone else's take on the story and characters...I recommend it. And Leap Year...meh...same old, same old underlying story line..I mean it was cute...but I felt like I'd seen that movie a million times before...just goes to show that when you've already made it in Hollywood nobody cares how original you aren't..welcome to the machine...

People Watching

So I started a job on Friday. I work in the mall. (EEk) I stand at a kiosk and harass people all day. Yes, that's correct, I'm a salesperson.

Go ahead, its okay, go yack or something...I'll still be here when you get back...

Okay...ready?

So, like I said...I work in the mall...my mall is kinda (psht...I'm lying, really) ghetto. Like, for reals. But it's all good. I like to people watch while I'm supposed to be working. There is a men's suit store kitty corner to my kiosk. Most of the time a middle aged man stands in the doorway. He likes grey suits (blah) and there's a woman who works there. They are the bees knees to watch. I wrote them a story (if you've seen Date Night, it's kinda like what they do, if you haven't seen that movie please find a way to see it...its seven kinds of hilarious..I laughed so much I almost peed myself...almost..) well the man and the woman are having a secret love affair..but shh don't tell.

Then in the kiosk next to mine there is a guy who looks like this guy's not so hot brother:

Just saying...he gives me dirty looks..or at least I've convinced myself he gives me dirty looks. So I ignore him and go about my business.

So anyways...my feet are KILLING me (they are blistered and I have a stupid fire ant bite on one of my toes) heck, everything is killing me. I think I'm going to lay down on the couch, curl up with a cozy blanket and watch The Wedding Date (sqeee! I heart that movie) and pass out.

Happy Mother's Day to my mommy readers. Have a great weekend!

la la la this is me...

So I was looking at my blog the other day and I realized that I haven't been blogging as much as I did...well there's a pretty good reason for it (I promise..there really is)...life has gotten complicated...plain and simple. I've been looking for a job these last few weeks, which in this economy is really stressful..thankfully I found one and start on Friday. I will be working for Olan Mills which is a portrait studio (woot woot) and I'm very excited because it seems like it will be a great job and possibly career.

Aside from that I finished Script Frenzy, finished Full Circle and have been steady on course to finish Unattached. I started overhauling Full Circle the other day and have a deadline - it must be finished and ready to submit by October 1st.

In other news, I'm on a mission to complete the crochet dude's chic on the half-shell purse (which is so not going well). I have two classes left until I complete my degree, and the Breesy Monster gets out of school in a little less than a month.

My sunflowers are blooming wonderfully, if it wasn't almost 100 degrees outside (and no I'm not exaggerating...okay well maybe just a little..yesterday the temp got up to 91 and it felt like 101) I'd take some pics.

So that's about it for me...life is hot, the sun is yellow and God is awesome...have a great week!

Paint With Me Thursday: Umbrellas

 

I like to draw umbrellas...they're easy..lol, so when I saw the focus this week was umbrellas I did a stupid little happy dance and sharpened my favorite drawing pencil....

Then I drew a blank (lol that's been happening a lot lately i.e. chapter 38 but really that's neither here nor there).

So I did two drawings, one was inspired by my daughter who kept singing some song about April showers and May flowers...

It says april showers bring may flowers (and mental note to self: FIX SCANNER!).

The next one I did was after I had pretty much the worst day/experience ever. I don't know what the point of it is, but it it follows the focus and made me feel better...soo...to each her (or his) own interpretation.

"It's something you can't change" is a line from a song, but for the life of me I can not find it or remember who it's by...so random artist whose lyrics I liked enough to write on my drawing, if you stumble upon this, sorry...

"You can stand under my umbrella" is by Rhianna (if you're early 20-something and don't know that you've been living under a rock...EVERYBODY re-did that song..and yes, I truly mean everybody, see: Manic Street Preachers, JLS, Bare Egil, Terra Naomi, Jamie Cullum, Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, The Mint Chicks, McFly, Lillasyster, Plain White T's, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, OneRepublic, Sara Bareilles, Cláudia Leitte, Mandy Moore, My Chemical Romance, Tegan and Sara, Amanda Palmer, Syesha Mercado, Natalie Gauci, illScarlett, All Time Low, Taylor Swift, Bentley Jones, Boyce Avenue, and The Baseballs, Marié Digby, Biffy Clyro, Vanilla Sky, All Time Low....lol so see...everybody...)

To see more art check out Simply Feather

'Til next week blog-o-sphere!

And to answer the question about who are Sam & Dean and Stefan & Damon click here ;)

and a much later afternote...i found the song! It's called Something by Cary Brothers. Might have taken all day but I finally remembered :)

Chapter 38, oh Chapter 38 where ARE you???

It's been nine days, NINE DAYS since I wrote chapter 37 and in the days since then, chapter 38 has since eluded me. I've written several different versions, a page or so each, and scrapped each one because they suck. I'm working on it now, and it still sucks, but I'm so close to being done with this story that I'm ready to just write whatever because I'm sick of it.

If that makes sense....

Chapter 38, wherever you are, wherever you're floating around in creative space, it would be great if you could just come one down and visit my fingertips so I can write you...

When I was a kid...

My mom had an old Ford Grenada...at least I think that's what it was called..she had a name for it, but for the life of me I can't remember that either. Regardless...she had a lot of problems with her Ford and we made up acronyms for Ford. Found On Road Dead was the most popular one (I know we didn't create it, but hey at 13 I thought I did)...and I swore I'd never own a Ford and thus far have not. I've owned a crap ton of Chevy's, a Mazda, an Isuzu (for like fifteen minutes) but my current car is a Ford. Her name is Celia...like Mike Wazowski's girlfriend in Monsters Inc.

So far my sporty little Ford has been....well..trouble...it was great at first...then two days after I bought it the check engine light came on, it was missing majority of its lugnuts, my radiator had a leak and my back windows don't roll down...but at the end of the day it runs.

Meet Celia

Today Celia tried to kill me....I took my daughter to Wal-Mart and bought her a cute little outfit (pics coming later...) and some popsicles because its so hot outside. After we left Wal-Mart I stopped at Taco Bell to pick up some taco's for dinner. Well, my daughter and I go in and get our dinner, we come out and get in the car. I pull through the parking lot and onto the boulevard, heading home. I notice that the car is shaking kind of strangely.  I can hear it, so I figure I have a flat, so I see an Ace Hardware up ahead and pull into the parking lot to call my husband to come pick me up (I don't have a spare tire). So I slow down and now I can REALLY feel that something is wrong. My car skids and there is a loud THUNK! and my car slams into the ground and pulls forward, my tire flies off the car and goes bouncing across the parking lot.

I FREAKED OUT!

This is after the car stopped and my husband came to my rescue. I stood in the parking lot freaking out. I was shaking so bad I rooted through my purse looking for my phone and I was so wigged I couldn't see it. I dumped my purse out and was standing there yelling at my purse.

Luckily, though, the damage isn't severe and no one was hurt, plus my car is still drivable. The only sucktastic thing is that my side panel is trashed which makes me sad, but, life goes on. I'm thankful no one was hurt and that my car isn't ruined.

Third time's a charm....or so they say

 
I feel like my name lately should be changey-mind-ey-Mary...lol...I heard about this (I'm taking off the big girl panties here, excuse the childish rant that will begin in...3...2...1) stupid script frenzy back in November and thought, eh, what the heck...I don't do the whole, over-indulgence on the details aspect when I write. I feel like it gives the reader the opportunity to see things they way they imagine it should be. My character, my setting, all that stuff...yeah I write a little that tells you the basics, but that's it. I hate it when an author tries to force you to see the story their way because 90% of the time, I see it my way regardless of what they write and it just throws me off. But back to my point, I figured okay, I could write a movie, no big deal.

HOW WRONG WAS I?!?!?

I started with Fall of the Fairytale, an idea I got a while back...still don't know the specifics, but whatever, it's saved in the back of my brain for a rainy day, exactly where I like my ideas to reside. I wrote an actual novel chapter for that then tried to make it work in script format. I got a page of scripted material and stared at the screen like "are you kidding me?" for twenty minutes; seriously contemplated giving up, but didn't.

Then I decided Full Circle, my current novel work-in-progress would make a great movie. OY VEY! The story is good, but when I tried to write it in movie form, it was so cheestastic that even the most horrid B-Rated actors and production companies wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole. Don't worry, I'll clean up the grammar & spelling errors and post it so you can giggle at its horridness.

So this morning, I gave serious consideration to just quitting. To admitting defeat and instead of saying I was defeated just saying I was too busy with school and finishing Full Circle and starting the re-write of Unattached to finish Script Frenzy.

So I closed the documents and walked away wondering what to do. I hate giving up, it's totally not in my nature. I may pout and throw a hissy fit (mentally) but I hate giving up - especially when it's something I know I can do.

So I sat down, scoured the internet for the scripts to my favorite movies (New Moon, Shakespeare in Love, P.S. I Love You, etc...The list goes on and on) and tried to find the secret to writing a movie...

I didn't find the secret, but I found an idea that might work. Back in September/October, I wrote a story called Disenchanted. It was supposed to be the prequel to Full Circle, but for whatever reason, it just wouldn't work..But, so not the point. I started skimming through Disenchanted and as I sat there reading it, I started to notice my problem. A lot of stuff goes on in my characters heads, and you can't really (or I can't) translate that to stuff viewers can see. Disenchanted isn't really like that. Beth, the main character, is very upfront about her feelings and emotions and has no problem telling you where to stick it. So I started writing Disenchanted in the screenplay format, looking at the novel and picking out what to keep and what to toss.

I've gotten further writing Disenchanted than I have with Fall of the Fairytale or Full Circle. Heck, I've gotten further writing Disenchanted than Fall of the Fairytale and Full Circle combined, lol. It's an interesting and challenging process. I definitely have loads more respect for people who write movies, it's not easy at all, but in all honesty, I think after this month and this script is finished it will conclude my venture into script writing.

So...there's my update about Script Frenzy


 

Script Frenzy - take 2

Originally I started out with the Fall of the Fairytale idea which is a good idea (at least I think so) but maybe not for a script. I started writing my script yesterday, the script for Fall of the Fairtytale, but as I sat in front of my computer trying to write a story I knew nothing about I saved the one page I had written and closed it.

Then I abandoned my computer for a few hours trying to figure out what to do. Should I keep going with Fall, or should I try a different idea (you know one of the thousands floating around in my head). I cleaned out the blow-up pool and filled it up for my daughter and started thinking.

Back in November I participated in something called NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month) where you write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of November. I wrote a novel called Full Circle (it way went over the 50,000 limit, its currently 133,593 and there are still two more chapters to be written), its the story of these three teenagers - Cate, Ryan, and Jackson, who went to high school together and all three wind up going to different colleges in Florida.

The characters Ryan and Cate are dating, they'd been dating since high school and while they are in college they grow apart and Cate and Jackson (Jack for short) start getting closer, then one thing leads to another and they wind up having a one night stand and Ryan finds out (he walks in and sees them in bed together) and Cate and Ryan break up.

Flash forward a few months later Cate is pregnant, she and Jack basically move intogether (they dated in high school for a little while but have been close friends since, add to that the fact that Jack is in love with Cate)..anywhoo..the story goes from there to follow Cate and Jack as they fall in love and raise the baby. Somethings happen and it gets downright depressing, then it gets better...lol. I don't want to give it all away right out of the gate..

So, I decided that since it's a story that is mostly finished it would be a good idea to write a script based off that. It provides a backbone for the script, characters, setting, plot...all those really great things you need to make a movie.

Not only that but the story takes place over the span of ten years and in the novel version one chapter will end and the new one begins six months, even a year later. So we'll see. I started writing the script for Full Circle last night and worte three pages. I would've written more but I was exhausted, lol...staying up until well after midnight writing will do that to a person. So today I'm going to dive back in and really sink my teeth into it.

So yay! I have an idea and I have a start. Now I just have to finish!

The Frenzy Begins...

Tomorrow and I still don't have a solid idea. I'm beginning to think I might just have to sit this one out. It doesn't help that my closest friend and confidant is treating me like I have the most contagious case of leprosy...and we only talk over the internet...

*sighs*

It doesn't help that I'm doubting my ability to actually write a screen play. I can write a novel like no body's business, that's easy, but a screenplay? I don't know.

I'm talking to myself here in hopes of getting an idea...lol..how sad and pathetic is that.

Paint With Me Thursday: Nature

Okay, at the risk of sounding like a total nerd, I am totally in love with Simply Feather's Paint With Me Thursdays. It's like the icing on super delicious cupcake because let's face it, Thursday is the best day of the week. 

for realsies. 

I know many of you disagree and say Nikki are you nuts? Friday is totally the best day of the week. I disagree. Thursday are the best. Well Thursday nights are the best. 

Stefan and Damon Salvatore

then

Sam and Dean Winchester

then 

McDreamy and McSteamy

then 

the drama that is Private Practice

then
the adorable Aussie turned "psychic" turned CBI profiler, Simon Baker aka Patrick Jane aka The Mentalist.

Yeah, my poor DVR DESPISES Thursday nights because that's the one night of the week it works like a dog..lol. 

Anywhooo..back to Paint With Me Thursdays...

I like to write, in fact I write a lot. Its an escape...most of the time. Sometimes its a pain because I'm fresh out of ideas. A while back I bought an art book that I dubbed my idea book. When I get stuck with a chapter or plot or character I doodle and draw random things, sometimes they are associated with my story, others, they are just for fun. 

But lately I have been doing more doodling, and it helps with writing. Or at least I think so. But that's neither here nor there.

So now I'll quit yapping and get to the point of this here post. :)

This week's topic or subject, whatever you will call it is cool with me, was nature. I have a vase of sunflowers on my mantle that were the inspiration for my "drawing" this week.

So that's how nature inspired me this week. Maybe I'll sit outside and let nature inspire me some more!

To see more art click me! click me!