Friday, November 28, 2008
Australia
Perhaps I am a little biased (refer to my 'Super Heroes' post), but yesterday I saw the movie Australia, starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, and I am in love. This is the best movie I have seen in a long time. It shot straight into my top five favorite movies of all time. Three hours have never passed by so quickly. So grab your husbands (because even though it's a romance, I promise you they will like it too) and go see this amazing, action packed, heart wrenching movie, you will not regret it.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
My True Hero
In the pool he was the shark, we were the fish, and he would really bite us. In the house, he was the tiger we were the prey, and, yes, he would really bite us … but we always wanted to play.
When I was a teenager he was the protective grizzly bear, scaring nearly every boy I brought home. I’m sure he laughed about it when they left. It drove me crazy, but I always knew he cared.
When I became a mother he was the teddy bear, big and cuddly. When my kids were little they couldn’t wait to see him. They wanted to play shark in the pool and tiger in the house. For some reason they never got bit though. He’d gone soft. He was still protective though. One time I was going to take my two girls by myself and travel to visit my husband’s family in Utah, my father said, “No.” I told him, “I wasn’t really asking for your permission, dad.” He looked at me, then at my husband and said, “You aren’t going to let her go, are you?” My husband said, “She’s a big girl, dad, I have no control over what she does.” My dad laughed. I went. Even though I was all grown up I was still his little girl.
Two years ago my father passed away very unexpectedly at the age of 55. I miss him terribly. I will forever be grateful for the 29 years that I was blessed to know him in this life. I can’t wait to see him again. This time of year especially, I think about how grateful I am that I had such a loving father. He is my hero.
So make sure you take the time (the holiday season is always a good excuse) to tell your family that you love them. You can never say it too much.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Quote of the Week
Sunday, November 23, 2008
My Super Heroes
Now, honey, (I do consider all of you my honeys, but in this instance, I am referring to my husband) don't get me wrong. I'm hot for you too. And I’m not saying that your super power doesn’t come in handy. When we are boating and I need someone to shoot lasers out of his eyes at the threatening tubers, I'll call Cyclops. Oh, wait, just kidding, what I meant to say was that I'll call you. Yes, that is my awesome husband below, defending our boat from killer tubers.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Three Cheers For Rejection
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Raw
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
My Sister, The Rebel (part 2)
“Like what?” I ask warily.
She looks around. Up a small hill, next to a building we see a rusty replica of a relic from the mining history of the town—a transport car, sitting on some tracks.
“Go sit in that,” she says, pointing to it.
“What? No,” I say, eyeing the busy street, which we were walking down—the main street of the small town.
“Just do it.” She gives me a shove.
I perch myself on the very end of the train car (as seen in the photo) and she takes a picture.
“I swear, Kasie, you are such a wimp. Let me show you how it’s done.” She drops her purse on the sidewalk and marches up the hill.
While the cars whiz by behind me, I take the shot. (make sure you click on it to get the close up, because her face is hilarious) I’m quickly realizing (actually I have always known it) that I have a healthy fear of getting in trouble. (My parents probably loved it when I was a teenager because I never wanted to do anything that I might have gotten yelled at for.)
The following are some other fun shots from the town:
On our way home after the incredible day, the sun setting in my rear view mirror, I decide I need one last photo—a backlit cactus. I eye the hills that surround us on the desert highway. The first one I find, we both get out of the car and trudge up a hill. (Did I already mention my brown wedges and my aching blisters?)
“Not good enough,” I say, once we’re back in the car (after much complaining about my feet) as I study the shots in the viewfinder.
My sister sighs.
We drive further and I find the perfect one. Pulling over, our headlights shine onto a barbed wire fence. “Ah, man,” I say in disappointment.
“Give me the camera.” My sister holds her hand out. I place it in her upturned palm. She exits the car.
“Are you really going to do it?” I ask, opening my own door and following her.
“Do you want the shot or don’t you?”
“I don’t know if I want it that bad.”
She rolls her eyes. “Are you going to try to kill us again by pulling off the side of the road in front of a semi and next to a railing if we don’t get this shot?”
I consider this. “Possibly,” I decide.
With a quick look around she steps over the fence. Wow, she has long legs, I note mentally. She runs towards the cactus in the distance.
“Make sure you get it from all angles!” I yell after her from my safe place on the correct side of the fence. The side that I can’t get taken to jail for. I sigh happily as I watch her take the pictures.
As she runs back towards me and moves to step over the fence I call out “Wait!”
“What now?” she askes.
“I need a picture of you and your deviant acts,” I say, reaching for the camera.
I give you, my sister, the rebel and the shot she risked her freedom for:
Monday, November 17, 2008
Sum-hurry
What would you do if you moved into a new house and found out that your attic held the age old secrets of a fairytale world? Perhaps you wouldn't explore them if you knew that your interference could change endings … including your own. Or maybe you would.
OR the summary could read like this:
Once upon a new town, Hailey discovers the key to a whole new world. When she unlocks the mystery, everything falls apart. Can she put the pieces back together again … and how will she separate out the pieces of her own life in the process?
Saturday, November 15, 2008
What?
Friday, November 14, 2008
Forgive me, I'm tired.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Guess What? I'm smart and so are your other readers.
Every other Wednesday I attend a writer’s club. I highly recommend writer’s clubs to all my fellow writers out there. They are both helpful and entertaining. Anyway, we critique one chapter, from three different authors, each time. At the latest meeting my critique for a particular piece drew ooohs and awwws, I guess they thought it was good. Since then my friends have told me I need to post the advice on my blog. So here goes, pretty basic advice that we all need to remind ourselves of every now and again. This is in the context of fantasy, but I believe it can apply across all genres.
"Trust in your world and trust that I will learn about your world as things come to pass. Don’t feel like you have to tell me every single thing about it. Part of the fun of being introduced to a new world is the ownership I (the reader) feel in it as I “discover” things about it on my own. So, pretend as though everything in your world is completely normal then you will resist the urge to explain everything."
Same applies to characters. Don’t tell me who they are, just let them be who they are. It will be obvious that they are stubborn or flirty or quick witted by how they act.
I know you’ve heard it all before, but sometimes hearing it a different way is helpful.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
America Rocks
I love the elections—Americans taking a stand for who or what they believe in. Even when everything doesn’t turn out exactly as my heart wishes, I revel in the process. I take pride in the knowledge that a country, so divided one night, can come together in acceptance and strength the following morning. To think that often times such changes in power can only be had by wars or revolutions. Our forefathers fought hard for the system of democracy we now enjoy and I thank them for it. I have faith in our Constitution. It has held strong for many years and I know it will continue to hold strong through all winds of change. I am, indeed, proud to be an American.