Life is like a roll of toilet paper

Do you ever find yourself doing the same thing over and over? A menial task that you always get stuck doing no matter where you’re at? For me, it’s changing the toilet paper roll. You know how it is. Someone always leaves that last little dangly bit that consists of maybe three squares total. It’s just enough to make you think that there’s plenty to use and you don’t realize that it’s not until your cheeks have already hit the seat. Well, changing out that dinky toilet paper roll and putting in the new one is apparently my lot in life. People laugh when I try to tell them just how bad it is. They think I’m exaggerating. But I tell you, I’ve changed the toilet paper just about everywhere. My house. My friend’s houses (yes, all of them). My parents’ house. My grandmother’s house. My church. My workplace. Rite Aid. (Oh yes, even Rite Aid. Thriftway, too.)

So I’m not exaggerating when I say that I literally change the stinkin’ toilet paper roll every single place that I go. I wish it were not so. It’s a running joke in my family now. Mom actually gets quite a kick out of me when I come out of the bathroom and state, with a look of disgust, “I always change the toilet paper!” Yes, she finds that quite hilarious. I suppose if it were anyone but myself I would find it amusing as well.

I’ve tried to think of something profound to link to this, like some sort of life-changing thought or metaphor. You know, like, “Life is like a roll of toilet paper…you take it for granted until you reach the end.” Hmm. Yeah, that doesn’t really work, does it?

But the good news is, when I’m not changing toilet paper I’m actually getting ready to release Prince of Light on Amazon! I’m getting so excited. I can’t wait to get some previews of the cover up and running. I’ve been playing around with Photoshop constantly and trying to decide exactly how I want it to look. My wonderful photographer friend, Alycia, has graciously agreed to take the photos for the cover. I think I know how I want it to look, but we’ll see how the pictures turn out. That will decide a lot of it.

Lots of fun is just up ahead!

Like a Herd of Thundering Sonic Burgers

I love Sonic. I just do. Can’t do McDonald’s (I watched Super-Size Me and it scarred me for life), don’t always care for Dairy Queen, and I can’t stand Jack-in-the-Box. But Sonic? True perfection. Which is funny coming from me, because I’m an extremely picky eater. I feel horrible going to people’s houses for dinner or any type of meal, because the chances of me not liking what they’re serving are extremely high. My mother tried to get me to eat more things, she really did. But I can pretty much tell by the smell of something whether I’ll like it or not. Or the ingredients.

I know it’s bad manners to not eat certain dishes or pick apart your food in front of people (I only do that with good friends, don’t worry). And while someone might encourage me to try something new, if it consists of a combination of peppers, onions and mushrooms I can tell you that I won’t like it even though I’ve never eaten that particular dish before in my life. Why? Because I don’t like peppers, mushrooms or onions. Why do people think that because they mix things together a certain way that you’ll suddenly develop a love for those foods? I know it’s your great-grandmother’s recipe passed down from generation to generation and is a family tradition in your household. I am not your family and I do not eat those foods, so unless you’d like to clean up the mess afterwards, don’t bother.

But I digress. I couldn’t help but realize that I’m being plagued by white trucks today. And not just any white trucks, but white Chevys. Nothing personal against Chevy owners, but I’m more of a Dodge girl myself. Not because of performance or ratings or anything actually substantial, but simply because I like the way the Dodge trucks look. I’m so superficial.

I think I only noticed it today because all of the white trucks were going EXCEEDINGLY slow. Like, I’m dying here, people. Yes, I’m a leadfoot, I fully admit it. I like to go fast. Probably too fast. But I tell ya, White Chevy of Doom, stand not in the way of me and my Sonic burger, lest I smite thee where ye stand. And my morning routine has been configured to the minute, if not the second, so don’t drive 50mph or less when the speed limit is 55mph. It throws off my groove, dude.

Beware the grooooove….

Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R.L. LaFevers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, if Elizabeth Peters and the creator of “The Mummy” movies had a love-child, it would probably be in the form of Theodosia Throckmorton. I must be on an Egyptian kick as of late, because this book reminded me of an Elizabeth Peters mystery for middle-grade readers, with a twist of magical curses to give it some spice. Theodosia was a delightful character whose wit and bravery was just as entertaining as Amelia Peabody. There’s something about a storyline involving Egypt that takes place in the early late 1800’s/early 1900’s that really appeals to me, probably because of “The Mummy” franchise. I loved the characters, I loved the storyline, I loved the names. (I mean, really. Who couldn’t love a book with a villain who has the last name Von Braggenschnott?) The only thing that seemed a *little* unrealistic to me was easily Theo was accepted into a very secret society. That wasn’t enough to keep me from plowing through the rest of the book, however, so I consider minor. A very enjoyable read.

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Dear Moron Driving Slow on the Freeway,

It’s called the PASSING lane because you’re supposed to actually PASS slower moving traffic. Driving the same speed as the car in the opposite lane completely defeats the purpose. Please look in your rearview mirror so that you can observe the seven cars that are now piled up behind you because you’re blocking everything.

Sincerely,
She Who is Now Ticked Off

Um, yes please? My friend posted this on FB and I have decided that I need to own one of these just so I can do this. Speaking of Zelda-themed cars, I saw one where the guy had decals all over the it, including the word “Zelda” on the side door. And I thought my two Hyrule logos on my back windows were bad to the bone.

I’d hoped that I would run into more fellow geeks when driving my car around, but so far the only guy to ever find it as amazing as I do was a random attendant from a gas station. But he was impressed, though mostly because I was female, I think.

I’ve loved everything Zelda ever since I first watched a friend play Ocarina of Time. Link actually played a major role in the inspiration of Celestyn’s character in Prince of Light. I think I was mostly influenced by Link, Prince Nuada from Hellboy II and a little bit of Tolkien. As the story unfolded, so did his character.

But I dare not reveal much more until the book itself is ready to be given to the masses. Yes, I am that cruel.

Image found at Geekologie

It’s a love-hate relationship between humidity and my hair. On the one hand, my hair feels so amazingly soft that I love it. On the other hand, the added moisture apparently gives it license to do whatever the heck it wants. I give it an inch and it takes a mile.

We traveled to Vancouver, WA this weekend for a family wedding (pictures to follow) and I tried to curl my hair for the event, only to have it end up a rather half-hearted attempt in the end. Most of the time my hair is really easy to maintain. If I curl it in the morning, it stays curly all day long. If I straighten it, same thing. However, when there’s any moisture in the air, my hair becomes this half-wavy, half-straight hot mess. I guess I just haven’t been in that kind of environment long enough to know how to handle it. I’ve only ever visited places like that. Our climate is extremely dry.

Sometimes I wish I lived someplace nice and humid. It’s always so green and beautiful. But I think the rain would eventually drive me crazy. Having grown up in the high desert, where the sun shines the majority of the time, I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t see it on a regular basis. It makes me happy. I like to be happy.

I think I need to look into nature photography. Then I could travel to all of the beautiful, humid places I want to visit and have a legitimate excuse. I love to take pictures, but most of all I love to manipulate pictures. Photoshop is seriously like crack to me. I could sit there for hours (and have, actually) working on just one picture.

I need more hours in the day. I’m not able to do the things that I love to do because the persistent problem of money, darn it. Hence why I’m looking at publishing my book. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to quit my day job, but part-time would be nice. Very, very nice.

*sigh*

What would life be like without dreams, I wonder? 😉

Now that I plan to use this blog on a regular basis, I’m seeing some major work that needs to be done. Like deleting some of my older posts. I originally created this blog to help a friend with her college class, so there isn’t really anything of interest. Like, at all. We’ll give it a bit of a face-lift and start having more fun with it. So here’s a review of what my be my new favorite author.

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book. I know that the writing style would not appeal to everyone, as it is very proper and very…well, British, for lack of a better word. But Amelia’s character was so witty and engaging that I fell in love with the story immediately. It presented a delightful mystery that actually kept me guessing, but by far what I loved most were Amelia’s descriptions of her surroundings and her interjections. She is one of my new favorite book characters, and I am looking forward to reading more of Elizabeth Peters’ books.

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Wow, haven’t updated in a while. Or…well, ever, now that I really look at it. It’s been too busy for me to even think, much less post to my blog. I’ve decided to desert my old blog over in LJ-land, mostly because I was finally getting fed up with the fact that I can’t get my layout to work properly. Plus I don’t think that I’ll be getting as much traffic there, so here I am.

I am writing this from my spiffy new (to me) laptop. Gotta love Craigslist, man. This guy wanted to get rid of his HP Pavilion Entertainment PC because he bought a desktop and didn’t need it anymore. It puts our budget a little tighter for the next couple of months, but it’s a worthwhile investment. I have decided to self-publish my book on Amazon and possibly Barnes and Noble. In order to do that, I need a laptop that will be fast and reliable. I love my old Kronk, and he’s been faithful, but now it’s time to move on. The hubby will take over Kronk and I shall have my lovely new laptop that has yet to be named. I’m thinking along the lines of Ganondorf, because he’s much bigger than my last laptop but more powerful. (Yes, I name inanimate objects. My car’s name is Steve, in case you were wondering.)

Anyway, thus far I’m quite happy with him. The only downside is that he’s quite a bit heavier, as was mentioned before, but I’ll deal with it. I mean, 17″ monitor, woot! Hopefully my excitement with him will continue over and give me lots to blog about.