Thursday, February 25, 2016

Random #72 - Middlemarch

I've been reading George Eliot's Middlemarch. It is a total soap opera.  There’s relationship drama and political intrigue.  There are love triangles, marriage for status and longing for something more. I wonder if it has been or ever will be made into a series. Bulstrode is such a villian, marrying a widow for her money, hiding a missing daughter. There are surprising family connections. There are surprising deaths. I'm really feeling for Lydgate. I have this hope for Dorathea and Ladislaw. I want them to end up together. It's like watching Castle for years while nothing happens. Period drama is fun, right? The costumes would be great on a series, Sir James can have hope, then be passed over, then marry another, then scorn someone else's choices. Long walks on  a country road for want of a horse. Surprise visits from the past... Seems like this story is made for the BBC.

Quote #50 - Thomas Jefferson

"I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."
- Thomas Jefferson

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Friday, February 12, 2016

Last Week #54 - Taking Steps Forward

I have moved forward with my novel, more than I have in a while. I was able to devote a few consecutive hours in a row to the novel one day and I was really happy with my progress. I do wish that I had turned off my phone though. My girlfriend had about a hundred questions (only a slight exhaggeration) about her baby and sleeping. As a concerned friend and parent of 2, I had to answer. I digress. I think I like what I wrote.

I also went to my writer's group this week. It had been a while. The last couple sessions, I had family things that needed to be taken care of. I'm back in it now. Hopefully there won't be any more breaks until the summer (when the group itself takes a break).

I wrote one bit that people seemed to like. It's totally rough, unedited, but I like it and thought I'd include it here.

    The floor creaked. Slow steps were heard. Sophie opened her eyes to the blackness of her bedroom. She tried not to listen, to go back to sleep, but she couldn’t. She tried not to concentrate, but that only made her focus more. She listed. Another creak, another sound of slow steps.

It was probably just her parents. Going to the kitchen, going somewhere, not wanting to wake her up.  But why hadn’t the steps stopped.  She heard them again. They should be in their room. It wasn’t a long hallway. Maybe it was her brother. Nick probably just need to go to the bathroom and didn’t wan to wake anyone. Sophie almost scoffed at herself. That didn’t sound like her brother. He would walk across the hall, bump into something and maybe slam the bathroom door. Plus, she hadn’t heard a flush. All she could her was her own breathing and other creaking of the floor.

Should she get up and look? No. That was stupid. Plus, that was her parents’ job. They made sure the doors and windows were locked. They checked under the bed for monsters. Sophie wanted to run to them, wanted to tell them what she heard, but she would have to leave her room and go out into the hallway. She couldn’t go out into the hallway, because whatever was there hadn’t left yet.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Random #71 - Dentists and Babies

Just wait until this starts happening.
My dentist is having a baby. The whole family went to see him yesterday. He could not stop asking me questions about the kids and about pregnancy, about babies, the registry, baby showers and how much space a newborn needs. He's just so excited and it's really great to see. He seems to be really concerned about keeping his wife comfortable and happy. Though it was great to see him so happy, it was a little weird that he was asking me all these questions while his hands were in my mouth. He's a great guy though and has been our dentist since our youngest child was a baby. He's always been great with our kids, making them feel comfortable while he checks their teeth and making sure that everything is growing properly. We are happy for him. By the next time we see him, he'll be a new dad. I'm looking forward to the stories he is going to share.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Quote #48 - Helen Keller

No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.
- Helen Keller