Writing

Well, today is the last day of September and my previous blog was posted in the beginning of January, so as you can tell, I'm really on top of things...

Yeah...

I really enjoy writing. Specifically, I enjoy writing stories. Even more specifically, I like to make up those stories. Giving regular updates on what my family is up to (at least in blog form) is pretty boring for me. With Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it also feels redundant. Social media allows me to post those silly conversations, proud moments and daily craziness right away; then I feel like there's no need to expand on those things here. So I don't.

But I am writing, I promise you that. I get a little giddy just thinking about the story I have to tell, too. It is not a children's book. It is not a short story. It is not a book to encourage moms of young children. (I'm actually quite bored and tired by the mommy blogs anymore unless it's a blog of someone I know personally.)

I'm writing a novel. Or maybe a series, I'm not quite sure yet. I don't know if I can get the whole story out in one book. Or if it will be just one book and then do a spin-off book with a certain character or storyline from the book. I've been inspired!

Inspiration is a wonderful feeling. I've basically been wanting to write a great story since my freshman year in college. I must have started at least ten times, but then I'd determine that those stories were either lame or have been done before. Then sometime this past January/February, an idea just came to me.

Now, I'm not going to reveal what the story is, but it is definitely in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre. And if you don't like that genre, you will probably hate it. And even if you do like that genre, you still might think it's a lame story. But I'm excited about it and my mom will at least tell me it's great. I concluded some time ago that I have an overactive imagination and it can actually be productive by making up characters, environment, imaginary physics and such for others to read and enjoy. I hope to publish some day, but I probably won't seriously start looking into that for some time yet. It is a goal, though.

So, that's the update on me. I'm writing. For real. And I guess I can post some kid pictures since you're used to seeing kid pictures on here.

Simon turned 6 in April and had a Skylanders party

Charzie turned 3 in May and had a Mickey Mouse party

Jonas turned 5 in August and had a shark party (at the end of Shark Week)

 Chase turned 33 in September and had an R2D2 cake because I found a sweet R2D2 cake pan at a thrift store. He's not a kid, but he does have a sweet cake.

There's no picture of me with my birthday cake because no one made one for me and I won't make one for myself. I do cakes and birthday parties for my family, but I don't do it trying to be better than other moms or make other moms feel bad for not doing it. I just enjoy coming up with cake & game ideas, executing those ideas and eating cake. Mmmmmmmmm caaaaaaaaaake. (Another reason I'm done with the mommy blogging world is when the birthday party issue comes up the blogs are often either showing elaborate/expensive birthday parties with styled pictures I find mostly ridiculous or the blogs bash those parties saying those moms are ruining it for all the other moms. I feel I fall more in the middle but could be seen as making other moms feel bad. I'm terrible at keeping up with cleaning & laundry, but at least my kids have fun birthdays!)

So if you want to see an inordinate amount of pictures of my kids, follow me on Instagram @weesher. If you want to read dumb stuff I say, follow me on Twitter @weesherweesh. If I know you in real life, we can be Facebook friends (but only if I know you in real life) if you search for me. I may occasionally post something or other amusing on here or maybe give a book update, but this blog will probably be neglected.

I will leave you with things I've been into lately...

Books: George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. I am currently finishing the fifth book, A Dance with Dragons. I think I'll get into the Halloween spirit by reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein once I've finished.

TV: Doctor Who (I don't get BBC America, so I have to wait until the current season comes to Netflix or Amazon Instant Video), Classic Doctor Who (I started from the beginning of what they have on Netflix/Amazon and am currently on the episodes with the fourth Doctor, the one with the long scarf), Game of Thrones (HBO), True Blood (HBO- started this one over the summer when the GOT season ended and now only have a few episodes left of the series!), The Walking Dead (AMC- don't get AMC so we bought the series on Amazon, but we don't get to watch it until the day after it airs), Drunk History (Comedy Central), Impractical Jokers (TrueTV- we don't get this channel but watch it online sometimes).

Movies: I go to maybe two movies a year. The last movie I saw in the theater was The Lego Movie with my kids. I am pretty set on seeing the next Hunger Games movie in the theater when it comes out, and I'm totally cool with seeing it alone. I'm sure we'll watch lots of horror movies on Netflix/Amazon this October, too, after the kids go to bed. 

Sports: HAHAHHAHHAHAHHA (this is a joke because I don't watch sports, except my kids doing gymnastics class, and that is quite amusing- the boys do cartwheels like Oompa Loompas.)

Food: Entenmann's snack size (chocolate) frosted donuts, Eggo pumpkin spice waffles, Count Chocula, burgers with BBQ sauce, crab cakes, crescent roll sandwiches, cake, Breyer's lactose free ice cream

Kids' Activities: sending them outside to play, sending them to the basement to play, telling them to color rocks they find outside, gluing stuff they find outside to paper, Legos, reading books with them

Music: The Flaming Lips, Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Beck, Lucius. I mostly like 90's alt rock with a bit of newer music. Alice FM is my favorite radio station.

I don't really know how to end this. Hopefully next time it won't be quite so long between posts. And hopefully next time I'll have made real progress on my book!

Music Fogey

Let me just say, I'm totally digging the alternative station on Spotify.  It's chock full of 90's alt. rock, so of course I'm all about it.  It's also got some newer songs that fit in well, and I don't even mind that much.

I am a self-proclaimed music fogey.  What is a music fogey?  Well, it's a term that I've coined for those of us who like what music we like just because we like it and have usually liked it since our coming of age or since we first got into music (usually high school or college years).  Are you way into disco?  You probably graduated from high school in the early-to-mid 70's (and are also not reading this blog!).  Think Madonna is just the best?  Are you a chick who came of age in the early 80's?  If you graduated high school in the late 90's to early 00's and listened to a lot of cutting edge radio, then like me, you might have a special place in your heart for alt. rock.  You know, The Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Gin Blossoms, Veruca Salt, Bush, and so on.

Now, a music fogey is different from a music snob.  A music fogey doesn't necessarily have a reason for liking what they like other than they just like it and always have.  A music snob, on the other hand, usually has some sort of criteria music has to possess in order to get their stamp of approval.  Music snobs come in different sorts depending on said criteria.  One sort is the "I heard it first" music snob.  This type will only like a band or song before it is cool, and if that band/song becomes cool, they will let you know that they liked it first but the band sold out or something and said snob has moved on to some other unknown band that only other music snobs know about.  Then there's the other type of music snob who needs music to have certain elements in order to be appreciated.  Maybe it's the novel use of a particular instrument, a style of singing or the way the music is produced, or the music just has to be something truly original; this snob usually has some sort of musical background, as well.

Music snobs tend to always be searching for new music, but may still have a bit of appreciation for what they liked during their coming of age, or at least what they were exposed to then probably influences what interests them now.  When choosing new music, fogeys, on the other hand, tend to gravitate toward artists influenced by what the fogeys like.

Except when that new music flat out rips off something we like.  I heard a song today on my Spotify alternative station that completely ripped off was unmistakeably greatly inspired by Machina era Smashing Pumpkins.  So I did a bit of investigation and on the same album they also ripped off were obviously inspired by The Killers.  Not to name names, but The Raveonettes will not be on this music fogey's to listen to list.

Ok, I guess after that little rant maybe I'm a bit of a music snob as well.

Always on the Radio

Be it with Matchbox 20 or solo, Rob Thomas is always on the radio. Chase first pointed this out to me several months ago and I then estimated that in 90% of car trips, if you scan the airwaves, you will find Rob Thomas on the radio... at least on our local stations.

But why? I don't think I've ever encountered a Rob Thomas or Matchbox 20 fan. I mean, most people are somewhere between indifferent and sort of liking him/them, but I've never met anyone who would say that they're the best band ever, call them their favorite band or singer, or even say, "Yeah, Rob Thomas is pretty awesome." It's mostly, "Yeah, Matchbox 20 is alright," or "Who's Rob Thomas? Oh, yeah that guy who sang that one song that was always on the radio in the mid-to-late '90s... and that other song with Santana."

Of course, I've also never encountered anyone who absolutely hates Rob Thomas or Matchbox 20 either. So maybe that's why he's always on the radio... He has a pretty distinct and easily recognizable voice that no one absolutely loves or hates.

I'm curious, is Rob Thomas always on the radio where you live?