Saturday, January 29, 2011

So I'm writing a Book...

I've read hundreds, possibly thousands, of books. Some were really good, great character development, good plot and so on. Some were average writing but great storyline. And some, well, some I really tried to get through and had to give up because it just wasn't happening! So, I'm thinking, hey, it can't be that hard, right? I love to read, I have a pretty decent imagination and I've decided recently that I'm going to finish things I start. So I've got a plot, half the characters and a decent start on the first full chapter. And I've realized, writing isn't all that easy. The story sounds really good in my head, but I'm having a hard time translating it to the written word. I can see the places and people in the story, but my hangup is fully describing the scenery without boring the reader. I will not give up though! I am finishing this thing! I may put the first chapter on the blog...worst case scenario is it'll put you to sleep!! "The only two mistakes on the road to truth are not starting and not going all the way."

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Do Chickens have Large Talons?

Some of my all time favorite movie quotes...

1. "Do chickens have large talons?" Napoleon Dynamite
2. "It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting *ideas*, and *thinking*..." Gaston, Beauty and the Beast
3."That's gonna leave a mark." Tommy, Tommy Boy
4."It's where I keep all my things. Get a lot of compliments on this. Plus it's not a purse, it's called a satchel. Indiana Jones wears one. "Alan, The Hangover
5."You've always been crazy, this is just the first chance you've had to express yourself." Louise, Thelma and Louise
6."I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" Harry Callahan, Dirty Harry
7."You have that sharp, useless look about you." Vivien, Pretty Woman
8."I rode through the rain! I'd - I'd ride through worse than that if I could just hear your voice telling me that I might, at least, have some chance to win you." Mr. Knightly, Emma
9."I picked a helluva day to quit drinkin'." Russell Casse, Independence Day
10."You have your moments. Not many of them, but you do have them." Princess Leia,one of those Star Wars movies

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Memories of Home

So I have lived in Kansas City Missouri for just over 12 years now and while it is a great city I miss my home state of Michigan. I guess you would say this is home now and to some degree it is since I have a family here, but truth be told, I will always be a Northern girl.

Growing up, my family lived on a small inland lake about 10 miles from Lake Michigan. I say small because, well, Lake Michigan is big enough you cannot see the other side; to me that is a big lake. Paw Paw Lake is approximately 10 square miles and if you asked the kids, they would say it was rather large. Being landlocked in the great state of Missouri, I pine for those days when I could walk out of our house and jump off of our dock into the cool, crisp water. I remember jetskiing with my sister all day during our summers and lounging around the fire pit my Dad built in a rather large sandbox in our yard! I remember spotting for my Mom as she would pull my Dad slalom skiing behind the big blue beast and hours spent waxing said beast under the watchful eye of my Father. My Grandpa taught us how to ski when I was 10 years old. We had a pair of pint size skis that were bolted together and I don't think I've ever been prouder than when I actually stood up without falling back over. It got even better when I could slice through the wake behind the back of the blue beast.

Fall is my favorite time of year. I think it has to do with autumns spent raking leaves, again under the watchful eye of my Father. Back then, we would pile them up by the road and burn them. Nothing smells better than burning leaves.

Winters in Michigan can only be described as serene. The town I grew up in received large amounts of lake effect snow. We would get dumped on regularly, but I loved it. I learned to drive a stick shift into a snowbank and how to properly remove the car from it. My friends and I would do 360's in the parking lot of our high school, that is until I almost hit a parked bus. School was rarely called off due to snow. Michiganders know how to drive in it and the county had salting down to a science. School is called off in Missouri if there is a slight dusting.

I remember biking with my sister and Dad while my Mom was at work. We would pack a lunch and bike the 10 miles, or at least it felt like it, to Lake Michigan. We'd eat our lunch on the beach and pick up rocks and driftwood. I loved those rides and the sand, which is unlike any I've walked through on the East or the West coasts. Now when I visit my parents, I soak in those walks along the beach and carry them back to Missouri...

Friday, January 7, 2011

Afton and I at the Zoo!

My Favorite Poem

The Road Not Taken...
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-Robert Frost