march book fail, and other fun stuff.

Well, I've certainly not been my usual bloggy self lately, have I?  In my defense, I have been working a ton.  Working and writing and emailing friends.  Totally an acceptable series of excuses.

It is the last day of March, and I can say without any real surprise that I didn't reach my reading goal this time around.  Meh.  Plain Kate was too good.  It sort of turned me off to anything that was't just like it.  I tried to read a book I'd never heard of, that jumped out at me at the library, since it was fantasy like Plain Kate, and in third person, like Plain Kate.  But it just hasn't hooked me yet.  Maybe I'll still read it (I think I'd like to, I really do), but not this time around.  So then I checked out Howl's Moving Castle, which I've always wanted to read.  Surprisingly, I haven't gotten into it yet, either!  I mean, I'm enjoying it, I'm just not reading it.  Am I flickering out?  Again, I cite working too much and writing too much (der, that's supposed to be a good thing) and emailing friends.  You know who you are.

Oh, wait, I have one more excuse to file: spending too much time online.  How does one break such a habit?

For the past few days, I've been thinking, I have to post something.  I have to post something.  Why can't I think of anything?  What's wrong with me?  So, since my brain is currently fried with working and writing and emailing and wasting time online, I thought I would share with you some of the interesting things I've learned, lately.

First of all, what the heck?  It is incorrect to insert two spaces after a period?  You really should only use one?  It's an actual thing.  It's true.  What?  I mean, this post has two spaces between sentences, and I don't think it looks too bad, but it is wrong.  Wrong, I say.  I cannot wrap my mind around this (and, I'm overreacting a little bit, too).  I remember being taught in school to use two spaces.  I remember that!  What were those teachers trying to do to my brain?  Now I have to unlearn the double space. Must. Try. Does this look better? Is that why it's the rule? I am never going to get anything written if I have to spend so much brainpower correcting my impulse to double space.

Another thought: I was always taught that boys have blond hair and girls have blonde hair, but I've been noticing lately that everyone seems to have blond hair.  These are the sorts of things an untrained mind wants to be sure of before embarrassing herself in front of professionals (you like how I highlighted that double space?  Yeah, even after writing about it, I still can't change it.  Doh!  Did it again, and again, and again.  This is what editors are for, right?).

Also, a few weeks ago, Laini Taylor posted the best-ever thing about writing beginnings, and you should read it.  [I'll be here when you finish.]  

Isn't her writing advice just the best?  Or maybe it goes a little beyond advice and into the realm of a real education.  If she ever writes a book on writing, I will be first in line.  I love the idea of asking myself questions to iron out development.  And with the revision stage looming in front of me, I'm starting to get really excited about figuring all this stuff out.  No guarantees on the outcome, but it should be a fun ride.

Oh, and one more excuse: I'm still not over the Jennifer Lawrence thing.  How could I be?  It has turned me into a veritable casting rat, and I'm trying trying trying to not care about who gets cast in the rest of the roles.  Trying.  Failing.  So, if you really couldn't care less about who lands what in the Hunger Games, just ignore this next part.

The most amusing thing I've seen in casting possibilities is this:

As Gale.  Baha.  Bahahaha.  Oh...  Oh, no....  I mean, don't get me wrong, I think David Henrie is great.  But he is so goofy, and I would thinking about Wizards of Waverly Place the whole time.  That can't be right.

The most exciting one I've seen is this:

As Prim!  Oh, Joey King.  Oh, this would make me so happy.

And, since I have to share my opinion on this matter, 

the boy I'd most like to see as Peeta:

I know, I KNOW, he doesn't have blond hair.  I know.  But... I like him.  I like him more than almost all the other guys who are up for the part.  And, I mean, Jennifer Lawrence is blond(e?), and if they can dye her hair to be Katniss, they can dye Josh Hutcherson's hair to be Peeta.  I hope.

See?

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Okay, maybe not.  But I'm not giving up on him yet.