It's The End Of The World

I've been reading a lot of Dystopian novels lately. I'm sensing a trend. It all started with The Hunger Games — a book I never thought I'd love — and just today I finished Wither by Lauren DeStefano.

I have to confess, I'm really not an end of the world kind of girl. Sometimes it's a bit much all this dying and being trapped in a society that tells you what to do all the time. And it's not that I need my books to be happy and filled with love and laughter. I like romance and mystery and adventure but I mostly like my books to feel real, to be filled with sincere and thought provoking characters that I can't relate to but wish I knew in real life.
I L-O-V-E-D The Hunger Games. You wanna know why? I loved the characters and the writing and the emotion behind the writing and I especially loved that it made me cry. If you can make me cry, or feel something for someone who doesn't even exist, then congrats. Well done! Cause I don't cry easily with books. Movies? Yes. Books? Not so much.
And I didn't cry when I read Wither. But I sure was angry. ANGRY ANGRY ANGRY!
Don't get me wrong. I don't want to deter you from reading this book. It was pretty amazing. This debut from Lauren DeStefano is seriously intense. And congrats to her. She really pulled it off. I totally bought into this world. The writing was beautiful and the characters so real I'm still thinking about them.
But mostly I'm still angry. I've realized a good Dystopian novel makes me angry. It makes me want to buy canned goods and bottled water and hide, because when the zombies take over and then the robot aliens kill them off the rest of us are going to crawl out of our purity chambers and I'm telling you now, the world is going to be seriously messed up. MESSED UP, I say!

So. Um. Anyway. Go check out Wither. It's as amazing as its cover. And that's pretty dang amazing!

Random Wednesday

It's finally starting to look like spring around these parts. That is, the sun is out today and water has stopped dripping from the sky.
And with spring comes... Easter!
Kid #1 has been asking me for weeks, "is it Easter yet? Is tomorrow Easter?"
You'd think it was Christmas.
But here in Shariland we have an egg hunt on Easter and that egg hunt leads to a special surprise.
So. There you have it.
Easter is like a tiny Christmas wrapped up in spring.

Sometimes my cats hang out together, which is rather unusual because the larger cat (Hobbs) doesn't really like the smaller cat (Finn) in fact he pretty much bats him on the head a couple times each day.
But sometimes I walk into a room and find them doing things that make me blush, so I usually just turn around and leave. They also appear embarrassed. They look up and then they look away, neither of us making eye contact. Sometimes, to spare us all, I just pretend I don't see them.
(And in case your mind is conjuring up all kinds of kitty-love basically what they do involves inappropriate licking. Or maybe it is appropriate. Who am I to judge.)

The other day kid #1 told her ballet teacher and her entire class that I punished her younger brother for dropping food on the floor.
You see, kid #2 has recently started throwing his yogurt to the ground instead of eating it.
Now kid #1 would never do this. She values yogurt far too much. But apparently her brother enjoys watching things go "splat."
And no punishment was involved, it was more like I left the yogurt on the floor so it could think about what it had done and kid #2 gazed down at it from his highchair, crooning to it sadly, "Oh no, yogurt! Oh no!"

I've decided it's very important that I get out of the house more often. Even if it means walking around in circles and then returning.

My sanity is far more important than checking my email every five seconds.

Shari Goes To The Movies

Last week I saw two movies. TWO!
I know. I can't believe it. I LOVE going to the movies. One of the things I inherited from my father. But I don't go very often anymore. Sigh. I know. But don't cry for me. I'll be okay.

So. You wanna know what I saw?


<---This

AND...


<---That


And let me tell you. I have a lot to say about these movies.

So. Let's begin.

I love Jane Eyre. And lately I seem to be obsessing over it. I read Jane by April Lindner over the holidays and I watched the BBC 2006 mini-series version of Jane Eyre, which I loved!! (My favorite BTW)





And then last Sunday I dragged my husband to see the newest movie version of Jane Eyre.
Now. This movie certainly took it's sweet time getting to a theater near me, but I'm not going to hold that against it. I loved it! LOVED LOVED LOVED
But I will say that I would have preferred a longer ending.
I know my husband will disagree. He was quite pleased when the credits began to roll, but I was not. I wanted to see the happy, you know, the kid, the love, the family Jane always wanted and finally has... We all know how dark Jane Eyre is. And the movie does a fabulous job of portraying that.

Conversation between me and my husband on the way to the theater:

Me: "So... do you know what the story is about?"
Husband: "Kind of. It's pretty much going to be a bunch of people in dark rooms talking to each other, right?"
Me: "Um. Yes. And some other stuff."

And he was right. This film is pretty much shot by candlelight (which makes it awesome! And creepy and romantic!)

Needless to say, I loved it. I thought everyone did a fabulous job. The acting was great. The scenery beautiful and dark, just as it should be. I was only disappointed at the end. And that's a good thing. Always leave them wanting more, I say.

Moving on...

So. A few days ago we went to see Hanna.
And in case you're wondering, I think you should all go and see this movie. It's so fun to watch. The story is kind of a side note in this film, it's more about the action and music. And that's okay. Sometimes you just need to sit back and let the visuals take over. Story lines are so overrated. Right?
And I absolutely love the director. He is responsible for my happy movie, you know the movie you go to when you're sick or sad or in serious need of some Mr. Darcy?
Yes. He directed Pride and Prejudice. Enough said.





So. Big thanks to Mr. Joe Wright for making these two lovely films that are very different and fun, in their own ways.
One is relaxing and LOVE.
The other is... um, very, very different.

Yay movies!

Bring On The Distractions

I've entered submission-land again.
You know, that one place where everyday you wake up to dark clouds and lightning until hopefully one day you get that phone call and then suddenly the sky clears and tiny bunnies prance about in your yard? Yeah. That place.

So to keep myself from dwelling on things I shouldn't be dwelling on I must fill my days with distractions.

For instance: Why do my shoes have a tiny, zipper pouch on the side? What am I supposed to keep in there?






And why do the trees in my neighborhood still believe it's winter?
Don't they know it's April?









So today I went out and bought the final season (season 5) of Friday Night Lights on DVD, because screw you NBC for taking so stinkin' long to air the episodes. I mean, seriously! By the time the season begins on April 15 I will have finished it! And I hate football, BTW. I really, really do. But I love this show. I even find myself enjoying the football scenes (which are few) and wishing there were more of them. I know. It takes some serious writing for me to get excited about football.
And while I was at the store I bought chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.
I will be sitting on the couch eating chocolate while I watch FNL, doing my best to keep from thinking about the people who are reading my book or if they've stopped reading my book and why they stopped reading or what made them stop or worse yet, what I did, or didn't do, to make them stop reading. KEEP READING, I TELL YOU!!
I know. Writing makes you crazy. At least it makes me crazy. Although, I always suspected I was a little bit crazy before I started making up stories.

So when I'm not watching FNL or eating chocolate, I'm listening to music. Music helps with the crazy. Right now Frightened Rabbit, The National and Sufjan Stevens are on the playlist.

Oh. And I'm also brainstorming the next book.

Hmm. I'm beginning to sense a pattern.