10.01.2014

What's Up Wednesday (47)


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!


WHAT I'M READING

I finished Sarah Fine's OF METAL AND WISHES, and guys, I definitely recommend it, especially if you like Phantom of the Opera. It's dark, romantic, bittersweet, and I loved the non-European setting and slight steampunk elements.

I'm back to reading THORN JACK now and hope to finish before I go on vacation...


WHAT I'M WRITING

I'm still tinkering with an older WIP, the Asian fantasy since I recently had a few thoughts on it. Last night, I practically dreamt a scene. So there's that.


WHAT WORKS FOR ME

Apparently, stress works for me (what?)! Work has not really slowed down with the busy-ness, and it's kind of worse because I'm trying to get things done in advance in preparation for my vacation. I guess that's the only sucky thing about being the main person who does certain things - no one can really cover for you!

But anyway, since high school, whenever I'm stressed, I procrastinate. And usually when I procrastinate, it means I write - like a lot (or at least a lot more than usual). I'm still trying to figure out how to harness this kind of productivity and creativity. I'll tell you when I've figured it out.

Guess I focus better (on wrong things) under pressure?


WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

Still super busy. I think my body is starting to protest... but exciting thing is I have vacation soon! Speaking of which, so Italy... what are your must-see/must-do items for Italy? ;)

Book haul! I am most in love with the edition of Hamlet that I bought. It has cut-paper illustrations throughout and is absolutely gorgeous!


I've been trying to figure out my Fall TV schedule. As you may or may not know, I watch A LOT of TV but that's mostly because I'll binge-watch things during the summer or save things to watch later. So with all the TV shows coming back, I have to go through my yearly ritual of checking out new shows and deciding if I'm going to stick with them, while also weeding through my old shows. There's like multiple tiers - what I'll DVR, what I'll save for binge-watching, etc.

Old shows (coming back now or soon) I'm sticking with:

  • Sleepy Hollow
  • The Walking Dead
  • Arrow (binged this & caught up right at the end of last season)
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine
  • Supernatural
  • Person of Interest
  • Elementary (it's definitely not a BBC Sherlock rip-off & is great in different ways! Also, A+ for a gender-bent WOC Watson!)
  • Agents of SHIELD (already so much better than S1 but barely hanging on).

New shows I'll probably stick with:

  • Gotham (my favorite pilot from Comic Con; been seeing a lot of mixed reactions on this one, but I enjoy the look of it and am intrigued with how it's going to play with the Bat-universe)
  • The Flash (saw the pilot at Comic Con and was a little disappointed but mostly because they gave way too much away in the extended trailer they showed at the end of the Spring season, but watching this for crossovers with Arrow)
  • How to Get Away with Murder (the pilot certainly hooked me with its ensemble cast, compelling central female character, non-linear timeline, murder mystery(s), and DEAN THOMAS.)
  • Gracepoint (this is the US version of BBC's Broadchurch, also starring David Tennant. I haven't watched Broadchurch but the Sis did, and I'm certainly intrigued.)

New shows I'm liking but have yet to decide where to place them:
  • Selfie (thought the pilot was cute and has potential. The charm and chemistry of the leads was enough to carry it through. Also, it's about time John Cho was a romantic lead!)
  • Manhattan Love Story (good show to pair with Selfie. Cute and amusing.)

Will update as more shows come back and such. But these are the things on my plate at the moment.

In other news, I watched the Liam Neeson movie Walk Among Tombstones this weekend. It was fine - kind of like an extended episode of a dark-ish crime drama. I also saw The Mazerunner, which was a well-paced, fun action flick. I didn't read the book, so I can't make the comparison there, but the Sis did and she said she liked it better than the book. The movie fixed some things that bothered her about the book, so yeah. (And yes, I do believe sometimes movies can be better than the books - blasphemy, I know!)

So, so excited to see Gone Girl this week!!! It has actually been one of my most anticipated movies for this year - probably because the book was so twisty and bananas.

The Sister bought these awesome-o Blackmilk Mecha leggings! I want them! She's one step closer to becoming a Jaeger pilot.


I still don't really get the new social media site ello, but I am on it: ello.co/kangaru. Be my friend if you're on it too!

Starting this Friday, I'm hoping to at least semi-regularly participate in The Nerdy Girlie and Superspacechick's new blogging meme: 5 Fandom Friday. We blog to themes - some geeky, some not. Hope some of you will participate!


What's Up with you?

9 comments:

ELAdams said...

I find I write more the less time I have - if I only get an hour to write, I'll write twice as fast!

I'm looking forward to seeing The Maze Runner. I liked the book, and I'm hearing good things!

Unknown said...

There's an expression I've always loved which is: If you want something to get done, ask a busy person.

I'm sure there's no explanation necessary for that one!

Motherhood has definitely focused my mind and helped me to make use of my limited time. A job that used to take me 8 hours, now takes me 5.

I'm hoping to join elli soon too! If so, I'll be sure we're friends/followers/likes/whatever!

Elodie said...

Italy! I loved loved loved Tuscany, my favorite city there was Siena. So much history, so beautiful. So. Everything.
I am also more productive under stress. And like Emma, the less time I have, the more I write. This will need to change though since I quite my day job and we moved to the US...time to find a way to be super productive with the extra time I have :-) Wishing you a wonderful week!

Rachel said...

I am really excited for the Gone Girl movie…I LOOOOVE the book so I am equally a little nervous ;-) I am glad to hear the Maze Runner was a good movie. And lol on the stress thing..I too am really productive then. Have a great week!

Fida Islaih said...

The TV show SELFIE does sound intresting!

prerna pickett said...

So many shows, so little time! We have very similar tastes :) And I'm totally a procrastinator and it definitely works for me (most of the time). Good luck with everything this week!

Emy Shin said...

I must admit I don't watch many American / English TV shows (too busy watching my Asian dramas - Korean, specifically), but your list and comments on Twitter made me want to try some of these out. I'm particularly interested in Sleepy Hollow.

Melanie Stanford said...

I'm going to try out Gotham and The Flash too. I'm interested in Gracepoint just because I hear at David Tennant but I don't know of I'll get around to watching it. So much TV!

Jaime Morrow said...

I find I'm the most productive when I'm under pressure time wise. I suppose that's similar to working better when stressed. Here's hoping you're able to take that stress and turn it into words!

I really enjoyed THE MAZE RUNNER book, but liked not loved the movie. I'm not a fan of shaky cam and overly quick cuts, and I found they employed them a little too much in this movie. That aside, we *did* enjoy it all the same. As for your fave TV shows, some of them are on our list too. I'm really hoping Gotham is awesome.

Have a great week, Alice! :D