SHORT WOMEN

Posted on July 22, 2005 by thathobbitlady

Okay, first of all, I’m really slow. I’m going to post this great revelation I had today as if it is this wonderful new information, but in fact is is something so basic that everybody else has already figured out, but for me it was like…WHAM!

Like I said…I’m slow.

What I figured out today is that short women have this tremendous advantage over tall women. Of course tall women, if they are gorgeous, get to be the supermodels, but how many of us are actually supermodel gorgeous?

Also, tall women can carry a few extra poinds a lot more gracefully than short women can. So much for the advantages of being tall.

And oh yes, I would imagine you don’t really have to hem clothes so much, they just kind of fit right from the store. That would be a nice advangage.

But none of this holds a candle to the one really big advantage of being a short woman: a short woman is the perfect height for any man! Even if she hooks up with a man who is only 5’4″ or 5’5″, she is not going to overpower him and hulk over him. Short guys can feel comfortable with short women. I think a lot of short guys might have an issue with dating a 6ft tall Amazon woman. Kind of intimidating…Hmm??

I’ve been kind of tripping on this short guy lately (not anybody in the real world—the real world is deadly dull) so that’s what has made me think about things like this. You see the world from a whole new perspective when you start thinking about what it is like to be short.

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LOWEST WEIGHT YET

Posted on July 11, 2005 by thathobbitlady

I’m psyched! This afternoon at the gym, the scale showed the LOWEST WEIGHT YET, in at least the last 7 years. Honestly. Long way to go yet, but definately headed in the right direction.

An hour of cardio a day also cannot be a bad thing.

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NEW NOVEL

Posted on July 10, 2005 by thathobbitlady

It’s been just over a week since I finished my novel and I haven’t really looked at it much, though it is still very much in my thoughts. Maybe tomorrow I should start shopping for a laptop. In the meantime, not content to sit idly, I have finally come up with an idea for my Misty Christy pirate story, and am currently in the process of taking notes. But, as I learned from the experience with my first novel, I am not going to put down a single word of the actual story until everything has pretty much “gelled” together in my mind.

A problem with writing a period piece is that it takes so much research, which can be painstaking and annoying. See! I knew there was some reason why we have to study History in school!

Anyway, just want to share one character, who I feel is a true inspiration. I needed an evil pirate captain against whom my heroes could commit mutiny. When I think evil pirate captain, I always see Geoffrey Rush’s wonderful Captain Barbossa from Pirates of the Carribean. But I wanted to do something original, and my evil captain is actually a bit different in temperment than Barbossa (though perhaps not much).

Don’t know how other writers do it, but it really helps me to see an actual person in the role (as if it were a movie playing in my head). So I thought and I thought…and I came up with Donald Trump. He could easily be an evil pirate captain, don’t you think? I really don’t know much about Trump (I never even saw that show The Apprentice) but my general view is that he is very rich and powerful and probably pretty full of himself. And of course you have to love the goofy hair. Put a frilly pirate shirt on him, some big rings, tall boots…and there you go. And to top it all off, his name is going to be Crump. Captain Xavier Crump.

So now I got my heroes (hero and heroine, ie) down pretty good, and I have their evil foil. Just working on the historical details, and soon I will be ready to go.

Oh, and one more thing, I must give credit to Kurt, who put the idea in my head that you could post a work of fiction in LiveJournal. So that’s where I’m going to do this, because it is not really a serious work, just something for fun. I have a site set up (mistychristy88) which Mary gave me a lot of computer genius assistance with one day, and just now I have figured out how to make the entries appear in descentding order, rather than ascending, so that you can post chapter after chapter and have them appear in correct reading order.

Anyway, it may be a little while till I actually get going with this, but I’m excited about having a new project (while my original project is going to be in the very boring stage of being typed up on a laptop) so I just wanted to share my enthusiasm! Wish me Bon Voyage!

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WHY DOESN’T THE CHEESE MOVE????

Posted on July 3, 2005 by thathobbitlady

I’m getting a little impatient. We all know, of course, that change is a good thing. He who is not busy being born is busy dying, and he who is not swimming upstream is falling behind and all that crap. So of course we strive to make positive changes in our lives all the time, just to keep up with the flow.

I’m trying to make some changes, but at this moment, I am feeling somewhat impatient. Everything is moving too slow!! It’s the same old stuff day in and day out. There’s apparently this school of thought in Japan about how little changes over a long period of time can effect the greatest change, and I know that’s true, but right now I’d like to see a big change!

Well, I did write a novel. That’s a big change. I’ve been going to the gym for over two months and pretty much watching what I eat, and some pounds are coming off, but only a few and very slowly. It’s so discouraging!

I just had this thought fly through my head, and I’ll put it out here in the Universe: that of course I know I am a person who values comfort and stability, so generally you will not find me whining about things not changing. Generally I like things to stay pretty much the same. But I had this crazy idea just now that someday, if I wanted to, I could apply for a job at the University in Berkley, CA and just GO THERE.

I probably wouldn’t do it while the kids are still with me, but when they are on their own, and especially if my current job gets to be too…how shall I say this …political….discouraging…unethical in management….and I wanted to get away, I could do it.

It would be especially nice if I was a published novelist by that time, so that money would not be as big an issue as it is now. I mean, I could do this one of two ways: if I had money, I could do it on the spur of the moment. If I don’t have much money put aside, then I would have to really want it and plan for it.

I don’t have adventures. But if I wanted to, I could. Maybe it’s just a question of wanting to.

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ART

Posted on July 2, 2005 by thathobbitlady

“Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth.”

The above saying is credited to Pablo Picasso. In his case, you can see how art is a “lie” because people don’t really have noses growing out of the side of their head. But let’s not be so literal! I have always liked this saying, because I believe the basic sentiment is that art is something that is not real that shines a light to make us realize what is real. We see a beautiful painting, or watch a wonderful movie, and we appreciate life more.

One thing I will never forget is seeing some made-for-tv movie years and years ago, it was a real melodrama about some teenage girl that got pregnant and had an abortion and got really sick, and I don’t remember exactly, but she may have died. This was a made-up story, but the drama and the emotions were so real and made me think “Man! It’s not worth taking that risk!” I’m not saying made-for-TV movies are necessarily “art,” but the suffering of these imaginary characters helped me to make some decisions about what I thought would be smart or not smart behavior in real life. It is always a good thing to learn from other people’s mistakes, even if those other people are not necessarily real people.

Anyway, that’s my thought on all this. I was talking with Mary about this the other day and she strongly disagreed, taking exception to the term “lie” because she interprets it as “deception” and does not see how a deception can lead to truth. Mare, if you read this, you may want to expound upon your viewpoint. I’m just wondering how other people view this statement.

Artists of all types, feel free to comment!

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1ST NOVEL

Posted on July 2, 2005 by thathobbitlady

I HAVE FINISHED MY NOVEL!!! I HAVE FINISHED MY FIRST NOVEL!!! IT IS SOMEWHERE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 325,000 WORDS, AND IT WAS FINISHED THIS MORNING AT 9:17AM.

I HAVE A FIRST WORD AND A LAST WORD AND A LOT OF WORDS IN BETWEEN. I HAVE FINISHED.

I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF.

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THAT PLACE

Posted on July 1, 2005 by thathobbitlady

Got a lot of comment on my latest entires, so I am encouraged to post again. Just thought I’d put this out into the Universe, because I’m not really sure if I have yet, in writing.

If ever I should win the lottery and suddenly have so much money I don’t know what to do with it, I would undertake a business adventure called “That Place.” This is something I would like to do, but I think it’s potentially risky, so I wouldn’t want to do it with my last dollar, but I would do it with money that I didn’t care if I lost it or not.

Anyway, the whole point of “That Place” is that it is a movie theatre/concert hall/meeting place/whatever. It will be “that place where you go to see movies,” or “that place where you go to a concert” or “that place where people read avante-garde poetry in a coffehouse atmosphere.” Whatever artistic pursuit the community might be interested in, you would go to “that place” to see it or hear it.

The main point is that it would be a movie theatre, and I would show really odd offbeat films that you usually couldn’t see anywhere else. Sometimes I would show old films, foreign films, student films, etc. The other stuff would be incidental. Unless, of course, I found that the community was digging the other stuff more than the movies. I would be willing to go with the flow.

The most important thing about setting this up would be “location, location, location.” I think the only place something like this could really be successful would be in a college town. And I certainly wouldn’t mind living in a college town. I would probably be in some kind of partnership with the college so that I would provide services the students need, and the students in turn would provide business for me.

There’s a lot more that goes into this, but this is the germ of the idea. If I ever got all altruistic and wanted to give back to the community, this is the way that would be the most comfortable and make the most sense for someone like me.

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MUSICIANS, WRITERS AND HIPPIES

Posted on June 29, 2005 by thathobbitlady

I have come to the realization that there are certain kinds of people that interest me, and certain types of people that do not. Of course everybody is like this, but I have finally put a label on my own peculiarities. I happen to like Musicians, Writers and Hippies.

I think maybe my next book will be called “Musicians, Writers and Hippies.” No idea what it will be about, but I like it for a title.

I also like “Quit Your Day Job” because everyone is always telling you NOT to quit your day job, so wouldn’t it be great if you were in a situation that was so full of hope and promise that people actually encouraged you to quit your day job?

I also like “Odd Job,” though not quite sure what that book would be about either.

I’m pretty good at thinking up titles for books and names for bands, but not as good as I’d like to be at writing the books that go with those titles or the songs to be sung by those bands.

Anyway, here is the question. What is a Hippie? I looked it up in Webster’s, and the definition was painfully lacking. Something like this: a usually young person who adopts unconventional beliefs or practices. Okay. Going by that, anyone who believes the moon is made of green cheese and likes to go horseback riding in their pajamas would be considered a hippie. I don’t think that definition quite cuts it. Joey had a better definition, shorter and more to the point: “Peaceful Rebel.”

Any other ideas?

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FIVE THINGS TO DO UPON COMPLETION OF THE NOVEL

Posted on June 29, 2005 by thathobbitlady

It’s true! I haven’t posted in so long. My novel is keeping me very busy. Any time I have free time, that is where I want to be writing. But I will report now that I am nearly done, probably only ten thousand more words or so. Last time I looked I was up to 308,000, so another 10,000 is not that big a deal. Anyway, it is going to be really weird when I don’t have this story to write any more because it has been so much a part of my life these last four or five months. (So much for
Write a novel in 30 days—though in November I am going to take up the challenge to do just that!)

Anyway, here officially is the list of Five Things to Do Upon Completion of the Novel:

1. Write to Chris Baty and tell him what I have done, and thank him for his inspiration.

2. Write to Chris Rice and tell him what I have done, and thank him for his inspiration, and ask if it is okay for me to use some of his song lyrics. I don’t imagine he would have any problem (free advertising), but I think it is proper to ask. Plus, I’ve been wanting to write to him and tell him how much I enjoy his music, but he probably gets oodles of letters like that, so to make mine stand out from the rest, I’m going to include, “Oh by the way, can I use your lyrics in a 300,000 word-plus novel I am attempting to get published?”

3. Take the typing test at work and find out what my typing speed currently is, because I’m sure it will be higher after I type up my novel…

4. …on my brand new laptop computer which I am going to buy for myself!!!! Next time I write a novel it is going directly into the computer, so I don’t have to do double duty. I want to be ready for next time.

5. And of course go out and celebrate. Although in a way I will be very sad, it will be like the last day of school (when you had a good year at school or you are graduating) so you are both happy and sad at the same time.

That’s all for now. Have another scene to write tonight.

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Posted on May 27, 2005 by thathobbitlady

I have nothing to say, but I do have a minute, so I thought I’d put out a reminder that I am still here. Too busy with both my lives, and this weekend taking a little vacation, so all is good.

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