Music

I LOVE music. I sometimes think that other women my age don't feel the same way about music that I do. I like almost everything and what I listen to depends on my mood. When my children are in my truck (I drive a little red truck) I usually choose something mello. The second they step out for the remainder of my ride to work I choose whatever I'm in the mood for (sometimes it's Blue October or Radiohead, sometimes Korn or Slipknot) but ALWAYS super loud!!! I see other women my age (mid thirties) sitting in their minivans, listening to quiet talk radio or Hannah Montana and I wonder what happened to that feeling they got in high school when they couldn't wait to get home to listen to THAT SONG--whatever it was at the time? I don't ever want to lose that love.

Music is a soundtrack for my life and it makes me feel ALIVE and wonderful. When I write music is extremely important. So I'm curious how music helps others create.

The above pictures are of Apocalyptica. They are a new band who don't have a steady person on vocals so they borrow a singer here and there. They are not the typical metal band--they use cellos. Four cellos--hard and fast--amazing. If you have not checked them out I really suggest that you do.

Photobiography

1. Name: Heidi
2. Favourite food: Thai
3. Hometown: Carson City, NV
4. Favourite color: Blue
5. Celebrity crush: Anderson Cooper
6. Favourite drink: carbonated water with lemon
7. Dream vacation: Nevada with family
8. Favourite dessert: nutella crepes
9. What I want to be when I grow up: Happy
10. What I love most in the world: Wonder
11. One word that describes me: Content
12. Favourite pastime: Reading
13. Favourite Word: fug
14. Best Emotion/Mood: silly laughter
15. My favourite season: Fall

People Watching

I carry a small notebook in my purse with me at all times. I love to people watch everywhere I go. When I see someone interesting, I jot down notes about them and use them for future characters. Especially secondary characters can be hard to picture sometimes and this really helps me.

I love to watch someone and wonder who they are. It's fun to make up stories about them. My husband and I do that just for fun.

I once noticed a man at Burger King. He was probably in his seventies. He sat in a booth with an old pocket watch propped up so that he could see it. He had a digital clock on the other side of the table (a small battery operated one) and he was writing in a notebook. I kept wondering what he wrote. The trashcan was behind him, so when I got up to throw my daughter's stuff away I took a peek over his shoulder. He had line after line of scribbles. No words. No doodles. No punctuation. Just scribbles. Lines and lines of it.

I still wonder why he had pages of scribbles in straight lines. Did he have a stroke and he was trying to learn to write again? Was he mentally ill? I guess I'll never know, but I'm saving him in my little notebook. I'm sure he'll fit in somewhere in a story....

Picture this....

Have you ever (well of course you have) been reading something and suddenly realize the writer is in your head. I read this book around Christmas and something in it really struck me and has stuck with me. It was, The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield.

I really enjoyed the book, but page 113 especially hit home for me. A writer is describing her possible characters as people in the back of her head shouting for a turn. They become quiet once she chooses an idea for a year or so then the clamour starts all over again. I will not even try to put it as eloquently as she does.

Does every writer see that? It is always the same when I am finishing a project...the shouting begins. Some are louder than others and those are usually the characters I choose-the loudest.

I recommend this book. She has some other metaphors that once you read you can quite get rid of. Now every time the characters yell at me to choose them, I will picture the little red-headed girl in the back, quietly waiting for the final tale.

The Universal Grossness of Parenthood

I'm finally about to hit the year-mark in what I fondly refer to as "baby boot camp." My daughter will be one on February 22, and it seems like this year went sometimes at warp speed, and other times at a crawl. (Honest to God those first three months, I was allotted more than standard twenty-four hour day.)
Christine (Yep our super Christine who is now madly working on revisions for her novel) said, "Parenthood is filled with long days and short years."
I kind of tweaked it: "Parenthood is filled with long days, longer nights, and short years."
And having reached the year mark, I couldn't agree more.

That said, I've been reflecting on something: The Universal Grossness of Parenthood. (Something like the Unbearable Lightness of Being without so much philosophy.)
So I, too, have joined the ranks of those who have the honor to carry the title -- parent. And to prove it, I have passed the following tests ...

1. I now spit on kleenex, tissues, or other fabric-like materials to wipe off my daughter's face.
2. I don't think twice about sticking my finger in the back of a diaper to "make sure" it wasn't just gas. (Though I don't really recommend this if you're not at home near a sink and soap. And a DEFINITE no-no with long nails.)
3. "Once-tasted" fruit that has been thrown on the floor has been designated its own food group in our home -- one I admit I rather like.
4. I'll spend an entire day thinking everybody around me stinks -- or the city has some kind of weird odor issue -- only to realize, when I get home, I forgot to wash the spit up off my shoulder or I have some kind of pureed substance on my person.
5. "What's thatsmell?" is a common question for me.
6. Sleep isn't an option anymore. And I'm okay with that. (Thank God for Caffeine)
7. Blow-outs are a regular part of a day. In fact what comes out of that little body is NOT proportional to what goes in. Babies defy the law of conservation of mass and matter.

Really, though, what a gift this year has been. I'm so so lucky. And hell, I never slept well beforehand anyway.

Shameless Self Promotion

It's always fun to google yourself and actually find something. And even better when they're GOOD things. So here are some blogs and cool reviews for FREEZE FRAME! Yay!

http://yalsa.ala.org/blog/2008/07/30/books-to-watch-out-for-freeze-frame-by-heidi-ayarbe/

(This was my first starred review from a while back. It still makes me feel all fuzzy inside!)

http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com/2008/08/freeze-frame-by-heidi-ayarbe.html

http://www.readerviewskids.com/ReviewAyarbeFreezeFrame.html

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3779937.Freeze_Frame

http://greasy.com/lunarhunk/freeze_frame_heidi_ayarbe.html

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PBX/is_6_42/ai_n31030029/pg_1

http://karinlibrarian.wordpress.com/

http://mutantangel.blogspot.com/2009/02/2008s-freeze-frame-by-heidi-ayarbe.html




Now, I'm just getting techie smart and do these "google updates" so I know when someone's talking about me -- good or bad. But that's the thing. In this funky business, I just need to be talked about! (Certainly, though, I'm LOVING the good stuff! It's all that ego, you know.)

Heidi

Eight is Enough ... Apparently Not ...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/31/nadya-suleman-octuplets-m_n_162756.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090206/ap_on_re_us/octuplets

I just have one question. Are our tax dollars going to be supporting this woman and her rampant irresponsibility? What about these children? Now eight newborns and six other brothers and sisters ages two to seven with no father and a grandma that apparently doesn't want anything to do with this.

I'm incensed. Comments welcome.

Stephen vs Stephenie

I like this cat fight that Christine found. And it brings up several issues as both readers and writers that I'd LOVE to chat about and hear from you. (Are you out there?) Okay, maybe we'll hear from three. But it'll be fun nevertheless.

1. Should writers ALWAYS support other writers?
2. When we criticize other writers do we come off as pompous, jealous, cynical, all of the above?

I read the article. Stephen King obviously doesn't think Meyer can write herself out of a paper bag (though I think her banker would say otherwise).

Just to tip the scales a bit, I've found a pretty much "documented" criticism of STephen King's writing:


"Critics praise King as a stylist whose characterizations are much better than those that are generally found in Gothic suspense novels. He is criticized, however, for lack of originality in plot and for being derivative in a field that too easily lends itself to imitation and cliché."


So, let's hear it. And to be fair, I'll start off with my $.02.

I don't think writers should support other writers simply because we're in the same business. If King thinks Meyer writes poorly, why can't he say so? He takes a BIG risk coming off as arrogant, petulant, and pretty harsh, but were he a critic for, say, the NYT or something, people wouldn't be in such a big huff. HOWEVER because he did seem to go on and on, I think he came off as a touch, ummmmm, petty. Good enough. He doesn't like her work. Fair game. She's still going to be a millionaire as is he.

I think more constructive criticism from writers, though, would come off as less arrogant and more professional. I don't feel like we should always be cheerleaders to other writers. It's a subjective business.

What do you think as readers? Writers? When you hear criticisms from other writers?

So, let's hear it. Stephen vs Stephenie ... where do you stand?

"A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal."
Oscar Wilde

Woah, there!

Yes, it's a picture of a cat fight.

So, apparently Stephen King did some trash talking about Stephenie Meyer earlier this week. Link here: http://blogs.usaweekend.com/whos_news/2009/02/exclusive-steph.html

Does he sound just a TOUCH jealous to anyone else? Like, maybe he wishes *he'd* thought up the good, sexy vampire idea?

I dunno. I think writers slamming other writers for their writing is really unfortunate. (That was quite a sentence I just penned there.) It's a small business. It's hard. Everyone's taste is different and there's no accounting for the market. Snarking is too easy, in my opinion. If someone's a pompous jerk, then call them on it. But accusing someone of being a bad writer? That helps exactly no one in my book!

What's with Football?

Okay. I just have to say this, "I don't get it." I just CAN'T get into a game that says there are three minutes plus left over and they play another thirty. It's like when my husband says, "Yeah. Let's go," when I'm ready to leave a party and an hour later, we're still there saying goodbye. Like they say in Colombia, "People here say goodbye more than a bad circus."
But football.
I don't get it.
I don't like it.
It's all too much of ... huddling, too-fast-plays, huddling, butt-pats, coaches speaking through fancy-schmancy microphones calling out plays while the quarterback probably has some gizmo blackberry that shows the field in 3D to doublecheck the play then they call another huddle and call out numbers, then a blur of movement, then ... And only twenty seconds have gone by.
Like I said. I don't get it.
Hmmm ... maybe the game IS Colombian at heart.

The Great Philosophy of Calvin and Hobbes

I thought we could all use a little something to spice February up ...


A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day.

I understand my tests are popular reading in the teachers' lounge.

Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words.

That's the difference between me and the rest of the world! Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!

In my opinion, we don't devote nearly enough scientific research to finding a cure for jerks.

You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help.

Its no use! Everybody gets good enemies except me.

What's the point of wearing your favorite rocketship underpants if nobody ever asks to see 'em?

I'm learning real skills that I can apply throughout the rest of my life ... Procrastinating and rationalizing.

I have a hammer! I can put things together! I can knock things apart! I can alter my environment at will and make an incredible din all the while! Ah, it's great to be male!

I'm not dumb. I just have a command of thoroughly useless information