On Gas Leaks, Semi-Colons and 6-Sentences. And A Movie Review.

Okay, so I've been a tad neglectful of my blog since I got back from my residency. I've been a little busy.

As it turns out, when all the guys were repairing the basement bathroom, one of them sank a screw into the propane pipeline and we had a major gas leak in the house. We had to turn off the propane, open all the doors and windows, and evacuate the house for hours before it was safe to return. That was an adventure. Now all we have to do is get the pipe repaired and finish putting the walls up in the bathroom.

Now that things seem to have returned somewhat to normal, it's time to start working in earnest on both my reading and writing. I've ordered the dozens of books I need for this semester from Amazon and they're beginning to trickle in. The more they add up, the more intimidated I am about getting them all read, in addition to all the writing I have to do. I've never been a big fan of the "classics" in literature so I tried to keep them to a minimum on my reading list. Unfortunately the first read is a Jane Austen classic. I've already started it and I swear that woman had an obsessive fascination with the semi-colon. There are dozens of them just in the first couple of pages. I know she's lauded as a wonderful writer, so I'm hoping the book gets better as I get further into it, but so far I'm definitely not impressed. Sorry Jane Austen fans, but she's not my cup of tea.

I'm also still working on my WIP. I want to get it finished so I can concentrate on the reading I have to do, as well as working on my screenplay. The WIP is going well and as far as the screenplay, I've done the story summary, now I need to start work on an outline.

I also published my second six-sentences story. If you're interested it's called "TMI" and you can check it out here. I've become fascinated with this form and I'll probably be submitting many more of them for consideration, and hopefully publication.

Hubby and I went to see the movie "District 9" yesterday. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, other than torn. Technically I think it was a good film, but visually it was an overwhelming onslaught of gory violence. I appreciated the story, which was deeply sociopolitical, but it was difficult to get past the gratuitous violence. The reviews I've read are all very positive, and if I could get the nasty images out of my head I think I'd probably agree with them. There was definitely a profound take-home message. I just don't like bloody violent movies. Call me squeamish, but if I'm going to spend that much money and devote my time to watching a film I'd prefer more story and less blood spray; more substance and fewer flying body parts. I don't know, maybe that's part of the way the filmmakers intend to make you keep thinking about the movie - because it's so disturbing you can't get it out of your head. And they left it wide open for a sequel, so you want to know what happens next. I think overall I'm glad I saw it, but I left the theater thinking I needed to go right back in and watch something lighthearted like Julie & Julia to get the icky images out of my head.

Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the waning days of summer!