IKEA, Cooking and a Rainy Start to the Week

It's a dark and stormy Monday morning. The sky is grey and heavy and looks like it's going to open any minute and launch a torrent onto the world beneath that is just waking up and trying to be motivated to go to work or school. It's one of those days where there's an ominous tone to the world, heavy with greys and shadows, the flowers looking as though they're trying to hide from the heavy rains that loom, imminent.

I know how they feel. I think most people do on Monday mornings. I have yet to meet a person who sits up and jumps out of bed saying "YAY! It's Monday!!!". If those people exist, they would frighten me.

I think my problem is that I like weekends too much. I love having two days that don't conform to the self-made pattern of my work weeks. I like knowing I can get up when I like, even if it is always around 9 a.m. at the latest. I like knowing I can read in bed if I still don't want to get up, that I can work out any time I choose.

This weekend was another good one. I spent the day on Saturday with a friend. We went to IKEA. I love IKEA. I love that you can go in there and spend less than $35 and come out with a ton of handy items, some of which you might actually need. I do need to make a note to myself that I really need to NOT watch "Iron Chef America' before I go to IKEA. You see, this leads me to do something I never thought I would ever do: Get excited over kitchen tools. I used to mock my friends and my dad for getting excited over odd contraptions like fancy peelers, sodium containment units (a fancy salt pot for those unfamiliar with Alton Brown and the Food Network) and chopping boards. This weekend, I went to IKEA and I got excited over a peeler and chopping boards and a French press coffee maker. Yes, I've crossed over to the dark side. You know you're in trouble when the lemon juicer just has to be yours because squeezing fresh lemons is far better than buying those plastic lemons full of concentrated lemon juice.

Stupid "Iron Chef."

Aside from IKEA, we browsed Barnes and Noble which, alas, did not have any copies left of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a book that my friend really wanted to read and was kindly going to loan me. Yes, it's based on the original text of Pride and Prejudice but has, you know, zombies attacking the village of Meryton and it's up to Elizabeth Bennett and Proud Mr. Darcy to defeat them. What's not to like about that?

We also went to see a movie. We saw "State of Play". Yes, I know, I know, I've complained about that remake a couple of times. I can hear you thinking, "Wow, Captain Monkeypants is a hypocrite. She's supporting Hollywood in their horrid remake campaign." My defense is....an embarrassed shrug. It's true. I have no defense. I will merely apologise and move on.

Actually, I won't. You didn't really expect that, did you? My friend wanted to see it and it was the only movie starting at the time we wanted to see one. It had good reviews and, I confess, Iwas curious to see what they did with it. It was...ok.

The original is far, far better. I will say the movie did a fabulous job of condensing the mini-series which ran over five hours into a two hour movie. Russell Crowe was excellent in his role. Rachel McAdams was good, also. Ben Affleck played Ben Affleck very nicely. I was a little confused why Helen Mirren decided to act her role as though she were playing Bill Nighy playing her role. I mean, even her gestures were very similar to those of Mr. Nighy in the original. Over all, it was ok. I missed the James McAvoy role from the original and was disappointed that Jason Bateman's slimy character didn't have more screen time or a larger role but, as I said, it wasn't bad at all. I still say watch the original, it's much less polished, far grittier and far more believable. However, the BBC mini-series does lack Russell Crowe's spectacularly bad hairstyle, I'm sad to say.

The rest of my weekend was rather nice. I woke up on Sunday with the urge to cook. Stupid Food Network. Stupid Mario Batali. So, I cooked. I made homemade ravioli. I made the dough myself. It was ridiculously easy because Mario Batali told me it was and he's usually right. I stuffed it with roasted butternut squash and tossed it in a sage butter sauce. I also added a salad of sauteed beet greens topped with roasted beets.

You're scared, aren't you? Yes, me too. I think I might have officially watched too much "Iron Chef America". I will say that the meal was delicious, even though that sounds horribly self-congratulatory. My only problem is that I still lack a rolling pin and I, naturally, do not own a pasta rolling machine thingy so I had to use my infamous trick of using a wine bottle to flatten out the pasta dough. Thus, no matter how hard I pressed down, the dough remained thicker than it should. It was tasty...just thick. I like that I can try these recipes on myself and if they're revolting, I'm the only one who has to know. However, if it does turn out right, I can add that to my repetoire for when I do cook for others. It's fun. I'm planning on trying to cook in my parent's far better equipped kitchen soon. My dad has all the gadgets including a pasta rolling thingy. I plan on using my mother as my sous chef. She doesn't know this yet.

As for the house hunting, that was postponed by my realtor. We're going tonight, instead. I'm excited. It'll be interesting to see the difference between the fiction of the pictures I've been viewing of houses and the reality of the houses themselves. I think I'm prepared. I don't plan on falling madly in love with one place and putting all my hopes on that because I know that often, you have to make offers on a couple of places before you finally get one. The looking is the fun part. I plan on enjoying that.

So, thus ends the past week and today the new one begins. It's a little less stressful since the pressure of making it in the ABNA contest is off though, in the end, that turned out to be little stress, just a good rallying point for me to realize, once again, it's about the roadtrip, not the destination.

In a way, I like that it's raining. It seems fitting for a Monday morning. I'm sure as the week passes, the clouds eventually will too. In the meantime, they provide a convenient excuse for my Monday sluggishness, not the fact that I stayed up too late reading. I shall, to quote Milli Vanilli, those old pop "singers" of yore, "Blame it on the rain." Why not?

Happy Monday.

A Wordsworth Kind of Friday...

"Daffodils" (1804)

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

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It's going to be a beautiful Friday. The sun is shining again and the temperatures are supposed to reach the 70's. That's what I call a good start to the weekend. It's been a long week, full of ups and downs but mostly ups...which makes for a good week.

My weekend looms before me, the weather forecast is very typical for the Midwest in the spring; it's supposed to be sunny with a chance of rain and the temperatures will range from teh 30's to the 70's. I have no real set plans aside from looking at houses this weekend. I'm quite excited about that. I've never looked for my own house before but I'm certain that there's a place out there, somewhere, that I'll eventually be able to call my own.

Aside from that, it's one of those delicious weekends in which nothing is written in stone and during which I can do anything or nothing, whatever strikes my fancy.

I like that I've been dreading this past week for a month, the knowledge that my novel, Sleep, would hit its peak in ABNA and I'd be back to starting over with query letters for it. The reason I like that I've been dreading it is because now that it's happened, it's over and rather than bring me down, it's boosted me up.

I had a good evening last night too. I made breakfast for dinner: Scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, hash brown patties and grilled tomatoes and green peppers. I watched "Iron Chef America" on my laptop and discovered that while I adore Mario Batali, I do not care for Bobby Flay. I find him stressful to watch because he seems so focused and intent that he doesn't seem to be enjoying his work very much. When I watch Mario Batali, I get the sense that he enjoys cooking, that he is inspired by the ingredient he's given. Bobby Flay seemed rather miserable about it. Maybe it was just the episode; the secret ingredient was beer and Flay was challenged by an Austrian cook who clearly knew how to use the ingredient. Poor Bobby seemed a little irritated by his ingredient and when his fondue turned about badly, I almost expected him to throw it at his sous chef.

Aside from that, I did download the new Green Day song. As expected, it is good. Then I wrote, while listening to Green Day. There's nothing better.

So, I seem to be continuing my campaign of positivity which, for me, is a pretty good accomplishment. I can be optimistic but I can also be dark and twisty, full of darkness and self-doubt. I'm glad I didn't go to that place but, instead, I let Spring have its effect on me. It's hard not to when the sun is shining so brightly and you pass hosts of golden daffodils constantly on your way to work. Even though I have the work day to get through before my weekend begins, I can live with that. It makes the anticipation of two days of freedom even better.

Happy Friday.

The Roadtrip of Writing...

Rather than dwell on my lack of advancement in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, I've decided to ignore it completely for now. I won't lie and say the disappointment has already vanished because that would be a lie. I won't say that every now and again, I don't have the urge to check the postings on the site to make sure I wasn't one of the winners. I'm not going to make up excuses or be bitter. I venture to guess that a large percentage of the semi-finalists have also had their share of rejections and disappointment and they are finally getting a chance to be read.

So, I'm deciding to embrace that which I do have in my life rather than what I don't have. For example, today is looking to be a beautiful day. The sun is finally shining, the trees along the roads that line my route to work have exploded into white cotton-ball-like blossoms with a few hardy pink magnolias thrown in. The tulips have budded, ready to show their blooms and the daffodils and forsythia each throw their indulgent yellow tones out into a world that has seemingly turned back to green overnight.

I woke up to the sound of Green Day on my alarm clock. For anyone who knows me, Green Day is my absolute favourite band in the entire world. I haven't gushed about how excited I am that less than a month from now, on May 15th, their new album "21st Century Breakdown" will be released. Consider me gushing now. Today, their first single from the album, "Know your Enemy", is going to be released on iTunes. As of half an hour ago, it wasn't there yet. I know because I already tried to download it. I'll be patient and get it tonight. I'm excited. Their last album, "American Idiot," is my all-time favourite rock album. It inspired me to write an entire novel. Even if their follow-up only has a couple of good songs (which I doubt), I wait with excited anticipation. Any day, like today, that starts with Green Day has to be good. It's a law. In my head.

I'm also grateful for Facebook. Through this site, I have had the chance to reconnect to friends that I haven't talked to in years but wondered where life has taken them. I'm in touch with some of my family in the UK. Through simple things as "Status Updates" and "Five Favourite Things", I can learn about them, see what they're up to. It's a powerful thing. Yesterday, when I was so deflated about the Amazon contest, my friends rallied in support, posting lovely positive praise about my writing and letting me know that this isn't the end, but the beginning. Sometimes you just need to hear things like that. Yesterday, I did.

My family is the same. They seem to believe in me, no matter how often I feel like I'm losing my way. My mother, especially. It's nice to feel appreciated. I know, as a writer, you're not supposed to use your mother as your 'Ideal Reader' (to poach a term from Stephen King). However, my mother is a reader. She's an extremely discriminating one. She is the one I can count on to tell me if a book I'm thinking about reading is worth the time. This is why occasionally I'll give her a stack of my unread books and tell her to let me know if they're worth my time. I'm lazy. She doesn't mind. It works out well. This is why I always let her read my stories and novels first. She is positive but she will tell me what's wrong with my story, whether the ending is too treacly, whether she doesn't like a character. It's a useful thing and it keeps me going.

I also found out I can now buy a house. That's a terrifying thing. I've been approved for a mortgage. Technically, the shopping can begin. I've never house-shopped before. I don't really know what to look for. I'm a bit afraid I'll find a place with a darling fireplace, a lovely garden and I'll forget that working plumbing, unexposed wires and solid walls are usually a must for a habitable environment these days. Still, it's an exciting prospect. It also means I'm really turning into a grown-up. That's a terrifying thought but it had to happen sometime.

So, though I'm still feeling the lapping of disappointment whenever I sit back and forget to block it out, it's not the end of the world. It's not the end of my writing. My characters are still in my head, waiting for their stories to be told. I still feel the tug of excitement as I realize my current novel is going in a completely different direction to what I originally planned. Though I did ask Gaz, my main character, if he'd have any objection to being turned into a vampire and/or being written for young adults. That's the target market these days, it seems, for fantasy.

Gaz said no. He wasn't very nice about it. Which, actually, given the fact that he's not particularly nice anyway, wasn't a surprise. I think I'll stick to keeping him who he is. Characters are far more interesting when you let them tell you who they are, when you don't try to make them into a cookie-cutter hero or a typical villain. I'll let him tell me his story though I might have to censor him a bit. He has a foul mouth that one. Throw in an East London accent and you have a very interesting man although he's made me promise I won't picture the Geico Gekko when he's talking. It's hard not to though. I love that lizard.

So, on this lovely spring morning, I'm accentuating the positive and ignoring the negative. It's getting easier already. Maybe it's the sunshine, maybe it's the fact that Green Day are back with fresh material, maybe it's the fact that I've realized, once again, having good family and friends in my life can make up for a lot of things I don't have. Whatever it is, I'm looking forward, not back. Like a smart friend said yesterday, roadtrips are often more fun than the actual destination. My writing is my journey, success is the destination. If I get there too quickly, I won't have time to wind down the windows, turn up the music and eat too much junk food. Road trips are the best things, especially when you have good company. I'm lucky in that regard; my friends and my family are always there, supporting me, entertaining me and reminding me to look out the windows and enjoy the view. Even when it's raining, it's still a good ride.

Happy Thursday.

Stepping off the Ladder

Since I've talked so much about the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award already, it seems fitting to live blog about the fact that I just discovered I did not make the semi-finals.

I'm disappointed. That's the truth.

I'm trying to see the positive. I made it to the Top 500. I'm going to get a review from Publisher's Weekly to find out what was wrong with my novel that I didn't move on.

That's also a negative. It means I have to face the truth that I am not yet a Great Writer and that I did something wrong.

I did get further than ever before and so I'm going to try to push onward and not look at existing novels and my current project as unpublishable but, rather, as something that can be finely tuned so I can make it the best I can do. I'm also bound and determined not to be bitter about the entries that did make it. I already mentioned that next year, I hope Amazon makes a rule that finalists who make it to the top three not be allowed to enter the same work the following year. That's a space in the contest for someone who has never had the chance to get a little bit of hope, even if they just make it to the Top 500, like I did.

That's all I'll say about that. It's my one bit of creeping bitterness that someone who had a shot is getting the exact same chance again even though it obviously wasn't fruitful last time. I don't blame Amazon, I actually blame the author for not having the grace to step aside. Yet, I wonder, would I do it? It's hard to say. I'm not in the position so maybe it's easy to say...harder to do.

Otherwise, I'm going to try to be a noble loser. I'll stop whining and try to keep writing without thinking, "I'm not good enough." I got to stand on the ladder for a month, look up at the open skies of success and have the possibility and hope lay before me that perhaps this was finally it, I could finally stop beating my head against a wall and I could have my shot.

I'm stepping off the ladder. For now. I'll be back. Thank you, everyone, for your kind words of support, consolation and friendship. You make me feel like a champion even if I'm not holding the prize.

Thanks for reading.

Iron Chefs and Rats Who Shouldn't Cook...

It's another gloomy day today, similar to yesterday but the warmth has gone and a damp cold seems to have found its way into my fingers. No matter what I try, I can't quite get warm. It reminds me of my days of living in England; the damp cold clings to you inside and out and only burrowing yourself into a mountain of blankets in bed can warm chill from your bones.

Thus, I didn't want to get up this morning. I actually slept remarkably well last night which was a pleasant surprise given that today is the day the Top 100 in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is selected and the rest of the 400 quarterfinalists will be notified that their novels didn't make it. Try as I might, I can't ignore it and I have tried. I've tried to distract myself by not thinking about it. I figured if I psyched myself up to receive that rejection, it wouldn't bother me. The problem with that is that it's negative thinking and that's not good either. So, I'm trying a new strategy: being positive. I'm not sure how that's working for me; it's hard to be in a great mood when you're feeling sluggish and tired and you want to crawl back under the covers. Yet I'm trying. Whatever happens, happens.

So, instead of spending last night obsessively reading the ABNA forums, I found other things to do instead. Besides, the ABNA forums are getting on my nerves. Nothing is going on there other than a little snark, a little teasing and a little patting each other on the back. I managed to get 10 reviews through the process and every single one of them actually made me flush with surprise and happiness; people like my book. That's a pretty awesome feeling.

One of the other things I found to do is watch TV on my computer in bed. I've got a confession; I think I might be getting addicted to "Iron Chef USA." I watched it with my parents this weekend and, well, it's pretty cool. As a food lover, I can't believe what those chefs can throw together in 'one hour'. Since it's TV, I have to think some prep work was done ahead of time and the 'secret ingredient' wasn't so secret. My favourite is Mario Batali. Wow, he makes me hungry. Last night, I discovered that The Food Network has some full episodes to watch online so I watched Jamie Oliver (aka "The Naked Chef") take on Mario Batali. They had to use a weird fish called Cobia. Both chefs made dishes that actually looked like they'd be tasty but as he seems to always do, Mario Batali was the one that made me want to reach into my television and sample his food. There's something deeply satisfying about watching a talented chef cook.

Believe it or not, this weekend was the first time I've ever really seen "Iron Chef". I do love the food network. Alton Brown's "Good Eats" was my previous favourite. He's a great cook too because he makes sense of what he cooks and how flavours work together. Also, he doesn't have all the fancy gadgets to use that make me feel woefully amateur because I do not have a Chinese Hat Funnel in my kitchen. Jamie Oliver used on of those last night on "Iron Chef".

The Food Network is the reason I don't have cable or satellite TV. I know, for a fact, that if I did have it, I would probably always find a way to procrastinate and turn on the TV. There's always something to watch on that channel. I tend to indulge at my parents' house. I love Anthony Bourdain's shows, I like Alton Brown, I love Iron Chef. I've also watched that show with the bald man who goes round the world eating disgusting things. For the life of me, I can't remember the name but it's on late and he will eat ANYTHING. I find it disgustingly entertaining. I also liked that "Dinner: Impossible" show in which a man goes to places and throws together a meal for huge amounts of people in a very short time.

You get the idea. I love food, thus, I love the Food Network. It's very dangerous to my productivity.

Just in case you were wondering and (*SPOILER ALERT), Mr. Batali did defeat Jamie Oliver in "Iron Chef USA". Not that it's a shocker. I will say that Jamie Oliver only lost by 3 points and he made fish and chips using Guiness beer in the batter which made me like him. Also, he's British which made me like him even more. It was pretty amazing watching two chefs battle it out because neither of them got flustered, they just focused on the task at hand. What amazes me is their soux chefs who get none of the glory on screen but are running around, making it possible for the Iron Chef and his competitor to masterfully create dishes with the ingredients they've prepped.

It reminds me of that film, "Ratatouille." Aside from the fact that the film disgusts me greatly because it's a RAT in the KITCHEN, TOUCHING FOOD, I do like the fact that we get inside the hustle and bustle of a busy kitchen at work. I liked the food aspect of that movie. I just can't watch it enjoyably because even if it's a cartoon, there are still RATS. In a Kitchen. Touching Food. I find it ironic that I have a vivid imagination but I can't get beyond the fact that I'm disgusted by the rats, even though they're animated and they can talk. Really, I should be able to suspend my disbelief that these aren't real rats; they're magical talking ones that aren't disgusting and covered with germs.

Yet, after I saw "Ratatouille," I saw a real rat in the jasmine patch I walked by daily when I worked at USC. I tried to picture that rat in a cute chef's hat, talking to me, washing his paws ready to cook. I couldn't do it. All I saw was a nasty, germ infested creature with beady eyes and a horrible, long, naked tail. Apparently, my suspension of disbelief doesn't extend to rats cooking, no matter how often they wash their hands.

I think I'll stick to watching master chefs in the kitchen at work, chefs that stand up on human legs, washing their human hands and cooking human dishes with the help of other humans. I'll stick to my Iron Chef's and my bald men eating disgusing foods. Which, my apologies, is NOT on the Food Network but is on the Travel Channel and it's called "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman." Sorry, Andrew Zimmerman, I shall try to remember your name and not called you "Bald Man who Eats Weird Food." Still, Travel Channel or Food Network, I still love watching people cook and eat. It's a good distraction from life.

Happy Wednesday.

Unnecessary Remakes: The Sequel

It's a drizzly, foggy, dark and gloomy day outside today. It's one of those days that seems like it will never be fully-daylight. There's a clammy dampness to the air which is making everything feel and look heavier than it is. It's definitely Spring though; that bitter biting chill is gone and for the first time in a while, my hands weren't freezing when I drove to work.

I'm back at work today, obviously. I'm trying to be excited about that but, well, I'm not. I had a four day weekend, thus I'm spoiled and wanting more freedom and less work. Still, it's not like I hate my job so that's definitely a bonus. I also have a meeting with a mortgage broker today which is slightly terrifying but I keep reminding myself it's not like I'm committing to anything and, also, it's just a meeting. I'll let you know how that goes.

During my time off work, I did get a chance to catch up on my entertainment reading. I wish I hadn't, actually. Once more, I'm irritated beyond belief with Hollywood. I already complained a while ago that they were making "State of Play" into a Hollywood Blockbuster when it had already been made rather recently as an excellent mini-series in the UK. I'm ignoring the Affleck-ness of that situation, only that I find myself groaning whenever I see the trailer. I know Russell Crowe is supposed to playing a hard-hitting news reporter, but why does his hair look so terrible? Is he making a statement about news reporters because, if so, that's not nice. It's a bit like Tom Hanks' hair in "The DaVinci Code"- it should have its own separate credit, it's so terrible. Never mind that it's a silly thing to be remaking in the first place. Just rent the original. It has James McAvoy and Bill Nighy in it for goodness sakes and John Simm who is playing what I think is the Russell Crowe role....stellar.

Anyway, I already complained about that. I'm just doing it again because I'm irked. Something that is now irking me more now that I just read about it: Hollywood is remaking "Death at a Funeral". I don't know if you saw the original, I mean it was made SO long ago...Oh, wait, it was made in 2007. For the mathematically challenged that was TWO YEARS AGO. The original was funny. It's a black comedy, set in Britain with a great cast of British stalwarts like Keeley Hawes and Matthew Macfadyen. It's also got some good American actors like the always fantastic Peter Dinklage and Alan Tudyk. It's about an dysfunctional family that becomes even more so at the event of the patriarch's funeral. It's a little twisted but in that nice, dry British way.

The remake is going to star Morgan Freeman, Martin Lawrence and Danny Glover. I think they're obviously going for an ethnic version. Thus, I will add the disclaimer: I am not racist, I don't care what colour the cast is, that is not the point of my tirade.

The point is THEY ALREADY MADE THIS MOVIE. TWO YEARS AGO.

Here's what I'm thinking. Hollywood has given up. The greed of making a few quick bucks at the box office is superceding the need for a quality film with longetivy. At this rate, they're going to be simutaneously making the remake at the same time they're making the original film. I mean, why wait to remake it when you can shoot two movies with different casts on the same lot? They don't have to release them at the same time. They can wait maybe six months so that when the original gets a little stale, you can watch the same thing with different actors. Whoo hoo! We'll have "Candyland, the Movie" starring Miley Cyrus and "CandyLand" starring Kristin Thomas and Michael Cera six months later. Same plot, same script...different actors and slightly different titles!

Yes, I am oozing sarcasm. No, I am not kidding about them actually making a film based on the children's board game "Candy Land." Oh, how I wish I were kidding about that.

Here's my biggest issue with Hollywood. I used to want to screenwrite. I moved to L.A. with the intention of trying to make it. I did discover I preferred writing novels but I did give it a try. I have several friends who are still trying. They are talented, they are original. Each of them would willingly sell their script for pennies just to have a chance to see their work on film. So why is Hollywood ignoring this talent to make remakes of movies less than two years old?

I wish I knew. I can only assume it's because they don't want to bother. They've become complacent with mediocrity. It's much easier to greenlight a movie that's nicely packaged than try to gather up new ideas and new talent and try to find a way to present it and still make money. For every "Juno," there's at least five romantic comedies like "Bride Wars." These are movies with big names with plots that are so predictable a seven-year old could tell you how it turned out. Yes, they're watchable but you walk away and forget you ever saw it. I'm not even talking about the big blockbusters. With those, at least, there's usually some good acting even if the explosions and gloss obscure the fact that there isn't really a great plot.

That's not to say that some good films aren't getting made. I rewatched "Slumdog Millionaire" this weekend and enjoyed it just as much. I still standby the fact that "Watchmen" was an excellent adaptation, even if it isn't your cup of tea. I can't wait for the next "Harry Potter" because...it's Harry Potter.

Yet between the good, there's a slew of bad. I used to want to see at least one movie a month. Nowadays, I barely can be bothered to go every other month and, ironically, I live ridiculously close to several theatres. I have access to the movies but I'd rather save my money and watch a TV show instead. I'm finding more and more that the writing, directing and acting talent is on my TV, rather than at the cinema. I challenge anyone to find more intriguing entertainment than "Lost" these days and to find a stronger acting talent than Michael Emerson as Ben Linus. I've been rewatching "Veronica Mars" on DVD, a show that sadly only had 3 seasons but had the best writing and acting than any show in recent memory.

So, maybe that's my solution. I'll just watch TV instead. It's cheaper, more rewarding and longer-lasting. Yes, they're remaking shows again on TV (90210 and Melrose Place come to mind) but there's still some fantastic entertainment out there. As long as HBO makes shows like "Dexter" and ABC takes chances on hilarious comedies like "Better Off Ted," there is still something produced in Hollywood that is worth watching. And as long as Joss Whedon is allowed to produce TV shows, I'm going to be there on a Friday night watching (yes, that is a note to Fox: Don't you DARE cancel "Dollhouse".)

Yet as much as I adore TV, popcorn at home just doesn't taste the same. Please, Hollywood, take a step back and look at some of the unknown talent that is trying to get their names out there. Give them a chance. Put that remake of "Clue" on hold and see what else you could make that hasn't been made before. Ok, so "Clue" wasn't the highest quality movie but it was good, campy fun and a lot of people are angry about that remake. Try something new....I beg you.

Thanks for reading and Happy Tuesday.

Springtime Activities and the Sneaky Manipulations of a Sausage Dog

I'm blogging just a little later than normal today but at least I'm blogging. When I take a day off, it always feels like a tiny, vital part of my weekday is missing. Sometimes I can't even put my finger on what it is that's missing until I really think about it. Blogging has become part of my routine and, as I've mentioned before, Captain Monkeypants likes routine.

I actually took the day off work today so, technically, I'm still on my Easter Break. It's been a great weekend; very relaxing, fun and down-to-earth. I'm actually writing this from my parent's house and I currently have a Sausage dog staring mournfully up at me. He's actually upside down, lying on his back and craning his neck to make eye contact. His ears are skewered to the side and he's making these awful pining sounds. He does that a lot. Since I am often swayed by the pitiful cries he makes for attention, he expects attention at all times while I'm here. I'm trying to ignore him but those big brown eyes are making me feel guilty because I'm daring to ignore him. He'll probably start to bark in a minute. He has a very deep, melodious bark that's as mournful sounding as he looks. When he barks, I imagine he's saying, "I'm RIGHT here, I need you to pet me and rub my nose because otherwise I shall cry and cry and never be happy again." I'm being strong today and ignoring him. It's not easy.

Aside from spending too much time paying attention to Sausage, I've been up to all sorts of Springlike activities. I did, in fact, colour Easter eggs. I didn't have to do it in the microwave which meant there were no casualties. I did, however, buy one of those kits with the cups, dye tablets and wax crayon. The wax-crayon and I didn't get along well. When I took it out of the package, the top completely snapped off and went flying across the room. My mother, who was assisting me in the Great Egg Dying of 2009, was a good sport and used the blunted crayon. Then, later when I managed to snap the bloody thing accidentally with my avid attempt to draw flowers on my egg, we both ended up with half a wax-crayon each. I pretended I did it on purpose but I know mum wasn't fooled. I'd like to think that the flimsy wax crayon had an affect on both our artistic endeavors. The problem with a wax crayon is that it's white. So is the egg. Thus, drawing on an egg is not an easy feat and our attempts to be creative turned out to be slightly off-kilter and bizarre looking when the dye of the egg revealed our designs. I also ended up with pink and blue fingers because I'm rather a messy creature and even when I tried not to dye my fingers, I did anyway.

Easter Sunday turned out to be a beautiful sunny, spring day. I spent a good part of the day in my mum's garden. Now is the time of year to clear away the old and let the new plants breathe. Clearing away the winter debris seemed quite a fitting activity for Easter Sunday. I also discovered that I enjoy chopping things down. My father actually trusted me with a saw so I could cut away the dead wisteria and honeysuckle vines that were choking the archway to my mother's garden and threatening to topple it down. I must confess, I was rather surprised when my dad handed me the saw with minimal argument. I'm not known for my grace and care with sharp objects but you'll be happy to know that I had absolutely no accidents with the saw. I did, however, have a few incidents with the vine. It pinged me in the head a few times and gave me some splinters but, in the end, I did triumph. My biggest issue was with the windchimes that were hanging from the arch. I keep forgetting they were there and they kept hitting me in the head. It only occured to me afterwards that I could probably have taken them down for the duration of my vine-slaying. Still, it's not a good gardening experience if you don't learn anything. For example, yesterday, I learned the following: 1)Take down windchimes if they keep hitting you in the head. 2) Gardening gloves help reduce splinters, keep your hands free from dirt and prevent hard-to-clean nails. Naturally, I did not have any gloves and thus, after much scrubbing, there's still a layer of dirt ground into my hands. 3) Weeding is not considered successful if you just turn the dirt in which the weeds are growing upside down to hide the weeds from your mother so she thinks you weeded. It's actually much easier to just weed anyway.

Today, the sun has gone away again and we're left with a gloomy, drizzly, dark April morning. While I'd enjoy a walk around the garden to see what changed overnight- which actually does seem to happen this time of year- I also love the constantly changing weather. It reminds me that I've put those ham sandwich days behind me and that I'm back in a place that doesn't allow for predictability in weather unless the predictability is the lack of predictability itself.

It seems on this rainy Spring morning, that Sausage has reached his tolerance for being ignored and is being rather obnoxious. His head is practically on my lap and he's staring up at me like some horribly cliche Hollywood dog that's been trained to be adorable. Naturally, I fall for it every time, just like I'm doing now. Thus I must pay attention to him before he starts to whimper. I hate that I'm being manipulated by an 22 inch long dog that stands about 12 inches of the ground but I let him do it anyway.

I can't help it. I'm a sucker.

Happy Monday.