What's Up Wednesday (13)

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, so we can check in with each other. To join, just check out Jaime Morrow or Erin Funk's blogs for the link widget and sign up!


Not gonna lie, it seems a little weird to me to be doing a What's Up Wednesday without the Ready.Set.Write! attached. I think others felt that way too because Jaime wrote a RELAUNCH post today, complete with adorable new badges! I love them all (but settled on the kite...for now). So definitely check out her blog this week!

WHAT I'M READING

Lots of crazy things going on with my reading. I finished CONTROL, didn't finish SECOND CHANCE SUMMER (though I plan to return to it soon), started THE BOOK THIEF, started QUINTANA OF CHARYN. My crazy book hopping has nothing to do with the quality of the books or my attention span. It actually has a lot to do with due dates, hah. Those library books...

I'm currently focusing on QUINTANA OF CHARYN, not only because I ADORE the Lumatere Chronicles and have been eager to read this last book in the trilogy but also because it is due soon and I am out of renewals!


WHAT I'M WRITING

Nothing at all at the moment. Taking a little break. I've been pondering some things and I got feedback on one of my poems that I'm also mulling over. So when the break's over, I hope to write story things and also work on that poem.


WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

Two things. Firstly, we've been having a late summer heat wave in SoCal, which is not uncommon. But as a result, we have been getting some GORGEOUS sunsets and general cloud art.

(First pic by the Sister; second pic by me)

Secondly, I didn't make it that far through THE BOOK THIEF (yes, it's my first time reading this), but the language is just beautiful - unexpected and evocative. So the writing itself is inspiring, as are its themes. The Sister and I were lucky enough to make it to a special Q&A and signing with Markus Zusak on Sunday at the LA Museum of Tolerance. It was so amazing to hear him talk about the book and the subject matter.

BONUS, since the event was presented by 20th Century FOX, we were also treated to sneak peeks at 2 scenes from the BOOK THIEF movie!

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

As you saw in last Friday's Loki Jacket post, Alz and the Sister made a jacket just for Loki. My contribution was just hand-writing the name for them to embroider over.

We also took him for a walk at a nearby park where there's a lake. He wanted to chase the geese and nearly dragged me straight INTO the lake in his attempt to get them.

It was also the Sister's birthday! To celebrate, we went to what was basically a kids museum to see dinosaurs over the weekend, and Monday night, a friend made a bunch of funnel cakes and ice cream.



But perhaps the most interesting/fun thing that I've been up to is I SAW THE BACKSTREET BOYS last Wednesday with my besties and the Sister. IT WAS AWESOME, and so, so fun. Like ridiculously, fabulously fun.

I can't believe they're celebrating their 20th anniversary! And it seemed fitting that this concert was at the Gibson Amphitheater, which will be gone after this concert season (to make way for the building of Hogwarts!). This venue was probably where I saw my first concerts ever!

Holding up our phone lights for the slow song! (Photo/ Gennia)

The Backstreet Boys put on a great show. They sang, they danced, they played instruments! Their stage was a crazy light show. They mostly sang their old hits (which was great for us because we don't know their new songs), and on top of that they used all the classic choreography. They did the HAT ROUTINE during All I Have to Give, and though they didn't do the chair routine from As Long As You Love Me, they did do the mic routine from that song.

My friend recorded "Everybody."


I got some of their acoustic set of the oldie but goodie "10,000 Promises." This was a song off their 2nd European album before their US debut. Basically, I never would have expected to hear them perform this, so it was a surprise and treat and was absolutely lovely. (I'll have to upload the full video some other time...)



Excuse the appearance of my inner fangirl for a moment here, but it was kind of AMAZING AWESOME to see BSB again after all these years. They were such an integral part of my and my friends tween-teenage years - and even younger years for my sister. At the concert, she realized the last time she'd seen them, she was like 10 or 11! Now, we're all old enough to drink at a Backstreet Boys concert, haha. We were obsessed with these guys, and honestly, this mutual love strengthened our friendship. In some cases, we became friends through our BSB fangirling.

Just noticed we kinda match - rocking red shoes & galaxy bottoms!

So, it was kind of a big deal to see BSB together with these wonderful ladies (who still knew all the words to the songs, heck yeah!). #KTBSPA

Q4U: What's up with you? OR What experiences/bands/etc. act as the glue between you and your friends?