Incoherent · Ramblings · of · an · Unwanted · Girl

The reasons for which this journal were started were ignorant and did not prove true. And if you don't know of the reasons, I'm not providing a re-cap. Suffice it to say, I was being unhappy and stupid.

I can keep a log of quotes elsewhere, and those are really the items of most interest and intelligence anyway, aren't they?

My life, such as it is, is not anything worth reading about, and airing my personal feelings regarding idiocy just make me look like a bitch. (Or prove I'm a bitch. Or whatever.)

So it's best if I just keep quiet, or keep a private journal for those introspections which I think through more clearly if I write about them.

Thank you, to anyone who has/will read this. If my words interest you, then I am glad. And, if you're anyone who knows me personally who cares about me, then you already know what's going on in my life.

I will always be a little idiot, but it's time for me to pretend to be a grown-up.

What an odd question.

To begin with, this question is sort of vague. I assume it's referring to personal greatness, but if it is, that's not really specified.

So, greatness is an adjective, and as such, modifies a noun, indicating that the noun is either large or of a very good quality.

Personal greatness, on the other hand, kind of depends on the person. I guess it is trying to make something of yourself, and succeeding. Success does not necessarily mean that a person does not become overwhelmed while trying to live up to his or her ambition - e.g., Ernest Hemingway and Edgar Allen Poe. Greatness is kind of associated with fame - in order to be considered a "great" person, one needs to conform to the ideals of other people.

No, this time, it's not me. It's a guy I'm sure writes much better than I can - Jeffrey Cohen.

He's got this interesting post about writing and humor, which, if you're a writer, and/or you like to tell jokes, is a short read: http://heydeadguy.typepad.com/heydeadguy/2009/03/that-was-funny.html.

The help part comes at the end - he posted a chapter from the book he's working on, and wants to hear reactions on whether or not it's funny, what your favorite line was, etc.

So if you like humor, mystery, and/or are bored, check it out. 

"It was not exactly so, because no one would ever tell anyone else everything, but there was the illusion that there was no concealment. When you were in love, all the cards seemed to lie face upwards on the table."

(p. 307) 

Okay, well I think everyone has seen Joaquin Phoenix's interesting interview with David Letterman by now. Now it appears he's attacked someone.

You know, his interview with Letterman is, admittedly, funny. Phoenix has put himself into the spotlight, and in doing so, has given America the right to laugh at him when he does something ridiculous.

At the same time, I read that Superficial article about him today, and it got me thinking on a slightly more depressing and sympathizing track.

I don't know about you, but I've never met Joaquin Phoenix. I've seen his movies, and I think he is a talented actor. But I don't know what his life is like. He has more money than me, and for that, I envy him, but it appears that he is participating in extracurricular activities that indicate he's not particularly enjoying his life.

Life isn't about money. Not having to worry about money sure as hell helps, but it doesn't necessitate happiness. If Mr. Phoenix is unhappy, then I am sorry for him, and I hope that he can find a way to feel like his life is meaningful, and thus derive pleasure while he lives.

His interview with Letterman was a bit odd, but if you watch it, and think about why he's acting the way he is while chuckling to yourself, I think it's pretty obvious that he's thinking. The beard doesn't particularly become his appearance, and he may be partaking in illegal substances, but maybe that's the only way he can see out of his current predicament.

While it is a bit disheartening that he appears to be resorting to the same measures as those of his brother, I hope he soon figures out some other way to feel okay. Life is hard for everyone, I think.

Some of us just really have trouble making connections with other people, though that's something most people intrinsically crave. Some of us have trouble leaving the house, because the world's such a scary place, that it seems easier to just remain indoors, at home. Some of us have trouble breathing, because life sucks and it hurts.

But some of us are very social, and easily make friends. Some of us enjoy the outdoors, with all of the challenges it presents. And some of us have learned to look honestly at the world around us, and to be okay with being our imperfect selves, and to laugh at the absurdities that life presents.

We're all human, and we all know the reasons that people resort to drugs: boredom and/or unhappiness.

I may be insane. I know it's going to take some getting used to, but I need the money, they seem like really great work environments, and I also need an excuse for my apartment to look like crap. (I am not a neat freak. I like cleanliness, but I don't like cleaning. So my apartment isn't a pigsty, it just isn't very neat.)

Anyway, other than my nifty new job at Family Video, I'm also going to be working at Coldstone Creamery, which has some of the yummiest ice cream ever.

I get to watch new releases free, rent my other movies at a discount, and I can home smelling like ice cream. Life, right now, seems pretty good. 

This is what I do, to cheer myself up.

Not that there's any particular reason why I'm down. It's just one of those weeks, you know?

Currently playing in my living room? "Bridge to Terabithia" (and this is random, but if anyone knows the proper way to refer to a movie - like, are quotation marks correct? Or am I supposed to underline, italicize?).

This movie is cute, but so sad.

I'm still going out with my boyfriend and everything, but I read some Craigslist personals today. Just for kicks.

Personal ads are so interesting.

You get people who claim to be "genuine" and that they're "not playas," but know that most of them probably are. You get interesting ads that seem to be written by intellectual people. I read a personal a few weeks ago where this guy referenced a book by Tolle, and said he would "try to be a duck" (he explained it more thoroughly than I'm going to). If I was going to answer a personal, it would definitely be someone who seemed to have done their homework, and made some esoteric reference like Tolle-man.

I would also choose a guy with no, or few, typos in his post. Like most things on the internet, personal ads are rife with typos. So annoying.

You get odd things if you look at the "missed connections" page - one guy offers women $100 to take their underwear off in front of him, and then hand him the underwear. $100 for something that cost you $5 (and, you know, kind of acting like a whore).

Seriously, if you're bored, check out the personals - it's fun! Make up backgrounds for these people you don't know. Or find out something disturbing concerning someone you do know. Or maybe read something that touches you, and meet the love of your life for coffee.

Another thing frequently found in personal ads - people who are so obviously upset with the dating scene. To the point where you feel like they won't even seriously answer any replies. I understand the frustration, but if you're swearing, or saying "most likely, no one of any worth that weighs less than 300 pounds will respond to this," your chances of meeting "that special someone" are going to go down a bit.

What I really like, though, is the "missed connections" page. I think it's kind of sweet. Maybe I watch too many movies (probably, I watch too many movies), but I picture a guy who has seen this girl and felt that spark of warmth in his chest. Some might refer to it as lust - but that's not really it. Some might refer to it as seeing your soulmate - but that's a bit much, too. You see something, though, maybe that "inner beauty" that Shallow Hal is hypnotized to see so prominently in the movie of the same name. So I picture a guy (or a girl, with a guy) who has experienced this, and feels an overwhelming need to do whatever he can to get in contact with her. But he doesn't know anything about her. So all he can do is resort to Craigslist. And hey, maybe it works. And hey, most of the entries are probably more along the lines of, "I saw you at the Taco Bell on Harper and Martin and thought you were HOT. I was the guy in the green shirt, cowboy hat, and magenta eyeshadow. We should hook up." But the thought that it could work out for one entry out of every hundred is nice.

Or the idea that someone could miss me like that. Not that that happens.

I read the personals in the Detroit Metro area, because that's where I used to live, and the Lafayette area, where I now live. The Detroit ads are way more fun. It seems to me, so far, at least, that the Detroit crowd gets more creative. Plus, it's a bit more fun, because there's more of a chance that I will read the words of someone I know. I don't really know a lot of people in Lafayette, so the personal thrill is kind of gone, there.

And to finish off this incredibly odd, rambling post, let me finish with something I find hilarious. The "no offense, but no BBW please." I've seen that one a lot. It's kind of ridiculous, though. Many people request pictures - so you're going to know if someone doesn't fit your aesthetic standards that way, as well as that the person isn't a spambot. And unless you're being REALLY specific - a la, "I'm looking for a 26 year old female with violet eyes, black hair, tan skin, who is between 5'4" and 5'7", weighs between 110 - 125 pounds, and owns a blue feather boa" - it's just insulting to say no to one specific category. Why make yourself seem narrow minded? Oh, but you're also PC. Almost forgot to point that out.

I locked myself out of my car.

I guess this isn't really a big deal. People do it all the time. But I bought my car in August, 2003 and this is the first time I've ever done it. In fact, I usually check my pockets/purse/etc. for my keys about three times before I close the door.

But it was the first day of work at a new job, and I was just stopping for a minute to pay my rent, and I've been tired lately, all of which excuses worked together (teamwork!) to result in my locking my keys in my car.

I could see the black case in which my pepper spray is encased peeking out of the maroon of my large purse in the passenger seat. But it was too late. The doors were locked, and rail against my grey Ford Focus as I might, those doors were not budging.

So the property management people my landlord recently hired nicely called a local towing company to get my doors open for me. It cost thirty dollars, which isn't a bad price. It just feels weird to pay anyone money for breaking into your car - even if it's for you. I mean, he actually used the wire and everything, a glorified coat hanger.

The funny thing is, it took him awhile to get my door open, because my car doesn't have "the dimple" the tab that unlocks your door usually has. He was kind of upset about that - not with me, just that he had to deal with that sort of problem when it's so cold outside. I was visibly shivering, and hoping he didn't notice and think I was a wimp, even though I am a wimp. While I felt bad that his job was more difficult, I couldn't help being slightly elated at the same time, thinking, At least I know my car's not really easy to break into.

Now, if you'll excuse me, my PB&J is calling to me.

I'm giving Meyer's book another try, in case my expectations were too high the first time, and the raving I heard unduly biased my judgment.

I'm taking notes and everything (kind of like with the Holmes' story, but more in depth), but overall, my reaction so far is pretty much the same.

I wish someone else was reading this book at the same time, so that we could talk about the book. Instead, I guess I'll just go over the highlights of my notes, thus far:

I can totally see where Pattinson was going when he said that he felt like he was reading Meyer's personal romantic fantasy. A lot of the time, Bella seems like a bratty, sullen teenager (esp. in her treatment of her father), but sometimes, she's a bit too mature for her age. She and Edward talk, at one point, about how she seems older. She makes some joke about her mother referring to her as 'middle-aged.' But it doesn't seem true. Really, the one thing that seems 'mature' about Bella is that she's got this self-sacrificial attitude where her loved ones are concerned (moving to Forks so her mom can be happy; says she's willing to die for love in Preface). And she's good at housework, which frankly, is kind of weird. A teenager who just does the dishes without being asked? C'mon.

Then, there are some things which just seem like the author is a bit out-of-touch. On page 54, Bella says she "threw down a quick bowl of cereal and some orange juice from the carton." I don't know how others view the phrase "threw down," but to me, it sounds like Meyer trying to infuse a bit of "hipness" into Bella's character that doesn't really work. Another example is the name of the Indian reservation - La Push. To me, that sounds like bad French, not Native American, and it sounds like a metaphor for some cliff that heartbroken women like to throw themselves off of in the throes of despair. That latter bit could be me being melodramatic, but the fact is, it sounds French, and makes me think of suicide, not Indians. Not even suicidal Indians. More like crazy Victorian women.

There are moments of inconsistency. Like, Bella has never seen snow before, but she's all grumpy when she sees it for the first time? I'm sorry, that's NOT A NORMAL REACTION. Actually, no, I'm not sorry at all. My dad told me this story once, a true story, of when he was in the Air Force, stationed in California. He and his buddy were driving in the mountains around there. His buddy was from further South in California, my dad is from Saginaw, Michigan. It began snowing, and his buddy (whose name I don't know, and I'm too lazy to think up a pseudonym, so he's "his buddy," okay? Deal) stopped the truck and told my dad he had to take the wheel because the snow was "hypnotizing" him. It sounds goofy to those people who have grown up in an area where it tends to snow every winter, but that's the thing. To people who have never seen snow before, even though it's cold outside, they still think it's cool to be seeing snow for the first time. Then, there's Bella's talk about her father. On page 11, she says that the police station is her father's "wife and family." That's kind of harsh, but if her father's ignoring her, I can understand that. Except, he's not ignoring her. He tries to show her that he cares for her. He buys her a truck; he gets up extra early to put chains on the tires of said truck when it's snowy and icy, so that Bella doesn't get hurt driving to school. He is there for her, he does show he cares about her. Plus, Bella later says that it's obvious her father's not over her mother. So I don't think his job is everything to him like that early statement implies.

The abuse has been discussed by other people, so I'm not going into much detail about it here. I found many instances. But the thing which gets me most I first noted on page 54: "I was still frightened of the hostility I sometimes felt emanating from him..." Okay, wait a minute. So while Bella is obsessed with this guy she doesn't really know, while she has crazy dreams about him all the time, she's kind of scared of him? This makes sense, since Edward's  a vampire. Even though Bella isn't aware of this status yet, it makes sense that she is instinctively frightened of him, since she's kind of his natural prey and all. It is really not cool, however, that teenagers or adults might read this book and think it's perfectly normal TO HAVE A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH SOMEONE YOU'RE SCARED OF. If you feel that a person you've got a crush on might hurt you, you STAY AWAY.

Of the 109 pages I've re-read thus far, there was one line that I liked, courtesy of Edward Cullen:

"'The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business'" (83).

I like this quote b/c he's being a smartass, and I'm kind of a smartass, and b/c I'm a hippie, so I'm all for saving the environment.

A lot of the days this month have dragged, but in retrospect, it just doesn't feel like it's possible that much time has passed.

I've been out of work for a month. I mean, I've been hired at a couple of places, but don't start until tomorrow, so technically, I haven't been working for a month.

One month, and I feel like I'm getting old, or growing crazy, or both.

I mean, when you're young, it feels like you've got all the time in the world to do whatever you want. You waste time, laying in the grass and looking up at the clouds, kicking at pebbles and being bored. The days stretch out when you're young, and seem long in retrospect, as well. 

I'm reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet, the first of his Sherlock Holmes books, and I am really, really enjoying it.

I bought the Oxford World's Classics edition b/c it was cheap - 75% off at the bookstore I used to work at, b/c that bookstore went out of business. I feel so uninformed. I'm reading all of the notes - which kind of sucks, b/c some of them give away plot elements; a foreshadowing I don't even want - and there is so much I don't know. Doyle makes all of these references that wouldn't mean anything to me, if I didn't see that little asterisk that means there's a note on it.

While reading this book, I began thinking. It's late nineteenth century fiction. I think I just like nineteenth century fiction. Not that I don't like modern fiction, as well. But I really enjoy Austen, Wilde, the Brontes, and now, Doyle. (There are more, I'm sure, but I'm too brain dead to think of them.) Maybe it's just b/c the nineteenth century stuff that's reprinted is all the good stuff. You know, there must have been horrible fiction published in the nineteenth century, too, but no one wants to read it, so when I browse and see nineteenth century fiction, I'm getting the cream of the crop, and that's why I like most of it.

Anyway, I find myself making notes on the reading, too. It's like I can't help myself - I'm in English class mode. Even though I'm not going to have to write a paper about it, or teach it to others, I'm writing in the margins and keeping some separate notes in a notebook.

Okay, so I watched the first season of Gossip Girl recently, and the love storylines in that show made me think.

I'm a romantic at heart. I kind of cringe as I say that; I feel like I'm admitting I have a negative IQ or something. I feel ashamed. But I know it's true, and I'm no good at lying, so I'm a romantic.

I like shows and novels that make me feel like great love is possible. I really do think that people have great loves - meet someone, maybe feel the spark that I once met on seeing someone, but reciprocally, and spend the rest of their lives together. Not needing or wanting anyone else. I think it's rare, though. I don't think it's going to happen to me. I think I'm going to become burnt out too fast, start losing my teeth (b/c I have pretty bad teeth, and always have), lose what little mental acuity I currently possess, and be lucky if I die quickly. And who could fall in love with that? Seriously.

I like shows and novels that take a more negative view of love, too, when they're well done. But I prefer the former. The negative ones just make me feel sad. I mean, they're supposed to, and they succeed in my case.

Of course, Gossip Girl is one of the latter. I liked it. The fashion, the scandal, the good looking guys - totally had fun watching it. I hated the way the first season ended, though.

(There will be spoilers from this point on, in case that bothers you.)

Okay, let's look at the love story lines in kind-of-separate format:

1) Rufus and Lily - This one's kind of sweet. "We loved each other when we were young; we never really got over each other; we sleep together in the last episodes..." The thought that two people can remain in love, despite being involved with other people, even loving other people, is a nice one. The fact that they don't get together is understandable, since their kids are dating. The fact that Lily marries someone else? Not so understandable.

Message: You can be desperately in love with someone else for many, many years, and they could feel the same way, and it just isn't going to happen, because there's not enough drama if it does.

2) Serena and Dan - Really, kind of the central romance. I mean, obviously, Serena's the girl you're supposed to adore - everyone else does. In the first episode, Dan thinks of Serena as the love of his life, even though she doesn't know who he is. By the end of the season, he's ended things, choosing instead to hang out with his old flame. Um, not cool.

Message: Just b/c you're soulmates doesn't mean you're going to last, especially since there's not enough conflict in a steady relationship, for a hit TV show (or book series.)

3) Blair and Chuck - This story line is one of those well-trodden, well-loved ones. The bad boy who becomes a better person because he falls in love with a great girl. At the end of the season, though, Chuck's father scares him by talking about a real relationship, and Chuck sleeps with some random chick who's helping his stepmother decorate the apartment.

Message: Just b/c a guy loves a girl doesn't mean he's going to be honest with her. (Which is totally true, but still not a positive message).

4) Blair and Nate - This story line, in my opinion, is the worst.

Blair has loved Nate since the first time she met him, and they've been dating since they were in KINDERGARTEN.

Of course, Nate has also always had a thing for Blair's BFF Serena (told you everyone likes her), and they got drunk at a wedding & screwed like bunny rabbits. Only in the flashbacks, there's a soft glow around the edges of the screen, and nice music.

BUT, Blair is wiling to forgive Nate and take him back when he asks her to.

Except he doesn't really mean it, he's just doing it b/c his parents are pressuring him to to save a business deal between the two families.

He decides to grow a pair, and Blair and he break up.

Blair gets loaded and sleeps with his best friend. Only, she's not really cheating, b/c they BROKE UP.

Once Blair has managed to become okay with the situation, and isn't waiting by the phone for Nate to call her, Nate realizes, he misses her! In fact, he loves her!

He pursues her, and succeeds.

Then, he finds out she slept with Chuck, and forget it. He doesn't want anything to do with her.

Message: Guys are going to sleep around, and when they do, you girls need to forgive them. But when girls sleep around, it is totally not cool.

See something wrong here? Don't get me wrong, I liked the show. And the convoluted love story lines are part of the fun and scandal. And the show usually manages to put enough positive mushy-gushy love feelings interspersed between the negative, this isn't working, we better break up parts.

But overall? The season ends with all the love lines seriously fucked up.

My response, when I felt all, "WTF?!" as the series ended, was immediately, "Well, that's okay. It's just more realistic."

When I think about it, though - fuck that shit. Isn't one of the nice things about fiction that things can actually work? If we want our fiction to be exactly like real life, why bother with fiction? Why don't we just start photocopying and passing around pages from people's diaries?

I would like to feel better after watching a TV show. That's just the way I am. I would like to believe in love. Maybe that's naive. I don't care. I'll be naive.

Someone give me hope. Isn't life horrible enough? If you're not going to make me laugh, or fill my stomach with champagne bubbles of hope, then leave me alone for awhile. I want to think nice things. Negative influences - begone. I'm negative enough, all on my own.

I am definitely not an expert on writing reviews. I know what I think of a book, I think that has to be tempered with the fact that different people have different perspectives, and I don't do that "rating" thing. I list what I consider the pros and cons, and I let the reader of such reviews (not that there generally are any) come to his or her own conclusions.

I also know what I like in a review, though. A little bit of summary doesn't hurt - emphasis on "little."

Why am I talking about this? That is a good question, clever reader.

So I have this Blogger account, information about which I choose not to disclose. And I joined this Romance Reading challenge for 2009. I've read a couple of other people's reviews, and then came to the conclusion I needed to stop. Many of the books being read sound pretty vapid, and the reviews were too "fluffy" for me. Not much personality from the writer of said review, and too praising, considering that it sounded like they were reading extremely dumb books, in my opinion. Some people like those kind of books - I tend not to.

One of these reviews was for Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. It was an okay review, but it didn't mention that Austen was writing a satire of the gothic literature that was popular when she wrote NA. So I left a comment, trying (and apparently, failing) to be funny, and saying that perhaps part of the reason Austen's characters aren't as memorable or fully developed is because she was pointing out that gothic novels tended to have pretty transparent characters. Gothic novels rely more heavily on plot than character development, and I think that's a factor that needs to be taken into consideration when reviewing the book.

This girl responded, kind of nastily, that she had read MANY gothic novels (in response to a joke-ish remark), and that she still thought that the lack of character development was because NA was Austen's first book. I don't think that's actually true - I thought her first book was a very rough draft of Sense and Sensibility, with some title about Friendship, but whatever. I certainly wasn't going to argue with her more. Anyway, this reviewer made it clear that she had realized NA was a "parody," I think she put it, of gothic literature.

And I was kind of sitting here before my computer, brow furrowed, wondering why, then, this girl hadn't put the information in her review.

I don't know if you've read Northanger Abbey, but that's kind of BASIC INFORMATION about that book.

I guess that person just didn't want to write a well-rounded, thoughtful review. But then, what's the point of reviewing at all?

That's what my dream consisted of last night/this morning.

I don't really remember much of it, and, of course, with each word I type, and each second that passes, it further fades from my mind.

There was something about school. Sneaking into school for...something, with a brother and sister, I think? This seems to have been inspired by my current infatuation with Gossip Girl - Dan & Jenny. The girl had really long blonde hair, the guy was brunette - I don't know what I was doing there, but there I was. So I was standing outside, b/c the cops were there, b/c we'd set off some kind of alarm. But there were many other people in there. Specifically, this girl I used to work with, who had, it seemed, just finished working out. I attacked her - by pinching her cheeks. It's like, attack of the horrible aunt, but she's not old, and her siblings don't have kids yet, and she's just really trying to annoy you! I guess?

Then, I was on a bus. We were crossing a bridge. And I was scared. I've always been afraid of water - well, more specifically, of drowning. So when I was younger, bridges terrified me. All of a sudden, in my dream, that fear came back. But the water was roiling, and cresting in huge waves.

And then, we were stuck. The (approximately) six other passengers and myself. Both sides of the bridge had collapsed. We got out of the bus, because the chunk we were on still existed, and took off our clothes, and jumped into the water below us and swam to shore. While I was getting undressed next to the male I had been sitting next to on the bus, there was a lot of sexual tension.

Then, there was something about us being in a hurricane. Apparently, we had been trying to ride the bus out of the city rather than trying to get home. We had waited too long. There were many other people still in the city, who seemed pretty unfazed by the hurricane looming ahead. I saw some guy playing horseshoes.

So I suggested the six bus survivors all hole up in a house together. Stock up on food, and board the house up well, and ride the storm out. They agreed. I offered my house, but said it was small - then, some girl named Angie's house was offered on her behalf, though she agreed.

Then I woke up. And immediately, not surprisingly, began making comparisons to Hurricane Katrina (which I was NOT around - I was living in Michigan at the time).

As you know, if you have been reading this journal lately, this means I'm ecstatic!

I so need employment to motivate me, and to give me money to spend.

I will be working at Family Video - and, considering how much I adore movies, probably loving it.

The title of my post is the title of the book I just finished reading. It is not, as it sounds, a supernatural romance. It's more of a historical romance. By Victoria Holt.

I have a thing for Holt's writing. It is often quite good - for half of the book. This time, it was the first half. I was really enjoying my reading - and then the heroine is raped, and after that, everything seems forced, and the characters talk like robots (in my head, anyway).

But I do have a quote:

"Oh, what a betrayal it is when the feelings of one who prides herself on her good sense, demand that she act in opposition to everything that she knows is right." (page 273)

Isn't that what most romantic experiences are like these days? Or are those only MY romantic experiences?

Anyway, while I'm on the literary vein, and to prevent my waxing poetic on my disastrous relationships (except for the one I'm in, of course - that's more like a daily cat fight), I want to mention an interesting young adult marketing ploy.

An author named Amanda Ashby is soon going to come out with a book about this girl who wants to get invited to prom by this guy, and in her desperate attempts to attract his attention, accidentally turns everyone in her school into a zombie. From what I understand, anyway. I haven't actually read her book, to be honest - or, at least, not yet - so I'm summarizing based on summaries I've read. Which can be dangerous, but isn't that what history is comprised of? And wasn't I basically a history major? And shouldn't I, perhaps, stop asking rhetorical questions?

Touche.

So, the deuce (because now, of course, I'm going to associate her name with the location of my good ol' alma mater, Ann Arbor - GO BLUE!) is hosting a web blog party sort of thing. Her book is released in ten days, and every day up until then, she is having popular YA authors guest blog. They're all giving away cool prizes, and whatnot, at least, if you're into YA fiction. (We all know I am, of course, since I will never grow up.) And even if you're not, it IS the current literary craze, and you should check it out, so you can be cool and following a fad.

Amanda's blog: http://amandaashby.blogspot.com/.

Good luck, if you enter to win any prizes.

Who would have thought it was such a rigorous process to be hired at a video store?

I'm going to be honest - not I. But it's kind of cool that it is. I had my interview; took a clerical test the next day (and rented a few videos - a la, Nora). Now, I have a second interview tomorrow at 3.

I really want to get this job.

I've also posted some writing ads on Craigslist, offering my writing skills, and tutoring for high school students. No one's grabbing yet, though - I just keep getting these spam e-mails about government grants.