Tag Archives: movies

Avatar: It ain’t people running around in alien suits

Posted on by Sherri
5

I watched Avatar for the first time (the blue people one, not the last airbender one) with the family. Normally I don’t let the kids watch PG-13, but this was a special occasion. My son in particular has been bugging me to get it from Netflix–in fact, he watched it again this morning, and will probably watch it again before it’s gone–but I think we all ended up loving it just as much as he did. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was actually a good movie. I’d expected it to be a cookie-cutter special-effects blockbuster with a superficial “save the planet” message. What I found out, though, was a great story supported by heartfelt, emotional performances–with the added bonus of the OMG OUT OF THIS WORLD FANTASTIC special effects. Did I say OMG?

The Na’vi were so realistic that it gave me the hope that my work-no-longer-in-progress could someday be made into a believable movie. The last thing I’d want for a movie made out of my book is a bunch of people running around in lizard suits. Is that so much to ask?

Scattered bullets

Posted on by Sherri
9

It’s a beautiful morning, though a cold front will be coming in this afternoon, plunging us back below freezing after a day’s reprieve during which the kids played barefoot in the dirt. So let’s see…what else is going on in Blossomland…

  • Maggie gets her cast off Wednesday. I imagine they’ll x-ray her first, but I don’t see any reason they’d leave it on. She’s felt no pain for a week, at least. She will have to wear the cast for her school Christmas program tomorrow. I’ll probably buy a red sock to cover the bright pink, or else I’ll buy her a pink Christmas dress to match.
  • I finished up my final project for Eternal Press last night and sent it off to my managing editor. I’m absolutely certain the decision to leave is the right one for me at this time. I’ll let you know when this vampire erotic fantasy is released in February.
  • That post I did about being blocked by a  friend? Well just a day or two after, one of my best friends from college reconnected with me on Facebook and salved my soul. He’s a world traveler and drifts in and out of my life every few years. I’m pretty easy to find, as I have never lived outside of Central Oklahoma.
  • Can’t wait to see Avatar! But how come aliens are always shaped like us? Even down to the women having breasts? I’m sure it’s a choice between realistic speculative world-building and concessions to characters a human can identify with. You know, because if a creature has boobs our brains supply woman seamlessly, and then they can focus on other aspects of a story. But still, it bugs me.
  • So far I haven’t had anybody tell me I should be linking to them, so maybe those people don’t read me anymore. Thanks to those of you who checked your links.
  • I will be making bourbon balls this year, and some other goodies for our Christmas night gathering, only I’ll have white, milk AND dark chocolate coating on the bourbon balls, and maybe even actual bourbon if I can talk the hubs into going to the liquor store. Maybe he could also buy a bottle of wine

I feel like there’s so much more I could be talking about, but I’m scattered. Anything you’d like to hear more about? Wanna tell me what you’ve got going on?

I’ll get up any time now…here I go…

Posted on by Sherri
12

Having a hard time getting started this morning, due to a bit of a fragrance hangover from my outing yesterday. I went to OKC to see The Time Traveler’s Wife with a friend, and while I was there I did a tarot reading for her. The movie was good, the reading I’m not sure about. I’m very rusty doing readings in front of a live querant, because I haven’t had a real-life hang-out buddy in a long time. Years, even. It’s kind of weird, hanging out with somebody just for the fun of it, with no obligation attached. I guess that may make me seem like a real loser, but I’m sure we’ve all gone through periods of time where we put ourselves last, and that’s just what happened with me. I’ve never been one to collect friends like knick-knacks, and when you add in family obligations, moving around a lot and fatigue from health problems, it’s easy to lose touch with people. I’m happy I have the energy now to direct toward new friendships.

I finished my long synopsis for reals on Friday and sent it off to my agent. Thanks to all my beta readers, I’m extremely happy with how it turned out, which in case you didn’t know is pretty rare for me. I think the synopsis is tight and readable and, most importantly, informative–I just can’t imagine how it might have turned out better.

So now I’ll switch over to another project on the merry-go-round, which is editing these short stories from Eternal Press. One is almost finished, so my mini-goal for the next few days is to finish that one and get a good start on the next one. Then I plan to get the notes for my novel in order and work on that till I get stuck, and after that devote a day or two to a friend’s critique, then finish the second Eternal Press story. This merry-go-round method is really working for me. Instead of thinking about how many things I have to get done and becoming overwhelmed (and possibly frozen), I can focus on one thing at a time. Although I have the same amount of work to do, it’s more maneagable in smaller chunks. Duh.

Happy Monday, people!