so clearly i've had a lot to say

the crickets have been chirping for several months now, it would appear.

i have been reading up a storm, however. it feels like a sort-of cop out to just review instead of write, so i will scratch the critic's itch by saying, "go now to your neighborhood bookstore or kindle or nook and download/buy/freeview The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins." see? it's so important, i gave it capital letters even. so good. page turning. i read all three in about five days. no kidding. true, i was sick and in bed for four of them, and i read one of them on my phone, but to quote a pint-sized heroine my kids favor, "wowie, wow, wow." good stuff. nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat, what's-going-to-happen, who's-going-to-die, who's-she-going-to-kiss stuff.

i also watched twilight (the first one) again. i was indulging my inner teenager. so sue me. ah edward. your hair is so yummy. it would probably stick to my fingers, but ahhhhhhh. it's a ridiculous film. and they get more ridiculous as they go on--i actually laughed out loud in the theater several times when i saw eclipse. but it's eye-candy.

let's see. i also watched he's just not that into you, which i hadn't remembered seeing until about halfway in, and then, once i remembered seeing, i couldn't remember the end of it. i probably fell asleep. i have a queue of others i'd like to see that are definite chick flicks, but i was slightly delirious so i went in for fluffy, not weepy. can't do anything weepy at the moment.

i have knowing out from netflix. nic cage. it looks good but i've been told it's scary, so now i'm afraid to watch it.

see? i'm doing it again. procrastinating. i edited earlier today. i did, honestly. about 13 pages. of the poker manuscript. but i was not so happy with what i found. it's pretty crap, actually. lots of telling, with not so much showing. i'm worried that by the time i cut out all the telling, there won't be much of a manuscript left. but i did write the whole thing in a month, so it's bound to be a bit shit, really. i have to cut myself some slack. maybe two plus years literally in the drawer was exactly what it needed. but frankly, it's a little boring. maybe i'm bored of the concept. maybe i should just find one or two really good sentences and write from those--turn those into something else it can't be 100 pages of crap, can it? or maybe i'm just so used to editing now, i have a much more critical eye.

it's very hard to go back to writing after reading critically and editing for the past two and a half years. i swear i'm not making excuses. there are two halves of the brain, and editing is definitely way on the other side from writing. which is good, i guess, meaning that they won't get in each other's way. but bad because my writing side is WAY out of practice.

ah well. what did valerie say on our writers' panel? butt+pen+chair=book. one page at a time. leave off in the middle of a...