Inspirational Tuesday Morning

Okay, Labor Day weekend happened. I did a lot of writing, a lot of editing, a lot of movie watching, and a little hiking. All in all, I’d call that a fabulous weekend.

Twin Lakes Reservoir. Although I’m not sure where the ‘twin’ part comes in. I guess there’s another lake sorta nearby?

Because of the weekend, blogging didn’t happen. Hence no inspirational Monday for you. But since today feels like a Monday to me, let’s go ahead with inspiring you today.

But speaking of weekends, I don’t want to get into details, but lately there’s been this elephant in the room in my life. I walk into my bedroom and he’s like, “Sorry, I’m using this space. Did you want in here? Well, I don’t know what to tell you. I am an elephant and all.”

So then I’ll go downstairs to the living room or something to get away from him, only he’s there too. “Oh, hey, yeah, I thought I’d read a book or something and stretch out over the whole living room. Did you need something?”

The hard thing is I can point out the elephant in the room and discuss him, but it doesn’t make the elephant go away. And it’s awkward and really hard. It’s almost like I have to compartmentalize my brain into life before the elephant (or where I almost pretend the elephant isn’t there) and life with the elephant.

I’m just curious. Have any of you ever had to do that to yourself? Like you have two minds you have to maintain separate from one another because resolution can’t happen for a little while? That elephant will be around for awhile so you have to figure out how life happens in the meantime? Just wanted to hear your thoughts on the subject.

AND SPEAKING OF AWKWARDNESS

When’s the last time you saw Val Kilmer? The Saint? An ’80s throwback with Real Genius. What has Val been up to these days aside from an occasional reference from Shawn on Psych. Now you know. (Small language warning…)

SOME CELEBRITIES DON’T SUCK

There’s Crazy Mel Gibson, there’s Crazy Charlie Sheen, I’m sure you can think of a few other celebrities you wish would get their act together. We’ve all heard Christan Bale’s temper tantrums, seen Tom jumping on couches, read too many stories about drunken Lindsay Lohan, and let’s not even get into that twerking incident.

But even with all that and more floating around out there, it’s nice to come across a celebrity that can act like a decent human being without a script to read from. Watch Kristin Chenoweth awesomeness via Absurdly Nerdly.

GET YOUR GEEK ON

I guess with Comic Con happening this weekend here in good ol’ SLC, I’m feeling a bit more geeky than normal. (But is that really a bad thing?) Anyway, what’s the geekiest mashup you can think of? Star Wars meets Firefly meets Adventure Time? Batman saving the last of humanity for the Cylons?

What about Mark Hamill as the Joker as the Emperor taunting Mark Hamill? Oh, yes they did!

Any other celebrities you think aren’t total doofuses? Were you totally geeking out over Mark Hamill? What did you do over the weekend? Anything exciting? Or any exciting news?

Inspirational Monday Morning

Rainy days don’t get me down. But Mondays do. And here we are again. Does it sometimes seem like we’re pressing teh reset button for the exact same week? At least it wasn’t the exact same day for 10 years, like for poor Bill Murray in Groundhog’s Day.

But this is supposed to be inspirational time. So let’s get inspired!

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF SMART IN THIS LIFE: BOOK SMART AND STREET SMART

This may lay somewhere in between. I’m sure you’ve heard of hacking, but have you heard of life hacking? Here are 50 like hacks to simplify your world.

HARRY POTTER, BOOK 8?

No, I’m not serious. As far as I know there won’t be a Book 8. But what if there was? What tidbits of information would you like to know? What if I told you there were tidbits JK Rowling revealed about the world of Harry Potter post Book 7. Would you cry uncontrollably for days because this is the greatest thing that has possibly ever happened to you?

Well get those tissues ready, my friends. Read 28 things that happened after the Harry Potter books ended.

ME FAIL ENGLISH? UNPOSSIBLE

For some reason over the weekend I was thinking of Ralph Wiggum. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been editing so much lately, I need a good hearty laugh. I put Ralph to you, also, as one of those really well written side characters. They seem to stay true to Ralph and a lot of the best Simpsons lines come from him. How well do you know your side characters? Are you staying true to them, whether they’re comic relief or otherwise?

TWENTY AT TWENTY

And finally, the 20 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me At 20. Some good advice. But I wonder, would my 20-year-old self have listened to this advice back then? I’d like to think I’d have listened to most of it. If you’d told me at 18, that might have been a different story. But 20, I feel like I’d had 2 years away from home to realize how incredibly smart Mom and Dad were.

What do you think? Is that advice still applicable today? Does Ralph Wiggum annoy you or encourage you to write characters true to their nature? Did you cry a little when you read the Harry Potter post? And how many of those life hacks are you totally going to try now?

Inspirational Monday Morning

Welcome to Inspirational Monday Morning, where I pull things from around the web to inspire both your writing and perhaps a smile on your face.

WANT TO SELL A LOT OF BOOKS?

I follow Kristen Lamb’s blog and read her posts fairly regularly. Generally speaking, most of them are fantastic, but this one was piqued my interest more than usual. If you really want to sell a lot of books, whether as a self-published author or a traditional one, there’s one bonafide way to get it done.

PUMP DOWN THE VOLUME

How old are your ears? If you’ve attended a number of concerts they’re probably older than you would like…like mine. *sigh* Either way, watch a fascinating “hearing test” video and see where you fall on the spectrum.

WHEN LIFE IS MISERABLE, JUST MEME IT. MEME IT GOOD.

I know some around the interwebz may find this sexist. And maybe it is. But hey, some people don’t understand about shoes. I spent an entire year looking for the right pair of winter boots. And every time I found a pair, they were sold out or sold out of my size. It’s maddening enough to make you want to send flying monkeys to grab the last pair of that upstart little farm girl who stole them from your sister. Seriously!

Come across anything interest on the web lately? How did you do on the hearing test? What do you think of Kristen Lamb’s post? Is that the key to selling a lot of books?

Strange, Entertaining Things

I never used to read blogs, unless the Oatmeal counts. Or the occasional read on io9. But it wasn’t until I actually started blogging that I discovered how awesome the blogging community was. Especially here on WordPress (no offense to Blogger users). We’re a fairly tight knit community on the WP. I try to keep up with Blogger blogs, but have found interaction on that platform to be extremely lacking. I still get to them sometimes, when I can.

So, having that in mind, knowing how rarely I get over to Blogger, there is one blog I make the time for, even with the annoying Blogger platform. And that, my friends, is the blog It Just Gets Stranger.

It’s thanks to the BFF I found this blog at all. She put me onto the post that put this Stranger blog on the map: the infamous Snuggie Texts (they even made the news). And since then there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think: “Hmmm, wonder what that weirdo’s up to today?”

I’m kidding! Okay, only sort of. (See Meow That Tune).

But more often than not, these posts easily work as inspiration for comics. I’ve given the Scribbles treatment to a few of my favorite posts, but fear not ye time-wasters, there’s plenty of hullabaloo to be had on Stranger for hours and hours to come.

SNUGGIE TEXTS

Let’s start at the very beginning. For me at least. Warning! Reading this post may cause you a fit of the giggles you won’t soon see the end of.

Ever received an accidental text? Well, Eli did, and instead of ignoring it or texting back she had the wrong number, he decided to run with it. See what shenanigans follow when Eli and the Unknown texter fight about what’s better to get their “mutual” friend Beth for her wedding.

Snuggie Texts is a part of a series on the blog called “Messing With People.” If you don’t have time to scour the whole blog, go to the “Messing With People” section for the giggles. Be sure to follow up with with Snuggie Texts Part II.

And the comic I drew is my favorite part of the whole interaction, especially that Unknown didn’t think something was up at that point and continued on texting. 🙂

Inspirational Monday Morning

Normally I do Monday’s Writerly quotes, but there’s so much more out there you guys. SOOOO much more. I felt like I needed a place to share all this great stuff, and Monday seemed like a great time to do it. So prepare yourselves. There may be quotes, there may be videos, memes—anything goes! I want to give you inspiration that may spark either more confidence and determination or perhaps new story ideas, or just whatever. So here we go with IMM!

Okay, these are a little older, but still quite applicable, and I’ll be adding to them as I go along. Some little tidbits for your enjoyment.

WHEN YOUR INNER EDITOR BECOMES ARNOLD SCWHARZENEGGER, FIND THE T-1000 TO TAKE HIM DOWN A NOTCH OR TWO

At some point, you’ve got to edit your story. And learning how to edit is a good thing. A great thing! But there really is too much of a good thing. Learn how growing both your inner creator and editor are equally important.

KEEP A GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR.

Did you hear about how a TV station in Oakland totally read faux-Asian names for a plane crash? Some how the names Wi To Lo and Ho Lee Fuk didn’t cross the reporter’s mind as something she shouldn’t read. Ever. At all. Anyway, Korean news decided it’s better to get even, and made this response.

SHENANIGANS ON THE INTERWEBZ

Geek culture is in right now and there’s no better fomentor of all things geek than the internet. I’m sure you remember Vanilla Ice (or you may be trying to forget). But I guarantee this video will have you singing “Ice, Ice Baby” in a whole new way.

WHEN LIFE IS MISERABLE, JUST MEME IT. MEME IT GOOD.

I’ve got two for you, although one probably isn’t technically a meme, I still found both enjoyable. And clever. Aaah, the cleverness.

We should be looking for cleverness in everything around us. I guarantee you’re going to write a character one day who will use the traits embodied by these two memes. File them away for the future, my friends. File them away.

Anything impressing you on the interwebz? Any writing posts you’ve come across lately that you love? What do you think of Inspirational Monday Morning?