Welcome to my little share of the dreamscape – visit me at www.chrissymunder.com
Click here to read my blog post about how the stomach wants what the stomach wants. In this case, a trip to the Straits of Mackinac and some incomparable northern Michigan pasties.
Happy Monday world! I had one of those amazing weekends with an unexplained explosion of website hits. You know, the ones that make you wonder what you did when really, you were off in no-phone, no-television and no-computer land. Note to self: must do that more often.
Periodically I’ve commented across the web that I’m interested in people’s view on their various models of eReaders. Never prone to hasty decisions my dithering has been going on for a year or more despite the absolute raves eReader fans have given the devices.
The big stopper? It always come back to the inner voice which loudly states ‘well, if you’re going to spend the money then just get a laptop with all its multiple uses’. For those curious as to just why I’ve yet to even take the laptop plunge, ponder the first paragraph above and in addtion, realize I have two, amazingly aged, but completely functioning desktops at home (one strictly for wordprocessing) which I guiltily feel is already an example of over-consumption and excessive excess (really, don’t get me started, LOL).
Slowly meandering my way to a final decision, a new soldier enters the battle. Yes, the iPad. Well, hell. You can imagine my dilemma and then my delight when I came across this video comparison between the iPad and eReaders at Digital Trends.
Helpful. But now I can’t help but be interested to see the HP volley in return to the iPad. You know it’s coming.
Or yet another blog post inspired by the Vache, writing from the fur.
I walked through the kitchen this past weekend, nothing too unusual there. It was probably around 12:30 p.m. and yes, I was running late when it came to feeding the Vache. I don’t know about your animal (should you have one), but Vache can tell time. When that first paw touches me in the morning a quick glance at the alarm clock shows it to be 5:19 a.m. on the dot. Every single day, weekends not excluded. So, I shouldn’t have been surprised that Vache had been waiting for over a half an hour for his expected snack, or that he had found a way to communicate his displeasure when it failed to appear. Here’s a picture of his method:
Simple. Effective. It got his point across.
You’re late.
My bowl is empty.
All I can fill it with is this fake mouse.
Feed Me.
Wouldn’t it be exciting if I could hone my writing to that level?
Could you imagine? No more run-on sentences, no more meandering away from the plot point, no more inability to define a character’s motivations and actions leaving them open to misunderstanding.
Words as clear as a single image. Simple. Effective. Able to get my point across.
Inspired by the Vache.
Quick!
*nudge**nudge*
Someone tell me what I did yesterday so I can repeat it. My website stats went through the roof!
Go ahead and spill – what it was that sent you tiptoeing through www.chrissymunder.com?
November has been a busy month has it not? Those that know me on a more personal level know that I’ve spent the last six months preparing for a major life change. Change being the hard bitch that she is always leaves me poking at the things in my life with a sharp stick to examine the linings – both silver and otherwise.
We are two days away from the US celebration of the Thanksgiving Holiday. The official start to the Christmas Holiday season and the kick-off to the odd, shopping frenzy that takes over so many people I know. Yesterday I stood aghast (really!)(and I always wanted to use that word) listening (and biting my tongue) as one of my co-workers proudly announced that she was starting this season’s shopping before she paid off last season’s.
This really nagged at me. Over the last several years my family and I have found that our wants and needs (always two different things) have leaned more toward the intangible. When I’m asked what I want for my birthday my usual response is a long pause and then I reply “nothing”, and I mean it.
The things in life that I want and feel I need on an ongoing basis include good health, more time to spend with family and friends, and more freedom to enjoy the time I have. Not exactly something one can pick up at the local retailer.
So I watch the television commercials, read the circulars in the paper and watch the frenzy of spending build around me with a fair share of confusion. But, as I’ve constantly voiced – Different isn’t wrong.
Without getting too preachy I will ask this – if you participate in and enjoy the giving and getting of gifts over the holiday season please, do a little extra this year.
When you are picking out the perfect gift for your loved one think about those in need. A .99 pack of stretchy gloves, a scarf, some socks and especially a couple of packages of underwear will go a long way to making someone’s day at your local homeless shelter or rescue mission.
Ask yourself if you even know where your local aid group is located.
As you purchase supplies for your family dinner think about a contribution to a local food bank. The miracle of their ability to compound dollars for food is truly a gift to someone in need.
However you choose to celebrate be grateful for the love and caring that surrounds you, and pass just a little of it on.
Happy Holidays.
*pokes self* You’re on!
Should I have something profound to share? Nah? Good. Too much work in my real life to be scintillating today.
Dashing about. Doing some cleanup work. Website updates. Wiki updates as well.
Remember this pretty banner?
What? You haven’t visited yet? Tsk. Tsk. Here’s my main page. Still needs more work and someday I’ll get individual pages up for the shorts.
No, I really have nothing of any interest to share this morning. I’m just cooing delightedly over my 8-1/2″ x 11″ (oz, smounces, I’m a writer – I think in term of paper sizes) gold box of Godiva Chocolate. The dark chocolate assortment that a loving and very kind friend was good enough to have shipped to my door and surprise me with yesterday.
Per the note on the card “Stress Relief”.
I really love that woman. Many thanks HazelJean.
It’s a cheerful rainy day here and the cat and I are behind on everything again. Yes, I notice you are not surprised. I should be filling out an author interview, but I am stuck on a question. Which one you may ask? I was asked to describe which actor I’d like to play my characters. Easy enough you say except it made me think about last night when I was waiting in the car and to pass the time I poked around the car to find something to read. The novel that was hanging out in the back seat was part of a series that had been adapted into a television show – parts of which I had just caught the week before.
Let’s just say I was less then impressed with the adaptation. Why? Well, one of the joys I take in reading is visualizing the world created by the author in my head. Trust me, most film and television adaptations don’t even come close to my fevered imagination. In this case a secondary character I was quite taken with in novel form, was played by an actor who while I’m sure did a fine job, didn’t match my mental image. I was un-amused.
Has this ever happened to you?
I should acknowledge I’ve seen some fine actors and adaptations of novels. Jean Reno in Jean- Christophe Grangé’s L’empire des loups, John Malkovich in Ripley’s Game. James Garner in Joseph Waumbaugh’s The Glitter Dome, Willem Dafoe as John Clark in Clancy’s Clear and Present Danger (yeah, yeah, secondary character again) to name just a very few. There have also, in my totally biased and personal opinion, been many bad ones.
I know there are people and websites that spend years casting their favorite characters in various books and comics and whatever else could be converted to make a buck if adapted to large or small screen. I’m not one of them.
I shudder to think about what central casting would do if W.E.B. Griffin’s Brotherhood of War series of novels was ever adapted. Who would they pick to play McCoy if The Corps series was brought to the screen? Okay, don’t bother emailing me that I won’t have to worry. I understand.
I just wonder if there is anyone else out there less likely to see a movie if it’s been adapted from a favorite novel rather than more?
It’s interesting to discover the things that make will make our pulse race. What would be the first sign of arousal? The sudden dryness of our lips? A bead of sweat on the forehead? A dilation of our pupils? We hope no one will notice our furtive glances but it soon becomes obvious as the anticipation builds, and we can’t wait to reach out and touch the object of our desire with trembling hands.
I’m lucky in that I don’t have to go out and search, my secret vice arrives in the mail. You might be surprised to learn that there is no plain brown wrapper, no plastic covering, nothing to conceal the contents from an unknowing observer. I wonder how they can let it pass by without so much as a second glance. Pornography truly is a matter of perception.
Once it’s in my hands I’ll spend hours perusing my treasure; admiring the colors and contrasts, the blatant displays designed solely to appeal to my baser instincts. It’s all so rich and ripe looking, spread out on the glossy pages before me. I can’t help but stare at the play of light and shadow that reflects the work of a careful and dedicated photographer. I’ll even do more than just look at the pictures, (isn’t that what we all say?). I’ll take the time to read each descriptive narrative and compare each offering to best of my ability.
It may take hours, but eventually I’ll collapse upon my couch. Sated, for the moment, but ready to pick it up and start all over again. I might have missed something, you know.
Goodness knows if I’m this bad with the office supply catalog, don’t let me near the garden and seed annual.
A matter of perception: Early morning, pre-caffeine sort of rambling.
If necessity is the mother of invention (Thorstein Veblen), and assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups (Movie Quote: Under Siege 2:Dark Territory), then what do I consider perception?
Is perception solely the sum of our life experiences and knowledge through which we filter our daily input? Or is it something more? Ignoring the obvious answer, can we choose to deliberately alter our perceptions? Perhaps more finely tune our filters?
Consider a segment I’ve worked on recently. An assortment of input received on it included the following descriptive terms: dark, aggressive, graphic, violent, and angry. Please note that yes, I am without a doubt taking these comments out of context for this ramble, and that I also consider all of the above comments compliments of a high order in regard to the piece.
In each instance the perception of the segment was filtered through the reader’s perceptions. What I find interesting is how the varying perceptions of what was written differed from my own. Of course, the beauty here is that there is no right or wrong answer. It’s simply a matter of perception. Obviously my perceptual filters are set to a much different level when it comes to anger, aggression and sexual violence. (We’ll ponder that another day).
Different people. Dissimilar filters. Differing perceptions.
If I may momentarily channel a film character in honor of the upcoming North American Release of the new Star Trek movie – Fascinating.
So now I contemplate with bleary-eyed and uncaffeinated wonder, is this something I should consider when I am writing? Or could it be more of an editing tool? At what point do I attempt to view my writing through a more en masse filtration rather than an individual one? Or even should I? Is it possible for me to re-sensitize myself and alter my perceptions at will? Do I want to?
My life experiences and perceptual filter insist that undoubtedly I will not. But then, I know better than to contemplate such things before coffee.
Sometimes, I even succeed.
***
As a side note here are some interesting words I came across while undertaking caffeination:
Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them. -Epictetus.
Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world. -George Bernard Shaw.
Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world. -Hans Margolius.
We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are. – Anais Nin.
The mice think they are right, but my cat eats them anyways. This is the point, reality is nothing, perception is everything. – Terry Goodkind
Having come to the momentous decision that 6:30 AM is way too early to be at work when I’m not expecting to leave until 7:00 PM my mind turned to other important questions.
Such as – did you ever notice how in books and movies the heating and cooling systems have huge-ass air ducts and large ceiling vents so that our heroes/heroines can hoist themselves up and crawl around? Usually with quick access in the restroom?
I’m in the restroom this morning here at work, and I look up and okay, there IS a vent over the actual toilet proper but it’s so small that there’s not a chance in hell anyone can get through that.
Also – How about the elevator at your workplace? Ever look up and check out the possible escape hatch – often used in movies to clamber out onto the top to do something involving the cables? In a bad SCIFI movie ookie creatures with large tentacles would be breaking through said hatch. In an action movie Bruce Willis could save the world with access to that hatch.
I took a look at our elevator and nope, Bruce would be shit out of luck there.
Note to self: Let’s hope the ookie creatures with tentacles give my building a pass.
Like most authors I think I fall just a little in love with every character I write about. Each one of my men become special to me and each has their own little quirks that endear them to me the more time I spend with them. Because I care about them I worry. I can’t help it. It’s part of my personality. I want them to be happy and fulfilled, well-developed and able to leap off the page and engage a reader.
Sometimes I think I fail them.
One of the earliest lessons I learned about life was that it is all about choices. To quote from Geddy and the band Rush “If you chose not to decide you still have made a choice.” I make ‘em, I gotta live ‘em. End of story. No crying foul. No whining. Suck it up and deal. Bearing that in mind my next few statements are the direct result of choices I have made.
I have what we euphemistically call a modern life. My commute is too long and I work too many hours. My cat gets more use out of my house on a daily basis than I do. In addition to my rather ridiculous professional schedule I have personal responsibilities to myself and to those around me and I endeavor to find time for the intangibles I believe are necessary for a balanced life. Sometimes I think I even succeed. Not often. But enough to keep me trying.
Apparently not content with that I’ve now tossed published writing into the mix. Not just for my own satisfaction as was the case in the past. But for (I hope) the satisfaction of my readers. Suddenly I have taken on responsibilities to my both my readers and to my characters. How do I fit these new demands into an already hectic schedule? When something has got to give (and it always does) what will it end up being? Is compromise even an option when I feel the need to be as fair to each aspect of my life as possible?
I was still learning to juggle the complexity of life as I knew it before becoming published. Now I’ve added a few more spinning plates, a few more handstands to my repertoire. I take a few steps forward and then I’m forced to take more than a few steps back. It’s all about teetering on the edge of absolute disaster and then by some miracle pulling back in time to make sure that I’ve done my best for these men I’ve come to know and love.
Sometimes I think I even succeed. Not often. But enough to keep me trying.
