New Year's Resolution - Trifecta Style

Trifecta gave us a challenging prompt in honor of New Year this week.  We were to come up with a New Year’s Resolution – in 3 words.  So, here’s mine:

To Really Live

Bonus points for anyone who catches the movie reference.  I’ll give you two hints.  One – the line happens at the end of the movie.  Two – the movie was done about ten years ago.

I told you my resolution, what's yours?

Book Review: Inferno by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Inferno by Sherrilyn Kenyon is the fourth book in her Chronicles of Nick series.  Kenyon, usually a paranormal romance author, changed gears a little with this series to write a young adult series.  One of the things I love is that it is still in the same world as her Dark Hunter series.  I also love the voices and characters she creates in this world.

Kenyon has taken one of her more loved characters in the Dark Hunters world and went back in time to tell his story starting as a freshman in high school.  In this installment, Nick, her main character, is working hard not to become a monstrous demon that is his legacy.  Rather challenging when Nick is also sixteen and learning to drive.  He’s also doubting his ex-girlfriend, who is not entirely human and charged with killing Nick but swears she won’t, and questioning the intentions of his best friend who is another demon working for more than one boss.

There are several things, aside from what I’I've already mentioned, that I love about this series.  It is a totally different tone, very appropriate for teenagers.  The characters are still true to the Dark Hunter world that she originally created for adults.  And, there is something difficult to define quality that keeps drawing me back to this world and the characters.

I would definitely recommend this series.  It’s a great, easy read that has wit and humor that draws you in.  And it has zombies, complete with flamethrower wielding zombie hunters.

Random Sunday – Christmas Presents, Washing Machines, and Cold

I was making some Christmas presents today.  I know.  Christmas is already over.  But, I didn't get them done before Christmas and I wasn't seeing these people until today.  So, I was finishing them this morning.  Anyways, they required hot glue.  I had forgotten how annoying hot glue can be.  It sticks to your fingers if you’re not careful and burns them a little.  Then, it makes these little hair like strings that stick to EVERYTHING.  But, my little thread spool Christmas Trees came out cute.

Washing machines are really starting to annoy me as well.  (I swear, I’m a really nice person!)  Mine has now decided to be weird.  I know.  It’s 10 years old and has done a ton of laundry.  But now the agitator thing doesn't’t turn right; it turns, just not like it used to.  My hubby was going to try to fix it – while about 10 loads of laundry waited to be run through it.  Nice timing.  Thankfully he didn't get to taking it apart yet so I’m going to quick try to get the laundry done before then.

It has gotten really flippin’ cold around here.  On my way home at 8 pm tonight my car said it was -7 below zero Fahrenheit.  And it’s supposed to get colder out yet.  I don’t think it is supposed to be above zero Fahrenheit tomorrow.  Can I say, at this point, I hate the cold?  I’d move except the rest of my family is all crazy enough to live here.  My sister’s moving back from Hawai’i to live here.  Yes.  She is certifiable, too.

No Going Back

This week Trifecta gave us the word Father, as in: a. one related to another in a way suggesting that of father to child or b : an old man —used as a respectful form of address.  I went back to a story I started - coincidentally via Trifecta prompts - for this one.  The first two parts to the story can be found here and here.

As always, concrit is most welcome.

            The next afternoon passed in a haze of nerves.  Jen had thrown her mother out for the day because she’d been driving Jen nuts.  Okay.  She’d done it a little more politely than that, but still.  Her mother was getting so pessimistic about things it almost felt as if she didn’t want to find Curran alive and Jen got sick of it.

            As the meeting time with Rhys Waylon approached, Jen found herself pacing the house and checking her reflection every five minutes.

            “Jesus Christ!  You’d think I was going out on a blind date or something,” she muttered after reassuring herself for the twentieth time her make-up hadn’t smudged in the two minutes since the last time she’d checked.

            Then again, the last blind date she went on was with Curran’s father.  Not that the jerk had ever been much of a real father.  Sperm donor was more like it.  Then it hit her.  Jen realized that relationship, such as it had been, was the last time she’d been out with a man.  Even though this meeting was business and not romantic, it was the first time in two years she was meeting a man at a bar.

            The never ending line of minutes marched on oblivious to Jen’s nerves.  Eventually the time did come for her to head to Jack’s.

            The bar was just as dirty and rundown appearing as it had been last night.  Her heart in her throat, Jen stepped inside.  There was a man sitting in a corner table.  She noticed right away how he sat with his back to the wall, hidden in the shadows, yet some sense told her he saw everything that happened in the place.

            She took the gallows walk to his table, instinct telling her this was the man she was looking for.

            “Mr. Waylon?”

            “Please, as I said, call me Rhys.  Have a seat.  We have a lot to discuss, Ms. Becker.”

             Jen sat.  It was too late to back out now.

Random Sunday – Time Flies, Lights Again, and Being Sick

I can’t believe it’s Christmas this week!  Time has just flown by.  I wish I could have another week or so before Christmas so I could have all the things I wanted done.  Including skipping an entire week’s worth of blogging.  Oh well.  It looks like I’m not going to get everything I wanted done (again) this year.  But, the important things are done and the family is all here.  So Christmas can come and I’m not going to get upset about it.

Two weeks ago, I talked about my son’s love of Christmas lights.  It has gotten to the point now that he knows where all of the lights are and he gets mad if we don’t have them on.  Seriously.  My parents, who are helping provide daycare for him, have to have all of the outside lights and every inside Christmas light on when he gets there or he stands there and hollers until someone turns them on.  He even noticed a burnt out light in one string.  He stood on the couch yelling for my mom.  At first she couldn’t figure out what was wrong because the lights were on.  Then she realized he was pointing to something and discovered he found one was burnt out.  My mom had to fix it to get him to leave it alone.

I just want to put this out there to whatever powers that be.  I’m tired of being sick for Christmas.  This year, at least, I got antibiotics early enough I’m hoping that the generally run down and sinus headache feelings will be gone by then.  If not, I’m putting in a request for next year.  Please, if I have to be sick, make it a little earlier in December?  Is that too much to ask?

Book Review – The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic

The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic by Darby Penney and Peter Stastney is an interesting book.  This is a history book about the Willard Psychiatric Hospital in New York.  The story behind the book is just as interesting.

The short version of the story behind the book is that the Willard Psychiatric Hospital, once one of the largest state hospitals in New York, closed in 1995.  It had been open for 125 years and saw literally a million or more patients in its history.  Before some of the buildings were torn down, the New York State Historical Society was allowed to go through the buildings.  Two former employees took historians to an attic where personal belongings had been stored.  In that attic they found rows of suitcases.  The suitcases were carefully lined up awaiting their owners.  Through years of work by historians afterward, the stories behind many of the suitcases were pieced together.  This story was first turned into an exhibit at the New York State Historical Society.  This book followed.

In this book, the authors tell the tales of ten of the suitcase owners.  They selected a sample of suitcases that were fairly representative of the more than four hundred they found.  Most of the stories are tragic.  Knowing that the suitcases never left Willard Hospital, one can conclude what happened to the owners.

This is a fascinating snapshot look at the history of mental health care in the United States in the not so distant past.  It is pretty frank, a bit brutal at times, and an amazing testament to the human ability to survive despite the odds.  I would put this one fairly high up on your list of books to read.  Yes.  It is a history book.  But it doesn't read like one.  It’s almost as if reading diary or journal entries at times.  Don’t miss this one.

Random Sunday – Socks, Lights and Papers

I made an interesting observation tonight.  Have you ever noticed that when you end up with a hole in the bottom of your sock, it feels more like your sock is wet as you’re walking around in it?  At least it feels that way to me.  Which is annoying when living in a place like Minnesota because you frequently are walking in wet spots from melted snow tracked in the house.  How are you supposed to tell the difference?

My son loves Christmas lights.  We’ve discovered that this year.  Actually, last year he loved to lay under the edge of the Christmas tree and watch the lights as well.  He was 4 months old at that time.  Amazingly, he’s left the lights alone.  He just stands in front of the tree and squeaks at us.  He was so excited when Daddy put lights on the Norfolk Pine in his room that he ran in there, stood in front of it and hollered at us as if he was saying “Look!  Lights on my tree!”.

I have decided.  I hate the end of a quarter.  I know.  I still have like 2 years of grad school left.  But, this sucks.  I am so sick of writing these big papers for the end of the quarter already.  Maybe this one is getting to me more because I’ve struggled more with understanding what the professor wants.  I’d love to just go back to my creative writing instead.  Oh well.  Time to wrap this up and get back to my school work.

Love and Loss

The Trifextra Weekend prompt was to use the words basin, dazzle and myopic in a piece totaling 33 words.  This is somewhat reflective of some things I've been dealing with at work with several kids.  Concrit is always welcome.  Be sure to follow the link above to see what others have done with this prompt.

A basin

Overflowing with

Hopelessness

Creates a myopic view

Of the Future

Then

Coming into focus

Desire

Lust

A hope

To dazzle and blind

A new myopic view

Blends together

Love and loss

Book Review: Fire and Thorns Trilogy by Rae Carson

The Fire and Thorns Trilogy by Rae Carson was a pretty interesting read.  The first book, The Girl of Fire and Thorns, was a bit tough to get into at first.  The main character, Elisa, is the chosen one and a spoiled girl who has no self-esteem.  But, as the book progresses, she begins to change.  By the end of the first book she is becoming someone a reader can relate to.

In the second book, The Crown of Embers, she’s reached some of her goals (don’t worry, I won’t spoil it by giving away too much detail).  She’s still struggling, though, to stand on her own.  Then Elisa discovers the threat she thought she’d taken care of in the first book is coming back.  So she sets out on a journey to solidify her power base and stop the threat.

Finally, in the third book, The Bitter Kingdom, Elisa loses someone very close to her in a kidnapping just as she thinks she’s done enough to feel safe again.  She takes off on a daring rescue.  In the process she learns a whole lot about the world and that much of what she believed wasn’t the full truth.

I have to say I liked these books.  Like I said, the first one was hard to get into at first because Elisa wasn’t very likeable then.  But, Carson does a nice job of growing the character into someone much easier to connect to.  I also appreciated Carson’s skill at building tension throughout the series.  Yes, some of the tension was predictable in a way – who wins in harrowing situations, who falls in love, etc. – but it was subtle enough and with the right balance of detail to enjoy it anyways.

I would certainly put this trilogy on your to read list.  Yes, it is another young adult trilogy, but it’s worth the read.

A Chance Encounter

This week I combined two prompts.  Trifecta gave us the word tush - as in buttocks - and Write at the Merge gave us a quote about parties from The Great Gatsby.  This is what I came up with.  It's a scene from a short story I started (but haven't finished yet) for this year's NaNo - which I did not win.  But that's okay.  As always concrit is welcome and be sure to check out both sites for some great stories!

            Two days later Nick found himself escorting Rachel to some big party she got invited to for her job.  He didn’t really feel like partying still, but she hadn’t left him much choice.  He was no closer to solving the mystery of the old passkey.  Rachel still wouldn’t leave him alone about it.  And he’d been having weird dreams about trees and open spaces.  At first Nick thought that was just because of the argument he and Rachel had gotten in about the stupid key and his daydreaming after that.  But, the dreams lingered long after any other dream he’d had was forgotten.

Worse yet, once they’d gotten there Rachel decided she needed to hook him up with someone there.  Her catty comments were about to drive him up the wall.

            “What about her?  She has a nice tush at least.”

            “What!  Did you really just use the word tush?”

            “Why?  What’s wrong with tush?”

            “This is the twenty-fifth century, Rachel.  People just don’t use words like that anymore.”

            “Whatever.  I like the word.  Besides, you’re trying to get out of answering my question.  What do you think of her?”

            “Rachel.  She’s like twice my age at least.  And so much of her is fake I’m not sure she’s human anymore.”

            “So now you have a thing against body modification now, too?”

            “Ah.  I prefer a date to be at least mostly real flesh and blood.  Not synth modifications.”

            “You are never going to get laid.”

            With that Rachel stomped off.  At least stomped as much as she could in five inch stiletto heels.  Nick made his way to the balcony overlooking the city.  He stared out past the massive generators and imagined whole forests of trees and wished for the millionth time he could see a real, live tree.

            “Kind of a depressing sight, isn’t it?”
             Nick turned to see a drop dead gorgeous young woman swirling wine in a glass leaning on the balcony rail.

Random Sunday – Long Weekends, Dishes, and Grad School

I love long weekends.  Who doesn't?  There are two issues I have with long weekends, though.  First, I never seem to get as much done with them as I want.  I don’t know what happens.  I even try to make lists so I’m not overwhelming myself with stuff.  It still doesn't work.  The other issue I have is that I’m never ready for them to be over.  I always want another day or two.  Regular weekends don’t seem to do that to me as badly.  Not sure what the deal with that is.

Remember a while ago when I commented on how much laundry I do every week?  Remember how I was convinced that there was some kind of conspiracy about how much there is even though there are only 3 of us I’m doing laundry for?  Well, whatever is going on with that is contagious.  It’s spread to the dishes.  I currently have the second load in the dishwasher and the sink is still full.  That’s what I get for trying to get my hubby to do the dishes.

At this point I’m starting to seriously doubt my decision to go to grad school.  I know it’s a good thing, and I will be better off in the long run for it.  But, this is killing me right now.  Maybe it’s just the class I’m in.  I don’t know.  The current class is brutal.  All of psychological testing in 10 weeks – including a few weeks spent on things like reliability and validity.  Too much to cram in over 10 weeks if you ask me.  Too bad they didn't.