Short Post and a Song #60: "Superfluous" is a total douche for not being pronounced "super-fluous."

You know those words that you mispronounce for years in your head because you’ve always read them and never actually heard anyone say them out loud? I get mad at those words for not being pronounced the way I originally thought.

Like you, ravine. Raveeeeen. I mean, what the fuck. You should obviously be pronounced “ra-vine” and now I’m angry and feel like I have to read The Secret History all over again. 

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"When the Levee Breaks" by Led Zeppelin

I realized I've never featured Led Zeppelin, one of my very favorite bands, on here and that it was a damn shame. For those of you non-New Yorkers who drive ever, this is a great song to cruise to.

Dear Moorhouse rough draft,

Oh, my dear, the times we have had together! I bet you’re laughing now at those naïve comments I made in the early days about how you would be “done in just a few months” since you were “just a kids’ book.”

Comments like those really must have pissed you off, because you went on to take months and months and months—two years from when I first had the idea. You beat me up good, making me wonder at regular intervals if I was good enough to write you. But I kept fighting back one sad little monster sketch at a time.

And now I have vanquished you. You’re still all out of order, like a Picasso painting with your nose where your chin should be. But you’re done and down for the count.

In a few days I’ll get to work un-Picasso-ifying your face. But for now I’m watching a ton of Parks and Recreation and eating victory peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

(I would have victory ice cream, but my battles with you have left me too lazy to go to the store.)

Love always, 
Jillian

Short Post and a Song #59: It's all about perspective.

The handle on the cold water faucet in my bathroom is incredibly resistant to being turned off. So resistant, in fact, that I have to use both hands to insure its off-ness. 

I could be annoyed about this one of many bits of ill-repair in my apartment. Instead each time I turn off the cold water faucet, I take it as an opportunity to pretend I am a giant steering a tiny pirate ship in particularly high seas.

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"Long, Long Time Ago" by Javier Navarrete

We're back to creepy music this week. This is the theme from the darkly beautiful Pan's Labyrinth. This features on a few of Moorhouse's playlists.

Short Post and a Song #58: Mama Revisa

I'm getting toward the very end of writing my Moorhouse rough draft, which for me is just about the most stressful part of writing a book. Ending Renaissance Lab was a bit easier for me since I had extensively outlined how everything was going to go. I'm doing a lot more pantsing with Moorhouse, which means I'm still not 100% sure how things will go down in its final scenes. 

So I've done a terrible little drawing for me and anyone else nervous about how their books are will tie up:

Next time you get bogged down by the writing blues, just remember Mama Revisa and her calming words of wisdom.

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"Satellite" by Guster

I've been a fan of this song for a few years now, though I only recently realized which that it had any name other than "The Dee-Dee-Dee-Dee-Dee-Dee-Dee-Dee Song." I'm pretty sure it's on the soundtrack of something, though I'm not sure what. I like this acoustic version even better than the original; I just love watching that violinist go.

Short Post and a Song #57: ...Except for Cameron Diaz. If Cameron Diaz is a unicorn, then she's one of the dick ones who tricked Charlie into going to Candy Mountain and stole his kidney.

Movies like It’s Complicated, Something's Gotta Give, and The Holiday are perfectly enjoyable just so long as you think of them as fantasy films, and of their heroines as unicorns wandering through enchanted, beautifully decorated forests.

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"Piano Concerto No. 21" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

I've been listening to Mozart a lot while writing these days. I find his music helps me to be more productive without being a distraction.

I know I've been quiet lately and skipped a few Short Posts and Songs. So here are some more consolation sketches for you. As always, new readers should know that I make sketches to help my writing, and not because I think I'm some kind of Vincent Van Gogh. I'm actually quite happy not to be some kind of Vincent Van Gogh; I very much enjoy having both my ears.

These are some of the main characters in Renaissance Lab, my dystopian novel. I'm a lot better at drawing faces than bodies, so there are many floating heads in all my sketch books. 

More floating heads! These guys are characters from my WIP, Moorhouse, done with my fancy new blue brush pen.

This sketch is a good example of how I never let a lack of space stop me if there is a doodle to be drawn. For some reason I find Mazkin's (the monster on the lower right) expression here endlessly amusing.

Short Post and a Song #56: This is the gift that hipsters give to the world.

Every day when I wake up in the morning in Brooklyn, I know, without a doubt, that no matter what I choose to wear, there will be several people out there who look FAR more ridiculous than I do. So what if my shoes don't match my dress? At least I'm not wearing twelve scarves in eighty degree weather and a pair of stripey glasses I can't see out of.

So thank you for that, hipsters. It takes a lot of pressure off, honestly.

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"Sloom" by Of Monsters and Men

Yep, I've featured Of Monsters and Men ONCE AGAIN. This is partly because right after I made a big deal about featuring the band three times on the blog, I turned right around and featured Florence + the Machine for the third time. 

So of course you can see why I had to feature a fourth song by Of Monsters and Men.

My other reason for featuring this band is that I'm SEEING them in concert the day after tomorrow. (!!!!!) My cousins and I will be on the lawn where we won't be able to see a damned thing, but I'm still just so excited to be in the presence of their beautiful, whimsical music live.

P.S. I lied in my earlier post when I said all the Moorhouse-y songs were strung together at the begininning of My Head is an Animal. "Sloom" is one of the later tracks on the album, and it's one of the Moorhouse-iest of the bunch.

Short Post and a Song #55: Seriously, I don't know what they expect us to be able to keep in there. A stick of Juicy Fruit won't even fit in most lady pockets.

Dear designers of women's jeans, pants, and shorts:

I would like pockets into which I could fit more than two Skittles, a button, and a piece of string. 

K, thanks, bye.

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"Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" by The Ink Spots feat. Bill Kenny and Ella Fitzgerald

Here's a golden oldie for you Velocininjas today, all the way back from 1944. This song helped me figure out some important character/relationship development stuff in Moorhouse, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

I know I skipped a Short Post and a Song, and that this one is a few days late. It's a wonder that there hasn't been total anarchy and rioting in the streets as a result. 

So here's a consolation color sketch of three of the monsters in Moorhouse. Longtime readers may recognize earlier incarnations of these critters. Shorttime readers should not expect a beautiful work of art, since that is not how we do things here:

From left to right: Mazkin, Peebles, and Dotted-Line Jack.

Blogging will continue to be even spottier than before until I finish the book, I'm afraid.

But in the meantime, please enjoy the music and the monsters.