It's pretty cool, sort of an IMDB for books. So, IBDB, I guess. I'm one of the new young adult fantasy reviewers, with a possible and occasional science fiction novel thrown in. These books are rated for readability, age recommendations, and scored on violence, sex, and language. I've never seen a website like this before, so I'm pretty stoked to have joined them. Not only do you get more of a literary review on the book, but you can also see at a glance the sort of "violence" or "sex" that it might contain, which is pretty handy if you really don't feel like reading something chalkful of blood and gore. Right? Riiiiight?




I currently have three new reviews up, that you can check out if you want. (Go on, click the links. You KNOW you want to!)
The Winner's Curse
Dragonsong
Enchanted Glass

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I'm going to write about the second thing first, because it was more recent and I still feel geeked out by it.

The names have been censored to protect the innocent :)

But, it was cool to see she posted a picture of the flowers on Twitter! :)


The other and FIRST cool thing was that I attended a one-day writing workshop. I LOVE going to those things. They are so inspiring. Gets me really pumped up and in the writing groove again.

I have to say, though, that writing conferences contain some of the most introverted attendees in the world! (It is possible other conferences, such as those for actors, singers, musicians, or anything dealing with the artistic side of the brain contain introverts as well, but I have never seen more people less willing to cause a scene in real life than I see at writing conferences.)



The speaker is giving the opening speech, all crazy-confident and funny. (Obviously, he is experienced. The public speaker in me suffers some serious envy.)
Mid-sentence, the speaker pauses and asks, "Are you looking for a seat?"
All attendees shift in their chairs, and cast surreptitious glances back.
The person in question hunches up like she's trying to disappear into a sweater and waves a don't-worry-about-it-hand. "It's okay, I'm just going to stand in the back."
Speaker:  "There are seats available, if we could get people to point them out?" Questioning glance around the room.
Timorous hands come up, pointing to empty seats. Nearly inaudible voices say, "There's one here."
Person in question sort of drifts to a chair in the back and goes invisible as she settles.
Speaker goes on like nothing happened, while everyone else breathes relieved sighs that THAT awkwardness is over!

And this happened a couple times, not just once. In retrospect, it was super funny, but at the time there was this camaraderie of commiseration at BEING SEEN IN PUBLIC. It was especially bad when people had to leave to attend their 10-minute query pitch. Standing up in a room of people is hard, you guys! So many muttered regrets of "What was I thinking?" and "Should I go now, or wait another minute, since it's still five minutes before I have to pitch?" and "I wish I was sitting in the back! I'll know better next time."



I had a 10-minute pitch of my own, wherein I verbally pitched my query to a really awesome agent. Like, awesome. She was incredibly nice, and actually seemed to like what I had to say. For a writer, that is just really nice, to get the affirmation that your writing isn't as bad as you sometimes feel it is. (Just so you know, a verbal pitch is WAY harder than a round-table critique. At least with a round-table critique, you have your MS in your hand and you can read the printed word aloud and not really make eye contact with anyone. With a verbal pitch, it's just you tooting the merits of your manuscript, and I think most writers are very precious about their ideas. They cradle them close and don't share. Ever. So, saying, "this is what my story is about" and ENGAGING... is hard.)



Guys, I could literally world-build all day and not write a lick of story. I love to figure out why MY world is the way it is (such as someone in the far distant history of a particular world making such an enormous mistake that the hero in the present day now has an issue with adamant), and I love to study how other people sprinkle in backstory and implement that into my novels, so I don't have the ever-present problem of INFO-DUMPING (oh cursed words!) or people scratching their heads and saying, "I don't understand what's going on..."

My first ever cityscape - be impressed. This was HARD

I love creating the history of my world. I also find it interesting that, for the most part, a lot of fantasies tend to have a sort of creation element. Like, this world exists, and while there may not be a One God figure (mine tend to have those, because that's the way I roll), there is often a strong draw from Roman or Greek myths, folktales, legends, and fairytales. I think it's because fantasy reveals a truth. Myths, legends, and fairytales contain that same kernel of truth.
What is your favourite fantasy book/series?
Do you prefer Greek or Roman myths? (If you answer other, what's the other myth you prefer?)
Favourite fantasy artist?
What's the coolest thing that's happened to you this year?

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See this? This... This is mine! My PitchWars mentee bio... intro... thingy. (What's it called, again?) Oh yeah. #pimpmybio. EEEK!

Actually, I'm nervous, but shhhh, that's our secret, mmkay?




Um... so apparently, I don't know what I'm good at? Or what makes me an interesting human being. Or why my novel is better than their novels. *What is speak?* Help!

I can make things out of polymer clay. Once upon a time (four months ago), I made a wicked cool Stitch and Angel cake topper for my brother and sister-in-law's wedding. Epic, right?



I'm also pretty decent at black and white drawings. I've never had a lesson. I mostly ogled my older sister's drawings, then ogled Trina Schart Hyman's illustrations, and started drawing horses obsessively for years, graduated into unicorns and fantasy, and finally started drawing the characters of my novels. But I can't do colour. I don't know what it is. I pick up a crayon, a marker, a coloured pencil, paint, and my brain goes "What is draw? How art?!?" and I put down the crayon/marker/coloured pencil/paint and walk away.

Random Cool Wizard Dude

I have a pretty okay voice. I've taken classes at a community college - nothing noteworthy, but I have a goodish mezzo-soprano range, and once I sang Susan Boyle's version of Wild Horses so well I had the class IN TEARS!!! Well, mostly. There were some hardhearted troglodytes in the back who didn't seem impressed.

I am a queen of quotations, be it movies, music and books. For real. It has been said my sisters and I rarely have an original thought between us, but we can rock the *insert random quote into the conversation HERE* vibe. We're pretty cool that way. We also talk with our hands. (Taboo is quite an interesting game to play when you're not allowed to use gestures).


I can still mostly sing the entire Phantom of the Opera musical by heart. Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman and Steve Barton are my peeps.


I am a good cook!!! I love Italian when I make it myself - I don't usually go out and order it (unless it is a white sauce something or pesto something). But I prefer the taste and texture of MY red sauces and MY pizza and MY spaghetti, so I don't usually do red-sauce meals when I eat out. I also make a mean chicken enchilada. (When I say mean, I mean MEAN! Like, spicy mean. Sometimes, I may or may not kill my sister's taste buds with spice. Sorry, not sorry.)

I have been writing for awhile. I remember getting a journal for Christmas when I was five, and writing a sort of Laura Ingalls-esque story in it. The MC was ancient, as I recall - seven going on eight. So old. The next story was a random one I wrote between the ages of nine and twelve, about a girl who gets miniaturized and makes friends with the (very weird) insects and bugs and random critters in her garden in order to get back home and properly resized - sort of Alice in Wonderland, featuring garden life. I took a writing test in high school that was put out by the Institute of Children's Literature, took two courses from them over the space of four years, learned from Orson Scott Card that fantasy writers have a hard time breaking out into magazine pieces, and have been creating world-sized novels ever since.

I write first drafts of novels into notebooks. For some reason, the bright white light of a computer screen paralyzes my brain. I can only copy the story into the computer AFTER it's been written on paper. I also like fountain pens. And Poppin pens. And empty notebooks.





I live in Lake Tahoe. Gorgeous, right? Yes, I swim in that water. Yes, I do it without a wet suit. No, I have never gone out on a boat. Yes, it's cold. Yes, it's clear. No, I don't water ski. Basically, my family and I will go the beach, and we will run and dive into the water, and then watch the tourists touch the water with their toes. (We might laugh condescendingly at this point.) Once they feel for themselves how cold the lake is, they stare wonderingly out at us, as though judging and deciding which insane asylum we are headed to.

The summers are beautifully warm (not deathly hot!) with lots of sunshine, the winters are mild most of the time, with snow and lots of sunshine, and spring and fall are both beauteous in their own way. I prefer spring, because next comes summer, but fall IS lovely. And you can SMELL the pine trees. And the air is very clear. It's sharp when you breathe, like mmmmmmm.





Favourite movies/TV shows:
Hawaii Five-0 (remake, because Steve is HAWT! And Danno is HAWT! And I'm still over here going STEVE AND CATH FOREVER! I hope she comes back for season 7.)
Blue Bloods ('cause, Reagan family. 'Cause Catholic+Irish+Jamie+Danny+Papa Frank = yusssssssss.)
The ENTIRE Marvel Cinematic Universe (particularly Iron Man, Captain America, and freakin' Daredevil, but excluding Jessica Jones *shudder* and Deadpool *double shudder*)
The Lord of the Rings (but not that travesty of The Hobbit Movies, which is basically fan-fiction in all its grisly glory. Blech)
Prison Break (Yay, 2017 sequel!)
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Doctor Who (Primarily 11, who is the freakin' best. My adorable giraffe.)
Bourne movies (including Legacy, and YAY 2016 sequel in four days!)
Pretty much ALL the Disney/Pixar stuffs, particularly Tangled, Sleeping Beauty, Brave, Robin Hood, Monsters Inc, Inside Out, Up, The Rescuers, Wreck-it Ralph, The Great Mouse Detective, Bolt, and How to Train Your Dragon (even though that's NOT Disney or Pixar, but good nonetheless);
Leverage
Psych
On the fence with Grimm. Still waiting to see if Juliette comes back, because Nadalind=No. Silverhardt=YESSSSSSSS!!!!)

Favourite books/authors:
Lord of the Rings/Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien, basically - have you read Roverandom? Or the Silmarillion? Or Farmer Giles of Ham?)
Chronicles of Narnia
The Queen's Thief + Queen of Attolia and King of Attolia
Pretty much all the Diana Wynne Jones novels
Pretty much all the Patricia McKillip novels, most notably The Riddlemaster of Hed
Pretty much anything Ally Carter, particularly the Gallagher Girls
The Winner's Curse trilogy
Pretty much anything Jonathon Stroud, particularly Lockwood and Co., with Bartimaeus being my first love
The Last Unicorn.
The Graveyard Book
The Scorpio Races and ONLY the Scorpio Races

Favourite Music:
Musicals (Phantom of the Opera, the Secret Garden, A Tale of Two Cities, The Light in the Piazza,  Jane Eyre, Les Miserables, Finding Neverland, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Pirates of Penzance)
Josh Groban
Hayley Westenra
Sarah Brightman
Imagine Dragons
Taylor Swift
James Blunt
The Piano Guys
Soundtracks
Random mishmash of all kinds of things, including Hurts, OneRepublic, Lifehouse, O.A.R., The Fray, The Script, Jackie Evancho, Air Supply, Nickleback, some Backstreet Boys and some opera. Eclectic, I know.

1. I'm pretty awesome. Really. My sense of humour tends toward sarcasm and random quotes. I also provide cyber cookies to lift a mood.
2. I was home schooled, so I'm excellent at managing my time.
3. I am really good at communicating via email!!!! I am rather introverted and shy, so my idea of a party is to binge on Netflix and eat cake (or ice cream. Or chocolate. Something sweet, anyway). My idea of a nice day off is to go the beach with my sisters (or on a hike, or someplace pretty where there can be a picnic later) and sit with notebooks and music and books and write and listen to music and read as the mood takes me. (I don't like phones. Were it up to me, people would only ever have contact to others via fax and email. Video chats = ninth circle of hell.)
4. I'm not afraid of tackling revisions, especially if I'm having concerns over a scene that doesn't seem to be working or contributing to the story. (I prefer notebooks, so a lot of time revisions occur on notebooks, then get integrated into the computer.)
5. I was once complimented as being the queen of revision at an SCBWI conference I attended back in 2012, after an intense round-table critique session where I was encourage to rewrite chapter one. The rewritten chapter is what prompted the praise. (I am a member of SCBWI, by the way, and that is still one of the best compliments I have received EVER).
6. I got three non-YA fantasy readers to beta-read my YA fantasy in its entirety, and they all were hooked. Which was pretty rewarding, I gotta say.
7. I have a solid group of CPs - we get along super well and are all very positive and supportive of each other.
8. I'm a volunteer judge for Miranda Paul's Rate Your Story blog, and that has been incredibly helpful in improving my editing eye and finding what resonates with me and what doesn't.
9. I like to draw my ideas down, because visualization is everything. If I can't see my world, I can't see to write, so I do character sketches as needed, or find Pinterest things that make me go, THIS. This is my world.
10. I take every comment seriously, but I'm not afraid to stand my ground if I think something needs to stay the way it is. I'll listen and consider, but if my gut feeling says NO, I say NO and that's that. But I WILL do whatever it takes to polish my work, because I want to write for the rest of my life. I want my words to last and make an impact on others. I want my stories to make other people aspire to dream.

Huge thanks to Brenda Drake for hosting #PitchWars, and Lana Pattinson for hosting #pimpmybio!

Check out the other mentees' bios here! (But don't pick them, 'kay? Pick meeeeeeee!)


God bless!

Cat

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Because I get to do what I want, I'm going to post awesome clips/pictures of my favourite scenes from each of the MCU movies. (Since Ant-Man appeared in Civil War, he is added to the roster.)

Technically, Captain America should be the first of the films to watch, but I'm going to treat it as a "flashback" movie and stick it before the Avengers, because when Cap wakes up, a lot of the events in the first two Iron Man movies, the Hulk, and Thor have already taken place.

(Because I tend to love ALL the scenes from the movies, I'll limit myself to a total of five per movie - I'll aim for three, but I can go up to five. Does that seem fair? Thank you s' much.)


Iron Man 1:

Iron Man 2:





The Incredible Hulk:
(I have only watched The Incredible Hulk once, and this was after I'd seen The Avengers and had embraced Mark Ruffalo in the role of the Hulk. So, I didn't much care for Ed Norton as the Hulk, but he had some cute vulnerable scenes, and the movie overall had some good parts.)






Thor:






Captain America: The First Avenger:







The Avengers:

Ugh! There are too many good scenes in the Avengers! I'll do my best to only choose five of the best... even though I could pretty much post the entire movie and say, "I loved it all!" But the best scenes, IMHO:







Iron Man 3:







Thor: The Dark World:







Captain America: The Winter Soldier:







Avengers: Age of Ultron:







Ant-Man:






Captain America:  Civil War:

 This movie had more scenes that broke my heart than probably any other MCU movie out there. I think it's because Steve and Tony are my GUYS, and having them angry at each other was the hardest thing in the world. Steve is the man who is already on the moral high ground and who we aspire to become, and Tony is the man who gives us the hope of attaining that moral high ground by conquering ourselves more and more each day. I couldn't stand to see them fighting.

So this is more a collection of favourite bro scenes/scenes that broke my heart (there are more pictures here because there were too many good ones NOT to post...):












And that's all for now, folks! I hope that put you back in the mood to rewatch all the Avengers movies (in order, of course!) and get totally caught up in the character development again.

Until next time, that's a wrap!

God bless!

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Day Four: Pick a character from the opposite team that you like. Talk about him and/or defend him.

Day Four of Bella's Blog Party is to pick a character from the opposite team I like and talk about him/her and/or defend him/her.

I mean, I love Steve. Duh. Who wouldn't? But if we are just choosing a member that's NOT Steve, it would be Bucky. Think about this. He is Steve's friend from way back. He always had Steve's back. Even after he was rescued in CAFA, he immediately deferred to Captain America, and literally followed him into death. He didn't choose to become the Winter Soldier. The Russians messed with his brain and made him a dangerous weapon, but it was never something he chose. In fact, once he remembered who Steve was, and who he was, he went into hiding. He didn't "do that anymore."  The only reason he came out of hiding was because THIS man...


...Baron Zemo, lost his family in Sokovia and, blaming the Avengers for their deaths, was determined to destroy them from the inside out. So he framed Bucky for killing the king of Wakanda, which brought hordes of policemen swarming to find and capture the Winter Soldier, thus making Steve lose his normally cool-headed perspective to ignore the law in order to protect his best friend.



Bucky has a really tragic story. He's left for dead in the Alps after falling from an impossible height in CAFA, but apparently due to whatever the Russians did to him while he was in their prison, the fall did not kill him. Instead, he is found and apprehended by HYDRA agents, and programmed to become their assassin. He is transformed from the good old Brooklyn kid Steve knew, into a mindless killer who's only job was to comply.

Steve - "What you did all those years, it wasn't you. You didn't have a choice."
Bucky - "I know. But I did it."


The thing I like best about Bucky, he knows fate has dealt him a cruel hand, but he never complains. Even while Steve is trying to keep him safe, Bucky takes each obstacle step and step and accepts it for what it is.

"I don't know if I'm worth all this, Steve." - Bucky Barnes

Even at the end, when Zemo plays footage revealing Bucky was the assassin who killed Tony's parents, Bucky never tries to shift the blame. He just stands there as the video plays, watching Tony slowly losing it, quietly ready to take whatever violence Tony throws at him (which, by the way, I totally get. I dare you to stand and watch your parents get viciously murdered by the best friend of your friend, and just shrug it off).

Tony - "Do you even remember them?"
Bucky - "I remember all of them."


And then, after all is said and done, Bucky chooses to go back into cryostasis, because he is still programmed to be dangerous. He would rather be put on ice indefinitely than to be the cause of any other problems for Steve. And I think that was the most heroic thing done in the movie.



That's a wrap, until tomorrow!

God Bless!

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I didn't expect to like him at all. My favourite Spiderman of all times is the first one I ever saw -Toby McGuire. Yes, the effects were terrible. Yes, those movies could have used some work, and I despised MJ. But Toby McGuire was such a cute, sympathetic character as Peter Parker. He was the kind of superhero I could admire. I liked him a lot. (I didn't care too much for the Andrew Garfield remake, and I confess I did not watch the sequel to the Amazing Spiderman. It was mostly that part, where the teacher tells him not to make promises he can't keep, and Peter whispers to Gwen, "But those are the best kind," which completely ruined him for me. I mean, what? You promised a dying man to leave his daughter out of your escapades, and now you're freakin' saying broken promises are the best kind?! That's not cool at all, Bro!)



Plus, he's so genuinely nice. I mean, the first time we even meet Peter, he comes into his house and finds Iron Man having tea and some kind of bread (was it walnut date bread? I think it was walnut date bread) with his aunt, and he's so adorably awkward in that scene. Tony pretends Peter had won some kind of scholarship, and Peter is just terrible at acting along, and I was over there going, well Marvel, I can't believe you have managed to introduce yet ANOTHER Spiderman, and somehow make him someone I might actually like more than Toby McGuire.


Also, during the fight between the teams that I loved/hated (loved because the dialogue was FUNNY, hated because it was friends against friends, and then RHODEY...) it was mostly Spiderman (and Ant-Man) who made the scene less horrible than it could have been.


I liked the freshness Peter brought to the team, the constant geeking out over peoples' suits, armour and abilities, and his overall ingenuousness.

Spiderman - "Are those carbon fiber wings?"
Falcon - "I don't know if you've been in a fight before, but there's usually not this much talking." 
Spiderman - "All right, sorry. My bad."

He was so young, and I liked that we got to skip over the whole "how Spiderman came to be" backstory and went straight to where he had had these abilities for six months, and was now able to apply them. I also liked the little nods to previous movies, like where he says something to Tony that's akin to Uncle Ben's famous line, "With great power comes great responsibility," and how he feels a personal obligation to use his powers to help the "little guy."


I'm glad they cast him younger, too. I almost felt like it was a way for Tony to reconcile his conscience with the boy killed in Sokovia - that by taking this young boy and making him one of his team members, he could make a small restitution. I thought it worked really well, and I'm interested to see how this Peter Parker grows up.

Until next time, that's a wrap!

God bless!

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Because I'm a little rebel and I don't have sides (Yes, it's a go for TeamGetAlong), I'm doing both tags. So there.

Team Iron Man 

1.) What is your favorite Iron Man movie?
Probably the first one, because that's the first one I saw and the one with the tightest plot. But I love all three Iron Man movies. I absolutely adore watching Tony's constant character development - he keeps growing and changing and becoming more vulnerable as time goes on, and the selfish persona he dons so effortlessly gets gradually more visible as the charade it is.


2.) When did you decide you loved Iron Man?
In the first movie, after his friend Yinsen gets shot. Tony straightens up, and there is that absolutely terrible expression on his face, like someone is going to GET it.



3.) Do you tend to agree with Iron Man's thinking/logic?
Um, I oftentimes see where he is coming from, but I wouldn't say I'd entirely agree with his logic. I feel like I'd become a Pepper Potts quite quickly - I would humour him and, when possible, make the appropriate decisions for him.



4.) What is one thing about Tony that drives you insane?
His apparent inability to take a situation seriously. As time goes on, that does get a little less pronounced, but I would get angry if I told him he was making me anxious and he laughed at me.

5.) Do you think you'd like Tony in real life?
That depends. I probably wouldn't like him upon a first meeting, I don't think, but once I got to know him and became comfortable with his sarcastic attitude, I think I'd be able to give back as much as he gave, and gently snub him when needed.

6.) Do you think you'd get along with Pepper Pots? What about Rhodey?
I love Pepper. I love Rhodey. I think they are both great foils to Tony's character. I think I'd get along smashingly with them.



7.) Would you like to live in Stark Tower?
Not unless there was an area I could turn into a den/library/hobbit hole. Otherwise, it's too sterile for me. It doesn't feel like a home. It feels like an office.

8.) Would you want to try out/own any of Iron Man's robots or fancy little gadgets?
None of the big suits, that's for sure. I'd appreciate some of his gadgets, though. I would like one of his fancy-schmancy computers - I'd love to be able to manipulate simulations the way he does, and physically play with computer generated designs.


9.) What is your favorite Iron Man quote?
That bit, after he finds Yinsen dying and Yinsen tells him his family his dead and he's going to go see them now, Tony just says, "Thank you for saving me." I love that line. To me, that's when he stopped being playboy Tony and started to become Iron Man.


10.) If Tony as he is now volunteered to take you to dinner and a movie, would you accept his invitation? Not a date, just a night out cause he knows you are soooooo stressed.
Again, it depends on how well I know him. If I knew him well enough to be like, "That's enough wine for YOU, mister," and take the glass out of his hand, then maybe. But I think if I was someone he actually cared about, he would make a bit of an effort to be inoffensive. So, maybe.


Team Captain America

1.) What is your favorite Captain America movie?
The first one for sure. That's when Steve Rogers is just Steve Rogers, no-one special or unique, just a kid from Brooklyn with tons and tons of heart and spirit.


2.) When did you decide you loved Captain America?
C'mon, you should know when... After he threw himself on that grenade. 

3.) Do you tend to agree with Steve's thinking/logic?
Steve is a pretty black-and-white kind of guy. He tries to do what's right and questions what he thinks is wrong. Plus, he seems a pretty moral guy, so I think I mostly agree with how his mind works.



4.) What is one thing about Steve that drives you insane?
While I appreciate his stubbornness, I think that's the one thing that frustrates me most about him. He won't back down on things (Bucky, for example) and no matter what you say, he will focus on that issue to the point of obsession.

6.) What is something about Steve that you really admire?
His selflessness. He will do anything for his friends.


7.) Do you think you would like Steve in real life?
For sure! He's pretty much everything I like in a man - strong, protective, manly, gentle, subtly funny - plus, he's got that Brooklyn toughness about him.


8.) What do you think of Steve's motorcycle, and would you want a ride on it?
I love his motorcycle. People that ride motorcycles are freakin' hawt. If it were Cap driving, yes, I'd ride on that bike. 


9.) What was an iconic "STEVE FREAKIN' ROGERS" moment for you?
Again, you know when that was... when he threw himself on that grenade.


10.) If Steve asked you on a date, would you accept?
Yes. 

And that's a wrap! Until next time,

God Bless!

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• You must link back to Bella! No exceptions!
• You must tell Bella when you post so she can read your Civil War Wonders!!! (She even Pretty Pleases the request, so maybe give her a head's up.)

• You should follow her! (She Pretty Pleases this with ice cream on top, so yeah, give her a follow.)
• You shouldn't be mean to people who are on the opposite team! No being mean! There's nothing wrong with a little friendly banter and what not, but No. Being. Mean!!!!! Meanness is not allowed!
• You must absolutely must choose a side! (even if, in your humble opinion, there IS no side, just two stupid men who refuse to compromise a teensy bit in favour of maintaining friendship.) You don't have to feel guilty about this. This isn't about who you like better, (though that can obviously come into the equation.) This is just about who you would most likely join because you agree with them.
• You have to have fun! Have lots of fun!

Day One is PICK A SIDE (even if you don't feel that there is a side - just two stupid men unwilling to compromise a little in the name of friendship).

Here's my problem. Iron Man and Captain America are my TWO FAVOURITE AVENGERS. The stupid thing about Civil War, it pitted my TWO FAVOURITE AVENGERS against each other.

WHAT?! NO!

I admit to being more of an Iron Man fan. His was the first actual Avenger movie I saw, and I fell in love with his character arc. The first Iron Man movie was probably the best, but in every single one of his movies, as well as the Avenger movies, he always has this character arc that I ADORE. So I loved him, and was prepared for Civil War, being Cap's movie, to be skewed in favour of Cap and I was bracing myself against an onslaught of Iron Man hate.



I totally get both sides. For Steve, he has this Brooklyn tough guy attitude that absolutely will not lie down and let the bad guys beat on the small guys. He has to step in and DO SOMETHING, even if that something may be a little outside the boundaries of the law. He has to DO SOMETHING, and I love that about him. In this case, his DO SOMETHING attitude ended with Wanda, the Scarlet Witch, saving his life, but accidentally killing dozens of people in the process. So to have the governments all siding against the Avengers and demanding they be kept in check - I didn't really blame the governments, but I didn't like the idea.

"While a great many people see you as a hero, there are some who prefer the word vigilante. You've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's something the world can no longer tolerate." - General Thaddeus Ross

"Our job is to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody."

However, and I say this with total and complete understanding, if it weren't for Bucky, I don't think the Civil War would have happened. Whenever Steve hears the name "Bucky," he loses all perspective, and I get that. I do. For him, it's only been something like five years since he thought Bucky died, and only about two years that he's known Bucky is alive, but still lost in the persona of the Winter Soldier, and that grief and loss is still sharp. He wants to save Bucky so badly, and he will do anything it takes to do so, even if it means splitting the Avengers apart.

"You know I wouldn't do this if I had any other choice. But he's my friend." - Steve Rogers

In my opinion, Steve was willing to risk everything to save Bucky, and I love that, but if you look at the repercussions, this could cause some serious international incidents. I mean, he goes into a foreign country, dressed as the obviously American superhero, to protect a suspected terrorist responsible for the death of Wakanda's king. That's some serious crap.

"He said 'Bucky' and suddenly I was that 16-year-old boy from Brooklyn again." - Steve Rogers

So, at first I kind of agreed with Steve. I wouldn't want to sign the Accords. I wouldn't want the government telling who I can or cannot save. 

"What if this Panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there's somewhere we need to go and they don't let us?" - Steve Rogers


BUT...

Let's take a look at Tony's side.

First off, we see him struggling with guilt over the death of his parents, that he didn't properly say goodbye to them before they were gone forever. Right after that, he is confronted by a woman who blames him for the death of her son, when the Avengers were trying to stop Ultron in Sokovia and pretty much decimated that city. Directly after that, all the active Avengers are called into a meeting with the Secretary of State, who shows them a film chronicling all the casualties of the wars they've fought, which hits everyone pretty hard. The Secretary then proceeds to lay down the law - either the Avengers agree to sign the Accords, which will put them under the supervision of a governmental panel, or they retire. Tony suspects that if they don't sign now, they will be forced into an Accord that will give them zero ability to assist people. (Plus, he's also got the guilt of the Sokovian boy weighing on him, and I think that played into his distrust of himself - the fact that he feels there needs to be someone the Avengers are accountable to.)

"Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree. 3.6 GPA... He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where? Sokovia. He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won't know because we DROPPED a building on him while we were KICKING ASS... There's no decision-making process here." - Tony Stark

"We need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I'm game."

Through the whole movie, I kept swaying back and forth between Steve's point of view, and Tony's. They were both acting in the way their consciences dictated, so neither of them was at fault. However, there did come a point where it seemed that Tony was more focused on keeping the Avengers safe, keeping them together despite the Accords, keeping the team alive while appeasing the governmental powers, and Steve was entirely focused on saving Bucky and no-one but Bucky.


He wanted to save his team. He didn't want any of them to be forced to "retire." He wanted to protect everyone, and if that meant bowing to the will of the Accords, he was going to (and this is a man who doesn't bow to anyone). I think if it had just been a matter of the Accords, the trust and friendship between both sides would never have been questioned. It was the way everything escalated, building off one set of incidents, which led to another, and to another, until finally it was no longer just a difference of opinion and conscience, but complete disregard for the law and a duty to uphold the law, even at the cost of friendships.

"If we can't accept limitations, we're no better than the bad guys." - Tony Stark

I liked how Steve did his best to solve the Bucky problem on his own, only assembling his team when the only other choice was to admit defeat and sacrifice his best friend. But I hated that he turned on Tony to do so.

Tony - "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart." Steve - "You did that when you signed."

I liked how Tony did his best to protect Steve from the repercussions of the law, and how he tried to protect the entire Avengers crew, even at the cost of coming off as arrogant and self-serving. But I hated that he lost Steve's friendship to do so.

 
So I guess I'm Team Iron Man, because everything Tony did was to try and assure a better outcome for his team. He kept Wanda housebound, not only to protect the world from her, but also to protect her from people who would see her as a threat.

"She's confined in a compound currently - She's not a US Citizen and they don't grant visas to Weapons of Mass Destruction." - Tony Stark

He tried to keep Steve safe, to talk the Secretary of State into overlooking Steve's few misdeeds which occurred after the signing of the Accords. He even tried to assure a better future for Bucky, despite all Bucky's crimes done as the Winter Soldier. (Yes, I know he was brainwashed and he wasn't himself, nonetheless, as Bucky himself said, "But I did them.")

"We need you, Cap. Until nothing further happens that can't be undone, please... sign. We can make the last 24 hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych center instead of a Wakanda prison." - Tony Stark

When it was discovered that Bucky had been framed for the Wakandan King's death, it was Tony who admitted he had been wrong in believing Bucky was the terrorist, and tried to make peace with Steve. And it probably would have all been smoothed over then, if it hadn't been for a certain video (played by the movie's antagonist intent on destroying the Avengers from the inside out), which shows Tony's parents getting killed by the Winter Soldier, thus destroying all attempts at peace.

(I'll be honest - I totally understood Tony's reaction. Watching Bucky kill his parents - that had to hurt.)

I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted this movie to end with friendships restored, and while it didn't exactly end the way I wanted it to, at least it left it open enough to show there was some healing going on, and that eventually friendships would be resurrected and mended. (At least, they'd better be, Marvel!) I still wouldn't say there was a Team Captain America or Team Iron Man. Both Tony and Steve had totally valid points as to why they would or wouldn't sign. But all in all, I think Tony's actions were more what I would follow. I don't know if I'd be willing to step outside the law to save someone who has been an assassin for years, no matter how much Captain America believed in him. I think I'd rather side with Tony and try to protect my team at all costs - even if it meant giving up some freedom of action.

And that's a wrap! I'll do my best to do Day 2 tomorrow, but depending on how busy I am, that may or may not happen. Until next time...

God bless!

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Some good things happened this month(s). I went to Barnes and Noble middle of March and spent hours there browsing, which I haven't done in ages. I found the last few seasons of a couple TV shows for a real cheap price and BOUGHT them. I got Ally Carter's book, SEE HOW THEY RUN. (Ally Carter, FYI, is fab. She writes so well and I adore her!) I got coffee and a croissant from the B&N coffee shop, because it was freaking B&N and I was going to ENJOY MYSELF! So there. (Yes, the coffee and croissant were delicious. I have no regrets.)



Then, about a week ago, I received Josh Groban's STAGES LIVE from two adorable sisters when they went to Barnes and Noble (without me, I might add. I had to work, which was RUDE! but the STAGES DVD was a nice consolation prize) and we had an enjoyable evening where we watched Il Volo's WE ARE LOVE concert, followed by Josh Groban's STAGES concert. (Guilty confession: I could watch videos of people singing all day. Unfortunately, I don't get paid to do that. Sigh.) Both Il Volo (consisting of the three adorable Italians, Piero, Gianluca, and Ignazio) and Josh Groban (consisting of himself) are TONS of fun to watch. They are funny, awesome singers, and they give a great show. (Next up, movie/musical binge night, featuring Il Volo in LIVE FROM POMPEII and Josh Groban in AWAKE LIVE.)




Also, I checked out books from the library and they didn't all suck! That was such a surprise for me. Usually I check out so many books, and I go skimskimskim, and then I return all those books to the library, feeling melancholy and sad that there wasn't a single book I liked. This time, out of the six or seven I checked out, I actually liked three or four of them! Surprising, yes? (Funny how most of my good things have to do with books, bookstores and libraries. Shhh, no one mention how many books I have in that closet... or under that bed... or in that house... or on those bookshelves.)

OH! Another good thing that happened - I discovered the remake TV series of Hawaii Five-0, which I LOVE! (and it got renewed for a season 7, which I'm SO EXCITED ABOUT!!!! So, my good stuff doesn't revolve ENTIRELY around books, I guess. I like TV shows, too.) It was a good time for me to find H50, 'cause all my other shows were burning and crashing and dying. So I decided, I don't care if Hawaii Five-0 sounds like a silly show, it's recommended for me on Netflix and I shall watch it. And I did. And I was like, Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang Daniel! (And Steve. Oh m' gosh, Steve! You are a sweet, sad puppy and I love you.) So, I was hooked and watched the five seasons streaming on Netflix in 3-1/2 weeks or less. I swear it was at least three weeks. Treskie seems to believe it was two. I don't think I watched them THAT quickly.







Last, and most depressing of all, the fourth book in a series I have adored since book one, and which I have been waiting to be released since I finished book three in April last year, ended up making two of the best main characters gay. Since one was a Catholic (and honestly, freakin' HAWT), I was pretty upset that happened, and I'm thankful I didn't end up reading book four. (My sister Treskie did that for me, and when she told me, I went into a grieving state which I'm still not quite over.) I think the thing about this book that makes me so depressed is that, from the beginning, there is this quintet consisting of four boys and one girl, and they are nothing BUT friends. There is a slight romance between the girl and one of the boys, which later transforms into a deeper romance between the same girl and a DIFFERENT boy, but the the boys themselves are like a foursome of brothers. There was nothing romantic in there at all. So to see the author (whom I have loved and adored for the past five years, and now feel utterly betrayed by) obeying the trend of the world and writing two of the boys as gay (when they are both honestly too manly and moral to do that) infuriated me. I was like, "What's wrong with just being friends? What's wrong with just being BROS?! Don't people like bros anymore!?" (Note to self: Write story about BROS. Emphasize the BRO-ness. Steve and Danny bro-style.)



So, that upset me. Depressed me. Made me cry. Utter lamentations. Rewrite the book in my head. Turn to Diana Wynne-Jones for comfort. (I can always count on her to make me feel better!)


Anyhoozle, that's what's been going on for me. Tonight, as it is May the Fourth, Treskie, Panda and I are going to watch The Force Awakens. Pandy has not seen it (Shhhhhhh, don't tell her about the really shocking thing that happens!) and as it was the one Star Wars movie I liked perhaps as much as A New Hope, I'm excited to rewatch it.

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This was a tag from Bella back in the beginning of January, which I'm not finally getting to. (Congratulate me, friend! Two blog posts in March!) It was supposed to be a New Year's Tag, but since I'm so late, it's going to be a "2015: A Summary" tag. So whatever.


1. What was the single best thing that happened last year?

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?


4. What did you get really, really excited about?

5. What song/album will always remind you of 2015?
Josh Groban's STAGES CD. Especially "What I Did For Love" and "Dulcinea."


6. How did you spend your Christmas?
Epicly! (Epically?) We had Midnight Mass privately up near where we live, and we got some pretty awesome snow Christmas Eve, so we had these huge soft drifts everywhere, and there was a full moon that night, so I wished on it.
Christmas is always glorious in our house. We light the Christ Candle first thing and sing Joy to the World, and put Baby Jesus in the manger. My dad always gets a fire going and makes sausage rolls and puts down a pot of coffee, and we open stockings and eat food and drink mimosa and/or orange juice and coffee and pass out gifts and get really, really loud. We had a lot of people over that day, too. We have a friend who moved to Tahoe from Wyoming, and her brothers came for dinner, which was our traditional gnocchi and ham. We also had a snowball fight later that night, and it was pretty freakishly cold out there, which probably wasn't good for all of us with our wicked chest colds. We were all:


8. What were the best movies you saw in 2015?


9.What were the best books you read in 2015?
What Came From The Stars by Gary Schmidt; The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski.

I was briefly hooked on Person Of Interest, then a female character was introduced who sort of usurped my boys, Reese and Finch, and I later discovered she was having a relationship with another female and I lost interest. I restarted 24, though. (Still adore Jack.)

11. Did you discover any new musicals?

12. Did you write any new books?
I am mostly revising books I've already written - namely, DragonFire and Fulcrum. I had been kicking around an idea concerning nightmares, and that one has really taken off this month. I've been actively writing it a few hours each night. I'm pretty excited about it. :-)

13. Did you make any new friends?

14. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?

15. Is there some change you will have to go through in 2016?
Gosh, I hope not. Well, I'd like to move. But otherwise... Gosh, I hope not.

16. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?

17. What was biggest thing you learned this past year?
Life is hard, but trust in God. Worry gives you insomnia.


18. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
"He will always hate me / No matter what I say / And there is no mistaking the love is gone."
(This is actually a man's song, so I had to change the "she" in the original lyrics to "he".)


19. What are five things you want to do in 2016?
a.) Land an agent. (That makes me sound like I'm hooking a fish. Sorry, agents!)
b.) Buy a piano and start composing music again.
c.) Go to one of the two SCBWI Annual Conferences in either LA or New York (though since I didn't get tax returns this year, that's probably not going to happen this year).
d.) Get a better job.
e.) Move.

20. Describe 2015 in your own words.


Truly, not the best year I've ever had. It had it's ups and downs, and I was mostly very worried and stressed during it. I concentrated on trying to be a bit more trusting and take it one day at a time. I sometimes felt like I was doing good with that, but then someone would say, "Are you okay? You seem sad," and I so I guess I wasn't being as brave as I'd thought I was being.

2015 did have some epic moments - Carmel and WordWave and Christmas were three incredible highlights to the year and I want to go back to check out more of the missions in the very near future. That's a definite To-Do. I also got myself submitting to agents, which is an A+ for me in regards to my courage. (Submitting to agents is scary!)

However, I seem to have grown more antisocial. The best thing in my life is going to my little home and being alone, with no people other than my sisters. And Netflix. (Seriously, guys. NETFLIX.)

And this was my relationship with last year

HERE'S TO A BETTER THIS YEAR!!! :-) 

God bless. 

The Cat

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So, February happened...
 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it gave me whiplash as it hurricaned by. It was a *blink* "Whaaaaaa....?" kind of month. Literally, like, *blink*, Valentine's Day, DISNEYLAND, and WHAM. March.


But yeah, directly after Valentine's Day, we got ourselves packed off in a three-car caravan to Disneyland. *Insert whooping and hollering and eight dedicated hours of listening to Il Volo.*





















I want to go back to Disneyland again. Maybe not any time in the near future, but say, like in five years or so. I'd want to for sure re-ride California Screaming, Tower of Terror, Hyperspace Mountain, Star Tours and the Indiana Jones ride, and I wouldn't mind getting back on the Matterhorn and Splash Mountain. I DO want to do Soaring Over California - we weren't able to make that one this year - but other than that, I'd want to explore more, visit more of the park and actually SEE everything instead of hurrying so much. I'd want to check out some of the shops a bit more than I did this time, especially Disneyania where they had two artists arting (that sounds like the 12 days of Christmas, doesn't it? "Two Artists Arting and a Shop full of Disneyland ART!) and The Mad Hatter, and visit Critter Corner and that kind of stuff. So next time, a little more walking and less riding, I think. It was crazy fun, though, and there were so many of us, it was a little terrifying - we were a mob of 17 and we were COOOOOL. IT was coooooool! :-) See? Look at us! Look at how COOL we are! (What a mob.)

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But we had a gorgeous Christmas. I was actually feeling *good* on Christmas, which was a big thing for me. I've been sick for something like two months now. I was sick when I went to Carmel early in November, with a horrid chest cold that kept me up at night coughing. That switched to a horrid head cold early in December, wherein my ears were SO FULL they were so sensitive, and my voice had no depth. (That, by the way, is when we recorded that 25-minute Christmas music video posted earlier on my blog - hence the reason for the slightly whispery/reedy quality to our voices.) So Christmas, I actually felt GOOD. I could SING, which I could not do for Midnight Mass. (My voice kept cracking then. Imagine how cute our Christmas carols sounded.) And Christmas morning, we had our beautiful sausages on sweet rolls with orange juice for the littlies and mimosa for the not-so-littlies, opened our stockings and what-all, sang JOY TO THE WORLD after mein papa lit the Christ Candle, and then opened pressies! There were a bunch of us - fourteen opening presents in the morning, and then a total of nineteen at the table for our gnocchi dinner. We watched Rise Of The Guardians after dinner and had dessert, and I wished on the full moon.


Anyway, what are your plans for the New Year? Me, I'm going to spend it in. I may have a shot of honey whiskey, shared with my besties, Stoick, Chrysophylax Dives, and Amalthea. We are pretty tight, the four of us. I will prolly watch Person Of Interest, so I can be sure to stay awake until midnight. I don't usually have too much trouble doing that. I'm a night owl anyway.

Left to right: Chrysofylax Dives (green), Stoick (red) Amalthea (unicorn)

And that was our Christmas, and I just wanted to wish you all a holy, happy, blessed New Year. I hope you enjoy this little song. I have a sister who knows Eleven is MY Doctor, and will send me all kinds of things Eleven related. I happened to love this song in the Christmas special, and this priest actually has a wicked good voice. I hope you enjoy it!

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Christmas Eve, for me, is my most favourite day in the world. Everything feels very magical, like anything can happen. When it snows on Christmas Eve, I get so excited.


I have two mindsets on snow.
Before and during Christmas: "Christmas snow is magic, as everybody knows! You'll never see a frowning face on Christmas when it snows!"

After Christmas: "And there's one more thing that I have discovered, And I would now like you to know, The reason for Christmas I now realize is an excuse to tolerate snow! Snow. I don't even like the SOUND of it!"




There is one funny thing I want to tell you. Every year in Tahoe, our fire station decorates a fire truck and it goes around the town, different areas each night, blasting Christmas music and shining with lights and visiting the neighbourhoods, and then the people driving the truck hand out candy canes to the townsfolk. Well, this year, they were apparently not coming to our neighbourhood. Sadness! My whole family looks forward to it every year. It somehow doesn't *quite* feel like Christmas without the fire truck.

Yesterday, I had a couple sisters over for dinner - there was me (Kat), Amanda, Teresa and Maria - and we were going to eat chicken enchiladas and watch Disney's Christmas Carol, followed by Mickey's Christmas Carol. So, we had finished our enchiladas, and were about at Marley's Ghost in the movie, and we paused it to put down coffee, when my sister Amanda suddenly opened the door and stuck her head outside.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I thought I heard the fire truck," she said. Remember, it blares Christmas music loud. Real loud. Just as she said that, she pointed and said, "There it is! I see it!" It was heading up Ski Run Boulevard toward Heavenly, the mountain where the skiers go. "Do you want to chase it?"

So we all flung on coats and shoes and ran outside, but it had vanished. We ran past a couple streets, but we couldn't even hear the music anymore. "That's sad," Amanda said.

"Do you want to get in the car and see if we can find it?" Teresa asked.

So we ran back to the house, piled into Amanda and Teresa's Landy, and drove up Ski Run, following the fire truck. We craned our necks down each street we passed, trying to catch a glimpse of the lights. We came to the intersection of Ski Run where it connects to Pioneer Trail, and decided to turn right. So we come up to the light, and there is a fire station at this intersection, also to the right. Lo and Behold! There was the Christmas Fire Truck! We screamed so loud, we couldn't decide if we should pull into the station and jump out to holler Merry Christmas, or if we should pull to the side or the road and do the same. As we turned right onto Pioneer, trying to make up our minds, the fire truck started moving, like it was going to leave again. (Perhaps it was refueling its stock of candy canes?) Anyway, so we drove past, hollering like maniacs, and looking behind us to see if it was going to turn right as well and come along behind us, or if it was going to turn left and go back down Ski Run Boulevard.




So we made a frantic U-turn and came roaring up behind it, and idled at the red light. Then, unbelievably, THE FIRE TRUCK RAN THE RED LIGHT, MAKING A LEFT HAND TURN ON A RED LIGHT AND TURNING BACK ONTO SKI RUN BOULEVARD, GOING DOWN TOWARD LAKE TAHOE BOULEVARD!!!



We screamed. "COOOOOOME BAAAACK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" It was torture, watching it creep down Ski Run and unable to follow.

That was the longest red light ever, you guys. But our light finally went green and we zoomed through and got back behind the fire truck. By this time, we were all starting to feel a bit stalkery and giggling at how weird we were. But you don't understand, this is the Christmas Fire Truck. We look forward to it EVERY YEAR!!!

So we followed the truck, even when it turned right onto Lake Tahoe Boulevard. However, it did make another right turn into a small shopping mall that has a Red Hut, a ski rental place, a salon, et cetera. We prudently let it turn, and passed by and turned right down a different driveway, and then made a few right hand turns until we could get into the shopping mall via a different entrance. And the fire truck had stopped, and was idling in the parking lot and giving out candy canes!


So, we parked and piled out and waved and shouted Merry Christmas, and got our own candy canes.

Then Teresa asked them if they'd go up to Spruce Avenue, because our family would love to see them, and they said YES!

So we piled back into the car, and the fire truck exited the parking lot, but since there are two Spruces in Tahoe and very near to each other, we followed the truck in a roundabout way to make sure it was going to the right Spruce.



Teresa called the family, making sure they knew the truck was coming and to line up outside and wait for it. And they did. And we took a bunch of pictures and so many people came out to greet it and get candy canes. And we all felt like good spirits of Christmas, bringing the fire truck to our neighbourhood! :-)



And that's my funny story of how we didn't expect the Christmas truck, and then we found it and stalked it, and made it come to our house anyway.

Oh, and here's a little Christmas music from our family to you. Merry Christmas!

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My sister, Bella, has (or had?) this blog party thingy going on over at her blog. I'm not going to do the whole thing - I'm lazy that way. But I am going to do a blog post from #9 on her list:

I'll be honest, guys. Phantom is my favourite. I basically grew up with that. It was the first musical I ever listened to. However, I feel like I harp on that all the time, so I'm NOT going to do The Phantom of the Opera. I'm going to do my second favourite.


Actually, the way I came to this musical is kinda funny. I've always loved the Phantom. Always, always, always. Sarah Brightman, Michael Crawford, and Steve Barton are IT! (Sorry, I go for passionate musicality over straight-out pitchy passion - Sierra, Ramin, I like you, but c'mon, you're professionals. Can't you sing the notes on key?) However, my best friend in the whole wide world is a fan of Les Mis, and we share music back and forth. I had her listen to the Original Cast Recording of Phantom, and she let me listen to the Complete Symphonic Recording of Les Mis, with Gary Morris as Veljean, Philip Quast as Javert, Michael Ball as Marius, and the one and only Anthony Warlow as Enjolras. (You notice I only mention the male singers. That's because Les Mis, like all the rest of the musicals out there, tend to go in for busty-voiced singers, or high-pitched vibratos, and I hate it.) I liked Les Mis, though the lack of musicality always annoyed me. However, I was quite wildly fond of Anthony Warlow's fabulous interpretation of Enjolras, and I WAITED for those moments when his voice would swoop in and save the day (and the musical).

I started digging, to see what other songs he sang, and discovered he was the lead singer of Jekyll and Hyde on the Concept Album (which, by the way, is the ONLY version to listen to. David Hasselhoff is a huge and crying letdown over Anthony Warlow's incredible delivery as Jekyll). Then, I realized Anthony Warlow had CDs!! Surprise, surprise, right? I got his Best of Act One CD, and on that CD was a song called "Lily's Eyes" that he sang with Philip Quast.


I am fond of the book. I never much cared for the pantheistic element to the story, where the garden becomes this sort of godlike entity and is responsible for all the good that happens to the characters. But I have always liked to read the story, so I can forgive a lot.

In the musical, I feel a lot of that mysticism is muted. Instead, the garden seems more like a refuge, a place that Mary makes her own, and it's her love of the garden that lends it that sense of magic. Also, Daisy Eagan as Mary is gold. And also, Rebecca Luker. 'Nough said 'bout that.

What I love about the musical version of the Secret Garden is that fabulous blend of music and dialogue that The Phantom of the Opera captures so well, and which (IMHO) many musicals lack. For instance, in Phantom, when characters read the notes received from the Phantom, the way the music is written is basically how one would inflect their voice while reading aloud.




The Secret Garden is the story about Mary Lennox, a little girl born in India and raised more by servants and housemaids than by her parents. She is sent to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven, in his house in York, after an outbreak of cholera kills her parents and pretty much the entire household, leaving her the sole survivor.


At the beginning of the story, Mary really is an unpleasant child, sickly and foul tempered. Her mood is not helped by Uncle Archie, a brooding, "miserable hunchback" who wanders through the house, still grief-struck over the death of his wife, Lily, who died about 10 years ago.

The house is also haunted by far-off cries, which Mary is forbidden to seek out. Instead, when her maidservant, Martha, tells her about a secret garden, Mary decides to find it.

With the robin's help, Mary finds the entrance to the garden, and she and Dickon begin to secretly tend the neglected flowers. But not even the garden can help her ignore the distant, mysterious cries. Flagrantly disregarding orders, Mary hunts out the source of the cries and discovers Colin, Uncle Archie's invalid son who everyone in the household believes will die an early death. Since Archie cannot bear to look at his son, being reminded too acutely of Lily, Colin has been hidden away, his every whim granted by the servants that wait on him. Fantastically spoiled, Colin meets his match in Mary, who refuses to put up with his tantrums.

Believing Colin's sickness to be more in his mind, Mary thinks that the surest cure for Colin is for him to spend time in the secret garden. The good air works the same rejuvenating magic it did on Mary, and Colin begins to improve. Eventually they are discovered, but Archie is so grateful to what Mary has done for Colin that he finally accepts her and loves her as his own, and Mary finds the home she never had with her own parents.



I love the absolute crystalline quality Rebecca brings to Lily's voice. It is so soaring, clear and gorgeous, and what I desperately look for in most musicals these days. I can't stand the belting Broadway sound (Idina Menzel, for example. It's not pretty. I'm sorry. Not a fan.)

I also love Mary's voice. She sounds like a little girl. She doesn't sound trained. I can't stand it when little girls have these ridiculous vibratos and don't sound like little girls. I like that Mary has a natural sound to her voice. It's another one of those things I desperately look for in musicals, and never find. (Darn it, Cosette, you're like... six! Can't you sound like it?!)

This quartet is really, really good. I love when musicals have these songs where each singer has a different line to sing, and then everyone sings together, and it's just like... *shiver*. (Skip about 20 seconds into this one. This QUARTET is fabulous and the blend of voices is perfect.)

I love how, in this song, Lily doesn't sound angry. I've heard so many versions where the female singers are like, "No, me!" and they just over-sing the men, and it, again, drives me crazy. Here, Lily just sort of soars over them by virtue of being soprano, and she sounds more like a loving Lily, not a confrontational Lily. She sounds like she truly loved Archie, not like she married him to spite her sister, Rose, which is how a lot of Lilys sound. (Why are singers so angry in their performances? Can't we have gentle solos? When did passion in music become rage?)


And also, in my opinion, this is the best Dickon ever. Just, don't even try. This WINTER'S ON THE WING is the bestest version ever. James Cameron Mitchell NAILS Dickon.

My first introduction to Mandy Patinkin was as Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bridge. Finding out he could sing was like discovering Michael Crawford (whom I had only known from the corny, crazy 1981 movie CONDORMAN) was the Phantom. It blew my mind.

Mandy Patinkin is STELLAR as Archibald Craven. He plays it so well, as the melancholy man who is suffering from the crushing loss of losing the love of his life, and having a sickly young son whom he believes is going to die as well. This song, RACE YOU TO THE TOP OF THE MORNING, is just so sweet. This is one of the best versions ever (Anthony Warlow sings it too, you see, so I have the hardest time choosing which version is better).

I love the way he sings it, and depending on my mood, it makes me cry. He delivers it so well!

So, the Original Broadway Cast Album of The Secret Garden is probably my most favourite book-to-musical adaption I've heard (other than Phantom). I hope you give it a listen, and let me know what you think. :-)

Kay, that's all that's on my ninja mind for now. TTFN! (Let's see how many people know what THAT stands for. Mwahahaha).

God bless!

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If you didn't, you might consider getting glasses.

Yep, I changed my blog. I'm still trying to decide how I like the colours. I was getting over the dark green, so I decided pale green. Yeah, pale green was good. Then I thought, grey. Or maybe pale blue. So I'm not totally sure what colour I've ended up with here, but it's definitely not what I had before.




I haven't done much. Writing, reading, writing, reading, writing, reading. Rinse, repeat.

I do confess to a sudden huge adoration to James Blunt. Most of his songs speak to my soul. I don't recommend watching his music videos - they can be a little we'rd - but my goodness, his songs are GOOD! Here, see for yourself.

 
You should also listen to "Carry You Home" and "She Will Always Hate Me." Oh, and "Bonfire Heart." And "Postcards." And, "No Tears." Okay, I won't post anymore. I like him. :-)

Also, I have a sister who does videos. She's rather good, you know. I requested a music video to Eleven, since his catchphrase is "Geronimo" and this song is called "Geronimo." QED, this is Eleven's song. I quite loved it. But then again, Eleven (and the Ponds) are my favorite:


Oh, and I did go to this thing called WordWave. I heard tell about it by Bona Fide Books (our independent small press in Tahoe, which is cool) and it was quite a lovely event. It was three days - Friday and Sunday were both more of "events" that you had to pay for, but Saturday was a free day, so my mother, three sisters, a friend and I went on Saturday. There were some workshopping conferences (more conference than workshop, unfortunately) and booths where you could make your own simple journals, a printing press, a booksale, and agents.



Not in the booths, of course. Just, there. Offering 10-minute pitch sessions. So I did what any self-respecting writer with two books written would do. I signed up for a 10-minute session, a one-on-one pitch, if you will, with an agent from Fuse Literary (formerly Foreword Literary). It ended up being more than 10 minutes - the agents were really chill on time, which was cool - so I had more like 20-30 minutes where I pitched my story to Laurie McLean and got awesome feedback on a query and synopsis. I tell you, I haven't felt this good about a query and a synopsis since... like, ever.


So now I've changed my blog. Because, it was time to change my blog. FACELIFT, PEOPLE!!! I'm also trying to figure out what I want to do with this blog. Like, it's sort of drifting in La-la land, poor thing. It's just sitting here patiently, going, "Oh, don't mind me. I will come when you caaaaaaalll!!" Sort of like a chorus line from Les Miserables. So I guess 2016 resolutions would be:

1.)  Submit to more magazines.
2.)  Blog more.

A hesitant extra would be: 3.)  Get the keyboard in working shape and start playing music again.


And draw. That would be #4.




God bless! ~The Cat

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Phantom and Front Sight and Edged-Weapons Training;

POTO

Winter Soldier

Anthony Warlow in Jekyll and Hyde

Visiting B&N, going to Scheels;

Donna and Bucky - FANS get this! :-)

Awesome place

Looking for knives, testing how each one feels...

Team Avatar

Team Crossing Lines

Team Jack Bauer

LOL

All the things. I will pin. All. The things!

Polishing queries and drawing a king...

Daredevil

THE Hug

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

GOD BLESS!

~Cat

Possessed LOLcat

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Since I last posted (pretty much a month ago exactly) I have seen two movies in theaters, written about three quarters of the first half of a novel, remembered how much I enjoy baseball, started watching Avatar, and signed up for hand-to-hand combat classes at Front Sight.

What's... Front Sight, precious, eh? What's Front Sight?

For all y'all who don't know what Front Sight is, basically it's a gun school. You go there, they teach you how to safely use/carry firearms, so you don't go out literally half-cocked and accidentally cause mayhem rather than assistance.

That could be awkward.

Unless, of course, you're Golden Sparrow.

I gotta say, I was a little disappointed with the Minion movie. I enjoyed the bits with the actual minions, but there was some stuff in there that I thought was totally unnecessary and inappropriate for kids - such as that disgustingly overweight sumo wrestler wearing next to nothing and leaving NOTHING to the imagination. The Cat did not approve. Also, I kind of would have preferred that the Minions met Gru earlier, and worked together to bring down the baddie Scarlet, even though Sandra Bullock voiced Scarlet and I could just "see" her getting into the role. I felt they could have done MORE with the movie, but instead relied on people being such fans of the minions they would overlook some loose plotting.

ANT-MAN, however... yeah, I liked Ant-Man. Instead of being like the Avengers (WHICH I ADORE, BY THE WAY! IN CASE YOU THOUGHT I DIDN'T), Ant-Man sort of goes back to the "simple" Marvel movies, focusing on small but important bad guys, and instead of saving the world focusing more on just bringing down the single villain. Plus, Scott Lang (Ant-Man himself) was freakin' hilarious, and his stupid criminal friends were adorable idiots. The script was spot on, and I surprised myself by actually liking Michael Douglas. Normally, I don't like anything about him, but he was a really good character in the movie and I quite liked him. So, I would recommend you watch Ant-Man, but I would advise you to wait on Minions until it comes out on DVD. :-)

It was brilliant, you guys! I love Marvel.

As for my writing, I'm knocking out the first half of my novel quite rapidly. It's going to be told from two points-of-view, but since the timeline is a little "weird" for one character, I'm having a hard time switching back and forth, so I'm doing one character at a time, and I'll fit them together later. (All hail the revision process!) Besides, the second half will need a bit more research into the landscape, and mapping out the world being travelled. So, I'm procrastinating on the part. But the completed project will be great, I promise!


That's all for now. Hope y'all have a great day!

God bless!

Byebyebyebyebyebyebyebye!!!!!!!!!!

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Chris Pratt was my favourite. He is a great actor, and I loved the way he treated his raptors like dogs. That was kinda cute. I also liked that it was a little less gory than the originals. I'm all for survival movies, but I don't like watching people get chomped in two. I prefer not to see the actual blood spurt, 'cause that's nasty. I like to let my imagination "realize" what just happened. That's just me.

Owen Grady

I also liked the younger brother, Gray. (That could also be because he was in Iron Man 3, and I quite liked his character of Harley.) The older brother, Zach, grew on me a bit, but I never fully warmed up to Claire. She was a bit too "business" for my taste, and though she ended up being a bit more spunky at the end, she never really grew out of the business enough for me to find a good connection with her character.

Claire, Owen, Zach, Gray

 
I really appreciated the occasional "nod" to the originals, such as when the two boys stumble into what I'm positive was the original HQ in Jurassic Park, or when the funny-weird computer guy with the glasses wears his Jurassic Park t-shirt he bought on eBay because dude, they had the real thing. That Mr. DNA thingy. (As an aside, I'll just say it was weird for me to find out later how different Vincent D'Onofrio, who plays Vic Hoskins in Jurassic World, looks with hair.  He plays Wilson Fisk in Daredevil, and he looks quite different.  Observe.)

Watching Jurassic World, I decided I have no problem with the herbivore dinosaurs. I admit, it would be pretty cool to have a park where you can see brontosaurus (brontasauri?) roaming around and minding their own business.  I don't understand this fascination with the Tyrannosaurus Rex, or velociraptors, or any big creature like that who would eat you as soon as look at you. Why would you WANT to have a beast that size come back to life?

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Though, I guess I'm not being fair. After all, I rather like dragons, and what are dragons but the fantasy version of dinosaurs?

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It gives a fascinating account of the flood and how the world is the way it is today. I'm using it because I have an idea brewing for a novel that might involve a crisis like this, as well as pyramids, haunted areas around the world and the Bermuda triangle. Mostly I'm reading IN THE BEGINNING because it's just really interesting how the world "started over" after such a major catastrophe, and how the earth reformed after the flood waters had settled. I'm researching pyramids and haunted areas because the story that I have out on submission to an agent (while it is a stand-alone novel) does have the potential for companion novels to be written about worlds within its world... if that made sense. So this new story idea I have brewing would be a companion novel. (Besides, I needed a reason to write about pyramids. And nightmares. Yes, somehow the two will be interconnected. BOOM!)

I finished Jonathan Stroud's two new(ish) books of LOCKWOOD & CO, titled respectively The Screaming Staircase and The Whispering Skull.  Oh my goodness, I LOVED them. They were a little bit creepy (think Supernatural creepy, without so much gore) and just as funny and unique as his Bartimaeus books. It's about agents who are hired to rid houses of ghosts, and as only children can see the various types of ghosts, the agents tend to be in their teens. Rapiers may or may not be involved. I *believe* the third book in the series is coming out in September, titled The Hollow Boy. My only comment to that is GIMMME!

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That's all for today, except that my singing final was yesterday and I feel like I scored really well on both songs. (I sang both FLARES by The Script and L' ULTIMA NOTTE by Josh Groban.) So, yay on that!

Now if I would just get my new harp string in the mail so I can fix my harp and start re-teaching myself how to play... Guys, I need a bigger house.


Tra la la! That's all for today!

God bless!

I don't know why I remind people of cats, but I do. We'rd.

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Tomorrow it will be officially a month since I was first contacted by *my* agent requesting to read my full manuscript. Which means...

Duuuh-duh-duh-DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!!!

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You don't understand how hard it is waiting to hear a "Yea" or "Nay" on something quite so important and exciting as this. On the one hand, I really, REALLY, REALLY like this agent. I would drop dead with joy (well, okay, maybe not DEAD, but I'd DROP! Realio trulio, I would!) if she wanted to by my agent. But I'm also playing the cautionary game with myself, anticipating a "No" so I will *hopefully* not be too sad when/if I get rejected. Buuuut... only 30 more days!

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Tra-la, onto more good news. It's summer. As I'm a sun goddess, I adore summer months. I love swimming, I love going outside and feeling the sun cutting into my skin. I love lying on the grass and staring up at the blue, blue sky against the green, green pine needles. I love kicking the soccer ball for my dog, Sam. Summer is the BEST, you guys! Yes, I do have a few sisters who beg to differ, but I give them the winter months. They may have them. Me, I'm living the life now.

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I was tagged on Facebook for the 777 challenge. I'm going to post on Facebook as well, but I'm also going to do the tag here. The 777 challenge means I have to post seven lines from page seven of my current work-in-progress. For those of you who have read the first/second/third drafts of DragonFire (which, by the way is now complete and lacks only a query letter), you will be stoked to see I'm using sentences from DragonShadow. (Some of you, I hear, are going, "Yay! Yay! It's ONLY BEEN THREE YEARS SINCE WE LAST READ ABOUT DRAGON!!!)

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“You are alive," the creature said, "but you are dead.”

He reeled back as though from a blow, the words opening a memory in his mind.

He saw a knife, fragmenting time, flipping hilt over handle. It was beautiful, more a long dagger, well-crafted and balanced out of a blue and incandescent steel. He heard the thud of it glancing off his breastbone. His hands rose, curled around his heart. He felt the wrapped hilt, the little jewel in the pommel stone.

Hope y'all enjoyed that.

Have you ever wondered what your life would sound like as a book? I feel like mine would be very boring. It would go something like this:

The medical transcriptionist roared out of the parking lot. On days she didn't medically transcribe, she delivered flowers. The trick was getting them there on time and in one majestic piece. She flicked on her blinker, made a hard right and was nearly run off the road by a pale grey Prius, who had decided her blinker was a mistake and it was his right to merge in front of her. She managed not to swear and occupied her time wondering how cricket it would be to lean on her horn at him, now that he was doing 30 in the 40 mph zone.

Yeah, kinda boring. It's the exaggeration that makes it exciting. :-)

Leave the bag in.

 
...and I'm going to read Book One of LOCKWOOD & CO., The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud (yes, THAT Jonathan Stroud, the Bartimaeus Trilogy Jonathan Stroud) because I went to the library today, and checked out BOOKS! I haven't been to the library in ages, and new books make me feel so happy.

Oh, and I got this fabulous Iron Man Manual about a week ago! See, I won this $50 Amazon gift card, so I got this great manual. If you are an Iron Man fan at all I heartily recommend you check it out. It's way cool!

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Kay, that's all from me for now. This is the Cat signing off.

WHEEEEEE!

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It was absolutely gorgeous when we filmed. So many pictures were taken. I don't have them here, but I will share eventually.  You will see most of the footage in the film.



Also... Today is Geek Pride Day! Who's excited? Who's excited?!

So, I usually post lots and lots of gifs with my posts, but as there are an inordinate amount of questions associated with this tag, I'm not going to post AS many.  I will post where I deem it appropriate.

Without further ado... the Geek Day Question Fiasco! (Yep, that's what I'm calling it.)

1.)  Who directed the first Star Trek Movie?
Do we mean MOVIE, or TV show?  If we are talking movie, I haven't the foggiest.  If we're talking TV show, I'm pretty sure it was Gene Roddenberry.


2.)  Where did the Winchester's live before Mary's death?
Lawrence, Kansas.

*shiver

3.)  What do the Druids call Merlin?

4.)  Who was originally casted for Han Solo?
I feel like, once upon a time, I knew, but I don't know anymore.
*It appears that the correct answer is Kurt Russell.

5.)  Who are Arwen's brothers?

THESE guys! :-)

 
6.)  Who was the first goblin to guide Harry around Gringotts?
No idea.  I'm guessing Warwick Davis, in one of his innumerable roles in those movies.
*Actually, it wasn't Warwick Davis... he played the bank teller.  It was actually Verne Troyer, who played the role of Griphook the Goblin.

7.)  In what Star Trek episode did the Tribbles FIRST appear?
a.) Trials and Tribble-ations
b.) Amok Time
c.) Trouble with Tribbles.
Wow, this is multiple choice?  The answer is C., Trouble With Tribbles!

*That look. :-)

8.)  Who played the First Doctor?
That white haired gentleman.  Hang on, let me think... Let... me... think...  William.  William something.  I'll come back to this.

9.)  What hits John on his way to see Sherlock in the streets in "The Reichenbach Fall"?
A fella on a bicycle.

Which of the following knights did not betray Arthur?
A.) Lancelot
B.) Gwaine (Which, by the way, is spelled WRONG!  I don't care if it IS a TV show... that name is spelled GAWAINE.)
C.) Leon
D.) Mordred
E.) Elyan.
And I would have to say, since this TV show is apparently pro Lancelot and NOT Gawaine, it was Lancelot who did not betray him.  As I cannot find what the proper answer is to this, I'm afraid you'll have to discover the truth of it yourself.

10.)  What was Bones' first name?
I think Leonard. Or wait. Sylvester?

11.)  The Tesseract is one of six powerful "Infinity Stones." What are the other five?

Ta Da!

12.)  John Watson goes on a date with a girl in "The Blind Banker." What is her name?
Sarah, but don't ask me her last name.  I dinna ken it.

13.)  What does TARDIS stand for?

14.)  Who killed Darth Vader?
I *think* the Emperor guy?  I'm not hugely into Star Wars, so my trivia on this point is a bit foggy.

15.)  What does the inscription on the Colt say?
All I know is Samuel Colt made it.  I don't know the inscription.
*Apparently the inscription reads, Non Timebo Mala,  which is Latin for I Will Fear No Evil.

16.)  What words did Moriarty carve into an apple as a message for Sherlock?

"I owe you a fall, Sherlock."

17.)  What episode of TNG were the Borg originally introduced?

*I dunno*

18.)  How does Sherlock Holmes like his coffee?
Black, two sugars?

19.)  Who finally kills Morgana?

20.)  Who is older, Fred or George?

21.)  What kind of plane does Han Solo fly?
A Millennium Falcon!!!

22.)  Where do Eowyn and Faramir settle (and rule) after the War of the Ring?

23.)  What does the T stand for in James T. Kirk?

24.)  What is John Watson's middle name?
Hamish.  :-)

*Source

25.)  Who is the most famous Doctor?

26.)  What is Chewbacca?
*I always wanted a Wookie, but I found out they weren't real.*

27.)  What is the color of Gallifrey's sky?
Red. Which seemed like a bad idea. Red is such an angry color.

28.)  What does SHIELD stand for?

*Epic Music

29.)  In Iron Man 2 what element saved Tony Stark from blood poisoning?

:-)

30.)  Name the seven horcruxes.
1.  Tom Riddle's Diary.
2.  The Ring in Dumbledore's drawer.
3.  The Locket in that weird cave.
4.  The Goblet in Gringotts.
5.  Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem.
6.  Nagini the weird snake.
7.  Harry Potter.
That last answer sounded a bit weird, didn't it. :-)

31.)  Name the movie that goes with this famous exchange: "I love you." "I know."
Star Wars, the original second movie, I believe - what's it called? "The Empire Strikes Back"? - Anyway, it's that scene right before Han goes into the deep freeze thingy.  Carbonite.

32.)  In which episode did the sonic screwdriver first appear?
Heh.  It was with the second doctor, I think, but I'm not totally sure, y'all.

33.)  Where was the HOUND group located?

34.) What is the Secret Word that opened the Gates of Moria?

*Source

35.)  Which college did Sam Winchester attend?

36.)  Who does Lavender give Ron for Christmas?
I'm not really sure what to take from that question.  Does she really give him someone?  Who?  Who?  Not the Doctor, that's for sure!
*That answer, apparently, isn't WHO, but WHAT.  And it was a necklace that said "My Sweetheart."

37.)  In Doctor Who, who is Davros?

38.)  In "The Blind Banker" which book does Sherlock use to crack the coded messages?

39.)  What action made Thor worthy of Mjölnir?
He faced the Destroyer and sacrificed himself in exchange for the safety of the earth.

40.)  In what episode was Arthur crowned King?
Somewhere in the fifth season?
* Nope, apparently it was season 4, episode 3, "The Wicked Day."

41.)  How many kids are in the Weasley family?

*source

42.)  When did Bruce Banner "Hulk" for the first time?
In Harlem?
*Per the comic books, he first hulked after being caught in the blast of a gamma bomb.

43.)  What is Ron's boggart?

*source

44.)  What is the name of the remote and uninhabited planet that was destroyed by the first test of the Death Star's laser cannon?


45.)  Who saved Frodo from the barrow wights?

46.)  What is the name of the Gentlemen's Club that Mycroft Holmes attends?

47.)  What iconic word is the Ninth Doctor known by?

48.)  A character from Captain America: The First Avenger reappears in a later movie as a villain. Who is it?
James "Bucky" Buchanan Barnes.  He reappears as the Winter Soldier.

*Source

49.)  In which classic episode did Sarah Jane leave the TARDIS?
*Appears to be Season 14, Episode 5, The Hand of Fear.


50.)  What did Hagrid give Harry the first time they met?

51.)  Who was the father of Legolas?
Thranduil.

52.)  Which three people does Moriarty have snipers set on in "The Reichenbach fall"?
John, Mrs. Hudson, Lestrade.

53.)  "Every life is a pile of good things and bad things...." complete this quote.
"The good things don't always soften the bad things, but vice versa the bad things don't always spoil the good things or make them unimportant."

54.)  What kind of car does Dean Winchester drive?
DIS ONE!!

A '67 Chevy Impala :-)

55.)  What team played in the Quiddich World Cup that Harry attended?

56.)  When was Agent Phil Coulson first introduced? What were his first lines?
He was introduced in the very first Iron Man.  I'm pretty sure his first lines were, "I'm Agent Phil Coulson" or "I'm Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention and Enforcement Logistics Division."

57.)  In Merlin, what is the name of the evil spirits that attack Camelot at the beginning of Season Four?
Sorry, haven't seen the show.  Only the first season, and I got caught up in a multitude of other shows since.

58.)  The despised character Jar Jar Binks (who first appears in "The Phantom Menace"), hails from what underwater society found on planet Naboo?
He is despised.  Why do we care?  And I'm not looking it up.  It's late. :)

And HARTNELL!  William Hartnell was the name of the man who played the first doctor! :-)  I REMEMBERED! :)

59.)  What political office did Pippin have in Gondor after the War of the Ring?
Thane, I believe.

60.)  When was Lancelot first introduced?
Somewhere in the first season.  Like the fourth or fifth episode?  It felt early on.  I remember thinking I didn't despise him, for a change.

61.)  What does Harry want to be after he Graduates from Hogwarts?
An Auror.

62.)  Which Avenger has no personalized/superhero weapon?
This one is tricky, since neither Black Widow NOR the Hulk really have personalized weapons.  The Hulk IS a weapon, and the Black Widow MAKES weapons out of anything.

63.)  Which Supernatural character shares Dean's birthday? (hint: it's a girl.)
Charlie?
*Oh, Jess!  That's cool. :-)

64.)  What three items does Sherlock steal to impersonate a waiter for his clever surprise “reveal” to John Watson at the restaurant?
A.) A comb, a fountain pen, and a boutonniere.
B.) A monocle, sharpie, and a silk cravat.
C.) A bowtie, glasses, and eyebrow pencil.

*source

65.)  What are some other names used for Gandalf the Grey?


66.)  What is the the licence plate number on the Winchester's car currently? (NO LOOKING IT UP!)
CNK 80Q3?
Whoa, I was RIGHT!!

67.)  Which Avenger movie did Hawkeye first appear in?

68.)  What was the name of the waltz Sherlock played at John and Mary's wedding?
The Blue Danube?
*I think actually the Blue Danube was the one playing when he was practicing his dancing, but he played a song he composed for John and Mary.

69.)  When was the One Ring destroyed?
In the Third Age somewhere in the year 3000, I believe. March 25th.

70.)  How many years had the Great Dragon been imprisoned when Merlin first entered Camelot?
A huge amount of time!
*About 20 years, I guess.  I asked a sister who has seen it. 



71.)  Where is the Stark tower located?
New York City.  Manhattan area?

72.)  Who voiced the computer in the TNG?
Oh, wasn't it the nurse in the Original Series?  What was her name... Nurse Chapel?

*source

73.)  There are five ranks of Wizards. What are they?
White, Grey, Brown, Red, Blue. Or possibly two blue, no reds.

74.)  How did Mary accidentally reveal her true identity to John? (This is for Sherlock, BTW)
Didn't she shoot a coin or something that Sherlock threw in the air? And John, who was hiding in the house, saw and realized she was an assassin.

75.)  Who is K-9?
A mechanical dog belonging originally to the Fourth Doctor, I believe.

76,)  What is the Name of Aragorn's ring?

*Source

77.)  What is inscribed upon each side of the sword Excalibur?
A Just Question, My Liege.  Possibly a variation of "Whosoever pulls this sword from the stone is rightful king of England."

78.)  What is Bucky Barnes' full name?
James Buchanan Barnes.

79.)  What was the gift given to Boromir in Rivendell?
In Rivendell?  Or Lothlorien?  'Cause I don't recall him getting a gift in Rivendell, but in Lothlorien he received a gold belt and an Elven cloak.

80.)  "You were right, okay? I see light at the end of this tunnel..." Finish this quote.

81.)  Where did "The Last Battle for Camelot" take place?

82.)  What were the names of the Eagles who rescued Sam and Frodo from Mount Doom?
A.) Orcrist, Sting and Glamdring.
B.) Narsil, Glamdring and Hadhafang.
C.) Sting, Anduril and the white Knife of Legolas.
D.) Aeglos, Orcrist and Sting.
None of the above.  I know one was Gwaihir, but the others were Landroval and Meneldor.

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST:
How did Sherlock fake his death?

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After Easter and the jury duty kerfuffle...

...to which I didn't have to go!

Happy dance, happy dance, everybody happy dance!

... I got a rejection on a query I sent to an agent about a month before.  Technically, she never responded to the query, which per the guidelines basically meant the same thing.  No reply, no acceptance.

Tears may have been shed.

But that's okay.  I dusted off my poor weeping query, gave it a little spruce up and sent it bravely back into the big wide world of agents.  I may have whispered a prayer to send it on its way.

Or rather:  Design ALL the flowers!

Talk? Talk?!   What makes you think I'd want to chat?  I haz nothing to say.  Unless we speak geek.  Then perhaps we speak.

Then we got BACK from the wedding and the weather has been liek dis:

Grey

Rainy

*snarf, grumble, grouch

*whaaahaaahaaaaaa!

It hasn't been NICE.  It has been the opposite.  It has been DARK.  My mood goeth downhill.

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Socializing, for me, can be physically more draining and damaging than a solid week's work, so piling MOTHER'S DAY WEEK on top of that was... was...


However, good news.  Before driving back from the wedding in Bakersfield, we stopped at Target and all four of us who had attended the wedding picked up copies of the Target Edition of Josh Groban's STAGES, which contains 17 tracks and are all of them amazing.

Make sure you get the TARGET edition with 17 tracks! The normal version only has 13, so make sure it 's the special TARGET edition you're getting!

*Oh Groban!

Speaking of Superheroes and Marvel, I also watched the first two episodes of Daredevil on Netflix during that wedding weekend, so when I got back from the wedding I proceeded to watch the other 11 episodes.


Matt Murdoch is the best!  I refuse to say anything, because, as Yoda say, "If Netflix you have, Daredevil you should be watching."  Seriously, he's a new favourite Marvel superhero.  He is so amazing and cool!  Unfortunately, now that I'm done with those 13 episode, the next season won't be up until 2016!  Netflix, why? Why? Whyyyyy?

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After this, Teresa and Jack and I started watching Harry Potter.  I have never really watched Harry Potter.

I know, right?

I had read up to the fourth book (which *I* thought was horrifying) and then watched the fourth movie which, IMHO, did NOT live up to the fourth books horrifyingness (which is not a word, but I don't care.  I'm a writer.  I do what I want).  Frankly, the fourth movie rather bored me, so I gave up on the series.

Then, I dunno, after the final book had been published and was no longer talked about, I thought I might as well finish the book series, and while I thought J.K. Rowling did a fine job with writing, I wasn't entirely sold on the series.  I don't know why.  I just wasn't a fan.

Sorry.

So I have had no urge to watch the movies until after Valentine's Day, when after a long grueling day at work I came home, ate something fortifying and turned on the TV, and discovered The Chamber of Secrets was playing.  Having nothing better to do, I watched it.

I mean, after all, why not?

Since then, I've been off again, on again wanting to watch them, and we started our sporadic marathon about two weeks ago.  While the first four were nothing special (for me, anyway - and btw, the fourth movie is NOT as boring as I remembered it being.  Perhaps one needs to have been away from books and movies for a significant amount of time or something), we just finished Deathly Hallows part 1, and I'll admit the 5th, 6th and 7-1/2th movies engaged me more and made me feel a bit more connected to the characters.  (Though, and I'm speaking from my experience of having read the books YEARS ago, I am pretty certain the scriptwriters could have clarified Harry as being The Chosen One.  That shtick sort of makes an appearance in the Half Blood Prince, and while I *think* it was clear in the book, it was NOT AT ALL CLEAR in the movie(s), and I honestly can't remember how or why or who or when Harry became this Chosen One or even what it has to do with the plot.)

I feel ya, Minion

I don't think I'm still (yet) techinically a fan.  I haven't entirely finished the series, after all.  Deathly Hallows part 2 will possibly (probably) happen tonight, but now that I've watched the movies I can see why people have become fans.  I will be honest even more and state that I do have a bad tendency to quote HISHE or Honest Trailer lines during crucial moments of the movies (such as, Wizzzzard lightning battle! or, Look out, Harry, he doesn't have a nose!, or, "Just saving your life.  And countless others.  In the future.  It's a long story.")  But overall, my favorite characters are Snape, Professor McGonagall, George and Fred, and Harry.  I like Ron and Hermione, but those first five are my favorites.

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Lastly, to bring my month to a close, the query I'd dusted off and sent back out came back with a request for the agent to see the full manuscript.

I may or may not have woken up my sister at the obscene hour of 5:00 a.m. to show her the joyous news.

So I sent the full manuscript to the agent, and now I must wait up to 60 days to see what she thinks.  It's a bit torturous, but she was nice enough to admit that it was torturous, which was good to hear.  Empathy, empathy.  So all I can do now is pray... and hope... and pray... and, you know, hope.

So, that's been my month!  I hope yours has been just as exciting and eventful as mine, albeit less gloomy.  *Rain, rain, go away, come again some OTHER day.*

Until next month...

Cat! :)

Leopold!

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Hmmmm

Well, first of all, we made fabulous ravioli for Easter.  Like, handmade, beautiful ravioli.  Like, check out Treskie's blog to see HOW beautiful this ravioli really was. (And you can enjoy the overall post, anyhoozle.  If you want.  Don't feel pressured or anything.)

Intense Glare

Then....

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I apparently have a boring life, because I can't recall much of what has happened between then and now.

Well, I take that back.  I had a jury summons, for which I HAD to appear (which, by the way, is one of the few things that can put me into a state of hysterical panic), and then, for 1-1/2 days, I got to sit in court while the judge and attorneys made up their minds who they really wanted as their jurors and alternates.

Just CHOOSE someone! Not me, but SOMEONE!

They didn't even choose jurors the first day.  The first day, all of us potential jurors got to complete a hardship form if we wanted to (Like, if you miss three out of five days of work for five weeks, can you survive on what little pittance of money you WILL be making?).  Then we got to fill out a 30+ page questionnaire of random questions, like WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW?  HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HEALTHCARE?

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The second day, by 10:30 a.m., eighteen people were chose for jurors plus six alternates, and I WASN'T ONE OF THEM! Praise God.   But then none of the rest of us could leave, and we had to sit in the courtroom while the attorneys took turns asking jurors "pertinent questions" from their questionnaires, and the judge told us to make sure and pay attention because they would be "winnowing" their jurors and choosing new people to take their place.

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We had to adjourn for lunch, and we came back to the courtroom at 1:30, at which point eight people were excused from the jury box and eight more people from the audience were chosen to take their place.  Again, I was not one of them.  Praise God.

After endless questioning, three people were excused and three more chosen (none of them me).

Then SEVEN people were excused and seven more chosen! (Thankfully, again not me.)

Then three more people were excused and three more chosen.  (At this point, I'm still safe.)

Then two were excused and two more chosen. (I'm still not a juror.)

Then two more people were excused, and THIS time my name was called.  At this point, it was 4:00 in the afternoon and I had been in a state of constant panic that my name WOULD be called.

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But God had not abandoned me, because over the course of the loooooong day and the questions, questions, questions, I had realized my job as a medical transcriptionist would conflict with some of the rules regarding the case, and when I pointed this out to the attorneys they seemed to agree with me and I was excused from jury duty.


So THAT wasn't the most fun I've ever had, but I survived.

I was just about this giddy, too.

Da Da Da Da DAAAAAA!

Speaking of the Phantom of the opera, we've also been binging quite a lot on musicals - Phantom of the Opera, Pirates of Penzance,  H.M.S. Pinafore, and sometime in the near future we are going to watch Oklahoma!  We are also listening to a lot of musicals - the best parts of Jekyll and Hyde... the Anthony Warlow version; Phantom (Duh); and we will be listening to Jane Eyre (tolerated because of Mr. Rochester. Amazing voice!); Secret Garden, and Tale of Two Cities.


A lady I know, the Amazing Jan Fields (better known as the Ghost in the Machine and Administrator of the Institute of Children's Literature chat boards, the Writer's Retreat) is having a drawing to win an autographed copy of her two books, The Wellspring of Magic and The Emerald Dragon.  Plus, you can also win a super cute doll who represents a character in the book, and she is holding a bear.  Check it out here.  Isn't that fantastic?

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Aliry Thyme

Dragon

There is that.

Bye!
 

Gigglygigglygiggly

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As I am squeezing in this post between the little time I have and the little time I don't have, I am merely posting a story about Holy Thursday, and a poem about Good Friday.  If the time I have and the time I don't have manage to surprise me with the gift of additional time, I might even get on tomorrow to post something edifying about Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday.  But for now, be content with what I'm giving you.  (Please.  :-)

Here is my Holy Thursday story.  I may have posted it last year.  I cannot remember.  It was a story challenge for a writing group of mine, and while it ended up being more disturbing than I'd anticipated, it also ended up being better than I'd anticipated.

Thirty Pieces of Silver

Only One Sacrifice

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