It’s fun to click things!

I tried watching the 1981 cult flick Mommie Dearest last night, but I just couldn’t make it through. It’s uncomfortable to watch. After the scene where Joan Crawford smacks Christina around with a can of Comet, I was out. Who thought watching a movie could be such a chore!

Cyndi Lauper’s new album, Bring Ya to the Brink came out this week. Awesome! I can’t wait to give it a listen!

I’ve been listening to lots of great stories via podcast on PodCastle, Pseudopod, and Escape Pod. It’s a great way to ingest good fiction while you’re at work, or if you subscribe via iTunes, you can stick ‘em on your iPod and listen to wherever. Right now I’m in the middle of “The Sloan Men” and am quite enjoying it.

The Boyfriend talks about some current architects he actually likes at Fort Worthology. Yay for architecture!

James Lileks looks at funny comic books.

Brandy points out good places to find pinup-cute clothes.

Wanna see the worst movie ever made? Here it is. I used to think the worst movie of all time was Monster-A-Go-Go, but this is far, far worse. It’s the kind of movie that makes me pine for the quality of an Ed Wood film. Test Tube Babies is an exploitation film that was released under the guise of an educational film so they could slip in some pointless nudity without having to worry about the pesky Hayes Act stifling their *cough* “creativity.”

Brief plot synopsis: Newlyweds George and Cathy are unhappy—George works long hours, Cathy feels bored and unfulfilled because many of their friends are having children and she and George have none. They go to parties with their swingin’, childless friends, but they don’t really have much fun. So Cathy decides the one and only thing that can save their marriage is having a baby. Think about this for a moment. Their marriage is on the rocks, so the only solution is to introduce a member of the household who will (a) be a huge financial burden, (b) deprive them of sleep, (c) consume 190% of Cathy’s free time, and (d) poop and cry continuously. No one in the movie argues otherwise. If your marriage is in peril, the only obvious solution is to procreate.

So, Cathy wants a baby, but there’s a problem: ol’ George is shooting blanks. He’s sterile; all dried up; his little men have packed up and split. But it’s okay! Artificial insemination will save the day!

That’s the plot. But the movie’s mess of a plot isn’t what makes it bad (it’s one factor, but not the factor). What sends TTB over the top (or, more appropriately, down the crapper) are the painfully bad acting, the pointless cat fights, and an unpleasant impromptu burlesque performance. I bet you’re adding this movie to your Netflix queue right now!

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Registration for the annual 3-Day Novel Contest is now open! I participated last year, and have to say it was an exhilarating, exhausting experience that makes NaNoWriMo look like a cakewalk. I managed to churn out a 30,000 word novella in three grueling days. If you need a creative kick-start, this contest will definitely do it for ya, if it doesn’t kill you or drive you to the brink of insanity first.

Every Friday I’m going to post links to various things that I deem to be awesome. Here we go . . .

My BFF Brandy recently launched her photography site, Bella Pop. Her photos are always so fun and eye-catching! Be sure to check out her photo blog while you’re there!

Alex’s flash mystery, Aftershocks appeared in Every Day Fiction yesterday. Go read it, for it is great!

Jens recently re-launched his website. The header has a picture of a T-Rex. What could be better?

The Boyfriend recently released the first-ever Fort Worthology podcast. He talks about building livable neighborhoods and why Fort Worth needs an urban grocery store. (Seriously. Why don’t we have one yet?)

Erin recently launch her blog Living the Fictional Dream. She has written some fantastic posts about the writing process, rejection, and other neato stuff. There are also links to published stories. Go there!

If you’ve ever wanted to see a good Ernest Borgnine movie, you owe it to yourself to see Marty. You won’t be disappointed.

One of my favorite buildings in downtown Fort Worth is for sale. Anyone wanna buy it for me?

I only recently discovered The Fix. How have I gone so long without knowing about this?

That’s all for now, people!! I must go work on my robot-zombie story now . . .

I actually kind of like this rejection letter I received yesterday for a humorous, paranormal-esque story I wrote:

Thanks for the sub. It was humorous (in a creepy sort of way) and smartly written, but I’m sorry to say it was not really our cup of tea. We thank you for thinking of us, though, and we hope that you keep writing and submitting. 

It’s always nice to know my writing is creepy.

Right now I’m working on a monster story of sorts. Not really humorous, this story, but odd for sure. I’m a little over 1,000 words in. I’m really just trying to avoid working on my zombie novel.

Oh, and Grand:PM, the band I mentioned in my last post, is totally rocking my ear drums. If you’re into punky powerpop, you should definitely check out their album, Party in Your Basement.

So, there are lots of songs with girls’ names in the title, like, “Rio” by Duran Duran, “Valleri” by The Monkees, “Believe Me, Natalie” by The Killers, “Melanie” by “Weird Al” Yankovic, “Sarah” by Starship, “Wendy” by The Beach Boys, and only about a million others. But are there any songs about Stephanie? I didn’t think so. So, dork that I am, I searched the iTunes store and found two awesome songs with my name in the title:

“Stephanie” by Grand:PM
“Stephanie” by Hail Social

Not only are these awesome songs, but they have my name in them, which makes them superextrawesome. I’d never heard of either of these bands before, but they are now on my Awesomest Bands Ever list for immortalizing my name in song. Go buy their albums, buy concert tickets, or whatever to show them your appreciation of putting my name to music. ;-P

Well, maybe it’s not that old, but I recently received an acceptance letter for some poems I sent out, oh, about six years ago. It had to be 2001 or 2002. It arrived at my parents old house in January, and the new owners sent it to my parents a couple of weeks ago. The editor mentioned I should have received my contributor’s copy by now. Uhh, no. I haven’t lived at that house since 2004, my parents moved outta there in 2005, and the new owners aren’t that diligent about getting stray mail to us.

So . . . yeah . . . apparently, a poem of mine appeared in Krax sometime in the past six years or so. I don’t think they have any kind of web presence or way to order copies online. Oh, well. I think it’s pretty funny that I still occasionally get random letters from my days as a poet.

In zombie novel news, well, I just haven’t been in the mood to touch it. Chapter 3 is full of backstory and is rather action-less and Chapter 4 is only two pages right now. Blech. Once I break through this plateau of dullish chapters, I’ll be well on my way to some great zombie-stompin’ action, but right now, I just don’t wanna look at it. :-\