Reeducating the chickens

I love the eighties. *sigh*
Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll? Sure. But there were also groundbreaking movies and literature. Television that made people think. And my chickens missed all that.

So what am I doing? A little reeducation. A trip back to the eighties, if you will.
Let them watch Die Hard Saturday evening. Because, I mean, Die Hard 4 is out, and they haven't a clue who John McClane is. I remedied that. I also have Wayne's World (who doesn't like to see a pre-Shrek Mike Myers pull his underwear up his butt and walk backwards acting like a "cheeky monkey"?) Breakfast Club is on my list. Back to the Future. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. And a few others. These are classics. And I like my chickens to be well-rounded.
*grins*

Saturday was running around day. The short people and I suffered the extremely hot weather and did a bit of shopping. A trip to see my lovely sis. Then we came home and watched movies. Sunday...guess what? I WROTE! And not just a little bit. *GRINS*
Five thousand words or more on Water Goddess. One thousand words or more on a short story. Go me! Of course, then I had a headache and took it easy for the rest of the day. Read Tamora Pierce's Book One in one of her series. Have the next ones on order. I really enjoyed it. It's Young Adult fiction, but it's a good read. I find myself searching for books that are more than just the same ol' same ol'. There's nothing wrong with that, but I'm leaning towards YA fiction now. Good stuff.
Hope your Monday goes...well, goes.
Grins*

A bit o' the Brit

Took the chickens and watched Harry Potter Sunday. I'd say it was the best movie yet. It stuck to the book, the true story. A lot of people like book 3 better. Followed by book 4. But those struck me (and pardon me for mixing the metaphors here) as books with ill-fitting dresses or trousers, if you prefer.


They didn't gel for me. And I didn't like the creative license that movie 3 took with book 3. It had a lot more special effects, true. But the scenery didn't mesh with what I had taken inside me from the reading.


So I'll take Order of the Phoenix and look for Half-Blood Prince to meet my expectations because the same people will be working on it.
After the movie, and a bit of shopping, we went home. Oldest chicken didn't feel well. Baby chicken went over to a friend's. So I popped in Season 2 of Dr. Who. Middle chicken and I enjoyed ourselves immensely.


Now, for those of you who have read this blog for awhile...I think Dr. Who is the perfect man. Because he's so damn imperfect. And for a bit of a dip in the Harry Potter pool...Dr. Who is played by David Tennant.


Seen here:













Also known as Barty Crouch Jr. or Bad Guy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. And in one of the episodes I watched yesterday from last season...the man that played Barty Crouch Sr. was the bad guy. LOVE IT!

So I wrapped myself in the Brits yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it. I really must go and visit.
Grins*

Book Binge

Where have I been? You've been pondering that, haven't you? Besides being busier than nine kinds of hell...I've read.
That's right.
I have pushed cleaning to the side and actually read.
Ah...bliss. I've probably read a dozen books in the last week. If not more. I've read all but three of the Carpathian books by Feehan. I read all of the J.R. Ward "Brothers of the Black Dagger" books. And all I have to say in reference to the Black Dagger books is...GO BUY THESE BOOKS! Now.
I've read P.C. Cast's Parthelon series. I LOVED the first two...Goddess by Mistake and Goddess by Choice. Don't miss these. But the second two just didn't have the spark the first two did.
I reread Jacob by Jacquelyn Frank. And I'm really going to be excited when I get my hands on Gideon (the second book in the series). Um...figuratively speaking. *grins*
I also read a couple of non-fiction.

But here's the surprise...and my internal editor was doing cartwheels...each and every book had at least one mistake in it. *holding hand up* I swear.
I know one of the non-fiction books referred to "sheer power" as "shear power." I'm quite sure that scissors or other cutting utensils had no bearing on the phrase.
In one of the Black Dagger books...the sentence in quotes had "heard" spelled as "herd." And I believe it was Goddess by Mistake that had an error in it that only an Oklahoman would have caught. The heroine refers to an Oklahoma restaurant as "Bram's." And as we all know...here in the heartland...it's "Braum's." I, myself, put the ice cream and burger place in Perfect Timing.
And just to make sure that's what she meant...I emailed P.C. (Wonderful, gracious woman...by the way.) She assured me that-yes. It was supposed to be Braum's.

Mistakes happen, my lovelies. No matter how many hands your precious book passes through...mistakes happen. I could pick my first release to shreds, but I won't. Because it's part of me. It's part of the process. And I think it deserves to stand on its own merits.

Another reason I decided to give myself a reading frenzy was to increase my vocabulary. My phrasing. My sense of perfectly proportioned writing.
Reading someone else's work is a great teacher. A tool to use. As long as you don't take the other author's words as your own. That's a hanging offense around here. And I'll bring the noose. Just so ya know.

On a completely unrelated subject...my chickens rock. Oh yes. *grins* Yes, they do. We have a rather large lawn to mow. And oldest and baby chicken pitched right in. Middle chicken took care of the house stuffs.
We went swimming this last weekend. Watched movies. It was great. And I absolutely refuse to think about the fact that school starts in two months.
Well, okay. Except for the days when I want to strangle them. Then I clutch the fact tightly to my chest while whispering the Lord's prayer.
Grins*

One damn productive weekend

I gave the chickens options this weekend. One play day. One work day. (Because that's just how I roll. *grins*)
They chose Saturday to be play day.
So...we get up. Go bowl two games. (And yes. For you inquiring minds...I got my ass beat again). Then we head to a grocery store and pick up some fried chicken, potato salad, rolls, and soda. Then we head to a park in the next city over. And they have ramps!!! *insert picture of oldest child salivating as she just got new rollerblades*
So all three chickenbutts rollerbladed at the skate park. Then we zip back to town, and I let them skate at another park which has walkways. Then we go to the sno-cone place where we've gone for the past 7 or so years. Every year. It's a tradition with us. And there is NOTHING like the first taste of the first sno-cone of the season. Seriously. (I always order pink lemonade. Mmmmmm)
Then we travel back to another close city where they skate some more!!! Oh...and we had some Mickey D's.
So there. *big sigh* BUSY DAY!!!

Sunday was work day. Alas. My poor little chickens. *snort* And I worked their tiny collective butts into the ground. *grins* Yeah. I roll like that, too.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
We cleaned. And I mean not just a little bit. Finally got all those clothes out of my laundry room and into the back of the van to donate. Everything swept, laundered, cleaned, and vacuumed. Whew! I even got some writing in. *nodding* Pretty damn special.

So there's my weekend. Busy. Productive. Fun. Hope yours was a good one. And I know I can wake up tomorrow (unfortunately at the buttcrack of dawn) and say...hell yes! I didn't waste a minute.
Grins*