10 Things...

Tami's asked for a list of distractions that are responsible for me not doing what I should be doing -namely writing (or editing, you decide) - for her third request, and it is probably the easiest of my blogging challenges so far.  Look no further for...

10 Things That Are Very, Very Bad For Procrastinating Princesses

1 - The Television.

I'm not a huge watcher of television, but I do have my obsessions. I'm a nut for American stuff, from Supernatural to Fringe, from House to Eureka (and a lot of stuff in between). Luckily they don't all schedule at the same time of the year, but there are usually three or four serials that I watch weekly. Not a huge distraction by all means, but a distraction nonetheless. I'm also a nut for the X Factor (American Idol is the equivalent across the pond), and as we are currently in prime X Factor season, I am fearing multiple distractions for the next two months, though thankfully it only applies for a couple of hours at the weekend, so it is workable.

2 - My Job.

I only work sixteen hours a week (barring overtime), but they are all early shifts, so tiredness is a major bane of my life. Unplanned (but totally required) naps eat up several hours a week that could be otherwise more usefully occupied.

3 - Kids.

My son doesn't take a huge amount of my time up as such, but quite a large chunk of my time is swallowed up with pointless arguments and the stress that comes with having a teenager under your roof. My daughter, although not quite nine, takes up even more time with her constant demands for attention, and her inability to understand that she is not the centre of everyones' universe.

4 - Confidence (or lack of it).

Sometimes I think to myself that what I have written is the pantsiest thing ever, and I wonder if editing it is really worth my while. Moods like this are not conductive to getting things done at all. Which leads me to...

5 - Mood Swings.

Yup, I get them a lot. My episodic depression is mostly under control now, but I still get days here and there when all I want to do is sleep, cry, or clean like a mad woman. I have no control over this and just have to go with the flow. Thankfully these days are getting more sporadic, and when I do get them, they only last a day or two at a time.

6 - Facebook.

This is a biggie. I check in several times a day just to be nosy more than anything, but if that was the only thing that distracted me, I wouldn't be worried. It's those silly games, they're a nightmare for people with an addictive nature (like me, for example). I'm talking about Bejeweled Blitz mostly, though the recent discovery of Vegas Nights (very similar to Blitz, but with the added bonus of tournaments) is proving to be as much of an obsession as those shiny gems ever were.

7 - Other Online Duties.

I moderate on the fan fiction forum over at HPANA, and though the site is pretty quiet now that the Harry Potter books are finished, there's still stuff to keep me occupied. We're currently holding our annual fanfic awards, and while I don't really have much to do at present, there will be votes to tally and posts to compose for the results. All new forum posts by members need to be skimmed on a daily basis too to make sure the rules are being followed and nobody needs spanking (or editing, as the case may be).

8 - Reading.

I read every day, and seriously don't see a time when I won't. This is a good thing mostly, but if I really get sucked in to a story, I won't put the book down until I am done. It's a nice habit, no question, but when the Reading Bug attacks me, it's not good for my Writing Mojo at all.

9 - Cleaning.

I'm by no means a clean freak, but one of my coping strategies for my recent descent into madness was housework. Dusting, polishing, vacuuming, cleaning the oven, scrubbing the bathroom.... you name it, I did it. Mostly to eat up the time (which seems to drag terribly when you are feeling down), but also because housework is incredibly mind-numbing, and therefore essential when you want to have a couple of blissful, thought-free hours

10 - Wikipedia.

I use Wiki a lot, mostly because I'm pretty clueless about a ton of stuff and often have to look things up. The problem with Wiki is that they have these lovely, lovely hyperlinks which can take you to magical places where you can find out even more (usually pointless) information. Seriously, it's like that seven degrees of separation thingy. You type in something along the lines of , ooh, I don't know, lets say Jensen Ackles for the sake of argument (*shifty*), and suddenly you are clicking on the link that takes you to the page for one of his movies. Then you come across another actor who interests you, and so you click on his shiny link too. Before you know it, you've clicked about twenty hyperlinks, and three hours later you find yourself wondering why you are reading about soap powder (or something else equally as random).

So there we have it. Ten distractions that usually make me fall off the Writing Wagon. And believe me, that's just the tip of the iceberg....

*is doomed*

Magnificent Mojos

This request buisness has been pretty good for my writing mojo. After successfully blogging for two solid months, then being pretty good in December (I managed to blog 15 times, which when I think about how mad December was, is not bad at all), I virtually disappeared. This is blog number eleven of 2010. Bad. Very bad. Anyway, as I was saying, this request malarkey is great, because it appears that by having someone suggest a topic for me, it has actually pushed me into writing regularly again. Okay, so we are only on the fifth consecutive day now, but my blog count for January was a big fat zero, while February only had one blog posted for the entire month.

Moving on.

My fave NaNo novel illustrator, Ana, came up with her second topic suggestion for this round of requests, and as usual, she has picked something close to my heart. Namely mojos.

Now, I have blogged about mojos before. In fact, I seem to remember saying that my 'Mojo Moments' would be a semi-regular blog topic. *coughs*  My first Mojo Moment was way back in my first week of blogging, and was all about my ultimate mojo, Aragorn (of Lord of the Rings fame). I rambled extensively about the advantages of being hot, dirty, and owning a big sword. Good fun for all, I would think. I think I forgot all about my intention of blogging about mojos semi-regularly after that (forgetfulness is one of the banes of being a procrastinator), until about seven weeks later.

The madness of November (NaNoWriMo anyone?) ended on a surprising high when I not only managed to blog almost every day (I missed once), but I also managed to complete the 50,000 word novel challenge that I had been suckered into by my good friend Tami (Confessions of a Watery Tart). What better way to celebrate than to blog all about the mojo that is Dean Winchester (a.k.a. Jensen Ackles) of Supernatural fame?  I got to insert plenty of innuendo into my post (always a good thing), managed to include several increasingly hot pictures of said mojo, and was also able to use copious amounts of asteriskisms, which are quite possibly my favorite things in the world. *fondly remembers asteriskisms blog post* [/shameless self-plugging once more].

Anywho, after only a mere *shifty* six months, here I am blogging about mojos again. Okay, so far all I have done is ramble about my previous blogs and added links (shameless plugs) to several things (mostly because I'm still strangely impressed that I can actually do this kind of thing without stuffing it up)  but I'm getting to new stuff, I swear.

My Mojo Cupboard is pretty full, I have to admit. Accompanying Aragorn the Hot and Dean the Droolworthy are more than a handful of gorgeous hunks that, as far as I'm concerned, were put on this earth for the purpose of making me (and several million other women) drool. Yes, I know that's a bit shallow.... Tara, these men are people too, not just eye candy! They are talented as well as hot, and would probably be insulted if they thought people only liked them for their looks.... but honestly, the whole point of mojos is that they give visual pleasure (at the very least) to hoards of women all over the world, and are unavailable, thus safe to fantasize over. Yes, they're intelligent, talented people who are more than just merely good -looking actors (or fictional characters, as the case may be), but when we fantasize about our mojos, we aren't imagining how sexy they would be if they were working out a quadratic equation.

And lets face it, mojos are perfect fantasy material. I'm pretty sure that there isn't a single perfect person, be it male or female, in the world right now. Everyone has faults, no matter how nice they are. But mojos are perfect. They always look perfect, always act in the way that you love, and sometimes wear sexy lingerie just the way you like it *coughs* Find me a man like that in real life and I'll eat my laptop. And this is why we love our mojos. It's pure escapism, fun, and a little bit naughty to have private droolfests over people we are never likely to meet in a million years. And quite honestly, I'm pretty sure that most of my mojos, while publicly holding themselves aloof, are privately a little bit chuffed that they bring so much pleasure to women all over the world. At least, I like to think so.

I suppose I can't finish today's blog without having a proper Mojo Moment. I've rambled a fair bit already, but haven't actually mentioned any of my other mojos. I could wax lyrical about Mr. Darcy, or perhaps enthusiastically witter away about Johnny Depp, but I think I'm going to go with Ian Somerhalder. Mr. Somerhalder stars as Damon Salvatore in the American TV series The Vampire Diaries.

Now, I've blogged before about my TV addictions, and this series is another habit that I have. I'm not one for vampires in general; I can't stand anything to do with Twilight, and the phenomenon that is True Blood has completely passed me by. To be truthful, The Vampire Diaries is not that great; the plot is contrived, the characters predictable, and the overuse of music with moody overtures can be a bit, well, overused. But I'm a sucker (no pun intended) for a bad boy, and Damon Salvatore is truly a bad boy. He treats women like dirt, traumatizes his brother on an hourly basis, and thoroughly enjoys himself when he is in full vampire mode. But as with all bad boys, you know that deep down (very deep down with this one) lies a poor wounded little boy lost. *sighs in Scarlett O'Hara fashion*

Okay, it's a fantasy, I know. Real-life bad boys are rarely soft and cuddly on the inside, but if you were paying attention, you would know that the word 'fantasy' is the key here.

As I said before, The Vampire Diaries is not fantastic. I think I would have given up on it a long time ago if it wasn't for the character of Damon. In fact, I already did give up on it last year. I watched two or three episodes and decided that it wasn't my cup of tea at all. Then the crappiness that is British TV at the moment forced me into looking online for other viewing pleasures, and I decided to give the series another shot. If nothing else, I can hit the mute button and freeze frame all the Damon scenes (especially the shirtless ones), right?

And don't roll your eyes at me, because I know you do that too (or at least I hope you do....)

Ahh, I loves me my mojos. *sighs happily*

Next request?

*is saying "crikey" and "daggy" a lot*

This is blog number five in my series of seven requested blogs. So far I've had a blast, particularly the last two entries, and have been able to come up with something to fill my entries pretty much right away.

Yesterday I was asked to blog about Australia. Now, if I had been asked to blog about New Zealand, I could have wrote at least 2,000 words without any problems. Being a Lord of the Rings nut will do that to you. But I was asked to blog about Australia, so that is what I must do.

My knowledge of Australia could be fitted onto the back of a (very small) envelope, consequently I've had to have a really good think about what I will ramble about. Running to recent form, I am going to cheat. *nods* I may not have a lot of expertise on Australia as a whole, but I have remembered something that will definitely help me to supply this latest requested blog.


I don't know about anyone else, but in my neck of the woods there appeared a sudden new craze around twenty years ago. I'm talking about, of course, the phenomena that was Neighbours. For the untutored, Neighbors is an Australian soap opera that has been transmitted for almost 25 years. We Brits got it a little bit later than the Aussies, but in true British fashion, we quickly adopted these neighbors as our own. I don't remember the exact date when I started to follow it myself, but I can remember coming home from school, finishing my homework, having my tea, then settling down to watch Home and Away (that one's being covered in a mo) and Neighbours.

Ramsey Street, the fictional setting for our Aussie neighbours, was awesome. It was a large cul-de-sac where everyone knew everybody, and did exactly as the theme tune suggested (Neighbours should be there for one another, that's when good neighbours become good friends - Lordy, I can't believe I can still remember the words, now I'll be humming the bloody thing all day). The houses were a bit odd, in that even though they mostly had two floors, everyone seemed to have their bedrooms next to the kitchen (maybe they wanted to be near the kitchen implements, who knows?), but the houses were also cool because they had verandas and pools (something which was rarely seen in most British streets).

I was a fan of the soap in the golden Ramsey/Robinson era. These two families were the main characters in the soap, and we watched avidly as they coped with day-to-day issues and said 'crikey' a lot. The two most famous characters were Scott Robinson, the nice son of Jim Robinson, and Charlene Mitchell, who was Madge Mitchell's (formerly Ramsey) tom-boyish daughter. Charlene, being played by a teen Kylie Minogue, was awesome, I loved her to bits. She was a mechanic's apprentice, wore ugly brown overalls, yet still managed to snag the hot boy from next door (I should point out that when I think about Scott Robinson now, I'm more likely to go 'eww' rather than drool. Funny how our tastes change as we grow up, isn't it?)

Neighbours is still going strong, though I haven't watched it for well over ten years myself. It's obviously still popular, or it wouldn't still be airing, but for me the attraction has gone. To me, Neighbours hit its peak when Angry Anderson's song 'Suddenly' played against Scott and Charlene's teen wedding. You don't get cheesiness any better than that.

Now, I mentioned Home and Away a little up the page. Home and Away was the other prime time soap that the Brits poached from our Aussie cousins. BBC may have nabbed the biggest Australian fish, but ITV hooked its closest competition. Home and Away was basically Neighbours by the sea. Set in the fictional  'Summer Bay', we still had two main families to watch, only this time is was the Stewarts and the Fletchers. Nothing really different happened in Summer Bay when you compared it to Neighbours, but Summer Bay had the advantage of copious beach-clad teens prancing across the screen every few minutes. I'm pretty sure that most of Home and Away's fans were teenage boys, who could spend a pleasant twenty-five minutes ogling tanned teenage beauties without their mothers breathing down their necks (because all mums LOVED Home and Away, of course).

I watched Home and Away for about three years altogether, and in that time they had some pretty memorable stories. To give them their due, they tried to cover serious issues; the Fletchers were foster parents, for example, which was a very good thing to highlight (though I suspect the writers did this so that they could swap and change the characters whenever they felt like it). They also covered teenage pregnancy (with the father being a teacher, no less *gasp*), and death via incurable disease. All very worthy topics  (well, maybe not the teacher-fathers-teen's-baby thing)  I'm sure. The trouble is, all I really remember from Home and Away was that the teenagers thought everything was 'daggy', and that the school uniforms were bordering on indecent.

I think I mostly remember the ghosts though. Yup, Home and Away had two "Bobby in the shower" moments (I'm going to presume everyone remembers Dallas and the silly storyline of (dead) Bobby coming out of the shower). Funnily enough, one of Home and Away's ghosts was also called Bobby, though this one was female and, if I remember rightly, appeared in a dream, so was marginally better than the original Bobby sighting.

My favorite ghost was Ailsa Stewart though. As matriarch of the Stewart family, she was much missed when she left the show. So much that the producers brought her back for a few episodes. Unfortunately, her reappearance ended up being funny, which I suspect wasn't what the writers were aiming for. I don't think I'll ever forget Alf Stewart's face as he opened his fridge and came face to face with his deceased wife. What should have been moving  (Alf was slowly losing the plot), ended up being hilarious.

The last thing I want to mention about Australian soaps is something that always makes me smile. One of Australia's most common curse word is 'strewth', and we got to hear it being said countless times on Neighbours AND Home and Away. 'Strewth' is such a versatile curse word, and even better, the kids can say it without being told to wash out their mouths. 'Strewth' was one of the main curse words of my teenage years, and was probably heard more often in real life than it was on the TV. Today, kids are more likely to say the F-bomb, and that's rather sad. I'd much rather hear a 'strewth' any day. Of course, kids these days don't rely on soaps for their entertainment; they have games consoles, iPods and the internet to cover their entertainment needs.

Bring back the golden days of soap, I say. Especially the Australian ones.

There won't be a blog tomorrow, but seeing as I posted two on Monday, I don't think it matters much. Oh, and don't forget to leave a request for Friday's blog!

House Arrest

Today's blog is all about addiction - specifically addiction to certain TV shows. Since losing the power of the laptop around seven months ago, I've been at a loss when it comes to filling in the evenings. I've always followed a few TV shows, but never so much that it interfered with my online time. Since losing the laptop, however, TV shows began to take over, and what used to be a pleasant way to pass a couple of hours a week has turned into "OMG I have to watch it or I'll die!"

It's really bad. I never used to be like this, but now I'm suddenly at the mercy of the tube. It's astonishing how quickly I have become accustomed to keeping up with so many shows. There's something to watch almost every day, and some days there is the dubious honor of being able to watch the latest episodes on several shows. Imagine that!

I like a few British shows (though I steer clear of the soaps), but it's really American TV that has enslaved me. There are plenty of shows to choose from, and I have quite a lot that I tune into. (This is where the PC comes in handy too - TV streaming has saved me from having to wait a looong time before the shows arrive over here in Wales, and since I have become obsessed with so many, waiting just isn't an option).

Seeing as several TV shows have taken me over, I thought it was fitting that I blog about them once in a while, and to start off, I thought I'd go with House M.D. - very fitting when you think about it. I have an addiction to American TV, and the main character of this show has a fairly heavy addiction to something himself.

I think most people will have heard of this show, even if they haven't seen it, so I won't go into any in depth rambling about it. What I will say is that the main reason I started watching this show was because of Hugh Laurie. I've been a fan of this guy since way back when - he's pretty big over in Britain as a comedy actor - and I was curious to see him in this more serious role. It took a couple of episodes to become hooked, but it wasn't long before I was captured.

Hugh Laurie is amazing. When I think of him in his Blackadder days, I am astonished that he can play such a completely different character in House and get away with it. There aren't many actors who can cross-genre in that way, it's just not done. Hugh makes it look easy. Not to mention the fact that I think he does a pretty good American accent (although I'm no expert). It's got so that whenever I watch re-runs of Blackadder, I actually think he sounds strange speaking with a British accent. (By the by, if nobody knows what I am talking about when I mention Blackadder, I highly recommend it. It's not on the same level as Monty Python, but I can guarantee you'll laugh your socks off, particularly the second and third seasons. Hugh's Prince Regent is wonderfully funny).

Anyway, back to House M.D. It's a brilliant show, no question. Sometimes I think it tries to be a little too clever, but mostly I think it's great entertainment. Even the hubby enjoys it, and we have great fun every week shouting out 'Lupus!' and 'Encephalitis!' whenever the team are trying to diagnose their current patient. OK, it's predictable - we already know that the patient will be diagnosed wrongly at least three times, and will be on the verge of death before Greg House suddenly spots the answer in something random like a locker, but we don't watch it with the expectation of something new every week. We watch it so that we can laugh our heads off at Hugh Laurie's excellent performance. There aren't many actors who could have gotten away with portraying a vicodin-addicted, socially inept, sarcastic and highly bitter doctor (apparently Patrick Dempsey (McDreamy on Grey's Anatomy) was up for the part - thank the lord he didn't get it!), but Hugh pulls it off and manages to grab our sympathy too.

Every episode has a few new 'Houseisms', and while in the real word we know that these things could never be said (unless you wanted to get beaten up pretty badly), it's because House is so wonderfully non-PC that we love him. He's the sort of person you'd never want to speak to you in his disparaging way, but would love to eavesdrop on when he's talking about someone else. (Or maybe that's just me...*shifty*)

And you know, for an older guy, Hugh Laurie's not bad in the mojo stakes either. I think he's much better looking now that he's aged. (Of course, he's not up there with Aragorn, but who is? *snorts*)

So there we have it, a quick ramble on just one of the TV shows that keeps me glued to the tube fairly frequently these days. I'm shooting off now as I have this weeks' episodes of Supernatural and Grey's to catch up with....

Oh dear. I'm so doomed.