It’s been years since I’ve written anything of substance so I’m currently in training for my holiday break, when I plan to make good use of my nifty laptop and knock out some short stories. Or a novel. Something. The Kid wants to snowboard. Perhaps the agony of editing too many adjectives and commas out of my text will keep my infernal anxiety from erupting as she sloshes down a mountainside at high speed.

WoW’s new Death Knight class has become a quirky inspiration. I’m doling out little snippets of encounters that pique my fancy as I grind through lower level content on my way to hyperuberdom. If you like, you can read them here.

I’ve made a decent living writing all kinds of things but so far, not with a book. The story I started earlier this year is fleshing out reasonably well. I’m hoping to nail that puppy to its final bits of paper and send it out to the world to fail or fly. If nothing else, it’ll give me something to do this December since I can’t afford to go home.

Thanksgiving, my annual foray into the kitchen (and the only day when my oven is used as an oven), is now a memory. For all the bellyaching I do about cooking, I really enjoy it. I go through roughly twenty-four hours of euphoric shopping followed by fuck-me-I’m-not-doing-this-again-next-year regret. This year I decided to keep the juggernaut to a minimum and whip up a traditional menu. Nothing fancy, in case the Kid decided she wanted to eat with the grown-ups.

The meal turned out great, though, better than I expected. I made a simple roasted bird, my salsa- and pineapple-marinated ham, an apple-raisin-walnut-cranberry stuffing, and OSM’s perfect potato salad…though mine wasn’t as perfect, because I didn’t use Best Foods mayonnaise =/ The Kid had both turkey and tofu with her veggies, suggesting that I turn from my former fowl ways and use just salt and pepper forever. We have so many leftovers I may have to get myself a small freezer.

How was your Thanksgiving? How did you spend your day?

The Kid dragged me (though I had to drive) to the 11:35pm showing of Twilight on Friday night so she could see it on the IMAX screen.

I admit to having skipped the books, for I’ve long been out of both my vampire phase and my teenage years, so all I had to go on was the hype surrounding the film. Guess I hadn’t paid that much attention to it, either, or no one really brought it up, but that cute kid who plays Edward Cullin was once Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In both roles, he reminded me of my nephew, Christopher, with his lanky good looks and quiet demeanor - though I doubt Chris will ever have the gumption to wear as much makeup.

The Kid had been reading book one of the series over the last month, in anticipation of the movie. I really wasn’t sure what to think about the story (and was equally unsure of what to think about the Goth makeup she chose to wear that night). The surprising thing was my motherly reaction when my tweenaged kid said, “Mom, you GOTTA take me to see Twilight. You GOTTA take me!”
“What the heck is Twilight?”
“It’s a movie about vampires.”
“Vampires!?!”
I flashed back to Ann Rice novels…
I fished around for the large silver crucifix in my jewelry box…
I said a prayer (or four or five)…
“Um…”
“Yeah. Vampires in high school.”
“In WHAT?!?”

We settled in with our popcorn and the movie unfolded on the massive movie wall. The verdict? It was sweet. A very PG-friendly vampire story that’s a far cry from the ofttimes gory, overtly sexual adult offerings in the genre. The writer in me was yawning for two hours (BO-ring); the mom in me figured another generation of Goth couldn’t be any worse than another generation of ultra-conservative Republicans.

So the Kid now has my permission to fully consume the stories. We’re off to Barnes & Noble to pick up the set.

The makeup, however, is not allowed.