Tag: Argentina

If I could turn back time, if I could find a way.

Sara Mazariegos

Wildfire smoke + anxiety = not fun. A lot of wildfire smoke came down into D.C. from Canada last weekend. Combined with my anxiety about suffocating, it wasn’t great. On Thursday, I was on a crowded train and I briefly worried about there not being enough air on the train for us all to breathe. It was fleeting, but then I wondered if it was because of the smoke. A Nerdfighter friend pointed out that smoke wasn’t even in our area yet. Oh. Just plain old boring anxiety then. But on Friday it was actually smoky. Like, making my esophagus hurt, eyes watering smokey. The commute home wasn’t dreadful, though, because a lot of people work from home or don’t work on Fridays, so I avoided the extra suffocatey feeling. It was actually better to be in a ventilated train versus walking outside.

A lady who lives in Canada posted that, as bad as the smoke was trickling down here, it’s been much worse where she lives because they’re still dealing with the actual fires that have killed people and animals… So it puts it into perspective. I hope the fires are out soon and everyone will be okay. 🖤

World Cup reaction. With the scores being as high as they were in the England vs. France game, I feel like the final between Spain and Argentina was a little anticlimactic. It was a good game in that Argentina prevented Spain from scoring for most of it—largely because my favorite player, Dibu Martinez, is an amazing goalkeeper—but Argentina didn’t seem to have the drive to try to win. They didn’t even attempt to shoot, and they kept losing the ball. I’m not sure what happened. But, like I’ve said before, Spain is another team of players we really like, so we’re happy for them. I just feel like the last game was the least exciting of all the World Cup games this time. It’s funny how that worked out. Well, funny but in a sad way.

Also, what was that halftime show? That was a mess. I think it should’ve just been Shakira and BTS. Even the Muppets felt like too much extra for no reason. There really was no need for a halftime show. It ended up underlining how meh of a game it was.

Ace Ventura as an adult. We watched Ace Ventura: Pet Detective as my latest movie pick, since I’ve been strolling down memory lane with some classic Jim Carrey movies. It is…woof. Well, it has a lot of classic Jim Carrey one-liners. There’s a raccoon in it. There’s also a lot of football stuff, which I remembered as the reason I didn’t like it as much as its sequel, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.

But the worst part is that the villain and the ending are all kinds of transphobic. It didn’t age well at all. And it doesn’t honestly make much sense. I wish I could rewrite it. Something similar happens in Soap Dish, and it’s just like, why? Why was that the go-to joke? Thankfully, the majority of people have evolved since then. But it does make those movies cringey to rewatch, which is unfortunate because most of those two movies is otherwise funny and they have actors I like in them.

Novels that try to do too much. I’ve noticed in the novel I’m currently reading*—that I really like, don’t get me wrong!—there’s starting to be a little too much going on. There’s a romance but there’s also a crazy time travel plot and there’s also a trying-to-stop-something-from-happening subplot. It all feels a bit heavy. I suppose it’s good to have more than just the romance, because that can get boring if there’s nothing else happening. But suddenly all these new characters have been introduced in the middle of the book, which I was not anticipating. I’m curious to see how it all comes together. I’m always impressed when authors create these worlds and these complex scenarios. I can’t wrap my head around it when I’m reading it, and it’s got to be even more difficult to write!

That being said, it’s something that’s difficult to do well. I hope the author pulls it off. I feel like she will. So far, I’ve adored the romance plot. It flows very naturally and the characters are cute and funny together. I look forward to their scenes.

Writing update. Writing my latest novel has been so fun. I promised myself it would be, and I’ve completely leaned into it. I’m trying to just enjoy writing it without thinking about trying to get it published, even though of course it is my long-term goal to get published someday. So far, I think this story I’m telling has a lot going for it.

One good thing about my extra long commute these days is that I can think of ideas while I’m traveling, especially when I’m traveling home and can get writing not long after I get there. I’ve been daydreaming about my novel quite a bit, which I think is a good sign.

* I’m not going to name it right now, because this could be slightly spoilery, though you don’t have to search far on my site to find mention of which book it is

And if I had an aeroplane, I still couldn’t make it on time.

Sara Mazariegos

Getting used to new commutes & a little TMI. It has been rough taking a different route to the office. I get up at 6:40 in the morning instead of 7, which you’d think wouldn’t be that big of a change, but my body disagrees. I’m still getting used to the longer bus ride and the, frankly, terrifying escalator at the different Metro station. And it’s also hard because, between the anxiety and the caffeine, I end up feeling like I need to hit the nearest bathroom. Last week when I went home, I decided to go to the mall near the Metro station to use the restroom and, long story short, I nearly got lost in JC Penney trying to get out and find the restroom in the food court. It was Backroomsesque, especially when I went downstairs into the totally empty children’s department. Horror. Movie.

Anyway. Luis recommended that I stop drinking caffeine in the evenings, which already seems to have helped. *knock on wood* I drink a little caffeine in my cold brews at work (made by Luis, because he is the greatest) and then when I’m home I have some caffeine-free fruity soda now. There’s less of an issue during my commutes if my body isn’t telling me I need to pee at every point along the journey.

I just hope I get used to the journey and stop feeling so exhausted, though.

Seeing John Green again! John announced his tour for his new book (Hollywood, Ending, available September 22nd!) and I thought for sure there was no way we’d be able to go, because Luis’s job doesn’t finish until 6pm and the show’s at 7pm and he’s at home in Rockville (remote) and I’m in D.C., but then Luis told me we could make it work! So I bought us tickets. He’s going to meet me there, possibly a little late, but awwww! We’ve seen John Green every chance we’ve had, pretty much, so it’s great to not have to break the tradition of me thinking it’s impossible and Luis telling me we can do it. I cannot wait to read John’s new book. It sounds amazing. I may be biased, but still! This one is for adults, too, so it’ll be a little different. We literally saw him twice last year. Ahhh! We’re still spoiled.

Sorry, carry on. 🙂

Nail-biting World Cup games. After the game between Cabo Verde and Argentina, I thought the games would chill out a little. But then Egypt said, “hold my Karkade.” The game between Argentina and Egypt was also crazy close, and Egypt hates Argentina and FIFA now. FUN. So fun, these games. When Messi scored the equalizing goal, Luis collapsed and our cat Boo flew across the room in surprise. A lot of haters think Argentina was helped in that game, but come on. No one helped them score three goals in a little over ten minutes. That was all Messi and his team. They’re amazing.

People also complained about England beating Norway (I’m sad for Norway) but they won fair and square. I feel like the cable thing is so minor, and Haaland shouldn’t have pushed the guy. Sigh. And then Argentina beat Switzerland in another insane game with red cards and controversy. It’s been fun to watch these games, but they’ve also all been ridiculous. It’s hard to believe it all ends this weekend! My order of favorites in the top four is Argentina, Spain, England, France. I’d like anyone but France to win, honestly, because France winning is just boring. They’re too good, haha. I feel like people might think the same about Spain, though. Or Argentina. So it’s subjective.

By the time I’ve posted this, one of the teams (Spain or France) will have moved forward and another of the teams (Argentina or England) will move forward a few hours after I post this! This weekend will have a winner. So you have a summation of all that to look forward to next week.

When 14ths aren’t on the weekend. As I’ve said previously, Luis and I try to have mini celebrations on the 14th of every month—not like big, expensive trips or even big expensive meals every time, just little acknowledgments and date nights—but it’s sometimes difficult when the date doesn’t fall on a weekend. They actually usually don’t fall on weekends. When they don’t, we usually Doordash something fancy for dinner together or sometimes watch a movie if there’s time (this likely won’t happen while the Metro is messing up my schedule.) And I like to do something extra special on the weekend before or directly after, depending on the day of the week the 14th falls on.

I put a lot of thought into this, okay?!

This past weekend, we went to a nice Tex Mex restaurant near our house since we couldn’t go to a place on Tuesday the 14th. We also got some delicious Indian food before the games on Saturday. I also got a lot of reading done, which is something I don’t usually have left over time for. It was a relaxing weekend, which was what I needed since I’d been so drained. Then, on the 14th, we ordered Thai and watched The Four Seasons (the show, not the movie.)

August 14th is on a Friday, at least, so we might be able to watch a movie! Even when we have time to do things, we don’t do anything too crazy. 😅 Maybe when the Metro’s back to normal, we’ll go to D.C. to do something fun again. But September 14th is a Monday. Argh. We have time to plan a nice, fancier 14th then, for the future.

Just having fun with writing. Between reading Every Version of You and taking a different commute to and from work, I’ve had some interesting inspiration for my writing. I got an idea the other day while riding the scary escalator in Wheaton station. I obviously didn’t take out my phone to write it down, because I’ve gotta hang on for dear life while I’m riding the escalator to Hell. But I wrote the idea down as soon as I got off the escalator and onto the bus. {The scary escalator was the idea.}

So far, it’s been nice to have fun with writing this story and see where my thoughts take me. I’m following my outline, but it is loose enough that I can play around with things. Pizza has already come up as a plot point. I can’t avoid writing about pizza. Sorry not sorry. At least this time it has more of a reason for being in the story. Sort of like Every Version of You and its lobster. If you read it, you’ll see what I mean.

“Hi! I’m Anxiety! Where can I put my stuff?”

Sara Mazariegos

Last week, Luis and I went to see Argentina vs. Guatemala (soccer.) His family came, too, and it was amusing because, though he’s from Guatemala, we cheered for Argentina. His family seemed a little confused/annoyed. 😆 We’re fans of Lionel Messi and his teams, so we weren’t going to suddenly cheer against him! Guatemala did a good job against the World Cup champs, though. They threw them off and scored a goal early on. So they should be proud. Guatemala still lost, of course, but they made it harder to beat them.

When we walked back to the Metro afterward, it started pouring heavy, cold rain. And then the Metro stopped two stops away from our house, so we had to take a Lyft the rest of the way home. What an adventure!

We saw Inside Out 2 on Saturday. I love Anxiety! That sounds so strange, but I feel like PIXAR did a good job of personifying anxiety. It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s often not even easy for me to explain how it makes me feel. I once likened it to a building collapsing around me.

Anyway, in Writing Update news: I’ve crossed over into the 80% zone! The end is in sight! It’s amusing because I plan to use the end I’ve already written, so that’s a bit of a cheat. But still! I’ve gotten back into the palindrome word counts because I can’t help myself. My word goal for today is 69,696 words.

Nice.

There’s been a lot of discussion in the WriterThreads community regarding people (usually authors) purporting to have “the secret” to getting published and offering up expensive “boot camps” to teach people the tricks of the writing trade. I’ve noticed quite a few of these cropping up, especially when I’m Googling for quick tips. They’re also often accompanied by twenty-minute-long videos that can further waste your time and get you too in your head about The Process. As the authors on Threads point out, you should never feel obligated to pay anything to find your agent and get published.

Just write. That’s all you have to do. Write the story. Then edit it. That’s it. Read query letter examples, listen to the TSNOTYAW podcast, and put yourself out there. Anyone trying to get money from you is not really trying to help you.

…Okay, agents will take a cut when you’ve landed a book deal, but that’s different.

I’ve definitely fallen victim to getting in my head about the best way to structure my writing and the beats I HAVE TO HAVE, etc. and, at the end of the day, it isn’t helpful to get so worked up about it. There’s no reason for writing to be scary. If you love writing, you should do it because you love it and you need to do it. There are no real rules. What works out for one person may not work for another.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on that. Don’t stress yourself.