Monday, November 5, 2007

Music, movies and more

Checking in after a weekend that was both very busy and yet very slow in some ways. I have the good fortune to work at a university that has a large performing arts community and I have a lot of friends both in the faculty and student body. On Friday night, I attended the Fall Dance Concert which was fab. One of my friends was premiering some of her new choreography, and it was powerful and expressive (as always). I'm always in awe of people who can use their bodies to express emotions and interpret music. We have some seriously talented students. After getting home I managed to stay awake to watch this week's episode of Blood Ties. Always love me some Henry action. *g*

Saturday morning was the usual WW meeting thing. I have two more weeks of maintaining until I am awarded "lifetime" status. Which is pretty cool. I've lost 58 pounds since I started on March 1 and gone from a size 16/18 to an 8. And I have to say that the changes I've made do feel like a part of my life and not some sort of short-term "diet". yay for fitting into sizes that I've never in my life been able to wear. Then it was back to the ranch, where I spent a lazy Saturday afternoon watching TV, drinking herbal tea, and curling up in the sun with a few books.

I read another Jessica Bird category His Comfort and Joy which, although not as good as the Billionaire book, was short and entertaining. Then I started my first Susan Grant book Your Planet or Mine. I'm not sure what grade I'd give it because it was kind of all over the map. I liked the characters and the premise was interesting but overall, I didn't "believe". The h/h fall in love way too quickly but then spend half of the book not having sex for reasons which felt manufactured. Also, the whole alien-but-yet-not thing as well as people's quick acceptance of Cavin's story just felt a little glib. Meh. Anyways, chalk that up to trying another genre and not having it work out so much. I'm now reading Emma Holly's Fairyville and totally enjoying it.

Sunday I got my chance at moviestardom. A friend of mine is a director and producer, and she had called me last week to ask if I could be an extra in a short film she was putting together for a class. So I spent most of the day on set, waiting around and then walking from my mark to another point on the ground and saying my one line multiple times. It was fun to see how this stuff works behind the scenes, even on such a small production. Sunday evening I attended the recital of a string quartet. Two of the students are friends of mine and the professors who are their music teachers had invited me to their house after the recital for a little party. It's always kind of fun to hobnob with musicians even if I'm not one myself. I'm so impressed by the amount of time and discipline they put into their craft.

So despite the lack of internet availability, I am managing to keep myself busy. I now have to quickly visit everyone's blogs to catch up on anything I've missed. Oh and I gotta get Lover Eternal in the mail so that GailK can read it and (hopefully) love it as much as I do. *g*

8 comments:

Dev said...

I have a Susan Grant in my TBR ~ something with the number 10 and about extra terrestrials. The title escapes me at the moment.

Susan Grant said...

Sula, unfortunately, Planet is my most polarizing book of the 10 I've writtem: people either love it or hate it, it either really works for you or really doesn't. I hope you won't give up on my work or the genre until you try another. If SF and comedy don't work for you, I suggest The Star King or Contact. ET that Dev mentioned is the last in this trilogy that Planet began, and takes a more serious turn. Anyway, do appreciate you giving the book a try!

sula said...

hi susan. Thanks for stopping by. :) Actually, the comedy aspect of the book is what worked pretty well for me, and I quite liked Cavin as a hero. In fact, I think I would have liked him even more Sci-Fi-ey (if that's a word, lol), more alien and different. I think for the most part I didn't really buy Jena's realization that she loved him because he was Peter. And for some reason, the bits with outting Cavin to her family as an alien didn't go over real well with me. But yeah, I was intrigued by the Reef (am I mistaken that he is being set up for a pairing with Evie?) and I liked the geeky stuff. I'd be willing to read more.

Susan Grant said...

Hey, it's just the differences in tastes and makes the world go round (otherwise we'd all be reading the same books!). Thanks for letting me know what aspects you enjoyed, by the way. This was just a tough story because it WAS received so hot and cold! I experimented with it for sure, and results were mixed, but, hey, better than writing some cookie cutter sf/romance. Yes, How to Lose an Extraterrestrial in 10 Days is about REEF the assassin. You can read it without reading Earthling, which is more or less a fun little bedroom romp in space, and takes place simultaneously with ET--yes, a plotting nightmare! Nice talking to you, thanks for letting me barge in.

lisabea said...

Sula: Props for the WW thing. That's really wonderful. I'm currently addicted to how much I hate swimming~but I go 3 days a week. It makes me feel like I've done the right thing and like a hottie in my unimpressive and non supportive bathing suit. Yay U!

Anonymous said...

You're a movie star! Woo Hoo :)
Congrats on your new look. Since I started my new stressful job, I have lost 15 lbs. in 2 months. Gotta love the stress diet!

Kristie (J) said...

Wow! Congrats on the weight loss! You must be feeling so much better in so many ways!
And I love me some Henry too. I do envy you that you are so far ahead of us in what you are watching.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a packed, culture-filled weekend! Sure beats my recent Sunday of collapsing from exhaustion, LOL. I did manage to read SEE JANE SCORE by Rachel Gibson (and whip thru several episodes of BONES, season 1, love the "couple" in that show). Anyway, SEE JANE SCORE is a fun, breezy read if you're looking for more contemps. Congrats again on the weight loss! I look forward to the BDB goodness headed my way...btw, don't get Bird's A MAN IN A MILLION. I have that in my tbr pile and I'll pass it along to you.