I've been thinking

(Always dangerous, that).

One of the things I've been thinking about is ambition. I've noticed that most of the women I know (Cathy and I are notable exceptions) don't ever admit to wanting to succeed for themselves. It's as though it's OK to "do it for your children" or "for your husband" or "to take care of your aging parents" but it isn't ok to be driven to succeed for yourself. Too "selfish" I suppose.

Well, guess what. I want to succeed. For me. Yes, I will absolutely help James, and my aging parents, (I don't have a spouse so that ones a non-issue) and give to good charities, but mostly, I want it because I WANT IT.

OK moving on.

I'm working on Catherine again. It's rolling along. Sometimes it's a little intimidating how MUCH there is to do. It's not going to be a small book. But Cat was the very first Sazi book that came into my head. The entire Sazi world was built for her. I want to do her justice. I may or may not succeed. But I'm definitely going to give it my best shot!

In order to make it a Christmas themed book I'm going to have to get "Christmasy" (I've mentioned this before, I know). So I'm going to pick up a copy of "Love Actually" on video or DVD. I really like that movie. Although some of it is quite sad, mostly it's very upbeat. The writing is, in my opnion, very good in that the characters (a) act like real people (except for the stuff with Collin, which is just too silly, but fun); (b) actually stay in character. (POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING)






The wife who feels betrayed doesn't just accept her husband's actions no questions asked; the sister doesn't "abandon" her disabled brother to get a life of her own because she emotionally CAN'T. The characters do funny things, stupid things, and very ordinary things. Which makes this a Christmasy movie I can actually stand. It has its flaws, but I still like it.

Computer is still running a bit slow. I defragged, which helped. I de-spywared (for the moment. I think I have to do a more thorough job because it keeps reinstalling itself). I had to completely uninstall my virus software and re-install it, but it now appears to be working fine. It's been a pain in the patootie! I really HATE computer viruses and problems. I will never understand why folks would want to do something that destructive to total strangers.

Anyway, computer problems just slow me down so much, and FRUSTRATE me! Ugh.

Well, gotta run. Life and writing await. Later.

Cie