News and Updates

Hello fellow readers!

Thank you for all the love I’ve received in the past week or so. I honestly didn’t think anyone was reading this little blog of mine and am glad folks are responding as strongly as I am about providing more posts!

A few things:

Today marks eight months I have lived in San Francisco and it’s hard to believe. There are still moments that I wonder why I moved out here in the first place and what I’m supposed to learn from living out here. Well, I guess I’ll keep finding out. So far, my experience has been different from my native New York City (city girl ’til I die) but I can’t compare apples and bananas. I’ve also never lived anywhere else but New York City until I moved out here. I am very optimistic of what the future will hold for me and I’ll, of course, let you know how that goes!

I created a guideline for monthly posts and weekly post which will be the following:

Every Thursday (an experiment for April, depending on feedback), I’ll be adding a chapter of a genre novel I’m working on. I’ve never done this before so bear with me and I look forward to your feedback!

Weekly, I will be posting on my writing feelings for the moment (you know we always need a boost even when we know we are in the right place but need a community to remind you there are off and on days at times) and my MFA progress (I got so much to do!).

Monthly, I will be adding a book review of the moment, favorite childhood book, Beatles’ inspiration song (I’m a Beatlemaniac), and a spotlight on a science fiction author I’m currently doting on or just discovering (also very open to suggestions, please!).

These are reminders for me to constantly keep writing in addition to the other awesome activities happening in the blogosphere as well (It’s National Poetry Month! Check back for a post on this real soon).

That’s all for now, folks!

Check back in tomorrow in which you’ll see a chapter of my novel!

Cheers!

 

The Beatles: The Biography

Author: Bob Spitz

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (2005)

This book chronicles the inception of the most memorable band in rock and roll history right down to its demise. The author culled information from interviews, newspaper articles, other Beatles biographies, and the 1995 Beatles Anthology, to make this story fascinating, sad, and brilliant about the four boys from Liverpool who vowed to be the “toppermost of the poppermost.” The legacy of John, Paul, George, and Ringo as The Beatles in this incarnation (details and nuances are different in other biographies) will forever immortalized as the best rock and roll band around.

I received this book as a birthday gift in April after I made my love affair with The Beatles public to friends. Never having read a biography about them before, this account revealed to me why this band influenced the many recording artists today. Completely enthralled from the first page, the biographer did a phenomenal job of keeping his readers invested in The Beatles’ tale while also making minute details interesting that would be considered otherwise. A fantastic ride into the 1960s while having the soundtrack in real time, I had a blast reading and listening to the Beatles.

This particular biography spends less time referencing the music but focuses on their personal lives beginning and ending with John. The reader weaves through the trials and tribulations of the teenagers who started in The Quarrymen to the young twenty something men in The Beatles.

For the new Beatles fan, this book will not disappoint. As for the Beatlemaniac, this addition to the collection of written biographies about the band will be old news or fill in holes to the knowledge about them.

“As the Beatles, they had been to the toppermost of the poppermost. They had encountered crowds, heard the screams, felt the love. Saw the light. In a brief and shining interval, they had lived a dream that no Liverpool lad could imagine – a magical, fabulous dream, like out of a fairy tale. An unforgettable dream.”

When they woke up, they left behind a gift to music lovers everywhere – their music.

Rain: Beatles Tribute Band on Broadway

On May 18, 2011, I watched the Beatles Tribute band Rain on Broadway. With my newfound Beatlemania, one of my close friends who is also a Beatlemaniac, invited me to watch the tribute band to see how much they would be able to recreate the sixties and how well their covers would be, of course. It was his fourth time attending.

The show was absolutely perfect for this Beatles fan and any Beatlemaniac for that matter. Prior to the band starting, the audience is sitting with a soundtrack from the sixties and Beatles trivia on the two TV screens on each side of the stage.

Screen Free Week – Day 5

My fifth day without visual media was just right.

I hung out with one of my BFF’s at a Starbucks for a very long time and then we had some Chinese food at a nearby spot – Congee Village Restaurant – which is very well-known for their different kinds of congee (a type of porridge with either meat or vegetables). We didn’t try the congee – we weren’t feeling very adventurous but their sweet potato pancakes were amazing!

After we chatted about everything, she had to jet for a singing class on the Upper East Side. Since we met up right over the Williamsburg bridge, I walked home. The walk was lovely – a little windy – but pleasant nonetheless.

Walking briskly takes more out of me than I thought because as soon as I read a chapter of Alias Grace, I took a two and half hour nap! Completely unexpected but I guess my body wanted a rest; the body takes what it needs.

With two days left on this visual media diet, I’m itching for my next fix. I have a list of movies to rent, things to watch (I miss Glee and How I Met Your Mother episodes) and everything in between. However, the lack of visual media is a nice change up. But I still miss it.

Two more days left!

Screen Free Week – Day 1

On Monday, April 18th, I received a one day assignment which was nice (money in my pocket!) Working definitely filled my time and was a less likely way for me to partake in visual media consumption.

At work, I read the news online, read the Metro New York paper, read a screenplay while providing coverage (I’m a script reader now, no pay, but more on that later), and read a chapter from the book club selection of the month – Alias Grace. A very productive day at work for me, apart from the fact that all I did was answer phones (oh how easy reception work is).

When I arrived home, I quickly made dinner and read one of the many magazine subscriptions I have (Spin, which I realize that 1-I don’t know what the hell is going on in music and 2-I’m more of a movie person anyway) while eating.

I looked over and edited my screenplay coverage and sent it off. Which brings me to – being a script reader!

Last month, I applied to anything writing related because I wanted to be involved in something creative that I enjoyed liiike…reading and writing about movies! I applied to be an script reading intern but the position was filled. Instead, I was contacted by the president of the company to become a script reader for them which means reading scripts sent via email sending them script coverage. It’s easier for me because I can the reading from home or wherever I have an internet connection. It’s not that much of a hassle and scripts are so easy to read.

After that, I did a little dance to some body shakin’ tunes and settled for the rest of the night with Alias Grace and a Beatles biography book I received for my birthday. I totally have Beatle fever with every chapter I read.

Quite the evening – very quiet but fun nonetheless.

I did find it difficult looking at my TV – lonely, abandoned, cold waiting for me to watch movies to review for my blog or for general entertainment. After I work as a receptionist for the day, I spend all day in front of a computer reading so when I come home, I want to veg and watch something! It was hard to do but all week I’ll be busy being social, so it shouldn’t be so hard.

‘Til tomorrow!