July 21, 2009 | A Royale Pain,Book One,Book Stuff,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Life in General,Movie Queue,Revision Heaven,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up,contests
YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO VOTE! Enter to win either a $50 or $25 gift card to an independent bookstore in your area (yes, I changed my mind. We need to support local bookstores more). Should I change Draven’s last name? Head over to my FUN STUFF page and give your two cents. For teens only, ages 13-18. Deadline is July 31st, MST.
Friday after work, I went to see HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE. I liked it. It amazes me how much the characters have grown. Literally and figuratively. I mean, when these kids were tapped to play Harry, Hermione and Ron, they were 10-11. We’ve watched them grow up. Rupert’s 20 yrs old and Emma will be attending Brown University. How wild is that? I’ve never read the books, but I’ve seen all the movies. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. So unlike the extensive review I read over at Horserider’s blog, I can honestly say that I never have any expectations going in when I see these movies. I don’t know what’s missing, what’s been added or how important those deletions/additions are to the story. I just like the movies, so I go see them. Plain and simple. One thing for all you HP fans to keep in mind, and it’s also something Daniel Radcliffe mentioned in an interview, is that they can’t put everything from the books into the movie. It’s just not possible. Just be glad they’re making the movies.
Saturday, I spent the better part of the morning in the heat at the The Arizona Rod & Classic Car Club Annual Backpack Giveaway. My Dad is a member of this car club and this is their second year doing this backpack giveaway for ChildHelp and Keys. It was my second time volunteering as well and this time, I was manning the Book Booth. Not by myself though, because that would’ve been a freakin’ nightmare. Each booth had something different. Backpacks, school supplies (puzzles and notebooks), children’s books, free hot dogs and drinks, raffle tickets, etc. Once kids got their backpacks, they could visit the other booths and pick up stuff.
Last year, I was giving away stuffed animals—this year it was children’s books. Kohl’s donated over 1000 books. Me and 5 other people gave away 9 different titles, one of which was Kung Fu Panda (that one was a big hit, needless to say). The one thing I discovered at this event this year was that a couple of volunteers felt “entitled.” During the course of handing out books, a volunteer from another booth (and I really wish I could remember from what company, because I would’ve called them out in this post) came over and helped herself to two books saying that “her daughter would really like these.”
“Really? That’s nice. How about you wait until the event is over to see if we have any extra copies? Because these books are for the kids here. The ones who are standing in line. Or did you forget who this event was for? You stupid, selfish twit.”
I didn’t say that, but I wanted to. I let it go. It was two books out of 1000+, but it was two less books that other needy children didn’t get. Children who probably hate to read, but would’ve liked one of these books enough to try it more often. That pissed me off a little.
Oh, and of course we can’t forget that one volunteer from SRP who told her grandson to swipe some extra backpacks (probably for her own kids or some co-workers kids). One of the booths had backpacks leftover and were going to give them out to parents whose children couldn’t attend. The boy came over and nearly helped himself to 6 backpacks. I say nearly because the woman who was passing them out stopped him in his tracks. She’s all “Uh, no, you need to put these down.” And he’s all “But my grandmother said—“and she’s all, “I don’t care what your grandmother said, you need to put these down because that’s not how it works around here.” And then she promptly went over to the boy’s grandmother and gave her what-for.
It pissed her off so much, that people could be so greedy when it comes to charity, she said “That’s it. We’re done. We’re only giving away what’s left in these two open boxes and then we’re done.” Despite the fact that there were several more unopened boxes nearby. I didn’t blame her. Really, I didn’t. Her group was in charge of those backpacks. And to have someone come over and just take whatever they wanted? That was wrong. You came to this event with the intent of helping underprivileged children. Just because the stuff you’re passing out is free doesn’t mean you can put aside something for yourself. Get with the program, people. Volunteering means giving back, not taking. Jeez. I know all the future events I’ll volunteer for won’t be like this, so I’m just going to chalk this experience up to the sweltering heat. Despite the fact that I was under a canopy, I still felt like I was going to pass out a couple of times.
Sunday, I cleaned house and did laundry. I never got a chance to finish it, either, because my body was protesting from all the bending and lifting I did on Saturday! Mr. Maul rubbed this foul, strong-smelling Tiger Balm crap on my leg. It smelled stronger than menthol and started to burn after a little bit (I guess it’s supposed to do that). I’ve never experienced that icy-hot stuff before, but I imagine if felt something like that. But 3 times worse. It’s now Tuesday and I’m still feeling a little stiff, but it’s not as bad.
I’m now up to Chapter 4 in typing up revisions. I’ve been slacking a little. Even though I had written a whole new section regarding The Offer, I just ended up taking some words from that and putting them in the first chapter. I think that section will make a good short story, though, so I’ll keep it around. I’m also debating on whether The Psych Eval should be part of the final chapter or make it into an Epilogue. I have something else for the Epilogue, but I was thinking about making the book interactive with the website (when I design it, that is). I dunno, maybe I’ll host another contest and get everyone’s opinion again.
So, how was your weekend?
Technorati Tags: HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, Brown University, Daniel Radcliffe, The Arizona Rod & Classic Car Club Annual Backpack Giveaway, ChildHelp, Keys, Kohl’s, Kung Fu Panda, SRP, Tiger Balm
