Tag: Soccer

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!

Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run there’s still time to change the road you’re on.

Sara Mazariegos

Still processing the end of Hacks. I was excited to watch the final episode of Hacks last Friday, but it was surprisingly sad. I should’ve seen it coming—there were hints—but I didn’t think they were going to go that route. The final season felt like it went by entirely too quickly. I enjoyed it much more than the final season of Mrs. Maisel, that’s for sure. They could easily make a spin-off series about Jimmy and Kayla, though I’m not sure what the main plot would be.

I’m going to miss that show. I miss it already.

We’re going to pivot to watching Andor on Fridays now. We’ve tried starting it several times, and we haven’t gotten into it, but Jessica Williams convinced me to give it another chance. Diego Luna is awfully cute. The actor, not the soccer player.

Speaking of Diego Luna and soccer… Luis and I have been watching the World Cup whenever we get a chance. We predominately cheer for Argentina and Spain, but I also like Netherlands and Morocco. On Friday this week, since it’s a holiday, we’re going to watch the US vs. Australia at a sports bar with his family. We’re also going to try to convince my dad to let us watch the second half of the game on the 4th of July, but we’ll see about that.

So far, it’s been pretty unpredictable, with a lot of games unexpectedly ending in 1-1. The usual “underdogs” are doing well this go-around. It makes it more exciting to watch than if the big European teams just dominate like always. And how about that US vs. Paraguay game? I did not expect them to win 4-1. I don’t hugely support the US team, but it’d be nice to see them do well, especially since they didn’t even make it in back in 2018. This year, Poland didn’t make the cut. I wish all countries could participate (except for like Russia because they don’t play fair,) but then it’d go on for five months.

Three Ds: Dentist and Disclosure Day. On Saturday, we went to the dentist. I always get anxious about it, but my teeth are still going strong. I do in fact have a tooth under my last baby tooth, but the dentist is going to leave it alone as long as it’s not bothering me. I also need to get a night guard. Apparently I grind my teeth in my sleep, but I’ve never noticed any pain or anything. I’m mostly going to pretend I have braces when I have it in, because I never had braces. (I don’t want braces.) Just have to get over the anxiety that I won’t be able to swallow while it’s in, and then it should be fine!

We also saw Disclosure Day on Saturday. I really liked it. I’m glad I didn’t know too much going in, because it would’ve killed a lot of the fun mystery. Emily Blunt is so good in it. I wonder if she’ll be nominated for awards for it. How often does sci-fi win Oscars? I also adore Colman Domingo, who seems to be in so many great things lately.

The Fox and the Hound isn’t a great date movie. My original short movie pick was A Hard Day’s Night, but Luis deemed it too long because it’s an hour and a half, and that’s normal movie length. His short movie choice was Duck Soup which is only like an hour long. So I chose The Fox and the Hound, which we haven’t watched together yet. It’s an hour and twenty-three minutes. I can’t help it that most animated movies are also normal movie-length!

We watched it on the 14th, which is our special date. It’s so sad. The animals are cute and everything, but the tone of it is so dark and cold. Tod and Copper basically have one fun day together, and then they’re not really friends for the rest of the movie. Also, aside from “The Best of Friends,” the songs in it aren’t very good. They’re mostly spoken rather than sung. And it’s weird because Pearl Bailey was a great singer. I used to be obsessed with that movie when I was a kid, but it was purely because the animals were cute. Now that I’m older, I see all the flaws.

My writing brain is getting antsy. Last week, I wrote a query letter draft for my new story, since I’m thinking about it. Other writers have said it’s a good idea to write the query letter before writing the story, so the most important beats are there before it’s even been written. I have the general idea down, so sharing what my novel is about is fairly easy and concise. Then I’ll get into the weeds with it when I’m actually writing it.

The novel I’m currently reading (the ARC one I can’t tell you about until July 7th) had something happen in the plot that aligns with something I’m planning in my novel, which gave me a boost! I feel like the outline I have for this new story is great. I just have to make the actual execution of it as good as possible.

Two more weeks, and then I’ll be writing again!

Time was still, but hours must really have rushed by.

Sara Mazariegos

The whole “cats are bad pets” argument. I was planning to see The Bride! last weekend, but then I saw people sharing and discussing an interview with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal (and it’s not an old interview, because they were promoting Hamnet which is nominated this year for awards.) She said she hates cats and forced her husband to get rid of his two cats if he wanted to be with her. People are entitled to their opinions, but that is abusive behavior, both to her husband’s cats and to her husband. It’s not cute.

Also, cats are wonderful pets. This perception that they’re “mean” is largely because the person saying that hasn’t ever had one, or they met one that didn’t like them so therefore all cats are mean and bad. Cats domesticated themselves and are very smart and loving to the people they love. They will follow you from room to room just to stay in your presence and see what you’re up to. They will fall asleep on your lap for hours, or snuggle with you in bed. Dogs are people pleasers, they’ll love anyone. Cats are more of an honor when they love you, because they’ve made sure you earned it.

So we’re not seeing The Bride! It also helps that it got pretty terrible reviews. We saw Hoppers instead, and it was adorable.

Give me dark mode or give me sunglasses. I’ve become so accustomed to dark mode on my devices that, when my work didn’t have it set up for the CRM we use, I had to find a browser extension so I wasn’t squinting to read things on it. The problem with the extension is that sometimes certain websites still don’t want to play nice.

Like WordPress, which I use to write this. For some reason, it decided the place where I write each post still needs to be bright white. A week ago it was working fine, and nice and black with white text. I hope the extension updates and makes WordPress black again. Now I feel like a vampire as I’m typing because it’s too bright. 🧛‍♀️

The number of the day is 1 for First World Problem. Ah ah ah!

Messi & Inter Miami in Baltimore! We went to Baltimore and saw a soccer match between Inter Miami (this time with Messi) and D.C. United. The stadium was great. Luis managed to buy us some tickets in the Caesar’s Club level, so there were nice bars and slightly nicer restrooms. I never had to wait in line, whereas the men’s room line was quite long at the end. It makes sense, when you think about it.

We waited until the last minute, almost, to get the tickets because you never know if Messi is actually going to play or if he’s resting/injured. It’s always fun to see him and his team play, and it’s a nice activity to share with Luis. There were quite a few kids this time, too, which was cute. Inter Miami narrowly beat D.C. which was a pleasant surprise. It’s more exciting if they don’t completely trounce the other team. After the game, we went and had some fancy food and drinks at a place called Nola.

Enjoyable books with unlikeable characters. I’m currently reading Where’d You Go, Bernadette? which I fittingly found in our neighborhood’s little free library. There’s a movie based on it that came out several years ago. In fact, when Luis and I saw Stephen Colbert’s show live in 2019, Cate Blanchett was on to promote it and part of the reason I grabbed the book off the little free library shelf is because we saw her talking about it. Take that, CBS. Stephen Colbert is great at promoting things.

Anyway. I’ve been feeling a bit like the kombucha lady with this book. The way it’s written, half epistolary and half narrated, is a little funky. It feels like the author, Maria Semple, was trying a little too hard to be quirky. And yet… I’m still reading it. Sometimes it makes me laugh, and I want to know what’s going to happen next. The character of Bernadette Fox is a frustrating one because she can be so dismissive and strange, and a little racist, but she’s also somehow sympathetic. I find her, so far, more off-putting than likable but I still care enough about her to find out what happens to her.

My favorite character is her daughter, Bee. She just wants to go to Antarctica.

Writing update. I’ve been enjoying the rewrite of my novel. I’ve added a lot more conflict to the characters’ situation. It’s a lot of internal stuff caused by external stuff, if that makes sense. I do get the feeling that, after this rewrite, I might take a long break from writing. It may be partially because it’s that time of year once more where I would rather look out the window at the birds and go frolic outside amongst the living rather than sit and write.

But I could also just be being overdramatic right now and I’ll get slapped by a fresh story idea once July rolls around. We’ll see.

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

Sara Mazariegos

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

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

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

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

Nice.

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

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

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

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

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