One of my all-time favorite books, Blindness by José Saramago, has been turned into a movie! With good actors!! I. MUST. SEE. THIS FILM!!!

(When I saw this article, I started chanting, “Oh my god, ohmygod, omigod” and Riley perked up from his resting spot on the floor and asked, “Yes, I’m your dog. What’s up?”)

From M_i_k_E_k_i_M’s Xanga, recommended by Diane:

If a writer is constantly fascinated by this seemingly unremarkable world we all live in, although he may indeed run the risk of looking like a fool at times, he would also never be at a loss of opportunities to reach that elusive originality that is necessary for good writing.

Yeah, I’ve got that whole ‘looking like a fool thing’ down pat. But apparently that’s a good thing!

Rule #1: Do your own thing.

.

Every now and then, I get into a phase. Some might call it obsession. Me, I just call it enthusiasm.

Among my past phases: Sanrio, the Spice Girls, boys, and Harry Potter. Because I’m extremely nostalgic, and still a kid at heart, I will love each and every one of them until the day I die, but (thankfully) the intensity of that love will fade.

(Making room for NEW intensity!)

Right now I think my friends would agree, Dooce is my big obsession current phase.

I’ll be honest, I’m addicted. But I do think I’m learning a lot by reading each and every post in her archives. Sometimes it’s useless info (like what she was reading on July 30th of 2004) but sometimes it’s truly brave, or hopeful, or heartbreaking (in the most beautiful way), or just plain hysterical.

Her ability to turn anything — the ordinary – into a captivating story, it’s spectacular. It’s what I’m enjoying, and what I’m trying to learn.

That’s why I originally had “learning to be funny one dooce at a time” as the subtitle in my header image. But as Andy pointed out, that sort of gives the impression that I’m copying her, that I’m not that original, that I’m not doing my own thing. And that isn’t true.

(I’ve since changed the subtitle to “always leaping before she looks,” which IS true. I plan to change the header every few months anyway.)

Continue reading →

Dooce likes Grey’s too!

I feel so… validated.

Also, the new episode on 4/24 didn’t suck. (Shonda and the other writers must have gotten my letter.) It wasn’t a classic, but there were some good moments. Enough to make me stick around, anyway.

Next week’s gratuitous Kate Walsh appearance has me wary, though. Don’t get me wrong, I love Addison (in fact, bring her back from LA FOR REAL, SHONDA!) but her cameo is, as I mentioned, gratuitous. It’s a feeble attempt to remind people to tune in to Private Practice when it returns. And I don’t like being manipulated. Especially if it doesn’t involve chocolate!

Sorry! For the second week in a row, Foto Fridays is coming to you a day late. That’s probably not too surprising to anyone who knows me, but I’ll work on it!

Speaking of late… HI, SPRING! Maybe it’s because I grew up in Houston where it’s green pretty much year-round, but I can’t help feeling that I shouldn’t still have to wear a sweater at the end of April. Nor should I want to claw my eyes out or go through an entire box of tissues in 1 day. But I guess that’s the trade-off for these beautiful, beautiful blossoms.

(Riley thought the fallen petals were treats.)

So despite wanting to die because I can barely breathe and my eyes itch like they’ve been rubbed with poison ivy, how do we feel now that spring is finally here? I think this face says it all:

Dear Shonda Rhimes (and other Grey’s Anatomy writers),

Please don’t suck.

Love,
Kristan

537 words

For Valentine’s Day, my boyfriend did not buy me chocolates or flowers. He also didn’t take me out to dinner. He didn’t give me a giant teddy bear, or a mix tape, or any of the usual romantic Hallmark-y things. No, for Valentine’s Day, my boyfriend drove me from Cincinnati to Chicago—for the Spice Girls concert. If enduring a whole weekend of Girl Power doesn’t demonstrate his love, I’m not sure what could. (Nevermind the fact that for Valentine’s Day, I made my boyfriend endure a whole weekend of Girl Power…)

Continue reading →

Andy: Riley, tell your mom to get her shit together.

I FINISHED ANOTHER SHORT STORY!! YAAAAHHH!!!

Now I have to revise.

-_-

–

In general, I don’t do well with things that are hyped up. Like, god forbid I take part in a trend, right? So I refuse and resist beyond all reason (just ask Angie) and I deny myself the wonder of things like capri pants, ballet flats, and Harry Potter. FOOL! (And yes, Angie, you were right about all of the above.)

In short: me? Not so good with the fads. And in literature, writing in the first person seems to be a very, very big fad right now. It’s something I’ve always sort of thought of as a cop-out, like, shouldn’t you be able to tell a story without having to pretend that YOU are actually telling the story?

BUT. (Butt!) I’ve read a lot of great books written in first person (like anything by Paulo Coelho and Amy Tan) and I know that this stupid prejudice of mine is just that: a STUPID PREJUDICE.

Not only that, but I’ve been thinking. And let me tell you, me thinking only leads to bad things. (Often tears. My own, of course. I don’t make other people cry.) In this case, the bad thing I thought of is that I probably need to rewrite The Good Daughters. In first person.

(I bet if I’d asked Angie, she would have told me that from the start.)

Continue reading →

Me: I keep bleeding, keep keep bleeding, looooove!
Andy: Dude, how many times are we going to listen to this song on one trip?
Me: We’re on our way back home. That’s a separate trip.

Andy rolls his eyes.

Andy: You know, this is kind of a violent song.
Me: Are you kidding me?
Andy: “You cut me open and I keep bleeding”?
Me: It’s a metaphor!
Andy: Well, metaphor or not, if someone cuts you and you keep bleeding, KEEP KEEP bleeding, then you’re going to bleed to death.