things which are currently awesome

First and foremost, top of the list - I have a four-day weekend! That is so very awesome.

on to more materialistic things.

Rihanna, Talk that Talk

I love this CD!! 

Top Gear is a show on the History Channel. It's basically a bunch of car geeks doing crazy stuff with cars, like contests to test durability and handling. Even if you aren't into cars, this show is hilarious. Boys are quite  silly.

Won't someone purchase these Adidas Midiru Court shoes for me?

Samsung Galaxy mp3 player. I will have one of these within the next couple of months. It does everything I want it to do and it's not a freaking ipod touch. I do not want an ipod touch. I also don't want to be forced into itunes. itunes is an a-hole. 

no movie post today

because I have book things! plus we ended up turning off our Netflix movie because it was really boring.
Tomorrow is a big day - the release of the second AnnaBeth book - Devil in the Branch! I have some fun stuff planned for this week.

First up, an excerpt. The first five chapters of the book are available for reading on Scribd. Here is a link.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/101582716/Devil-in-the-Branch-Chapters-1-5

Also, I'm pleased to share that my interview with Darcia Helle from earlier this year is in her new ebook: A Word Please, Conversations with 24 Authors

It's available as a free download on her website at the link below.

http://www.quietfurybooks.com/freedownloads.html

Be sure to check out Darcia's books and of course, the other authors in the book in A Word Please.

That's all I have for now.

a brightly colored bug and other fun

Whattup, internets! Just checking in for a few minutes. I’m still had at work on the manuscript. I’m at 70,000 words with about two chapters remaining.

Check this out. I spotted this guy (girl?) on the garage floor yesterday morning. It’s a yellow mayfly. I see mayflies around here often, but they’re usually silver and black, very dull. Not this guy. He’s all like heeeeyyyyy…

Actually he wasn’t like heeyyyy…I was concerned for his safety so I nudged his wing to get him to fly away. He did not fly away. I don’t think he was feeling very well. I did not see any brightly-colored insect mush when I returned from work, though, so I guess he went somewhere.

I was reading about this sculptor named Maurizio Cattelan. One of his magnificent creations is a giant middle finger in Italy. Where is it located? Why, right in front of their stock exchange, of course! The sculpture is called L.O.V.E.

I did a Google image search of his name, and a bunch of amazing sculptures came up. One looks like a horse hanging with its head through a wall. Others use creepy realistic human figures or other animals. His work has a very eerie quality.  I’m not going to violate anyone’s copyright today by posting pictures, mostly because I have a manuscript I should be working on. Check out his stuff, though. Seriously cool.

An interview!

I'm over at RM Fraser's The Fraser File today! Stop by, leave comments if you got 'em.

http://rmfraser.blogspot.com/2012/03/lair-of-white-wyrm-reviewlea-ryan.html

movie: The Hangover 2

Did anyone else think Madonna was awesome in the halftime show? I loved it. I thought it was amazing. I couldn't believe people were ripping on it today. Then I decided that ripping on the halftime act has become a tradition. Musical artists, good or bad, if you play the superbowl, expect some disses. Also expect every molecule of what was on stage to be dissected and evaluated for flaws. geez.

Anyway, so The Hangover 2.

Loved it. Here is the description from IMDb: “Two years after the bachelor party in Las Vegas, Phil, Stu, Alan, and Doug jet to Thailand for Stu's wedding. Stu's plan for a subdued pre-wedding brunch, however, goes seriously awry.”

It was quite hilarious. I read some reviews when it was first out in the theater that said it was exactly like the first, they just did some minor changes. It was similar in places. They wake up with a man lost, this time the bride’s brother. There were a few other parts that I caught, but I’m not going to risk spoiling anything. Despite the similarities, nothing about watching the movie felt stale to me. It was still very entertaining.

However, should there be a Hangover 3, they're going to need to switch the story up some more. The formula they're working is going to get old by episode 3.
The Hangover 2 gets a B-.

And, just because I think it’s super sexy, here is an interview with Bradley Cooper in delicious French. Oh my.

The completely impractical thing that I want but am probably not getting, but maybe eventually

Today is my birthday! Wheee!!! I have a new cappuccino machine. This one functions. My dinner steaks are thawing on the counter. Grandma called to sing to me. Overall, it’s a good day so far.

A birthday is a good day to talk about what you want. There is a thing, a pair of shoes, actually, that I’m a little obsessed with. They are Adidas Millennium Falcon hightops. Here are a couple of pics.




So why not just buy them? Well. It’s a complicated situation. First, they’re $160, which is a lot for my oft-broke ass to drop on some shoes. Second, if I got them, I would want to wear them. In perfectly dry weather, to indoor activities because if they got wet or mud on them, I would probably cry. If someone who appreciated what they were saw me in them, they would probably be like – why are you wearing collector’s items?

I have this personality quirk in which I actually want to use/enjoy my stuff. I have a pretty decently sized toy collection. The only toy that I left in the box is a 12” Han Solo action figure circa 1996. So yes, I would want to wear the shoes.
I will have to be content with continuing to stalk them on the website for now. Maybe Adidas will make them down eventually. Right? Maybe?

announcement

Whattup, yo? I set up a whole, spankin' new blog for author interviews and the guest posts, etc. I thought having another spot just for that would be better than trying to squeeze it in here.

www.journeyreader.com

If you're an author, book publicist, or publisher, be sure to check out the submissions page for more information.

Don't fret, dear hearts. I do not plan to ditch the splendiferous journal. Movie posts, book working updates and release info and that stuff will remain here.

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

adventures in weekending

This weekend was unexpectedly busy. I mean crazy 9am to 9ish pm both days crazy with almost constant walking.

What I did not do: work on the book I should be working on. Both Saturday and Sunday, I planned to have this wonderful sit down and work time that never happened. I have a scene I wanted to add to the remix project. I had it all plotted out and everything. It was going to snap right in like a jigsaw puzzle piece. Alas. The scene is still on but it did not get written yet.

Instead I took the boy to the Arts Park in Indy which was like a miniature Indianapolis Museum of Art, only much of the art was for sale. They had a nice gallery and then a sculpture garden on the grounds. The primary function of the center is art classes, but we didn't take any. Then later that day, we went to several stores to purchase various extravagant items such as school supplies, groceries and a garage door opener remote.

Sunday, we went to Gen Con which I had no intention of attending. My husband was the one who really wanted to go, which was weird because I'm by far the geekier of the two of us.

Why wouldn't I have gone? The convention is mostly card and board games, which those are cool but not my thing. I'm all console gaming, baby. They did have some video games, but not many. Most of the video game action was relegated to one room off from the primary convention area. They projected the games onto the wall, which was wicked cool. Here's a shot of the dark room. The game on the left was Guitar Hero something.

The convention was not centered around one of my primary pastimes. Does that mean I didn't I didn't have fun? Hecky naw, that place was awesome! There was a lot to see and do, a lot of cosplay stuff, a lot of art and just...wow, a lot in general.

The boy got some Naruto cards, Magic the Gathering cards and a game mat, which he is currently using as a giant mousepad.

I got a Dalek action figure at a Doctor Who booth. That's right. A Doctor Who booth. How fricking awesome is that?!?! And I got a pair of steam-punkesque goggles, which I've actually been talking about getting for a year. Why? I don't know. Sometimes I just want odd things.

We also each got a copy of the Rift for PC. I saw commercials for that game and they looked pretty awesome. If I can find the time, I may give it a go.

Here are a couple more convention pics – a giant troll statue and a giant something else statue.

That's all for now. Movie post tomorrow.

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

in which objects, a word, and desktop wallpaper are loved

Fridays are usually accompanied by positive feelings anyway, so I thought I would throw together a collage of things (not counting family) that I lovesomuch at this very moment. Much like my thought process, the order of this list is random.





















TTFN
Random remix project word count update - 21000

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1