On the chopping block

Well, friends, I'll be at the hospital tomorrow for surgery and off my feet for a while after that. I might be back online in days or in weeks. It's hard to predict how recovery will go.

In the meantime, feel free to drop me some film recommendations. I tend to watch a lot of quirky independent films. My top favorite movies are Amelie, Lars and the Real Girl, and Amadeus to give you a sense of my taste. Please no gut-splitting humor; I don't want to pop any sutures. :-)

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Parting is such sweet sorrow

The last lazy, hazy days of summer are here and what better time for the muse to arrive with a shiny new idea requiring tons of research AND an insight that has unstuck a shelved project? While the ideas are flowing well, it seems a good time to take a break from blogging. I plan to check in a few times in August--a mid-month (8/15) and month-end (8/31) report.

This hiatus means that I won't be editing new editions of the fan fiction Hogwarts underground newspaper Thestral Gazette until September. If you're hankering for Harry Potter fun, do check out the newspaper's archive site: THESTRAL GAZETTE. We have three months' worth of hilarious weekly posts available for your reading pleasure.

I'll be checking in regularly on Facebook, so if you haven't yet friended me, please do. I believe that clicking my Facebook badge on the right will facilitate the connection.

Happy August!

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Unplugging

I need to take a hiatus from blogging for the week. A work deadline is looming and between my sick kid and dead computer, it's going to be a major challenge to meet it.

For now I leave you with a fun video, close to my band geek heart. I played mallet percussion in high school, like the short guy in OK Go does here.




See you all on the flip side.

Any other former band geeks out there? Instrumentalist or color guard?

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Whoa

You might read my blog title in a Kenau Reeves way or as a reins-tugging command to Nelly. This post is a little of both.

HP 7.1
I went to a morning showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 1 on Saturday, thankful that the film is popular enough for theaters to open before lunchtime. I have to say, I felt emotionally walloped by this film. In compressing the story to work on film, some of the very, very few moments of light get short shrift--Bill and Fleur's wedding, for example. What slow moments there are felt all the more oppressive and tense because of it.

I thought the Ministry of Magic sequence was one of the better adaptations--paced well and still as tense and scary as in the book. I also liked how the screenwriter handled the camping scenes with Harry, Ron and Hermione. You get the sense of their aimlessness and frustration without belaboring the point.

I was really impressed with Tom Felton's fairly cameo appearance as Draco Malfoy. He has almost no lines, but his expressions and postures shout his fear and misery. The sets and cinematography were also truly superior in this penultimate film of the series.

Friend me!
You might have noticed that late last week I added a Facebook badge to my page. I now have a page up for my writerly self, and if I haven't yet found you and sent a friend request, please take a moment to friend me--I believe you can do so through the badge. I've also registered my blog with the networked blogs widget, so feel free to follow using that widget as well. I'm happy to return the favor.

Blog un-plug
I'll be focusing on Facebook this week and unplugging from blogging.

Have a fabulous Thanksgiving, American friends (and a lovely normal week to my international friends)!

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