let them wash away

Happy April, everyone. How's it treating you so far? Mine is busy. But good. The word of the year is still balance, for me. In light of that, my April goals are going to be about the same as my March goals were, since I started but didn't finish most of those. Two freelance projects. Revise my novel. Work on my apartment. To add to that, I think April is a good time to start taking better care of myself, so I'm going to hit the dentist and the doctor, and try to cut back on the partying vices. (We'll see how that goes; wish me luck!)

There are a couple of events coming up that I'm trying to talk my partner-in-crime into. Dead Can Dance is touring, and I've never seen them perform, so I'd love to see their show. Also, there's a crazy party here in the city commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Titanic. A costume ball with live music and crazy performers. I really want to go to that. Maybe I will with or without the partner-in-crime!

I saw The Hunger Games last Thursday. Now, any of you who know me know that I am skeptical about adaptations. They're so hit or miss. And I LOVE this trilogy, so I went into the movie with some trepidation. But I have to say, I'm pleased with the film. It stayed very true to the spirit of the trilogy. The visuals were stunning. And I was pretty happy with the acting, too. I cried a couple of times--mostly moments involving Rue or Prim--and I don't remember the last time a movie made me cry. This was an intense film, with rapid-fire pacing and lots of tension. Jennifer Lawrence was solid as Katniss; I really appreciated how she let Katniss's emotions shine through. Like the way she shook just before the games began, and her unabashed weeping at Rue's death. Watching this made me want to reread the other two books in the trilogy. I enjoyed this enough that I may go see it again. And I will, in all likelihood, buy both the soundtrack and the sings-inspired-by albums, which if you know me is not surprising.

Have any of you seen any movies recently that really blew you away? Or read any books that did so?

And now, plenty to do, so off and running in the office. Blessed Be!

she broke your throne

This morning is colder than it's been for the last couple weeks, and it makes me happy. The colder it is, the better my mood is? Sometimes . . .

Two books for you:

8) Norse Code by Greg Van Eekhout. This book was a fun urban fantasy. I appreciated the Norse mythology; it was a refreshing change from all the usual British Isles fairy tale/folklore fantasies. I liked the characters, particularly Mist and Hermod. Ragnarok was deftly dealt with, and the underlying question of whether or not we have a hand in our own fate isn't overly pushed. I would definitely recommend this to other fantasy readers.

9) The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. I love this book. Love. First one in a while that made me cry at the end. It's about a boy named David who takes refuge in books as his family life falls apart, and ends up traveling to a magical kingdom. It's rather like a fairy tale; David begins his journey with help, but as he goes along there are three perils to overcome and by the end of his journey he is both alone and well on his way to growing up. There are many fairy-tale references included, and it is very touching to watch David grow into himself. Anybody who likes a good read should check this one out. It's a keeper for me, and not only that, I'll be looking for other John Connolly books to read.

Zoe continues to settle in well, although she's still quite skittish with my partner-in-crime. I wonder if she was abused by a man in her previous home, or if she had some rough male doctors at the ACC. But we're working on that. They had a good moment together on the couch last night. And as for Zoe and me . . . she follows me around. Especially when I'm the only person home, Zoe is right behind me far more often than not. It's pretty adorable.

A brief check-in on my March goals:

Cat? Check.

Finish apartment? Well, I've made progress. I have some paperwork to go through. After that I think it's just art and knickknacks.

Freelance projects? I'm on my third one. So we're good there.

Edit novel: I've started. I haven't made the serious dent I was hoping to make, but at least I've begun. After the freelance project I'm working on now I'll really dig into the novel.

And now, to work. There's plenty of it, and I am determined to make time to clean out my office in the near future.

all that i ask

Last night I dreamed that I was in some sort of reform halfway house for girls, with my friends A and C. We were the girls who hung out in the back of the room smoking cigarettes and talking when we were supposed to be paying attention. We were the girls who snuck into town after curfew. Etc. For part of the dream we were sitting on a table in the back of a crowded room smoking under a no-smoking sign. Then we were in a cafeteria, sitting at a long table, picking at our lunches and smoking and I had just found out I was pregnant. The father (one of my friends in real life) was really excited, telling everyone he knew and just beaming with happiness until I cornered him and told him I didn't know if I was keeping it. Then he got angry and asked, "Don't I have a say in that?" That's really about all I remember.

Happy Friday everyone! It's beautiful out right now. I ca't help wishing that I could skip out on work and go read in the park for a few hours. But, I 'm sure I'll get some days like that once summer Fridays start. Which isn't for another two months. Sigh. I can be patient . . . or I can try, at least!

Anyway. I need to be really productive today. Just thought I'd share the dream. It's been a while since I had a pregnancy dream. The first year or two that I lived in NYC I had a whole series of dreams about having a child. Her name was Cole; she had curly blonde hair. The dream last night wasn't anything like the Cole dreams, but it still reminded me of her. Anyway. Time to get to it. I hope you all have a good weekend!

a quick one

Happy Ostara, all. Technically it was yesterday, but we're doing ritual today. After I freelance and tidy the house, after I have a going-away drink for a coworker. We started at our current company on the same day, and he's moving out and on to bigger things.

I feel like there's constantly too much going on. I need to rebalance work versus freelance versus social life. I know I've said that a couple times already; it seems to be the theme for this year. Balance. I'll get there, eventually. But in the meantime, back to work for me. I'm SO CLOSE to being caught up at work, and once that happens I can spend some time organizing and cleaning my office. Thank goodness.

Oh, and also? It's Oregon weather today. It made me a little homesick when I walked out of my building this morning.

not a lot

My birthday was this weekend. Friday I bought myself a fancy pair of new shoes. Saturday I had a birthday party. Sunday I went to a screening on The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Monday I took the day off, and we had a backyard barbecue with a couple friends in the evening. It was a good birthday weekend, overall. Aside from that, I don't have a lot to talk about, really. I'm overcommitted on the freelancing. My writers group just finished critiquing my novel, so as soon as I'm done with the aforementioned freelancing I can dive into my rewrite. I haven't been good about sleeping enough. And it feels like spring outside.

I've enjoyed all the social activity recently, but I'm looking forward to scaling back on that and spending more time at home. I think that's my plan for the rest of this week, except yoga tomorrow.

And now, to work.

and if you go

First, a couple books to talk about.

5) Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, vol. 2: I love the Buffy series. Enough said.

6) The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. I really enjoyed this bit of magic realism. It was well executed. The characters were interesting people, and there were some really stunning scenes. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys magic realism, or just really well-done books.

7) Pure by Julianna Baggott. I just finished this one on the train this morning. This is another YA dystopian novel. Call me a sucker for this sort of thing, but I fell headlong for this novel. The hope and despair of the characters is palpable throughout. The strength that lies within them is amazing, and so is how, even though their world is wholly different than ours, they all have moments that are very easy to empathize with. The world this book takes place in has depth and resonance. This is a keeper for me; I know I'll come back to it. And I'll probably notice things on a reread that I didn't catch this time in the layers of clues and lies. I want the sequel so I can read it RIGHT NOW.

In other news . . . I adopted a cat on Sunday. Her name is Zoe; she's a five-year-old torbie with pale green eyes and a squeaky meow. She's beautiful, and she's adjusting very well to living with us. Her favorite place so far is my laundry basket.

That's about it right now. Work is busy, freelancing is happening again, band is fine, home is getting there. And now I need to get to work. There's a chance I could get caught up this week or next, and I mean to make it happen. Blessings!

since i could say

It's been a while. Sorry about that. There was too much work and too little time, and then a long weekend in Vegas to visit my sister and our grandparents. It was a great visit; sunshine, antique fairs, sleep, good food, four kitties, triominoes. I do feel a little recharged. But it was hard to force myself to go back to work. I think I'm still a little burned out. I know I'm still working on the concept of balance. Work, freelance, music, writing, relationships. Finishing the apartment. That's a lot to have going on all the time. And hopefully I'll get a cat in the next few days, there's that too. Word of the year: balance. Word of the month: frugal. Or maybe simple. I need to tone things down a bit. My goals for March are to make a serious dent in editing my book, do a couple freelance projects, finish my apartment, and get a cat. perfectly reasonable, attainable goals, I think!

I've been dreaming a lot, but not retaining much of them, which is frustrating. Bits and bobs here and there is all. Lorrie's birthday party, at a pool in a Vegas hotel. Moving into a weird interesting house with a skinny low-ceilinged library room in it, knowing there was a demon coming, and wishing that Buffy, Willow, and Xander were there. Playing in a clarinet quintet only I was sick and really struggling to make it to rehearsals. One I remember more of: I was in a car being driven by someone, we were being chased by evil wizards, I was throwing energy detonations at them with my hands out the window. We got to this huge mall-like building and ran inside. There was a grocery store, and I was prowling the aisles, stocking up on things like bread and ground beef that I could roll into balls to ground my energy bombs in. Samantha was there too. Then I remember heading into confrontation in a long hallway.

so, that's that. Strange dream snippets and short vacations and month goals. Next time I'll talk about books I've read, but for now I need to get to work. Happy Thursday!