Our Christmas adventure of 2009

This Christmas started out looking pretty dismal when, on Christmas Eve, we realized that the snow outside was coming down a little too hard to make it to Norman. We had been in our own cozy world that morning, getting ready to leave, and it never occurred to me that we wouldn't be able to get there. Then Sean's dad called and told me that it was a real BLIZZARD and it wasn't safe to get out. He was right of course; by that time the snow was about five inches deep in our yard and the snow was whipping around like a frenzy. I was very upset because this was going to be my first Christmas Eve with the Sanders family and I was looking forward to sharing some of their traditions with them. And we had no idea if the snow was going to be clear enough to go up to Norman by Christmas morning or even that weekend at all. I thought it was destined to be the worst Christmas ever.
But then!
Sean and I braved the snow for a mile and made it to Ellen Sue and Kelsey's house. THey had nothing planned, because they were waiting to do Christmas next weekend with our family. And there was soup, and card games, and movies and a fireplace waiting for us. Kelsey and I even went out and played in the snow. We spent the night there, and by the next morning, the sun was shining and the snowplows had spent many hours hard at work. THe roads were clear! We drove to Norman slowly, just to make sure. We made it to Sean's sister's house, where most of the presents were waiting, because we had planned to meet here this morning anyway.
Sean's parents live four more miles east of town then Sean's sister. Their road was still closed becuase the bulldozers hadn't made it that far. To compound the problem, their gate was frozen shut and their neighbor had gotten her truck stuck in the snow right in front of their swing gate so they couldn't even get the tractor out to clear the snow.
Sean's dad spent hours that morning shoveling snow out from around the gate while Sean and James slowly tried to find another way to drive to their house. It seemed almost impossible that we would be able to spend Christmas together.
But three pairs of coveralls, two shovels, and about ten plastic trash bags later, Sean and James made it close enough to the house that the Sanderses could drag their presents and food in trash bags to the car and drive safely to Krysten and James' house. By noon, we were starting to make breakfast. By two, we started to open presents. By six, we had almost finished cleaning up the living room and were ready for supper. And by seven, I had concluded that this was an excellent Christmas.

Thought of the day:
and I still have another Christmas to go!

Phone calls.

Thought of the Day:
If you don't have time to answer the phone, don't answer it. Don't pick it up, listen to me identify myself, then say, "I can't talk right now, call me back later."
We have this thing called Caller ID now so that if you were waiting for that one important call and wanting to reject all the others, you can do that. Then I'll assume that you're not at your phone, instead of thinking that you found me tiring after twenty seconds.

Song of the Day:
The Tip of the Iceberg by Owl City.
Or maybe If My Heart Was a House by Owl City.
Or maybe Hello Seattle by Owl City.
Or maybe Cave In by Owl City.
Or maybe Saltwater Room by Owl City.

!!!writing!!!!!

Maybe the reason I wanted to log on a few days ago was so I could discuss the awesomeness of Scrivener.
I have been playing with it for days and still haven't gotten around to writing anything because I've been so busy updating the background and research folders. Since I love organization almost as much as I love a good story, this is the perfect software for me. So much fun!

Tales of woe from the internet

So I feel really stupid right now because the reason I wasn't receiving emails on my new alumni account was because I had it set to forward all my emails to a non-existent email address. And the reason I haven't written on here for a while is because my password or something was messed up and since my email was not receiving emails, I couldn't send an email to myself to reset my password. And now I've forgotten everything that I wanted to say here.
Instead I will just tell you that I have started re-reading through my NaNoWriMo script and have found more worth keeping than I ever thought possible. True, I'm going to totally re-write some scenes and have to attribute so dialogue to completely different characters, but I'm amazed at what will remain. And at how much more I still have left to write. I've decided to go for a Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone length novel on my first attempt. As you know, it is the smallest of the HPs, but still rich in plot and wit--so I should have ample space to tell my story as well. In case you were wondering, the Philosopher's Stone is 76,944 words. (No, I didn't count them myself.)
Oh, here's another tale of woe about my experience with the internet lately. I tried to buy Sean's bd present online, but when I pushed "checkout" it never loaded the page. I hit refresh about five time, also tried redirecting from the page and then coming back to it a few minutes later, all for naught. It's really frustrating and if I can't get it to work in the next couple of days I'm going to have to get him an inferior version elsewhere.
That's all for now. Except, I'm really glad there is no wind today or it would be unbearably cold.

Last day of National Novel Writing Month

Finishing word count: 50,043.
I feel like singing that "You did it" song from My Fair Lady.
I'd like to say that this would not have been possible without the constant encouragement of many family members and a few friends. And let us not forget Sean's persistent encouragement in the form of shoving me awake and thrusting my laptop in my face every time I felt like giving up. He's really annoying like that, but it seemed like it worked. I think I would have ended the month at around 20k without him.
And I still have soooo much more that I want to say in my novel. I feel like I have so much yet to learn about my characters and where they're going in life, and how they're going to change from who they were just a few short weeks ago. *sniff* they're growing up so fast!

*muah* *muah* good night all, and thanks for following along with me during nanowrimo 2009!

Band of the Week

If you love Relient K, then you'll love Owl City. If you've ever wanted to hear a song about dentistry, you'll want to listen to Owl City. If you like doing the Carlton in your chair, you should get Owl City's latest album. And if this song doesn't make you want to run out to your backyard and dance, then you're a cyborg.

My thanksgiving list

This year I am particularly thankful for:
My new house and my pets who always snuggle with me when I feel lonely or depressed.
My job at the Mustang Chamber of Commerce and the opportunity it gives me to meet prestigious members of my community.
My husband and the fact that he has a job that he enjoys and that can lead to bigger, better jobs in the future.
Not being in school anymore and choosing to learn stuff instead of being forced to.
Despite the fact that I hate wearing roller skates at Sonic, I am thankful that now I am a decent skater and I might wear them just for fun someday when I quit.
Courtney Cantrell convincing me to participate in NaNoWriMo this year and thus I proved to myself that I can crank out over 3,000 words a day if I put my mind to it.
Sean for listening to me verbally work out my plots and characters with lots of hand gestures, and actually sounding like he cares.
My Kindle and all the books out there that I have yet to read, and all the knowledge and entertainment just waiting to be gleaned from them...
My whole wonderful family who made me who I am and claim me as their own!

Quote of the Day:
Mara, thank you for being such a wonderful helper today. And Jessie, thank you for.......being you. --Ellen Sue

Running out of names.

The most random way I've thought of to name someone:
pick a name I've already used, find in on the Top Baby Name list, and pick the name right below it in popularity.
Yeah.
Last night I even said to Sean, "Give me a boy's name, quick!"
No thought process whatsoever. (The name he gave me was Bill.)
Oh, although my favorite was when I realized about three pages later into the character's development that I had named him after the musician I was listening to. What musician, do you ask? Gordon Lightfoot.

Quote of the Day:
gonna buy me a long white robe, yes and lord, to help me home.
--Gordy :)

Getting complicated

I'm beginning to fear that my character bank is getting to big. And by that, I mean, too many interesting characters, from too many diverse countries and histories. I can't believe that my readers will be able to keep up with them all! And yet, each one is important in his own way. I mean, there's the bad king, and his minions, the good prince with his friends and followers who are trying to reestablish him as king, the other two allied Kings who are debating on how to help Phillip, and just all the other minor minor characters whom they fun in to on their travels. How can I possibly cull? as soon as I breath life into any of these characters, large or small, they become their own people, and it would be murder for me to cut them out of the story, to keep their little voices from being heard.
ah me, what a terrible life we authors lead, deciding who lives and who dies.

Mr. Lukas, Nobbian Minister of Foreign Relations

This is why Mr. Lukas is quickly becoming my favorite character in my novel:

As the Princess Adana stood over him, he trembled and kept his eyes on the carpet. He could only hope for mercy or a swift death. He didn't see any point in begging either way.
“You be Nobbian,” she said finally, and it wasn’t a question. “That is why Papa hates you.”
“Yes, I would think so,” Lukas managed to say.
“Quid are you doing here?”
“Eating.”
“No, I meant in Flubber.”
“Highness, leave him alone. Why are you questioning him so?” Dita asked, now wringing her cap in woe.
Lukas strained his ears to listen if the alarm of his escaped had been raised yet. He wanted to give up, lay himself down at this lady’s feet and wait for death to come. He didn’t want to run any more. Why was he? Oh yes, because Phillip was still alive. Little Prince Phillip, whom everybody believed was useless.
“Answer me,” Adana commanded.
Painfully Lukas lifted himself to his feet. He stared Adana in the eyes. “You be wasting my time with all your petty questions. I be going now.” And he pushed past her back into the hallway, his heart beating quickly.
He knew that in a few seconds she would regain her footing, and she would call out to the others that he had escaped. He knew that he would go down to the stables, saddle a horse, and gallop through the palace gates. He knew that they would come after him, but he would escape. He strode confidently down the hall, feeling as he did the day he strode into the throne room in Disco to receive his maroon ministerial epaulets. Phillip was alive, and Mr. Lukas was going to put him back on his throne. And if Mr. Lukas had set his mind to do something, it was certain to happen. They didn't call him The Bulldog for nothing.

Thought of the Day:
chocolate-covered raisins....mmmmmm.....good choice, Mar.

My Lord is near me all the time

Discovered this song today at Alameda Baptist Church. I found the tune uninteresting, but the words really caught my attention. It says something that I've often tried to express but always failed.

My Lord Is Near Me All The Time
Words and Music: Barbara Fowler Gaultney

v1: In the lightning flash across the sky
His mighty pow’r I see,
And I know if He can reign on high,
His light can shine on me.

v2: When the thunder shakes the mighty hills
And trembles ev’ry tree,
Then I know a God so great and strong
Can surely harbor me.

v3: When refreshing showers cool the earth
And sweep across the sea,
Then His rainbow shines within my heart,
His nearness comforts me.

ch: I’ve seen it in the lightning, heard it in the thunder,
And felt it in the rain;
My Lord is near me all the time,
My Lord is near me all the time.

peaceful time with cat and dog

Thought of the Day:
I love it when Saccy is sleeping beside me and Bella is sleeping by my feet and neither of them are bugging me but instead are looking like cute little balls of fur. And of course Jing is off in some other room, because she's anti-social. I get a lot more writing done when we are all settled like this. Feeling pretty good about myself right now; I wrote 1686 words yesterday and have written 1623 today with still about half an hour's worth of work left in me. And now I must stop dawdling.

november crazy

The key to NaNoWriMo, which I think they tried to tell me when I signed up, but never really sunk in until today, is that you have to just keep spewing it out, no matter how bad it is. Normally I would think of a better way to say-- "He looked down at his hands to make sure he was still invisible--he was." I wouldn't ignore the fact that I just used a dash two sentences ago. I would avoid at all costs using "desperate" three times in one paragraph, and using words like "alright" and "nonetheless". But these are not normal circumstances, my friends. Desperate times, desperate measures. If I have to just keep writing the bad screen play and wait for the artistic descriptions to come in December, then so be it. I will get caught up on my writing! I will further my plot along with terrible dialogue! I will go forth into the tempest which is......NANOWRIMO!!!!!!!

Quote of the Day:
the pen is mightier than the sword.
--wiki it.

Mustang Chamber of Commerce, this is Jessie, may I help you?

Thoughts of the Day:
1) I am really looking forward to Buffalo Wild Wings tonight. I have been looking forward to them ever since I had a craving for them on Sunday but Sean said we should wait until $60 wing night! mmm...mmm...good! I am going to buy twice as many as normal and eat them for lunch tomorrow.
2) it's amazing how just one pleasant phone call can make all the other bad ones and the boring-ness of the day seem insignificant. I think people under-estimate how powerful nice-ness is.
3) I love the slick pages of our Chamber directory. I might just flip through them needlessly so I can feel them.
4) it is so beautiful outside this week. I feel guilty just sitting in my office here.

NaNo update

Well let's just say that I'm not doing too well. I'm already 1000 words behind my personal goal and this story is starting to get old. I'm ready to work on something else! Hopefully I'm just overreacting and only reluctant to work on this story because it's the second chapter and I need to get to the more interesting parts.
In other news, I am working three days in a row and the Mustang Chamber of Commerce while my boss is at a convention. I'm hoping to be able to find many things to do in the office while she is gone. Lately my duties have been getting done quickly and I find myself searching for things after lunch time.
and since that is all my life consists of right now (nanowrimo and work), I must end my blog here.

And the topic for November is...

So I spontaneously decided to jump on the band wagon and participate in NaNoWriMo this year. (Click here if you don't know what that is.) I'm very nervous about this because not only have I only finished about three stories in my life, all of them have been worthless and very short. I've never written more than 20,000 words in a story, and even when I was on a roll it took me all summer to get that far. It's a good thing I don't have any school work to do, because other than work, I'm going to be writing a lot. Hopefully this will be a good exercise in accomplishment.
The reason I didn't sign up for it a long time ago was becuase I knew that there is no way I could write 50,000 words in a month, much less a year. But then I told myself, I guess I will never know until I try. So here's just another reason to put off "Into the Flames," because it's almost done so I can't use it for NaNoWriMo. Instead, I have chosen "The City of Orphans," a tale from the fantastical land of Pocatello. Which, in case you were wondering, was named after a random city in Idaho that I found while perusing my states puzzle when I was younger.
And so, into the melee!

Writing update

Yesterday I read through my whole "Into the Flames" manuscript and made notes about what I want to add. I did not, however, get a breakthrough on the whole "major conflict" issue. I ultimately decided to reject the "Bracken's sister in trouble" route because that would focus to much on him and his inner struggles. This book is about Ray. Bracken can have his own book to work through his own issues. Mom, this is a reminder that I need to give you a copy of my manuscript. Yes, I will give you my hard copy since I know you don't like to read it on the computer, but that means you'll have to wait until I've finished with the notes I made on it. I'm sorry I didn't think to give it to you during Fall Break.
I'm also working on another story with the Door Closed--i.e. you can't read it, but I wanted you to know my reasoning for being distracted from Into the Flames.

Thought of the Day: sometimes I wish I had become a singer instead of a writer. But then, I can still sing, it's not like my voice has been taken away from me, so I can really do both at the same time. But doing it for "real" would have been nice.

the work of an author

Thought of the Day:
The great thing about being an author is that it's okay to get our ideas from ordinary activities. In fact, we're encouraged to take every-day things and turn them into extraordinary stories. It makes me not feel quite so bad to just sit and watch people pass me by...I'm formulating, really! It's my job! I could talk all day about the wonder of imagination and the joy of watching a story grow and flourish out of nothings, but I don't want to bore you. I'll just go and give you more time to do something useful.

Quote of the Day:
"I just gave you three minutes of your life back."
"Thank you. I'll use them wisely."
--Martian Child, with John Cusack

Christmas at Rumpole Mansion

It's starting to be that time of year. For those of us who have lived in Texas and Oklahoma our whole lives and think that this weather is really freaking cold, it smells like Christmas. For me, this means being in the mood to drink hot chocolate, take pictures in the frost while stomping around in bright galoshes, and philosophizing about unimportant matters like snowflakes and reindeer.

Today I heard something really amazing. I was reading at Starbucks waiting for Sean to get out of class, and these two girls next to me were talking about their Christmas plans (after having exhausted their Fall Break plans). One of the girls told a story about how she knew a man whose wife divorced and left him with six children. This girl's family decided that instead of giving each other Christmas presents, they would "give" Christmas to this other family. She said, "Once we did Christmas for somebody else like that, I couldn't imagine doing Christmas for myself."
Here is somebody who really understands what Christmas is. I wish I could be that selfless and give freely to others instead of finding myself wishing to receive things I don't really need.

On a completely unrelated note, I finished Ivanhoe today. I wish we could have read it for Brit Lit sometime. I have a feeling that there is so much in that novel that I don't even notice. Also, I wish I could know if Walter Scott was trying to jab at his own political and social happenings of the day and how his novel related to his life. And what does it really mean that the King of the Norman conquerors tried so desperately to save the life, and even respect the life, of the Saxon who was trying to overthrow his government? And did the characters in the book really think the jester was stupid, or did they just let him pretend to be stupid so they could keep him around for his sage commentary?

Quote of the Day:
Books are not moral or immoral. Books are well written or poorly written. That is all.
--Oscar Wilde

A few things from my day

One: I hate it when people judge other people based on the consequences of previous actions rather than who they are. I must confess that I'm guilty of the same thing, but when I see my friends being judged by others who don't even know them, I get angry.
Two: I forgot what else I was going to say, because I am angry.
Three: I had like fifty people tell me today that they couldn't believe that I was skating, that I was very brave, how terrible that you have to be out in the rain, that they wanted me to be careful...etc. I had one person tell me that I shouldn't skate and I was being stupid. No matter that my boss told me I had to plus I haven't EVER fallen so maybe I'm a good enough skater to be skating. Oh, and I had one person tell me that I had to throw away their trash (which is a health code violation, by the way) because they didn't want to get wet using the drive-thru trash. Didn't notice that I was wet or have been in the rain all day.
Four: I'm in a very negative mood. I should get off here before I find something wrong with every aspect of my life.

Song of the Day: "Love story" by Taylor Swift

First day at the Mustang Chamber of Commerce

So here's what I learned today--
I LOVE having a "real" job. I sat at a desk for seven hours and worked really hard on something (and it was really frustrating, let me tell you) and talked with my boss when she wasn't busy on the phone, and generally had a great time. And then I said, "I think I'll finish this project on Wednesday," wrote on my time sheet, and left. And I can bring my own lunch and twirl around in my swivel chair and store my papers in the cabinet that my boss cleared out for me.
And I can never go back to work at Sonic again.

Quote of the Day:
something from Psych, but I can't think of it right now. Just go watch the latest episode yourself.

Leaving so soon?

I think love is when you want to whine that you never get to see a certain person but in reality it's only been a few days...or hours.

In other news, I'm super excited about the announcement Joss Whedon made about Dr. Horrible II :)

love the one you're with

Today one of my friends' facebook statuses read, "I thank God so much for the love of ***** he's given me."
This seems to me to be one of the most retarded statements I have ever heard. I mean, what else is a person going to say: "Dear God, how could you have made me love this activity? I hate it so much!"
Do you really think that God is going to make you love something that you don't want to, or make you unhappy that you love a certain hobby?
If you love something, of course you're going to be grateful for every minute that God allows it to be in your life. My prayer is, "God, thank you so much for allowing me to do something that I love, with people that I love, and please remind me to always use my love [of writing, singing, and photography] to show your glory."

The closed door

Lately I've been writing with the door closed (read King's "On Writing" to know what that means). King says that's a good thing, that authors should write for themselves first, and write for readers the second draft, but lately I've been feeling that if I keep writing for myself I won't ever get up the motivation to even get to the second draft. If I keep writing things I want to write about then it'll end up sounding like Twilight--a perfect indulgence of my favorite fantasies, but not a very good, hard core, realistic story that deserves to be published.

Once Upon a Time, In a Galaxy Far, Far, Away... (an idea that needs a response)

Magic was discovered by some lame explorer who stumbled across the Dragon’s cave. The Dragon, whose name is yet to be revealed, is sort of like the god here, protects the power of magic and many other powers that he believes that humans aren’t ready to handle just yet. This lame explorer from Flubber had heard rumors of the dragon and had gone out to see if they were true. When he found the dragon, he became greedy and wanted the magic for his people. The dragon told him that it was unsafe and warned him of the years of strive and hardship that such power would bring them, but the dude wouldn’t listen so the dragon, always an advocate of free will, let him take the magic back to the humans. That was how it came into Pocatello. The dragon found a different cave, farther away so they couldn’t find him and steal the rest of his stuff, but close enough so that he could keep an eye on them whenever they needed his help. But they never called on him because they thought that now that they had magic they could do it by themselves.

Perfection

Thought of the Day:
It really sucks that a person can't see a mess that isn't there. All they see is the part you missed, not what you got. So if you leave a spot on the floor, they yell at you. Never mind that it was crunchy and gross and required back-breaking work to clean the floor and you only missed that one spot because your wrist was tired by that time. You're still going to get yelled at. I guess that's why so often I feel like relinquishing my rag and scrub brush and letting everything stay a mess, so that somebody else can see just how bad it was before I cleaned it.
It sometimes feels like that in life, too. That people only see the bad parts of you and never take the time to realize all the good parts about you, all the things that could be wrong but aren't. I know I have faults, and I've been working on them, but even after all these years I still do things that I shouldn't. Can't people just accept that I do it less often than I used to and get over it? Can't they give me brownie points for trying?
Or am I just complaining about something that I should instead be fixing? We should all be striving for perfection, so why should I be upset when other people get upset that I'm not perfect?

Question of the Day:
What is it like to feel the need to save the world but to know that nobody wants your help? How hard is it to have to break down and ask somebody else for help when you feel like you have more power than anybody else?

Idea that needs response:
I was going to have "Into the Flames" end with Ray asking Bracken for help in the mysterious disappearance of Jean and Hawkins, and in that way he found out they were like him and he was forced to get to know them. What if, instead, he knew all along but refused to acknowledge their sameness until he is forced to ask for their help? He has a younger sister who has the potential to be Lydia from Pride and Prejudice if need be.

Quote of the Day:
Sometimes I get so weird I freak myself out.
--Avril Lavigne

The Passing of Time

Thought of the Day:
Well, since I already about my thoughts about twinhood, I thought today I would comment on the passing of time. It's weird how everybody gets hyped up about a special day. We'll take birthdays for starters since today is mine. People take a certain day and just go, "Ten years ago today such and such happened," but that always bugs me because due to the fact that a year is 365.25 days, is it really exactly ten years ago that particular day? People seem to forget this fact even though it is clearly evident in the fact that it's always going to be on a different day of the week. I don't really know for sure exactly where the earth was around the sun last year, but when can we be certain that it has been a year? And what does that mean, really, other than that the earth has revolved around the sun? What is a day except that the sun has rotated around on its axis? Why are these measurments of time important to us?
And let's talk about holidays. Christmas, Veterans' Day, Presidents' Day, just about every one except Easter, is just an arbitrary day that we have chosen to celebrate something momentous in history. So why does everybody get so set on that certain day (certain family members, I might just be talking about you)? It's just something somebody else has chosen. Days aren't important, it's the actions we take on that day that make them special. I don't wake up in the middle of November and suddenly feel warm and fuzzy inside because Hannukah has started. I'm not going to wake up on February 14th and feel older just because it is the Korean New Year.
To God, each day is like a thousand years, and vice versa. Let's strive to make every day important, and then get together with our families every chance we get and make those occasions special and memorable. I don't care when it is. Let's take our September Saturday, for example. It's rarely in September anymore. Sometimes it's not even on a Saturday. But we still all remember it, and talk about it, and eat a lot, and play games, and wish we never had to leave.
And after saying all this, I'm glad it's my birthday and that people noticed it. I'm sorry I forgot to call my sister at 8:23 am (even though with daylight savings it probably should have been either 7:23 or 9:23) and wish her a good day. I mean, she called me at 9:11, but it just isn't the same. and now I will commemorate this day by washing the dishes and doing laundry. Yay!

Twins

Thought of the Day:
I was thinking this morning of that time when Mara and I were about eight and she got invited to a birthday party and I didn't. I don't think it had ever occurred to me before that time that anybody could think of us as seperate units like that. No, I don't mean that I thought were the exactly the same person, but I didn't realize that somebody could like one of us and not the other, or that other people other than me or Mara realized that we were different personalities and, in fact, disagreed with each other quite frequently. I just figured that all anybody saw of us were Mara and Jessie, whom you were either friends with or not. And now, over ten years later, it's hard to believe that most people don't look at us and immediately know that we're twins, not know that some where out there, in Norman or Edmond or Mustang, there's a person out there who is our other half, waiting for us to join together again.
All this to say, I'm glad that we're seperate people and have different lives (and husbands), but it's also good to know that there's always someone out there who's...you know...my twin.
:D
ps the tags for this are twins and Mara, but aren't the two synonymous?

Quote of the Day:
Fine. But I'm not stripping for them.
--Jesca Yandell to Matthew Brotherton, Sonic Drive-In

Soundtrack of the Day:
painters on the second floor of the Library

Masks

Thought of the Day:
If you're a superhero, is your secret identity the nighttime masked crusader, or the normal mundane person of the day? Which one is really who you want to be, and the other one just who you think you have to be?

Quote of the Day:
I can fake it with the best of anyone.
--Seether

Into the Flames: Christmas Break

Christmas didn’t start out very well. Jean and Hawkins left for France the very first day of break, but Rahab’s flight for Florida wasn’t for three more days. She spent her time in the library, reading books. Hawkins and Jean preferred hanging out in the library to reading the books in it, so Rahab hadn’t read any books recently and hoped that they could successfully take her away from the sudden loneliness she felt. But unfortunately, she kept distracting herself, wondering what Bracken was doing on his break. What could his powers possibly be? She wished that Hawkins’ telepathic ability were powerful enough to cross oceans so that she could speculate with him, but even if it were, she had the feeling that he was too busy running through the American embassy and playing his and Jean’s special version of hide-and-seek. So she buried herself back into the pages of books, wishing that the vacation would end quickly.
She was starting to think that Mark had forgotten to pick her up from the airport when she saw him weaving through the crowds of travelers, his eyes searching for her face. She waved and called out to him.
He smiled. “Oh, there you are,” he said. “I almost didn’t recognize you. You look like you’ve grown two inches.”
“I haven’t,” Rahab said. “I’m still five foot four. I checked.”
“Well, anyway, you look different,” Mark said, putting his arm around her shoulder. “And don’t make it sound like a bad thing, because it’s not. Come on, let’s get out of here. Luke is ready to go out and have some fun.”
Rahab let Mark lead her out of the confusing airport, trying not to look around too much and get distracted.
She was silent on the way to the hotel. Mark talked on his cell phone to their parents about when they would be arriving, and Rahab stared out the window at the palm trees.

Quote of the Day:
To sleep, perchance to dream--ay, there's the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come?
--Hamlet

Name that character!

Can you guess who this is? How should I proceed with telling this person's story/ should I just drop it / go a different direction?

"When I was a little kid I thought that I was destined to be a hero. I thought I could save the world, like Superman. He had all these amazing powers, but he was just a figment of somebody’s imagination, so didn’t it make sense that since I had just a few powers, I could be the real deal? A toned-down, more realistic super hero that everybody could count on, instead of just dream of. I didn’t realize then that nobody wanted my help. They all thought they were their own superheroes."

Quote of the Day:
I hope this hasn't put any of you off flying. Statistically speaking, it's still the safest way to travel.
--Superman, both the first movie and the last (how clever of them)

Perceptions

Thought of the Day:
It's amazing how different people sound in reality than they do on say, like, Facebook. On their profile, sure, they sound like really interesting or boring people, but then, when you meet them in person, they really quiet or really opinionated or just stereotypical blah. Are we more real on paper (or online) or are we pretending to make others like us? Or are we a weird combination of what others see and what we put out there for them to see?

Quote of the Day:
Ain't it nice to know that it don't have to be perfect.
--Sara Evans (or whoever wrote the lyrics to the song that she sings.)

Soundtrack of the day:
Sean almost snoring; Saccy taking a bath.

Thought of the Day:

Why is it so much harder to love someone than it is to hate someone, and why do so many of us give in to hate when we could reap so many rewards just for a little effort?

Quote of the Day:

in my own simple way guess you could say I'm livin' in the big time.

--Big $$ Rich

Crystal ball, save us all, tell me life is beautiful

Thought of the day:
it really sucks that you can't combine music and writing. Can I as an author even hope to emulate the emotions that a good song can?

and I don't think I can even link a music track on here. great.

Quote of the day:
Wow. Sarcasm. That's Original.
--Dr. Horrible (he has a PhD. in Horrible-ness.)