Aim For The Heart: June 2008

We bought the latest Futurama movie last Tuesday. It was about as funny as the last one, which means it wasn't as funny as the TV show, but there were still plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The problem with the movies is that they don't pack as many jokes into the time as they would into four equivalent episodes. The Futurama staff is funniest when they're constrained by twenty-two minutes. Not that I won't be rewatching the movie and soon, most likely. But I wish they'd go back to doing episodes.

Speaking of movies, I'm hitting the theaters this weekend to see Angelina Jolie's new movie, Wanted. (Hey, anyone remember when Ms. Jolie was wild and ever-so-slightly insane instead of the sedate mother of five who gives millions to charity? I like this version better.)

So, I have an entire week off, and I'll be able to spend it writing full time. I can't wait. I'm hoping to get 1/4 to 1/3 of my book edited in that time. Probably closer to 1/4, but any progress is still progress.

I signed up to Twitter the other night and set it to notify me via phone. There's something weirdly addictive about sharing random thoughts with people and hearing their own thoughts.

And speaking of random segues, I finished with Janet Evanovich's Fearless Fourteen. I bought it last week at a bookstore in Plano where Ms. Evanovich was having a signing. Unfortunately I didn't get a signed copy, because when I got there I found out it was going to be four hours before I could get an autograph. I couldn't afford to wait that late 45 miles from home, so I just bought the book (along with Jeff Somers's The Digital Plague) and left. It was a wasted trip, but I don't regret going. I've never been to a signing for a super popular author, and if I hadn't gone, I wouldn't have known they were that popular.

I suspect a couple of the authors whose signings I have gone to are soon going to find themselves in that boat, though.

Or, Why I Didn't Get As Much Done On My Book As I'd Intended

It was only supposed to be a fifteen-minute chore. Wash the car and fill it up with gas. There's even a car wash a block away from my house. But then we decided it needed waxing.

And there went our afternoon. Did you know that waxing a car for two hours is as much exercise as a forty minute jog? Do you know what waxing a car for two hours feels like? Like more than a forty minute jog.

On the other hand, check out that shine!

My agent wants me to brainstorm new titles for my latest book, which she's about to start submitting. Please, someone save me from this horror.

Thankfully, a couple of really smart people have been helping me brainstorm ideas, and I've come up with four respectable choices so far. I'll probably spend part of today seeing if anything else comes to me and then get that damn email out of my drafts folder.

In important gaming-related news:

Rock Band is really fun, and I'm almost finished with Bioshock (the game's longer than I thought it would be). I just bought the Axis & Allies Revised board game, and once I finish Bioshock plus at least one of my Wii games (Resident Evil 4 or Super Mario Galaxy), then I'll probably move on to either Mass Effect or GTA4.

Update: I just finished Bioshock.