Same Name Game (Lame)

I had a conversation a while ago about people with the same name and all of the confusion that causes. As a person with a common name, I'm very aware of the difficulties that name sharing can lead to, but there are some instances of same-name that are just ridiculous.

For instance:

Christopher Columbus: the man who, in 1492, sailed the ocean blue and discovered the new world.
Chris Columbus: the guy that directed Home Alone and the first two Harry Potter movies.

Tom Cruise: actor and all-around nutbag.
Tom Kruse: the Hoveround guy-- you know, from those God awful commercials.

Michael Bolton: the guy that sounds and looks kinda like he's in pain whenever he sings.
Michael Bolton: the character from Office Space.

Michael Jackson: a wide receiver for the Baltimore Ravens.
Michael Jackson: former member of the Jackson 5 who has made headlines in the past few years for... well, a lot of strange behavior.

Winona: Ryder, actress in movies such as Edward Scissorhands.
Wynona: Judd, country singer.

Red Robin: Gourmet Burger restaurant chain.
Red Robin: DC Comics hero-turned-villain-turned-hero again.

Ramon Galves Huerta: retired chef arrested for being a heroin dealer.
Ramon Galves Huerta: heroin dealer.
(For real. Here's the news story. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090526/ap_on_re_us/us_wrong_arrest)

There are a ton of other examples, of course, but it's really just funny to think about all of the possible cases of mistaken identity that could stem from these names.

EDIT 7:33 p.m.: My roommate just reminded me of another same-name pair.

George Michael: the pop star, famous for "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go."
George Michael: Bluth, the character played by Michael Cera in the sitcom Arrested Development.

Thoughts For A Rainy Day

It has been raining here all day.

Which means that I've had rather a lot of time to think. And that's never good.

I spent a lot of time thinking about things that I've learned in my life-- especially the really odd things. So, today I bring you a list of (non)vital information for a rainy day.

* If you put thirty-five candles on a cake and light them all, you will set off the fire alarm and the fire department will come and shut down your opening night party.

* Nothing good can ever come from being in a Waffle House after midnight.

* It's a bad idea to wear a tank top and sandals on a late night walk in October.

* There's a song for everything. I mean everything.

* Some people should never have coffee.

* If you play a character that is stoned in a show, you will be remembered as "The Girl Who Was Stoned" or "Pot Girl."

* It's awkward when it's one of your professors who remembers you as "The Girl Who Was Stoned."

* Whenever people come to your apartment, there is a risk that they will fall asleep on your living room furniture.

* There's also a risk that your guests will break your dishes.

* There's always someone geekier than you are.

*Making a good grade in a foreign language class means nothing. Unless it's Japanese.

* Taco Bell is a brilliant idea.

* The bread at Olive Garden is not to be fooled around with.

* Hot dogs are made out of nasty.

* Kids shows will never be as good as they were when you were a kid.

* Calvin and Hobbes is still cool.

* It's always funny when friends who are drunk fall on their faces.

* Even people who love to read rarely have the chance to read for pleasure during the school year.

* It's far easier to sit in a coffee shop and talk for hours than it should be.

* Innuendo is everywhere.

* An hour spent watching YouTube videos is an hour well spent.

* Mountain Dew, Pepsi, Sierra Mist, Dr Pepper and Lemonade (sometimes) combine to make fruit punch.

* Adding "bitch" to the end of a statement makes it more authoritative.

* Carrying a wedding dress across campus will earn you a lot of strange looks.

* The word "epic" no longer has any meaning.

* The Wii is a dangerous thing.

* It is possible to injure yourself with a butter knife.

* The best stuff in the world hides in five dollar movie bins.

* Staying up all night with friends is, and ought to be, a regular occurrence.

I hope you're able to find some wisdom for a rainy day on this list. Or some random crap that got you to giggle. Either one.

Slightly Bookish

So maybe I never need to promise daily posts again. Sorry, folks.

Anyway, if you were around the blog this summer, you know that I'm a bit of a bookworm

And that my job was horrifically boring. But I digress.

I found this thing on Facebook and thought I'd share it as today's thing that makes me happy.

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?

I'm not able to verify the above statement, but I'll do this anyway.

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.
4) Tally your total at the bottom.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
x 2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
x3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
x+ 4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
x5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
x 6 The Bible (New Testament)
x 7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
x 8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
x10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
x11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
*14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
*15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
x21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
x 22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
x29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
x 36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
x40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
x41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
x42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
x49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
*51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
x57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
x59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
*61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
x64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
x70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker *
x+73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
x+76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
x+81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
*83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
x87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
x88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (in French, no less!)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
x+ 98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
x99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Totals
x- 28
+-5
*4

This Is Not My Lit Paper

Sorry about not posting the last few days. I've been busy. (And being busy is one of the things that make me happy, but I was too busy to post about being busy. Make sense? Yes?)

Anyway, I have a five page paper due Friday, so the thing that makes me happy today is procrastination.

To share the joy, here a few videos that can prevent you from being productive today, too.

Staged

Theater has always been something that makes me feel better when I'm down. Something about getting to forget who I am and what's going on in my life just really relaxes me. So, today's post is all about theater. I found this meme on Facebook a while ago, and I'm going to re do it, just for this blog.

LAST SHOW ADDED TO YOUR RESUME:
Company

LAST SHOW YOU AUDITIONED FOR:
Anything to Declare?

DID YOU GET IT:
Indeed I did. I'm playing Madame Dupont.

LAST SONG YOU USED AT AN AUDITION:
Well, we did songs from the show at Company auditions. Before that, I used "Taylor the Latte Boy" for Little Shop auditions.

FAVORITE MUSICAL:
I have three favorites: Les Miserables, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Last 5 Years

FAVORITE PLAY:
My favorite drama is Hamlet and my favorite comedy is either Noises Off or The Women.

FAVORITE ROLE YOU'VE PLAYED, AND FROM WHAT SHOW?
The title role in Laura. It was not only my first lead, but also my first experience with SCT (such a great group of people!). And she was so much fun to play. Madame Dupont may make it to my top two--we'll see later in the process.


FAVORITE ROLE OVERALL THAT I WOULD LOVE TO PLAY:
Wow, that's a difficult question! I guess my top three would be Clytemnestra in The Orestiea, Cathy in The Last 5 Years and Fantine in Les Miserables.


SUPERSTITION:
I usually try not to think that I'll get a role during the auditions-- it seems like when I see myself getting a role, I don't get it. Also, I never say the name of the Scottish play on stage. Never. And I don't say good luck.


YOUR GOAL IN SHOW BUSINESS:
Ideally, Broadway. I'd love to do national tours or regional shows, too.


FAVORITE DIRECTOR YOU HAVE EVER WORKED WITH:
Dwayne Craft. But I've been fortunate enough to work with a ton of great directors.



WHAT WAS YOUR VERY FIRST SHOW?:
If we're not counting dance recitals, An Evening with Ed--A Really BIG Show (a dinner theater with AUM). My first community show was Annie.


HAVE YOU EVER HAD A DANCE SOLO?:
I had a dance duet in Pocahontas.


HAVE YOU EVER HAD A SINGING SOLO?
Yes.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN THE LAST PERSON TO TAKE A BOW?
Only once-- in Laura.


HAVE YOU BEEN TO NEW YORK?
Three times. The first time with the youth group at church. We didn't get to see any shows. The other two times, I went with the drama department at my high school.


HAVE YOU BEEN TO LA?:
Nope. I've never been that far west.


WHAT'S THE SCARIEST PART OF AN AUDITION?:
The waiting. Open auditions are most nerve racking for me, because I find myself comparing my work to the other people's. It doesn't bug me with straight acting auditions, but I can psych myself out so easily when it comes to singing auditions.


WHAT'S THE BEST PART OF AN AUDITION?:
Seeing what a show could be. I tend to cast shows in my head at the auditions, so I get to imagine how it will turn out.


NAME A SHOW YOU WOULD NEVER DO AGAIN:
Pocahontas and Sound of Music.


NAME A SHOW YOU COULD DO FOR YEARS:
That I have done? The Good Doctor. I could probably do Last 5 Years or Les Mis for years if I had the chance.

WHAT ARE YOU AUDITIONING FOR NEXT?
I'm not sure. Probably the summer musical.

DO YOU KEEP IN TOUCH WITH PAST CAST MEMBERS?:
Yeah, most of the time. I've met some great people doing shows; it'd be a shame not to keep up with them.


ON A SCALE OF 1-10, HOW IMPORTANT IS GETTING PAID?:
Well, I've never been paid for it yet. But once I'm completely out on my own, it will become very important. Unless I make a lot of generous and rich friends while I'm in school.


SOMETHING EMBARRASSING OR UNEXPECTED THAT HAPPENED TO YOU WHILE ON STAGE?:
Well, pulling down the curtain during Laura was certainly unexpected. And embarrassing. It was a real shame, too, because, as far as acting goes, that was probably the best performance.


WHO IS THE MOST DIFFICULT PERSON (ON STAGE OR OFF) THAT YOU HAVE EVER WORKED WITH?:
Probably best not to mention names here, I think.

EVER BEEN NAKED ON STAGE?:
No.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN KILLED?:
In Laura, everyone thought I was dead until the end of Act One. That's the closest I've come to that. There was one point in the process for Orestiea when I was always there when someone died.

BEEN DRUNK?:
No, but I've been high. (On stage, of course.)

PLAYED SOMEONE HALF YOUR AGE?:
Nope.

PLAYED SOMEONE TWICE YOUR AGE?:
Haha--yes! I always play older.

CRIED?:
Yeah.

FIRED A GUN?
Nope.

BEEN DRENCHED?
No.

BEEN IN A DREAM SEQUENCE?
Yes, in Pocahontas

BEEN KISSED?:
Yes, in The Good Doctor and in Laura.

Blue Hair

A song that a friend introduced me to last night is what's making me happy today. It's called "Blue Hair" and is performed here by Cortney Wolfson, who was directed by Andrew Keenan-Bolger (check my blog roll for his blog).

You May Quote Me

Today's antidepressant is my personal favorite.

I love quotes. I remember random witty or silly things that are said to me (or around me), and I cherish them. Today, I'm sharing some of my favorite quotes. Some are funny; some are deep.

"Everything I say is true. Except the mistakes and the lies. And the lies are just there for drama."
Eddie Izzard

"A woman is beautiful when she is loved, and only then."
Mr. Skeffington (Claude Rains) in the film Mr. Skeffington

"I want to thank my parents for somehow raising me to have confidence that is disproportionate with my looks and abilities."
Tina Fey

"Does Heaven need our help to enforce its laws?
Leave vengeance to the Lord, Sir; while we live,
Our duty's not to punish but forgive
And what the Lord commands, we should obey
Without regard to what the world may say."
Cleante in Moliere's Tartuffe

"I like my men like I like my tea--weak and green."
from Christopher Moore's A Dirty Job

"I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes; I am out of control and at times hard to handle, but if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."
Marilyn Monroe

"Be ashamed to die before winning some battle for humanity."
Horace Mann

"In this world you can either be oh-so-smart or oh-so-pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. And you may quote me."
Elwood P. Dowd (James Stewart) in the film Harvey

Continued

I realized today that a left out a character that I dearly love yesterday, so I'm continuing with yesterday's Justice League Unlimited post and count it as a separate thing (since there's just a few minutes left of today).

The character today is The Question. He's not nearly as well known as Batman, but fans of The Watchmen might think he seems a little familiar-- the character Rorschach was based on The Question.



(This post is actually kinda doubly fun for me-- The Huntress is another of my favorites.)

Superheroes

Continuing my list of things that make me happy, I came across this video from the Justice League Unlimited tv series.

I am a closet comic book fan (...though I suppose I'm out now... oops). My love for the DC superheroes spread into an appreciation for the animated series. This scene is a great on for Batman, and Batman happens to by my favorite of the DC heroes.

From A Smoke Filled Bar

So in the last post, I said I'd try to post something every day that makes me happy.

Today the thing that makes me happy is jazz music. There's something incredibly soothing about sitting around, listening to a softly playing piano and a mellow saxophone playing, while a velvety voiced woman sings, sounding. The image of a woman in a sparkling gown, singing into an old-style microphone in a dark, smoke filled bar is one that always makes me feel better. Here are some of my favorite jazz songs.

"They Can't Take That Away From Me"



"Moonlight Serenade"



"At Last"

Blergggggggggggggggh

Hey, folks. Sorry about my lengthy absence. There's really no excuse.

Anyway, January is almost over.

This is good news.

I'm one of those people that gets kinda down in the winter. January to mid-February is always a little on the melancholy side for me.

So, to cure my mid-winter blues, I'm going to post songs and videos that make me happy every day (er, hopefully) between now and February 16.

Sound good? Good.

Something like this actually happened to me about a week ago. It was strange. Funny, but strange.

My Secret

I've discovered a love for a sitcom called The Big Bang Theory.



Maybe you've heard of it.

Anyway, the show kind of reflects my life. There've been a few moments from the show that I have lived.

For example:



These are really more exaggerations, but they're not too far from the truth of my life.

Law & Order: Ice Cream Unit

Before I get to the meat of today's post (or the meat substitute, for my vegetarian friends-- love you, Michaela!), I want to thank Colby over at Spittin' (out words) Like a Llama (see my blogroll) for deciding to gift me with the Brilliante Weblog Award.

Which is cool. Oh yes.

And best of all, I get to pass the award along to three of my favorite blogs. I'll do that in just a bit, but right now, let's get to the post.

I'm a big fan of the television show Law & Order-- I think I've mentioned that in a post or two... or more. Anyway, earlier this week, I was watching an episode that was made sometime after the death of Jerry Orbach (which was a terrible loss to the acting world, if you ask me). I made the comment to my roommate that an episode of Law & Order without Jerry Orbach is like eating a cone without ice cream.

Really. You know I'm right.

Now, my roommate is a fan of Sam Waterson's character, Jack McCoy. She said that, while I may be right (and I am right... just accept it), Jack McCoy is a chocolate covered ice cream cone.

Before you ask, yes, this is the normal progression of a conversation between the two of us.

I didn't want to be outdone, so I said that Jesse L. Martin serves as the sprinkles.

So somewhere along the way, a popular courtroom drama became an ice cream treat.

I kind of think that should be every T.V. show's goal.

And now for my choices for the Brillante Weblog Award (all of these great blogs can be found in the side thingy over there that says "Blogs You Should Check Out"... unless you're reading from my facebook feed):

My brother-in-law, the Streetpreacher over at Wandering Through the Wilderness, because family always gets special treatment. (Even though he's been mean about my school's football team...I'm turning the other cheek. And slashing his tires. Shh.)

Steve and Misty at Live Granades, mostly because their blog's tagline is "Like a blog, but explodier." That and they post some fantastic pictures.

And, last but not least, Angela and Becca from The Bookshelf Muse for their wonderful tips for writers. Someone else has already given this blog this same award, but I'm going to go with the whole "it's the thought that counts" thing.

Congrats to Colby, Josh, Steve and Misty, and Angela and Becca for having great blogs.

Comedy Tragedy

Most of you probably know that Estelle Getty of Golden Girls fame died back in July.

And if you don't...what's wrong with you?

Anyway, it's not been a great year for me so far as deaths of funny people go. I'm not talking about George Carlin or Bernie Mac. To me, the losses of Estelle Getty and Harvey Korman are two great blows to the comedic acting world.

Just take a look at some of what we lost.

This Would Be A Wonderful Thing

My competition piece has made zero progress in the last week or so. I love my characters, but I'm not sure where I want to take them.

I saw this little comic and made a decision.


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Yeah. I totally need one of those plot devices.

The Time Warp

(Before anyone asks, yes, seeing Eddie Izzard was great. But that's another post for another time.)

Most of the time, I have a pretty reliable internal clock-- not to the point where I can tell what time it is without ever looking at a watch, but I am able to wake up on time without an alarm on most days and I never have to worry about napping for too long.

The only problem is that any change in my routine--and I do mean any change--and my clock's screwed up for days.

Yesterday, for example, I woke up with a migraine (the kind that spreads from the back of the head to the temples and gathers right behind the eyes... ick), so I didn't go about my usual Sunday routine.

I slept most of the day and, because of that, wasn't able to sleep last night.

So I overslept this morning.

It took longer than usual to get ready for work, even though I didn't do anything extra. The drive might not have been longer, but it certainly seemed longer. And when I got here, everyone was gone.

Well, okay, that might be an exaggeration. But the people in the offices closest to me aren't here. Which makes me feel weird, because I usually leave before they do.

So my sense of time has been pretty skewed today on it's own-- the last thing I needed was a computer messing with it.

But don't we always get the last thing we need?

I was sent some paperwork to work on by someone who uses a different version of software than I use. The computer, of course, flipped out.

Computers are good at that.

It told me that I'd have to download the compatibility feature before I could work on the paper. So, I (grudgingly) went to the website and started the download.

Those download things are little liars-- did you ever notice that? They'll tell you that something will take five minutes to download. Then it'll jump to three minutes. Then back to five; then to six.

After about ten minutes of trying to decide if the download would take two minutes or seven, the download was done.

All of this combined has completely thrown me off.

It's only ten o'clock in the morning. Why do I have to feel like it's three in the afternoon?

Post

I'd hate to post just for the sake of posting.

But that's what I'm going to do.

Tomorrow's going to be a hectic day at work (shocking, isn't it?), and I'm going to be out of town for the Eddie Izzard tour on Friday, so this may be it until Saturday.

Unfortunately, I don't have any observation to make or information to pass along. Bummer.

So I guess it's time for another meme.

A-ATTACHED OR SINGLE? Single and not worrying about being attached.
B-BEST FRIEND? That's a tough question, really. But I'll say Tori, since I see her the most often
C-CAKE or PIE? Both. But not at the same time
D-DAY of CHOICE? All of them. But not at the same time.
E-ESSENTIAL ITEMS? Chapstick, Dr Pepper
F-FAVORITE COLOR? Green right now. I never stick with one color for long
G-GUMMY BEARS OR WORMS? It doesn't matter.
H-HOMETOWN? Madison. Now guess which state.
I-INDULGENCE? Yankee Candles. I can't keep them at my parents' house because my mom can't take the smell, but I love them.
J-JANUARY OR JULY? July. Unless January is unusually warm.
K-KIDS? God, no. And not anytime soon either. I'm not good with kids.
L-LIFE ISN'T COMPLETE WITHOUT... Friends, Family and Food.
M-MARRIAGE DATE? See letter A.
N-NUMBER OF SIBLINGS? One sister and one brother-in-law. And a lot of kids that I think of as family.
O-ORANGES OR APPLES? Neither--strawberries, pineapple, kiwi and bananas.
P-PHOBIAS OR FEARS? Spiders, heights, anything that messes with my OCD (like Tori not letting me push in the buttons on the soda lids)
Q-QUOTE? "Acting is a masochistic form of exhibitionism. It is not quite the occupation of an adult." Laurence Olivier
R-REASON TO SMILE? Many.
S-SUPERMAN OR WONDER WOMAN? Neither. (Ha, you were all expecting me to say Wonder Woman because of the inner feminist, weren't you?)
T-TAG 5 PEOPLE Josh, Heath, Rachel, Cait, Adrienne
U-UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME? Once upon a time, I wanted to be a scientist. Yeah, weird stuff.
V-VEGETABLES? Spinach, artichokes, carrots (if they're cooked properly)
W-WORST HABIT? I can't pay attention for long stretches of time. If you're telling me something important, make sure I'm listening and not thinking about fried chicken or something.
X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND? Neither, if they can be avoided.
Y-YOUR FAVORITE FOOD? I don't really have one.
Z-ZODIAC SIGN? Libra

So there it is. Hopefully, the next time I'm able to post, I'll actually have something to say.

Gas Prices Will Kill My Writing

That might not make much sense, but it's true.

I love riding in cars and buses, especially when they're quiet. In my experience, there's nothing watching the scenery pass to make a mind ready to receive the spark of an idea.

There's a story writing contest in November that I've been planning on entering, but I hadn't been able to come up with an idea for a story--and I wanted to have time to edit whatever I wrote, so I was a bit concerned.

Riding back from the bookstore in the dark a few nights ago, just letting my mind wonder where it will, I came up with the beginning of my story. Not just the idea, but the exact words that I wanted.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened. The plot and title for one of the first stories I ever really worked on came to me while my dad was driving around a less developed part of the county; this story has since spawned into a piece of what will be a frame-style novel.

Car rides being one of my favorite sources for ideas, I'm finding myself more and more concerned as gas prices rise. It's hard to drive around in search for an idea when you have to sell your spleen to buy a tank of gas.

What do these prices mean? Is my best creative source being taken away from me all together? Am I doomed to mediocre ideas from now on?

No, I don't think so. But it is sad to see something so simple as a drive to nowhere in particular that can spark such good things becoming something of yesterday.

Though, if the quality of literature falls in the next few years, we'll all know that the oil companies are to blame.

Maybe It's Just Me...

...But I'm really tired of today's celebrities. (Please note that I use the term "celebrities," not "stars." I refuse to refer to today's celebrities as stars.)

A rant is coming. You've been warned.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, when I'm not busy at work, I read the news online. I don't dig very far into the sites (because then you get stories that are so old that they're no longer relevant or photo montages of ugly animals-- and some of them were really ugly), so you can imagine my reaction when I saw a story about how celebrities get away with-- and get publicity that increases their marketability from-- bad behavior on the ABC website. There was also a link from that story to a piece about how actors can't pull in audiences based on who they are alone. (Links to both stories can be found at the bottom of this post.)

Neither of those really qualify as top story material in my mind, but, since I had the time, I read them both anyway.

In regard to the bad behavior story, I have to say that famous people DO get away with things. But, so do "normal" people, in some instances. The difference is that famous people use it as fodder-- their bad actions become a springboard to skyrocketing sales.

So, really, the problem isn't so much that celebs aren't held accountable. The problem is that the public, in a way that it may or may not intend, celebrates a famous name that forces its way into the news, regardless of how it gets there. According to that story, there is only one crime from which an actor cannot flourish after committing-- only one that will kill a career: murder.

Wow. Are people really that numb to the gravity of some offences? Doesn't bode well for the future, does it?

I think the solution to this would be to avoid publicizing the trespasses of celebrities-- if people don't know about it, they can't talk about it. That would destroy the buzz normally created by trouble with the law.

That can't work, of course, because people are far too interested in celebrities' every move. So much so that celebs now sell tabloids more easily than they do movies.

Which brings me to the second story.

George Clooney was the main subject of the second story. His latest movie, Leatherheads (which I didn't see), didn't do as well in the box office "as it should have." Clooney starred in, directed and oversaw the writing for this movie.

And, God knows, if Clooney's star power can't sell a movie, no actor's can.

The story continues, saying that it takes a group of celebrities to sell a movie on "star power." They cite the movie Oceans 11. (Which I didn't see... do you see a trend?) That movie had "half a dozen" big-name celebrities in its cast and made quite an amount of money. I personally can't judge if it was just name power or if it was actually a worthwhile movie, and I don't think the folks writing the article were trying to say it sucked; they were just trying to make a point. I don't know if they did.

To me, the most accurate part of the story was the title, which stated "Stars: They Ain't What They Used To Be."

Um...duh.

Let's face it-- the majority of the actors and actress in movies today are less artists than eye candy. Before everyone gets on my case, I said the MAJORITY, not all. And this is the opinion of a snob-- a theatre fanatic and a classic movie lover. I'm biased: I'll admit it.

But, really, would it be too much to ask to see a movie that is truly art? Something with a real plot and visual appeal?

And I really want to see an ugly actress in a leading role. Or maybe a pretty actress who's not afraid of looking ugly. I mean, think Bette Davis's hideous make-up in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?.

So I've given you a lot of words today. I guess what I clumsily tried to say in all of this is that I miss actors and actresses whose main concern wasn't publicity and numbers.

I want actors that care about the art of acting.

Is that such a bad thing?


http://www.abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=5058678&page=1

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=4606752&page=1

Bloodsucking Fiends

So last Monday, the girls and I (er... and Nate, our straight guy buddy we bring along just for kicks) went out to the bookstore.

Hey, we're cool. Don't hate.

When we were there, we played one of my favorite bookstore games: Guess What This Book is About Based Solely On the Title. My teammate and I won easily. Our strategy was simple. Whatever the title was, we guessed that the book was about vampires.

And, more often than not, we were right.

We did have an unfair advantage, though-- we were playing in the youth section.

This makes me wonder-- what's the deal with all the vampire books? What's so sexy about vampires? Maybe it's just me, but if something's going to try to drink my blood, I'm not going to hang around long enough to know if his skin sparkles (no, I haven't read Twilight, but if the phenomenon continues, I'll probably have to).

But, seriously, let's look at this. There are so many books about people who date or fall in love with vampires. Someone has to have considered the pros and cons of it. Here are some that I can think of.

They won't ever have garlic breath, so I guess that's a plus. They'll just have breath that reeks of dried blood. Mm... tasty.
No lunch dates. Ever.
They'll be pale. But so am I, so I can't really say too much about that.
If you're ever really going to see them, you'll have to work nights. Or not work at all, which means you'll be broke. Unless you're going to let your vampire be the bread winner. Which strikes me as a kinda dumb idea, seeing as how they tend to not be too sociable.

I don't know. I'm really not seeing the appeal. Honestly, I generally don't even like the vampire books and movies-- they're way to melodramatic.

Except for the ones by Christopher Moore. I really recommend people who aren't so into the vampire trend pick up those.

I guess whatever the draw is, I'll just have to put up with all of these teenage girls drooling over creatures of the night until the next fad comes along.

The only thing that worries me is that there's no telling what the next fad could be. I might find myself thinking fondly of the vampire days.