5 Animated Movies That Won't Annoy The Crap Out Of You

I'm a stay-at-home mom. My oldest is six and then there's the three year old. We don't have television because we can't afford it. It's not so bad seeing as I don't have America's Top Model or reruns of CSI to distract me, but I also don't have Nick Jr. to distract the monkey-boy. The littlest is pretty good about keeping himself entertained, but sometimes I have to just put on some eye candy to keep him out of trouble (and to retain my sanity). In other words, I've seen a lot, A LOT, of animated movies. And I've narrowed it down to the least annoying, the ones that I actually enjoy and can handle watching multiple times (because as most people know, children can watch the same movie twelve times in one day and still say, "Again, again!"). So, here they are for those of you who might be in the same position as me.

1. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 

Based on the children's book written by Judi Barrett, this is our family's go to movie. We even have a nickname for it: Steve. The voice acting includes Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Andy Samberg, Mr. T, Neil Patrick Harris, and the always brilliant, Bruce Campbell. The animation is fun, the story is great, and my husband and I are constantly repeating some of the hilarious one liners. I'm pretty sure a day doesn't go by that we don't watch this movie, and oddly enough, that's alright with me.

2. TANGLED

Remember when you were a little girl and you had crushes on animated characters? Yeah, apparently I never grew out of that. I just love Flynn Rider played by Zachary Levi in this one. My husband says the horse, Maximus, is the best part of the movie. And my 3yo has "Mother Knows Best" stuck in his head practically day and night. Laugh out loud moments combined with great songs make this one a classic Disney flick.

3. MEGAMIND

You can see all the big names in this one. I'm particularly impressed with the story. There's a great anti-hero thing going on plus a strong female character. And the animation is really quite pretty.

4. GNOMEO & JULIET

All Elton John, all movie long. Emily Blunt and James McAvoy do the main voices in this retelling of Romeo and Juliet. I'm a sucker for retellings and I love Shakespeare so this is a no-brainer for me. Also, there is nothing sweeter than listening to the boys sing along with "Love Builds a Garden." Makes me tear up every time.

5. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

This is a recent addition to our regular viewing list. The 6yo especially loves this one. There are lots of Scottish accents which I could listen to all day. The story reminds me of a boy and his dog kind of story. And who wouldn't want their own Toothless?

So, there you have it! I'm always looking for new kids' movies to add to our list. Do you have any that don't make you want to pull your hair out?

And now that I've finally done a new blog post, I think I deserve a break!

Fangirl Friday!

Happy birthday to Zach Braff (a.k.a JD on Scrubs, a.k.a. Stefanie's alter-ego), Paul Rudd, and John Ratzenberger!

So, lots of news on the superhero movies front.

The Captain America sequel will be released on April 4, 2014! YAY and BOO! I have to wait two freaking years to see more of this:

The X-Men: First Class sequel will start shooting in January which means we'll have to wait even longer for more McAvoy and Fassbender. It's kinda easier for me to deal with this since I'm loving the X-Men titles from Marvel. AND I'm only up to 2010 in those. I was on a comic binge the other day and realized I was missing a couple of issues because the next one in line was this:

*RECORD SCRATCH!* Right! To put it simply, I was astonished (nudge, nudge, get it?!).

Anyway, that's enough of that. Let's continue with what I started last week. Today, I'm discussing:

The Best Time-Suck: TV 101, Part 1

Fangirl Friday!

Happy Birthday to Robbie Coltrane, Warren Beatty, and John Astin!!!

So, I'm still coming down from the awesomeness of The Hunger Games. Despite the fact that I had to sit in the third row, all the way to the right, and in front of two chatterboxes (at least the girl was asking her guy questions about the story which led me to believe he had read the book), I still loved the movie! I only have two small criticisms, but they're not really worth mentioning.

I'd like to try something a little different today. I usually talk about up and coming fangirl events like new movies or books, but today I'd like to talk about some things that I feel every nerdgirl should know about. I wouldn't judge you if you didn't know about these things, of course. This article, On the Fake Geek Girl, from The Mary Sue got me to thinking about how wrong it is to look down on someone who calls themselves a geek, but doesn't seem to know the things they should. Geekdom is an all inclusive club! Anyone can join!

So, let's start with:

The Classics: Movies 101

Stefanie is Bedazzled!

Once upon a time, there was a girl who went searching for a writer buddy. After meeting a few people, this girl thought she would never find "The One". Nobody was clicking with her. In an act of desperation, the girl posted on the AbsoluteWrite.com forums, titling the post "Can a girl get a writer buddy :)". The heavens shined down on her then. Her savior came in the form of a girl who wrote awesome YA and was funny and just as silly as the girl was. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic, but considering the impact this writer buddy has had on me, the dramatics are warranted. I first started exchanging emails with Stefanie Gaither back on March 27, 2011. Over the past year, Stef has become not only a writer buddy, but also a dear friend. I even had a dream once in which we met at a writing conference. When we saw each other in said dream, there was lots of hugging and girly squealing (later, when I told Stef about the dream she said she would have tackle hugged me, lol). After the hugs, we became detectives to find the person trying to sabotage our writing... But back to the point of this blog post.

Without Stef's help, my writing would not be what it is today. She taught me the difference between its and it's. She opened my eyes to the wonders of the semi-colon and the emdash. She's tried to help me with my comma problems, but that is a lost cause. She has always been honest about my writing without being harsh. She's helped me out of many writer blocks including one last night. She listened to me rant about how hard writing is and life in general. We have stayed up into the early morning hours just being crazy.

Needless to say, Stef will be getting a very heartfelt acknowledgement at the end of THE SUMMER I BECAME A NERD  because, if not for her, the book would be crap.

Here's just a small collection of things we've traded in chat sessions (of which, there have been "many" or that's what gmail says, apparently there are too many to count), emails, through facebook, and twitter. Enjoy the crazy!

Shufflin' Saturday

I've been on a Dave Matthews kick here recently which I attribute to Phillip Phillips on American Idol.

He reminds me soooo much of Dave Matthews, it's eerie. Anyway, my Dave Matthews Pandora station keeps playing nineties rock which just sends me back to Junior and Senior year of high school. So, let's look at that.

Rambles About Characters and Settings: A Downton Abbey Edition

So, I'm a character girl. I love intriguing characters. A book, movie, TV show, or what have you could be set in a white void, and as long as the characters are great, I'll love it. Don't get me wrong, location is fun, too. Anne Rice is really good at location description, but once I got it, I got it, ya know? After reading Interview with the Vampire, I pretty much just skimmed the description in her other books. Some people say, "Location is a character, too," which can be true. Like in Harry Potter or The Hunger Games or The Shining or Firefly. Those examples might be more literal than what those people are meaning, though. But it seems easy to me (and I use the word "easy" very loosely here because writing, especially good writing, is never easy) to make a setting a character in say a fantasy or horror novel. I think I might be getting off track here...

Anyway, back to characters... Like I said on Friday, I've started watching Downton Abbey. What a wonderful example of great characters. I goofed up though. I started watching season 2 first and didn't realize it until I was almost done with the ones that are out so far. So, last night I started at the beginning with season 1 and something was revealed about a character that I didn't know even after watching 7 or 8 episodes of the second season (I won't give any spoilers, but for those who do watch DA, I will say this: THOMAS!).

Anyway, that one thing changed my view of that character, not in a decidedly good or bad way, but I now look at him just... differently. And that's why I consider this show a shining example of character building. The thing is, you never know what a character will do just like you never know what people will do. None of the characters so far are straight up good or bad. They're real people. They make mistakes, sometimes intentionally, and because of that, they are more human than almost any of the characters I've ever read or watched. I can only wish that someday I'll be able to write characters as good as these.

So, what about you guys? Are you a setting or a character person? Do you watch Downton Abbey and, if so, what do you think about it? What other stories can you think of where the setting was a character? Post in the comments!

Shufflin' Saturday

Music is definitely inspirational for me when starting a new WIP. Sometimes I feel like the vibe I'm going for in a book can't be fully realized unless I find a theme song. This is why, last night, I asked my Facebook friends to suggest music. And I got a wide range of recommendations.

Commence the deluge of Youtube videos, Mr. Chekov!

Shufflin' Saturday

I love music! I mean, who doesn't, right?  So, I thought I'd start a new series of posts where I just talk about the music I'm diggin' at the moment.

Things For People...

So, there are a couple of things I'd like to bring to your attention this Saturday night. I gave myself a reward for reaching a critical spot in my WIP. The reward was being able to watch Crazy, Stupid Love. Normally, I'm a very critical movie watcher especially when it comes to romantic comedies. BUT since Ryan Gosling AND Steve Carell are in this movie, I let my critical nature take a backseat.

You guys.... such a wonderful movie. It is rare, in my opinion, these days to stumble across a sincere romantic comedy that doesn't just focus on how the girl and guy get together. To find one that has an underlying message that I can relate to is, for lack of a better word, crazy. Dear lord, I wish more screenwriters would make a note of this fact. We want romantic comedies that hit home, that make an impact, that make us relate. Not ones that basically come down to: hot guy meets hot girl, they copulate.

So, the first thing I think y'all should check out is Crazy, Stupid Love! Obviously.

And, if you're a YA writer, please watch Easy A. Emma Stone... I <3 her!

Next thing I'd like to bring you attention to is http://fuckyeahryangosling.tumblr.com/ . Which has images like this:

Yeah, I know right?! So freakin' cute and hilarious. 

The last thing I'd like to make you notice is this:

This... Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssss, has been stuck in my head all day!

Fangirl Friday!

First off: Happy Birthday to Emma Watson, Seth Rogen, and Emma Thompson!!!

Oh, please. You know what I'm going to talk about today. Today is the DVD release of *trumpet fanfair* HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1!!! *cymbal crash*

I plan on not doing a darn thing other than sitting in front of the TV, perusing the bonus features. Mmmm, deleted scenes *drool*, behind the scenes interviews *double drool*, and, if I'm lucky, a sneak peek at Part 2 *catatonic drool*. I loved this movie! I did have one problem with it: the Dobby burial scene. I felt they left out one big aspect that made the whole scene. The part about everyone giving him pieces of clothing. Makes me ball every time. 

Oh, and there's this:

Our little wizard is growing up *tear*. But, doesn't this look goooood?!

Also, have ya'll seen this trailer?

I think it looks slightly campy, in a good way. Brandon Routh, as you all know, played Superman in Superman Returns... Don't get me started on that one. Anyway, I did like him as Superman, and in Scott Pilgrim, and in Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and, well, in pretty much everything he's done. This movie also has someone I've talked about before here on Fangirl Friday: Sam Huntington.

Another huge thing, HBO will be adapting American Gods by Neil Gaiman into a series!!!..... I just plotzed.

Day 32: Constant Evolution...

I got a good bit of writing in yesterday. It was awesome! The only thing is, it seems the more I write the more my original story outline changes. I changed some major plot points yesterday but I think its for the better. BUT I'm ready for it to stop changing! Whenever I make a change, I feel the need to go back and edit what I've already done to make sure its all cohesive.

Anyway, I'm excited for the weekend when I can have some alone time and really attack it! I can't believe my husband is being so supportive. Well, I can believe it since he's so incredible, but I guess I'm always surprised that I was able to hang on to such a good man.

I want to thank everyone for checking out my blog via Lydia Sharp's blog, The Sharp Angle. I'm bad about stalking my pageviews and its so much fun to see them spike like crazy. Plus, I just want to say that any and all advice and criticism about my work is welcome. I need all the input I can get!!!

I'm going to put this song up here because its awesome and I just want to hear it. I loved Paul in this time period. So cute :)

Update: I'd like to inform ya'll that the lovely ladies over at Y (A)? Cuz We Write! are holding an amazing contest. The prizes include a 10 page critique!!!! I'm so entering this! You should too!!!!

Day 26: I heart Greg Sanders...

Yesterday was another on of those "If I have to sit down at my computer, I'm going to lose it" days. So, instead of writing I spent the day with the kids and CSI. I love CSI soooo much. My DVR is overrun with episodes so I decided to try to whittle away at them. Greg Sanders is my favorite character on CSI, but I love them all.

Today is another day, though. Its a 3 day weekend so I will have no excuses for not writing. I'm starting to get into the real meat of the story and I'm excited to see what my characters have to say. So it's onwards and upwards for me!

Day 24: Sanity is Like Laundry...

Yesterday, I decided to take a break from all things writing and computering as a reward for hitting those 20,000 words. I spent the day hanging out with my kids. So many kisses and hugs and tickling happened it was like a nice hot chocolate for my soul. When my husband got home, we all just hung out together and watched Top Chef. There was also a special about Jeff Bridges on PBS that was really interesting. Did you know that he has a Zen coach? I want a Zen coach.

Anyway, it was awesome! And I realized that my sanity is kinda like laundry. If not taken care of, it will just grow and grow until it's this huge monster. Every once in a while, you've just got to take care of it: wash it, fold it, and put it away where it belongs, nice and organized in it's respective drawers no matter how long it takes.

Yesterday, my sanity needed some washing and drying. I've been so caught up with writing that it had kinda taken over my brain. But today I feel nice and refreshed and organized. Now I can climb back on that horse and do some more work. Along with some actual laundry... And dishes... My floor needs mopping too... *sigh*

Day 23: Over 20,000 words!

Hell to the yes, people! This may not be a big deal to a lot of writers but its a big deal to me. I've reached over 20,000 words. That's at least a fifth of my manuscript! *deep sigh* To reward myself, I will just post a couple of videos that make me happy and then go fold some clothes.

Day 19: Outline, Here I Come...

B-Rye was a big help last night. I was able to clue him in on the whole story and give him a feel of where I want to go with it. We also talked about my process and how I've been writing so far. Our conversation did make me realize something though.

So, I've written about 15,000 words. I know my characters pretty well and I know what kind of mood I want the book to have. Then why do I feel like I'm floundering?

Because I need structure!!! I need a map to follow. I need an outline...

The cork board is blank and so are the index cards. I need to clear a spot on the floor and get to work. I'll find my favorite pen (the one with the fine point because it makes me write pretty :) ). I'll make a playlist only of songs that I know all the words to so I can sing along. Whistle while you work and all that, right?

Sing it, Freddie!

Day 17: Had to Read...

I couldn't stand it anymore, I had to sit down and read Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. And the verdict is: TOTALLYAWESOMENESSCRAZYGOOD, ILOVEDITSOOOOMUCH, ICAN'TEVENSTANDIT!!!! Whew...

Seriously folks, this book is a must read. The whole thing is so freakin' cute and endearing and witty and it's the sweetest damn thing ever! I laughed out loud several times which for me is THE sign that it is a great book. I kinda want to send it to my niece and sister-in-law but I'd rather they just bought it, 2 copies, each of them need to buy a copy. And so do you! Go out and buy a copy! Or order it! Whatever just get it, read it, love it!

Day 14: I'm Not Afraid of You, Research!...

I think one of the biggest reasons I'm sticking with this story is because of the subject matter. I'm really enjoying the research. I've started a couple of other books in the past but I would always hit a wall. I'd get to a point where there was research that needed to be done and I didn't want to do it. At one point, I needed to do research on Hamm radios, digging a well, and castle layouts.

Number 1: I am in no way interested in Hamm radios. *switches on TV*
Number 2: I am in no way interested in how to dig a well. *picks up e-reader*
Number 3: I would much rather be able to GO to a castle than just look at pictures, so depressing. *goes to switch over laundry*

So, it's incredibly wonderful that the research needed for this book is right up my alley. A lot of it is on a subject that I already knew a ton about.

I'm sure things might pop up that I'll need to look into, but I'm thinking of approaching that in different ways. Facebook and Twitter will be my friend. If I have a weapons question, I know a lot of guys on FB who do the whole hunting thing, heck my Father-in-Law would be a perfect resource. If I need information on the meaning of gems, I'm sure there's someone on Twitter who I can trust to be knowledgeable about that. Actually, I'd probably want to look into that one.

Anyway, you catch my drift. Interesting research = happy writer.

Here's a little something that's on my writing playlist.

Day 12: New Year's Resolution (I know, cliche much?)...

Resolution 1 - Finish my novel. Hopefully by the middle of February at the latest.

Resolution 2 - Edit and Revise said novel.

Resolution 3 - Start querying and find an agent.

Tentative Resolution 4 - After finding agent, get published!

So it looks like this is to be my focus this year. Its all I can think about at this point. I want the story finished. I want to polish it. This is all so exciting and scary.

I hope everyone has a wonderful year, myself included!

Here's a little something to inspire us all to greatness:

Day 10: In Remembrance...

December 29th was a rough one. Its my Father's birthday. Unfortunately, he passed away back in 2002 and his birthday is always tough for the family. I spent a lot of time thinking of him and all the advice he gave me. He told me tons of things that I reflect on daily: "Take care of your teeth, they're the only ones you have", "If you can afford it, get it, cause you can't take money with you when you go", ya' know, all those basic things.

He was where I got my love of reading from. He always had a paperback with him. In fact, the first few adult books I read: It by Stephen King, The Rainmaker by John Grisham, and Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, had been from his keeper shelf.

He and Mom instilled in me my love of the Celtics, and old movies (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was his favorite movie, he once told me, and he once sat me down and forced me to watch The Great Escape).

But out of all the advice he gave me, the Big Idea that always seem to permeate his words and the thing that he never let me forget was that I could do anything I wanted to. Anything I dreamed, I could do it. He believed in me.

So, I'm only around a week into this journey but I know for certain that he is exceedingly proud of me and rooting for me up there. He knows this has always been a dream of mine. I've done my time building a home life for me and mine: I got married, we had two kids, and we worked our butts off to buy our own home. And I'm sure he agrees with me that now is the right time.

I have a great memory of Daddy (its one of the reasons Harry Potter is part of my soul): He, Mom, and I went to see the first Harry Potter movie. I'd talked him into reading the books and I just knew he was excited about it even if he didn't show it much. I sat between Mom and Dad. Mom predictably fell asleep, she's a sucker for a nap. Dumbledore delivered what is now my favorite quote of all the books:

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

Daddy turned to me and said simply, "Remember that, Leah." At first I thought he was getting on to me for being so flighty and obsessed with fantasy, but now I know he only wanted me to buckle down and do great things one day. The great things he always knew I would do. 

A year later he was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer and he was gone within 8 months (2 months longer than the doctors originally gave him, he was a stubborn guy). I think about him daily, of course. I think about him especially while I'm writing. 

I guess this whole thing boils down to the fact that yesterday might have been rough but I ended the day with a new sense of determination. I remember how much Daddy believed in me, and you all know how supporting my Mom has been. I know I can do this and I can't freakin' wait to write that dedication!!!!!

Okay onto a lighter subject because I've had enough blubbering in the last 24 hours to last me a good long while.

I came upon some AWESOMESAUCE yesterday! The YA Rebels rock, people! I'm only finishing up week 2 of their videos and I already love everyone of these gals and guy! I'm about to demolish my bandwidth today. Their videos are helping me to develop my story, giving me much to think about in relation to my characters. Check them out!

The YA Rebels' Youtube Channel

YA Rebels on Twitter

Go on, click on the links... Thaaaat's right... Move your mouse right on top... Too far... Back just a little... There! Go, go, go!!! YAR!

Inspiration Abounds

A place for me to go to when I need a little pick me up (you can come here too if you want to, I guess):