I just saw this meme on Sara's blog. My memory is hazy on some of them, but I thought I'd give this a whirl anyway.
This is a list of the top 106 books most often marked unread by LibraryThing users.
bold = ones I've actually completed.
italic = ones I've started and never finished
plain text = ones that I've never read
underline = ones you had to read for school.
CAPS = ones that I really really WANT to read. (what do I do for a maybe read?)
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (might like to read)
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi : a novel
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses (maybe read)
Madame Bovary (not sure if I finished it or not)
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
The Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel (great book!)
War and Peace (I read this over a week while I was sick)
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife (great book!)
The Iliad
Emma (can't remember if I read this one)
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway (I think I read this one, but I'm not sure)
Great Expectations
American Gods
ATLAS SHRUGGED
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian : a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (I may have read this one)
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
THE FOUNTAINHEAD
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels & Demons (one I never want to read!)
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels (I wrote a term paper on the final section)
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela's Ashes
The God of Small Things
A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere (I may have read this one)
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
DUBLINERS
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed (good book)
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
FREAKONOMICS
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values (one of my all-time favorites)
The Aeneid
Watership Down
GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Back on the Blog Chain: How Real Are Your Characters?
It's time once again for another entry in our ever-growing blog chain about writing. The current topic is, "How real are your characters, and how much do you know about them?" Please go here and here to read the previous and next entries in the chain. I also have links to all of the blogs in the sidebar.
Before I start discussing characters, I'd like to discuss briefly the relationship between fiction and reality, as this topic has inspired me to mull about that. We read fiction for various reasons; sometimes we want a mirror of our own reality, and sometimes we want to escape from it. (I've lived in Midwestern suburbs for most of my life, and although the Midwest is my home, there are times when it's so mundane I need to escape from it mentally. That's one of several reasons why I love science fiction and fantasy.) But when we read or watch movies or TV, we want to believe in them, at least as long as we're actively engaged in them. So perhaps it's more important to find out what makes readers believe in the reality of characters. Since writers generally start off as readers, and since both writer and reader are needed to bring a story to life, I'll talk first about the writing side of the equation before going into the readers' perspective.
As Heather pointed out in her own entry on this topic, writers almost always feel their characters are real to them; otherwise, the writers wouldn't feel inspired to write about the particular characters in the first place. I haven't tried to obtain Social Security numbers for my characters and claim them as dependents on my taxes, but they still feel like real people to me, perhaps citizens of the universe next door. My characters have strengths and weaknesses, like anyone you meet on the street. They have their own dreams and interests, even ones not relevant to the story. I also have a fairly good idea of what happens to them before and after the beginning of the book.
As for how much I know about my characters, it changes over time. Although I do get to know my characters in my head before I start writing, I generally don't write out a full-blown character sketch for them before my first draft. Even if I do try to create a mini-biography of the main character, it's often incomplete on paper, as I hold more details in my head. Other things come to me as I write. For instance, I have two incomplete trilogies, one fantasy and one science fiction. In both series, after I finished the first book, a secondary character who already had a love interest "told" me that he or she was bisexual and in love with the main character as well. Talk about a plot twist! I worked that into my fantasy series, but I'm still not sure how I want to handle it with the science fiction series.
Although at times my characters will rebel as described above, at other times, I'll come up with a plot twist that feels right for them. I can change the details from draft to draft, but the end result stays the same. In Across Two Universes, Paul's mother is murdered at the beginning of the story, though I've changed how and where it happens. But I could not start afresh and save her; that would be a different book. I do other cruel things to him in the sequel, enough for me to shed real tears over him. Paul may not be a real person, but he inspires real emotions in me.
This brings me to my final point: no tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. (Edit: this line isn't from me; it's from Robert Frost. I should have Googled first before quoting.) How do we convince our readers that our characters are real? I think part of it has to do with the telling detail, using all of the senses to bring the world to life. Small details about the characters, like quirks or favorite things, can also make them seem real. But for me, what gets me involved with my characters is their emotional lives, and those need to be portrayed realistically as well. If you can convince your readers that yes, someone would really react a certain way in a given situation, then they too will start thinking of your characters as real.
Before I start discussing characters, I'd like to discuss briefly the relationship between fiction and reality, as this topic has inspired me to mull about that. We read fiction for various reasons; sometimes we want a mirror of our own reality, and sometimes we want to escape from it. (I've lived in Midwestern suburbs for most of my life, and although the Midwest is my home, there are times when it's so mundane I need to escape from it mentally. That's one of several reasons why I love science fiction and fantasy.) But when we read or watch movies or TV, we want to believe in them, at least as long as we're actively engaged in them. So perhaps it's more important to find out what makes readers believe in the reality of characters. Since writers generally start off as readers, and since both writer and reader are needed to bring a story to life, I'll talk first about the writing side of the equation before going into the readers' perspective.
As Heather pointed out in her own entry on this topic, writers almost always feel their characters are real to them; otherwise, the writers wouldn't feel inspired to write about the particular characters in the first place. I haven't tried to obtain Social Security numbers for my characters and claim them as dependents on my taxes, but they still feel like real people to me, perhaps citizens of the universe next door. My characters have strengths and weaknesses, like anyone you meet on the street. They have their own dreams and interests, even ones not relevant to the story. I also have a fairly good idea of what happens to them before and after the beginning of the book.
As for how much I know about my characters, it changes over time. Although I do get to know my characters in my head before I start writing, I generally don't write out a full-blown character sketch for them before my first draft. Even if I do try to create a mini-biography of the main character, it's often incomplete on paper, as I hold more details in my head. Other things come to me as I write. For instance, I have two incomplete trilogies, one fantasy and one science fiction. In both series, after I finished the first book, a secondary character who already had a love interest "told" me that he or she was bisexual and in love with the main character as well. Talk about a plot twist! I worked that into my fantasy series, but I'm still not sure how I want to handle it with the science fiction series.
Although at times my characters will rebel as described above, at other times, I'll come up with a plot twist that feels right for them. I can change the details from draft to draft, but the end result stays the same. In Across Two Universes, Paul's mother is murdered at the beginning of the story, though I've changed how and where it happens. But I could not start afresh and save her; that would be a different book. I do other cruel things to him in the sequel, enough for me to shed real tears over him. Paul may not be a real person, but he inspires real emotions in me.
This brings me to my final point: no tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. (Edit: this line isn't from me; it's from Robert Frost. I should have Googled first before quoting.) How do we convince our readers that our characters are real? I think part of it has to do with the telling detail, using all of the senses to bring the world to life. Small details about the characters, like quirks or favorite things, can also make them seem real. But for me, what gets me involved with my characters is their emotional lives, and those need to be portrayed realistically as well. If you can convince your readers that yes, someone would really react a certain way in a given situation, then they too will start thinking of your characters as real.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
More Links
I've added a few more links to the sidebar.
The first is for an online writing conference in October. The deadline to register is September 1, so if you're interested, better hurry!
Next is Fantasy Book Spot, a site for book reviews and more.
Finally, there's RallyStorm, a site where you can create your own forums to discuss any topic you like. Check it out!
The first is for an online writing conference in October. The deadline to register is September 1, so if you're interested, better hurry!
Next is Fantasy Book Spot, a site for book reviews and more.
Finally, there's RallyStorm, a site where you can create your own forums to discuss any topic you like. Check it out!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
A Day at the Zoo
Finally, for my non-writing friends, something they can relate to!
We took Alex on his first trip to the zoo today since the weather was fantastic. Alex's sleeping/meal schedule got messed up, but although he had a few fits, overall he did OK. We weren't able to see everything, though, and by the end of the day, he was too tired we skipped the carousel. There's always next time. We took him to the Farm in the Zoo, where he got to see various farm animals. (He's still too young to feed them.) Here are some of the pictures:
The swans with their cygnet.
A deer--I can't remember which one.
A flock of birds in a tree.
A real tiger....
and Alex with a stuffed tiger to take home as a souvenir.
We took Alex on his first trip to the zoo today since the weather was fantastic. Alex's sleeping/meal schedule got messed up, but although he had a few fits, overall he did OK. We weren't able to see everything, though, and by the end of the day, he was too tired we skipped the carousel. There's always next time. We took him to the Farm in the Zoo, where he got to see various farm animals. (He's still too young to feed them.) Here are some of the pictures:
The swans with their cygnet.
A deer--I can't remember which one.
A flock of birds in a tree.
A real tiger....
and Alex with a stuffed tiger to take home as a souvenir.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Blog Chain: Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
As I mentioned in my last post, I've joined a blog chain created by members of QueryTracker, a site devoted to helping writers keep tabs on their submissions to agents. (I'm a member too, but since Across Two Universes isn't ready for submission yet, I haven't used the tracking feature.) The current topic is, "Where do you get your ideas from?" You can follow the chain by going here and here. I've also linked to all of the chain members' blogs in the sidebar, so go ahead and check them out.
It's interesting that this is my first topic in the blog chain, since I wrote an essay about ideas for my website back in 2002. You can still read it here, if you'd like. In that essay, I talk about how the Beatles, particularly John Lennon, inspired the novels I was working on then. One of those novels got sent around to various agents (and to Tor) before being trunked; another has gone extensive revision and is currently titled Across Two Universes. Of course, I wrote that essay six years ago, and I've had other projects come into my life since then. I'll summarize briefly what inspired them.
Much of my inspiration comes from my daily life. My short story "A Reptile at the Reunion" came about from the combination of an invitation to my grad school reunion (which I skipped) and a writing challenge in a magazine. Other short stories (which I've started but not finished) came from a bout of insomina I had this winter or non-buyer's remorse I felt after passing on a beautiful silk blazer on sale up in Madison. These incidents made me think of ways to lure the "sheep of sleep" (the ones you're supposed to count) back into a person's life or what it would be like to discover a chest full of the things you once wanted but didn't get. Interests such as dealing with the conflict between evolution and science inspired me to create an alien race that has a unique way to handle this conflict--except that for one individual, it doesn't work. Yet another short story I need to finish.
Other times I get ideas from reading. Sometimes I get a little frustrated when I find too much of the same type of story on the bookshelves of my local B&N. There are stories that I think need to be told, even if they don't use "conventional" (i.e., commerically popular) types of heroines or themes. For instance, other than Julie Kenner's Demon series, I don't see too many mothers featured in stories. You could say my NaNoWriMo project from last year, about a working mother who gains the ability to turn into an owl, was inspired partly by a desire to find more stories with heroines I could relate to. Part of this idea also came from everyday life. I often see red-tailed hawks as I drive around, so I wondered what it would be like for one of them to be a human in disguise. I thought at first of a stay-at-home mother, but since the character I came up with is divorced, she has to work to support herself and her daughter. I also changed the bird to an owl so she could go around at night (and interact with werewolves), but I have plans to bring a hawk-person into that story as I re-think the plot.
I mentioned before that one of my short stories was inspired by a writing challenge in a magazine. After Firestorm of Dragons was published, I recieved an invitation from the editor to submit something for another themed anthology. (I don't know what the status of this project is, so I don't feel comfortable sharing the topic here.) This might be one of the hardest things for an author, to find an idea about a topic someone else picked. I did some research and thought about what kind of characters could bring a fresh perspective to this topic. Ultimately I did come up with an unusual take on a stock character, which then helped me determine the rest of the plot for the story. Unfortunately, I didn't finish the story before the deadline, but I may go back to it at some point.
I'll finish this post by repeating a point I made back in 2002; an idea alone isn't enough to make a story. Sometimes you need to combine several ideas before you can create the characters and plot necessary to make an idea come to life; other times, you need to interrogate the idea to generate the characters and plot. But when you learn authors such as Mercedes Lackey can write stories about paper bags (see "Roadkill"), you realize there are more ideas out there than you can ever write about.
OK, I think this finishes the blog chain for this topic. Tune in soon when I go Back on the Chain Gang!
It's interesting that this is my first topic in the blog chain, since I wrote an essay about ideas for my website back in 2002. You can still read it here, if you'd like. In that essay, I talk about how the Beatles, particularly John Lennon, inspired the novels I was working on then. One of those novels got sent around to various agents (and to Tor) before being trunked; another has gone extensive revision and is currently titled Across Two Universes. Of course, I wrote that essay six years ago, and I've had other projects come into my life since then. I'll summarize briefly what inspired them.
Much of my inspiration comes from my daily life. My short story "A Reptile at the Reunion" came about from the combination of an invitation to my grad school reunion (which I skipped) and a writing challenge in a magazine. Other short stories (which I've started but not finished) came from a bout of insomina I had this winter or non-buyer's remorse I felt after passing on a beautiful silk blazer on sale up in Madison. These incidents made me think of ways to lure the "sheep of sleep" (the ones you're supposed to count) back into a person's life or what it would be like to discover a chest full of the things you once wanted but didn't get. Interests such as dealing with the conflict between evolution and science inspired me to create an alien race that has a unique way to handle this conflict--except that for one individual, it doesn't work. Yet another short story I need to finish.
Other times I get ideas from reading. Sometimes I get a little frustrated when I find too much of the same type of story on the bookshelves of my local B&N. There are stories that I think need to be told, even if they don't use "conventional" (i.e., commerically popular) types of heroines or themes. For instance, other than Julie Kenner's Demon series, I don't see too many mothers featured in stories. You could say my NaNoWriMo project from last year, about a working mother who gains the ability to turn into an owl, was inspired partly by a desire to find more stories with heroines I could relate to. Part of this idea also came from everyday life. I often see red-tailed hawks as I drive around, so I wondered what it would be like for one of them to be a human in disguise. I thought at first of a stay-at-home mother, but since the character I came up with is divorced, she has to work to support herself and her daughter. I also changed the bird to an owl so she could go around at night (and interact with werewolves), but I have plans to bring a hawk-person into that story as I re-think the plot.
I mentioned before that one of my short stories was inspired by a writing challenge in a magazine. After Firestorm of Dragons was published, I recieved an invitation from the editor to submit something for another themed anthology. (I don't know what the status of this project is, so I don't feel comfortable sharing the topic here.) This might be one of the hardest things for an author, to find an idea about a topic someone else picked. I did some research and thought about what kind of characters could bring a fresh perspective to this topic. Ultimately I did come up with an unusual take on a stock character, which then helped me determine the rest of the plot for the story. Unfortunately, I didn't finish the story before the deadline, but I may go back to it at some point.
I'll finish this post by repeating a point I made back in 2002; an idea alone isn't enough to make a story. Sometimes you need to combine several ideas before you can create the characters and plot necessary to make an idea come to life; other times, you need to interrogate the idea to generate the characters and plot. But when you learn authors such as Mercedes Lackey can write stories about paper bags (see "Roadkill"), you realize there are more ideas out there than you can ever write about.
OK, I think this finishes the blog chain for this topic. Tune in soon when I go Back on the Chain Gang!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Shadowing Scientists
I normally don't blog about work, but I thought I could share this with you. Today one of my co-workers brought in her niece to do a shadow study in the lab. I only found out about it this morning. In a way, it's too bad that the niece came in this particular day, since it was relatively quiet in the lab. My boss spent a good deal of time talking to her, and I did show her some of my work in the morning. She did say that she got a lot out of it, even if it's not quite what she's interested in (something to do with the polar regions). But it is good to see students who want to pursue science; there just aren't enough of them, IMO. Given how quickly science and technology advance, I think we need to increase scientific literacy in this country so voters can make informed choices.
In other news, I may be joining a writer's blog chain. One of the members is H.L. Dyer. It's already in progress, but apparently there's always room for more. Maybe I'll post some "catch-up" posts about the topics they've already discussed.
In other news, I may be joining a writer's blog chain. One of the members is H.L. Dyer. It's already in progress, but apparently there's always room for more. Maybe I'll post some "catch-up" posts about the topics they've already discussed.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Quote of the Day
From Fred Allen:
"I can't understand why a person will take a year to write a novel when he can easily buy one for a few dollars."
"I can't understand why a person will take a year to write a novel when he can easily buy one for a few dollars."
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Updates to Website
I finally updated my website. I didn't add a lot of material, but I updated my biography and the information about Firestorm of Dragons. It took me a while to get this done. First I had to do the edits in FrontPage, but when I tried to save the files on my computer, I ran into problems with the FrontPage extensions. Although I couldn't figure out how to fix this, some Googling helped me realize that I could edit the webpages another way. I haven't uploaded my latest notes from WisCon yet; that'll come later. Right now I'm too tired.
Alex had a rough night, waking up around 3:30 and not going back to sleep until about 7:00. He literally nodded off in his highchair after breakfast. Luckily I was working from home today, and I was able to get my project started while I waited for him to wake up. Then I brought him to daycare while I finished the job (and, I have to admit, rested/relaxed while I was waiting between steps). He was very upset at daycare, refusing to play outside and tugging his ears, so I brought him to the urgent care clinic after picking him up. For once, he doesn't have an ear infection; he apparently is just having some trouble teething (molars are coming in). I hope he sleeps better tonight; all three of us need sleep desperately!
Alex had a rough night, waking up around 3:30 and not going back to sleep until about 7:00. He literally nodded off in his highchair after breakfast. Luckily I was working from home today, and I was able to get my project started while I waited for him to wake up. Then I brought him to daycare while I finished the job (and, I have to admit, rested/relaxed while I was waiting between steps). He was very upset at daycare, refusing to play outside and tugging his ears, so I brought him to the urgent care clinic after picking him up. For once, he doesn't have an ear infection; he apparently is just having some trouble teething (molars are coming in). I hope he sleeps better tonight; all three of us need sleep desperately!
Friday, August 08, 2008
It's Eugene's Birthday!
And I'm plastering the news all over the Internet. :grin:
We don't have much planned for the day. Given that Alex woke up between 5:00 and 5:30 this morning , perhaps that's just as well. We'll pick up dinner from a local restaurant (easier than eating there with a toddler). Maybe I'll make some ice cream--white chocolate. After that, who knows?
Happy birthday to a wonderful husband and father!
We don't have much planned for the day. Given that Alex woke up between 5:00 and 5:30 this morning , perhaps that's just as well. We'll pick up dinner from a local restaurant (easier than eating there with a toddler). Maybe I'll make some ice cream--white chocolate. After that, who knows?
Happy birthday to a wonderful husband and father!
Monday, August 04, 2008
Firestorm A-Brewing
Now that it's August (we're expected to reach the 90's today, but with all the storms we've had so far, I don't know if that will happen), it's time to start thinking about Christmas. At least, that's what my co-authors and editors have decided. They want to promote Firestorm of Dragons as a gift for the dragon-lover. (But why not go ahead and buy it now? It's always reading season in my universe!) So we're going to do a blog tour in November. I don't have many details yet, but I'll post them as they become available. One thing that I do know is that there's a Yahoo! group set up specificially for this book tour, and it's open to bloggers/podcasters as well as the authors. If you know anyone who might be interested, please tell them or pass me the contact information. In the meantime, I'll need to increase my presence in the blogging community to help promote this book. I figure by November, Alex should be past the point where he needs to grab Mommy's fingers to walk around the house. Instead, I'll only have to jump up every five seconds to prevent a walking/climbing/exploring accident. I'm sure I can accomplish a lot with the other four seconds....
ETA: Maria makes a good point; I should include the link to the Yahoo! group. Here it is:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firestormofdragons/
And I can't believe I forgot this (though I've forgotten a couple of other things at work today too); it's the trailer for the book on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWgszslAEtM
As always, links to the official website for Firestorm of Dragons and the publisher's website are on the sidebar on the right.
ETA: Maria makes a good point; I should include the link to the Yahoo! group. Here it is:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firestormofdragons/
And I can't believe I forgot this (though I've forgotten a couple of other things at work today too); it's the trailer for the book on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWgszslAEtM
As always, links to the official website for Firestorm of Dragons and the publisher's website are on the sidebar on the right.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Kristi's Wedding
My friend Kristi got married yesterday. She met her husband right before Eugene and I had our wedding; I remember asking her if she wanted to bring her then-boyfriend, but she didn't feel ready at that time. Every time I've seen Lyle with Kristi, he's been very supportive of her. So I was very happy when she announced her engagement. I was also honored when she asked me to read a passage from the Bible (part of the "Love Chapter" in I Corinthians) during the ceremony.
Normally, when Eugene and I have a special summer event, it's dreadfully hot that day. Even our wedding, which was in mid-September, was in the 90s. Naturally, we were expecting that pattern to hold for Kristi's wedding, since hot weather was predicted for that day, but our streak was broken. We were not disappointed by this turn of events. The wedding was held not far from the apple orchard where we pick apples, only instead of being on a farm, it was held outdoors in a gazebo overlooking a lake with a fountain. The view was gorgeous, and I'm sure Kristi and Lyle took a lot of pictures there.
The ceremony was probably about a half-hour long, much shorter than ours. Although I came to the rehearsal (with Alex) on Friday, I was late, so I wasn't sure exactly when my reading was. But several people told me afterward that I did a good job, so I guess it all worked out.
After the ceremony, Eugene and I went through the reception line and caught up with Susan and Tina, some friends of mine that I hadn't seen in a long time. We all sat at the same table, which was named for the Beatles. (Yes, Kristi is as much of a Beatles fan as I am; that's how we met.) Kristi did a great job of putting a personal touch on the table names, favors, and other decorations. The food was also good, though if I had to nitpick, I would have to say our table seemed to be one of the last to be served. But the cake was especially good, and they had other sweets as well.
Eugene and I shared a slow dance, and I danced solo when they played some of my favorite songs, but we couldn't stay for the full reception. We had to get back early to relieve my parents, who babysat Alex for us. (He did fine, though he got upset when I called to check in.)
It's time for me to call it a night too. Here are a couple of pictures, though:
Normally, when Eugene and I have a special summer event, it's dreadfully hot that day. Even our wedding, which was in mid-September, was in the 90s. Naturally, we were expecting that pattern to hold for Kristi's wedding, since hot weather was predicted for that day, but our streak was broken. We were not disappointed by this turn of events. The wedding was held not far from the apple orchard where we pick apples, only instead of being on a farm, it was held outdoors in a gazebo overlooking a lake with a fountain. The view was gorgeous, and I'm sure Kristi and Lyle took a lot of pictures there.
The ceremony was probably about a half-hour long, much shorter than ours. Although I came to the rehearsal (with Alex) on Friday, I was late, so I wasn't sure exactly when my reading was. But several people told me afterward that I did a good job, so I guess it all worked out.
After the ceremony, Eugene and I went through the reception line and caught up with Susan and Tina, some friends of mine that I hadn't seen in a long time. We all sat at the same table, which was named for the Beatles. (Yes, Kristi is as much of a Beatles fan as I am; that's how we met.) Kristi did a great job of putting a personal touch on the table names, favors, and other decorations. The food was also good, though if I had to nitpick, I would have to say our table seemed to be one of the last to be served. But the cake was especially good, and they had other sweets as well.
Eugene and I shared a slow dance, and I danced solo when they played some of my favorite songs, but we couldn't stay for the full reception. We had to get back early to relieve my parents, who babysat Alex for us. (He did fine, though he got upset when I called to check in.)
It's time for me to call it a night too. Here are a couple of pictures, though:
Friday, July 25, 2008
Passings
Two people passed away this week. Although only one wrote a book, both of them can be inspirational to writers.
The first one is Estelle Getty, more famously known as Sophia on the Golden Girls. Although she started acting at a young age, it took her decades (about forty years, from the article I read the other day on CNN) to achieve breakthrough success. She also auditioned a couple of times for the Golden Girls, but initially they passed on her because she looked too young for the part. Only after she asked a makeup artist to make her look older did she land the part. Perseverance does pay off.
The other person who passed away was much younger. Professor Randy Pausch, who gave his famous "Last Lecture" after being diagnosed with an incurable cancer, was only 47. But he focused on achieving your childhood dreams and seeing the world as a Tigger instead of an Eeyore. I saw part of a TV special about him, but I haven't read his book yet. I think it might be time to pick it up. Who couldn't use a little inspiration?
The first one is Estelle Getty, more famously known as Sophia on the Golden Girls. Although she started acting at a young age, it took her decades (about forty years, from the article I read the other day on CNN) to achieve breakthrough success. She also auditioned a couple of times for the Golden Girls, but initially they passed on her because she looked too young for the part. Only after she asked a makeup artist to make her look older did she land the part. Perseverance does pay off.
The other person who passed away was much younger. Professor Randy Pausch, who gave his famous "Last Lecture" after being diagnosed with an incurable cancer, was only 47. But he focused on achieving your childhood dreams and seeing the world as a Tigger instead of an Eeyore. I saw part of a TV special about him, but I haven't read his book yet. I think it might be time to pick it up. Who couldn't use a little inspiration?
Monday, July 21, 2008
New Links
I recently decided to change my template for this blog, which required me to update Blogger. This new version has some new features, such as allowing you to maintain a blog list with active links. So, taking my cue from Heather, I decided to add some links to some agent blogs. I've been following some of them (such as Nathan's) longer than others, but they offer helpful advice. Some agents also hold contests to help writers improve their skils. Go ahead, check them out!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Wild Weekend
I didn't have a traditonal bachelorette party--not that I wanted one. The most I did was stay overnight at the Fest for Beatles Fans with one of my friends. Even then, I was so tired I didn't even go to the late night events; I just stayed in bed and read. What a fitting end to my singledom, eh?
Anyway, that same friend of mine is getting married in a few weeks, and I was invited to her bachelorette party/birthday party. It actually started yesterday afternoon with a purse-making party, but I had to skip that part. After Eugene came home and was able to watch Alex, I was free to leave for the main event.
The party was at a house in Chicago. I have to admit, I haven't driven in Chicago before, and if the place wasn't so close to I-90, I probably would have chickened out and not gone. But although I did make a wrong turn, I managed to find the place in one piece.
Most of the people at the party were relatives of the bride. We ate some hot dogs and listened to 50s-60s rock until the main event--a Passion Party! Yes, they had a sales rep show us all sorts of stuff. Some of it was "mild," while some of it was "wild." I'm not going to go into detail here, since I don't want to attract the attention of spammers. But I will say the funniest part of the party was when the bride's mother was handed a product, and she didn't realize it was on.
After that part of the party, we stayed up until midnight for a balloon release and ice cream. I wound up spending the night, but I left early (before the scheduled brunch) so I could help Eugene with Alex. Alex has been clingy the last couple of days (I can't even put him down for his nap; he only sleeps as long as he's on me), so I knew Eugene wouldn't be able to shower until I came home. Besides, with the weather being so beautiful, we wanted to go visit the Chicago Botanic Garden. We spent a couple of hours there, letting Alex do "walkies" occasionally (he can walk if he holds onto our hands) and feeling some of the plants. Then we stopped for a late lunch on the way home.
I don't have any pictures; even though I brought my camera, I forgot my memory card. Ah well, at least I managed to stretch my boundaries a bit.
Anyway, that same friend of mine is getting married in a few weeks, and I was invited to her bachelorette party/birthday party. It actually started yesterday afternoon with a purse-making party, but I had to skip that part. After Eugene came home and was able to watch Alex, I was free to leave for the main event.
The party was at a house in Chicago. I have to admit, I haven't driven in Chicago before, and if the place wasn't so close to I-90, I probably would have chickened out and not gone. But although I did make a wrong turn, I managed to find the place in one piece.
Most of the people at the party were relatives of the bride. We ate some hot dogs and listened to 50s-60s rock until the main event--a Passion Party! Yes, they had a sales rep show us all sorts of stuff. Some of it was "mild," while some of it was "wild." I'm not going to go into detail here, since I don't want to attract the attention of spammers. But I will say the funniest part of the party was when the bride's mother was handed a product, and she didn't realize it was on.
After that part of the party, we stayed up until midnight for a balloon release and ice cream. I wound up spending the night, but I left early (before the scheduled brunch) so I could help Eugene with Alex. Alex has been clingy the last couple of days (I can't even put him down for his nap; he only sleeps as long as he's on me), so I knew Eugene wouldn't be able to shower until I came home. Besides, with the weather being so beautiful, we wanted to go visit the Chicago Botanic Garden. We spent a couple of hours there, letting Alex do "walkies" occasionally (he can walk if he holds onto our hands) and feeling some of the plants. Then we stopped for a late lunch on the way home.
I don't have any pictures; even though I brought my camera, I forgot my memory card. Ah well, at least I managed to stretch my boundaries a bit.
Monday, July 07, 2008
Sushi Station
We had a couple of Japanese visitors at work today. Since my company is the American division of a Japanese company, we often get visitors from our parent company. Normally we have lunch catered in in their honor. Today, instead, we had lunch at a new restaurant close by, Sushi Station.
The building is quite large; from the outside, it appears to have two stories, though it doesn't. Inside, the entire wait staff greeted each group of customers. (They also did the same thing when people left--something I found annoying.) The most unusual thing about this restaurant is that there were several long conveyor belts running from the kitchen for most of the way across the restaurant. Plates of food circled on the belts, and the tables were arranged next to the belts. The idea was that people would pick the plates with the food they wanted from the belt as the plates passed by. (The belts were encased to keep the food chilled, but there were doors you could open to take out the food.) The plates were different colors, indicating the price of each dish. At the end of the meal, the staff would count your dishes and total up your bill.
While I'm no stranger to sushi, even if I'm not an expert, this method of serving food was novel to me. I sat next to the belt and passed out food to my co-workers. One of them hadn't had sushi before, so she was a little nervous about it. Another co-worker gave her advice. Meanwhile, I had shrimp, salmon, a California roll, another type of roll similar to a California roll, and eel. After that, I switched to dessert, having several dishes of fruit. The food was good, but some of the dishes seemed overpriced to me. For instance, the dish of strawberries probably had about two berries on there when you added up all of the slices, and the sauce that came with it tasted suspiciously like condensed milk. Still, it might be worth an occasional visit to this place--especially if someone else is paying.
The building is quite large; from the outside, it appears to have two stories, though it doesn't. Inside, the entire wait staff greeted each group of customers. (They also did the same thing when people left--something I found annoying.) The most unusual thing about this restaurant is that there were several long conveyor belts running from the kitchen for most of the way across the restaurant. Plates of food circled on the belts, and the tables were arranged next to the belts. The idea was that people would pick the plates with the food they wanted from the belt as the plates passed by. (The belts were encased to keep the food chilled, but there were doors you could open to take out the food.) The plates were different colors, indicating the price of each dish. At the end of the meal, the staff would count your dishes and total up your bill.
While I'm no stranger to sushi, even if I'm not an expert, this method of serving food was novel to me. I sat next to the belt and passed out food to my co-workers. One of them hadn't had sushi before, so she was a little nervous about it. Another co-worker gave her advice. Meanwhile, I had shrimp, salmon, a California roll, another type of roll similar to a California roll, and eel. After that, I switched to dessert, having several dishes of fruit. The food was good, but some of the dishes seemed overpriced to me. For instance, the dish of strawberries probably had about two berries on there when you added up all of the slices, and the sauce that came with it tasted suspiciously like condensed milk. Still, it might be worth an occasional visit to this place--especially if someone else is paying.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Doing the Garden, Digging the Weeds...
Who could ask for more?
Well, a gardener would be nice. Unfortunately, we didn't budget for one, so we have to take care of the yard ourselves. Eugene's been diligent about mowing the lawn, but I've had trouble finding time to take care of the flowers in front of our house. I don't want to bring Alex outside while I work, and there's so much to do inside that I've let the flowers slide. But lately the weeds have been drawing my attention, so today, after Alex went down for a nap, I put him in his crib, started another load of laundry, grabbed the monitor, found my pair of gloves, and went outside.
It had just rained, but the ground wasn't too wet. I hoped that the rain would soften the ground and make it easier to pull the weeds. Before I could get started, Eugene came home from work and decided to mow the lawn before it rained again. So we worked outside together.
I don't know much about gardening, but I did know we had a lot of nettles. Since the garden had been neglected for so long, they were huge. Some of them were probably four feet tall. I didn't have a trowel, so I pulled on the weed, as close to the ground as possible, and hoped for the best. Some of them came out fairly easily; others were so stubborn I had to ask Eugene to pull them. As if nettles weren't enough to deal with, we have lots of roses--with thorns. My arms got scratched when I had to reach among the roses to get the nettles. I made a mistake and grabbed a rose by accident, so I brought it inside and placed it in a vase.
I finished about the same time as Eugene finished the lawn. I took a picture of the nettles (since they were so big) before I bagged them for disposal.
Well, a gardener would be nice. Unfortunately, we didn't budget for one, so we have to take care of the yard ourselves. Eugene's been diligent about mowing the lawn, but I've had trouble finding time to take care of the flowers in front of our house. I don't want to bring Alex outside while I work, and there's so much to do inside that I've let the flowers slide. But lately the weeds have been drawing my attention, so today, after Alex went down for a nap, I put him in his crib, started another load of laundry, grabbed the monitor, found my pair of gloves, and went outside.
It had just rained, but the ground wasn't too wet. I hoped that the rain would soften the ground and make it easier to pull the weeds. Before I could get started, Eugene came home from work and decided to mow the lawn before it rained again. So we worked outside together.
I don't know much about gardening, but I did know we had a lot of nettles. Since the garden had been neglected for so long, they were huge. Some of them were probably four feet tall. I didn't have a trowel, so I pulled on the weed, as close to the ground as possible, and hoped for the best. Some of them came out fairly easily; others were so stubborn I had to ask Eugene to pull them. As if nettles weren't enough to deal with, we have lots of roses--with thorns. My arms got scratched when I had to reach among the roses to get the nettles. I made a mistake and grabbed a rose by accident, so I brought it inside and placed it in a vase.
I finished about the same time as Eugene finished the lawn. I took a picture of the nettles (since they were so big) before I bagged them for disposal.
My timing was good; shortly after I finished bagging the nettles, Alex woke up. At least the flowerbed looks much better now, although I'm not sure I got everything. But I bet the neighbors will be happy I finally weeded!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The Eyes Have It
Sunday morning, Alex's eyelashes were partly crusted when he woke up. The only time I'd seen that before was when he had a very severe cold, but this time he didn't seem to be congested or sick. So we went about our day as I described previously. He still had the eye discharge that evening and Monday morning, but I brought him to daycare anyway. A couple of hours later, they called me. Apparently Alex's eyes were worse; his right eye was now red and swollen. Another child had brought pinkeye into the infant room, and Alex most likely had it. That meant I had to take him to a doctor and keep him at home for at least 24 hours.
As upsetting as it is to learn your child is sick and that you didn't catch it sooner, this news came at a bad time. My company is attending a trade show next week, and I had to prepare some samples for the show. I'm the only one who has any experience making the samples; in fact, I had started working on them before daycare called me. Alex's health is of prime importance, but this project was also important. Somehow, I had to be able to go into work the next day in order to finish the samples.
Luckily, Eugene was able to rearrange his schedule a bit. I went to work in the morning while he stayed home with Alex. I stayed at work until almost 2:00; then I returned home so Eugene could go in for a few hours. Alex is getting antibiotic eye drops and returned to daycare today, and my samples are done and ready to be shipped.
As upsetting as it is to learn your child is sick and that you didn't catch it sooner, this news came at a bad time. My company is attending a trade show next week, and I had to prepare some samples for the show. I'm the only one who has any experience making the samples; in fact, I had started working on them before daycare called me. Alex's health is of prime importance, but this project was also important. Somehow, I had to be able to go into work the next day in order to finish the samples.
Luckily, Eugene was able to rearrange his schedule a bit. I went to work in the morning while he stayed home with Alex. I stayed at work until almost 2:00; then I returned home so Eugene could go in for a few hours. Alex is getting antibiotic eye drops and returned to daycare today, and my samples are done and ready to be shipped.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Strawberry Fests Aren't Forever
So you have to attend them while they last.
It's been a couple of years since we last attended the Strawberry Festival in Long Grove; in fact, I think the last time we went was before we got married. So it was high time to go.
Long Grove is a quaint little town with lots of boutiques. We arrived in the early afternoon, with the grounds already packed. We parked in the first available parking lot (which was way out there) and took a dirt path to the center of the action.
There were supposed to be strawberry foods galore at the fest; they advertised strawberry donuts, smoothies, teas, scones, daiquiris, and much more. Ironically, all we had were a chocolate-covered strawberry apiece and strawberry lemonade. We did spend more time perusing a selection of salsas, BBQ sauce, and marmalade (and no, not all of it was strawberry):
After buying a few jars, we walked around. I went into some of the boutiques, but since Eugene couldn't take the stroller into the stores, I didn't stay long. There was a store specializing in Irish things that tempted me with a few sweaters, but ultimately I didn't get anything. Meanwhile, Alex got a balloon dog. We walked over to the kids area, but Alex is still too young for the rides. Meanwhile, a few sprinkles landed on us. We decided to call it an afternoon and headed back. The rain got harder for a bit, but by the time we reached our car, it had stopped. We were tired enough to want to go home, anyway. Maybe when it's a little cooler -- and less crowded -- we can go back and enjoy Long Grove a bit more.
It's been a couple of years since we last attended the Strawberry Festival in Long Grove; in fact, I think the last time we went was before we got married. So it was high time to go.
Long Grove is a quaint little town with lots of boutiques. We arrived in the early afternoon, with the grounds already packed. We parked in the first available parking lot (which was way out there) and took a dirt path to the center of the action.
There were supposed to be strawberry foods galore at the fest; they advertised strawberry donuts, smoothies, teas, scones, daiquiris, and much more. Ironically, all we had were a chocolate-covered strawberry apiece and strawberry lemonade. We did spend more time perusing a selection of salsas, BBQ sauce, and marmalade (and no, not all of it was strawberry):
After buying a few jars, we walked around. I went into some of the boutiques, but since Eugene couldn't take the stroller into the stores, I didn't stay long. There was a store specializing in Irish things that tempted me with a few sweaters, but ultimately I didn't get anything. Meanwhile, Alex got a balloon dog. We walked over to the kids area, but Alex is still too young for the rides. Meanwhile, a few sprinkles landed on us. We decided to call it an afternoon and headed back. The rain got harder for a bit, but by the time we reached our car, it had stopped. We were tired enough to want to go home, anyway. Maybe when it's a little cooler -- and less crowded -- we can go back and enjoy Long Grove a bit more.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Quiet Day
Eugene and I are still recovering from Alex's party last week. I started describing it on his own blog, but I still need to finish the story and add some pictures. Basically, Alex was overtired and very shy around all of the guests, but after he had some of his cake, he mellowed out. There were about 50 people there, and the party lasted for about six hours. There was a lot of food; in addition to the roast pig, there were three kinds of grilled meat, eggrolls, two types of ponsit (Filipino noodle casserole), Greek food my parents had catered in, and other food some of the guests brought. Plus there was a Filipino cake from my in-laws and two half-sheets of cake we ordered. Luckily for us, some of Eugene's aunts took over the kitchen; they not only set up the food but cleaned up afterwards. If it weren't for them, we'd still be cleaning up. Alex got some very nice presents, but I don't want to list them here. We still have nine thank-you cards to write, but we should be able to finish in the next day or two.
Part of the reason we're still recovering is that Alex had a streak of poor nights. He woke up at odd hours, which wasn't good for our own sleep. He might be teething again. At least he's back to sleeping through the night again (I hope I haven't jinxed things for tonight now.) But with our chronic fatigue, not to mention that we've been busy for several weekends in a row, I suggested to Eugene that we just hang out at home today. He agreed. So we spent Father's Day chilling out. We did a couple of chores--he mowed the lawn, I sorted through Alex's clothes and put some in storage--but all three of us took a much-needed nap this afternoon.
Writing--I'm almost ready to post my query package to the OWW wiki space. I still need to revise my synopsis--I have suggestions from the synopsis workshop that I haven't had time to review properly. Hopefully I can do that in the next couple of days. Then maybe I can go back to working on some of my short stories or continue the final pass on my book. I think I'm going to use Across Two Universes as the title--unless I think of something better.
Part of the reason we're still recovering is that Alex had a streak of poor nights. He woke up at odd hours, which wasn't good for our own sleep. He might be teething again. At least he's back to sleeping through the night again (I hope I haven't jinxed things for tonight now.) But with our chronic fatigue, not to mention that we've been busy for several weekends in a row, I suggested to Eugene that we just hang out at home today. He agreed. So we spent Father's Day chilling out. We did a couple of chores--he mowed the lawn, I sorted through Alex's clothes and put some in storage--but all three of us took a much-needed nap this afternoon.
Writing--I'm almost ready to post my query package to the OWW wiki space. I still need to revise my synopsis--I have suggestions from the synopsis workshop that I haven't had time to review properly. Hopefully I can do that in the next couple of days. Then maybe I can go back to working on some of my short stories or continue the final pass on my book. I think I'm going to use Across Two Universes as the title--unless I think of something better.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Cookies, Don't Crumble!
Alex's birthday party is Sunday. We still don't know exactly how many people are coming, as not all of them RSVPed but may still show up. That makes planning difficult, but I'm assuming about 70-80 people will come. (I figure it's better to plan for more than for less.) Since many of them will be driving a good distance, I thought it would be nice to have a little favor for them in addition to all the food and cake we'll have available. I came up with making cookies to tie into the party's theme (which I'll keep under wraps for another couple of days.) But what I thought would be a quick project has been more time-comsuming than I thought it would be. Of course, I don't have much free time to begin with after working and taking care of Alex. But here's what the last few days have been like:
Sunday--After returning home from Kristi's shower, I started making a double batch of dough for sugar cookies. Then I realized I was out of an ingredient and had to go to the store. I mixed the dough and put it in the refrigerator to cool. The dough seemed a little dry, but I thought it would improve after cooling. Unfortunately, it was still too dry. I realized I hadn't put in enough butter but figured it was too late to add it. So I had to dump it and make another batch. By then it was too late to actually make the cookies, so I had to store the dough in the refrigerator for another night.
Monday--I started rolling out the dough--which worked much better this time--while Alex was still up. It was harder than I remembered to roll it out, and the first couple of cookies were a little too thin. It was my night to put him down for the night, so I had to take a break. By the time I returned to the kitchen, some of the dough had warmed up too much to roll out well. At least I managed to make about two dozen cookies and prep more dough for the next day.
Tuesday--Eugene offered to help me, and it was much easier with two of us. Eugene rolled out the dough (which was between two sheets of wax paper) while I held the paper down. We finished all of the baking that night.
Wednesday--Before Alex went to bed, I made homemade buttercream frosting. Afterwards, I split it in half and colored it blue and green. Eugene again offered to help me frost the cookies, which allowed us to go to bed at a reasonable hour.
Thursday--Almost done; I just had to bag the cookies and find someplace to put them.
So the cookies are finally done, but there's still a lot left to do. I just hope people enjoy them. We did lose a few cookies due to breakage, but they found good homes in our stomachs. If some of the cookies we hand out are broken, I hope people don't mind.
Sunday--After returning home from Kristi's shower, I started making a double batch of dough for sugar cookies. Then I realized I was out of an ingredient and had to go to the store. I mixed the dough and put it in the refrigerator to cool. The dough seemed a little dry, but I thought it would improve after cooling. Unfortunately, it was still too dry. I realized I hadn't put in enough butter but figured it was too late to add it. So I had to dump it and make another batch. By then it was too late to actually make the cookies, so I had to store the dough in the refrigerator for another night.
Monday--I started rolling out the dough--which worked much better this time--while Alex was still up. It was harder than I remembered to roll it out, and the first couple of cookies were a little too thin. It was my night to put him down for the night, so I had to take a break. By the time I returned to the kitchen, some of the dough had warmed up too much to roll out well. At least I managed to make about two dozen cookies and prep more dough for the next day.
Tuesday--Eugene offered to help me, and it was much easier with two of us. Eugene rolled out the dough (which was between two sheets of wax paper) while I held the paper down. We finished all of the baking that night.
Wednesday--Before Alex went to bed, I made homemade buttercream frosting. Afterwards, I split it in half and colored it blue and green. Eugene again offered to help me frost the cookies, which allowed us to go to bed at a reasonable hour.
Thursday--Almost done; I just had to bag the cookies and find someplace to put them.
So the cookies are finally done, but there's still a lot left to do. I just hope people enjoy them. We did lose a few cookies due to breakage, but they found good homes in our stomachs. If some of the cookies we hand out are broken, I hope people don't mind.
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