Life's a Happy Song

I just saw The Muppets movie with my family. The whole movie was so lighthearted and refreshing. This song is pretty cute and might be a good one to listen to in January (I'm already itching for spring). Anyway, enjoy!

Comic Relief

Today I was talking to my sister at the gym when I noticed someone eavesdropping on our conversation. Out of the corner of my eye I saw this big, burly, macho-man leering behind us. I didn’t notice him before, so I figured he must have crept up to overhear us. I turned around to face him, thinking that maybe if he knew I was aware of him he’d give us some space.

However when I flipped around, I burst out laughing. The creepy, macho-man eavesdropper wasn’t even a man—it was a mannequin wearing workout clothes. I'd forgotten that the gym put out mannequins to display their workout attire.

I still jokingly said, “Hey, stop listening to our conversation!” I should have also said, “And think about getting a tan. Honestly, you’re whiter than a vampire wearing sunscreen.”

It’s always a relief when I’m in an intense situation and then it turns out to be humorous or comical. I feel like laughing relieves stress and tension and forces you to breath.

Comic relief is an important part of writing. You need to have a balance of seriousness and silliness. J.K. Rowling is the queen of this. Harry will be in the middle of a dire situation and as the reader, you're biting your nails, anxious for his survival. Then, somehow Rowling makes you bust up laughing because Fred, George, or Ron (redhead thing?) will lighten the mood with a snide, silly, or sarcastic comment. It gives you a moment to laugh, breath, and relax for a bit before continuing.

A few years ago I saw the creepiest. movie. ever. I do get scared really easy with movies, but screams were heard through the theater in random outbursts (so I wasn’t the only one). Halfway through the movie we saw a lady outside the theater who looked exhausted. “I just needed a breather,” she said. “That movie is intense!” I realized that what that movie lacked was in fact a “breather” moment. It needed comic relief so that by the end of the movie you didn’t feel mentally and physically drained.

I’m still working really hard on getting down the right amount of comic relief. And I’m trying my best to stay away from extreme scary movies, and burly, eavesdropping mannequins.

Movies of 2012

I love going to movies. And as weird as it is I get bummed out when I’m late and miss the previews. I was scanning the new movie trailers for 2012. The Hunger Games, The Hobbit, and Breaking Dawn part two are what I’m most excited for. Though they have an unfair advantage because I bought, read, and loved the books before they were made into cinematic magic.

So my question is this, do you find that you enjoy movies more that are modeled after a novel? Because I often find that I do. Even television shows are more enjoyable if they were a book series first (namely Pretty Little Liars). I can’t decide if I’m more excited for certain films because I read the book first (in which case the author should get more credit than the actors), or if the movies I like are just in the same categories as the books I enjoy reading. I’m not really sure if that made sense, and if it did it was probably as clear as mud, haha.

What movies are you excited for? (HINT: The Hunger Games…)

Review of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

In a nutshell: Cool filming, great intense music, plenty of sweet slow-mo action scenes, superb comical relief. Really though, I could do without the torture scene, yeesh.

I’m not sure if Arthur Conan Doyle really wrote Sherlock Holmes with smart-alecky Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in mind, but it worked. Plus Jude Law just has a cool name. And the English accents? Awesome.

The comical relief is really what kept up my interest. Law and Downey are hilarious (or should I say Holmes and Watson are simply uproarious). And yes, seeing Robert Downey Jr. wearing lipstick, blue eye shadow, and blush as he snuggles up next to Jude Law’s austere character, made me laugh. (You laughed too, admit it).


Also the camera shots of every detail that Holmes noticed, I LOVED. How cool would it be if Arthur Conan Doyle could see what his short stories about Holmes have become on the big screen? His stories from 1890 (or around then) have been produced into a huge, multimillion dollar film in 2011. So cool.

And no, I’m not too embarrassed to admit I came home and began acting like a detective.

Hmm, my pug Rufus looks guilty, and I see a hole in the dog food bag…What does this mean?



On a random note (which is kind of this whole post), did anyone else notice that Paolo from Friends was one of the gypsy guys? I kind of thought that was crazy.

Love Triangles

Katniss, Peeta, and Gale. Bella, Edward, and Jacob. Elizabeth Bennet, George Wickham, and Fitzwilliam Darcy.

What is it about these hopeless trios that are destined to end in heartbreak? Why are we so captivated by the angst and strife these characters must endure? (I know, I know, that sounded like it came out of romance novel. Which isn’t a bad thing!)

Here’s a couple reasons why I get sucked into love triangles:



1. I naturally choose someone I want to prevail. When there’s an odd number, you’re kind of forced to choose. Usually I feel terrible for one of them, but everyone likes choosing a team.


2. There’s so much at stake! Whose heart will be broken? The vampire or the werewolf? The humble gentleman or the black-leather-wearing bad boy? So many questions! No matter who the protagonist is (Okay, it’s probably going to be a girl, let’s be honest), when they choose their true love/boyfriend/supernatural being, it doesn’t come without a cost.


3. Usually the two suitors have some sort of dramatic face-off. Remember that part in Phantom of the Opera (I know we're getting into cinema triangles now) when Phantom traps Raoul? That was such an important moment. The phantom eventually released him, thus letting Christine and him live happily ever after—and we saw that the phantom really did have compassion. So yes, I like that spectacular moment when the two suitors confront each other and battle it out.

In my novel I have a few different love triangles that intermix with each other. I’ll do a post soon about the different characters and you can tell me your first impressions.

I’m fascinated by love triangles because you know there is going to be a lot of internal conflicts mixed in with the external conflicts. And it’s always scandalous, right? And I don’t mean that in a dirty way (haha).

What are your favorite love triangles? Who do you root for in these trios?

Crabs in a bucket

Competition. Yuck. I hate being competitive. I know a little healthy motivation is good—but why the meanness, spitefulness, and negative criticism?

Remember the phrase “crabs in a bucket?” If you put one crab into a bucket it will easily be able to crawl out. However, if you put in a whole group of crabs, they will constantly pull one another down so that no one can get to the top.

Why do we often pull down others if they begin to succeed? I’ve been thinking about how this applies to the writing community. So often I see writers tear down successful authors. I always think to myself how strange it is. If I don’t like a novel, I might not read it, but I wouldn’t bash it. We don’t all have the same taste. We don’t all like the same genres—but that’s exactly why there are so many to choose from!

Also, why do people criticize novels that were not written for them? If you’re a guy who hates fantasy, romance, and mushy dialogue, then you probably shouldn't read that kind of novel. You’ll never give that book a fair chance, because, well, you hate that genre to begin with.

Most of my experiences as a writer have been so positive. But I have had those few mind-boggling moments when people give disapproval that has more to do with my choice of genre than my writing.

As authors we should try and help each other. We all know how hard it is to write, edit, and perfect a manuscript. And as friends and family shouldn’t we try to uplift and not tear each other down?

I’m going to try my hardest to work on this, because when it comes down to it, I just don’t want to be a crabby person ;).

Someday we'll find it, the Rainbow Connection.

Sometimes when I hear this song I Just want to cry because it's so beautiful. For me it's not just a song I listened to when I was little--it's my family. It takes me back to memories of all of us living together in Alpine. We were as silly as ever with a family of six kids. I remember my siblings making up their own version of this song. “Someday we’ll find it, the peanut connection, the cashews, the almonds…”

Recently I was writing a scene in my novel where a character recalls a childhood song and sings it to Julia (my protagonist). Instantly this song came to mind.

I heard that The Rainbow Connection is on the new Muppets movie, so naturally I must go and see it. I love this song because it's such a time machine for me. It takes me back to those memories with my siblings, and makes me so grateful for my family. I love you guys!

In case you need to listen to this lovely song, I've posted the youtube of Sara McLachlan's version.



What are your favorite songs from your childhood?