Blink and You'll Miss It

Happy New Year!

Oh wait, that was five months ago.

Oh well. So, how is everybody doing? Good? Great? Less than stellar? Freakin' Fantastic?

Me, I'm doing well. Spring is coming (bouncebouncebounce) and I adore spring! I want to plant flowers and go for rambling walks through the forest (I'm in Tahoe, so I can do that) and I want to go swimming and have picnics in the mountains and just immerse myself in the weather.

(Yes, I am a fairy, why do you ask? Or a unicorn. It really depends on the day. And the magic.)

Some good things happened this month(s). I went to Barnes and Noble middle of March and spent hours there browsing, which I haven't done in ages. I found the last few seasons of a couple TV shows for a real cheap price and BOUGHT them. I got Ally Carter's book, SEE HOW THEY RUN. (Ally Carter, FYI, is fab. She writes so well and I adore her!) I got coffee and a croissant from the B&N coffee shop, because it was freaking B&N and I was going to ENJOY MYSELF! So there. (Yes, the coffee and croissant were delicious. I have no regrets.)

Then, about a week ago, I received Josh Groban's STAGES LIVE from two adorable sisters when they went to Barnes and Noble (without me, I might add. I had to work, which was RUDE! but the STAGES DVD was a nice consolation prize) and we had an enjoyable evening where we watched Il Volo's WE ARE LOVE concert, followed by Josh Groban's STAGES concert. (Guilty confession: I could watch videos of people singing all day. Unfortunately, I don't get paid to do that. Sigh.) Both Il Volo (consisting of the three adorable Italians, Piero, Gianluca, and Ignazio) and Josh Groban (consisting of himself) are TONS of fun to watch. They are funny, awesome singers, and they give a great show. (Next up, movie/musical binge night, featuring Il Volo in LIVE FROM POMPEII and Josh Groban in AWAKE LIVE.)

Also, I checked out books from the library and they didn't all suck! That was such a surprise for me. Usually I check out so many books, and I go skimskimskim, and then I return all those books to the library, feeling melancholy and sad that there wasn't a single book I liked. This time, out of the six or seven I checked out, I actually liked three or four of them! Surprising, yes? (Funny how most of my good things have to do with books, bookstores and libraries. Shhh, no one mention how many books I have in that closet... or under that bed... or in that house... or on those bookshelves.)

OH! Another good thing that happened - I discovered the remake TV series of Hawaii Five-0, which I LOVE! (and it got renewed for a season 7, which I'm SO EXCITED ABOUT!!!! So, my good stuff doesn't revolve ENTIRELY around books, I guess. I like TV shows, too.) It was a good time for me to find H50, 'cause all my other shows were burning and crashing and dying. So I decided, I don't care if Hawaii Five-0 sounds like a silly show, it's recommended for me on Netflix and I shall watch it. And I did. And I was like, Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang Daniel! (And Steve. Oh m' gosh, Steve! You are a sweet, sad puppy and I love you.) So, I was hooked and watched the five seasons streaming on Netflix in 3-1/2 weeks or less. I swear it was at least three weeks. Treskie seems to believe it was two. I don't think I watched them THAT quickly.

Then I did have some crappy things happen. Like, I didn't make it to confession last Sunday, which means it will be four weeks before I can actually go. To quote Captain Haddock, "You don't know what that means." You feel soured with life. You feel mean and small. Kind of like Gollum. Sort of thin. Stretched. Like butter scraped over too much bread.

Then, I have gotten a couple more agent rejections. I know it's just business, but still. You feel unhappy getting those rejections. Kind of small. Sad-like. (I believe in you, Dragon! One day, your story will be told, and not just to my sisters and my writing group. I promise!)

Last, and most depressing of all, the fourth book in a series I have adored since book one, and which I have been waiting to be released since I finished book three in April last year, ended up making two of the best main characters gay. Since one was a Catholic (and honestly, freakin' HAWT), I was pretty upset that happened, and I'm thankful I didn't end up reading book four. (My sister Treskie did that for me, and when she told me, I went into a grieving state which I'm still not quite over.) I think the thing about this book that makes me so depressed is that, from the beginning, there is this quintet consisting of four boys and one girl, and they are nothing BUT friends. There is a slight romance between the girl and one of the boys, which later transforms into a deeper romance between the same girl and a DIFFERENT boy, but the the boys themselves are like a foursome of brothers. There was nothing romantic in there at all. So to see the author (whom I have loved and adored for the past five years, and now feel utterly betrayed by) obeying the trend of the world and writing two of the boys as gay (when they are both honestly too manly and moral to do that) infuriated me. I was like, "What's wrong with just being friends? What's wrong with just being BROS?! Don't people like bros anymore!?" (Note to self: Write story about BROS. Emphasize the BRO-ness. Steve and Danny bro-style.)

So, that upset me. Depressed me. Made me cry. Utter lamentations. Rewrite the book in my head. Turn to Diana Wynne-Jones for comfort. (I can always count on her to make me feel better!)

Anyhoozle, that's what's been going on for me. Tonight, as it is May the Fourth, Treskie, Panda and I are going to watch The Force Awakens. Pandy has not seen it (Shhhhhhh, don't tell her about the really shocking thing that happens!) and as it was the one Star Wars movie I liked perhaps as much as A New Hope, I'm excited to rewatch it.

May the Fourth be With You!!

Cheers!

Le Cat