Sound of Music Surprise

Haha. This is so funny and cool. Just thought I'd share it.

More than 200 dancers performed their version of "Do Re Mi", in the Central Station of Antwerp. With just 2 rehearsals they created this amazing stunt! It was a promotion stunt for a Belgian television program, where they are looking for someone to play the leading role, in the musical of "The Sound of Music".


~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.

Discovering Art in Randomness

When are you most creative? First thing in the morning? After an espresso shot, a run or a shower? In the dead of night? I find inspiration bites me at sporadic times. I’ll have a dream so lively and strange, that I wake up with an urgent need to pen it. Or I’ll be up late, stuck in the sillies and an idea will come to me.

The concept for Sapphire Reign, the book I’m working on now, came to me from a dream, two actually, now spliced together, as did its prequel, Kings & Queens, so I guess that says something about dreams for me. Dreams are beyond our conscious imagination so that’s where interesting plots are born, characters introduce themselves, and circumstances aren’t hemmed in by time or space or practicality or realism. One night you’re attempting to evade shark jaws while surfing and the next, you’re under a purple sky in a land where everyone, man and beast, gets along until you arrive and destroy the balance, and as you strive to make things right, you only make them worse.

One night at 2 AM, I was writing a forum post and jotting down songs singers should avoid on American Idol. Some are so owned, they should never grace the stage again, some were the kiss of death, some totally bit—TOTALLY—, and some are just not, um, Idol material. In my post, which was making me crack up, a story emerged, so I arranged the song titles into a lose poem. Here’s that 2 AM creative burst:

~ Songs to Avoid on American Idol ~

Hello
Imagine
Yesterday
I Am I Said
Dust in the Wind
Welcome to My Life
The Long and Winding Road

I Feel So
Like a Virgin
Cherry Pie
I'm Too Sexy
Born to be Wild
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
(You Gotta ) Fight For Your Right (to Party)
It's My Life

I Drove All Night
I Want Your Sex
Eight Days a Week
Time After Time
Any Way You Want It
All I Want Is You
Faithfully

I'm On Fire
Burning Love
Outta My Head
Hungry Like the Wolf
Crazy for You
My Immortal
Desire

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Livin La Vida Loca
It's All Wrong, But It's All Right
Is This Love
Love Bites
Love Is A Battlefield
Fallin'
Going Under
Bring Me to Life

Devil Inside
Highway to Hell
Some Like It Hot
Inside the Fire
I Have Nothing
Total Eclipse of the Heart
Smashed Into Pieces
Helplessly Hoping

I Wanna Know What Love Is
Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
How Do I Live
My Life
Good Enough
Empty Me
Save a Prayer
Pour Some Sugar on Me

A Change is Gonna Come
Karma Chameleon
Today
Macarena
Shake Your Love
Shout to the Lord
Dare You to Move

I Believe
I'm a Believer
Travelin' Thru
The Greatest Love of All
Jesus Christ Superstar
A Perfect Love
Love of a Lifetime
Stairway to Heaven

Tomorrow
I'll Fly Away
High Enough
Inside Your Heaven
To Be With You
Forever
Always
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

This is just a crazy list of song titles, but it tells a story, a journey about life. There’s a character here who’s searching for true love and finds it in an unexpected place.

During a moment when you’re most likely to be creative or even a moment when you're totally not, like exhausted maybe or distraught, pick a topic and brainstorm. Go with it, write whatever crazy thing comes to your mind. You could end up with a poem, a song, a short story sketch, a new plot concept for a novel or character who wants his story told. Never assume your random thoughts are just rubbish. Often times, when you clear away the haze and dust and look at something in a different way, you’ll discover your junk is actually precious art. Inspiration is waiting in the oddest places and during the most unthinkable times, so go find it.

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.

Will Books Become Kindling?

I'm not much of a gadget nerd. Actually, that's an understatement. I'm totally in a deficit...not packing muggers' delights of any sort. I don't have a cell phone much less a Blackberry or any other hand-held, buttony communication tool. I know! Crazy right? Nor do I have satellite radio, a Mark of the Beast tracker on my car, a digital pen, an X-Box or a PS...whatever number they're on now...15?

I don't get the point of Twittering, especially via phone, and have failed miserably at it, making it so evident that micro-blogging is NOT for me. In like six months, I think I've posted twelve times or something like that. Wanna follow me? I'm totally thrilling, not boring at all.

I did finally catch up to this age and get an MP3 player for exercising and running, but that's a fairly new addition to my pocket of nothing but gum.

Now Amazon is tossing Kindle out there like it's the next best thing since sliced bread and cocaine-free soda. No not Kindle. Kindle2. Excuse me. We've upgraded. Something tells me, I'm not in the target market for this revolutionary book-not product.

I've read plenty of books on my computer screen, some phenomenal, but I just didn't get absorbed into that fictional world like I would've had I read the same thing on paper. There's a difference. I'm not quite sure what it is, but it matters. Yes, a Kindle2 is convenient. You can order a "book" on Amazon and *poof* it's just in there like magic. No wait. No postage. You're saving trees and ink. Benefits galore, but it's just not for me. Even if I were compelled to snatch up every new thing off the belt, I still wouldn't buy it. I like to curl up with a book and a mug of cocoa and just read.

I just hope the Kindle2 doesn't have people burning books to save landfill space or turning libraries into museums. What a sad day that will be.

PAPER or SCREEN? Choose wisely, my friends? There may be no turning back.

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs?

My Weird But Totally True Story

Nearly everyone has a funny, embarrassing, wacked out jaw-dropping or amazing story to share with the masses. On one of my writing forums, someone put forth an invitation to tell a true life tale starting with the great writing prompt...So, there I was...

Well, here is my wicked bizarre, honest-to-goodness, true life, so-there-I was tale:

♦ ♦ ♦

So, there I was coming back to Mass from vacation in Hershey, Pennsylvania with my family. I was twelve, my sister, five.

My dad stopped to get gas and struck up a conversation with this old man standing outside the convenience store. The guy had a Bible on him, and he and my dad started talking about the Lord. My dad, being the friendly guy that he is, and a Christian, said he’d drive him to the Shoney’s he wanted to go to since we were going exactly in that direction. We'd eaten there on the way down actually so my dad knew right where it was.

He sat in front with my dad, and my mom hopped in back with my sister and me.

My dad had never, ever picked up a stranger, and by her tension, I could tell my mom was furious with my dad's sudden burst of kindness and caution-to-the-wind attitude about the whole thing.

As we’re driving, he and my dad continued to converse about the Lord and the Bible, and my mom eventually relaxed and chimed in too.

Out of the blue, the man said, “My name is in your car."

The three of us in back looked at each other with scrunched faces. We’re all like, “What?"

He repeated, “My name is in your car...See?" He lifted up the bunch maps my dad had in front between the seats, which were covered the whole time, and pulled out a stuffed mouse, wearing a Hershey bar T-shirt. He said, “That's me. Name’s Hershey like this guy, the chocolate king. He was a nice fellow with ambition and heart. Created tons of jobs for people."

My mom and I exchanged wide-eyed glances.

He continued on, talking about God, family and love…and a little bit about chocolate. When we got to the Shoney’s he oddly asked to be dropped off across the street instead of in the parking lot. I assumed he didn't want my dad to have to make a U-turn.

So my dad obliged and let Hershey out where he requested. As soon as he got out of the car, we all started clamoring about the whole Twilight Zone feel of that. We majorly freaked out about the mouse thing because there's no way he could have seen it. Plus, we had just come from Hershey and picked him up at least two hours away from that chocolate heaven. i mean, what are the odds?

I watched him walk towards the restaurant. And he never got there. I gasped.

When my sister shouted with alarm, "Where'd he go?" I knew we'd both seen the same thing.

He had totally just disappeared.

♦ ♦ ♦

Hmmm. Entertaining angels unaware? Perhaps. Methinks. We all came to that conclusion. So, now that you've heard one of my jaw-droppers, share your own tale of oddness. Spill the beans on your outlandish, weird, hilarious true life experience. I'm curious. Do tell.

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.

What's Not to Get???

From the age a person learns language, questions are quick to arise. Questions about life, nature, God, etc. And no matter how old or intelligent you are, there will always remain things that baffle the mind.

Although I love just about every sport with a passion, okay, a borderline obsession, you're sooo right, I’m not a fan of NASCAR. Not in any way. My extended family is huge into it, HUGE, crazy rednecks that they are. They go down to races every year, watch it whenever it’s on, stock up on paraphernalia and Wheaties, and have NASCAR keggers with heaps of buffalo wings and tortilla chips. The way they carry on, you’d think NASCAR drivers were Masters of the Universe or something. I would watch races if my husband were into it, but incidentally, I follow more sports than he does, so I thank the Lord, I don’t have to go there. I understand the burn of a diehard fan. I’m totally diehard for more sports than I care to mention, so I can identify with the craving to see events. But NASCAR on the radio? Really? NASCAR…on the radio. As if it’s not thrilling enough on TV, now you get the Audio Experience. I don’t get it. I mean I listen to contact sports on the radio, though football is a little hard for me to follow with so much going on, but I can’t imagine a race, be it runners, horses, kayaks or cars. On the radio. Can’t you find out the standings on the evening news? It’s not like a sport where a bad play or call matters. It’s a race. A race. On the radio.

I also don’t get why spandex and jelly shoes were ever popular in the 80's, considered wicked stylish even, and why they’re back with a vengeance, invading shopping malls everywhere. That's about the worst synthetic garb you can find. Put them together, and fashion police will be hunting you down, to ticket you for such a faux pas.

And.......

Why does every IHOP look like a dutch house? I mean, can't other nationalities be represented too? What's so important about the Dutch?

Why are the New Kids on the Block making a comeback? Sometimes you have to just let the dream die. Bye, Bye, Bye. Oops. Sorry. Wrong band. Really. Give it up.

Why do the rich and famous give their babies hideous names? As if they don't have enough attention already.

Why did Coca Cola think it was a good idea to change the formula for Coke in the first place?

Why on 9-11 was the U. S. military unable to protect the Pentagon, the most guarded air space in the world, after two planes had already struck the World Trade Centers and it was clear we were under attack? Wait. I think I know that one.

Why did David Lee Roth ever think he could make it as a soloist?

Why did Journey ever think they could make it without Steve Perry?

Why is Sid at Comcast's R&D stalling on the remote button issue on the cable box? It's a great idea! Lost remotes are a bane. A simple beep, beep, beep would save aggravation for all mankind.

Why do women think Johnny Depp is hot? Ick. Gabe Kapler now. There's some eye candy.

Why did the ruthless Little House writers hate Mary so? That poor thing. Four eyes. Ruptured appendix. Went blind as a teen. Baby died in a fire. It's difficult to find a character who's suffered more affliction. My heart still breaks for her.

Why are you still reading some freak's blog?

Why did Starbucks get rid of their coconut mocha frapp? Again! Even the brownie one is gone. It's a specialty drink nightmare!!!!

Why is my dad in yet another network marketing company?

Why can I not get a simple Marion Barber shirt?

Why are people on Facebook rude and unfriendly? Out of the thirty or so people I wrote on the fly, some strangers and others whom I knew in the distant, forgettable past, only one wrote me back. No more trying to make friends for me.

Why is Vanilla Coke so hard to find? Oh right. It's only in cans??? Those CC pushers get you hooked so you'll have to buy cans.

Why are pomegranate salesmen not getting MEGA bonuses? They're obviously working overtime. That stuff's in everything now.

Why is there no Red Lobster within 100 miles of me? I hate it. Those buttery herb rolls rock the house. They're the best ever and they've been snatched from me, so why do they keep torturing me with their commercials for all-you-can eat shrimp and crab legs.

Why is Sinbad not being used in more movies? He's soooo funny. Check out Houseguest if you haven't.

Why does my husband continue to root for his losing football team? I don't get it, but that's okay. I just get more in-season perks than he does.

And I don’t get perception, how you can hang a painting by a three-year-old in a museum and have passersby gush in awe when they assume it’s by an esteemed artist. Art is so subjective, but if we can’t tell the difference between preschool art and an impressionistic masterpiece, what does that say of skill or beauty? Doesn’t that dump them into a realm where excellence and technique don’t matter?

Writing is also a subjective art form because readers have different tastes. Some people only consider literary fiction to be worthy enough for their eyes, and perhaps classic literature, but definitely NOT that icky, annoying fiction with a firm plot, that actually moves somewhere rather than simply showing a slice of life or an arc in time.

I cannot imagine telling a story without plot. I need to have a point. Literary fiction, which tends to be more character-driven, has its place, but the most resonating works for me as a reader are those with good plots AND strong characters, which don’t sacrifice one over the other.

I cannot grasp how a writer can write a novel without some force jerking characters into danger or trouble or adventure or romance or galaxy treks. Why is there a belief and air that literary fiction is more sophisticated and excellent than genre or general fiction? A good story is a good story. Sacrificing plot for literary merit and recognition is just writing pretty words and plopping characters into a minimalistic storyline. Spending so much effort on form, strips you of free thought. Everything's all bound up in technique. Passion can get buried under all the glitz. Yes, you can certainly strive to create great literature, but also take time to cut loose. Whether you're a dancer, ice skater, painter or writer, you need to break free sometimes and find a style all your own beyond technique, to touch base with the thrill of the art.

That’s why three-year-olds can produce masterpieces. Such wall-worthy art is born out of pure joy and carefree gusto, and really, it is no less beautiful or sophisticated. Just ask the gushers at the museum or the moms who hang them on the fridge.

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.

Cracking the Writers' Secret Code

Have you ever read a writers' forum or a blog and thought, huh? What in the world is everyone talking about? I'm totally lost. Why all the acronyms? Are these artsy fartsy weirdos in some secret society or something with its own language and handshake? I don't get it.

Yes, we are in a secret society actually, and we’re not actively recruiting at this time, but I’m nice and kinda rebellious too, not to mention a risk-taker, so although I can't cave on the handshake, I’m willing to share some of these secret codes so you won’t be so in the dark and can worm your way into the underground faction. But...ONLY read further if your promise to keep your source confidential. I’m really pretty fond of my fingers and tongue, thank you.

Finally, the mysterious alphabet soup codes of the WSWTFAYTAG are unlocked:

WIP = work in progress
POV = point of view
POVC = point of view character
MS = manuscript
MC = main character
PRO = Protagonist
ANT = Antagonist
NaNoWrMo = National Novel Writing Month, which is November BTW
Nano = short for the above
cf. = confer, compare
e.g. = example
et al = and others
i.e. = means that is or in other words; frequently used incorrectly in place of e.g.
N.B. = note well
P.S. = postscript
DH = dear husband; not designated hitter as I now know ;)
DD/DS = dear daughter/son
MOD = moderator
S-MOD = Super moderator, they usually get a badge and a certificate how totally super they are
IMO = in my opinion
IMHO = in my humble or honest opinion
BTW - by the way
LOL = laugh out loud
ROFL = roll on floor laughing
LMAO = Laughed my a$$ off
NPI = no pun intended
TGIF = Thank God it's Friday
IA = I agree
ITA = I totally agree
IDK = I don't know
N/P = no problem
j/k = just kidding
j/w = just wondering
w/o = without
Thx = thanks
TY = thank you
YW = you're welcome
TC = take care
WTF = what the fu**
PP = new paragraph
SP = spelling error
GR = grammatical error
CC = correction
FYI = for your information
JSYK = just so ya know
DIY = do it yourself
FWIW = for what it's worth
BYOB = bring your own beer
WHC = we have cookies
BRB - be right back
GTG = got to go
HB = hurry back
WB = welcome back
AFC = away from computer, unless you're in a sports zone and in that case it'd be American Football Conference
CMYK = cyan, magenta, yellow and black/color plates used in printing
WYSIWYG = What you see is what you get, in reference to a web design program like Dreamweaver or CoffeeCup or a site like Wix.
IE = Internet Explorer
FF = Firefox
ISP = Internet service provider
URL = your website or blog address
AIM = AOL Instant Messenger
YM = Yahoo Messenger
AAR = Association of Authors’ Representative
P&E = Preditors and Editors
TNBW = The Next Big Writer
FB = Facebook
AD = Authors Den
BK = Burger King
MBIII = Marion Barber III, the Barbarian
G+ or Google+ = a secret society of social networking junkies
Tweet or Tweets = Twitter posts in bite sizes of 140 characters or less
RT = Retweet

Well, while this code cracking system won't get you into Bohemian Grove for their mock human sacrifice, at least writers will think you're one of the pack if you can speak the language. GTG. Have to work on my WIP and kick all my POVCs in the butt.

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.

Oops, I Did It Again...Well, Not Me, or Britney for That Matter, But...

I know that journalism is a fast-paced business—you’re under the gun to type up stories every day, sometimes several times a day with there being so much to report on like the new Bigfoot discovery—so spelling errors are bound to roll into the ink now and then. When I worked in advertising, I made a mistake on a 2-color brochure I designed. Somewhere along the line, my client's phone number changed into a copy of the blue I chose, so it looked fine on the screen, but it didn't print on the Pantone plates. I didn't notice it wasn't there. They noticed. I fixed it and had it printed again.

But, even with the super sonic speed of the newspaper business in mind, these blunders I'm about to mention seem inexcusable to me, but also quite laughable, and I do love to laugh.

Yesterday, a book review in the Sunday paper caught my eye and jarred me out of my Red Sox loss stooper. It was for the novel, Good People, which is a "yarn"—something I hope my works are never called—of a Chicago couple, who find money in their dead tenant’s apartment and decide to keep it for themselves. Now the reviewer, Bruce Something—hmmm, wonder why I have Hurst in my head ;) —basically wrote that this couple discovers said money in the kitchen when the woman grabs a sack of flower to smother a grease fire. Did you catch that? Flower as opposed to FLOUR. And I’m also a little curious about this sack. Can you still get those? Cuz the Piggly Wiggly was clear out last I checked. I can only find those paper bundles that end up exploding in your kitchen, giving you an instant White Christmas smack in the middle of July when you're trying to make brownies from scratch.

Anyway, in Good People, this couple empties out other canisters and boxes of food in the kitchen, finding almost $400,000 total. They clean up the mess, call 9-1-1 and act as though the money never existed. Unbeknownst to them, the old tenant was involved in a robbery during a drug deal, and of course, the partners he stiffed want their money, the drug dealers want their drugs, and the cops find the couple suspicious, so the conflicts press in.

Bruce explains so eloquently that this couple has to grapple with two sets of bag guys. Hmmm. Now I’m really intrigued. Were they paper or plastic? Bag guys? That’s something I’ve never seen in fiction. I’m gonna have to go and check out the book now, to see if the author used flower as opposed to flour, and if bag guys are as scary as I envision them. Walking talking objects that should remain inanimate really freak me out like the Kool-Aid man, Fruit of the Loom guys and even M&Ms, and most especially Chips Ahoy cookies! I really don't want my food, beverages or underwear talking to me. Sorry, but that's just me. Seriously. Stop it. It's creepy. The talking apple in the Applebees commercial really confused my two-year-old daughter. And definitely get rid of chilling mascots like the Burger King King, the most horrible horror of all nightmares. Evil should not be a part of any value meal!!! Bag guys now? Sheesh. Freaky. Those plastic ones really can be deadly. Keep them away from small children.

Kay. Got it. Well, his error-ridden coverage worked. I'm gonna go check out the book, and I can honestly say I wouldn't have without those glitches, which were kind of funny but scary at the same time.

I seriously hope my work doesn’t have or retain glaring errors like that, giving readers cereal killers, break tampering [would totally suck at the office] and ghostly allusions to worry about. Sometimes even though countless eyes have read, critiqued and edited a work to death, it’s the guy eating Doritos in his favorite armchair at home with his cat in his lap, who catches that cows have UDDERS not UTTERS but it’s too late for revision cuz it’s in print. Please don't let that happen to me. Welll, bak too editting and wryting I go.

~Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.