Tag: Inspiration

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.

And time doesn’t wait for me, it keeps on rollin.

Sara Mazariegos

Metro adjustments. I started taking the bus in the opposite direction, to take the Metro from the other end of the Red Line, since there’s construction at a few stops along my usual route. So far, it’s been okay. I have to get up twenty minutes earlier and I get home about half an hour later, but it could be worse. I’ve been doing my best to remind myself that I’m not missing out on too much time I’d normally be at home. Luis and I can still watch our shows and the soccer matches (while the World Cup lasts.) It’s an adjustment, but it’s not bad. And it’s also not permanent. It’ll end on September 6th. I’ve been taking in the different sites and different people I see while I’m taking these different routes. It also gives me a little bit more time to read and think about my novel.

Watching soccer in a crowd vs at home. I asked Luis if he wants to go to a restaurant or bar somewhere to watch the World Cup final and he said it depends. A lot of the time, watching games in public when we care about the outcome can be frustrating because other people are cheering for the other team, people can be annoying/distracting, etc. At least if it’s a game in person at a stadium, the majority of people are focused on watching the game and not getting in the way or trying to talk about other things. It’s nice to hear the crowd cheering for the same team you’re cheering for, and to have that brief sense of connection, but I get what Luis means. It’ll be easier to focus on the game if we watch it at home on our nice, big TV with our air conditioning and our cats.

On the 4th of July, we watched the France vs. Paraguay game with my parents at their house. It was actually one of the least exciting games, haha. I feel pretty meh about France. I hope they’re not in the final. I’m still reeling from that amazing Argentina vs. Cabo Verde game. That was by far the best game. So far, but c’mon. Hopefully none of the last few games will be quite so insane. I don’t think my blood pressure can take it.

I hope the final will be fun and cool, though, like a lot of the games have been this time. Hopefully it won’t be “ho hum it’s just these two teams.” The chances of that are low, though!

Hardcover instead of paperback. The latest comp novel I’ve received is a hardcover. I don’t often get hardcovers, except when it comes to the newest John Green book. Those always start out as hardcovers. I prefer paperbacks because they’re easier for me to hold and stuff into my purse when I want to read on the train. Hardcovers are more of an effort because I can only read them at certain times and they hurt my hands after a while.

That being said, I’m excited to read Every Version of You by Natalie Messier. I got it in the mail yesterday and read the first 20 or so pages. It’s a hardcover, so I spend time pushing the dust jacket down and it gets uncomfortable to hold, but I’m enjoying the story so far! It’s got more afterlife stuff than my story does (my story is more about “past lives,” in a way) but I still think it’s a great comp. We’ll see, though.

It might be dangerous to have comps from 2026 if it takes a million years to write the novel plus send out queries plus get an agent plus get a publishing deal, etc. The comps I find are more like inspiration for me at this point in my ~writing journey~.

My latest writing project! I started writing my new novel on Monday! It was rough at first, because of Metro and soccer distractions, but I’m on track at 2,500ish words as of this moment. It’s fun to write, which is important. The fun will hopefully sustain me so I don’t give up on writing it. Already, I think it stands apart from my other stories, which is a great change of pace for my brain. I can’t say too much more than that for now, especially since only a little of it has been written. I better get back to it and then get back to you!

All the times that I’ve cried, keeping all the things I knew inside.

Sara Mazariegos

Haha, I just realized I used a “Father and Son” lyric for this entry. I did not plan that. I love that song, though. It always makes me think of Rocket Raccoon because I’m me.

Father’s Day funtimes. We had a mini-Father’s Day get together last Friday with Luis’s stepdad when we went to a bar and saw the US vs. Australia game. Then we celebrated Father’s Day with my dad, with margaritas and Tex Mex and 1 1/2 World Cup games as well. Both events were fun, and much soccer was viewed. My dad even agreed to let us watch at least the second half of the game on the 4th of July (the one in Philadelphia, because it’s the perfect location for the 4th of July, provided we don’t have to actually be there in person.)

It was nice to have a long weekend to celebrate and spend time with family. We spent the evening of Juneteenth watching Rustin, which is about a civil rights activist who was also gay, performed by Colman Domingo. I love Colman Domingo. It was a busy weekend, but it also felt productive and fun!

My Toy Story 5 thoughts. On Saturday, Luis and I went to another bar to watch the Netherlands vs. Sweden, and then we saw Toy Story 5. Remember me promising we’d see it because Conan O’Brien is in it? I really enjoyed it, and not only because of him. He was in it way more than I thought he’d be, though, which was great.

I love that it focused on Jessie, and it reminded me a little of Inside Out because Jessie worked very hard to help make her kid happy. We got to see more of Bonnie than we ever really saw of Andy. And the message that technology isn’t completely bad but it should be used sparingly, especially for kids, is a good one. I was sniffly in several parts. I kind of want to see it again.

Going to events as an adult with a job. Luis has a new work schedule, so meeting in DC to go to events is harder. We’re going to see Rush in October, and we’re navigating the best way to swing getting dinner and being there at showtime. He may end up working at least some of the day in my office, so we can leave together on time. At least my office isn’t too far from the arena. It’ll be nice to work together. We never get to do that anymore! But of course I’m also worried about the timing of things, because I’m me.

John Green is going on a book tour for Hollywood, Ending in September/October as well, and I really hope to see him, but it’s going to be tough. It may not be at an easy-to-get-to venue, and it may also be while we’re off on our anniversary trip to Orlando. I feel like I always run into this “I dunno if we can make it” situation and then it works out, but this year feels like it might be different, and I’m pre-sad about it. We’ll see, but…

It’s great to have jobs and be able to pay for goods and services, but it’s a bummer to have to miss out on things because of work hours. I wish all events could be on weekends. Then again, I’ve worked jobs with weekend hours in the past. (Hopefully never again, because that is the worst.)

Sometimes reading counts as writing. I’m looking forward to writing my next novel, but I’m also a little nervous. I guess I’m always like that when I start a new project. Luis told me to have fun with it instead of giving myself deadline pressure that doesn’t exist, so I’m going to try. I’m in a good place with the outline I have and the ideas I’ve written down. I’ve been thinking about it a lot before starting, which I can’t say I always do, so hopefully it’ll help me get started on the right foot.

I finished reading my comp novel, the ARC novel I shouldn’t talk about until July 7th when it’s released. Just know that I love it very much. It’s in the spirit of my story, and it’s been a great motivator as I think of ideas for my own novel. My story is not the same, but it would fit on the same shelf, if that makes sense. I’m getting another comp novel next month, too, so stayed tuned for my reactions to that one as well!

Time, he’s waiting in the wings.

Sara Mazariegos

Love-Hate relationship with the Metro. Next month, the DC Metro is going to be shutting down 4 stops along the Red line in order to do some big construction for the new Purple line and some needed repairs. I take the Metro into DC for work every day, so this has been a source of stress for me. Luis pointed out that I can take a bus to the opposite end of the Red line and go to work that way, avoiding the points where I’d have to exit and take a shuttle. I’m relieved to have that opportunity, but I’m still dreading it. Commuting is so draining.

The other morning, my train was delayed for half an hour because someone was on the tracks. Police came and escorted them off the tracks, and I’m very glad the person wasn’t hurt, but a whole lot of people were late to work because of that. Thankfully, because I’d caught an earlier bus, I ended up only being about ten minutes late, so it could’ve been much worse. But this is a week in the life of a DC Metro rider.

I am very grateful to have access to a rail system that fairly reliably gets me where I need to go. I also appreciate that many other people in this area see the value of it. Fewer people drive around here, which is better for the environment and safety of others who have to be on the road. I wish more people had reliable rail and bus service in their areas. The Metro has a lot of issues, but hopefully a lot of them are being worked through this summer while the crews work on the several stations that will be closed.

Das Boot has nothing to do with German footwear. Last weekend, we watched Das Boot, Luis’s long movie choice. We took a break in the middle (it’s about three and a half hours long) to go have pizza and a peach margarita (for me) at an Italian restaurant near our house that we’ve never been to. The movie is really good, and definitely claustrophobia-inducing. I’d never want to go into a submarine. I told Luis, I wouldn’t even want to go down the ladder. The subs in World War II didn’t even have screens or windows to look out of, if the movie is accurate. They had to rely on sonar and physically going up to see what was around them. I would hate to be in an enclosed space with zero windows. I remember staying at the Z Hotel in England and our room didn’t have a window. Thank goodness it was only for one night. I would’ve lost my mind if it was for longer. I didn’t sleep very well. When the guy lost his mind in Das Boot, I totally understood, although he wasn’t going crazy because of the tight space; he was going crazy because the Allies were torpedoing his U-Boat. Which…fair. He was my favorite character. He reminds me of Andy Serkis.

It’s about a German U-Boat in World War II, so you can’t completely cheer for them, but it’s interesting to see that perspective. It’s not like all German soldiers and naval officers were Nazis. A lot of them were, but the guys in the movie (minus one) aren’t really into that stuff. Anyway, it’s a really good movie. We watched in in German with subtitles, so it was completely authentic. I’m interested in reading the book it’s based on now, but I have so many books to read. It’s not like Hamlet, which feels more like a “duh, you should read it at least once” kind of book.

Local Pride events. On Sunday, we went to our local Pride event with some friends, and saw one of our friends perform some original songs. It was nice. We got a lot of swag. We also got Lebanese Taverna and margaritas. It was very hot outside, so it was good to be able to take a break inside. I’m glad it wasn’t raining. There were some brief thunderstorms during Das Boot, which was thematically appropriate, but if it had rained on Pride it would’ve been sad.

Getting into Hamlet. I checked out Hamlet from the library and I’ve been reading it on the Metro (when I can manage to get a seat.) Watching the Kenneth Branagh movie and having it fresh in my mind is the best way to read the play, in my opinion. I can still hear the inflections and imagine the characters, which makes it easier for me to follow. I definitely think that reading Shakespeare can be tough, and seeing it can make it clearer, so seeing the plays and then reading them might be the best way to understand and appreciate them.

There’s a part early on in the Folger version of Hamlet that I borrowed where the editing team basically wrote “there’s no consensus on what this means.” 🤣 Great. Love that.

Writing <break> update. I’ve still been enjoying my break from writing. I have ideas I’ve written down, and I’m thinking about my next novel a healthy amount. My goal for writing the first draft is to try and take it a chapter at a time, instead of pressuring myself with lots of future ideas. I tend to get ahead of myself, particularly when I’m excited.

During my break, I’ve been enjoying the ARC novel I mentioned last week—the one I can’t tell you anything about yet—and I’m dreading finishing it because, like I said, once I’ve finished it I’ll never be able to read it for the first time again. I told my sister-in-law about it and how much I love it, and she asked to borrow it when I’ve finished. But she has to give it back to me and be gentle, because it is precious to me.

Reading has been helpful in relaxing my brain while simultaneously inspiring me and awakening my imagination for my next writing project. I haven’t been reading as much as a writer, since I’m taking a break, and I think sometimes it’s better to quiet the analytical thoughts and let the story take me for a ride.

I’m counting out time, got the whole thing down by numbers.

Sara Mazariegos

Holidays can make people go crazy. Last week, Memorial Day was on Monday and a bunch of our clients either don’t celebrate the holiday because they’re not in America (fair) or they just assumed we would be working on a holiday. So we had a stressful Tuesday of explaining our closure to a lot of people, and dealing with a big influx of tasks and things. Things were still pretty nuts on Wednesday. Then I felt sick, so I took a sick day. I came back to work on Friday and everyone seemed to still have lost their minds.

Sometimes our little team takes a holiday. We deserve breaks.

They’re going to go crazy again on Juneteenth, because that’s a recently-added federal holiday. I can already imagine the impatient emails and messages come the following Monday. 🫩

Luis said, “Pick a long movie.” So I chose Kenneth Branagh’s William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. His response was not, but it was practically, “Not like that.” Given the fact that I’ve been thinking about hosting a Lord of the Rings weekend in which we watch all three of the movies—in their extended versions, because the other versions cut out way too much!—he shouldn’t have been surprised that my choice for ‘long movie’ was Kenneth Branagh’s extra-long treatment of Hamlet. It’s been on my watchlist for years, mainly because of Robin Williams. I remember my parents seeing it when it was in theaters. I was around nine years old, and I really wanted to see it, because of Robin Williams, but my parents said no because it’s too long, violent, Shakepearey, etc for a nine-year-old.

I probably would’ve fallen asleep.

But you never know! I may have loved it! Anyway. I’m glad we finally watched it. It’s not even particularly violent. It’s rated PG-13. It’s available on YouTube, so it’s easy to find. I was surprised to learn it was a flop when it came out. I guess because it was so long. I checked out the book version from the library so I can read it for the first time. It’s easier to read since I just watched it; the actor’s inflections are still fresh in my mind. It may be a long movie, but I think it does a fairly good job of making Shakespeare more accessible to audiences who might not understand it otherwise.

Next weekend we’re watching Das Boot for Luis’s long-movie pick. Notably not as long as Hamlet, but twice as many Nazis.

Finally some good news! Without going into detail, again because it’s personal stuff I don’t want to share on a public blog, the situation that was stressing Luis and me for months has finally been resolved. He’s done a lot of hard work for several months, and it’s paid off. So we can finally relax now, which feels amazing. It doesn’t even feel real yet, but it will soon. I’ll be able to write more about it in a few months, once everything has settled down.

I love a book I can’t talk about. Luis was able to use his producer magic to get me an advance reader copy of a book, and I have been loving it so far. I read it a bunch this past weekend and I wish I could just sit for hours reading it. But I also don’t want to read it so much that I finish it, because then I won’t be able to live in its world anymore, and reading it a second time won’t be as magical as the first time when I don’t know what will happen next. I have a feeling I will read it a second time, though.

It will be a perfect comparative title for the next novel I’m writing. That’s why I wanted to get a copy; but I love it beyond being similar to a story idea I have. I can’t talk about it for now, because it’s not out for another month and I haven’t finished reading it yet, but I’ll be publicly singing its praises as soon as I can!

Writing update! I finished writing my novel draft last Thursday! I feel free to move on from that story now and write other things. I may circle back to it and reshape it into something new, but for now I’m thinking about my next novel, which is exciting. I have a document of my outline plus notes, and I’ve been adding to it as I think of new ideas. It’s going to be similar in some ways to the novel I just finished, but it’s also going to be so different. I’m looking forward to writing the first draft.

At the same time, I’m enjoying taking a break from writing. I’ve had more time to read, which is lovely. I’ve also had more time to let my imagination run wild a little bit instead of constantly trying to stay on one track with one story idea.

Probably by the end of June, I’ll be chomping at the bit and anxious about getting started with my next novel, but for now it’s nice to not feel pressured to write or stick to a schedule.

If you’re lost you can look and you will find me, time after time.

Sara Mazariegos

A brief—BRIEF—write-up about our wedding. Apropos of nothing, I wanted to share the story of Luis’s and my wedding. I’ve never written a full post about it, and now of course it’ll be relying heavily on memory, but how could I forget one of the best days of my life*?

On October 14, 2017, Luis and I got married in a Super Mario Bros.-inspired wedding. We’d been together for over five years, since Valentine’s Day 2012. Three days before our wedding, we went with our Nerdfighter friends to see John & Hank Green in D.C., and they literally toasted our nuptials. Luis and I met because of their silly internet videos and the group that came from them, so it was the perfect pre-wedding party for us.

We already lived together, so we didn’t have any of the separation before the wedding that some couples do. In the morning, my best friend and bridesmaid Kat picked us up and drove us to the venue (a Courtyard hotel with a beautiful lake and a bunch of cute shops and restaurants near it.) Then it was off to the salon for Kat and me while Luis went off to get ready with his groomsfriends. At some point, a Potbelly sandwich was handed to me by my bridesmaid and our wedding officiant, Eli. My bridal posse and I spent the next few hours getting our makeup on and getting dressed while the photographer snapped pictures. There were no tears, only giggles. They took turns crawling under my dress to adjust my orange crinoline.

© Michelle Whitley

Once I was properly made up and dolled up in my dress plus crinoline plus sash, Michelle the photographer and I went to link up with Luis for some first-look photos. We were excited and happy to see each other again. We gave each other gifts (a Messi Barcelona jersey for him and a green ukulele for me.) Then it was time for us to head to the venue’s balcony for the ceremony.

People often say their wedding ceremony went by in a blur, but I remember our ceremony. Kat held my bouquet so I could hold my orange vow notebook. He was holding a green notebook for himself. Eli held the mic for us as we each read each other our vows. Mine included a John Green quote, because of course it did, and Eli’s speech also included a John Green quote. My mom told me I sounded loud and confident, which makes sense to me because I wasn’t nervous to marry Luis at all. A lot of things make me anxious, but not that.

After our vows, we kissed under the Mario arch with little clouds and coins and power boxes. Then we were whisked off for more photos. Our bridesmaids and groomsfriends joined, and we all went around the lake to pose near a carousel and with the lovely fall foliage. When we arrived back inside the venue a little later, it was time for the reception. During the speeches, Luis’s groomsfriend Aymon, who’d been friends with him since middle school, spoke about how happy we obviously make each other. {It was especially touching in hindsight because, sadly, Aymon passed away in 2020.} Next, his groomsfriend Janine—also his friend since middle school—informed us in her speech that she’d briefly lost our rings but then they were recovered when a custodian at the hotel graciously found them and kept them safe. She had to prove what they looked like. Silver bricks with question marks. She was scared she’d ruined our wedding and we were going to hate her, but it’s a funny and cute story now. I can imagine how stressed she must have been. Finally, my dad made a speech that included “D.F.T.B.A.,**” which floored me. He did some research in preparation, which was very sweet.

I barely ate during the reception, because I wasn’t feeling hungry at all. I had little tastes of things, like our mushroom risotto and Girl Scout Samoa Cookie pie. We had several pies from Dangerously Delicious Pies instead of cake, because we prefer pie. Writing this now makes me want some again…Anyway. During the dances, while Luis danced with his mom to “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by Queen, his uncle invited me to dance with him, which was cute and not planned. Then I danced with my dad to “Romeo & Juliet” by Dire Straits and we laughed because the song is long and no one wanted to come join us. Toward the end of the reception, Luis and I danced to “Barcelona” by Freddie Mercury, and I twirled a bunch to show off my bright orange petticoat. Then we gave a bow and went upstairs to our bridal suite.

Kumail Nanjiani hosted SNL that night. We flew to Barcelona the next morning. And I couldn’t have asked for a better wedding and honeymoon. ✨

* The other best days of my life were when I met Luis, a few other times with him like first kiss and when we got our dog Scout (rest in peace), and when John and Hank Green (but mainly John) spoke so kindly about us during their Turtles All The Way Down tour and gave us a KitchenAid mixer as a wedding gift!
** Don’t Forget To Be Awesome. It’s the slogan of the Nerdfighters.

Time will heal all the hate, all in good time.

Sara Mazariegos

Birds don’t discriminate. As I was walking to my office, I watched the birds eating the seeds that some nice city worker throws out for them. I noticed that it’s not only pigeons and sparrows, but there are crows and even ducks joining in on the feast sometimes. And none of them try to pick a fight or keep the other kinds of birds from eating with them. There’s a metaphor in this somewhere.

There was also a robin on my way to the bus the other day, standing in the grass next to the sidewalk. Rather than running or flying away like they usually do, this little one just looked up at me with big eyes. It was incredibly cute. Sometimes, our local wildlife makes me feel like a Disney princess. Specifically Giselle I suppose, because the animals I get excited to see are pigeons and squirrels. Cute animal friends are cute regardless of what kind of animals they are!

The Devil Wears Prada 2. We saw the sequel to The Devil Wears Prada last weekend. I was wary at first, but I know it is a book series and I liked the first movie. I think it’s a good sequel; it feels like the first one but with new plot points and drama instead of being a rehash. I also think Miranda isn’t as mean in it. Maybe I’m just used to her meanness. I mostly felt sorry for her in this one.

I can’t remember if I posted about it (I probably did) but I tried reading the first novel and I couldn’t get through it, in either audiobook or book-book form. Andy is an annoying, whiny narrator in the book, but I like her in the movie. My favorite character is still Nigel (Stanley Tucci.) I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, so I won’t say anything else.

Immortality final thoughts. Luis and I finished playing Immortality last weekend as well. It was addictive so we played it for hours. I really like it! It’s so cool that they have actors performing all of these scenes within scenes, and then there’s scenes hidden within the scenes. I wish more games were this creative and adventurous with ideas. I do think we’re seeing more and more cool, innovative games like this lately, thanks to places like Steam making it easier for indie developers to get their games out there.

My favorite of the movies within the game is Minsky. This won’t make any sense unless you play the game, though. I definitely recommend it. It’s a showcase of the main actress Manon Gage’s talent as well, because she was fresh out of college when she acted in this game, and she gets to show off her range. I look forward to playing other games by the creator, Sam Barlow. We’ve already played Her Story.

New ideas are rejuvenating. I’m within the final 20K of my current novel draft, projected to be finished by the beginning of June. Ever since I decided this story won’t work as a published novel, I’ve been more laid back about writing it. It’s still going to be completed, even if I won’t pursue it with agents. It’s always a good goal to finish what you’ve started, if possible. I even have a few ideas of ways I can repurpose this story into a new idea I have swirling around in my brain. I don’t want to fully abandon it because I still see its value.

That being said, I’m looking forward to not thinking about it for a while.

I’m very excited to start writing my next novel. I have months to plan it, so hopefully it will just easily come out as the fully formed story from my head!

No? That’s now how writing works? I always forget.

You on point, Tip? All the time, Phife.

Sara Mazariegos

Still exploring in a more hostile world. Even though I work in D.C., it’s been a long time since Luis and I have visited the city for fun. Now that it’s spring, I’ve started to want to plan things out-of-doors or at least out-of-our-doors. There are still quite a few places in D.C. that we haven’t visited yet, so maybe this year will be the year! Just have to get our friends’ schedules to line up with ours. There are only so many weekends in a month.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how things have become more hostile in my town. There’s amped up “security” everywhere, people aren’t as friendly, we have National Guard people on our streets for no reason, etcetera. It makes the idea of coming to visit the city a not entirely fun one, and I think that’s part of why I long to spend time having fun there again. I miss the way things used to be. And who’s to say they can’t still be silly and educational and special even amidst all of the everything bad that’s going on? It’s not like I’m suggesting we go to the Kennedy Center or anything; it just might be fun to window shop in Georgetown or play hoity-toity minigolf again.

Living and working amongst newsworthy things. Last week, there were a lot of people and traffic and police around a few fiancial buildings near my office, because of a big event that was held there. It was even in the news. I found out it was in the news when I looked at the little local events screen in my office’s elevator. It both explained why things were so busy around my job and made me feel a little weird.

There was a big “cancel the debt” protest when I came into work on Friday. It’s a strange feeling to be around things that are being talked about on a global scale. I guess this is something that comes from working in D.C. And whenever people complain about the federal government, I have to stop myself from saying, “You think it’s bad? Try living around it all the time.” I really like living in the D.C. area, but it can be stressful and frustrating at times. I prefer when things aren’t so dire and argue-y. (That doesn’t mean I don’t agree with the protestors.)

Have things in the federal government always been dire and argue-y?

Immortality is such a cool game. Luis and I started playing this PC* mystery game called Immortality. It’s basically a bunch of footage from this actress’s movies or appearances or rehearsals, and you’re supposed to pause and click objects or fast forward/rewind to find hidden video features. It’s very cool, and very creepy. It’s also very ambitious, because the team really did film a bunch of footage and hire a crew of actors, costume designers, etc. We’ve semi-solved it already (it even ran credits) but we’re still playing it because we haven’t unlocked a lot of the stuff yet. I’m wondering if there’s an easy, “Good job, you solved it!” mode we reached and then there’s going to be a more advanced version as we keep going.

We’ve also made sure to actually watch each clip, to figure out what each movie is about. There are three movies the main character actress worked on. I highly recommend the game. I love mystery games, and ones with footage are even cooler, though this one involves one of my least favorite things with recordings: slowed down voices. And you have to rewind slowly sometimes, to find the important pieces of the puzzle. There aren’t really any jump-scares, but it is definitely creepy and surprising in places. Things appearing where they shouldn’t, that sort of thing. It’s ghostly without really being a ghost game.

Actually reading comps. One thing I do that most definitely slows me down is I completely read any novels I think could be good comps for my stories. I’ve read that all I really need to do is read a synopsis or whatever, but I prefer reading the full stories to truly get a sense of how they could fit with mine. This is largely because I enjoy reading new books. But I have stacks of books to read that could be considered comps for my stories, and I’ve still got to get to a bunch of them before they’re too old to work anymore.

I’ve also read that it’s a good idea to go for debut novels, because they’re not the big mega-hits that everyone’s already heard of yet. But it’s hard to stay ahead of that. It can be frustrating, thinking about the query letter because it’s so important for finding a literary agent, but sometimes agents don’t even value it as much as the first five pages. Every agent is different.

This is why I’m trying to just focus on writing for now, and finding good books that mesh well with my stories because they help get my creative juices flowing. And I’m sorry for saying “creative juices.”

Writing update. I’m enjoying writing my novel. It’s getting toward the final 20k words now, which feels crazy. Writing in the 500-word bursts has been the best way for me to get the story done, because it still feels fun and sometimes I even go a little longer because I want to, rather than like in the past where I was trying to cram too much into each writing session.

I’m looking forward to the finished draft, and then I can eventually edit it, which hopefully won’t be too much of a headache this time.

* PC as in personal computer.

It’s 8:15, and that’s the time that it’s always been.

Sara Mazariegos

Our personal Super Mario connection. Both Luis and I grew up with the Super Mario Bros. games. Him more than me, but I have early memories of playing Super Mario on the NES with my sister. She always made me play Mario so she could be Luigi, because she preferred green. This resulted in a lot of Mario falling off the very first ledge and then Luigi getting his turn. We also had and played Super Mario Bros. 3, a game that is still my favorite of the Mario games. Hey, I’m a sucker for nostalgia.

Anyway, it was this shared enjoyment of Mario and the various characters and themes within the games that inspired Luis’s and my wedding’s theme. It was a loose theme, because we didn’t want to give off kids’ birthday party vibes. Our decor was cute! Luis’s sister made paper lanterns with Boo’s face on them. We still have two of them, hanging in our living room.

All of this to say, heck yes we like the Mario movies! We saw Super Mario Bros. Galaxy last weekend, and as we were leaving we were already planning to see it again this weekend. Unfortunately, the cue I was given to go to the bathroom was at a pretty bad moment, actually, so we snuck into another showing afterwards in order for me to see the introduction of an important character! I’m very much looking forward to the next movie, too.

Watching The Studio is saddening. We started watching The Studio the other week, because of all the awards it won and everything. It’s very sad to watch now, though, because Catherine O’Hara’s role on it is so big and integral to the plot. It’s nice to see her, but I’m still so sad she’s no longer with us. It feels cruel. It is cruel. Seth Rogan clearly was so excited to be working with people he admired, and she’s one of the people he looked up to… So it’s quite sad to watch even though it is a very funny and well-made show. It’s beautifully shot, and I love the “oner” way of filming it. It reminds me of Birdman. It’s kind of stressful at times to watch a style like that, but so far I’m enjoying it. It’s hard for me to imagine how season 2 is going to be.

Taskmaster is back! My favorite grumpy/sunshine pairing came back last week. As usual, I love the group of comedians and actors that are “competing” on Taskmaster. My favorite is not Kumail Nanjiani, but of course I’m still excited to see him on it! He’s so far aligning with the trend of South Asian contestants performing badly. 😅 The worm task really wasn’t fair, though.

I don’t want to spoil it, so I won’t say any more. I highly recommend that show. It’s available wherever YouTube is sold!

Story ideas coming unbidden. As previously mentioned, I’ve started getting ideas for my next story while working on my current novel. This always happens, and usually when I’m midway through writing a story. This time it started with me thinking I could rework an outline and turn it into something different but still a similar concept, but now it’s gotten bigger and more detailed, so I’ve been writing down the ideas in the outline for now so I can work on it more once the story I’m currently writing has a complete draft.

I think it’s a good idea to let ideas simmer a bit, especially if I’m already working on something. The last thing I want to do is fall into the trap of pausing the story I was focusing on to write something new before the story is finished! It’s never a good idea to pause before ‘The End.’ Even if the draft needs a lot of revisions. Keep writing until ‘The End’ and then you can write something else. That’s the way my brain works anyway. I can’t write two stories at the same time. One of them always takes precedence or nothing gets finished.

Writing update. My novel rewrite is going well. I’m nearing 50,000 words which is just past the halfway point. Instead of being the ‘sagging middle’ that a lot of writers talk about, there’s a bunch of drama happening in my story, which is keeping things moving along nicely. It won’t be much longer until this revision is complete! And then I can take a break before writing something new.

I said what I said, brain!

There was a time, a storm that blew so pure.

Sara Mazariegos

Not all movies need critical analysis. I saw the Super Mario Galaxy movie got some pretty brutal reviews, and it’s made me wonder why we have reviewers for every movie. I appreciate that critics are writers and they need jobs. I get that. But I don’t think every movie must be held to the same standard that some of the critics expect. No one expects a Mario movie to be anything other than what it is: fan service for people who love the games and characters. It’s a little bit like the Five Nights At Freddy’s movies. They’re made for people who like the thing. Anyone interested should go see it and they’ll probably like it. Maybe there needs to be more segmentation with reviewers. What do fans of Super Mario think about this new movie?

I thought the first one was cute. It wasn’t amazing, but I’m glad I saw it and I’d watch it again. I don’t remember why Bowser is tiny. I’m excited to see the new one next weekend.

The allure of Robert Pattinson. Luis and I forwent Mario last weekend because we knew the theater would be teeming with kids for Easter weekend. Instead, we saw The Drama starring Robert Pattinson and Zendaya. That movie is definitely not for kids. I’ve got to say that Robert Pattinson has grown on me. I was never a fan of Twilight so I didn’t like him, but it’s not his fault. He didn’t write it or direct it, and he’s grown a lot since then. I really liked him in Mickey 17, and he was quite good in The Drama as well. He’s someone a lot of people find attractive, and I never have (no offense to him) but I can appreciate a good actor regardless of how they look. I also appreciate that he seems to be shying away from the handsome leading man roles in favor of more quirky, interesting scripts.

The Drama has a controversial subject matter, but I think it’s a subject worth thinking about. It’s not pleasant, but it’s important. I think it’s handled in a pretty realistic way, considering it’s in a dark comedy. I don’t quite understand the people who think it’s a topic than can never be explored like this. It’s not like the movie makes light of it or acts like there’s nothing wrong with it. (I’m not spoiling it; you should see it for yourself, if you’re interested.) It’s intense, but it’s good.

The Martian during real space times. On Easter, we watched The Martian as the next space movie on my list. It’s based on a novel written by the same author who wrote Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir. It’s got a very stacked cast, with all sorts of actors. We liked it, though we liked PHM more. The Martian is more stressful, and it also doesn’t have the cute element. I don’t want to spoil PHM, though I think the Internet is already spoiling it quite a bit. I also think that, while it’s better and makes sense not to have Matt Damon actually lose a bunch of weight, the CG looks a little weird. I suppose it’s always a risk. AI crap in things won’t age well either. It already looks bad.

Now we just have to see Arrival and Interstellar. Speaking of space movies, it felt pretty surreal to be watching The Martian while we have real astronauts in space at this very moment, exploring the darker regions of the moon. I hope they return safely to Earth on Friday and bring back a whole host of new images and stories. So far, it’s been pretty incredible to watch and learn about.

Aging out of things. Lately I’ve been feeling as if I’m aging away from a lot of the Nerdfighter stuff, not through lack of interest but because there’s so much to keep up with. When I first became a Nerdfighter, everything was pretty much online. I was on the old ning website and everything, and I never missed a video. I bought all of John’s books and inhaled them. Then, a little later, I found my local Facebook group and met a bunch of Nerdfighter friends in real life. You know how that turned out. ☺️

But now that I’m older and we’re all older, I’ve got a job and other commitments and I find it hard to keep up with everything going on. I do my best, of course, and I’m still there for a lot of it, but I wonder how much longer I’ll be able to show up. And it’s sort of bittersweet because, like I said, I still love John and Hank and the community, but keeping up with livestreams and events is becoming less tenable. I don’t know. I mostly just wanted to mope a little. I’m going to do my best to go to John’s latest book tour stop (if there is a book tour stop) but I fear something like NerdCon Nerdfighteria might be out of the question for me. We’ll have to see, and I do so hate having to see.

Evolving conflicts. While writing the other day, I realized my new story draft has a conflict that evolves as the characters and plot evolve. It starts out as one bit of drama and then it sort of snowballs as the story progresses. I’m proud of myself for coming up with a conflict like that, because I think it means it’s more realistic but also more impactful.

As soon as I finish writing this draft, I plan to wait a few weeks and then dive back in to read it and add a few details/subplots that I came up with while I was writing but didn’t want to stop and go back to add. I’m a little past the halfway point now with this draft, and I’m really enjoying writing it and playing around with things.

It’s definitely true that the best way to improve your writing is to keep writing.