Tag: Stephen King

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

Sara Mazariegos

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

I hope I haven’t lost you already.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All my favorite places, my city had been pulled down.

Sara Mazariegos

Have you ever noticed how pretty pigeons are when they fly together? They shimmer. I’ve been thinking about pigeons a lot more than I usually do, because I see them in the city nearly every day now. People often write them off as pests, but I think they’re cute. They were originally brought up as pets before they were abandoned to life on the street. There are several places along my walk to/from the Metro where they are fed seed or bread and you can find a massive flock of them having a great time. It always makes me smile.

It is finally autumn in the U.S. and have I ever been looking forward to it! I got a pumpkin spice coffee as soon as I could, and I’ve been enjoying the slightly cooler weather lately. Autumn seems to only last about two weeks these days before it becomes too cold. I think I’m somewhat oxymoronic because autumn is my favorite season—and October is my favorite month—but I dislike it when it’s cold and dark. Once the daylight gets scarcer, I get less motivated. I’m starting to embrace the cold versus the heat, though. This past summer was way too annoyingly hot.

We’ve begun our annual watch of Halloween movies. So far, we’ve checked out some old John Carpenter movies. Luis has seen the majority of his movies already. I’m going to select several Stephen King movies I haven’t seen yet, perhaps Cujo and Pet Sematary. Last weekend, we saw the newest one, The Long Walk. It was quite good, but not really a horror story. I might prefer his less horror-y stories anyway. It’s a really sad movie, and Mark Hamill is the villain. It’s fun to see him with one of his more sinister voices.

“I just realized, they didn’t stretch first.” – Luis

I recommend The Long Walk, though it has some really gross moments so come prepared and maybe don’t eat past the first twenty minutes. While we were watching, I got a charley horse in my legs from reclining in the comfortable theater chair and I felt guilty because the characters were forced to walk and walk. It’s not based on a new Stephen King novel, either. It’s from the 70s.

With all the craziness going on, I’ve really been looking forward to our upcoming anniversary trip. I haven’t had a vacation day, not counting a holiday, since March. It’s going to be nice to relax and have fun with Luis for several days in a row. I love spending several days in a row with him. It’s like we should be married or something. 😉

My writing is going well. I’m working on editing the epilogue I already wrote and wanted to keep in the story even as everything else was tweaked. The next few days will be more relaxed as I wind this story down, but of course new story ideas are appearing to me since I’m not actively creating anything. I keep thinking, “What if?” with a few ideas I’ve had recently. Originally, I thought I’d take October off from writing and then work on editing my It’s A Wonderful Life-inspired story, but a new plot idea has entered the chat…

We’ll see if it leads anywhere.