WHAT ARE YOU WATCHING THESE DAYS?

It's that time of year where the January blah's set in. TV is rather boring, except for the new season of the Bachelor! Poor Jake is getting twisted every which way by these women. Who will he choose?

I did go and see "New Moon" which I enjoyed very much. Of course, having read the book makes a big difference, I think. Lots of great conflict in this story. Great effects, too.

Another movie I've seen recently, was Amy Adams in "Leap Year". This was very cute! And the Irish setting was wonderful. Anyone who likes romantic comedies will love this one.

I haven't yet seen "Avatar" but my son and husband assure me it's a must see on the big screen (3D glasses and all!) I hope to get there before it leaves the circuit.

On the smaller screen, I have become re-aquainted (and somewhat obsessed, I must confess) with the mini-series "The Thorn Birds". I got it on DVD for Christmas and was prepared to be disappointed. I hadn't seen it since it originally aired in the early 80's and figured I had romanticized it in my memory. But I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it again. I'm reading the book too, but am a little disappointed with it. There's too much description of landscape and the war for my liking. So I tend to skip through a lot. Good lessons for my writing though. Slow pacing is indeed a killer!

On the writing front, I am trying my hand at a short-story. A local newspaper is hosting a short story contest, so I challenged myself to try it. I have a new-found respect for shorter fiction. It's really hard to get everything into 2,500 words. I have been chopping without mercy to get it down to size. One final edit and it should be ready to enter!

What are you doing to keep your spirits up this winter?