Wednesday, December 30, 2009

INTERNET!

Do you know how difficult it is to live without internet?

It's so easy to be so completely addicted to it. Especially in this world, where we are so used to instant communication, to downloading whatever we need. Information overload!

And now, I finally have it again. I didn't have it for so long, and that was difficult. Now, I'm back in the world wide web network! I am in, like Flynn! I'm back, baby! And all that jazz!

So, thrilled to be able to finally focus on my writing, as the internet is surely able to do, being as it can do anything--or at the least, ready to do whatever I need to do as it comes up, and hopefully save myself time--what do I do?

I start writing...and end up watching Glee. Wow.

You know, I totally did miss almost every episode of theirs!

Thank Heavens for the Internet...

Monday, December 21, 2009

Kissing Day in Blogland...

Apparently, and thanks to my pal Amalia T. for letting me know, today is Kissing Day! I have to take part...how fantastic!

A kissing scene for you all, from my first novel. I hope you enjoy!!!!


          
Then Evan was pulling Sallie forward, again. “Oh, Sallie.”

But she was past the point of reason. She was talking, and she realized what she was saying, over and over: “Dead! Dead!”

“Calm down, Sallie.” He swore again, and touched her shoulder. “We need to get you out of here.”

She stopped, and looked at him, her focus sudden. “You need to get everyone out of here.”

“Yes,” he agreed, “But mostly you.”

He’s still here. The voices, chorusing together.

“Not me.” She stopped, and slipped her arm from his grip.

“Sallie, this is not the time!” he said again.

“Clear out,” she said. “Clear out everyone. But leave me.”

“Stop with the sacrificial nonsense. Do you have any idea of what it was like, knowing you were in here?” Evan demanded. “It was like a million explosions going off. We had to fight our way in. I had to make way for Claudia and Leonie, and I couldn’t even follow.” He was bleeding faintly from the wounds on his chest, the wounds from yesterday. “Knowing you could be killed at any second? Unable to see you, to—” he shook his head—“To protect you?”

He’s still here.

“Get Amity outside,” she said. “And get Tom. You have to protect him. He’s not from here.”

“Tom, of course, get Tom,” he said. “I’ll bloody get Tom after I get you out of here!”

“No! You have to save everyone else!”

“I have to save you!” 

“Herrick killed Brenna!” She could see the statement hit him, and she felt horrible. She could see the pain fill his eyes. Perhaps he would listen, then. “He’s killed everyone who’s helped me, and I can’t let him escape.”

“He couldn’t have killed my mother.” Evan shook his head. “She would be safe.”

“He told me himself. You have to leave, Evan. You need to take care of your family. You have to take care of everyone.”

“He’s a liar. He didn’t kill her.” But she could see that he didn’t believe it. “What about Lon?”

She shrugged. “He must still be alive. You have to find him. Save everyone. Be like the Guard he talked about. Be his hero.”

“You’ll always be the hero, Sallie.” Even though death was looming, as bright as the day—when had it become full daylight?—she couldn’t feel it. “And I can’t leave you. Someone needs to keep an eye on you.” He put his hand on her cheek.

She stared at him for a precious second. Hurry! Hurry! The voices were clamoring, ringing, and she knew she had to listen to them, help them, and that they could help her. And she threw her arms around him again, but this time, she pulled him close and kissed him, hard. She could taste blood and sweat and every emotion they each felt. And he anxiously leaned into her, and she could feel his anguish and hers in the adrenaline of the battle.

It was her first kiss, and she never wanted to kiss another person but him again.

They broke apart, and she gasped for air. It had been a mistake, of course. Now she knew he wouldn’t leave her. She shouldn’t have kissed him. “I didn’t mean to do that,” she whispered.

He stared at her, and moved his hand from her face. She hadn’t even noticed he was still touching her. “No.”

“Go!” she screamed. “I don’t want you here! Go!” And she found the wind, in her anger, and she felt a storm, and she reached, and stretched, and she brought it right on top of them.

She turned away, and ran, so he could not follow her in the strength of the gale, so she could not see the look in his eyes. She felt him scrambling to follow her, and she did the right thing, the only thing, and pushed him back with the wind.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

New blog

So, I started a new blog. I don't know why. I guess just because I can. And, because I'm obsessed with Christmas trees.

O, Christmas Tree (Because Oh, Christmas Tree as a domain was already taken!)--and I'm using it to post pictures, and more, I suppose, eventually, on Christmas Trees! So check it out, if you'd like! I'd be down with that. :)

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

If only...

Do you ever wish that life were a musical? :) That something like this might happen in your own home town?

Did you watch that video? How utterly cool, right?

I've wanted to live in a musical for a long time. And I think I kind of do. It's not too difficult--dance a little in public, sing a little in public, have a constant soundtrack in your head. (I took a quiz once that told my my life's theme song is I'm Walking on Sunshine by Katarina and the Waves.) But seeing something like this made me feel a little wistful that I'm apparently the only cast member in my own personal musical.

It's okay, really--it's just that lately, I've started to remember just how much I love those song-and-dance routines. I guess I'd been away from them for a bit too long. Maybe the real reason for this is because it's Christmas, and despite all barriers, I'm always sentimental at Christmas time. Seriously. Even for decades I didn't live through.

What do you all think about this? I guess, in the words of Colin Firth in "Love Actually," it's Christmas, and I just wanted to...check.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Another few adorable links

Not that I mean to inundate with links, but I have a few today.

First two are for fans of the Muppets. Gonzo and the chickens are fantastic, of course; and then there's this *fantastic* beast of a song, also done by the Muppets.

OK, and if you're a comments reader, you'll note Christmas is coming up quite a bit. So, last but not least, one of the funniest videos I have seen this season...the silent monks sing a song for Christmas.

You know, Youtube can be addicting. But I just get so excited when I find something on there that actually seems worthwhile. I think that Muppets and Silent Monks are just perfect harbingers of the Christmas Season! Or any other season, for that matter.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Nothing to do with Christmas--owls!

This is a link I found through one of the emails that come to my inbox. It reminds me of the sweet little owls that grew up around here at the beginning of the year! I miss them--I named the babies Methuselah and Jericho.

How can you not want these darlings????

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Merry Christmas, 2009

Dear friends and family,

I’m learning with every passing day just why my parents were always ready to stick a few extra days into the season of Advent, before Christmas came. There’s so much to do, to prepare for the holidays. Gifts to buy, goodies to bake, surprises to make, songs to sing, concerts to prepare for…and with the addition of snow to shovel, and all the other winterizing processes one must do in a house, I can easily see why they might have wanted more time.

At this point, I should add that I am now the proud owner of a house. An exciting move! And a busy one.

It’s easy to get distracted during this time of year—during any time of year. In the course of my job, I found an article that perhaps illustrates this best of all. Out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and reported in the Bismarck Tribune, this story was printed on Dec. 22, 1936:

Mrs. Louis H. Hake, who had just finished baking some cakes for the holidays, discovered that she had somehow misplaced a quarter-inch bolt from her electric mixer. She searched for it frantically, and came to the conclusion that, horror of horrors for any Christmas baker, she had misplaced it directly into one of the cakes she had just finished making.

The only way poor Mrs. Hake could figure on locating this bolt—as she couldn’t tell which cake it was in—was to ask a local doctor to x-ray them. You can imagine her duress; so close to Christmas, all that work accomplished, to find something gone horribly awry. Their phone conversation was interesting; she asked him, “How would you like to x-ray a dozen cakes?”

“I’ll try anything once,” Dr. Stonehouse replied.

The doctor did so, and luckily for Mrs. Hake, he found the bolt in the third cake. And he earned himself a cake as payment, declining any other fees. One hopes that nothing else was baked into her cakes.

But it’s completely understandable, right? It’s easy to lose your head amidst the hustle and bustle.

Not that that’s what Christmas is all about. Baking, decorating, buying—it’s nice, but it’s not the spirit of the season. That’s being with family, and friends; spending time together; and that all-important Love. A man selling his watch to buy combs for his wife’s hair, when she sells her hair to buy him a watch chain. Mr. Edwards bringing Laura Ingalls and her sisters some treats from Santa. An editor reassuring a young girl that there is a Santa Claus. A baby, lying in a manger. I believe there is a song—“Love came down at Christmas time.”

So anyway, I wish you all the best in this season and the New Year. And if you lose a spoon while doing the holiday baking—well, you may just want to check those cakes!

With love,

Sarah

Monday, December 7, 2009

Christmas letter?

So, because I'm running late, I'm thinking I may just post my Christmas letter here. And direct people here. Hm. I can save paper! Except I have the cards already...I just don't have the time. Or the funds to cover tons of postage.

Is it taking something personal and making it less personal? I usually enclose a personal note with my form letter, so saying that a typical Christmas letter is already impersonal isn't going to work, this time. I just am not sure.

But right now, I'm 90 percent sure I'm going to post my letter here! Maybe tomorrow, for that extra post.

As the kids say (I think): Peace out. Or maybe I just picked that up from a Sesame Street Christmas special that I saw part of, yesterday.

Friday, December 4, 2009

New Tree!

Well, as I had foreseen, it has been busy, this month, so far--and it's only, what, Dec. 4? But I do want to share something exciting. I have a Christmas tree!

A Christmas tree, you ask? Why wouldn't you have a tree?

Besides being slightly cheap and having no room? No reason at all, I guess. I had a little tiny tree for some time. But now, my new home is also sporting a little Christmas cheer--a 6.5 foot Christmas Tree, found in one of the offices at work and donated to anyone who claimed it. Free! I jumped on top of that!

We (my family and I) could never have a real tree, and I don't think we'd want it, either--too much of a hassle, too many needles falling off, too much of a fire hazard. (Speaking of, read this for a quirky, perhaps twisted story of Christmas and Santa and fire hazards. No one got hurt too much, I swear.) But I digress from my point.

My tree is set up, now. It was nestled amidst tinsel and popcorn strings of some bygone era (the popcorn didn't look as bad as I might have guessed, to be honest), which has mostly been pulled away from it; and now, just to decorate it, and make it really sparkle.

Of course, I will need to get more lights, as I have just a 50-light string, and, as my brother pointed out, that will barely cover the base. Or the top. In fact, it's lit like a tree from Charlie Brown's Christmas, right now.

But it's my tree, and I love it.