Hunting 51, Rocky.

Anacondas: Hunt for the Blood Orchid

Syfy featured this movie two weeks ago. Ryan from V and the doctor lady from Eureka are in it. Lots of people get munched by giant snakes [I think Syfy has a thing for big snakes. They air a lot of giant snake movies.] There was a fair amount of camp, which I enjoy. It was actually pretty good. Acting was better than usual. Bonus, lots of pretty men to look at.

Area 51

Last weekend, Area 51 was opened to the press for public viewing. Bruce Boxleitner gave the grand tour. Then things went very badly. The aliens got out. Graphic gore was in this movie. Lots of blood and chunks. There was really no camp in it at all, but it was a decent watch. I liked their concept for Patient Zero and I always appreciate a chic kicking ass. Seemed a little better than the usual Saturday night movie. I missed the camp, though. It's my thing.

[click on the photo for a larger view]

She says: That woman over there is wearing my outfit!

How would you caption this picture?

Screen capture curtesty of Rocky Jones: Space Ranger.

My favorite quote from Rocky: Winky says: Me likey you moon.

I think his name was Winky. I might be wrong.

Rocky and Winky flying through the galaxy. Can you come up with a worse character name than Winky? Maybe it was a 50's thing.

Show Me a Blue Moon

This weekend is the Nature of Words literary conference here in Bend. I'm signed up for a workshop Saturday morning on showing not telling. I think I get this concept, but it never hurts to keep an open mind and keep learning. It's given by novelist Hilary Jordan.

2nd Sunday is the first Sunday this month to coincide with Nature of Words. I'll be reading Blue Moon in front of a larger crowd than usual. The 2nd Sunday program starts at 11:00 a.m. Bend Public Library in the Brooks Room.

For more on Blue Moon, see: http://www.mpaxauthor.com/biblio.php?storyid=31

What are your plans this weekend?

How about a screen capture to caption for your entertainment pleasure?

"Wilma, I love chicken. I'm obsessed with chicken."

"I know, dahling."

Wistful Reads?

Anyone interested in an online bookclub? Of course, the books would be science fiction or fantasy. We could discuss them here on a scheduled basis. For instance, the first 100 pages and then the rest of the book, or however we decide to divvy the material up. We can vote on which book to read. We'll pace it reasonably. Something I thought up which I thought could be fun. For the first read, I would suggest "Replay" by Ken Grimwood. Any other suggestions? We can then vote. Let me know in the comments whether you're interested.

Seems Tuesday is the new 'it' night for the Syfy channel. Stargate Universe returns tonight. I'm looking forward to it. I will miss Warehouse 13 while it's on hiatus. I enjoyed it last summer yet it got better this year. I liked the story arc with HG Wells. Very well done, Warehouse 13.

I've seen the ads for Caprica coming back, too. The magic from BSG just isn't there. Maybe they worked on that while on hiatus. We'll see. The teenage girl angst with the robot just standing there most of the time and the virtual reality scenario were just not very interesting. All the smoking and drinking were distracting and also not interesting. It finally got good when the robot broke out in the very last episode. I will give it another chance and see whether it improved or not.

Started watching The Event on NBC. It's on at 9:00 p.m. on Monday nights. I liked the second episode better than the first. I thought it was rather exciting last night. I hope they keep it up. It would be fun to have something new and interesting to watch. Especially now that Lost is done. Haven't seen it yet? I think they put the episodes already aired on their website. So you can watch there.

Got an idea for a TV show of your own? How about using this as inspiration?

The Real Trashcans of Roswell

Oscar scowled at Tin Tin. "You always think you're so much better than everyone else!"

Tin Tin smiled, letting the others know he did not disagree. "I am made of stainless steel, not aluminum. Nope, I am not trashcan trash." He sniffed.

Remember to keep voting and add your comments at www.mpaxathor.com  Thankees!

Moongirl

Wednesday night I took this pic of the moon. It was tough as it was too dark to get a decent shot once the moon got high enough to see. It was really this color - well, actually it was redder. I was using my 4" Meade, which broke so that it won't stay still once it's aimed. So I had to hold the telescope and the camera as still as possible. Finally got one decent shot once I put the moon filter on. Took about 50 takes. Thank the Universe for the invention of digital cameras.

The 8" is up at the observatory, so I'll probably get some moon shots tonight. The moon will be just past full, so it's going to be bright. It's cool here - only about 70 - so I better get the thermals ready. Hope my cold doesn't try to sneek back, but I have a feeling it will. Maybe I'll take a preventative zicam before I go.

Hurt my left shoulder blade on Wednesday, so have been taking a lot of Advil, too. Apparently, my carefulness with the kickass workouts was not careful enough. Pushups are off the menu again for awhile. Siiiigh.

It's been really smoky here. Can smell fire in the air. I guess there's a wildfire on the Warm Springs Reservation and farmers have been burning their fields. Adds up to a hazy mess.

The reading of Plantgirl last night went well. Folks were talking about needing some Miracle Gro in their shoes. Mmmmmhmmmm. Me, too. I think I finally got reading slower down. Folks noticed my improvement. Practice at Second Sundays is paying off. It's also a lot of fun. Second Sundays is an enthusiastic crowd which sizzles with electricity.

I leave you for the weekend with a photo to caption. Have a great one!

Me hidey good

Tomato Fruit Salad

Definition of writer insanity: Constantly getting up just before I fall asleep because a new idea about the WIP [work in progress] pops into my head. Getting up at 3:30 to write down ideas. I often also get ideas while chopping vegetables. Got another ping while slicing tomatoes for a salad last night. Yeah, I know, technically tomatoes are a fruit. But who puts them in fruit salad? Anybody?

I roughed out the final chapter about twenty minutes ago. An idea for a scene for the finale came to me as I was falling asleep last night. Third night in a row, I snuck into the closet to write in the wee hours. My Nini was displeased. She insists I follow her schedule of how things are done in this household. My cats are sticklers for their schedules. Regimented. Nini led me back to bed with purrs, wagging her fluffy tail. I let her think she succeeded. Only, I was done jotting down the snippet flooding my head.

Anyone else write in the closet? LOL Makes me think of that South Park episode ...

I'm about 100 words away from 80,000 right now. As I add in things to tie up loose ends and make a nice, neat package of the plot and all its threads, that will go up a few thousand.

Have a waning Moon to deal with during primetime this weekend. So, a lot of things will be washed out again. Of course, I'm away during the next new moon. Dang. Sort of. I'm excited about my trip and the conference. Will make sure my outfit works this weekend. And, I'll make a pack list. Otherwise, I'll forget something.

Enjoy your weekend, and if you care to, caption the picture or write a little story for it. I really enjoyed what you all did last time. :) Party at Shazam's Palace?

70,000 600 and Still Going

Yup. 70,000 words and counting. Yeah I reported 67,000 words last time. When I revamped the plot, that scaled me back to 65,000. So I had words to make up. I've now been through the entire pre-written portion of the novel and am writing all new chapters until the end. Simultaneously, I've begun editing the earlier chapters. So I'm up to 17 on re-edits of edits. Necessary because of plot changes and perfectionist tendancies. I have approximately 15,000 words to go. About three weeks until my pitches. I'll be very, very close to finished. So, phew! The end is in sight. The end is in sight! Can't wait to type those words: 'THE END'. It's a thrill.

As thrilling as discovering new objects in the telescope. Added M80 [a star cluster not a firecracker] to my list of discoveries this weekend. Plus, we viewed Mercury in the 24 early in the evening on Saturday. So, now I've seen all eight planets. I think I picked out which dot was Pluto Friday night. Saturday I packed it in and went home before midnight.

I had to deal with some major a-holes, which makes me want the season to end. It's only half over though. Why some people have to resort to being dicks is beyond me. I was actually provoked into yelling, "Shut up or go home." Because some spoiled twit could not get over being asked to turn the flash off on her camera. Nights like that I wish we had more help. I really could have used some backup. Especially of the large, burly male type. It's hard when I'm so outnumbered. And, it's unpleasant to be given such a hard time about following the basic rules of being a guest of the observatory. I know I shouldn't dwell on the one a-hole. Everyone else was very pleasant and I enjoyed showing them the sky and answering their questions. But, it only takes one a-hole to spoil the bushel and turn the night sour. Enough on that, even though I'm still riled to rage by it.

I had a goal to reach 500 twitter followers before going to my pitches in August. I'm getting close to 600 now, so woot!

My pic of the Moon taken Saturday night made astrophoto gallery of the day on Twitter yesterday:

Now onto some silly fun, so I get out of my foul funk. My temper really knows how to hang around. It hangs on like honey. Anyway, got a quote or a story to go with this? Make me laugh.

Forging Ahead

How was your weekend? Hope you enjoyed it. Enjoyed a date with my husband Friday night for our 16th anniversary. He got me the netbook as my anniversary present. Great gift as I can keep working on the go. Going I am this week. The netbook is pretty much all set up and ready to go. Need to add my documents and some pictures to it and then recharge it.

Saturday night at the observatory was a total bust. It was rainy, cloudy, foggy and cold. I ended up leaving before sunset. The fog made things wetter. The mirrors and eyepieces get waterspots if out in the wet. So, we weren't going to open the dome or get a smaller scope out. The mountain was completely socked in. We saw no hope for magic and there were only about 5 people visiting anyway. So even if magic did happen, they didn't really need me. I got to the bottom of the mountain and I could see Venus and the Moon. It happens a lot that way. At least, it did last summer.

Met with my critique group Saturday. We had a lot of housekeeping to take care of as our chair resigned. We changed the day and time of our meets to Monday nights and decided to take turns as leader. We reformatted things so meetings will be more constructive for all of us. Afterward, they helped me with my character GMC's again. Had some great brainstorming over character plot which led to revisions in the plot. It's no big deal, because I didn't write those parts yet where it comes in. It means very light revisions / redirection to the chapters I've done, but nothing major.

So, I'm excited and refreshed about finishing the novel up. I'm 60,000 words in. I have 40,000 or less left to go in which I have to bring it to a satisfying end. It worries me some as I have a lot to cover in those 40,000 words. But now I know exactly what I'm doing and feel good about it. If I need to cut, I'll figure that out later. The business end for getting the pitches ready is closer to done, too. I'm feeling good about that. Still worried as to how much is lef to go on finishing the novel though.

I have many hours to kill in airports and on planes over the next week, so that should be good for my productivity level. Thus, the gift of the netbook. I have to have access to wifi to be online. Most times I won't, so I will not be back online until end of next week. I will sneak work in where possible around visiting with family and friends. But will not attempt to sneak in my usual cyperspace activities.

Everyone have a great week. I leave you with a picture to caption or write a story for. Let that creativity flow.

Nice Tights

How would you cap this picture? Or would you write a story?

I love these old movies. It's nice to start the week with a smile. :)

What's Up With That?

Got a caption or a story for this?

Lies or Creativity? Hmmm.

I was given this award by the very lovely and talented, Paty Jager. I can either give you 6 lies with one truth or 6 truths with one lie. I think I will go with six truths and one lie. Can you guess which? [hmm, maybe my website will help you figure a few out]



1.  I spent my childhood in a stable as one of the few 'cowgals' on the east coast.
2.  The first story I ever wrote was about a horse. "Wesco". I was about 8.
3.  I'm a lawyer.
4.  I am a whiz with computers. I have like a natural karma. They love me.
5.  I was once a punk rocker with pink spiky hair.
6. My favorite subject [beyond astronomy & sci fi] is Sumer.
7.  I know the Canadian national anthem.

What's Going On?

This dude is looking a little ... skeered or nervous or something. What do you think is going on? Caption it or write a little story.

What's Going On?

Caption it, or add your story. What do you think is going on?