Tag: funny

Blogme MAYbe, Happy Friday, personal

Happy Friday #15: Lost in translation and other stories…

Elodie

Yay! It´s time again for Happy Friday! and it works well with the BlogMe MAYbe prompt for Fridays: May I share something funny?

I would love to know what made YOU smile this week 😀

Lost in translation or A little story to make you laugh (at my expense): About two weeks ago, hubby and I stood at the counter of a car rental place. My French papers do not all have my married name yet on them but I had booked the car under it. So when the very nice lady asks me about it, I tried to explain the situation. However, when I wanted to tell her: “Oh this is my maiden name”, I suddenly translated literary from French to German “Nom de jeune fille” which in English could be translated as “Young girl” and in German as “Jungfrau”….Well a “Jungfrau” is a virgin. So yep I totally told that lady: “This is my virgin name”. My hubby shook his head in disbelief and acted pretty much like when his Russian mother says something wrong in German. I was embarrassed but laughed it off.

Now onto things which made me smile this week:

Reading: INSURGENT…is the only word I will put there so not to spoil anything. It didn’t disappoint and I loved it.

Writing: I incorporated Jaime‘s suggestions in my first two chapters and tried to work on what she mentioned this morning. A critique partner really does make a difference 😀

Blogging: The response to my hubby’s post  made me really happy and the fact that he took the time to write it. He does want to let you know though that he breaks all these rules on a very regular basis

Honeymoon preparations:  We are going to spend one night at the Niagara Falls on our way from Detroit to Cape Cod! 😀 We’re so excited about this! and we bought a new camera…Can’t believe that we’re flying away in less than 2 weeks!!!

So tell me what made YOU smile this week?

Books, Kisses, Road Trip Wednesday

Best Books of the Month…

Elodie

Today is Road Trip Wednesday 🙂 RTW is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This week’s topic: What was the best book you read in March?

This month, I’ve read less books than in the previous ones. I’ve been immersing myself in revising, beta-reading and Stephen King’s ON WRITING…but luckily, all the ones I’ve read brought me a little something something…

              

WANDERLOVE by Kirsten Hubbard : more on this story on Friday (keeping the suspense for Tracey’s YA Book club)

AMY AND ROGER’S EPIC DETOUR by Morgan Matson: I really really enjoyed this novel. The setting was great and made me think of my upcoming honeymoon so definitely a winner for this month! I thought both characters were  well developed and I got lost in their story. And there are definitely a lot of swoon-worthy moments…and those which squeezed my heart. Always a plus! I am definitely adding SECOND CHANCE SUMMER to my TBR list. Thanks again Jaime for pointing this book out to me!

GETTING OVER GARRETT DELANEY by Abby McDonald: A cute one and I liked the premises of the story. I also think the author did very well at portraying the different relationships. I enjoyed the developing and rekindling of friendships.

     

RIPPLE by Mandy Hubbart: I’ve been meaning to read more mermaid books and this one had a different twist to it. While I wish I could have been immersed more in the curse itself, I still wanted to know what would happen to Lexi 😀

INCARNATE by Jodi Meadows: Honestly, I was unsure about this book before started it. I was afraid I’d be disappointed. I’m glad I wasn’t. It took me a few pages to really get into it and once I was, there was no turning back for me. Plus, the swoony moments involved a piano and gosh how I missed mine while reading those lines!

TRAFFICKED by Kim Purcell: Difficult. Heart-wrenching. Some reviewers mentioned that they thought Hannah was too naive and I don’t think she was. Of course, she knew the dangers but she was going for what she thought to be a better life, for her grandmother. I felt for her. I cringe and I wanted to scream at some of the things happening during the book.

So, tell me what was your favorite book(s) of the month?

reading, revising, writing

Dear Book…It’s not you, it’s me

Elodie

I need to apologize to the book I am currently reading. 

It’s just not the relationship it used to be and it is all my fault.

Dear Book,

I am sorry that I am not paying attention to you as I should, or that it is taking me longer to care about the characters. It’s not your fault, it’s mine.

I know you don’t believe me. I see you looking at me with your big dark words. You think I’m just saying it to make you feel better. But it’s true.  I am not ready for a committed relationship  at the moment.

It sounds cliché you say. Please don’t cry. I know you want my fingers on your pages. I promise to come back to you when I feel less distracted. I know I should not be looking at that other book this way but we grew older together. The words on its paper are mine, you see and I recognize their potential. The characters are in my head and they won’t rest until I give them more time.

You are truly a wonderful book and I do love you. I just don’t love you that way yet. Maybe we’ll get there if I give you a try. Maybe you will help me get the voice in my own draft even stronger.

I guess time will tell but in the meantime, please don’t take it personally. I am sure somebody else somewhere already loves you the way you deserve to be loved.

Take care

Elodie

Now tell me 🙂

Do you sometimes get too distracted to really engage in a book ? or how do you deal with revising/reading?

Observations, Uncategorized

Starting point: The one who likes to sit down but does not want anybody sitting next to her…

Elodie

A writer/commuter: a rare breed…

Commuting to work everyday allows me to observe people, to reflect on some ideas, to practice my writing and to think about the big story I am working on at the moment…

This blog is to share those observations and thoughts, the randomness which comes with commuting, the beauty of simple gestures and my road to becoming a writer and a better photographer…

And here we go!

The one who likes to sit down but does not want anybody sitting next to her…:

this one lady used to always sit down wherever there was an available place. Seems normal, I actually do the same.
However, whenever she could, she would not follow the very well-known and worldwide accepted commuting well-behaving rules:

(1) do not sit on the aisle seat when both aisle and window seats are availables

(2) do not use your bag/backpack/newspapers as a friend/shield when the train/bus/metro is full…

The first rule is simple, it is quite annoying to pass over somebody while technically that person could have simply moved over, thus making it easier and less risky for him/her. Why do I say risky? If you have not lived through that situation, let me explain. One usually has to juggle (as a woman at least) with one handbag, a possible sweater, another bag (if the purse is too small to contain a book, a fruit, a bottle of water, some cookies).  Trying to get to that window seat with all these necessary ustensils without touching/hurting the one passenger sitting comfortably on the aisle seat is more difficult that it may seem at first.

The bag rule (and here it´s not only women (men also use backpacks and both sex do have laptop bags) is also quite simple: if you see that the bus, train, metro is full, then please put your bag on your laps. Some people see the bag as an obstacle and are too shy to ask…or believe maybe the seat is taken…or simply take it as it is: That person does not want to be disturbed…Maybe but again that early in the morning, people will not try to start a conversation (most of the times)

So please, when you are on your next commute or if you are new to the system, remember the rules, they are simple but make it so easy for everybody…