Well, (which I'm not) it's still Monday morning so technically I'm not late with this week's miracle.
I think I'm almost over the worst of the fever and I can eat things crispier than jelly now.
Perhaps I should try some of what this guy was on?
Strep Throat Sux...
Which is about all I can do right now.
Stay tuned, the antibiotics should kick in by the weekend.
As a result of Monday mornings being synonymous with a lack of creativity and an abundance of meetings to discuss, without irony, why important tasks are behind schedule, I have decided to lead each week with a ‘Monday Morning Miracle’; an item of any nature with the power to make me laugh, despite the challenges inherent with the beginning of the week.
I hope you had the kind of weekend you craved and to lead off, I humbly offer to you,
O Mazing Grace!
Enjoy.
(Give it a moment to load - it's worth it!)
For a while now I’ve been wondering how Spyglass Entertainment managed to pull off such a coup. I know the Hollywood Machine is powerful, but 40 days of rain to coincide with the release of ‘Evan Almighty’? Surely that’s even beyond the influence of Universal!
Is it the Almighty himself with a vested interest? Or perhaps Mother Nature?
Maybe the blame lies with my Chiropractor’s friend, whose child was born 40 days ago and named Noah? I hope not, but there’s a great story lurking in there somewhere.
While scanning IMDB I noticed the movie credits included - “Executive Producer, Tom Hanks.” Could it be? Nah. Not after ‘The DaVinci Code’.
Then I saw it, hidden away at the bottom of the page, the film credits Jon Stewart with ‘Special Thanks’.
I just knew it!
Bill O’Reilly is in SERIOUS trouble!
The past twelve months have seen significant changes in my daughter, who is currently approaching 15 with all the caution and restraint of Michael Schumacher in a go-kart race.
Her physical development has brought with it a two-headed beast that now fills our house – ‘self awareness and boy-awareness’.
She now spends two hours a day in the bathroom, putting on make up and experimenting with clothes and hair while MSN'ing on webcam with her friends and listening to the continual chirruping of her phone receiving text messages while her iPod speakers blare out something I’m surprised to find I actually like!
She still gets A’s in every subject at school and spends another two hours a day with her nose in a novel, so I can’t complain too much. Her appetite for books is enormous; she can devour a novel a week and I’m pleased to note that they are not all chick-lit or Harry Potter.
Right now she’s on holiday in Costa Rica, visiting friends. This is something she’s done before but in the past, her time away has been punctuated with teary phone calls every other night and vows never to leave us again.
This year it took a week before she made her first call.
And Costa Rica has changed, too, apparently! Previously she regaled us with stories of her visits to beaches, of rain forest treks and playing with her younger relatives. This year she’s been to a beach that was full of hot surfer dudes, sat in the warm volcanic springs at Arenal, where the waiter was ‘gorgeous’ and went to a christening where there were no hot guys at all. Boo!
Yes, I know, we were all 15 once. But when I think back, to some of the things I got up to at 15 and more importantly, the things I was allowed to get away with… well, I try not to think about it.
(For the record, I’d like to say sorry to Mr. Shearing. I now know exactly why you used to give me death stares and pace the living room until I brought your little girl home. I know it’s no consolation but I now share your pain.)
Anyway, after reading this morning’s email bulletin from my "little girl" and trying to work out if “a cross between Josh Duhmel and Ryan Reynolds” is a good thing or a bad thing, I found myself giggling at a news story on the internet. My wife stopped to see what was so funny and this was the picture that caught my eye:
Any my wife’s response?
“She’s not getting older, Mike. You’re regressing!”
She’s wrong though. I’ve always been a kid.
I managed to draft another chapter of 'Mirror Man' on Saturday and I hope to get it tidied up and ready for critique on 'The Next Big Writer' today or tomorrow.
Anybody who aspires to improve their writing,of any kind, could do much worse than join up at 'The Next Big Writer'. There are some great people there, both readers and writers, who have much to offer in the way of constructive reviews of your work. Give it a try.
Reading time over the weekend was split between three books:
1. The ever entertaining Jeremy Clarkson, who occupies the smallest room in the house;
2. Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods' - bathtime reading;
3. Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged'
I know Ayn's tale is considered a classic and the precursor of Objectivism, and I can see there are so many philosophical paths being explored, but I must say I'm struggling to stick with it. Though undoubtably well crafted...I'm just bored. I don't have any investment in the characters.
Ah well, I'll stick with it. I can't bail out once a story has started. No matter how difficult the going gets, my curiosity to know the outcome pushes me on. (Except 'Clerks 2'. I pulled the plug on that movie after 30 minutes and I honestly think my life is better for it.)
I've been catching up on the blogs of my old friends from the days of my 'What's Wrong With...' blog and have been thrilled to see so many of you still plugging away. I'll be generating a link list very soon so that I can get back to you all on a more regular basis.
Thanks for the 'Welcome Back' messages, I really appreciate them!
After 18 months away, I've decided to start a new blog.
For those of you that care, I've been writing several short stories, completed one novel that I promptly dropped into the 'must try harder' box, and started on a new one: "Mirror Man".
That man talking in the backgroud? That's Doug Bradley! Remember him?
Yes, Pinhead! And the story he's reading is one of mine: Stepping Off.
It's a cheerful little short that was published in an anthology called "Love & Sacrifice", but more about that later.
I'll change the media player as soon as I can be bothered to learn how, so the thing doesn't auto-start and then loop forever.
Anyway, let's see hom this goes but I expectI will use it as a regular update on my struggle to make it to publication with "Mirror Man".
If you want to see more of my work, got over to www.madstories.com
Cheers for now
Mike
