Saturday evening, ughhhhh

[cleolinda]

So I feel queasy and uninspired, how about you? Actually, it's all about the fact that I've successfully put off the Dreaded Black Ribbon Reread for a solid week. I'm to the point where I can't get any further with the rewriting (until now, I've just been writing out expansion scenes that aren't in the original draft at all) until I read through what I have and figure out what needs to go where and, more importantly, who knows what when. But for some reason, I'm absolutely terrified of what I'm going to find after a year or more of the thing being in the figurative drawer, which has led to spending Saturday on the following activities:

>> Play Webkinz for an hour

>> Watch Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School with my sister for an hour and a half

>> Reread half of Love and Louis XIV

>> Read all new posts on Snarkfest

>> Read all new posts on Google Reader

>> Check Fandom Wank

>> Update mood on Facebook

>> Paint nails "Cozu-melted in the Sun"

>> Find flea on dog, itch continuously thereafter

>> Paint nails with second coat of "Cozu-melted in the Sun"

>> Advise Sister Girl on dinner plans

>> Consider giving up writing, joining Peace Corps

>> Realize that I am far too picky an eater to join Peace Corps

>> Consider shower

>> Itch


It's times like these when I start to understand why so many writers drink.



My favorite Victorian research resource.

Ohio mom's body found; boyfriend charged.

Black lab drives owner's car into river. "No dummy, Charlie jumped out of the window as the car went downhill."

Average man sleeps with 7 women.

The real Pikachu?

The struggle for independents: As bookslut quotes it, "The independents got fucked by the Enron of publishing."

"A blind item to end all blind items..."

"Book by (fake) male prostitute-author (who is really a woman) called a fraud by jurors."

Tim Gunn's Two Cents on Handbags: "Very few people have the means to have a new bag every season, especially when everyday styles cost $2,000 and up. 'Gee, this is a $4,000 bag. Why don't I spend $600 instead and give the balance to charity?' " I love Tim Gunn, but WHO IS HE GIVING ADVICE TO? ARE THESE PEOPLE INSANE?

Defamer Styles: 10 Hot, Unconscious-Celebrity Looks For Under $100! Well, at least the hoodie Lindsay Lohan was wearing when she passed out in a pool of her own vomit won't set me back FOUR FIGURES.

More OOTP desktops; 360 Degree View of Professor Umbridge's Office.

Full 'Iron Man' Cast Photo Released; Robert Downey Jr. looks like a complete dink. And he's not even wearing a superhero costume, y'all.

John Krasinki New Favorite For 'Fletch.'

Woody Allen To Direct Puccini Opera.

Strathairn Goes Scary for Korean Thriller Remake.

Iorek: One of EW's Top 100.

Images: Moliere, The Jane Austen Book Club, Stardust.

Kids may not like this ''Secret'.' SHUT UP! THE SECRET OF NIMH IS A CLASSIC!

Kate Winslet's first Lancôme ads. And these are supposedly the ones without airbrushing.

First shot of Kate and Leo from Revolutionary Road. Favorite comment: "i cant believe titanic came out a decade ago. fuck. why am i so old."

Comments

[elisa0984.livejournal.com]

Ah, good makeup covers all.

[sarapada.livejournal.com]

>> Realize that I am far too picky an eater to join Peace Corps

Oh, you and me both, friend.

[poinsley.livejournal.com]

Haha, me too.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad y'all know what I'm talking about, instead of thinking that was the weirdest non sequitur of all time.

[mwestbelle.livejournal.com]

The OotP desktops are gorgeous!

(I snagged the Voldie one.)

[whisperwords.livejournal.com]

What!? The Secret of NIMH was one of my absolute favorite films as a child! A small child! Geez, I'm surprised babies aren't instantly force into bubbles at birth, the way people freak out about what they'll see and hear. O_o

[arielchan.livejournal.com]

Not only that, but the site then thinks that Animaniacs is totally appropriate for kiddos. There's so much adult humor is that series, I think if they're going to discourage one they should discourage both.

Hell, I watched both NIMH and Animaniacs as a kid and never had a problem. I was scared of Darth Vader, Pretty Woman, and Splash, but never NIMH. Trufax.

[finding-her.livejournal.com]

Pretty Woman?

I LOVE The Secret of NIMH.

[arielchan.livejournal.com]

Pretty Woman?

Even as a kid I hated romantic movies and all that angst of "WILL THEY BE TOGETHER IN THE END OR WON'T THEY?" Now I think it's stupid, but as a kid that stuff really worried me and freaked me out.

[polly-moopers.livejournal.com]

Darth Vader

I swear to God, that scene in Empire Strikes Back where Luke can't see Vader BUT ALL HE HEARS IS THE BREATHING still gives me nightmares.

[snapdragon76.livejournal.com]

Dude, I was scared of E.T, but never NIMH... Go figure.

[vampirepig13.livejournal.com]

You know, I do believe those Kate ads are un-airbrushed (but with exquisite makeup). If they had been 'shopped, they'd've taken out all the little frizzy hairs, and smoothed her eyebrows, and smoothed out her jawline (in the top one) and the line from her nose to her mouth (bottom) to vector perfection.

upon further inspection

[vampirepig13.livejournal.com]

It may be a 60-40 deal...Smoothed out skin tone but no edges?

[jennnk.livejournal.com]

Secret of Nimh is, to this day, one of my mother's favorite books.

[kali921.livejournal.com]

That cast photo is not really representative of what Robert Downey Jr. is looking like in the role. I've seen other stills where it's obvious he's totally nailed the Tony Stark vibe.

This film may not suck, with the casting going away it is, although I hate Paltrow. Terence Howard as Jim "War Machine" Rhodes? WIN WIN WIN. He's perfect for the role.

[edda.livejournal.com]

We're pretty much of the same opinion, although I'd like to add that Robert Downey Jr. is pretty much a big helping of hotness in that pic.

[agatha-mandrake.livejournal.com]

Dear Tim Gunn,

The last purse I bought was $5.99 at Value Village. That's 'five dollars and ninety-nine cents', not 'five hundred and ninety-nine dollars'.

Thinking you're fabulous, if a little daft,

Agatha

[it-grrl.livejournal.com]

Hear Hear! My last one was $4-5 at Hobby Lobby well over a year ago.

[lauramcvey.livejournal.com]

Love and Louis XIV

a) Wouldn't that be "Lust and Louis XIV"? Unless I'm mixing up my Louises.

b) Man, that must one freaking long book.

That woman in Ohio- the baby died too? *cries* Not that the mom dying is any less sad, but you have to be pretty fucking callous to kill a baby.

Book by (fake) male prostitute-author (who is really a woman) called a fraud by jurors.

I have. No words.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Nope, that's the Louis. Fraser only just mentions a few names here and there for the minor affairs; it's mostly focused on La Valliere, Montespan, a few pages for Angelique de Whatever, and then most of the second half on Maintenon (who apparently he married in secret).

[xanath.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, after reading about Louis's insatiable appetite, that his decision to marry Maintenon surprised me. Compared to Montespan or La Valliere, she wasn't that lovely, and she apparently had a thick religious streak. Eh, who knows. I think I'll have to read the book.

And now I have a desire to track down, buy and re-read The Bastard, by von Tessin.

--Kris

[jedilora.livejournal.com]

Not only did he marry her, but she didn't even LIKE sex! I've got this book called Seductress, and there's this whole bit where the author practically scolds her for not taking her own sexuality by the reins and boinking the living daylights out of him.

Also Sex with Kings.

[xanath.livejournal.com]

Not only did he marry her, but she didn't even LIKE sex!

I THOUGHT I'd read that about her! I think it was in The Nympho and Other Maniacs by Irving Wallace.

--Kris

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Hey, I think I have that book too.

[dianesoprano.livejournal.com]

Would it be unbelievably pathetic if after reading this, I started thinking, "OMG I totally need to reread my old chapters and rewrite most of them before I can finish my novel which has been sitting unfinished for at least six months now. Thanks, Cleolinda!"

Oh well, it does need a rewrite, I just didn't intend to start it until after I had finished that first draft.

[theatre-angel.livejournal.com]

I remember seeing The Secret of NIMH as a kid and being scared out of my MIND. But it's a good film, and the book's absolutely brilliant.

[bardintraining.livejournal.com]

Must have that encyclopaedia. Dayum. I've been fangirling Emily Carr's writing for a long time. I read all of three of her short stories and then went out and bought the complete collected works.

[sarahjanet.livejournal.com]

Jesus, the people commenting on Titanic being ten years old are all like, OMG, I'm sixteen, I remember my MOM watching that movie!!!! I'm SO OLD.

Get off my lawn, you damn kids. *shakes cane* Ten years? Criminy.

[eleigh.livejournal.com]

I saw that. If you weren't old enough to see it in the theater the first time it came out you lose all right to say "I'm so old" in response to the movie being 10 years old.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I get a similar feeling, but it's more in the vein of "Jesus, time passes quickly." Of course, I was also in COLLEGE when I saw it.

[kudzita.livejournal.com]

What's really sad is that somebody left a comment on the ONTD post saying "Nope, I've spent $1000 on a handbag and I love it and it's great." Such people exist, and that...that is distressing.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

>: O

See, if he were just talking to celebrities, I wouldn't think there was any point in it--it's the job of celebrities to spend obscene amounts of money on their looks and outfits. That's why they're celebrities. And I'm sure $1000 handbags are fantastic, and I'd love to have one fall out of the sky on my head. I'd even understand someone who splurged on an obscenely expensive bag and made it last 10-15 years. I just--I don't understand a world where you can actually say to a regular Joe (Jane?), "You know, this season, just buy a $600 bag and give the other $3400 to charity."

[3hours.livejournal.com]

OOTP desktop yum!

And to qupte one of the people that replied to the original post:
I love the Death Eaters one.
And how Severus isn't on it.

(of course it's just Bloomsbury/JK taking care in being 100% silent, but damnit I will read it as a sign ANYWAY)

[3hours.livejournal.com]

(and the fact that he doesn't 'come out' as 'evil' until HBP anyway. DETAILS!))

[lyn-thorne.livejournal.com]

Hi there,

I'm new here, but I've been reading your LJ for a while now, and I love your work :)

I think it's very interesting to read about your experiences with writing, because I can really sympathize with alot of what you say. Writing is a very lonely path to walk, and to know there are others out there having the same issues makes it feel a little less lonely. (I completely agree with the fear of the Reread, but it's always interesting to read something you did a while back. Sometimes you really surprise yourself with how far you've come in a short period of time, and sometimes you find those little gems that you've forgotten about.)

I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with Black Ribbon, I know you'll do great. (Sends you a cookie.)

But you can blame Mercury for being in Retrograde again until the 10th. X_X

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

But you can blame Mercury for being in Retrograde again until the 10th.

Oh God, seriously? I have a deep fear of Mercury retrogrades. Eeek!

(Welcome aboard!)

[lyn-thorne.livejournal.com]

Well, according to http://www.astrologyweekly.com/astrology-articles/mercury-retrograde.php we're in Retrograde. I remembered one from last year, and looked it up, then immediately went 'Well, *that* explains alot about my month...' Sorry to be the bearer of that news!

Maybe this story would cheer you up? http://www.styledash.com/2007/06/20/bra-panties-cause-road-collapse-flooding/

Thank you so much for the welcome!

[it-grrl.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, there was a movie, that sounds SO MUCH like that MURDER!!! It wasn't Very Bad Things, though. I remember it had a spunky young reporter(70's era), a Golden Age of film murder, a crate of lobsters, and a drug-induced, Alice In Wonderland-based lesbian sex scene later used as blackmail. Anyone?

Also, I am not in a universe in which $4000, or even $600 handbags exist. Actually, my purse cost $4 at a Hobby Lobby, and it works/looks just fine.

Lastly, if I, a kid who was TERRIFIED of ET, could handle the Secret of NIMH and love it, I don't see why kids these days would have trouble with it. *mutters something about kids these days*

[evilbearhunter.livejournal.com]

I totally agree on the Peace Corp pickiness issue. Also, $4000 handbags? I made my purse. (And I'm really, really proud of it and that's why I'm bragging now.)

[rahrahmah.livejournal.com]

You know what's funny about that NIMH thing? As soon as I saw it mentioned, the first thing I thought was "that movie scared the *bleeping* beJESUS out of me when I was little." And what word did they happen to use in the review? Bejesus. Seriously though, it terrified me. I still remember it VERY fondly.

[chocolat-violet.livejournal.com]

The Secret of NIMH has more depth than any of the stuff comimg out these days! (Though I don't mind a nice mind-numbing movie.) I agree that the new cover art is out of place and that I wouldn't show this to a six-year-old (as they wouldn't get it). However, give the kids a break; you won't damage them by showing them this classic.

[megathy27.livejournal.com]

Hi, I was wondering if you could post a link to my friend's survey in your next linkspam post? He, along with another student and a professor from Muhlenberg College, is studying "the addictive nature of non-drug related phenomena," specifically Harry Potter, in a four part series of surveys. HPANA has an article about it here (http://www.hpana.com/news.20026.html) with a bit more information, and the first survey is here (http://www.zoomerang.com/recipient/survey.zgi?p=WEB226LM2X92FD). Thanks :)