So 2004

I'm no technophobe. I love digital cameras, I've played with the iPhone, I enjoy iTunes, I use my cell phone and I'm addicted to the internet, but the mp3 player craze had passed me by.

Until this weekend.

Thanks to my sister, I am now the proud owner of an mp3 player. I loaded up the player and went to town. Yes, all the music I love is on this little device, making me realize that I need some new music.

I wonder at what age we stop discovering new music and start sticking to the old favorites. As we get older, most of us continue to discover new TV shows, authors and recipes. However, the music we discovered as teenagers and young adults seems to be the music we stick to in later years. Just think of the CDs in your parents' CD player and you'll understand what I'm saying.

I wonder why we cling to music? Maybe it's comforting? Maybe we're lazy? Maybe the stuff on the radio really is that bad? I think I'll cruise the download new music section as I ponder the question.

Mysteries of the universe.

After a few years, my personal computers tend to suffer from keyboard fatigue. I rubbed the "s" off the keyboard of my last laptop because I do control-S to save. The left shift key on my current laptop has ceased to function. However, the keyboard I have at work has absolutely no problems whatsoever. Despite my being on it 8 hours a day and inadvertently dropping bits of crackers, microwave popcorn and water all over it for the last three years, it continues to operate trouble free. Can someone please explain this to me? I know it has nothing to do with my office computer being industrial grade.

Perhaps it's just one of those unexplainable things in the universe, like the success of Baywatch or Clamato. I mean, who in heavens name thought clam juice and tomato juice would make a marketable drink?

I saw something nasty in the woodshed. It was a lack of elegance.

Cold Comfort Farm was on Encore a few nights ago. I love this movie and it is one of the few films where I liked the movie better than the book. I was only able to catch the beginning of the film because my DH wasn't interested in watching yet another of my Polly prissy pants movies. However, the first fifteen minutes were enough to have me yearning for a little elegance.

In a day and age when it seems as though everyone is in a race to the bottom, elegance has become a lost art. Elegance still exists in some places, such as high tea or a charitable group's luncheon, but it isn't a part of our everyday lives. It makes me want to bring a little elegance into my daily life, to skip jeans in favor of a smart suit, to write using a fancy pen instead of the free one from the bank. It also makes me want to hire a butler to serve me food on a silver platter, but sometimes you have to start small. Can someone please hand me my faux tortoise shell letter opener? I'm in the mood to compose a letter. Remember those?

Night Owl Romance gives LADY'S WAGER 4 Hearts!

Please stop by Night Owl Romance to read Melinda's spectacular review of Lady's Wager.

Mythic Plotting

I've always enjoyed classical mythology, especially ancient Egyptian mythology and the works of Joseph Campbell. The archetypes speak to me as they have to millions of people throughout the centuries. Myths and mythic images have inspired many of my stories, poems and characters.

The Writer's Journey was one of the first writing books I read. Given my mythological bent, the idea of crafting a story along the lines of the hero's journey appeals to me. I've tried other methods but I always find myself coming back to Vogler's. The plotting techniques help me use universally recognized story elements to craft both simple and complex stories that appeal to a wide range of people.



Another writing book that appeals to my mythological side is The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. The book offers some great writing techniques for inspiring the muse. Her method of daily journaling help keep writer's block at bay while forcing me to make time every day for writing.

Cue the music...

Leaving my office last Friday night, I was excited to see a billboard for Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull right outside the building. Driving up Highland Blvd. on the way home, another large, building-sized add for the film brightened my drab commute. There are only a few films that get me excited and this is one of them. What's not to love about Indian Jones? Despite his age, Harrison Ford is still hot and the films are great matinée movies with an old Hollywood feel. The music alone gives me chills and perfectly captures the spirit of the character. I saw all three of the other films in the theatre and I will be there opening weekend for this one.

I only hope it isn't as disappointing as Star Wars the Phantom Menace.

I went to a 3 am showing of Star War Episode I and after the initial rush of hearing the familiar Star Wars music, I was sorely disappointed when it became apparent that Jar Jar Binks was here to stay. To this day, I still wish I'd stayed in bed. It was almost as bad as the Star Wars Holiday Special but at least the holiday special was so bad it was funny. A few years ago when the second film came out, a friend of mine invited me to a midnight showing. He had special tickets, I didn't have to work the next day and the theatre was only two miles from my house. Despite all those the conveniences, I still passed.

Hopefully, the movie making powers that be won't let this installment of Indian Jones suck.
I don't know if I can take the utter failure of two cinematic icons in one lifetime.

Sometimes I enjoy a little melodrama.

I've been home sick this week. As a result, I've been able to watch all four hours of The Way We Live Now, a BBC adaptation of the Victorian novel by Anthony Trollope. If you love Matthew McFayden as the handsome Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, you'll love him as the good for nothing Felix in this historic melodrama. The mini-series also stars David Suchet and Shirley Henderson. Unlike some Victorian melodramas, this one isn't over the top. Bad things happen to people but mostly because they bring it on themselves. Good does triumph over bad but not in a sugar coated way. I can't say the same about Daniel Deronda, another Victorian melodrama that I watched a few weeks ago. It had me rolling my eyes on more than one occasion. Sometimes there is such a thing as over doing it.