Tag: Nerdfighters

So many times we’re stumbling in the dark and then, eureka! What a spark!

Sara Mazariegos

Josh Johnson’s Comedy Band Camp. Last Saturday night, Luis and I went to Immigrant Food for dinner and saw Josh Johnson in D.C.! His show, Josh Johnson’s Comedy Band Camp, is so cool because it has comedians, musicians, dancers, and a fun ’70s camp vibe. It was a variety show, which I sort of expected because of the name of the tour. I don’t think Josh even came on stage until like 10pm (it was an 8:30pm show.)

Like on The Daily Show, he talked a lot about politics and current events. He has a funny Elizabeth Holmes impression, which I did not anticipate. He was talking about White House things that SNL also talked about at almost the same time. That was amusing to find out later when we got home. It was funnier coming from him. His opening comedian, Tevin ‘Mandal’ Williams, said he went to the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture and only saw the second floor, so he doesn’t get why everyone says it’s so sad. All the fun pop culture and music stuff is on the second floor. The basement is where the main exhibit is, and it’s both enormous and enormously sad.

I love that museum. I love when visitors acknowledge our awesome museums. God, I hope they’re allowed to stay awesome.

I’m glad we saw this show, and I hope we can see Josh Johnson again next time he visits D.C.

Housewarming & zombies. On Sunday, we went to our friends Emily and Ashley’s housewarming party. It was really nice to see them again and not just be talking about taking care of our cats. We saw their cats, and we talked about Nerdfighter things. I told them a little about Hollywood, Ending but didn’t say anything spoilery because I hope they’ll read it.

Then we went to the movies and saw Resident Evil. It’s so good! It feels very much like you’re inside the game, which is cool and scary because it’s got a lot of zombies. One thing I especially like is that the movie itself is split into ‘levels.’ It feels like each beat of the plot is the next level where more horrors await and new goals for the protagonist present themselves. Austin Abrams is great in it. He feels like a normal, real guy. I call him Ben because he was Ben in Paper Towns and it reminds Luis where he knows him from. 😆

Pre-vacation jitters. I’m so excited to go to Disney (and Universal) with Luis again! He booked everything so long ago, it feels unreal that it’s finally happening in two days. I’ve been feeling the pre-vacation jitters of “did we forget about something?” or “do we know how to do xyz?” I wrote before about how I watched videos of people walking to and riding the Skyliner from our hotel to the parks, to get an idea of how it all works. I’ve been antsy for a refresher of things like that. But, like I also said, too much planning can make me feel crazy, too.

I told Luis I was feeling anxious about our packing situation, because our airline is sort of strict about sizing and weights of bags, and he suggested we pack a week ahead of time so we can be sure we’re good to go. I love that we’re in sync when it comes to planning trips. He even wrote down, hour by hour, what we’ll do during our “resort day” at the Contemporary. Sure, things might change because of timing, but it’s nice to have a general idea of what we can do while we’re there. This sort of goes along with my being a “plantser” when it comes to writing. Hmm.

We’re going to stay in three wonderful resorts while we’re there, and I’m going to try to focus more on relaxing this time. The plan is to rope-drop every day, so we’re going to hopefully have calmer evenings and not be trying to cram things up until the parks close each day. We’ll see how that goes. I’m glad we’re not the type of people who are trying to ride everything. We’ve got a list of the rides we want to ride, and then we’ve also programmed lunch breaks and some of the attractions that are shows for some breaks. I’m planning to write specifically about our dining experiences in my next update, a week after next, so stay tuned for that!

My outline is my real MVP. I will be roughly four and a half chapters from the end of my draft when we go on our vacation. I’m not sure if having a stronger outline is why things have felt easier this time, or if it’s just being more relaxed about things. My outline means I go into each chapter with a plan instead of a lot of things being stream-of-consciousness, making-it-up-as-I-go-along. It’s funny because, with my last story, I also had an outline but I still felt like I was making up a lot of things as I went along. Maybe it helps to write a good outline and let things germinate for a minute before writing. There are a few little areas here and there that I know need revision, but I feel like the overall story is much stronger.

Wouldn’t it be funny if the secret was writing on less caffeine? That’s one big change I’ve made in my daily routine, and I’m sure it’s affected my thoughts. But I think it’s really the strong outline and the fact that I’ve had these story ideas for a while now.

I’ve started to really contemplate my next story idea. I mentioned it last week, a little. The thing about shorter flights is that I’ll have basically two hours to think about novel plots while I’m on the way to and from Orlando. There may be hope for my Nerdfighter story yet! But don’t quote me on that.

I’ll be back the week after next, unless I’m kidnapped by the Hitchhiking Ghosts! 😉

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?

It’s time to move on, it’s time to get going.

Sara Mazariegos

7 days left to deal with the Metro Red Line shutdown // 45 days until vacation! But who’s counting? 😉

Kate McKinnon at the DC Book Festival! Luis and I went to the DC Book Festival last Sunday with one goal. We went straight to Kate McKinnon’s meet-and-greet line and stood there for over an hour. We bought her book, Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science: Secrets of the Purple Pearl, which served as a ticket for the meet-and-greet, and we met her! She shook each of our hands and asked for each of our names, and then she posed for a few photos with us. She was really polite and smiley. She looked the same in person as she does on camera; she’s so pretty. I was a little worried that I’d look into her beautiful blue eyes and forget how to form words, but I didn’t. Also I wasn’t able to say much to her, because the line was moving quickly. But still! Ahhh!


So now I can finally say I’ve met a former SNL cast member. And also a Ghostbuster.

She was the only person we wanted to see at the Book Fest this year, so we went and got Chinese food afterward, and saw Spider-Man again (at long last!) in 4D this time, which was kind of insane. Every time we took a drink of soda or ate some popcorn, it felt risky because the action scenes made our seats move a lot.

My (albeit biased) thoughts on Hank Green. There was a livestream last week for the donors to the Dear Hank & John podcast, which is hosted by John and Hank Green. (Makes sense.) A lot of it felt like an intervention for Hank, because he has been struggling with an addiction to using LLMs to help him do research for his videos and projects. Emphasis on his videos, for his YouTube channel, not for his videos with John and not for Complexly’s content. He does his own research and writing for Vlogbrothers, and he doesn’t really write for SciShow, etc at all. There’s a big team at Complexly and it is important that people don’t assume all of those good people are using AI, because they are not.

Anyway, all of us in the livestream, which is pretty much exclusively made up of Nerdfighters, feel for Hank because we have been following him for years and we’ve seen him putting more and more pressure on himself to create things. He has so many ideas and he feels like he alone can make them happen. I commented, “Hank, let other people do things.” And John read it back to him, and said it was good advice. I understand the feeling of having a lot of ideas and excitement for said ideas, but it’s important to take a step back and realize the burden of every new thing doesn’t and shouldn’t fall on one person’s shoulders.

John pointed out that Hank should stop trying to make so many things for the greater Internet, where people can be mean and unsupportive, and he should focus on creating things for the Nerdfighter community instead. Because we are kinder, and we know him well enough that we can be gently honest when he’s made something we don’t like. It’s a little bit like when The Fault in Our Stars came out and suddenly everyone had a mountain of opinions about this little author in Indiana named John Green. Not everything is for everyone, and that’s also okay.

No books til John Green. Please tell me you read that in the rhythm of “No Sleep Til Brooklyn” by the Beastie Boys. Speaking of John Green, I’ve given myself a quasi-rule not to start reading any other books because I’m going to have John’s new book next month! I’m currently reading three books: Death at Bishop’s Keep by Robin Paige, As You Wish by Cary Elwes, and House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. They’re all sort of neck-and-neck in terms of how far into them I am, because two of them are short and one of them is House of Leaves.

It’s been difficult to read a lot lately, because I’ve been extra tired from the longer commute. I was literally falling asleep while holding As You Wish the other night. (It’s my before bed book*.) But I’m determined to finish all three of them by September 24th, when I get John’s new novel!

I may bend this rule slightly and read Kate McKinnon’s book while I wait, too, but only if I’ve finished one of the other ones first!

Stuck in the past. As I write my novel, I’m noticing how nostalgic it makes me. I’ve been looking back and remembering all sorts of things from my life, and using them as gentle inspiration. It’s been cool to go back through my memories and my old emails and try to piece together what happened and what was going on in my life. I randomly remembered the name of one of my professors, but not quite how to spell it, and then Facebook brought her up as someone I might know. That was jarring. Does Facebook have access to my literal memories in my brain?

Writing this story has been cathartic and fun. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

* I usually have a purse book for my commutes, a living room book for evening/weekend reads, and a before bed book that lives on my nightstand

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.

It’s the first time, the last time we ever met.

Sara Mazariegos

Birthday month. March is my birthday month, so last weekend and this weekend were/are all about birthday parties for me. 🥳 Last weekend, we got Indian food and strawberry cupcakes with my family, and we played a trivia game. It’s also my mom’s birthday, so we combine our parties since it makes sense and we don’t have to plan and travel twice.

This weekend, we’re getting dinner with Luis’s family, then we’re going ice skating* and getting fancy sushi with friends on Sunday (my birthday!)

Whenever I feel at all guilty or silly for having multiple get-togethers for my birthday instead of one big one, I think of Sona Movsesian on Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend and how she calls it her “Birthday month” because she has many parties with friends the whole month. That’s the dream!

Just kidding. I like attention, but not that much attention.

Whereabouts. One thing I always find myself thinking about as I write my Nerdfighters novel is the fact that my parents panicked about me going on my first date with Luis because I didn’t text them updates every hour (exaggeration, but not far off.) I was twenty-four years old and I’d been to D.C. by myself plenty of times at that point. Plus, we went to a bunch of museums together, so it’s not like he led me into dark alleys or anything like that. I think it’s one bad thing about cell phones. It makes people feel like they must be constantly aware of things at all times, and if there’s no instant response the world must be ending.

I remember when I was a kid, I’d go off on my bike to my friends’ houses after school and I’d be gone until evening. My parents never freaked out then. I got into more mischief back then! My friends and I used to play in a Virginia creek, for heck’s sake. I also went on a ski trip to West Virginia when I was in middle school and they never checked up on me at that rate. They may have been calling my friends’ parents to make sure things were going well, but there was no sense of urgency about any of it. I’m way more cautious as an adult than I was as a kid, and even as a kid I was careful. I never broke any bones or got lost. There was more stranger danger back then. There were more serial killers.

I think, when I was twenty-four and they were all concerned about me and what I was doing, it was more because it was a date with a boy than it was about the danger of D.C. Which, again, silly. They wanted me to meet people, but also not go out with them… It would’ve been so rude to pull out my phone and text them constantly when I was busy paying attention to my cute, funny date. I remember a time not long before that time, when my parents didn’t like cell phones and thought people who used them in public were rude. 🤔

Anyway. I like cell phones. They’re very helpful. I’m still glad I grew up in a time without them.

Ryan Gosling and space movies. Last weekend, we saw Project Hail Mary. I figured we would like it, but we both really enjoyed it! It’s very cute. It’s the kind of movie people need right now, I think. I want to see it again, even though it’s two and a half hours long. It doesn’t feel long. We’ll probably watch it again when it’s streaming. I’m glad it’s doing as well as it is. I don’t want to spoil it; I recommend you just see it if you like movies set in space that don’t involve big laser fights or anything. It’s like Alien + Star Trek (the series, not the movies) + ET, and a little bit of Moon. I cried, but in a good way.

There are quite a few space movies we need to see. A bunch came out close to each other and we missed them. This one is by the same author as The Martian, which we need to see. We also need to see Interstellar and Arrival. We like space movies, but it’s hard to keep up sometimes! Apparently Timothee Chalamet is in Interstellar. That doesn’t have me rushing to see it. 😝

References and prior knowledge when reading. I’ve noticed in two of the books I’m reading/recently read—Where’d You Go, Bernadette? and Today Tonight Tomorrow, which both take place in Seattle, which I didn’t expect!—that there are a lot of pop culture references with very little explanation for people who might not understand them. I suppose books have always included a bit of that. But, for example, Bee in Where’d You Go, Bernadette keeps saying she’s making a Kubrick reaction face, and I feel so lost myself whenever she says that. Is that a thing regular people say? It takes place in 2012, too. Not really Kubrick’s era.

Now that I see it, I understand but I’m not used to things like that making me have to look them up. I wonder if it’s a sign of the age of the author? Also, what fifteen-year-old would use that term? It comes out of nowhere. It’s not like Bee is watching 2001: A Space Odyssey or A Clockwork Orange and then starts referencing it. Anyway, I think it’s a good idea for writers to try to limit pop culture references because it might age things and also confuse people.

I pay attention to my use of pop culture references in my novel. In my opinion, if it’s relevant to the plot or characters or if it helps place the story in its setting, then a reference is okay. But too many is definitely distracting and can take people out of the story, especially if they’re going to their phone instead of reading!

Sheesh, do I sound old?

* I always envision myself doing spins and tricks like a figure skater, but um. I mostly will be trying not to fall and hoping my ankles don’t hurt too much. Just know I imagine myself as the next Sarah Hughes. That’s what goes on in my head when I’m going skating.

Choose your last words, this is the last time.

Sara Mazariegos

Anniversary times. Luis and I had a great “staycation” trip for our 14th anniversary last weekend. We stayed in a lovely suite near the Metro station where we first met all those years ago. We explored the area and had a lot of nice food. We went to a romance bookstore called Friends to Lovers and he bought me a book. Our hotel also had a hot tub and a pool, so we spent some time there, which was a good way to get out of the cold and rain.

The places we went when we first met have changed, but we’ve also changed. It’s nice to go back and reminisce and also be reminded of how long we’ve been together.

Project For Awesome. I was fortunate enough to be able to watch the first hour of the livestream during my lunch break last Friday. I watched the first charity video (about APOPO, the bomb-sniffing rats who also help detect tuberculosis, which is a non-profit organization my company works with) and I got misty-eyed because I love rats. That was only the beginning.

During our nice anniversary weekend, Luis and I also spent some time in the livestream (mostly watching John and/or Hank, because we’re biased.) During the P4A, we all came together and raised over 4 million dollars for charities! ✨ I love Nerdfighteria and I love getting to still be a part of it. It is, after all, how Luis and I met, so it was a pretty perfect thing for us to do during our mini trip.

Wuthering Heights and longer travel times. The Metro getting work done and forcing us to use shuttle buses for two stops to and from our anniversary destination wasn’t that big of a deal. It just added to the adventure. I told Luis, and it’s true, that I wouldn’t have done it by myself, but with him it was kind of fun. It helps that the stop over to get a bus was at a mall, so we could go in and use the bathroom and have a snack. We’re pros at the whole travel thing at this point.

When we came back toward home on Monday, we got Indian food and saw Wuthering Heights. I have to make a confession here: although I was an English major and I greatly respect the Brontë sisters, I really do not like the novel of Wuthering Heights. I went into the movie with low expectations, kind of expecting not to like it, and I ended up enjoying it a lot. It’s an artistic interpretation based on how it made the director feel when she read it, which makes sense. I remembered the moments and I appreciated seeing them in the movie. I feel like it’s the story for people who don’t want to read it. Because all the stuff that matters in the story is there. The part later with the kids (not spoiling…) you don’t need it. It’s superfluous.

I made versions of the characters in The Sims 4 after watching the BBC version from the 60s that inspired Kate Bush to write her song. It’s not as if I hate the story. I just prefer it being told well in a movie or miniseries. Not all books are good as books. It’s surprising when it happens, but it does happen. We don’t know why Emily Brontë chose to have the narrator be some guy who heard the story from a lady who was there, but that was her choice as an author.

Writing update. Speaking of authors and their choices, I’ve started rewriting my Nerdfighters-inspired novel after taking time last week to read and edit the first two chapters from an earlier draft. The first two chapters work for me, it’s the rest I want to make better. I’m working on shaping it into more of a romance arc with foreshadowing and side characters that add to the plot instead of being scene dressing. So far, it’s going well. I’ve gotten better at getting to the point, which means there’s less time wasted on little scenes that don’t matter.

When Luis took me to Friends to Lovers last weekend, I felt at home because all of the books were romance. And I found a book to read soon that would be a good comp for mine. My story definitely has a place there on the romance shelves, I just need to tell it correctly.

The seasons changed, times are strange.

Sara Mazariegos

Bloody Weather. I know I’ve been complaining about this a lot, but the ice/snow is STILL HERE. Thankfully it’s melted a little, bit the massive piles at bus stops and around sidewalks are sticking around. I told Luis he will probably be waking up with me and helping me get onto the bus for at least the rest of this week. Hopefully by this coming weekend, the warmer temperatures will finish the job and things can go back to normal.

I do love having some extra time with him in the mornings, though. I will miss that. It’s my personal Extra Magic Hours*. My coworkers were singing his praises when I told them he’s been helping me. It’s always my goal to get people to join the Luis fan club, because he’s great.

Stuperbowl (I’m original.) You know what I don’t like? American football. Fortunately for me, Luis is not a fan either. He much prefers soccer/futball, and I’ve become a fan as well. So we didn’t watch any of the Superbowl last weekend, except for maybe ten minutes before the Bad Bunny Halftime Show.

The performance was so fun and I loved that it told a story about Puerto Rico and Latin American culture. He even threw in a mention of Canada! He included all of North America. It was pretty cool. I know at least one person who got teary-eyed watching the beautiful representation of Latin culture, especially in this crazy time we’re currently living in. Maybe, just maybe, this will get people talking about issues in a more nuanced way.

Podcasts but as videos. Like the general populous, I enjoy listening to podcasts. The trouble is, I have a difficult time paying full attention to them, because I am usually working or writing when I listen to them. So when a bunch of the popular ones (Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend, Good Hang with Amy Poehler, etc.) started releasing video versions of them, I was ecstatic. I much prefer consuming YouTube videos. So I’ve been watching the podcast videos during my lunch breaks at work. One thing that’s nice about them is that, if I have to look away for any reason, it’s totally fine because they’re meant to be listed to! What a concept. They’re also long enough that I can watch one episode over the whole week’s worth of lunch breaks.

I’m truly an exciting person. Eh, I’ll go outside for my lunch breaks when it stops being arctic outside. Maybe. Didn’t do it last spring/summer, but maybe this year.

14th on the 14th! I’m so excited about our dating anniversary plans. Last week, I looked at the calendar to see the latest updates—Luis made dining reservations—and, in a combination of excitement and sleepiness, I forgot I’d looked ahead on the calendar and thought it was already next weekend. This made me briefly panic because the Project For Awesome starts on Friday, and I thought I’d missed it!

I highly doubt I’d be able to miss it. I follow too many helpful accounts, and I have it all on my calendar. Just have to remember what day it currently is. 😅

The Metro is getting work done this weekend, and traveling on the Metro is part of our celebration (we met at a stop, after all) so we’re going to brave the long travel in order to enjoy the experience as planned. Then we’re going to explore the place we met; we haven’t been there for longer than a few hours in at least a decade. I love the story of how we met. Which leads me to…

Writing update. I’m starting to feel the familiar feeling that I don’t need to rewrite my Nerdfighter story. Instead of starting completely over, I just need to tweak it. I’ve been working on a big rewrite, and it was a massive overhaul. The characters were different, much of the plot was different… and I started wondering if it’s really better or if the earlier version I had was totally fine, it just needed some big edits. What I’d been working on started to feel a lot more cynical than intended. I wish I could have an unbiased reader read the first chapter of each version and tell me which one’s better. I’m too biased. But I feel like, in this case, writing what I know helps the story and makes it more unique.

I can’t help it that our true love story is already pretty perfect. It doesn’t need revision. It just needs some higher stakes, and I’ve found them.

* This might be a sign I go to Disney too often… Nah.

Time keeps on slippin’ into the future.

Sara Mazariegos

Snow anxiety. I think it’s difficult for people who aren’t in the U.S. northeast to understand the icy, slippery mess we’ve been dealing with. Giant ice-covered mountains of snowcrete stood at the bus stops and on crosswalk corners for days, unable to be removed because they were so packed and stuck together and heavy. Luis helped me each morning by coming with me to the bus stop and helping me get on without slipping. A nice lady at the bus stop also gave me a hand, which deserves mentioning. But the prospect of going out into this awful situation each day was giving me such anxiety. I wasn’t sleeping well, worried about the mess I’d have to penguin-walk through the next day, and I was having a hard time thinking about anything else.

I told my coworkers how I was feeling, and they were so nice and understanding. One of them even said I was brave for speaking up about it, because many of the others didn’t experience any of this crazy winter storm so they aren’t even thinking about how it could be affecting us.

Fortunately, the sun during the day helps melt things and it’s supposed to become warmer soon. Not soon enough, but soon.

I didn’t get mail at the office all last week.

SNOW UPDATE: The snow is still around and Luis still goes to the bus stop with me to help me get safely on the bus, but it’s not as dicy to walk around, at least. I received a bunch of mail at the office, so that’s good. I’m looking forward to not seeing these snow piles everywhere. He’s probably going to be coming to the bus with me every day this week and into next week, by the look of things. It is nice to have him keeping me company. I’m spoiled.

What’s next for Colbert. As you probably know, if you’ve been reading my site for a while, I’m a big fan of Stephen Colbert. Luis got me to really pay attention to him, so he’s a comedian we’ve been able to share. I’m sad that he is losing The Late Show soon—actually, we’re all losing it because CBS is completely cancelling the show, not just firing him (the dicks)—and I wonder what’s next for him. I’m sure he will not completely go away, but I wonder if he will continue doing political satire or if he’s ready for something else. He is an actor, after all. He could go to Broadway for a while. Write a book. Write a nonfiction treatise on J.R.R. Tolkien. Whatever he wants to do next, I am excited to consume it.

That came out weirdly. But you know what I mean. I want to watch it, read it, hear it, etc. Experience it.

Okay, moving on before this gets too silly. I have a more serious topic to discuss.

Rob Reiner & Catherine O’Hara. I started reading As You Wish, Cary Elwes’ memoir about making The Princess Bride. The forward was, fittingly, written by Rob Reiner. There’s so much of him in that book, and you can tell how much Cary Elwes and the others in the cast just loved him. I’m still very sad about what happened to him. I asked Luis for a copy of The Princess Bride for an anniversary present, since I really want to reread it. A lot of people have been quick to point out that Rob Reiner didn’t write that book. He’d be one of them, too. But he had a massive hand in the movie version, and it’s as wonderful and faithful to the story as it is because of him.

To add insult to my already injured heart, Catherine O’Hara passed away last week. I’ve been a fan of hers since Nightmare Before Christmas when I was little, without knowing who she was yet. She’s in so many things I love, including Christopher Guest movies and Schitt’s Creek. It still doesn’t entirely feel real. When I saw the news online, I shouted, “No!” at my screen.

And it struck me that poor Chris Guest lost two close friends within two months. 😢

Comfortable tenses. I’ve started writing an updated version of the Nerdfighter story that I’m still trying to get to a publishable novel form. The tense my brain hit the ground running* with is present, which I’ve enjoyed playing around with recently. I’ve noticed a lot of romance novels use present tense these days. It’s a tense that makes sense. Hopefully my brain won’t forget about it and start using past tense. That has happened before, and it creates all kinds of confusion when I’m editing.

A lot of writers stress about which tense to use. I think you should write in whichever way you’re comfortable with. And if you’re working on a draft, there’s nothing preventing you from changing your mind and changing tenses. It’s the same with point-of-view, though that can be even more annoying to edit. Finding all the “I”s and changing them to “he”s or whatever.

Write in a way that makes you feel comfortable and true to yourself. After all, cleaning it up is for the editing phase.

* I don’t recommend letting your brain hit the ground

No time for revolving doors.

Sara Mazariegos

Commuting in DC. I love living in the DC area and being able to take reliable buses and Metro trains everywhere. Luis and I don’t own a car (I can’t even drive, and he dislikes driving) and we don’t need to. We save so much money by not having a car, and the time spent waiting for buses or trains is comparable to the time spent sitting in traffic for drivers.

That being said, having to stand for all or nearly all of the commute is exhausting and I always get bummed because it means I can’t read while I ride. (First World Problem, I know, but still.) The other morning, the train was full of people and slow because of single-tracking and I had to stand the whole time. I briefly felt a panic attack coming on, but luckily I was able to get a seat before it got bad. I felt hot and like I might faint or be sick. That doesn’t usually happen to me. Thankfully, it’s not usually so packed I have to stand in the morning.

“It’s gonna snow again.” We heard for at least a week that it was going to snow from Saturday night through Monday morning. I went from thinking, “Oh man, I might have to work from home” to “I’m definitely going to have to work from home” to “I might have to take it as a snow day if the power goes out.” It also ramped up to include so many other states that several of my coworkers also had to work from home in their respective office locations. What does it say about me that I was more concerned about having to possibly take a day off (not as vacation, but as emergency) than I was about having enough non-perishable food in case we’re stuck in our house with no power for a while?

Luis ordered groceries and we planned meals in case we can’t use our stove or microwave. We might be living on canned beans and potato chips for a few days. I have faith that things will be okay, though.

SNOW UPDATE: I was allowed to work from home on Monday and Tuesday. We got about six inches of snow plus ice and sleet on Sunday, and the D.C. government closed because of the weather. The bus and Metro would be a nightmare when there’s that much snow and ice, even if they sometimes like to pretend otherwise. The Metro had problems with their track the other day, after all, and that was without snow.

Luis helped me get on the bus from the terribly icy/snowy bus stop this morning. Maryland left a huge frozen hill at the bus stop and we had to climb over it to get safely on the bus. Fortunately, the driver knew to wait to let us on. We weren’t going to wait 30 minutes for another bus. Luis even rode to the Metro with me, to make sure I got onto the train safely as well. I can’t speak highly enough about him. 🥲 Today’s the anniversary of the day we met!

He’s probably going to need to help me the rest of this week, until the snow is actually gone enough for it to not still be a minor hazard. Conversely, the Metro? Totally fine. It came right on time and there were no issues. I hope it stays that way.

The Color Purple novel. I’ve just started reading The Color Purple, and I’m really enjoying it. It feels like a well-timed departure from the depressing books I’ve read recently. It’s not all sunshine and giggles, of course, but the tone is brighter and the characters (at least several of the main ones) are more lovable. Especially Celie. We saw the musical movie when it was in theaters, so I was excited when I found the novel in a Little Free Library. It is a delight to read the way the strong women in the story fight back against the oppressive men, even if it’s sometimes just with a shared look. I keep catching myself grinning while I read it on the Metro. I used to think it would be very heavy, like Beloved, but it’s got humor to it. I hope it’s not bad to say I find it lighthearted and hopeful.

Beloved is also very good, of course. It is definitely sad, though. I need to read more Toni Morrison. I read Sula in college, and I need to read it again to enjoy it this time instead of using it for a term paper. You know?

February’s going to have a lot going on. There’s a week on my calendar with so much on it. It’s going to have Luis’s and my 14th dating anniversary mini-vacation (14th on the 14th!) the Winter Olympics coverage (I love ice skating/dancing,) and the Project For Awesome! All three of those will be on the same days, though of course the Olympics last longer. With the skating and the P4A livestreaming, we’re going to have plenty to watch in the hotel room after our fun anniversary activities each day. We’re going to museums and parks and shops near where we met fourteen years ago, and we hopefully won’t freeze our tails off.

I’m glad we did not get married on Valentine’s Day, but it is nice we started dating on that day. It makes it seem like everyone’s celebrating us with us.

Buy time, don’t lose it.

Sara Mazariegos

New Years. We had a fun New Years this (last?) year! Luis met me at my office and I showed him the holiday decor I put up. We took some snacks the building gave my office, then had a nice stroll to an English pub called Duke’s Grocery. It was decorated with gingerbread men and gumdrops. It was very cute. I had a delicious peppermint espresso martini. The first of a few fun drinks to celebrate the occasion. We also went to the movies after Duke’s Grocery, so we did end up doing something else fun instead of going straight home! Later that evening, I had a homemade espresso martini care of Luis’s sister, and a rummy egg nog around midnight, while watching Ryan Seacrest bemusedly pretend to care about a Tiktok rapper.

Then on New Years Day, we went to Outback Steakhouse and I had a gingerbread cookie martini and a wallaby darned. The gingerbread cookie martini comes with a little koala glass stem-hugger dressed like a Christmas elf, so he lives on my shelf now. Luis named him Cookie. I love Outback’s drinks. The one near us closed, but this one is still around and about the same distance as the one we used to go to. I’m so glad! They also have a blue cheese pecan salad I’m obsessed with. #NotAnAd

THEN, at nearly midnight on New Years Day (Night), who should show up on our porch camera but a raccoon? John Green manifested this for us. I called him Reginald. He checked out the water dish we leave out in the car port for any wayward critters, and then he skipped along into our backyard, where I hope he lives. What a great sign for the New Year. 😊

Marty Supreme and Hamnet and Taskmaster. On New Years Eve, we saw Marty Supreme. We enjoyed it! It features a cute dog, and Pamela Adlon’s daughter, Odessa A’zion, who sounds enough like Bobby Hill that we were smiling. She was in the movie more than I expected, and I liked her a lot. I wonder if it will win any Oscars. I think it was my favorite Timothy Chalamet performance that I’ve seen.

Last weekend, we saw Hamnet. I have a feeling it’s also going to be nominated for Oscars. Especially Jessie Buckley, who is amazing in it. It’s difficult to watch that movie with dry eyes. Luis pointed out that it’s about William Shakespeare and his family (but moreso about his wife Agnes/Anne) but they avoid saying his name until near the end for some reason. It’s not really a surprise, but I guess not everyone knows Shakespeare had a son named Hamnet who inspired Hamlet. That’s not a spoiler, though; it’s just a fact. Paul Mescal looked just like young William Shakespeare in it, and I’d never thought he looked like him before. He was also very good. It’s definitely a movie that engrossed me, making me feel like I was watching the actual people in the actual situations. It’s a more traditional Oscars nominee (they loooove Shakespeare content,) but that doesn’t mean it’s any less worthy.

We also watched the Taskmaster New Years Treat last weekend. Rose Ayling-Ellis is super cute. I was shocked at how anti-word-nerd Greg Davies was. I think it was more that Susie Dent reminded him of how annoying Alex Horne can be. 😂 I always wish there were more episodes, but I understand the people on these specials are available for a more limited engagement than during a regular series. I’m looking forward to seeing Kumail Nanjiani on Taskmaster! My lucky day! I was just writing about him, wasn’t I? I wonder if he’ll win or if he’ll be terrible at the tasks. Either way, I’m sure he’ll be fun!

Writing Goals & The Sims. My dad read the draft of my It’s A Wonderful Life-inspired novel (and skimmed it a second time, to write helpful notes for me!) It’s touching how quickly he read it and how much thought he put into helping me out. He doesn’t usually read books very quickly, but he focused on this one for me. His notes are really good, too. I’m relieved, because I can’t tell you how many times friends have given me only “this is good!” type notes instead of actually giving me some constructive feedback. It’s not that I want people to be mean to me, but it’s more helpful for me to be told what’s not working, what should be tweaked, etc. I appreciate that my friends like my writing, but I know it needs editing!

I’m still taking a break from writing, but I plan to start writing my next draft version of my Nerdfighters-inspired novel in February. I’ve worked on a new plot outline, keeping certain elements from previous drafts, and I’m excited to play around with some new ideas.

Since Luis updated my Sims 4 for me, including all the packs and everything, I’ve been playing a lot during my free time. I took a long break from playing because my game files needed updates and I wanted the new stuff, so now I’ve got it all and I love it. I’m going somewhere with this, hear me out*. The first thing I did with my newly-updated and installed game was create the FMC and MMC from my Nerdfighters-inspired novel. It’s giving me some fun inspiration for my story as I think about the characters and how I want them to interact, work, and be as people. I love being able to “see” my characters by having computer-animated versions of them. I can put actual faces to the faces in my head, if that makes sense.

The new Romance skill in The Sims make the love story more of a challenge to play out, and their relationship feels more real because it takes effort and keeping up with. I love it! They currently are madly in love with each other, and they’re engaged. I’m not rushing their wedding, because I think it will be better with more time and experiences under their belts. They’re way ahead of the characters in my novel, considering that I haven’t started writing it yet. But who wants to play The Sims slowly?

I did make the couple have a baby, which is not something they will do in my novel. Because I also wanted to play with the new Infants pack. That’s also quite challenging, but the game is more fun if it’s at least a little challenging. Don’t get me started on those damn gnomes, though. I turned them off as soon as I learned how. Well, Luis helped me figure out how.

Here’s a picture of my cute Sims family. I plan to only play as them and expand the family, because that’s always fun. I wonder if they’ll be able to roleplay some of my novel’s plot eventually, too. Baby Charlie is dressed like a raccoon, yes.


This is a terribly nerdy post. But you already knew I was a nerd, didn’t you?


* Read me out?