Archive for December, 2008
BURIED IN SNOW GEAR
I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season. I’ll be giving 2008 a great send off on the slopes!
Wow! All of the stuff I have to pack for a ski vacation for a family of five sure takes up a lot of space in the car. The beach is easy. Just throw a bathing suit in a bag and go. Skiing requires more and bulkier paraphernalia than the beach. I’m not even talking about the skis, boots, and poles. There are ski pants, sweaters, long underwear, gloves, hats, neck gators, goggles, heavy socks, turtlenecks, and more. Multiply that by five people for five days and you have a ton of stuff! Oh! I forgot to mention the groceries for breakfasts, snacks, hot cocoa, and the all important wine and libations. It will all be worth it when we get there. But for now, I’m just hoping I’ll be able to fit in the car.
HANUKKAH CANDLE…OR HANUKKAH KINDLE
Tonight was the first night of Hanukkah, and I gave my three boys some new games for their Wii game system. Normally, my husband and I reserve our gift giving for our children. However, tonight I got a huge surprise!
I received the coolest gift from my husband and kids tonight. A splurge of a Hanukkah gift, a brand new Kindle! If you haven’t heard of this device yet, then you haven’t logged on to Amazon.com lately. It’s plastered all over their home page.
To clue in those of you who don’t know, a Kindle is an electronic book reader. It is so amazing! I can download books, newspapers, blogs, even my own documents and read them on this lightweight, paperback-sized device. The screen is easy on the eyes. I haven’t tested it outside yet, but the directions say I can even see the screen clearly in the sun.
I already purchased my first Kindle novel. I chose Q & A, a novel by Vikas Swarup. It’s the novel on which the film, Slumdog Millionaire is based. I recently saw the movie, a heart wrenching story, but beautifully told on film. As a writer, I’m anxious to see how the author spun the original novel. I usually do it the other way around (book first, then movie). This will be an interesting switch!
I’m interested to know if any of you have read an e-book. Or would you?
AGING AND IMMATURE
As a writer, I am finely tuned into how point of view can change the way a story is told. Point of view is a funny thing. Depending on who is looking at a given circumstance the scene can play out in infinite ways. In real life, it comes into play, too.
Take my age, for instance. I felt young when I was back on my college campus this weekend, and someone thought I was a student. When I laughed and said, “twenty years ago.”
She raised her brow and said, “Wow! You’ve held up well.”
The weekend before, I felt old. I went out to dinner with my family and ordered a margarita. I was surprised when the waitress asked for my I.D., feeling young again.
But then she kicked me in the gut by following up her request with, “We’re required to ask everyone who looks under 50 for identification or we’ll get fired.”
Ugh! Needless to say, I was not so generous with her tip. (Just kidding, I’m not that petty).
My mother still tells the story of how my sister came home from nursery school and asked, “Mom, what are you, ten or something?” To a four year old ten was ancient!
When it comes down to it, it is not really chronological age that matters. What matters is how you feel, right? I’m young at heart and hope to always be. (Read that as, “Just because I’m getting older, doesn’t mean I’m not still immature).
UPDATE ON IMPROVISATIONAL CREATIVE WRITING EXERCISE
Thanks to all of my blog buddies, I have compiled all of the great character quirks, likes and dislikes, histories and desires you shared with me. I am busy brainstorming and crafting a story for you. I hope you will check back again to read it when it is all done.
Until the story is ready to post, I’ll post some other tidbits and slices of the writing life. So don’t be a stranger.
