Oh my gosh! It's National Library Week! Where have I been?
I love the library. I think I'm carrying about half their collection around in my giant purse right now. Libraries are an indispensible resource for information and inspiration. Mine puts up with my 8 billion hold requests, and they don't snicker too loudly when I check out such intellectual DVD titles as Beer Fest.
Please support your local library, tell them you love them, pay those fines you owe. And take a child to one too, son, daughter, neice, nephew, whatevs.
And now, in a completely unrelated subject, here are some spring photos! They be on the flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/learyan/4521600487/in/set-72157623732774813/
__________________________
Other places to find me:
http://www.learyan.com/
Twitter: @LeaRyan1
www.flickr.com/photos/LeaRyan
www.myspace.com/Lea-Ryan
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
The Fourth Kind
The Fourth Kind is kind of lame. There are parts of that are genuinely creepy, but the action never quite seems to get off the ground.
The story bounces between what is supposedly ‘actual’ footage of interviews and reenactments of interviews, sometimes showing them at the same time, side by side. Doing so builds the tension, which I guess is the point, but it’s still kind of annoying.
A good portion of the movie is spent on people freaking out about what happened to them in the recent past. You are watching people being scared of things that happened to them previously, rather than actually seeing scary things, if that makes sense.
The Fourth Kind reminds me kind of that old writing advice that says show don't tell. This basically means give the reader an experience rather than just spelling out how they should feel. The Fourth Kind did a lot of telling and not a lot of showing.
Other annoying things about the movie: the uber pale makeup of the ‘real’ doctor doing interviews, the whiney voice of the ‘real’ doctor, and the sheriff's unrealistic temper tantrums.
Bottom line – the movie is slow and there’s no real payoff.
The story bounces between what is supposedly ‘actual’ footage of interviews and reenactments of interviews, sometimes showing them at the same time, side by side. Doing so builds the tension, which I guess is the point, but it’s still kind of annoying.
A good portion of the movie is spent on people freaking out about what happened to them in the recent past. You are watching people being scared of things that happened to them previously, rather than actually seeing scary things, if that makes sense.
The Fourth Kind reminds me kind of that old writing advice that says show don't tell. This basically means give the reader an experience rather than just spelling out how they should feel. The Fourth Kind did a lot of telling and not a lot of showing.
Other annoying things about the movie: the uber pale makeup of the ‘real’ doctor doing interviews, the whiney voice of the ‘real’ doctor, and the sheriff's unrealistic temper tantrums.
Bottom line – the movie is slow and there’s no real payoff.
random monday updates
Yes, it's time again for random updates.
Got some newish music. Gorillaz Plastic Beach is weird but cool. Kei$ha's Animal has nice beats and I like her voice but the lyrics try WAY too hard to be cool. Either that or I'm just getting old and crotchety, which is entirely possible.
Should get the second proof copy of the book this week. This still isn't the final version though. Hey. it's a learning process. I made some slight changes to the synopsis last week. They're up on my website and mom's website.
www.LeaRyan.com
www.simplywonderfulbooks.com
I took some pretty pictures at the park this weekend. I might post a few later this week if the spirit moves me.
Also in park related news, I discovered that I am not in as good of shape as I thought I was. Apparently yoga three times a week and some cardio boxing have nothing on hiking through the woods on uneven ground. Saturday night and all Sunday, this girl was hurting! Darn my wonky old lady hips and that pulled hammy. I'm going back next weekend (weather permitting) to hike some more because now I feel like I'm missing something in the way of physical fitness. That's right, knock me down and I come back for more.
What else.
Oh the Twitter. I'm getting into the Twitter. Some people are much better at it than others. One thing that really bugs me is when people tweet noninteresting sorts of things every five minutes or so. I'm about to boot one such individual. I can't see what anyone else says because she takes up my whole screen with the nonsense. A lot of Twitter is nonsense (including my stuff), but dang lady, take a break. Or if you are going to take up that much space, say something funny! Like another person I follow that was tweeting about various objects to play jenga with like pregnant women or Robin Williams movies. That was funny.
Ryan out.
Got some newish music. Gorillaz Plastic Beach is weird but cool. Kei$ha's Animal has nice beats and I like her voice but the lyrics try WAY too hard to be cool. Either that or I'm just getting old and crotchety, which is entirely possible.
Should get the second proof copy of the book this week. This still isn't the final version though. Hey. it's a learning process. I made some slight changes to the synopsis last week. They're up on my website and mom's website.
www.LeaRyan.com
www.simplywonderfulbooks.com
I took some pretty pictures at the park this weekend. I might post a few later this week if the spirit moves me.
Also in park related news, I discovered that I am not in as good of shape as I thought I was. Apparently yoga three times a week and some cardio boxing have nothing on hiking through the woods on uneven ground. Saturday night and all Sunday, this girl was hurting! Darn my wonky old lady hips and that pulled hammy. I'm going back next weekend (weather permitting) to hike some more because now I feel like I'm missing something in the way of physical fitness. That's right, knock me down and I come back for more.
What else.
Oh the Twitter. I'm getting into the Twitter. Some people are much better at it than others. One thing that really bugs me is when people tweet noninteresting sorts of things every five minutes or so. I'm about to boot one such individual. I can't see what anyone else says because she takes up my whole screen with the nonsense. A lot of Twitter is nonsense (including my stuff), but dang lady, take a break. Or if you are going to take up that much space, say something funny! Like another person I follow that was tweeting about various objects to play jenga with like pregnant women or Robin Williams movies. That was funny.
Ryan out.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
The First Second Life Post
The simplest way I can effectively describe Second Life is to say that it’s a virtual, online world to which users from all over the world contribute. I hang out there sometimes, not as often lately due to book working. I thought I would share some of my pictures and such.
The first picture in the strip below is my avatar. Yes, she is much hotter than me but hey, what fun is an avatar if she isn’t hot, right? HA! And I really never set out for her to look Latino but that’s where we ended up, so there you have it.
I’ve seen some crazy stuff on Second Life. I’ve seen a cake store. Don’t ask me what good a virtual cake is. I guess it makes a pretty decoration. I’ve seen a store that sells, um, male organs. I won’t put a picture of that on here because it’s pretty graphic, obviously. Ironically enough, those two stores were pretty close to one another.
I’ve wandered Wonderland, hiked forests, been to a recreation of the Sistine Chapel, visited art galleries, all without leaving my recliner office. One of my favorite things to do in Second Life is hang out on a beach. In the dead of February, in Indiana, I need a beach, even if it’s just a virtual one.
The three pictures under the portrait in my little strip here are: a creepy carousel, a stream through a forest with moon beams, and one of those aforementioned virtual beaches. I apologize for the small size. Get out your magnifying glasses, old timers.
The first picture in the strip below is my avatar. Yes, she is much hotter than me but hey, what fun is an avatar if she isn’t hot, right? HA! And I really never set out for her to look Latino but that’s where we ended up, so there you have it.
I’ve seen some crazy stuff on Second Life. I’ve seen a cake store. Don’t ask me what good a virtual cake is. I guess it makes a pretty decoration. I’ve seen a store that sells, um, male organs. I won’t put a picture of that on here because it’s pretty graphic, obviously. Ironically enough, those two stores were pretty close to one another.
I’ve wandered Wonderland, hiked forests, been to a recreation of the Sistine Chapel, visited art galleries, all without leaving my recliner office. One of my favorite things to do in Second Life is hang out on a beach. In the dead of February, in Indiana, I need a beach, even if it’s just a virtual one.
The three pictures under the portrait in my little strip here are: a creepy carousel, a stream through a forest with moon beams, and one of those aforementioned virtual beaches. I apologize for the small size. Get out your magnifying glasses, old timers.
There is more to Second Life than what I take advantage of. There are role playing games, clubs, concerts and various naughty activities, none of which I have participated in. People have relationships in Second Life. You can get married or get a job, buy some virtual real estate. It’s pretty cool.
That’s all for now.
That’s all for now.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Thaw
The Thaw is a Ghost House picture that stars Val Kilmer and a bunch of other people I didn't recognize. When I picked this movie up at the Blockbuster, I actually thought it was something else. I discovered later that the movie I was thinking of was Whiteout.
Anyway, so The Thaw is about a science team that finds a decaying wooly mammoth preserved in some ice. There are bugs inside and when they thaw and hatch, they eat people. yadda yadda.
While this plot may sound exciting, it is not, alas. The story moves glacially, as in slow. Get it? Ice? Glacially? ha ha.
Seriously, the movie is really slow. It plods along forever before anything exciting happens. It does eventually pick up the pace toward the end, where it subsequently becomes global warming preachy.
I would recommend skipping this one unless you are having trouble falling asleep.
Anyway, so The Thaw is about a science team that finds a decaying wooly mammoth preserved in some ice. There are bugs inside and when they thaw and hatch, they eat people. yadda yadda.
While this plot may sound exciting, it is not, alas. The story moves glacially, as in slow. Get it? Ice? Glacially? ha ha.
Seriously, the movie is really slow. It plods along forever before anything exciting happens. It does eventually pick up the pace toward the end, where it subsequently becomes global warming preachy.
I would recommend skipping this one unless you are having trouble falling asleep.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Monday blogging
Going back to work after a four day weekend is quite difficult. After four days of writing, shopping, playing Assassin's Creed, movies and brief time with children, going back to the grind is an exercise in why-the-hell-am-I-doing-this. But there we are.
I did a crazy amount of time editing over the weekend. The kids didn't get home until Sunday, so I had some significant quiet time. I worked on a book that I plan to release either the tail end of September or the very first part of October. It's about witches, so I'm trying to coincide the release with the time that even the normals are into creepy. I know talking about the second book before the first book is released is probably sort of weird? Untimely? Unbecoming? But that's where my mind is right now.
I don't think my editor is feeling my timeline because she's got other projects. However, I want to do a Halloween release and I don't want to hold the darn thing until 2011. I'm confident we will work something out.
Oh, and I received my first proof copy of She Who is Vengeance last week. I don't think I was excited about the first copy until I held it in my hand. It was a really, truly, actual book with my words on the pages. Very cool.
That book is due out in May. Info at the website, link at left.
I'm trying to put a post about Second Life together this week. We'll see how that goes.
That's all for now.
I did a crazy amount of time editing over the weekend. The kids didn't get home until Sunday, so I had some significant quiet time. I worked on a book that I plan to release either the tail end of September or the very first part of October. It's about witches, so I'm trying to coincide the release with the time that even the normals are into creepy. I know talking about the second book before the first book is released is probably sort of weird? Untimely? Unbecoming? But that's where my mind is right now.
I don't think my editor is feeling my timeline because she's got other projects. However, I want to do a Halloween release and I don't want to hold the darn thing until 2011. I'm confident we will work something out.
Oh, and I received my first proof copy of She Who is Vengeance last week. I don't think I was excited about the first copy until I held it in my hand. It was a really, truly, actual book with my words on the pages. Very cool.
That book is due out in May. Info at the website, link at left.
I'm trying to put a post about Second Life together this week. We'll see how that goes.
That's all for now.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Blockbuster brings back late fees
Apparently, Blockbuster reinstituted late fees on March 1st. I figured that might happen eventually.
I don’t think that was a good move on their part. Bringing the late fees back is an act of desperation and it’s not going to save their business. Also not a good move on their part is charging the late fees to whatever debit card you gave them when you opened your account. That is going to alienate customers like me who don’t really want businesses messing with the checking account. Paws off, please.
What Blockbuster lacks is innovation. When you look at their competition like Netflix and Red Box, what you see are new ways of doing things. Those two companies took the movie rental concept and they changed the experience. They made movie rental more customer friendly. Blockbuster is left behind to play catch up and they’re not really doing all that good of a job.
I don’t visit Blockbuster very often, but I don’t want them to fail either. I like having their brick and mortar stores as an option. I like that they sell used video games cheaper than GameStop.
Blockbuster needs to come up with a new idea. They need to stop trying to follow and start leading if they want to survive. And they need to stop charging $5 to rent a movie. That shiz is ridiculous.
I don’t think that was a good move on their part. Bringing the late fees back is an act of desperation and it’s not going to save their business. Also not a good move on their part is charging the late fees to whatever debit card you gave them when you opened your account. That is going to alienate customers like me who don’t really want businesses messing with the checking account. Paws off, please.
What Blockbuster lacks is innovation. When you look at their competition like Netflix and Red Box, what you see are new ways of doing things. Those two companies took the movie rental concept and they changed the experience. They made movie rental more customer friendly. Blockbuster is left behind to play catch up and they’re not really doing all that good of a job.
I don’t visit Blockbuster very often, but I don’t want them to fail either. I like having their brick and mortar stores as an option. I like that they sell used video games cheaper than GameStop.
Blockbuster needs to come up with a new idea. They need to stop trying to follow and start leading if they want to survive. And they need to stop charging $5 to rent a movie. That shiz is ridiculous.
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