Busy, Busy.... But Could've Been Worse
This weekend was very busy, but it would have been far more so if Wizard World Comic Con hadn't cancelled my panel last minute. On Saturday, I had another Loft gig. The same one that was a no show the other weekend was a no show this weekend. Only this time, I thought to bring my computer so that I could do a little writing while waiting for the teenagers who were probably 1) attending one of the zillion events around Free Comic Book Day, 2) standing in line to see Avengers: Age of Ultron, 3) at the above mentioned comic book con, 4) just out enjoying the gorgeous spring weather we were having, 5) at the Festival of Nations or a billion of the other events, or 6) reading one of the books that were mentioned in the description of the class "Read to Write." One of the circulation staff (or maybe it was the librarian) came in and chatted me up a bit, and she asked, "So what do these books teach you about writing?" I smiled and said, "Everything, of course."
I have long wondered if maybe the reason that the Loft has trouble filling seats for these is because the idea of them is awfully simple. Who doesn't know that if you want to write, you need to read? TBF, I have had classes at the Loft where, when I asked people what their favorite books were, I actually had an adult student say to me, "I don't read." I nearly said, "Then get out," but you know, I get paid per head, and so, instead, I said, "Whelp, let's talk about why you really ought to make time to read, if you want to write."
But that was unusual. Most of my students are very ready to list their favorites, and often have to say, "I have a ton, but what I'm reading right now is..."
Speaking of my students, I forgot to write up my thoughts on plot. I'll have to do that later this week, as I'm not feeling very clever yet this morning. (I am about to plot out something short, so maybe I will think about the mechanics as I do it.)
On Saturday evening, I also went to Avengers: Age of Ultron with my Marvel movie buddies: Sean Murphy and Eleanor Arnason. I have a lot of thoughts about it all, but I don't want to spoil anyone. As I summarized on FB: Age of Ultron gets both thumbs up from me. Non-spoilery thoughts: I have to say that I continue to be impressed that the Avengers spend 2/3rds of every fight rescuing civilians and attempting to minimize damage. And when they can't there are serious consequences. This is also a film that had a very Marvel theme: heroes who protect even though sometimes the world, and even they themselves, think they're monsters.
We also discussed at length on my FB feed (and all in cloak and dagger unspoilery language) the issue of Black Widow. Read my thoughts there, if you like, but they go like this: I think some stuff is taken out of context. Yes, about Black Widow, but I think that ONE THING was meant as the nail in the coffin of the bigger THING of her life. And, yeah, that seemed to reduce her to certain body parts, but I think the point is she was broken by the program and Whedon just focused on the girl thing because sometimes he's a total dudebro (with good intentions.)
So, hopefully that gives nothing way, but if you're in the know, you should get what I mean.
At any rate, this particular Avengers movie felt, as my friend Jon Hansen, so aptly put it "the most comic book-y." For me, that meant it was damn near perfect, but I'm not sure how well that translates for the rest of the world. I mean, all the cameos! That was so Marvel, in my mind.
The rest of my weekend was good. Mason and Rosemary watched Princess Bride at our house on Saturday (while I was off Avenger-ing). My nerdy son's reaction to the question, "So? What did you think?" : "Meh." I explained that he might have to lose his nerd credentials now, because being able to quote Princess Bride is kind of right up there with being able to quote Monty Python (which he can, thank goodness.)
Sunday we had Mason's former school librarian over for soap and bath salt making. We didn't do the full-on soap making process, but rather bought cheap kits from Michael's where everything is pre-made and all you have to do is melt the soap and add the scents and color and whatever other bits you want and pour it into a mould and wait for it to re-harden. It was actually very fun, because we've had a bunch of essential oils around waiting for a project like this. Plus, Shawn has always wanted to be more crafty, so this was a great excuse to do all the things. Plus, Ms. Frye (as Mason insists on still calling her) is a lot of fun. She's had us over for candle making and fondu, so apparently she's that friend we do fun crafty things with.
Like.
But, it was a very long and exhausting weekend, because in there I also took advantage of the weather to get some gardening in.
I have long wondered if maybe the reason that the Loft has trouble filling seats for these is because the idea of them is awfully simple. Who doesn't know that if you want to write, you need to read? TBF, I have had classes at the Loft where, when I asked people what their favorite books were, I actually had an adult student say to me, "I don't read." I nearly said, "Then get out," but you know, I get paid per head, and so, instead, I said, "Whelp, let's talk about why you really ought to make time to read, if you want to write."
But that was unusual. Most of my students are very ready to list their favorites, and often have to say, "I have a ton, but what I'm reading right now is..."
Speaking of my students, I forgot to write up my thoughts on plot. I'll have to do that later this week, as I'm not feeling very clever yet this morning. (I am about to plot out something short, so maybe I will think about the mechanics as I do it.)
On Saturday evening, I also went to Avengers: Age of Ultron with my Marvel movie buddies: Sean Murphy and Eleanor Arnason. I have a lot of thoughts about it all, but I don't want to spoil anyone. As I summarized on FB: Age of Ultron gets both thumbs up from me. Non-spoilery thoughts: I have to say that I continue to be impressed that the Avengers spend 2/3rds of every fight rescuing civilians and attempting to minimize damage. And when they can't there are serious consequences. This is also a film that had a very Marvel theme: heroes who protect even though sometimes the world, and even they themselves, think they're monsters.
We also discussed at length on my FB feed (and all in cloak and dagger unspoilery language) the issue of Black Widow. Read my thoughts there, if you like, but they go like this: I think some stuff is taken out of context. Yes, about Black Widow, but I think that ONE THING was meant as the nail in the coffin of the bigger THING of her life. And, yeah, that seemed to reduce her to certain body parts, but I think the point is she was broken by the program and Whedon just focused on the girl thing because sometimes he's a total dudebro (with good intentions.)
So, hopefully that gives nothing way, but if you're in the know, you should get what I mean.
At any rate, this particular Avengers movie felt, as my friend Jon Hansen, so aptly put it "the most comic book-y." For me, that meant it was damn near perfect, but I'm not sure how well that translates for the rest of the world. I mean, all the cameos! That was so Marvel, in my mind.
The rest of my weekend was good. Mason and Rosemary watched Princess Bride at our house on Saturday (while I was off Avenger-ing). My nerdy son's reaction to the question, "So? What did you think?" : "Meh." I explained that he might have to lose his nerd credentials now, because being able to quote Princess Bride is kind of right up there with being able to quote Monty Python (which he can, thank goodness.)
Sunday we had Mason's former school librarian over for soap and bath salt making. We didn't do the full-on soap making process, but rather bought cheap kits from Michael's where everything is pre-made and all you have to do is melt the soap and add the scents and color and whatever other bits you want and pour it into a mould and wait for it to re-harden. It was actually very fun, because we've had a bunch of essential oils around waiting for a project like this. Plus, Shawn has always wanted to be more crafty, so this was a great excuse to do all the things. Plus, Ms. Frye (as Mason insists on still calling her) is a lot of fun. She's had us over for candle making and fondu, so apparently she's that friend we do fun crafty things with.
Like.
But, it was a very long and exhausting weekend, because in there I also took advantage of the weather to get some gardening in.