October 2007 Archives

or . . . partake of a large, voluminous amount of caffeine to start writing tonight. At midnight it is assumed that the frenzied tapping of the keys on my laptop will rise to a crescendo of artistic expression. Honestly, I rarely stay up that late. Furthermore, the fact that my brain actually works past 10:30 is a hotly debated topic within the circles of my own home.

I must be honest about another thing as well . . . the story I intend to write has gone through so many changes that I'm not even sure what I'm going to write. This isn't really the position I intended to be in when NaNoWriMo started, but I do have the rest of the day to iron it out. I always work best under pressure, so perhaps it will end up being a plus. We'll see what happens.

I've gone back and forth through the years using Movable Type, Blogger and Wordpress. They each have their pros and cons. When a new version comes out I try to get my hands on it and give it a shot. This afternoon my son wanted his blog upgraded so that he could use tags. He uses Wordpress. Using tags in posts has been around for MT for quite some time, but Wordpress is easier for him to use and he has grown accustomed to it. I don't force change where it isn't needed. Like the saying goes, "if it ain't broke don't fix it." Needless to say, I upgraded him to Wordpress 2.3.1. Seeing an opportunity to try out a new version of Wordpress, without hesitation I prepared my site for the change. So far, here's what I've found if you should happen to decide to move from MT to Wordpress:

• Using Wordpress' import for MT will cause all of the posts you've published under MT to lose their tags and categories. They don't lose any comments and the formatting seems to have worked out just fine. But be prepared to face the consequences of having to go back and re-tag everything you've ever published.
• The categories all get imported. But they don't get applied to the posts. Everything gets thrown into the "Uncategorized" category.
• Links to other posts you've published under the same blog will most likely be broken. So set aside some time to hunt those down and fix them.
• I have yet to find a theme that actually says it is for WP 2.3.1 and has the code for displaying tags rather than categories already in it. ( I had to go hunt it down so that my son could have it on his blog )

So now comes the fun of hunting down a theme and fixing all the broken stuff. I've only had this installed for an hour or two so I'm bound to find more things to complain about.

I imagine I could always re-install MT . . . and I may. Until then, I'll play with this.

What's a mom to do when her husband dies of an unexpected heart attack leaving her to care for their two son's? How can she possibly maintain their lifestyle of driving leased Land-Rovers and sipping cappuccinos in the upscale, Southern Californian neighborhood of Agrestic? The answer is simple . . . you start selling pot. That's the basic premise of Weeds, a series on Showtime. I don't subscribe to Showtime, but browsing through some TV series DVDs I came across season 1 and watched it. I'm hooked on it. It is irreverent, disrespectful and completely hilarious.

Mary-Louise Parker, as Nancy Botwin, is a woman who suddenly finds herself a single, widowed mother of two sons. Her husband, an engineer, had previously been the breadwinner and provided for an upscale lifestyle in the upper-middle class, Californian neighborhood of Agrestic. As if being a widowed mom isn't enough, her fourth-grade son, Shane ( Alexander Gould ), has his own problems growing up. He has a bit of an emotional side but tries to find outlets like writing gangsta' rap music, making mock terror videos and shooting mountain lions. Her teen age son, Silas ( Hunter Parrish ), is not only sexually active but also enjoys smoking pot and going to his fair share of parties where he meets his deaf girlfriend. But life for the Botwins wouldn't be quite right without a fine, upstanding father figure like Andy ( Justin Kirk ), Nancy's brother. He's drifted in from Alaska and decides to step up and invite himself to be Nancy's partner in the business. He teaches Shane how to better cheat on his homework, seduces Silas' girlfriend via IM, screws Shane's friend's mom, and watches porn while getting high with Nancy's CPA. When he gets busted trying to help Nancy sell her pot, he then decides to bang his NA sponsor. But it's ok in Agrestic to be a bit odd.

Her best friend, Celia Hodes ( Elizabeth Perkins ) isn't without her fair share of faults. She sends her daughter away to boarding school after finding out that she is sexually active ( and Silas' original girlfriend ). Later she finds out that she has cancer and has her breasts removed after having an affair with Nancy's supplier, Conrad ( Romany Malco ). But it isn't just her desire to be young and beautiful that drives her to Conrad. She also learns that her lawyer husband, Dean ( Andy Milder ), is doing the local tennis pro and lets her shove her tennis racket up his ass. But Nancy doesn't let that stop her from using his legal skills combined with the local CPA, Doug Wilson ( Kevin Nealon ), help her to set up a front for her budding ( pun intended ) "bakery shop". After all, not only are they experts in their field, they are wonderful customers of hers.

But it isn't all fun and games. She's learning a little at a time about the drug dealing business. She faces angry, territorial dealers, the trials and tribulations of raising her kids, and the grief of losing her husband who she loved very much. There are times when the world is spinning out of control and she fears she just might lose it. How's a woman supposed to bring home the bacon, maintain a successful, expanding marijuana-dealing business while still being a good mom?

The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold, is by far the best book I have ever had the pleasure reading in recent memory.

I wandered across it totally by accident reading Nathan Bransford's ( he's a literary agent ) blog. This book is quite amazing. It is a ghost story, but it's not spooky. It's a murder mystery, but you already know who did it. It's a love story. It's all those things and much, much more.

The Lovely Bones is a book about a young girl, Suzie Salmon ( like the fish ) who is raped and murdered on her way home one night. Her body is never found. Her murderer, a man who lives down the street from her, is also never caught. But that's really not the story. This is a story about dealing with grief, about the impact of the young girl's murder on her family and friends.

This book is unique as it is told from Suzie's perspective. She watches people. Her friends, her parents, her sister and brother. She watches as the devastating news is presented to her parents that the police cannot find her body. She's there when her dad tries to explain to her brother that Suzie will never come back home again. She's present to share the joy when her sister announces that she will soon be married.

Evidently this book was quite a hit. It remained on the New York Times bestseller list for over a year. But the book was not accepted without criticism. When Suzie dies she goes to what she calls, "her heaven." However, there's no reference to angels, God or Jesus. Evidently there were quite a few people that didn't really appreciate this. Personally, I'm glad there's no reference to religion. I think that it presents heaven in such a light that anyone, regardless of their religion, will be able to enjoy the story.

It also appears that this novel is going to come out on film. Evidently it is currently in production and slated for release in 2008. I'm not entirely sold on the cast with the exception of Susan Sarandon as her grandmother and Rachel Weisz as her mom. One last note . . . at serious risk of losing my man-card . . . my eyes glistened over several times while reading this story. Have a box of kleenex handy.

In the past I've been subscribed to way too many rss feeds, as I've come to realize. Over the last week I've slowly weeded many of the feeds out of my reader. The majority of these feeds disappeared because:

• There was nothing really captivating. They couldn't hold my attention. I'll admit that's pretty hard to do anyway - if it's not bright and shiny you're already operating at a deficit with me anyway.
• No boobs. Ok, it's not required, but it does hold my attention.
• Too many posts to weed through in order to find interesting stuff.
• It was a blog about blogging or a blog about blogging to make money. I mean, aren't there enough of these by now? And all they seem to do is regurgitate the same information over and over and over again.
• Blogs without personality. Very subjective, I know. But when I read a blog I want to be able to get to know the person behind it.
• Feeds that don't give me the content. If you're putting blurbs ( or excerpts ) in your feed, you can pretty much count on the fact that I unsubscribed. Don't force me to visit your site. Publish the whole post. Make it easy to enjoy your content.

I imagine there will be more to be banished to the circular file in the coming weeks. It was just taking too long to sort through what was interesting and what was not. I also realized I was reading very few feeds and skipping through the majority of them.

I can't believe it. I really can't.

I wasted a half hour of my life watching Cavemen.

Fortunately it was only a half hour. If you haven't watched it yet, well don't bother. I think it's supposed to be a comedy about three cavemen ( from the GEICO commercials ) who move to San Diego in search of a more fulfilling life. Evidently they are tired of the stereotypes and discrimination they face in other places. Fortunately, Tuesday's not an entire wash. I also watched the premier of Carpoolers. That show has hope. It actually made me laugh out loud a few times. Four guys carpooling for their 45 minute drive to work each day, talking about stuff that guys talk about and doing the things guys do actually has some degree of comedic value.

Did you catch either of these two? Am I way off? Is Cavemen going to be the big hit of the season?

I know because I just did it. I threw the door open and invited all the pain and suffering that accompanies the attempt to write 50K words or more while trying to shape those words into the loose definition of a novel. Well, loose by the standards of NaNoWriMo ( National Novel Writing Month in November ), that is.

Luckily, the standards are such that quantity is preferred over quality. Think of it as a support group for people who want to write a novel, but lack the motivation to put words to paper. Being a veteran of NaNoWriMo, this year I'm tackling it a little different. In the years past I've had successes and failures. But, I've never tried to do the thing with any attempt at organization whatsoever. This year, I plan to have a loose outline of the characters, plot twists and overall story flow. My goal this year is to not only finish 50K words, but most likely, go over that amount and finish with a very good first draft fit for editing. So, wish me luck . . . and why not do it yourself if you're a budding writer? 50K words is the equivalent to a novel about the size of The Catcher in the Rye.

In order to finish, generally speaking, you'd have to be able to write around 1600 words a day - give or take. Because of the emphasis on quantity, it's simply a matter of putting the words down on paper - or virtual paper. If you do want to be declared a "winner" you will have to eventually upload your novel and submit it for a word count. You don't get any money. What you do get is a handy-dandy icon to put on your website and a certificate stating that you did finish a 50K words. Lastly, if you're looking for a buddy on NaNo this year, you can find me on there as "netanator." So load up on caffeine, get ready to starting pushing the syllables and sign up!