Thing I have to Keep Reminding Myself

In response to Trish's post: There are some things that I have to remind myself of every once in a while. Frankly, I feel old. Even though I'm only 22. I suppose when you have at least two decades under your belt, you start to feel time passing you by. And, with age, comes the absent-mindedness.

1. Most of my movie/tv star crushes are becoming senior citizens in a few years. It's a harsh reality. Something I'd rather not think of. But it's true. They're going to be wrinkled and yelling for their nurses when I reach my sexual prime. Oh well--I always have DVDs of their golden years.
   
2. My "baby" brother is seventeen. That's one year away from eighteen. That's insanity. He's a baby. He's always going to be my baby. And I'll always protect him. I hate to think of how I'm going to react when I have kids who become adults.
   
3. I'm too old to Trick or Treat on Halloween. Sure, this should have hit me about a decade ago, but I've been stretching out the reality. Unless you're trick or treating with a huge group of people your age, just goofing off, 22 is just too old. At least, according to those old folks who look at you like you're there to rob them blind when you knock on their doors. I think the rules should change. I think we should trick or treat until we're at least 60--or until hip surgery is required. I miss free candy.
   
4. Healthy eating is what's best for me, not just a way to lose some weight. This is a thought that doesn't seem to cross your mind when you're a teen. And I still have to tell myself that this is true. I can't have ice cream every night. Because the consequences are just around the aging corner.
5. The things I still love and adore (and write fanfiction for) are old news according to the youngsters. Like Buffy and Stargate SG-1. Those are "old" shows. The way kids these days talk, you'd think I was referring to an Abbott and Costello movie. I don't care what the kiddies think. I'll continue watching my DVDs as if they were the hot new thing.
   
6. I've graduated with a BS in English. I can't believe that. Already? It's done? That was a lot faster than high school. . . Or, at least, it felt like it with all the rushed deadlines and lack of crushes. Speaking of which. . .
   
7. I have no love interest. More than just single--I mean NO love interest. What's up with that? Aren't adults allowed crushes? I'm pretty sure, or else there wouldn't be so many people around me getting married. And as hot as I think Tom Felton is, guys I'll never meet don't count. You'd think there would be some guy at the supermarket or a clerk at the gas station or an old classmate that I'd become fond of, but no. I'm crushless. I have to remind myself of this every once in a while because I was so used to smiling and dreaming of white picket fences with my crushes in middle and high school.
   
8. I'm a writer. Yeah, between cleaning the house, washing the dog, and cooking dinner, I have to remind myself that I'm still a fiction writer, as well as a freelance writer. And I couldn't be happier with those choices. I just wish life gave me more time to work, and my brain was as energetic as my chihuahau during a thunderstorm.
   
9. Most of my friends are getting married. Or at least in serious relationships where (shh, don't tell the dude) but marriage is most likely going to take place within a few years. It's a a big "wow" moment when I see all the new families being made. It's so very. . .mature. Not to say marriage is always mature (Brittany/KevinF. for example), but my friends are, and that's what is so special about them coming together with the people they love. And I also have to keep reminding myself that I'm a Maid of Honor who has to keep track of her duties!
   
10. That the world is a big place. I have to keep that in mind. It's easy to forget and begin believing that the world is small, that what matters is your job or how many calories you've consumed or who gave you the finger at Walmart. There's so much more out there. I'm a dot. I can't be seen from space, much less the neighboring universe. So much is going on at every second of the day. Sometimes, I really do forget that. I forget about people being blow up and kids starving and countries electing new officials. And sometimes I think there are people who will never realize how big the world is. Most of these people are VH1 reality show stars, I believe. . .
    

The Procrastination Tamer

Yes, as in, lion tamer. 'Cause, frankly, procrastination can be a six-hundred pound, clawed killing machine for writers.

Readers of my fanfictions probably assume that I'm dead, but I'm not. I just wish there was a way I could tell all of them that I've been concentrating on a different spectrum of the writing world over the past few weeks: freelance.

A few weeks ago, I got my first check for writing articles. It was downright tiny compared to the work that went into it. But, I've got to say, I was glowing on the inside. I really was. Finally, after all these years, I'd gotten paid for writing something. And, obviously, a small number of people out there were reading that something.

It occurred to me that the check was a symbol of the future. While I expect the checks in months to come to get larger, and I expect also to not only be working for Associated Content but other sites as well at that time, I can't help but see what that tiny check means.

I suppose it's the same for any writer who doesn't strike it lucky the first go-around. The check means that someone can get paid for their passion. I can get paid to do what I love so much. But, if I stick to this course, the monetary payment is always going to be smaller than the work that was put into it. No matter how successful I become as an author or freelance writer, I'm always going to have to put more effort in to it. Because it's what I love. And if you love something, that's what you do.

And it'll be worth the hard times. And the lack of nifty gadgets. The possible second job that bores me to tears.

It'll be worth it to be doing what I adore.

Love means sacrifice. But the rewards are always far greater than what was given away.

So, in order for me to pursue this love, I must make that sacrifice, and the lamb will have to be my other personality, the one who can procrastinate herself out of going to the bathroom for an hour.

This procrastinator plans to be very, very busy in the months to come, as she attempts to take hold of her old faults and use them. I will continue my fanfiction. I will always be writing on my original fiction (I write on it nearly every day, I simply do not always form enough of it to post on a site or to talk about). And I will take control of my freelancing and produce the articles I need to produce to get to the next level.

Mouse Owns Slinky

So, yeah, I was totally owned by a mouse tonight. See, earlier today I found the little bugger's store of my dog's food in my art supplies. A.) Gross B.) Poor Yoda, having his food taken by a mouse. Anyhow, I cleaned it out, along with its droppings. Well, in search of more droppings, I cleaned out half of my room, emptying drawers and shelves, moving baskets of stuff onto my bed to get it out of the way.

I walk into my room, forgetting that I'd left a wooden staff in the floor and stubbed my big toe, splitting the big nail. As there was blood everywhere, I had to bandage it, then tape it up to keep it sealed. So, not only has this mouse made me turn the room into a disaster area, it's also, inadvertently, caused me bodily harm.

Well, I was working on some writing as well tonight. Good stuff. Anyhow, I didn't get to finish my room (just as Mother predicted), so I realized I was going to have to sleep on the couch (also as she predicted). I get out there and she's asleep on the couch. She has work tomorrow, so I opted to not wake her. I, instead, chose to go into the other tv room and set up camp on the futon. I pulled out a couple sheets, moved my fan into the new room, and laid down. Soon enough my dog, Yoda, was whining, so I let him get into bed with me, sitting him at my feet so he could snuggle against my legs.

I'd just started to doze when Yoda shook his head. I assumed he had a flea in his ear or something, so I ignored him, drifting off again. It was at this point that I felt something small and furry scamper across my face. Across my lips. And towards my hair. It took me a split second to go from zero to ninety. I shot of the futon, throwing the creature God only knows where and spilling out a stream of shrieked oaths to the darkness.

So, I'm officially done with sleeping. I'll sleep tomorrow, in the daytime, in my bed.

Also, I plan to hunt the little bugger down tomorrow. I have named him Pettigrew. And we all know what happened to Peter, don't we, kiddies. Yeah, this war isn't over. I've got a box of poison, a bag of traps, and a jar of peanut butt that's going to work tomorrow.

You have violated me for the last time, mouse.

Slowly fading away. . .

It's so hot outside. Seriously. Hot. I went to the Longest Yardsale over the weekend and my scalp is now on fire. Ouch! Fun but I think I went through about a hundred soft drinks/water bottles :) And the motel we stayed at was hellish. More on that at another time.

In other news, a quick recap of random weirdness. So I realized how much "stuff" sucks. My MP3 player was the first casualty of the summer. By now I'm used to the cars messing up so I haven't even been keeping up with my parent's vehicles' many visits to the mechanic, though the green van has spent many weeks there throughout the summer. At the dead center of the summer the family fridge broke down, then the central AC started freezing up again (as in every few hours) so it needs gassed. I find out the green station wagon that I'm supposed to start driving can't be fixed around here because I have to find a Volkswagen dealer to flash the computer before the damn thing will start--the engineering geniuses who created its anti theft system thought it would be cool to make the computer that starts the engine die if the battery is ever taken out (then hopefully the thing that was replaced on it will be working correctly). Then our washer just dies out of no where. The DVD player decides that it no longer records. Then the dryer's wheel stops spinning, and it's death is slow over a few days. And now the family microwave is making this horrible buzzing sound like it's about to explode.

You just can't rely on "stuff" anymore...

So, last Thursday, Dad walks out onto the front porch to go to work and hears a rattling sound. Turns around and what does he see but a shaking little tail. That's right, a rattlesnake on the front porch a few feet from the door. He had to go on to work, and we haven't found the bugger yet. The animals are safe, though, so don't worry about Dracula and Bart.

But I'm watching, little snake...And I hear you taste like gator meat, so beware. I am the predator!

Anyhow...

Today, I walk into my parents' bathroom for the aloe to find about twenty huge flies against their little window. Freaked me out a bit. I felt like I was in a cheap horror film. What's weird is that my parents come in this afternoon and apparently the flies were not there this morning when they were getting ready for work. And we can't figure out exactly where they came from...

I'm going to name the random little mouse in my room that I can't seem to find no matter how hard I look but who enjoys making a strange noise at three in the morning. I have a feeling it's a boy. I shall call him Sparky.

Nature is taking the house back....

I miss the dorm

You know how people have special writing spots? Places that help them get into the creative mode? The dorm was mine. It was my special writing space.

My room here at my parents' house is chaotic. Or maybe my roommates just aren't as much fun here.

Plus I miss living with one of my buddies. I miss my visiting neighbors. I miss naps. :(

Home just isn't as fun.

So I have a new goal. Find a new special spot. Somewhere in my jail cell. Speaking of jail. . . That could provide a nice environment for a creative outlet. Who wants to get arrested with me?

I'm only half-kidding. Thankfully it's the half with bodily control.

Over and out until the next somewhat depressing post.

Wall Symbolism in Margaret Cavendish's The Convent of Pleasure
Margaret Cavendish's The Convent of Pleasure uses the symbolic wall to explore the will of Nature as well as the grander themes of unity through separation and even unconscious personal defeat through matrimony.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/2000374/wall_symbolism_in_margaret_cavendishs.html

Summer Movies and Whatnot

So I was reading this article on summer movies at work, specifically at closing time for the LRC. I grabbed a pen and started to make my own comments. I do this from time to time to entertain myself. You know, snarky tidbits for no one and dialogue bubbles in the pictures. Anyhow, I thought I'd share some of my comments on these movies.

My first annoyance was that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was listed first. Then I realized that it was listed first because it is released first. My bad :) Anyhow, as someone who might have seen the movie somehow (don't ask, don't tell), I can say that this film, theoretically, won't rock my world. Especially since Gambit was there all of seven minutes and the most interesting backstory was shown in the opening credits. Sad, really, since I'd love to see these gifted brothers take on the different wars. Wolverine doesn't seem to know quite what it it; it's worth a watch, however. But it might not be worth the steep price of the theater ticket. Wait for a rental. Or wait for your favorite movie channel to buy it.

Ok, so next listed was Star Trek. I'm not a big fan of the original series (though everyone loves Spock, so there). But I do love Generation, so I have an interest in any new Star Trek movie. I'm very exited about this one. I've always been very interested in the Academy, so I can wait to see what they do with these space youngins. Should be fun! Granted, it might be a special-effects ladden eye cocaine trip with a forgetable script. But allow me my optimism. I'm hoping this one is a lot of fun, because I'm planning to see it for part of my Graduation weekend festivities.

Then there's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I don't know if I'm mentioned this today, but I LOVE FRICKIN HARRY POTTER DAMN IT! So, yeah. That's a given. I get to see more of the hottie that is Draco (though what the hell they did to his hair is beyond my comprehension), and our dearest, dearest, dearest Potion's Master. Snape rocks my socks, kiddies. He's just an excellent character. So, if Yates knows what's good for him, he won't screw this one up. I'm dying to see some of these scenes acted out "exactly" as they were written. Not by plot, mind you, I mean by character reaction. This is one of the books where we get to know some characters through very subtle behavior in trying times, so the director's skill is going to reflect whether or not he's paying attention to all the foreshadowing. Enough of that though. . .

I'll skip most of the rest of the list...such as Transformers. Sorry, guys, I can't watch this movie for fear of my eyes melting after a ten minute robot fighting scene filled with enough special effects to stretch across three Lord of the Rings films....Ugg. Not to the Lord of the Rings--I love those movies! Ugg to Transformers and the action hero that isn't--you know who you are...*cough* Shia.

So, here's a few others I find interesting....

In Public Enemies, Johnny Depp plays John Dillinger. Depp as a bad boy gangster. Hotness. Indeed, as the great Teal'c would say. I purr at the very thought. Teal'c wouldn't say that. Hee.

District 9 also sounds interesting. Peter Jackson is taking on this sci-fi South African alien story. I love anything to do with South African fantasy stories, so this one will definitely be on my mind this summer.

Now I shall return to the Star Trek movie: anyone else extremely interested in knowing what bet Spock lost that put Kirk over him? Seriously, there's almost too much unequal respect between those two. . .

My Name is Slinky, and I have a PROBLEM

I really do. I do.


Ahhh...Supernatural....

Sammy
Sammy
Dean
Sammy
Sammy
Dean
Sammy
Sammy
Bobby?
WTF

Sorry, stupid little kid sing the llama song got stuck in my head.

Anyhow, through thick and thin, the fictional boy toys are there to embrace and torture.

Have you had your dose of Winchester today?

Though, in all honesty, it's not the attractive qualities of these two characters which keeps me watching. I'd probably fall in love with them if they had grunge hair and beer bellies. What keeps me coming back for more? The brotherly bond. There's something quality about sacrifice because it's so common in families. You sacrifice your needs for theirs. It's universal. And it's certainly something for the viewing audience to relate to.

Anyhow, if the blurb seemed to pointless, I hope you at least enjoyed the eye candy.

And, yes, my life is this empty.

Slinky VS the Economy

I try. I really do. But sometimes, I feel like I'm single handedly trying to save the economy from destruction.

I mean, I buy more groceries than I need. I buy DVD box sets. I get friends b-day presents. I've seen two movies in a month. Oh, and, of course, I bought a new pair of the cutest little gray boots yesterday. I eat at restaurants. I just waste money all around!

I spend and I spend and the economy just doesn't pull through. *Sigh* What is a girl to do? I guess a debit card does not a super power make.

Until next time...

Welcome 2009

Tis the season to watch House. We all know that Patricia and I have a television addiction. We don't actually watch live tv, but we get addicted to shows that we "must" own. Our newest must--and I say 'our' because, while I've adored House in the past, I wasn't addicted to him until Mom received seasons one and two for Christmas, and Patricia didn't watch much House at all until her mom received season four for Christmas--is...well if you haven't guessed you should just take a bullet right now. Seriously. I have no patience for dumb.

Anyhow, I just thought I'd begin my new year on that note.





I also read (and adored) Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox over the holiday. I liked the shippy draw between Holly and Artemis and the appearance of everyone's favorite demon. Overall, it was fun--check out the series, if you haven't in the past.






Resolutions? Not really: be healthy and productive. Have fun. Do something. Don't waste another year! Yeah, I waste years. I eat them for supper. They taste like chicken.

I also dislike people. Like people, neighbors, other than K and H--I really don't like them. I could do without most of them. And I really wish noobs could have their own floor. Anyhow, that's my House moment for the day. People hatin'. Sometimes I thinkI should live in a world with only, say, a dozen people allowed. Can we say "Eden".

Onward...I feel so lost without procrastination. Oh, wait, I am procrastinating: I should be writing right now... Well, I guess I can't get away for too long, can I?

Goodnight for now.