Tag: Hollywood Ending

Ain’t got time for messin’ around, and it’s not my style.

Sara Mazariegos

John Green’s Hollywood, Ending. This is not a review of the book, I’m on page 80. This is about seeing John again, and the jumble of emotions I feel.

Luis and I saw John Green again for his Hollywood, Ending book tour last Thursday. It’s always a pleasure to see John and hear him read his work, and hear him talk about the process of writing and existing as a human in this messed up world. His discussion with Clint Smith was great, a lot of insightful questions were asked and it felt like two friends having a chat rather than John being interviewed, which I liked. I’ve been so spoiled in the past by these book tour stops. My first one was for The Fault in Our Stars, which led me to finding my local Nerdfighter community. My second one was for Turtles All The Way Down, and I don’t need to talk more than I already have about how that turned out…

So it’s natural for the book tours and events that followed to feel somewhat…less magical, right? I still love seeing him and reading his books, and watching his videos, and being part of the Nerdfighter community. But, as I posited to Luis at dinner after this event, John had to have known that he made the Turtles All The Way Down event the most special for us. I feel very honored and spoiled that something as great as that ever happened to us. But also, I think about the time of that book versus now and it kind of goes along, at least a little, with the themes of this book’s tour. 2017 was so different from now. I know things were not great by any means, but I look back at 2012-2017 with such wistfulness. When we went to the Turtles All The Way Down event, Hank was there. Our friends were there with us. It felt like such a community to us. And I feel like, at least from our vantage point, so much of it has splintered now. Friends aren’t really friends anymore; they’ve either moved away or grown away from us. Our Nerdfighter group isn’t really active anymore. Which is fine, it happens. But it still makes me miss them and that time.

I can’t always meet my future husband at a John Green event. I can’t always be given a wedding gift or clink red Solo cups with the guys. But I also can’t always have our friends there with us, and that’s perhaps what makes me saddest of all.

But, by that same token, one of our Nerdfighter friends is helping take care of our cats when we’re out of town. So I really shouldn’t be too sad. Nostalgia can be a dangerous trap.

The cat-sitter saga. Our usual cat-sitter is going to have a baby so she can’t come take care of our cats while we’re out of town. Luis and I went onto the pet sitting app we use to try to find a replacement, and we found a person named Ashley who seemed great. She’s a vet student, so she’s got plenty of experience taking care of cats. But then, a few weeks ago, she messaged saying she realized she’ll be out of town several of the days we’re gone, so she can’t take care of the cats the whole time. We had to cancel with her and try to find someone else, with time running out to give them the keys and show them what’ll need to be done.

Then we found our friend Emily*’s wife Ashley on the pet sitting app! Luis messaged her and told her we could pay her directly instead of through the app, and it’s all worked out that our friend who already knows the cats can take care of them. She’s going to be out of town some of the days, too, but Emily will be able to cover those days she’s gone. We came full circle, because Emily and Ashley used to help take care of our cats.

It is much better to have good friends help, because they know us and the cats already. Even Boo might behave herself with them as opposed to a new person. (And they already know not to try to cuddle her, haha.)

Josh Johnson’s Comedy Band Camp! On Saturday, we’re seeing Josh Johnson on his latest comedy tour. If you don’t know who he is, he’s one of the correspondents and sometimes hosts of The Daily Show. I’m very excited to see him; I’ve liked him so much when I’ve seen him that I subscribed to his newsletter and that’s how I found out about his tour. I thought it might be a long shot to see him, but he announced he was coming to D.C. pretty soon after I started following him.

I don’t know what to expect, because there’s a whole camp theme to the tour. He has a personality quiz you can take to find out which troop you’re in. It’s a whole thing. This is mine:


So that’s fun. I kind of love that I have no idea what to expect, but it’s sure to be funny and thought-provoking. I recommend his YouTube videos.

Writing update. My story is still coming along well. My outline has been invaluable this time, and I’ve taken plenty of notes for other ideas to add in or make sure to include. I feel like I’m sailing with a map this time, instead of having to come up with a bunch of stuff on the fly. I’m leaning more into the Planner part of me instead of Pantsing so much. To borrow the parlance. I make up scenes as I go, and little vignettes to fill out the story, but I also add the new ideas I’ve introduced in the story to my notes so they’re accounted for and given more room to develop in later drafts.

I learned at John’s event the other day that he doesn’t use outlines. I knew he erased most of his drafts and rewrote everything a bunch of times, but I didn’t realize he didn’t use any kind of outline. It takes a special kind of brain to be able to create without any kind of planning, in my mind. He also has aphantasia, which blows my mind because his books are always so visual. I wish I could talk to him about writing.

Anyway, I’m already going to be writing the final chapters of my novel when we come back from our trip. It feels like it hasn’t taken me long to write this one at all, probably because this process has been so pleasant. I just hope when it comes time to read it I’m not horrified. I know it’s going to need work, but how much remains to be seen.

* Emily is one of our Nerdfighter friends. She was at our wedding. 🙂 And we were at hers! How ’bout that?

Little notes that sing, little words that rhyme, make the mighty memories and the dreams of time.

Sara Mazariegos

PowerPoint Party! On Saturday, we went to our friends’ PowerPoint Party. I’ve heard tell of such things *tips cowboy hat* but I’ve never been to one before. I made a PowerPoint (actually a Google Slide, shh) about Tim Curry. It’s mostly silly, with pictures of some of my favorite characters of his, and amusing sound clips. Example: the slide for Hexxus from Fern Gully plays, “A special kind of horny!” Which is from the complete version of “Toxic Love” he recorded for the soundtrack.

I hope I haven’t lost you already.

Anyway, the party was fun. Everyone’s PowerPoint presentation was interesting and amusing in its own way. I think Luis’s zombie escape one was the best, but I’m also biased. He made a PowerPoint like he makes escape rooms: well thought-out, cool graphics, humorous, and fun. There was another guy there who made one all about people named Kat and it ended with Kat, my friend who was hosting the party. That was very cute.

Getting in the Spirit (Halloween.) I’ll see myself out. On Sunday, Luis and I went to Spirit Halloween. The one closer to us didn’t open this year, so we went to one all the way in Wheaton, which means I had to ride the dreaded bus again, but with Luis it didn’t feel as long and I didn’t have to worry about cars. I set out to get a new Haunted Mansion item, though, and they didn’t really have any. At least we’re going to Disney World soon. #privilege

However, they did have something I really want but probably can’t have maybe ever and I’m sad about it. They had the Freddy Fazbear animatronic. I made it move several times and posed for pictures with it, but I want one of my own so he can live in my house. He’s so cool. The only thing I’d change is that I’d make his jaw move. Then he’d cost even more, probably, but whatever. The cost is less of an issue than the fact that none of the stores have the supply to meet the demand. 😭

Widow’s Bay is so freaking good. Speaking of spooky things, a few weeks ago, Luis recommended that we start watching Widow’s Bay since it’s a Halloweeny show. Oh my god, it’s so good. I’ve said it’s like Parks & Rec mixed with Stephen King stories. It’s everything I wanted Castle Rock to be. It’s spooky, it’s quirky, it’s a small town, it’s full of weirdos, it’s funny. Castle Rock feels too much like a lot of other police shows to me. It’s too slow. I also thought it would be a little more fun. How fun would it be to live in a town made up of Stephen King characters? I mean, in real life, it would be awful, but for a show? It’d be kooky and cool. Sadly, the show isn’t. But Widow’s Bay has that. Plus Stephen Root, and who doesn’t love Stephen Root?

Widow’s Bay won all of the Emmys this year, which is fun and exciting. We started watching right before it won, so we were a little late to the party, but it still feels cool to be able to say the big winner is a show we like. Matthew Rhys won best actor for it, and he also won for a dramatic, limited series, so he has two acting Emmys this year. And he was Nite Owl in the great, animated Watchmen miniseries we watched recently. I like him.

We’re usually behind on watching a lot of the popular shows. Being behind on Shogun or Severance would be okay, though…We caught up on both and now we have to wait until next year (at least.) Widow’s Bay also uses a lot of special effects, so the second season of that might take a while, too. Ahhhh, I hope not.

Writing update. Things are coming together in my story. There are definitely a few areas where I want to add more detail or subplot stuff, but for the most part this story is coming out the way I envisioned, which is reassuring. Normally it takes a few more drafts for me to think, “Ah yes, I’m on the right track now.” So I take this as a sign of real improvement.

It also helps that I wrote a slightly different version of this story once before, though I didn’t get very far. The ideas have been flowing around in my mind for a few years now.

Relatedly, Luis and I are seeing John Green tomorrow! 😀 I’m so excited to hear more about his new book, Hollywood, Ending and see other Nerdfighters. Last time he went on a book tour for one of his novels, Turtles All The Way Down, Luis and I got married three days later. So it’s been a while*!

* Yes, we saw him twice last year, but that was for his nonfiction book. Not the same thing.

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.