wasting time

I am in between books right now. My editor is in the process of reading my latest manuscript and I don't have another due for a few months. At times like these I promise myself that I will get the next book done ASAP so I can take a break before deadline. But at times like these such promises fall by the wayside the minute I find a new and wonderful distraction.

Hence...

Yahoo Avatars

Want to present yourself to the Internet world without using a photo and a bio? Why not create a Yahoo Avatar. It's like playing Barbies but you can pick your own hair colour, eye shape, pet, emotion...

Most of it was easy until I had to choose an outfit. It takes me a thousand changes of clothes to decide what to wear to the shops, so having to pick an outfit to define me for the duration was horrible!

So this is me, in an outfit in which I would feel all too comfortable, at my favourite time of year. Bring on autumn!

And then again, it you too are a budding romance writer, how about your heroes and heroines? You don't need to just pick a picture from a magazine or close your eyes and see the picture in your head, create your own couple right there in front of you with pets, hats, backgrounds, seasons and all.

Blogthings

I can spend hours taking these quizzes to find out the most inane ridiculous things like:

What kind of pie are you? Lemon Meringue Pie (mmmm...)
What 80s heartthrob should you be with? Jason Bateman (ta muchly)
At what price would you sell out? $1,105,578 (I feel so cheap)
What artist should paint your portrait? Klimt (ick! my least favourite!)
Which of Santa's reindeer are you? Rudolph (was hoping for a cheeky one)

Some you might agree with, some you might not, but that only makes you delve deeper into your psyche (according to each three to five question quiz). I decided I didn't want to know if I could pass eight grade math. But I mean, seriously, how can you go another day without discovering your funky inner hair colour??? Mine's pink. Go figure!

Move down the left hand side of the page and click on a quiz - they change every time you look so if you have an addictive personality as I do, you may find yourself there for hours!!!

oscar oscar, who will win?

The Academy Award nominations have been announced! Is anyone else out there as excited as I am?

I have always been an Oscar tragic. I go through every millimetre of the website checking on nominations in every category, adding up who has the most nods (Brokeback Moutain with 8), which favourites missed out (Cinderella Man and King Kong were pretty much snubbed), and I am even fascinated to find who is up for Best Art Direction and Best Musical Score (can the indomitable John Williams - he of Star Wars, Jaws and Superman fame - win his 6th? He's been nominated an unbelievable 45 times including twice this year alone!).

I'm one of those people who would have to think hard to remember what I ate for dinner last night, but if you want to know who did the Cinematography for Aliens, I'm your girl. By the way Adrian Biddle was the guy on Aliens. He then went onto do The Princess Bride and Thelma and Louise. If I land on pink in Trivial Pursuit, I am unstoppable!

I like other award shows, sure. The Golden Globes are a laugh riot. Stars and their cohorts getting drunker as the night goes on and the speeches - did everyone see Geena Davis's absolute classic speech? I was in stitches for fully five minutes afterward. The Emmys just don't do it for me at all. The Logies, the Aussie equivalent of The Emmys, can have the same nominees for the big awards every year so its not such a stretch to guess who's going to be there.

But none of the above have the weight of the Oscars.

The Oscars are old Hollywood. They are history, and elegance. They are beautiful dresses and handsome movie stars. (Nicole Kidman's unbelievale chartreuse dress at the 69th Oscars inspired the creation of my heroine Romy Bridgeport in my second book Marriage Material) They are romance and nerves. Even after watching two decades of them religiously I still am not over the "who will win" anticipation. So who will win? This year, I have no idea. The nominees are so out there and unexpected and their roles so different. I for one can't wait!

We get the TV telecast several hours behind time hear in Australia, so on March 6th this year, I will have every TV and radio turned off, I will be utterly uncontactable as I hide away so as not to hear the news. Then I will dress up, with a bowl of chips and M&Ms in front of me, and sit on the edge of my seat to listen out for those magic words:

"And the Oscar goes to..."