The Hungry Hungry Writer

I was going to do a “my year in review”, but there’s no way I can do it as I’m sick in bed and extremely tired.

Yeah, EVERYONE in my family got sick this week. Except for Jessica. I got it bad yesterday and so did Donna. We spent most of the day in bed, except for when we brought Jessica to the airport.

The airport was very sad as usual. Jake was crying and Bella, who never really cries when she leaves, started balling and calling for Jessica as she walked away from the security area. It was horrible. I hate it.

I have one day left to get well. Diarrhea, headache, muscle pains… its horrible.

The kids had something called the “rotavirus”. I think Donna and I had some form of it but more like stomach flu or something.

I had such a bad fever that I shivered all night until I was able to sweat it out.

We are all in bed before 8:00 and that’s how we spent New Year’s Eve.

Hope everyone else had a great day and a safer, yet fun, night!

What’s next on the queue?

24 Season 3 – I stopped watching after Season 2. We started 3 but it just took space on our TiVo and we said we’d eventually watch the DVDs. So, a few years later, we’re going to watch the DVDs!

The Office: Season 2 – Continuing where I left off. 30 minute episodes is a lot easier to sit through compared to the hour long episodes of LOST and my upcoming “24” marathons.

Angels in America – I read the play (by Tony Kushner) like forever ago. It made me want to learn how to write a play. I’m more interested in different types of writing now-a-days. I hear the series is great – won awards too.

Finding Your Voice by Les Edgerton – I skimmed through this book at Barnes. There are TONS of books for writers out there is like I’ve heard it (or read it) all before. This book, for some reason, kinda is telling me to do what I’ve been doing all along instead of worrying too much about this that and the other thing. Looks like a pretty good read.

Eragon: Inheritance Trilogy #1 by Christopher Paolini – If a first paragraph grabs me, I’m going to read the book. I used to go to the local pharmacy and peruse through ALL the paperbacks. I nearly memorized every first paragraph of every book on the rack and when I had a few bucks, I’d get those that stood out. Eragon’s first paragraph, for some reason, worked. And I’d rather read the book than watch the movie. Maybe it’ll help motivate me to finish my own fantasy adventure script. And I have three of those pending.

Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan – I didn’t read her most popular book, “The Joy Luck Club,” but may be compelled to do so after this as I’m desperate to find a novel that moves me. There hasn’t been any in a very, very, very long time.

Video Games

Jessica gave Jake her Nintendo DS. So here and there I’m playing some games. I haven’t been on the Xbox too much lately, but when I’m on its still games with Jake. Here are the top three games I’ve been playing with him lately.

Mario Kart DS – Went to three stores to find this for Jake today. I promised him a game as a reward for his piano recital. He deserved it. And he wanted this. We loved the N64 version, and this version, although a smaller yet AWESOME screen, is just as good and better.

NBA 2K6 – Against Jake we play competitive ball. When I’m on my own I play the Street Ball Game Mode, 3 on 3 basketball and I use a team made up of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird teamed up with another player: Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Kareem, James, AI… Winners outs. It’s pretty fun!

EA Sports Arena Football – Twelve bucks plus another five percent off for a used video game. That’s why I have this game. It’s not that exciting, maybe once I start learning how to stop a barrage of touchdowns that go against me it’ll be better.

I also created a new ‘page’ called, “Book Addiction 2007″ where I’ll be reviewing books I read throughout the year. Check it out: Book Aaddiction ‘07

There you have it. My queue of things to do.

The Office: Season 1 (2005)
My Rating: 8/10

Finally, I got to it: The Office, that is. And Season 1 was hilarious. Although watching six straight episodes: I think it was six; I’m in a daze, was kinda daunting. Well, not so daunting but irritating. Michael Scott started to irritate me. But it was all good. I loved the basketball episode and bumped up Season 2 on my Netflix queue. Donna wasn’t too into it though. Which might be a good thing because I can speed through ‘em and not wait. Although I don’t mind waiting to watch these with her. I do think 24 would be better for both of us though. We both like that and Season 3 is ready to be watched.

If you haven’t gotten into The Office, and you like Steve Carell, I think you should give this series a try.

Scoop (2006)
My Rating: 4/10

I’m still not sure how I absolutely feel about this movie. I went into it hopeing it would be great. I mean, it’s Woody Allen!!! After the first few scenes I was ‘getting’ it: the tone, theme, acting, etc. And I was trying to get into it, to ‘buy’ it. To… you know… enjoy it.

Campy? Overacting? On the nose? All of the above? YEP. Was it supposed to be? Probably be. Did it work…

Er… Nope. Not for me.

I was thinking, wow, how did Woody Allen get away with that?

A few things were just great… like Woody Allen doing stage magic. And… hmmm… I guess that’s it.

I mean it was as campy and silly and ‘easy’ as this dialogue…

GIRL: You’re the murderer, you have a gun hidden in your pocket.

The end.

Uh… yeah. Hey, I should write dialogue like this. Maybe I can get a script sold.

Nanny McPhee (2006)
My Rating: 4/10

Either this movie missed something from the book, Nurse Matilda, or I was completely lost. It didn’t make sense really. Well, I got the whole lessons learned, the whole, “when you don’t need me, I’ll be here,” etc. thing… but for the most part it was pretty plastic. I mean, for a man to notice “the girl” only after she’s educated and well ‘learned’ is pretty pathetic. And what’s with all the moles disappearing from Nanny McPhee every time the kids learned a lesson. What was it to her? I figured, she’s a pro at this and it didn’t matter how fugly she looked, she got the job done. Why, just because the kids learned, did her facial features improve? Has she not done this before? Was her previous inability to teach caused her such ugliness… isn’t that just superficial just like the love interest character (played by Kelly Macdonald)?

So the kids didn’t really want to watch the movie. But we curled up together on the couch with popcorn and water and we sat through it. And yeah, that was the extent to the excitement of the movie for them and for me. Sitting through it with popcorn and water.

They didn’t enjoy it, I didn’t enjoy it, and that’s that. A DVD we own and we probably will never watch it again. Want it?

Yes, there were some nice moments in the film. I can’t say it was all horrible. The lessons, the characters, the snow at the end, all good. But the movie was superficial and really, didn’t go anywhere spectacular for me. Most kids movies do. This one didn’t. It was a total miss.

Watch it if you want to nap.

You HAVE to see this. Brought to you by UTUBE

Isabella: Future Photoshop Expert?

Isabella watched as I made this Christmas Tree on Photoshop…

So she wanted to make one herself.

I sat her in front of the computer, loaded Photoshop and let her have at it. She’s never used the mouse so I wasn’t sure if she’d ‘get it’ yet. But… she did. And quickly.

She chose the colors, figured out the mouse buttons as she’s never really point and clicked ever, and this is what she came up with…

Isabella’s Christmas Tree 2006…

Isabella (age 3)

Notice the detail… The yellow star is actually to the side and not the top. She added presents at the bottom.

She had vision and she transfered it onto a paint canvas on Photoshop.

I’m in trouble if she wants to start IMing peeps in her class now.

Or is it ‘pusses?’

One is vulgar, one is just… pusses.

This is what “Uncle Max” says to the children after Maria left. Such harsh language for such an innocent film… or is it?

Calling them pusses is like calling them a bunch of girls. (from www.dictionary.com)

puss 1 (ps) Pronunciation Key
n.
1. A cat.
2. A girl or young woman.

At least it’s better than calling them

puss•y 1 (ps’ē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. puss•ies

1. Informal A cat.
2. Botany A fuzzy catkin, especially of the pussy willow.
3. Vulgar Slang
    a. The vulva.
    b. Sexual intercourse with a woman.
4. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a woman.
5. Slang A man regarded as weak, timid, or unmanly.

How’d I get into that anyway… This was supposed to be a review of…

The Sound of Music (1965)
My Rating: 10/10

I haven’t seen this movie in a long time. I haven’t forgotten how wonderful this movie is… but when I watched it again, I was reminded of how truly wonderful it really is. This movie has everything: comedy, romance, a small child, a hot older daughter, betrayal, stupidity, intrigue, espionage, assassins, explosions and deceptive nuns. Er… well maybe there aren’t any assassins or explosions but there are some pretty sly nuns.

You have a day before Christmas. Gather the family, curl up in bed or in front of the fireplace, do what it takes and watch this movie for the first time, or again. You’ll truly enjoy it.

And sorry about all that talk about pussies and pusses…

Auf Wiedersehen, darling.

This Girl’s Life (2003)
My Rating: 7/10

This movie had tons of potential. It was about a Porn “Superstar” who deals with her life in the porn industry while dealing with her life outside the porn industry.

But it was if they (the writers/producers/directors) were too scared to cross the line as far as character. The lead, MOON, played by Juliette Marquis, was too comfortable with her life… too nice… almost perfect… no flaws… like nothing ‘bad’ ever happened to her. Yes, she has backstory/baggage - her mom killed herself, but it just didn’t seem like it affected her in any way. Her character was pretty admirable as she took care of her father, played by James Woods, who had Parkinson’s disease. Other than that, there wasn’t much conflict in her life and nothing really ‘drove’ her to do the things she did. She just did them.

The story, given a darker, more troubled character, could have been deeper and edgy. As it turns out, its not so dark, the character is not so troubled, and the movie is not edgy… it’s more plastic than anything.

Yes, it’s entertaining, guys will get their kicks since it’s about porn, and Juliette Marquis is great, but there were potholes and bumps along the way. If they worked these simple things out, the movie would have fulfilled its role as a movie filled with conflict: and that industry (porn), seems like there would be more of it… funny thing, there was conflict, but most of it happened to Moon’s friends and not her.

What does that tell me? Moon was the least interesting character in the movie but she was the prettiest. A pretty girl doesn’t make a movie work. A character with depth does: like ALL the characters in Boogie Nights.

This Girl’s Life is about the porn industry but it’s definately far from being Boogie Nights. And you know, Boogie Nights is in my top 10 favorite movies of all time.

So, what am I doing when I can’t seem to muster a page, a paragraph, a sentence, or a word to write?

Either I’m downing some mixture of Vodka with something like Gatorade, or cran, or sour apple, or I’m Playing, Reading or Watching something like this…

I’m only motivated to play XBox games when I’m pulled from something I’m doing because Jake wants to play. At least that is how it’s been lately. He’ll ask, make me feel guilty about not playing with him, and proceed to smack talk as he slam dunks the ball. Lego Star Wars II is okay to sit through but frustrating because he wants to get all the coins instead of completing the story as fast as possible. And The Incredibles is a boring game but just like most video games, you’re hooked till you can’t stand looking at the screen any longer. On Saturday, Jake and I spent all day together playing games. I ran my 9 miles, kicked back with him and played games, took a nap, woke up and played some more, then went to my sister’s Christmas party… Here are the games of choice…

If I can squeeze in any quiet time here are a few of the many books I’m multi-reading. Usually, Jake will read as I read which only lasts for fifteen or so minutes, but those fifteen minutes are nice, quiet and fulfilling. I’ve skimmed through Egri’s, “The Art of Dramatic Writing” many years ago and am slowly getting through Lamott’s, “Blue Shoe.” Emotional Impact seems good but I haven’t sat down and devoured the words just yet.

When Donna’s away, and I’m not too tired, the DVD’s from Netflix that are waiting for me to watch are these. The Office, everyone watches it so I might as well, Scoop, just because its Woody Allen, and This Girl’s Life… because I heard some good and bad things on an interesting subject.

So there you have it: a few of my self-indulgences outside of sex and alcohol.

These would make great stocking stuffers for yours truly. Thanks in advance.