Category Archives: General

My Blog Is Different!

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You might have noticed that my blog looks different now!  I decided to change the theme, as well as making some changes to the pages I have.  If you go over to the Projects page, you’ll see a page devoted to my NaNo history, a page about previous, non-NaNo projects, and of course, everything I’m currently working on.  I’ve been meaning to do a NaNo page for a while, and yesterday I decided I really needed to do it.  Especially since NaNo is the basis for a lot of my writing, and helped me work on some stuff I started way back in high school.  The about this blog page is also updated, plus there’s a contact info page, so be sure to check that out if you want to email me or find me on twitter or goodreads.

I didn’t really like how the old page did subpages (seeing as I now have several now) so I decided to find a them that did subpages slightly better…and I found one I liked!  I hope you enjoy the new layout.

The writing went fairly well this week, and I sort of stuck to the schedule I came up with earlier this year.  I’m hoping that I’ll be able to stick to it more, because I want to get more of a routine going.  Writing in the mornings is working out better than the afternoon, although the afternoon is working fine too.  Overall, I managed to get to my 125 word goal, and for the most part, added a little extra.  I think I’ll aim for 150 words per project, with the goal of adding as much as I can to that.

I also made some progress with the David Starkey book, and I’m particularly glad I checked it out from the library, because it’s gotten even more dull and tedious than it already was.  The intro was pretty off-putting, and I’m actually not sure if I’ll finish it or it.  I’m determined to, but it’s frustrating that he felt the need to talk about Henry’s divorce from Katherine of Aragon TWICE!  And pretty much the same info but from Katherine’s perspective and then Anne’s.  It’s more about the political aspect of his marriages, as opposed to a more cultural version.  I appreciate the research but it’s just so much information that it’s overwhelming.  As of right now, I wouldn’t recommend the book to anyone.

I worked on one of the characters from one of my plot bunnies, and did a little mind-map.  There’s an actual program (which is free) that does this, but I find it a little hard to use when I tested it out.  I might keep my handwritten one, but I may end up using One Note instead.  Still, it’s more than what I had at the beginning of the week.  Maybe this will be the week that I actually take a look at all my plot bunny notes!

I didn’t lose any weight either, which isn’t a surprise considering i didn’t exercise and ate crap all week.  But surprisingly, I didn’t gain any weight either.  Maybe I need to just…go to the gym and stuff.

House Recap

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Last night was the House season finale, and it’ll be my last season recap. At least until In Plain Sight is done for the season.

Anyway, I saw an article that said Lisa Edelstein, who plays Cuddy, isn’t going to come back. Sorta sad, since the article said next season might be the last season. But then again, I’ve liked Cuddy less and less, and the female characters tend to be annoying- they’re all pretty much the same type of character.

Here’s the actual episode recap:

So, we open with Cuddy in front of a house (hers, I’m presuming) telling the police that if House ever gets near her, she wants him in jail. 

We then go to a street performer who gets set on fire, which House and his team watch while he’s recovering from his attempt to perform surgery on himself.  House is getting more ridiculous- while I accept he’s slightly ridiculous (it is part of his charm), it’s getting to be way over the top. 

It turns out the street performer is sick, but set herself up so that House would be her doctor.  Not a big surprise, since it’s happened a few times throughout the series.  I felt like solving the case was secondary to everything else going on.  Turns out she had a diagnosis from a different doctor. 

We went back to Cuddy’s house, with Wilson telling the police that House is probably at a bar, one that suits how he feels inside.  `Then we have Wilson talking to House about how House is being really self-destructive, and deal with his problems instead of self-medicating. 

And then the last 5 minutes happened.  House speeds off, and then comes back, driving into Cuddy’s house, giving her the hairbrush she left at his house back.  The episode ends with House at a beach. 

As for what I thought:

I was curious as to how Cuddy would exit.  It kinda seems like she might make a guest appearance or two.  It’s almost as though this episode was filmed and then Edelstein decided she didn’t want to renew her contract for the next season.  Unfortunately, it didn’t end how I thought it would. 

It’s not my favorite episode, and it felt really disjointed.  I want to know what’s going to happen next season- how is Edelstein leaving going to affect the show?  Is there going to be someone new for the dean of medicine or is it going to be someone we know?  Or is that role going to be conspicuously absent?  That leaves Olivia Wilde as the sole female, but now that’s she’s starting to focus on a movie career, will she be around as much next season?  If not, will someone be added to the team, like they did with Amber Tamblyn?  

And what’s going to happen with Talb’s wife being pregnant, as well, as the other woman he’s been sleeping with?  That’ll be an interesting story arc.

Overall, things felt so unresolved, like we didn’t really get anywhere or learn anything important.

Just…Writing

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I’m glad I’m back to my normal word goals, because that really does work better for me. 

I think I’m going to write a minimum of 125 words for all 6 of the projects I’m working on.  If I write more, great.  But if it’s close to 125, that’s okay too.  I tend to go over.  I’ve consistently decided to go over my word limit, although that’s partially because I try to finish the paragraph I’m working on. 

I didn’t work on any of my plot bunnies, other than to do some research for my historical fiction.  I did get an idea for my NCIS fanfiction after watching the NCIS season finale, so I might try writing something about who’s selling top-secret information.

I only lost 1/2 a pound over the last week, but that’s because I decided I didn’t want to go the gym, and it was kinda hard getting my eating under control, so the fact that I lost any weight at all is good.  I still need to get my eating under control, but it’s getting easier, especially since I’ve been doing some batch cooking.

Grey’s Anatomy Recap

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So there are major spoiler alerts for the Grey’s Anatomy season finale.  If you haven’t watched it, and don’t want to know what happened, please don’t read this post!

We start off with the social worker who’s in charge of the adoption- Meredith and Derek decided to adopt one of the kids from Africa.  They’ve been building the house for a couple seasons.  Whenever Derek broke up with the surgical nurse, which I think was season 4 or 5, I can’t remember right now.       

Then we get into the fact that Meredith swtiched the results for the Alzheimer’s trial.  At the end of last weeks episode, Karev, being drunk, told Dr. Hunt that Meredith switched the results for the trial.  She decided that Adele (Dr Weber’s wife) should get the drug she and Derek are testing so she switches the results for Adele and some random person.  Hunt tells Derek, and Derek, Dr Weber, and Meredith have a short meeting where MEreidth says she did nothing wrong.  She refuses to tell Weber and Derek how many time she switched the results, but Karev comes by with his account of what happened.  They learn she switched the results for Adele.  She doesn’t get fired, but she does get suspended, and the trial has to be ended.     

As for Derek and Meredith’s relationship: Derek tells Meredith he can’t raise a child with someone who doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong.  This is after she tells him that she would mess with the results again.  Derek needs some space and time to think.  Anyway, the adoption kind of goes through- they get temporary custody of the kid.     

Here are some of the other highlights:

  • In true Grey’s fashion, there’s a plane crash, and of course, Seattle Grace is the designated hospital.  Unlike other catastrophies featured on the show, everyone dies, except for one unaccompanied minor.        
  • Mark gives Avery the okay to be with Lexie- she wants to be happy, and she’s happy with Avery.  Mark decided to let her go, and she decided to walk away.
  • Christina is pregnant, and she doesn’t want the baby while Dr Hunt does.  They try to come to a compromise but Christina makes an appointment to have an abortion.  He doesn’t take it well, and tells her to leave their apartment.     
  • We learn who the chief resident is- Karev almost got it, until he mentioned the whole Meredith-messing-with-the-trial thing.  Instead, it’s Kepner, which wasn’t a surprise.  I figured it would be her.
  • Teddy decides she wants to be with Henry, the patient she married so he would have health insurance.  I was kinda hoping she’d go with the therapist guy to germany, because I didn’t really like her, but maybe she’ll grow on me.

While dramatic, it wasn’t as dramatic as finales from previous seasons.  My questions are: where is Christina’s relationship with Dr Hunt headed?  Will she change her mind about having the baby?  And what about Derek and Meredith?  Will they work things out or will they get divorced so very soon after getting married?  Will she get permanent custody of the baby?  I want to know the answers to all of these questions!  It’s going to be a long summer.

Cold And Rainy

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It was cold and rainy yesterday, which fit my mood really well.  It’s been almost four years since my grandpa died, so I’ve been thinking about that the last few days. 

It’s gone by so fast, and I really can’t believe that tomorrow marks the 4-year anniversary.  He never saw me finish college, and there’s so much he’ll miss.  Sometimes I wonder what things would have been like if he never got sick or if he were still alive.  And whenever things (like my college graduation) happen, I wonder what he would’ve thought and how proud he might have been. 

One of my favorite memories of my grandpa was him taking me to the library every week when I was little.  My love of reading and learning and history all come from him, and that it something I’ll never forget.  I’ll always be thankful for that.

And there’s the fact that my grandpa was, for all intents and purposes, my dad.  He, along with my grandma, helped raised me, and that’s something I’ll never forget either. 

I still miss him, and I’m glad he was so involved in my life.  I’m trying not to cry right now, because thinking about him still hurts.  I suppose it’ll get better with time.

2 Down, 2 To Go, Plus Major Spoilers

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Last night had the season finales of both NCIS and Hellcats.  There’s still the season finale of House, which I think is on Monday plus the Grey’s season finale tomorrow night.  There are some major spoilers, so if you watch NCIS, or Hellcats, and haven’t seen any of the episodes yet, don’t read this post.   

So, for NCIS, well, it was a doozy of an episode, and we certainly learned a lot.  We learned who the Port-to-Port (henceforth known as P2P) killer was.  We learned Mike Franks was sick, but that was heavily implied last week, so it was no big surprise.  It was still sad though, becasuse I came to love Mike Franks in the few episodes I saw him in.  It turned out Agent Barrett is the niece of SECNAV.  As for the actual P2P killer, it turned out to be Lietenant Cobb, who was getting revenge for Operation Frankenstein.  Unfortunately, since I started watching mid-season, and haven’t seen every episode, I probably missed the connection as to why Cobb was so important.  Cobb dies, as did one of Agent Barrett’s team members.  I hope this episode is the last we see of Barrett, because I really didn’t like her.  And for Ziva and CI-Ray, WTF?  I thought they broke up, and then she seems to take him back!  I’m fine with very little romance in the series, especially among the major characters, because it works for the show.  I nearly started crying at the end, during Mike’s funeral.  It was very touching that Gibbs made Mike’s coffin.

All of that wasn’t the most shocking though- there were a couple very curious things.  First, what did EJ remove from Levin’s arm?  And why would she do it?  And then there’s the meeting between the new SECNAV (because the old one retired), Director Vance, and Tony.  Tony’s getting a top secret clearance because an agent is selling top-secret information, and Tony has to investigate it without anyone else on the team knowing.  He looked shocked for a few moments, and then acted like it was okay. 

The big question is: are the two related?  It’s highly likely they are, but if it’s not her, then who is it?  It’s definitely someone we know, based on Tony’s reaction.  And honestly, there was something odd about EJ.  If there’s anything I learned while watching NCIS, it’s that if something is introduced, it’s for a reason, so EJ removing something that appears to be a microchip of some sort from her dead co-worker’s arm is very suspicious.  Equally as suspicious is that Tony’s team can’t know, and I want to know why.  While it’s possible that it’s EJ, could it be the one of the team?  So, the possibilities are EJ, Gibbs, Ziva and McGee.  I would have said Ducky or Jimmy, but as Ducky’s the ME, and Jimmy’s his assistant, it’s probably not them.  I just thought of something else- CI-Ray got a text telling him Kort is in Tel Aviv.  So what is Kort doing in Tel Aviv, and why does Ray have to go fix it?  It’s going to be a long summer, waiting for season 9.  At least we have an inkling of the changes for NCIS.  As for the traitor storyline, didn’t we get enough of that with Agent Lee and Domino? 

Well, since this post has gone a lot longer than I expected, I think talk about Hellcats briefly.  None of it was a big surprise, and was just okay.  The Hellcats get disqualified from nationals because of an “anonymous tip” that the team experienced an outbreak of strep threat.  With Alice being sick (and not telling anyone) and Savannah being with her sister (who was giving birth), the team didn’t have enough cheerleaders to compete.  The coach ends up getting fired because she put her team at risk, and Savannah steps down as cheer captain.  Relatively uneventful, and not very impressive, but it definitely is setting up the next season.  I haven’t heard anything of the show being cancelled, but hopefully it doesn’t.

Two Season Finales This Week

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I’m pretty excited about the season finales for both NCIS and Grey’s Anatomy that air this week.  I’m looking foward to both, because it looks like both episodes are going to be big. 

I really can’t believe that I didn’t get into NCIS before, but the whole Port-to-Port storyline has been really interesting.  I’m really annoyed that they killed Mike Franks, because he’s always been a really interesting character.  It’s too bad Muse Watson had a recurring role, because I would have loved to see him as a regular cast member.  Random side note: I love Agent Fornell, and it’s a shame Joe Spano only gets to be on a couple of episodes every season.  Anyway, I can’t wait until tonight, because tonight’s episode is going to have serious effects for next season, and is going to change things for the world of NCIS.  Well, according to the interviews I’ve read. 

As for Grey’s Anatomy, it’s going to be an emotional shoot-out (instead of an actual one, thank goodness).  They really like to go big for their season finales, and this one looks like it’ll be no different.  Watching the previews, I kept thinking “oh my god, that’s really happening…”  If Meredith and Derek really break up, and end up getting a divorce after they finally get married, I will not be happy.  Considering how long it took them to get together, and everything they’ve been through…grrr!  And it looks like Meredith gets fired for messing with the Alzheimer’s trial.  Looks like I’ll have to wait until Thursday to find out.

Time Limits Didn’t Work Out That Well

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My attempt at writing for 10 minutes a day didn’t work out too well.  I got writing done, but I found myself wandering over to the internets and doing random stuff. 

I think I’m going to go back to word goals, at least for now.  So I’ll write 125 words for 5 projects. 

My character profiles are mostly done- I answered what I could, and I’ll let the rest come to me.  Now that I know a little more about the characters, I think I might revisit both plot bunnies, and see if I can come up with anything.

I’ve started 6 Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII by David Starkey.  It’s 765 pages, not counting footnotes or the index, so it’s going to take a while to get through it.  I can handle only so much reading before everything starts running together.  He came across as a little arrogrant in the introduction, which I hope stays in the introduction. 

I’m still nowhere close to having an idea for my historical fiction, so I’ll stick to just researching for now.  Hopefully something will come to me.

Surprisingly, I lost one pound!  I was so excited yesterday when I saw that, because I was expecting to gain weight or stay the same.  Hopefully, I can keep it up, and try not to eat to make myself feel better.

Webcomics And Podcasts

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I thought I’d do something other than a book review today, so I’ll be talking about webcomics. 

I don’t know why it took so long for me to start reading them.  I’m reading Ask Dr. Eldritch right now, which is really amusing. 

 I don’t think it’ll take me too long to catch up, since reading them goes pretty fast.  But there are close to 700, so who knows how long it’ll actually take?

I heard about it when I was listening to Greetings From Nowhere, and there are some links to some other webcomics on their website, so I’ll have to check those out too. 

Speaking of podcasts, just when I started to get caught up on everything, I found some new podcasts to listen to.  I’ve been going back and forth between This American Girl’s Ride, Cocktails and Creampuffs and the Satyrsphere.  I tried listening to Big Fatty Online, but I couldn’t get into it. 

I still need to get through Hello Nessa, and I need to listen to Flat 29’s Big Book of Everything, Pink Wheelnuts, Q’s House, Vera Speaks, Flat Twenty-Rhymes: Just The Songs to see if I’m interested enough to go back and listen to all of the episodes.  I’m still trying to decide if I like Hardcore History, so for now, I won’t delete it. 

I’ve found that I’m not listening to as much music as a result of listening to all the podcasts, but they’re free, and right now, free is about all I can manage.  Most of them are personal journal podcasts, and it’s fascinating listening to people talk about what’s going on in their lives.  Sometimes, I really do find myself start talking along and jumping into the conversation…only to realize that it’s a podcast.  It’s probably good that I don’t have too much room on my iPod because then I might look a little strange when I’m listening to them out in public.

I think that’s enough of what I’ve been listening to and some of the non-book stuff I’ve been reading.  Have a great day!

Must. Not. Laugh.

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Sometimes, when I’m writing, I glance at the last few paragraphs, and wonder what on earth were my fingers thinking.  Because what comes out is always funny.  Today I thought I’d share some more bizarre writing, this time from Harry Potter and The Giant Prehistoric Chicken.

  • “So be patient, is what he’s trying to saym,” tinks said.  (Who’s Tinks?  Is she related to Tonks at all?)
  • “Kepp this up mrs weasleyt, and you’ll find yourself in detention.  (When did Mrs. Weasley show up?  And what is kepp?)
  • “Yes professor,” ginny frinned.  (Maybe Ginny should try grinning instead of frinning.)
  • “We like encoruage trouble hermione,” geokrge said.  “I have a feelinh this potion is imporant.” (How many words can I misspell in one sentence?)
  • It was the best polalce to hide in the libraruy as she could actually be in the library without anyone finding her.  (*headdesk*)
  • “this isn’t air.” (*headdesk*)

It really is interesting (and funny) what I end up writing sometimes.  Other times I want to bang my head against a wall or find a cliff or something, but it’s really entertaining.  And whenever I need a good laugh, I know I can always go to previous NaNo’s.