Back to Reality: Insights from a WPF Newbie

It's Thursday morning and I am still having trouble believing that I have been back from Seton Hill for 4 days. How is that possible? Or perhaps the more interesting question is why do I miss it so much? It's been hard to get back into my regular routine. I work from home and suddenly the house feels to quiet, to confining. I want to be creative and yet my projects feel stilted, the tasks not as interesting as they used to be.  And yet there is so much to do. This never ending list of projects, tasks, chores, and now school work. It doesn't seem like there are enough hours in the day.  Still I know that right now, this is my reality. I should embrace it, or at least try to. When I figure out the secret, I will let you know!

For the time being here is what I have already learned.

1. Do all the SHU Critiques prior to the residency. It sucks to have to find time during them to review people's work.
2. Take the day before off for travel. By that I mean, the day orientation starts, at 7 PM, take it off because travel always takes more time than you think. 
3. Take the day after off for recovery. Although to be honest, I wasn't so much exhausted as I was desperate to test out all the new things that I learned. I wanted to dive right into my writing, instead I got to dive right into conference calls and problems that occurred at work during my vacation.  I think part of my frustration stems from not being able to drown in my fictional world for a while.
4. Explain to people what a residency is. They don't know.  Most of my co-workers think I was at a conference, lounging around poolside, and that I was back home by Friday. Even the ones I took the time to explain it to never seem to remember.  Oh well. 

So those are my immediate reflections thus far. Most important for me, I think is taking time off to ease back into to work, to settle into my new routine, and to find that balance. Right now I have no balance and little motivation as a result to do anything, including write or edit. But I have a long weekend coming up and I am hoping that will do the trick.

SHU Day One (or is i zero?)

I made it! I am finally here in Greensburg at Seton Hill University for my very first official residency. Aside from getting completely turned around and finding myself lost before I even set foot on campus, I am having a blast. The rain that seems to have plagued Ohio seems to have skipped past western PA. The sun was shinning, it was hot and humid and just walking from my car to the admin building made me break out into a sweat. Why is it that the college campus is known for having crappy parking.  I love that you can walk everywhere, but at this same time, I just wonder, why don't people just make more parking lots? Maybe it isn't aesthetically pleasing. I mean lets face it. It's a lot cuter to have 4 parking spaces in front of the admin building than say 40.

Okay, whining aside, today was a good day. I've already meant tons of people, from newbies like me, first years, that the actually refer to as the ones, to the 5s who are in their fifth term and I think ready to graduate at the end of the residency. Thus far the faculty is a hoot. The writers are passionate, welcoming and committed to learning and improving their craft. The dorm room is clean, the AC actually works (though it doesn't feel like it until you've been in the building for 30 minutes), and the beds are not too uncomfortable. The only bad thing thus far, there seem to be no trashcans in the suite area, not even in the bathroom. Yet there is a stack of towels placed by the double sinks, I presume so that we can wash our hands, but alas we must carry the dirty, soiled waste around with us until it can be properly discarded.

Note to self: there is actually life in Greensburg. Having family from small Ohio towns and gone to O.U. in Athens I've seen all different types of college towns. The main street and business district is actually a little bigger than I expected. A few miles down the street are all the comforts of home: Walmart, Panera and Starbucks.  I'm going to have to venture back out at some point because I really need to find an alternative pair of shoes, and might want to pick up some milk for the fridge. Can't have my protein shake without milk, though I could but it doesn't taste as good made with water!

I need to go to bed now, maybe read another story and prepare for tomorrow's classes!

Wednesday Special

It's been a very long week and I'm only halfway through it. So instead of doing my readings for school or polishing up the trainings for work, I'm sitting on the couch with a watermelon margarita and a never-ending supply of teenage goodness. Today's special, Kyle XY and Pretty Little Liars. I know what you are thinking.  Random??? Yes. Netflix is my dealer. It supplies the goods. A constant stream of shows that I never had the desire to watch are suddenly populating my queue. And of course a show is ALWAYS better when you watch a couple episodes back to back. You can get hooked pretty quickly.

So that's my excuse for Kyle XY. I always thought of it as a kids show, something I'd never be caught watching. My father tried to get me to watch it once but I ignored him. He watches anything on TV, including Hanna Montana or Wizards of Waverley Place. But in the last year I've started watching more shows on ABC Family, Pretty Little Liars and Make it or Break it to name a few. I find them fun, distracting, full of teenage angst. Just the way I like my YA books! So when my dealer (Netflix) told me I would like Kyle XY I decided to give it a shot. Now I'm already on season 2.

And Pretty Little Liars, well I just love this show to death. They have the best dressed cast ever!! No one comes close on the teen scene, and even if we expand to all primetime the only possible challenger is Ghost Whisperer. But she's just one girl and PLL has four!

Don't believe me? See it for yourself.

Attack of the 80s Werewolf

MTV is remaking the 80s classic Teen Wolf. You know, the movie with Michael J. Fox, the poofy fro and the fashion nightmare of a letterman's jacket.  Not sure why they chose THIS movie. Perhaps they are the only studio in the world that couldn't secure the movie options for one of the millions of already popular Paranormal YA books out there. Everyone else seems to have a half a dozen.

The show premiered this past sunday after the MTV Movie Awards at 11 PM. Needless to say I was not present but my handy dandy DVR was. Or should I say the VCR 2.0 since we're reliving the 80s?

First Impressions

Overall, I found the show interesting. A little heavy on the testosterone, but hey, something's got to make it stand out from the other competing paranormals on the line up.  It's not as glampy (glamorous vampires) as vampire diaries, rather the main character and his best friend come off as a younger less cool version of the Supernatural duo Sam and Dean. I suppose many of the younger girls might find them appealing. I am not quite sold.

There is, however good news and bad news. The bad? The first episode was a little slow and nothing much happened aside from a kid wondering around trying to figure out what is happening to him. We already know he's a werewolf the show is called Teen Wolf. Get on with it. The good? It's only the first episode and pilots have a habit of spending way too much time focusing on setting the framework for the story. If you survive a pilot and come back for more, that is typically a good sign.

Cherry on Top?
Derrick Hale. Our mystery werewolf, the super cutie bad boy who in my opinion stole the show. His real name is Tyler Hoechlin and you may remember him as the honorary sibling on 7th heaven. Martin that drove, Mary, Lucy and Ruthie completely boy crazy. Now he's driving an entire town mad and Lycanthropy may be the least of his issues.

All in all, I'm interested to see how this show develops. For those of you who missed it, here's a sneak peak.