Archive for the 'A Whole Latte Trouble' Category

September 8, 2009 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",A Royale Pain,A Whole Latte Trouble,Book One,Book Stuff,Book Two,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Life in General,Movie Queue,Music Queue,School Daze,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up,Writing Movements

When we have 3-day weekends, I always feel a little off. Case in point: I went out to the mailbox and left some mail for the carrier to pick up.

It was Sunday.

For some reason, I thought it was Saturday. Go figure.
Mr. Maul and I went to the movies three days in a row. We saw GAMER, EXTRACT and ALL ABOUT STEVE. Interesting concept about GAMER: people playing people. Gerard Butler was in a game called “Slayers”, but they also had a video game called “Society” that was a real-life version of The Sims. Those are the type of video games I would not want to play. And how about Michael C. Hall (DEXTER) playing a real bad guy? I say real because in DEXTER, he’s a bad guy, but for the good of the public. There was even a funny little dance scene and a surprising—not to mention interesting—cameo from Milo Ventimiglia (HEROES) as a character in “Society”. Saw a couple of good previews, too. One was called NINJA ASSASSIN. And for the life of me, I can’t think of the other one. We saw a preview for A CHRISTMAS CAROL and surprisingly, Mr. Maul wants to see it.

For the record, I had no interest whatsoever in seeing EXTRACT. He had mentioned the movie in passing, saying one if his friends thought it was good. Needless to say, it came as a surprise when we walked up to the window and he said “2 for EXTRACT.”

“EXTRACT? We’re not seeing EXTRACT, we’re seeing ALL ABOUT STEVE.” I said.

“I thought we were seeing EXTRACT. I mentioned that Travis thought it was good,” he says.

“It was a comment you made in passing, Mr. Maul. You said nothing about actually wanting to see it.”

I went along with it, but I was seriously pissed. I think he has little conversations with me in his mind. Maybe he told my “imaginary self” that he wanted to see that movie–or had thought about seeing it–and just forgot to tell me in real life. It was okay, some parts were funny, but I would’ve enjoyed it more if I hadn’t been so pissed. We stopped by Target afterwards and I made him buy me a CD.

Tantric has a new CD out called “Mind Control”. I love Hugo’s deep voice. I have song #6, “Kick Back“, on repeat. I like the chorus:

Show me to rise/rise above/show me how to rise, remember how to love, yourself

And the chorus overlay:

When life is kicking you kick back, don’t be a victim of the mistakes that were made when you were growing up, a young child not taught to be an adult, raise your arms you’re free, don’t have to give it up

Very cool CD. I give it 4 1/2 Snaps.

It’s the second week of school and that overwhelming feeling I got last week is now down to a dull ache. I know what I’m going to be writing about for my Diagnostic Essay and I have a topic idea for my research paper. I’ve told myself to take it one week at a time. It’s the only way that’s going to save me, truly. No more looking ahead. My co-workers and my family are going to see a different side of me as it is, thanks to the schedule I’ll be keeping. No need to freak them out even more, eh? So, uh, yeah. Here we go. Be sure to check out my “learning journals” over at Non-Profitation.

Writing Movements – Still waiting to get a quote from an editor regarding Book One. Hopefully, I’ll be able to send it out the first or second week of October. Revising Book Two has been shelved for the moment until I can get into the School Groove. I’ve been writing content for the Draven site (3 quizzes, actually). I’m in the design queue for the end of Sept, beginning of Oct. Not sure when I’ll start the podcasting, but I’ll be sure to keep you all posted.

So, that was my holiday weekend. How was yours?

Technorati Tags: GAMER, EXTRACT, ALL ABOUT STEVE, Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall, DEXTER, Milo Ventimiglia, HEROES, NINJA ASSASSIN, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Tantric, “Mind Control”, Kick Back, Non-Profitation

May 11, 2009 | A Royale Pain,A Whole Latte Trouble,Book One,Book Stuff,Book Two,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Life in General,Movie Queue,Random Thoughts,Revision Heaven,School Daze,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up,Writing Movements,writing workshops

I think this was the best weekend over. On Saturday, I spent the day with SARK. Not just the two of us, although that would’ve been hella cool, but me and about 29 other people. Two of whom were men. She was conducting her Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper workshop and it was FAB.U. LOUS! I love this woman. She’s my favorite author. I have a nice little collection of her books. I always feel uplifted and inspired after being around her. Her workshops are very creative (and I mean that literally because she has you writing, drawing, collaging, etc) and interactive. You get up, walk around, meet other people, interact with other people, do group activities…Did I mention this workshop was fabulous? If you love this author, too, then you need to attend one of her workshops. The money will always be worth it. She signed my book and a couple of Mother’s Day cards for my Mom and sister. Very cool.

Sunday was Mother’s Day, as you know. With my family, it’s a ritual to go out to breakfast. Our usual restaurant is Village Inn, but the one we always go to was closed down. So we invaded the Coco’s near Scottsdale Fashion Square. I say invaded because there was 16 of us!!! Me and Mr Maul; my sister, her husband and their 4 kids; my parents; Jackie and Brandon (long-time family friends), their son Mario, and their daughter Nikki, her hubby James, and their 2 daughters. Technically, it was 17, but one of Nikki’s daughter’s is an 18 mo old baby. We had a great time. I hadn’t seen my 15 yr old nephew since his final football game and that was in…Feb? Long time. He’s getting so tall and his voice is getting deep, too. It’s just a trip.

Sunday afternoon, Mr. Maul and I went to see STAR TREK. I was never really a fan of the shows or the movies. I would catch episodes here and there, but never watched them religiously. Unlike my Dad, who was of the old school Star Trek. I think he watched some of the other shows, too, in all their different incarnations. The only actor from the original series was Leonard Nimoy, which was pretty cool. The actor that portrays him in this movie, Zachary Quinto, plays Sylar on the TV show HEROES (one of my fav shows, BTW). And he did a really good job. Odd cameos: Tyler Perry (the guy behind those Madea movies) and Winona Ryder as Spock’s mother. Really weird seeing her. Anyhoo, we liked it. I thought J.J. Abrams did a bang-up job and I hear another movie is already in the works (per Leonard Nimoy). For those that don’t know the background stories about the main characters, this movie kind of did that for you: for instance, I had no idea that Spock was half-human. Nor did I know that Kirk’s father was the captain of a ship….for only 12 mins. Sad story, that. Or that Kirk was named after his grandfathers. And I still have no idea what Uhura’s first name is. It was mentioned real quick in the movie, but when Kirk said it, Spock talked over him (it was a funny moment, really), so I didn’t catch it. But I have a feeling it was unique, I would’ve liked it, and would probably use it as a character name in a future story. LOL.

Writing Movement – Revisions for DA Book 2 are coming along nicely. I’m almost done with Chapter 5. Here’s a funny: we had an hr for lunch on Saturday, so I took the MS along to edit. And I discovered that Chapter 5 contained only 3 pages. 3 pages made up Chapter 5. LOL. I don’t know how that happened. Maybe I got sidetracked and thought I was done, so when I went back in, I created a new chapter and kept on going. Needless to say, Chapter 5 will be combined with Chapter 6. And I can tell, just with the chapters I’ve done so far, I’m not moving the story along too well. I can hear my beta reader saying “There’s too much Poe and Rico.” I may leave it as is for now and just wait for the comments later.

For weeks now, I was making the announcement that Book 1 was going to be released Oct 23rd, during Teen Read Week. Then last month some time (or it might’ve been earlier this month), I rescinded that date. The reason for that, simply put, was that I changed my mind. I thought I was going to go the same route as I did with my first two books and then decided not to. I’ve decided to dip my toe back in the traditional pool—again—but on a smaller scale: small presses, no agent. On Friday, I went to Barnes and Noble on my way home and spent close to $50 on books. I bought three romances (of course) and the 2009 Writer’s Market. So, in between revisions for Book 2 and Book 1 (whenever I decide to send it to an editor again), I’ll be making a list of small presses to submit to.

I also signed up for NaNoWriMo this year. I’m going to try my hardest to write Book 3 during that month. Notice I said ‘try my hardest’. By then, I will have started school—and possibly my 20-week volunteer mentor program—so it’ll be interesting to see how I’ll juggle all that. Within the coming months you’ll be seeing a new blog post title: Writing Thoughts. Unlike my Random Thought posts where I talk about, well, random things, Writing Thoughts will be about writing, in all its forms: from query letters to NaNoWriMo.

This should be interesting.

So, how was your weekend?

Technorati Tags: SARK, Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper, Village Inn, Coco’s, Scottsdale Fashion Square, STAR TREK, Leonard Nimoy, Zachary Quinto, HEROES, Tyler Perry, Winona Ryder, J.J. Abrams, Teen Read Week, Barnes and Noble, 2009 Writer’s Market, NaNoWriMo

May 5, 2009 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",A Whole Latte Trouble,Book Stuff,Book Two,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,How coolio is THAT?,In the News,Life in General,Movie Queue,Revision Heaven,School Daze,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up,Writing Movements

Oops, I did it again. I took another short break from the blogosphere. My Financial Aid finally came thru and I got a little immersed in the whole school thing. And I don’t even start until September, but it finally hit me that I HAVE TO CREATE MY OWN SCHOOL PROGRAM. I kept thinking that there were going to be structured classes, buuuut….not really. There’s a reason why it’s called “self-directed.” Hah. So okay, moving on.

Seen a lot of movies over the past couple of weekends:

17 AGAIN – That Zac Efron sure is growing up handsome. Really liked this movie. The guy that plays his best friend is hilarious. The dude was a major Star Wars fan. Major funny: Pod Racer bed. That’s all I’m gonna say.

DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION - I was ready for Mr. Maul to dislike this movie because he was kinda baggin’ on it when he heard it was coming out. Surprisingly, he liked it. I was shocked. He said it was pretty close to the cartoon storyline, so kudos to the director. I wasn’t a big fan of the cartoon, but Mr. Maul was. I watched a few of the episodes with him, actually, so I was familiar with the characters in the movie. James Marsters always seems to play the bad guy. The first nice role I saw him in, and it was more of a supporting-supporting role was P.S. I LOVE YOU. But he made a good Piccolo.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE – You do know that they had the premiere here in my hometown, right? I don’t live in Tempe–although it’s only about a 15 min ride–but this was our very first movie premiere. So cool. They really need to do that more often. LA and New York always get the premieres. They need to start taking these things to the little people. Mr. Maul and I loved it. We’ve always been fans of the X-Men movies, and I’ve always been a fan of the cartoon. It was good to finally see Logan’s history. I’m wondering if this is going to open the door for other “Origins” type movies for the other characters. I was so happy to see Gambit, too! Taylor Kitsch totally rocked the role, although I would’ve liked more Cajun drawl. And to see more of his powers in action.

A friend and I checked out an Underground Publishers event on the previous Saturday. Just wanted to see what other local, underground stuff was out there. Then went to this Spring Special Event at Dillard’s dept store. They were doing make-overs, had games, food, a DJ and gift basket giveaways. It was $35 for a “ticket”–this ticket was a Dillard’s gift card that you could spend anywhere in the store. So basically, you spent $35 only to spend it again on merchandise. Needless to say, that was the longest time I’ve ever spent at a mall. We were there for 3 frickin’ hours! They didn’t do the drawing for gift baskets until 9. And no, I didn’t win anything. To me, it just seemed like you had to jump thru a lot of hoops to get stuff. If you bought this perfume, then you’d get that free item and a chance to spin a wheel and get another free item. Hoops. But it worked because there was a big turnout.

I’ve had some good writing movement over the past couple of weeks. I’ve started revisions for DA Book Two and the deadline to finish is May 30th. I’ve also decided to jump into the Volunteer Pool. I went to the Volunteer Orientation at Free Arts AZ last night. I’m hoping to get on because they use arts as a way to help at-risk youth. I’m looking forward to serving in my community.

That’s all for now. I’m feeling a little lackluster, so if there was more, I don’t remember it all. So, how was your weekend?

Technorati Tags: 17 AGAIN, Zac Efron, DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION, James Marsters, P.S. I LOVE YOU, X-Men, Gambit, Taylor Kitsch, Dillard’s, Free Arts AZ

April 21, 2009 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",A Royale Pain,A Whole Latte Trouble,Book One,Book Stuff,Book Two,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Life in General,Movie Queue,Revision Hell,School Daze,The 4-1-1 on Me,Weekend Wrap-Up,Writing Movements

The last time I posted was April 7th. I can’t believe I’ve been out off the radar for that long. And it’s not like I haven’t had anything to say, I just really haven’t felt like logging in. Therefore, I’m cramming two weekends worth of news into one post. Enjoy!

EASTER WEEKEND –

Saturday, Mr. Maul and I traveled to Globe, AZ to attend the SNMMA (Sovereign Nations Mixed Martial Arts) EXTREME BEATDOWN cagefighting event at Apache Gold Casino. He wanted to see the fights and had no one to go with, so I went with him. We rented a hotel room for the night in Globe (the casino itself is located in San Carlos, 5 miles outside of Globe) and then went to have dinner at the casino. As we were driving up there, we saw billboards for the casino’s “award-winning” cuisine. They might have been talking about the buffet, because the actual restaurant where we ate totally sucked. My shrimp fettucine was just warm, rather than steaming hot. And even after they threw it in the microwave (or whatever they did to warm it up), it still didn’t taste any better.

The fight was being held in a steel building (where they have indoor rodeos) on the far side of the casino parking lot. Did I mention we had front row seats? Front row is not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was thinking there’d be sweat and blood spatter or something, but I didn’t have anything to worry about. I wouldn’t want to have been any of the judges, though. There was some distance between the front row and the cage, but still close enough to see the action. There were 10 fights; some were 3X5 (3 mins, 5 rounds each) and others were 5×5 (5 mins, 5 rounds). Three minutes doesn’t seem very long, but when you’re getting the shit beat out of you, it can seem like a lifetime. They all went quick, though, with knock-outs or tap-outs during the first or second rounds. One of the fights was between two girls, one of whom was local. It was the most exciting fight of the night and the girl we were rooting for won.

Mr. Maul even got his picture taken with a couple of fighters. This dude is Efrain Escudero. He won the UFC Ultimate Fighter Season 8. He wasn’t fighting that night, though.

And this other dude is Chris Tuchscherer. Mr. Maul wanted his pic taken with this guy because he looks like one of our friends.

The above guy, Chris, trains with the guy below, Brock Lesnar, he’s the UFC Heavyweight Champion:

I apologize for the skin shot. She was one of the ring girls (y’know, the ones that walk around the ring holding up the Round signs) and apparently, this was the only good shot Mr. Maul could get.

After the fight, we went back to the casino and tried our luck at the slot machines. We stuck to the quarter slots and actually racked up $80 (we put in $20), but we didn’t cash out. I would’ve cashed out if we’d gotten over $100. All in all, we had a great time. This was our first time attending a live cagefight and the price was right ($50/ea for front row seats), so we went for it. It was a bit colder in Globe, and being in a steel building with dirt-covered concrete floors didn’t help at all ( I felt sorry for the ring girls in their skimpy bikini’s), but I still enjoyed myself.

This past weekend… (more…)

Technorati Tags: Globe, AZ, SNMMA (Sovereign Nations Mixed Martial Arts) EXTREME BEATDOWN, Apache Gold Casino, San Carlos, Efrain Escudero, UFC Ultimate Fighter Season 8, Chris Tuchscherer, Brock Lesnar, UFC Heavyweight Champion

April 7, 2009 | "Whoa whoa I gotta go...back to schoooool...again",A Royale Pain,A Whole Latte Trouble,Book One,Book Stuff,Book Two,Draven Atreides,Draven Atreides, Teenage Informant Series,Life in General,Random Thoughts,Revision Heaven,School Daze,The 4-1-1 on Me,Writing Movements

Got my official acceptance letter from Prescott College today. While I was happy to see it–it makes it official after all–I would’ve preferred to see a Financial Aid packet. They’re supposed to be sending out award letters the last week of March, beginning of April.

Yeah, I know. It’s only the 7th.

I’m a little anxious. So sue me.

I won’t start harrassing the office until next month.

I finally finished the second set of revisions tonight. Yay, yay. But no Snoopy Dancing will occur until I get comments back from my beta reader. She can be brutal (in a good way, of course) and I don’t want to jinx myself. It’s going off to the editor this week and I’m told it’s going to take 3 weeks. In the meantime, I guess I’ll pull out Book Two and start editing that.

No cover yet. She’s still working on it. But I pinky-swear I’ll post it when it’s done.

Technorati Tags: Prescott College