Cinderella Man!

My word, that Russell Crowe fella can act.

Just got back from spending a pleasant afternoon with mamishka, in which we finally got to see Cinderella Man. We both had an immensely satisfying time, and commented as much to one another as the credits were rolling. It's a damn crying shame that this film is not doing so well, because it really is a good movie and deserves more success than it's getting. It's not the high-action, big-explosion, flash-bang-boom sort of summer movie most people would go to see--but don't let that stop you. Go see it. And let this plucky underdog of a movie come out on top.

( Spoilers back here... )

More pitch practice updates!

Attention, pinkdormouse: don't know if you noticed, but dr_pretentious has responses to your pitches on my last pointer post, here.

Also, lots of fabulous input has come in from technosage on the original pitch practice thread. She's answered a lot of folks' posts there, and has good things to say in general. So I recommend y'all skim the thread again for her commentary, even the stuff that might not be specifically addressed to your own pitches!

Happy Splody Day!

Happy 4th of July to all, and a welcome to wisewoman and technosage, now tuning in to my journal!

As I write, I'm listening to the echo of fireworks explosions bouncing back and forth through the hills all over the northern shore of Lake Washington. It's pretty cool-sounding, actually, and if I go upstairs I can see fireworks in the distance in multiple directions--shot off by Bothell, Woodinville, and either Bellevue or Kirkland, I'm not sure which. This is the first year that we haven't actually headed down to Lake Union to watch fireworks being shot off, but I'm okay with that; I've had plenty of good things happen this weekend, things that help contribute to the various reasons I'm thankful for the country I live in. I get cranky at my government sometimes, to be sure--but by and large I'm still pretty happy to be here.

And hey, fireworks are cool. In the meantime, here are some other reasons why the holiday weekend has been cool too:

Friday: jessicac, her sister Sadie, kathrynt, and llachglin joined us for video games with spazzkat and solarbird on Friday night. Kathryn and I writergeeked while the video game stuff was going on, which was extra special cool as it was more two-way writergeeking, just as much about her work as it was mine.

Saturday: As previously posted, we had the viewing of The Day After Tomorrow. And oh the silly badness. And I finished Chapter 12 of Lament, which was very satisfying. Need to figure out how to start off Chapter 13 now, though.

Sunday: In the afternoon, Dara and I went to go meet technoshaman and jenkitty at the Lake Forest Park Farmer's Market. Lunch, pleasant conversation, and ambling around the market was had by one and all, and shave ice by Dara and me. In the evening, Kathryn and Erik joined us for the second time this weekend for the grilling of hamburgers and hot dogs, and for the playing of more video games. Sunday evening would have been cooler for me if I hadn't twisted my neck out of sync badly enough to put me into teary pain, but after two Mike's and extensive neck rubbing by Kathryn and Dara both, I eventually slogged off to bed and some decent rest. Also, I am totally songvirused by the lyrics that Paul wrote for the video game theme. They go like this: "Monkeys playing golf, monkeys playing golf, monkeys playing golf, monkeys playing golf..." Repeat ad infinitum.

Today: See previous post re: going to see Cinderella Man with mamishka! In addition to the fun of the movie, I actually got myself out into the sunshine and biked to and from MurkSouth--so I got in 16 miles' worth of exercise today along with a Russell Crowe flick. To prepare for the bike trip, I had Dara braid my hair. I have decided I really like having my hair braided, as it gets most of its weight off my neck and keeps it out of my face. I need to figure out how to do this myself, though.

The one downer note of the trip was that I came upon a couple of fire engines and a crowd gathered around a teenager on a stretcher--it seemed that the poor kid had slammed his knee into one of the separator poles along the trail, at one of the points where the trail intersects with one of the access roads that leads down to the houses around the edge of the lake. Everything was well in hand by the emergency folks who'd shown up to take care of the boy, so I walked my bike past them and called out "Hang in there" to him. I hope he'll be okay. I very much felt for him--my own accident on the trail is still vivid in my brain, two years after the fact.

On the other hand, on the way home I saw a bald eagle. I had stopped to take a swig of water out of my water bottle, and I looked up, and there was the bird soaring along the edge of the lake. NICE. And a very appropriate bird to have seen today, neh?

Sunday miles: 2.0
Monday miles: 16.0
Miles out of Hobbiton: 206.3
Miles to Rivendell: 251.7