Sunday, October 31, 2010

Up To My Eyeballs

I was so proud of the candy I planned to give out to the Halloweenies this year.  Chocolate eyeballs with assorted inside goo of peanut butter, caramel, or fudge.

The Trick or Treaters that showed up loved them~ "Ewwww!!! Eyeballs!"

But due to the 7:00pm Texas Rangers game, and not realizing at first that I had a burned out porch light, we didn't have a whole lot of traffic this year.  We had a few Batmans, a Spiderman, a Ladybug, a Ghost Bride and a few assorted monsters stop in for a treat, but that was about it.

It's been well over an hour since anyone has rang our doorbell.  And anybody in the age-range that I want to see out trick or treating is most likely in bed by now.

BOO.
who.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Signed, Sealed, and Being Delivered

I was so happy today as I drove my CD to the UPS store to have it sent to Oasis where all the printing and duplication will be done. 
When it comes back to me in couple of weeks (please keep your fingers crossed that it all runs smoothly and does, in fact, make it back within that time), this little package will have multiplied in size and will be in a big box.  Or maybe even a few boxes. 

This one CD is going to become 1,000 CDs.  Magic.  And I love magic!
one of the magician's assistance, who was a little camera shy
My CD release party is going to be on November 21st!  Yep, that's a Sunday.  Noon- 2pm-ish.
Much more information to come soon...

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Why You Gotta Be So Mean?

I love Taylor Swift. 

I get tired of people saying she can't sing.  First of all, I can't imagine being her age and performing in front of the audiences she has.  Who's voice wouldn't get a little jumpy under those circumstances?  And even if I didn't like her voice, she's got a true talent for writing pop/country songs like nobody's business.  And she writes them by herself, without any co-writers.  The girl has got serious talent.

When Kanye West got up and tried to rain on her parade during the VMAs last year, she never said anything mean about him in retaliation.  She held her tongue, or maybe she was never mad about it in the first place.

As she writes in the prologue of her CD, Speak Now, her latest batch of songs are, "...made up of words I didn't say when the moment was right in front of me. These songs are open letters.  Each is written to a very specific person in mind, telling them what I meant to tell them in person.  To the beautiful boy whose heart I broke in December.  To my first love who I never thought would be my first heartbreak. To my band. To a mean man I used to be afraid of. To someone who made my world very dark for a while.  To a girl who stole something of mine.  To someone I forgive for what he said in front of the whole world."

Clearly, Taylor Swift has found her beautiful way of getting her emotions out.  Maybe she's able to handle tense situations by thinking to herself, "I canNOT wait to get  home and write a song about this!"

The CD is in my car, stuck on track #6, "Mean."  Of course we don't know exactly who she's singing about, but clearly it's some naysayer who has criticized her, perhaps telling her she has a bad voice. 

Taylor is 20.  I'm hoping to grow up and be just like her.
Mean
you, with your words like knives and swords and weapons that you use against me
you have knocked me off my feet again, got me feeling like nothing
you, with your voice like nails on a chalkboard calling me out when i'm wounded
you, picking on the weaker man

well you can take me down with just one single blow
but you don't know what you know

(chorus)
someday i'll be living in a big ole city
and all you're ever gonna be is mean
someday i'll be big enough so you can't hit me
and all you've ever be is mean
why you gotta be so mean?

you, with your with you're switching sides and your wildfire lies and your humiliation
 you have pointed out my flaws again, as if I don't already see them
i walk with my head down trying to block you out cause I'll never impress you
i just wanna feel okay again

i bet you got pushed around, somebody made you cold
but the cycle ends right here cuz i'm not walking down that road
and you don't know know what you don't know

(chorus)

and i can see you years from now in a bar
talking over a football game with that same big loud opinion 
but nobody's listening
washed up and ranting about the same old bitter things
drunk and grumbling on about how i can't sing
but all you are is mean

all you are is mean, and a liar and pathetic and alone in life
and mean and mean and mean!

(chorus)

Reaction!

Today I got a cortizone shot, because as the doctor put it, my face and neck were, "screaming, ALLERGIC REACTION!"  To exactly what, I'm not sure.  I just know it started about a week ago as an innocent little itch on my neck.  But a day or two later, bumps appeared.  And then each day, hour, and minute after that, itchy bumps popped up in mass all over my face, neck, and chest.

Last week, I didn't even appreciate my clear, non-itchy skin.  I just walked around, taking it for granted. 

Prior to my visit to the doctor, I did a dangerous amount of internet research to try and figure out what these itchy bumps where trying to tell me.  There were moments I felt sure I had shingles, then measles, along with some other diagnosis I couldn't pronounce.  I also knew plain old allergic reaction was a possibility.  But what could have caused the retaliation going on  all over my neck and face? 

Sadly, the only conclusion I can come up with is maybe it's the new perfume I bought about 3 weeks ago, and although it didn't cause an immediate reaction, maybe over time, my body just said, "Enough!"  I loved the smell of that perfume, and splurged on a $100 bottle of it.  And now that I've bought all the OTC medications, gone to my doctor and filled my prescription, it's probably more than doubled the cost of that little bottle of perfume.

So in just a bit, I'm heading up to the mall to return my beloved (and now hated) perfume.  I don't have my receipt, or the box it came in.  But I do still have this rash, so really, how can they deny me the return?

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Ready For Work

This may look like a briefcase...
But it isn't.
It's the typewriter and carrying case I found yesterday at an estate sale for $20!
It's so cute and little, it's actually quite portable and doesn't even need to be plugged in.

What would the patrons of Starbucks think if I walked in one day to work on my novel with this thing? Would they be react like Scout did when she saw it?
I'm not really planning to use this for serious novel writing, but I do think it's a funny thought.  I would love to one day walk into Starbucks with this typewriter and a big stack of blank white paper and put it out on a table next to everyone with their quiet laptops and start pecking away just to see how people would react.

I've been wanting an older typewriter just to look cute in my office/studio space.  This one pretty much works, except the letter R gets stuck.  But maybe once I clean it up, it will be fully functioning.  Either way, I love it.

I did a little internet research on my Smith-Corona Skywriter, and I found it on a site called myTypewriter.com that sells vintage typewriters.  I found mine, and it says it's from the 1950s and they sell it for $395.  Even if I can't get that R to work, I still think $20 is a fabulous deal for my cute little Skywriter!

I bet when it came out in the 50s, it was considered an uber compact and sleek new gadget.   Actually, it's still pretty sleek, don't you think?


Wednesday, October 20, 2010

No Plot? No Problem!

Well, as I've mentioned (as mentioned, and mentioned-- I know!) I recently completed the challenge of writing "50 Songs in 90 Days" for my 3rd year in a row.  I was really happy during those 3 months of concentrated creativity.  I was ready for it to be over after 90 days though.  But now, almost a month later, I think I'm up for a new creative challenge.  Something I've never done before. Something that scares the poo out of me!

So I've been kicking around the idea of participating in NaNoWriMo, a.k.a. National Novel Writing Month.  And the chosen month just happens to be November, which is less than 2 weeks from today! 

I'm an avid reader, and I've read a lot of novels, but I've never written one, or even thought of an idea for one. 

Which is why I checked out the book (written by the founder of NaNoWriMo, Chris Baty) No Plot, No Problem. I've just started reading it, trying to get my mind wrapped around the idea of writing a 50,000 word novel next month.

I'm comfortable writing songs.  And short little blog posts.  But something as long as 50,000 words sounds impossible to me.  Which is probably why I should give this thing a shot.  At this point, I'm a "Someday Novelist".  As in, "Someday, I just might write a novel."  Well, I know from experience, there's nothing like a deadline to get yourself moving, or in this case, writing.

I like the fact that the expectations of writing anything good in such a short time are extremely low.  Ernest Hemingway said, "The first draft of anything is shit."  Well, if that was Mr. Hemingway's experience, than I will be in good company!

If I don't make it to the 50,000 word count, I won't necessarily feel like a failure.  Even if I just get to a fraction of that number, it will be a longer story of fiction than I've written since I was in school. Which sometimes feels like a hundred years ago.

At this point, I have no ideas for characters, setting, plot-- anything.  But that's okay! Because as Chris Baty says, "No plot, no problem!"

Monday, October 18, 2010

A New Kind of Hoarding

My new journal cover


My friend just gave me this little journal last night.  Isn't it so funny?  I love it.

And that might be a problem.

Lots of times, when I get something I love, I love it so much that I don't use it.  I'll buy a 99-cent ugly notebook at Target and have no problem filling it with words.  But when I get something that looks like this, that I'm just in love with, I want to save it.  I keep it out for days, look at it lovingly, show it to people and say, "Look at this!".  But eventually I put it away.  Saving it for some special day.

I do the same thing with clothes.  I wear my old worn in stuff all the time, but when I buy something that looks great, I put it in my closet and just admire it on it's hanger.  I'm saving it.  For some special day.

I even occasionally do this when I'm writing a song.  I'll come up with a line I think is really great.  So great, that the rest of the song doesn't seem worthy of it.  So I'll write it down but put it away, thinking I'll save it.  I'll save it for later, when the right song comes along. 

I recently read something that said this is actually a form of hoarding. I don't consider myself a hoarder, like those I've seen on the tv show, "Hoarders: Buried Alive", but maybe I am this other type of hoarder. 

Today, while shopping at Whole Foods Market, I smelled some candles that were scented "Mediterranean Fig".  I loved them, so I bought two.  I loved them so much I considered putting them away and saving them for the perfect evening when I'm feeling a little figgy.  But, knowing I really don't want to be a hoarder, and I really want to make right now feel special, I lit both of them!  And you know what, I'm starting to feel pretty figgy! 

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Autumn Vacation

Well, I took a little hiatus, as you may have noticed.  I think it's the longest I've ever gone in between blog posts.

Right after the end of my husband's (sales!) quarter , and the completion of my 50 songs in 90 days, as well as sending off  my upcoming CD to be mastered (yahooooo!)- we got the heck out of Dodge (a.k.a. Dallas) and went to the New England area to check out the fall foliage.

It was our first time to go there, aside from a one day stop in Boston one summer.  For years I've wanted to take a fall trip to the northeast, but I've only thought about planning it once it's already autumn way down here in Dallas, and by then, it's obviously too late!  Somehow, this year, I was a little more on the ball and we planned it far enough in advance to go.  Yay!  :)

Fall is my favorite time of the year.  And although it doesn't feel like fall yet in Dallas, I definitely got a good fix of it up in the northeast.  It was gorgeous.

We flew into Boston, and then immediately drove up to Vermont and spent a few days there.  Then we went over to New Hampshire for a few days.  Then up to Maine.  And then drove back down to Boston and flew back home.

Vermont (especially), New Hampshire, and Maine were all  breathtakingly beautiful.   Every drive we took pretty much looked like this.  Actually, in real life, it was more stunning-- my pictures don't do it justice.  At all.

 We saw lots of covered bridges, which I just adore.




There were lots of churches and cemetaries that have such a
majestic quality against such a beautiful backdrop.




 And of course, there was cheese, maple syrup, and lots of great stops for food along the way.
















Although I know I couldn't endure the very long winters in that area, I would LOVE to live there in the fall!!!  I am so glad I got to go this year.