Friday, February 18, 2011

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

One of my internet friends, Jenny, has had a tough go of things. From dealing with infertility to giving birth to preemie triplets, I can't help but think of her as Wonder Woman.

When I found out that she was going to be participating in the March of Dimes walk held on April 30th, I wanted to help. Not only did I want to help by donating money to sponsor her, I wanted to do something more.

In the last few months I have taken up a hobby of jewelry making and even opened an ETSY Shop (FunkyPineapple Designs) so I decided I would make a special bracelet in honor of the nickname she gave her babies while they were still in the oven, PB&J.

The Peanut Butter Jelly Time bracelet (seen below) can be purchased through my ETSY shop with $10 of each purchase being donated to help Jenny and her family reach their goal of raising (at least) $1,000 for their walk.


Help me help Jenny reach her goal and maybe even surpass it. You'll not only help future families that need the assistance, but you'll have a nice little thank you on your wrist from all the people that are touched each day by March of Dimes.

Peanut Butter Jelly Time bracelets can be purchased here.
Jenny's blog post talking about what March of Dimes meant to her can be found here.



Thursday, February 10, 2011

Nods to Media in Writing

If you read my previous entry, you'll know that I love watching tv. There have been so many shows that I've watched over the years that I've never forgotten for one reason or another.

I think when it comes to writing, especially your first manuscript, a lot of who you are and what you like comes out in it. I've come across this numerous times in what I have been working on and I keep wondering things like "is this TOO much me?" or "should I save this for another character in something else I do down the road?" So far my answer has been to keep with it. It just so happens that my MC is a lot like me and it works for her. 

China Beach and Tour of Duty were shows based around war that my parents used to watch. I was only about six at the time but I remember watching some of these episodes. I can't tell you what happened except I remember liking them. Mostly I remember the songs used as the theme songs and they are two of my favorites. The song Reflections by Diana Ross and the Supremes has remained a favorite of mine and I even used part of the song as one of the email addresses I created a few years ago.

I was brought up in a house where the music of the '50s, '60s, and early '70s was pretty much the soundtrack. I still love the music and one of my favorite musicians of those time periods is Buddy Holly. Can you guess why I'm telling you this?

Yes, my MC has a crush on somebody who looks up to Buddy Holly. He has the dark hair, he longs to be the musician that Buddy Holly was and most recognizably he sports the same style glasses Holly wore (and yes, I one day want to visit Clear Lake, Iowa to see the shrine for Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens, who I'm also a huge fan of).

As for television, I can only recall (so far) one show that has crept into my writing and that would be Breaker High (laugh it up chuckle-butt). This was one of my favorite shows when I was in middle school and it was the show that put Ryan Gosling on my radar. Although it wasn't exactly his most noticeable work, it's one of my most memorable of him. He has been my favorite actor ever since (yes, I've bought all his movies as soon as they came out. My favorite is The United States of Leland) so when I was naming a location within my story, I used the last name of his character (Hanlon) as the name of the place.

Dracula: Dead and Loving It is also mentioned in my WIP because I love this movie (yes, this IS my favorite vampire movie) and it was a big part of sleepovers at my friend's house when I was in middle school. So of course when my MC and her BFF have a movie night, this is one of the movies that they watch.

Will people who aren't me know these things? Of course not but it's still fun to sneak these kinds of tidbits in there. These are my Easter eggs and I know that my chances of getting published are low and right now I'm just writing for myself, but should the day come where you get to read a book by me, know these little nods to my favorite shows, movies, and music will undoubtedly be present.

Basically, I love media. I would be bored to tears without music, tv, movies, and books. Have you noticed any authors who like to do this?

Are you a writer? Do you find yourself sneaking in these kinds of things?

If you're not a writer but know an author does these types of things, do you think it's distracting to what you're reading or are you more inclined to look at it as a treasure hunt?

Friday, February 4, 2011

Hear me when I say..



Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught, Nevada

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped
body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry
groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

Want to hear what some of my friends sound like? Here are some of their videos:
So what's the verdict on my accent?

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Wiiiiii

First I want to say that I can't believe that I haven't posted this year! I was bit by the procrastination bug and we all know that he worms his way into our brains and tells us what we can do today can also be done tomorrow or the day after. Pesky little bugger.

The hubs and I have had Netflix for quite a while but it was only in the last few months that we were given the opportunity to stream shows and movies from our Wii without having to insert a disc. To be honest, when the discs were first sent out for the Wii, there wasn't much on my queue that would allow for streaming.

I don't know if you remember but one of the first things I really watching using this method was the complete series of Veronica Mars. That was the beginning of the end.

I absolutely ADORED Veronica Mars and started wondering what other shows that I had always wanted to watch and never got the chance were hanging around waiting for me.

Soon after the hubs and I met Dexter. I always heard Dexter was a great show but I just left it at "we don't have Showtime." We have since become up to date on Dexter and also have a subscription to Showtime (which we'll continue the HBO/Showtime Tango for True Blood/Dexter).* I LOVE that show now and we were even able to get my mother-in-law hooked and she bought all the seasons on blu-ray.

After we were done with Dexter, I felt this emptiness (don't make fun) of not having a new old show to fall in love with. It didn't last long because almost two weeks ago I re-met Michael Scofield and Prison Break.

I was a follower of 24 from the beginning and I know Prison Break was paired up with it but for some reason I never really got into at the time it was airing. I think part of the reason was because the first episode I actually saw on TV was in the middle of the season and I hate not seeing shows like that from the beginning. We're currently a few episodes shy of starting season 3 and I'm LOVING this ride (plus, you know, Wentworth Miller is VERY easy on the eyes..oh his eyes).

So thank you Netflix dudes for allowing Wii users to stream awesome tv shows. I'll be sad when Prison Break is over but maybe I'll fill that void with something new like Bones or Firefly or maybe an old friend like Buffy the Vampire Slayer that I haven't seen in a while.

Yes, in case you didn't know I'm a TV junkie and I love getting into new shows just like I love getting into new books.

Do you have any suggestions on what I should add to my streaming queue?


*Last summer we ordered HBO so we could watch True Blood over the summer and a few weeks ago we realized the only way we could watch season 5 of Dexter was to order Showtime. We called our cable company and without even a price change, switched from HBO to Showtime and we'll be switching back again for the summer.