I got nothin'

I got most of my stuff packed tonight, which wasn't terribly difficult considering I chose my outfits a couple of weeks ago. Pathetic, I know, but I tend to get really excited about things. It's so nice to think that I only have to do my regular, day-to-day work two days this week. So that means my traditional workweek is half over. Wahoo!

So, really, I've got nothing to report. I just wanted to post something.

P.S. Enjoy the tunes. I'll randomly change them to whatever is my favorite listening pleasure at the moment. The songs are rather random as well. My music selection probably says something very interesting about me, but I have no idea what that is. I'm open to any suggestions you might have. Feel free to comment on my song selection (and especially what it means about my personality). I'm interested to hear what people think.

Time needs to fly!

This week is going by so slowly, only because there's something I'm really looking forward to next week. And what, you ask, could be so exciting about my deathly dull life?

BookExpo!

Now, for those of you not in the know, this is only the biggest gathering of publishers, writers, editors, librarians—basically anyone who has anything to do with books—in the country. It's actually the second largest in the world, with the London Book Fair taking top marks, but I'll take what I can get since my company isn't likely to pay for a lowly editor to fly to London. (Worse for them, I say. I know my way around London. I can carry things. They really should have me go.)

Anyway, at this wonderful gathering of all things books, there will be loads of free stuff . . . like books, for example. Free books? Yes, free books. It's like they're offering me free heroin from the top producers in the world.

Not only am I getting paid to attend, I'll be hobnobbing with the authors as well probably only for the 15 seconds it takes to scribble their names, but hey, I'm not picky.

The reason I mention all this is because that is where my head has been since I got back from camping and where it will firmly stay planted until the euphoria of my chosen drug has faded—most likely several weeks later when I've finished reading most of my hoard of books.

So if you don't hear from me, I'm probably reading. If you do, it's more than likely I'll be blogging about books that haven't even been released yet. Are you jealous yet? I can keep going if you're not. Christopher Paolini, Cornelia Funke, Neil Gaiman, Salman Rushdie, Eoin Colfer, Sarah Addison Allen, Anita Shreve. Just some of the many wonderful people I plan to meet.

Okay, I'll stop gloating now. I'm just so excited. But I should probably tone it down a bit or my co-workers will end up drugging me with sleeping pills like they've already threatened.

Only one week to go till BookExpo. Wahoo!

P.S. Anyone who knows me personally is welcome to borrow any of the books I bring back on the condition that it is not permanent borrowing, and you'll probably have to wait until I've read it first. Plus there's already a waiting line for some of the books. Boy this is fun. I feel like a dragon perched atop my hoard of gold and treasures. Or at least dreaming of it. Sigh. One more week. How will I make it that long?

These films may be lesser-known, but they are great

I've been doing a lot of movie watching lately. Well, that and t.v. series watching, which is like movies because you watch several episodes straight through but better because there's more than one movie's worth of entertainment if you're watching several seasons worth. The interesting thing about many of these shows, and especially many of my favorites, is that they aren't terribly common, and many are foreign (to the U.S., at least). So for this week, I'd like to list 13 of the best shows and movies you may not know about.

1. Dae Jang Geum. I love this show. I just love it and can't say it enough. Although it is subtitled and still in the original Korean, it is one of the best dramas I have ever seen. No joke. Anyone who can get their hands on a copy of this t.v. series had best do it or she'll be missing out. (As a bonus, there's plenty of eye-candy for both sexes.)

2. Monarch of the Glen. A friend told me this is actually a Scottish soap opera, but it is nothing like those we have here in the states. I love this show, with it's eclectic brand of humor and drama all mixed into one. I still have a season or two to go till I reach the end, but it's absolutely wonderful.

3. The Pretender. Taking this show off the network television several years ago was a tragedy. Unfortunately the story has never had a real conclusion, though I know TNT produced a few t.v. movies that furthers the storyline. I want to rewatch all of it, in sequence this time, just to enjoy the mystery of it all.

4. Roar. I fell in love with this show during its one and only season. Travesty, I say, considering the star of this Irish-Celtic drama was none other than recently fallen star Heath Ledger at the young age of 16. My teenage heart afluttered watching this one. Plus I love anything and everything dealing with that time period.

5. Rosemary & Thyme. What could be more British than a drama involving murder mysteries and gardening. It's thoroughly enjoyable, but I often wonder as I watch how two gardeners could find so many dead bodies in the course of their work.

6. Red Green. This series is of a completely different sort. Think Canada, backwoods, lazy men and duct tape. It's really hysterical and very much in the vein of Strange Brew.

7. Red Dwarf. Saturday nights at my house used to be filled with Red Green and this zany British comedy. Set in space, and with completely fake special effects that only added to the charm, this series brought tears of laughter to my eyes on many occasions.

8. The 10th Kingdom. I really enjoyed this cheesy t.v. miniseries about some New Yorkers that get stuck in another magical realm where fairytales are real. It's just fun to watch. The best scene in the whole thing has to be when Snow White explains how she was tricked by her evil stepmother. That scene always gives me the chills, it's so good.

9. Tin Man. Another t.v. miniseries, but this time produced by the Sci-Fi Network. I know what you're probably thinking, and I thought the same thing, but it really is a fun twist on The Wizard of Oz. The acting could use some help in parts of the movie, but I really enjoyed the main character, played by Zooey Deschamel.

10. Hero. This is my favorite of the Chinese movies that have come to the world, a la Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The cinematography of this film is absolutely incredible. The costumes and scenes are choreographed in gorgeous monochromatic tones. I really need to watch this again.

11. Daniel Deronda. I'll admit, I have a thing for curly haired men with accents. Hugh Dancy does not disappoint in this film based on the George Eliot novel. It is a beautiful story filled with beautiful people.

12. North and South. This wasn't my favorite film to start off, but by the end I was hooked. By far, the last scene in the movie is the best. I had to rewind it again and again. Oh, how beautiful. (It comes from the novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, another British literary luminary.)

13. Jane Eyre. I could go on all night listing my favorite BBC dramas—much more than 13, I can guarantee—but I'll end with this one. The reason I say this isn't as well known is because I prefer the 1983 version starring former Bond, Timothy Dalton. The sets are sparse, but the acting is amazing.

Bonus: Although I haven't seen either of these, I really want to and have heard they are both incredible. The first, Amelie, heralds from France and is supposed to be one of the best movies ever. Remind me, why haven't I seen this yet?

Second is a t.v. series from across the channel in England called Robin Hood. There have been many incarnations of this story, but I'm told this is one of the best. Now I have to wait for Blockbuster to start carrying them. Sigh.

I'd love to hear about your lesser-known favorites. I'm always looking for a new addiction.

Can you tell me who I am, Jane?

My dearest Jane,

I have not had the pleasure of making your acquaintance, yet I am intimately familiar with your work and your life. You are a woman of limitless passion and hope.

As I read your stories, and especially as I see the productions of your work on screen, I wonder where I would fit in. Time and again I see the romantic lives of the women you created and wish I were one of them.

Could you tell me, darling Jane, if I could be Elizabeth? I admire her very much and want to be like her in every particular. She is carefree and lovely, sure of herself and her place in the world. Elizabeth succeeds in wedding a man of uncommon character because she stayed true to her own. But I am not like her, at least not in the essential aspects. I care too much of what others think of me and hope beyond all reasonable belief that a man will come to sweep me off to his rather large estate. No, I am no Elizabeth.

Catherine, then? I am mired in a world of my own creating, living in fantasy and faerie when I should be firmly based in reality. Her fairytale became her life, though, when Henry Tilney stepped into it. My life is still all dreams, so I must not be her.

Sadly, I may be more like Fanny than any of the others. Destined to wait for the man I love to realize that I've been there all along. No. I thought I was Fanny once, but my Edmund married his Mary Crawford, much to my devastation. I tried to have Fanny's patience, but even that didn't suffice in the end.

I very well could be Eleanor. Solid and immovable, a support to my family, but ultimately unlucky in love. Except Eleanor finally realized her dearest dreams. She put others first, and time moved ever so slowly, but happiness did come for her in the end.

I am decidedly no Emma. I have not her passion for matchmaking, though I am sure I would have as much skill at it as she. She is young, innocent, and endlessly loving, but still I am not like her.

Who am I then, Jane? I read your novels and love the women who inhabit them. I wish I could be one of them, with my own happy ending waiting for the last chapter of the book. I want my Edward, my Mr. Knightly, Mr. Darcy or Captain Wentworth. I want the man who realizes that I am of inestimable value and can't live another day without making me his own. Will it ever happen? Will it, Jane?

After all the stories you told—of romance, of intrigue, of love—your story ended in solitude. You died a spinster, much like I am now. Am I to be you then, Jane?

I know not how my story will end. Do you know how it will all end for me?

Even though I have not much hope now, I can remember that Eleanor waited without hope for her Edward and sweet Anne waited eight years for her Captain Wentworth. Fanny spent nearly a lifetime pining for her Edmund. Maybe I can wait a while longer to find my own love.

With warmest regards,

Michelle

Blah blah blah

Blah blah, blah blah blah blah.

Blah.

Sometimes that is all I feel like I ever say. Blah. Blah blah blah. I'm sure all that most people hear coming out of my mouth (or coming from this blog) is the whah-whah-whah of Charlie Brown's schoolteacher.

Maybe not that drastic, but I'm really not feeling eloquent lately, which is probably why I haven't blogged much.

So for now, it'll be a bit more blah blah until I get back into the swing of things. When that will happen, I know not. (Maybe I'll just write like Yoda and then people will think that smart I am.)

Criticism—but the good kind

I had completely forgotten to check back on a submission I made to a wonderful little blog run by Evil Editor. He helps out poor saps, like me, who think they can write by bringing them spectacularly down to earth (with the help of his Evil Minions, of course).

A few weeks ago I sent him the opening few paragraphs of Surviving Eden, hoping to receive some constructive criticism. I definitely received plenty of that. You can read the post and comments here. What with my birthday and camping, it slipped my mind to check back if it had been posted yet. It has (by a few weeks). Oops.

Now I can't wait to get my fingers back on the keyboard and make some important and necessary changes. Progress . . . isn't it sweet?

An ideal trip? Not so much

Camping was great. Nothing really went according to plan, but when does it ever? We headed farther south than we had wanted because everywhere else was below freezing at night. And since there weren't any guys going with us, cuddling would have definitely been out of the question.

Where we ended up, though, near St. George, was gorgeous with blue skies and not a cloud to mar the view. Heaven on earth, I say.

After that first day, though, things went downhill fast. We got kicked out of our campsite. (Don't even ask. We're still bitter about that.) Luckily we found another one near a beautiful little lake. But then we couldn't find any good hikes in the area. By that time we were so frustrated we just spent the rest of the day wading in the ice-cold lake and playing Skip Bo.

All in all, I had a lot of fun, but I think my friend was really frustrated. We definitely learned some good lessons, though.

1) Plan a little bit better before we get there.
2) Have several good backup plans in case things go wrong, which they probably will.
3) Don't trust the camp hosts when they leave a note on the campsite saying it's open.
4) Keep a first-aid kit handy when hiking, as I learned when I had an allergic reaction to a plant. Lucky for me I'd just bought one and decided to stick it in my camelback, just in case.

I am happy that I got away for a few days. No work, beautiful weather, good book, yummy food. It was great. I'm learning to be better at going with the flow and not freaking out when crap happens. It usually does, so why worry? Now that is one very important lesson to learn.