You tell the time with the edge of the color. The little band around the outside are the minutes, the thicker band round the middle is the hour. Cool, huh? Anyone have one of these? How does it run and is it worth the $100 plus price tag? I usually only get $10 watches, but I’d love to get this one! Of course, I’m too cheap to buy it myself.
What about you folks? Any cool Z items that you think the world should take notice of?
Yucca.
According to Wikipedia, where I got this picture, this is a pretty version of the plant. When I lived in Colorado, I saw a lot of these
Xanadu.
That’s right, you heard me say it. Xanadu that lovely little cult flop of ONJ’s that had roller skating and Greek muses. Need a preview?
Is it cheesy?
Hell yes. I saw it on TV when I was younger (in the 80s, folks, so VERY young) and loved it. ONJ sings one of my fav songs of hers, as you can listen to here…
So am I nuts? Yes, well, I already knew that, actually. But I loved this movie because of two words.
Dreams and Fun. It was just fun, cute, love story. And that was OK! And the main character was encouraged to DREAM damn it! He had a muse come to him for inspiration!
Anyway, that’s my X contribution to A-Z. And I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Songs that begin with w!
Travis at Trav’s Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.
Vivacious!
Merriam-Webster defines as ” lively in temper, conduct, or spirit : sprightly “
When I think of vivacious characters, I think of bubbly, fun people who support your MC (main character) by making them smile and being the sunny people. Or just by being the opposite in some situations (when your character is up and you need them to be down, for example). Two I can think of off the top of my head are Sookie from Gilmore Girls (the clip above), and Kaylee from Firefly (the clip below).
Another that I just thought of is Willow in the Buffy series.
sorry about the songs over clips, they were the best I could find.
Underworld.
I don’t care what anyone else thinks, I love the world this movie describes, I love the characters and I think Michael Sheen rocks.
Teavana.
One day, I shall see this wonder of wonders. And until that day, I have this…
Understand, I’m from Atlantic Canada. We drink tea all the time. It’s the first thing you’re offered when you enter someone’s home. Not coffee, though we love our Timmys too.
Tea. Orange Peoke, Chai, Oolong, Black, Green, Earl Grey, I love it all.
SPRING!
Okay, so not everyone is as excited about it as I am. The cats would especially like it if this particular season would skip them all together as it involves trips to the vet, flea and tick medications not to mention the indignity of windy rain that keeps them indoors (why this is an affront and winter’s snow seems just a fact of life is one of many feline mysteries). And the allergy sufferers in the house are cursing up a storm between sneezes, but I’m happier.
Warmer weather, easier walking conditions, thinner coats, all of these things make me happy. And every spring I’m seized with the uncontrollable urge to wander the gardening sheds of every store around me. I develop wonderous plans in my mind of urban gardening, fresh tomatoes (though I hate whole tomatoes, so I guess I’d stew a lot of them), cucumbers, Romaine lettuce, and daily salads. Then there’s the flowers. I guess this stems from my grandfather. The man had a green thumb like nobody’s business. He could get anything to grow. My mother would often bring him things other people mistook for kindling on our kitchen sills and within a month he’d have it flowering. It was also where my grandfather talked. He, like my father, rarely spoke. When he did, it was in his garden. Telling me how to make roses grow and when to trim things back, how his lilacs remained lushious and full all summer when everyone else’s had long sinced passed. Mixed in amongst the gardening tips were little stories. How he was called CanvasBack in the army because he never could win a boxing match. How he couldn’t believe there were films with sound and gave his best buddy a bloody nose over it. How much he fell in love with this one woman walking along side the road on his way to the barracks.
Every spring, when my roses bloom, I think of my grandfather and smile. So S is for Spring, and smiles.
Raven
I grew up with the superstition that if you saw a single crow/raven, you had to blow it a kiss, otherwise it would bring you sadness. I’ve always thought that, despite the sadness (if you saw two together, it was good luck so I guess that kinda balances things) they were beautiful creatures. Smart, adaptable, had a weakness for shiny things. And mimic like you can’t believe (live in Canada and it’s the damnest thing when your car won’t turn over in the winter and you hear a BIRD repeat the sound, then fly away laughing at you). It was this facination with the Raven that was the genesis of a novel that’s in tatters, begging screaming demanding waiting to be put back together and sent in.
Hunin and Munin, Thought and Memory, are Odin’s ravens. They are Elderkin and can only enter this world by way of the Blood Of The Gods, when it is mixed with the blood of an Anchor. Each Anchor is specific to each Elderkin.
Hunin comes through first. And finds that an Ancient evil has resurfaced. One that may be more than Hunin and his unprepared Anchor, Rhiannon, can fight alone.
Quiet.
When writing, the quiet of pre-dawn before everyone else is up or late at night when everyone else had gone to bed is my best time for working. I hear all the character’s voices easier, I’m not half listening for the dryer to stop of a voice to yell for my help. Quiet is soothing too.
It’s also very rare. I love the quiet but I can’t always seem to get it. What do I do when I can’t get it?
1. Soundtracks. Scores to be specific. When I need inspiration or help catching the mood of a scene while other people are around me, I listen to scores. They’re Tony-tiger-great!
2. White noise. http://simplynoise.com/ has a great online station that lets you customize your white noise somewhat to what works best for you. I also downloaded rain on a tin roof from iTunes and that helps too.
3. Headphones. Not little ones, I’m talking the padded ones like you wore when you were in school. My brother is in the business and knows what headphones would be sound cancelling. Guess what I got for Christmas? But they muffle sounds when worn without being plugged in too.
So how about you?
