This is sort of how my life feels at times. If my life is Wren, and I'm Hammie sitting back and watching to see what happens.

* * *
ETA: And on a side note, yay! for long weekends!

*When my dad makes a dinner that involves throwing leftovers all into one pan and mixing it up, I call it a mash. Therefore, here's a random assortment on links that I found interesting/amusing found through a variety of resources/friends.

--> Laura Hudson says, "Screw you!" to The Girl's Guide to Comic-Con, a cliche ridden article put out by the LA Times. After reading only part of the supposed "Girl's Guide," I couldn't agree more. It's not likely that whoever wrote the Guide has ever been to a convention, and clear that they have never talked to any of the girls who would be going. One of use girls should write our own guide to the convention, and maybe I will (though I won't be able to go).

--> There's a great interview of C.E. Murphy up. I love her writing, and she has been nothing but charming in my interactions with her on the net.

--> In space news, the first international space port is being constructed in New Mexico. This will serves as a launch pad for Virgin Galactic flights (I'm not surprised that it's Virgin, since Virgin America is already the pimp ride of air travel). This is good news, because NASA is currently embarking on a study to determine if we can live on the moon. It's a massive study determining, among other things, whether there are frozen water deposits anywhere.

--> I almost never wear heels out to bars or clubs. Because I value my feet, I tend to opt for cute flats instead. However, since I know a lot of girls who do go for the super high heels, I think this is a brilliant invention, and it would have saved me the few times I have gone with tall shoes.

--> Oh, and one more, because I *heart* robots: An article talking about a new age of robotics.

By Tom Gauld

I'm not the type to make much of a fuss when people don't like the movies I like, but every once in a while I start to feel that people expect too much from some movies. I don't have a problem when a movie exists solely for entertainment's sake. In fact, it's those movies that I tend to see in theaters. The more subtle, intellectual feasts I leave for home viewing, where it's not as important to see the effects on the big screen.

I do get a little sad, though, when there's a movie that I'm deeply excited about and the other person knocks it down, or shows no interest (I can't think of a specific example at the moment). I want to share the shear pleasure I get out of the film, but nothing I say will change their minds (and that's understandable due to the whole people have different tastes thing). So eventually, I just bow my head in defeat, say, "To each his own," and try to keep myself from moping around afterward.

What do you do when some one knocks the stuff you love?

---

Also, the San Francisco Chronicle has an interesting article ("The yin and yang of acting Academy Awards") about the two different styles of acting: chameleonic or apotheosis. A chameleonic performance is one in which the actor takes on completely the persona of the character to the point that they are almost unrecognizable, for example Sean Penn in Milk. While in an apotheosis performance the actor uses the character to express their own emotional arc and it is difficult to distinguish between the character and the actor, as with Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler.

nick_kaufmann wrote about 3 ways you should not respond when you receive a rejection.

C.E. Murphy writes about getting back into the writing each morning.

And Kristen Nelson wrote some rather good advice about writing the query and why you should do it yourself.

Oh, and this amused me greatly:

Here is the Watchmen trailer. The movie is based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore. Based on what I see here, and the fact that it is directed by Zack Snyder (who directed 300), suggests that it will at the very least be visually interesting. However, I'm definitely worried since 300 completely lacked depth, but that may be in part due to the fact that 300 the graphic novel also lacked in depth. There just wasn't that much to work with when turning it into a movie.

I'm hoping that since there is much more to work with with the Watchmen graphic novel -- political references and satire, fascinating characters, and a complex plot. I don't imagine that this is an easy movie to make, and I don't envy Snyder the challenges he would have to face in putting it all together. My hope is that Snyder will allow things to be complicated and tense, that he won't feel the need to simplify, that he will treat the audience as if they are smart enough to get it. Basically, I plan on going to this movie expecting to be disappointed, which means that there is a chance that my disappointment won't outweigh my capacity to be entertained.



ETA: I'm going to have to reread this before the movie comes out.