After-work drinks. On Friday, we went out for drinks and dinner with some of Luis’s friends from high school. It was nice to meet up in the city and go out instead of doing the usual routine, although I did end up quite tired when it was over. We stayed up until one in the morning! What are we, college kids?! We did spend a lot of time with his friends talking about high school people and experiences. I felt so old. 😆
And then, when Luis took the train to Wheaton with me, the scary elevator didn’t seem so scary, and I don’t really remember the bus ride. It was much nicer to have him with me. Only 20 more days of this longer commute for me! Can you tell I’m looking forward to things going back to normal?
Spider-Man summation. Luis and I saw Spider-Man: Brand New Day on Saturday. The theater was more packed than I’ve seen it in a long, long time. We had to sit in the second row, and my shoulders are still sore from looking up the whole time, but it was worth it. It brought back memories of seeing Spider-Man 2 starring Tobey McGuire with my sister, and us having to crane our necks the whole time/not be sick when he was webbing through NYC. I think Brand New Day is the best Marvel movie in a long time. I’m already looking forward to seeing it again. Preferably a little further back in the seating rows.
I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I won’t go into detail. Just know that it surpassed my expectations. I think Tom Holland is the best Spider-Man in the movies. He’s the right mix of jokester and dork. And he’s so agile! It’s funny how the Barbenheimer this summer is two Tom Holland movies. I enjoyed both of them, and one of them is clearly going to win a bunch of awards, but man if I don’t enjoy a fun Marvel movie.
Dumb & Dumber all these years later. On Sunday, we watched Dumb & Dumber. I don’t think I’d seen it since I was a kid, and Luis hadn’t seen it before. There were quite a few things that I remembered. They were somehow lodged in my subconscious. “I like it a lot.” It’s a pretty cute movie, which is funny because the Farrelly brothers are known for being ‘gross out.’ It’s not actually even that gross by today’s standards. I think, after watching The Boys, nothing is that gross.
I loved Jim Carrey when I was a kid, and he is super cute in D&D. It also aged better than Ace Ventura, so that’s a plus. I’ve never seen the sequel, but I have a feeling it might not be worth it… Not everything needs a sequel.
Disney planning is part of the fun! Luis and I are going to Disney World and Universal in October. It feels like forever ago that I mentioned it, because he booked our Disney tickets and hotels as a Christmas present. It’s finally getting close enough that we can start cementing plans for things like which parks we’re going to each day, which restaurants we’re booking {hopefully}, and how we’re getting around. I’m so excited to be staying at Disney resorts the whole time this time, so we can go into the parks early each day, and make use of the close walk to Magic Kingdom, and then use the handy Skyliner and buses the rest of the time. The Skyliner is a ride in itself and, yes, I’m a little scared to ride it. We may ride it once and then decide we prefer the bus. Heh. Heeehh. But if we’re riding the Tower of Terror, the Skyliner should be a piece of cake.
I watched a lot of videos on YouTube recently in preparation. There are even videos that show you exactly how to walk from one specific hotel to the transportation, so we don’t have to get there and try to guess the right way. Theme park YouTubers can be kind of irritating sometimes, but I really like the ones that are just trying to be helpful for people. The logistics can be a real nightmare if you’re not prepared, especially nowadays with all the new technology and available options. I just have to be careful not to watch too many videos, or else I get frustrated that I’m not already able to just do the things!
I guess I’m a ‘plantser.’ I’ve known this for a while, but it’s not like I think about it a lot. I make outlines for my novels, but they tend to be loose. A few sentences per chapter. I fill in the details and scenes as I go, with only a general idea of what I want each chapter to have in it. I guess I initially try to imagine the big picture of the story, and then as I actually sit down to write it, I hone in on the scenes and characters in more detail. At least in the first draft. And then the first draft kind of becomes a long outline for the later, better drafts.
As I’m writing my latest novel, there are many things I know I’m going to need to change. Somehow, knowing it needs work makes me feel better about it. It feels like growth to me, not expecting it to come out perfectly at first and not putting so much pressure on myself to get it well-written and finished within a set time frame. I even fully intend to finish it and leave it alone for months before reading it.
I’m working harder at taking my time.
Sara Mazariegos 