So, a few quick updates...
1) Katie and Tasha (my two absolutely awesome friends who went to Tennessee for a week and didn't contact me because they "didn't have sufficient service" or their "phones died") are back! I was so sad with missing them that I couldn't bring myself to write a blog post.
Okay, bad excuse. But I did miss them.
2) I'm now addicted to Chuck, that NBC show I'd never heard about until I saw it on Hulu a few weeks ago. That could also be a reason for lacking of blog posts. But isn't that what summer's for? Awesome TV shows?
3) I'm doing a blog tour! Some awesome people have offered to host me, and once the schedule is all set and all I'll announce it. And then keep announcing it, to remind you.
4) Bookfest is a week from Saturday! Anybody in or planning to be in central PA should stop by. That bestselling author/barefoot runner guy--Christopher McDougall--is going to be there. Check out the website for the event.
5) I got my first invitation to be a visiting author! I'm currently working on an information page about me being a visiting author to put on my website, if anyone is interested in having me.
6) My mom is telling me we gotta go.
So, there are the updates. Have a good day!
Nothing can describe awesomeness more than this cake. And if you click it it'll magically transport you to my website.
6/30/2010
6/23/2010
Little Sister to the Rescue
My little sister, Bryn, usually comes to me for electronics help. Computer, iPod, cell phone, et cetera. I usually don't have a problem getting such devices to work. Especially laptops. I've had my own laptop since sixth grade (and since then I've gotten a lot of writing done in the car) and I've never really had problems with one. Well, my first laptop stopped charging, connecting to the internet, loading McAfee, and working after about two years, but it was just its time to depart.
Anyway, I was not prepared for last night.
My parents were both asleep and Bryn and I had just finished watching an episode of "Chuck." I turned off my computer, then remembered I wanted to check my email quick before I went to bed. Bryn left my room and I waited for my computer to shut down so I could reboot it.
Except.
Except when I hit the power button, it started to whir and turn on like usual, and then those pixelated letters that look like the font in the original Mario game covered my screen.
Safe system recovery recommended, it said.
What? I was thinking, and before I could press anything the screen went blank and my computer died.
Oh no oh no oh no oh no, I was chanting in my head, jabbing at the power button. Yes, my computer was plugged in and charging, no, I hadn't dropped it or exposed it to open flame or stomped on it or put peanut butter on it, just like the instruction manual had warned me not to a year ago.
The same screen appeared. And just like last time, it died before I could hit enter.
I frantically pressed power again. Same thing. This time I hit enter before the screen could disappear. My computer lasted a few more seconds, and then died.
The next time I tried, I hit the option underneath, which said Start normally. Yes, that should work. I mean, if I just start it normally it will be as if nothing ever happened, right? And then I can see my computer background of black with white lettering that says "Mind Meld" and I can grin and be reminded of the awesome new Star Trek movie and forget that my computer even had this hissy fit.
It died before it even got to the login screen.
Now I was starting to feel sick. I had versions of my most recent story backed up, and some of my other stories in my email account, but what about my older stories? The ones I was going to come back to? The storyboards? The collection of emails I'd sent during my cruise last January? My grandma, the computer whiz, told me to always back up those files on a flash drive, but I'd been neglecting to do so. At that moment I crossed my fingers and prayed to the computer deities, promising that if my computer started to work, the first thing I would do would be back up every single file in my stories folder.
I tried again. It died.
The keyboard felt impossibly hot beneath my fingers. It always got superheated after about an hour of running, but it'd been that way for as long as I'd had it. Earlier that evening, though, my mom had made a remark about how hot it was, and how it worried her. At the time I'd joked, "What, you think it's gonna burst into flame or something?" But sitting there and feeling the heat, I felt like Ralphie from A Christmas Story. "Oh my God, I'd shot my eye out!" Except for me, it was "$&#@%! My computer overheated, sizzled, and died, taking my stories to the grave!"
By this point I was distraught. I stumbled from my room. I needed consolation, help, and assurance that we'd drive my laptop to the Geek Squad ASAP. Did they have emergency service? A laptop ambulance? I hoped so.
I ran into Bryn as she was coming out of the bathroom. After picking ourselves off the floor she took a look at my face and said, "Try to make it to the toilet."
Kidding. She actually just raised an eyebrow.
"My computer," I whisper-wailed, clutching her hand. What a turn of events. Usually she's the dramatic one and I'm the one rolling my eyes, as she did then. She must feel she can do this to me now that she's as tall as me. False. She still has a half-inch to go. At least.
I dragged her back to my room and pointed wordlessly at my lifeless device. She gave me another odd look and sat down in front of it, hitting the power button.
"I tried that," I said miserably as the pixels filled the screen again.
Bryn studied the screen and selected Start normally.
"I tried that too," I sobbed.
She shook her head, telling me to be quiet. I waited with bated breath. Suddenly, I could see something on the dark screen. Something white. The mouse pointer! I jumped up beside Bryn, squeezing her arm.
"Ow," she told me.
I let go. Suddenly I heard it. The sound of hope. The duh-dun, duh-DUN! of the computer booting up.
"YOU DID IT!" I whisper-screeched, throwing my arms around Bryn.
"Asphyxiating here!" she gasped, pulling my arms away. "I don't know what your problem was. It wasn't that hard."
"You're a miracle-worker!"
"Okay," she said, shrugging. "I'm going to bed now. Night."
She left and I scrambled into my seat, logging in. When I saw the words Mind Meld, I could only clutch my chest and take deep, therapeutic-ish breaths. It was....it was...ALIIIVE!
True to my word, I spent the next hour backing up every story file on my computer. And next on my agenda is to buy one of those cooling pads for my laptop, and get my sister some chocolates and, maybe, a teddy bear and balloons or something while I'm at it.
[Note: some parts of this story were dramatized. Kind of.]
Anyway, I was not prepared for last night.
My parents were both asleep and Bryn and I had just finished watching an episode of "Chuck." I turned off my computer, then remembered I wanted to check my email quick before I went to bed. Bryn left my room and I waited for my computer to shut down so I could reboot it.
Except.
Except when I hit the power button, it started to whir and turn on like usual, and then those pixelated letters that look like the font in the original Mario game covered my screen.
Safe system recovery recommended, it said.
What? I was thinking, and before I could press anything the screen went blank and my computer died.
Oh no oh no oh no oh no, I was chanting in my head, jabbing at the power button. Yes, my computer was plugged in and charging, no, I hadn't dropped it or exposed it to open flame or stomped on it or put peanut butter on it, just like the instruction manual had warned me not to a year ago.
The same screen appeared. And just like last time, it died before I could hit enter.
I frantically pressed power again. Same thing. This time I hit enter before the screen could disappear. My computer lasted a few more seconds, and then died.
The next time I tried, I hit the option underneath, which said Start normally. Yes, that should work. I mean, if I just start it normally it will be as if nothing ever happened, right? And then I can see my computer background of black with white lettering that says "Mind Meld" and I can grin and be reminded of the awesome new Star Trek movie and forget that my computer even had this hissy fit.
It died before it even got to the login screen.
Now I was starting to feel sick. I had versions of my most recent story backed up, and some of my other stories in my email account, but what about my older stories? The ones I was going to come back to? The storyboards? The collection of emails I'd sent during my cruise last January? My grandma, the computer whiz, told me to always back up those files on a flash drive, but I'd been neglecting to do so. At that moment I crossed my fingers and prayed to the computer deities, promising that if my computer started to work, the first thing I would do would be back up every single file in my stories folder.
I tried again. It died.
The keyboard felt impossibly hot beneath my fingers. It always got superheated after about an hour of running, but it'd been that way for as long as I'd had it. Earlier that evening, though, my mom had made a remark about how hot it was, and how it worried her. At the time I'd joked, "What, you think it's gonna burst into flame or something?" But sitting there and feeling the heat, I felt like Ralphie from A Christmas Story. "Oh my God, I'd shot my eye out!" Except for me, it was "$&#@%! My computer overheated, sizzled, and died, taking my stories to the grave!"
By this point I was distraught. I stumbled from my room. I needed consolation, help, and assurance that we'd drive my laptop to the Geek Squad ASAP. Did they have emergency service? A laptop ambulance? I hoped so.
I ran into Bryn as she was coming out of the bathroom. After picking ourselves off the floor she took a look at my face and said, "Try to make it to the toilet."
Kidding. She actually just raised an eyebrow.
"My computer," I whisper-wailed, clutching her hand. What a turn of events. Usually she's the dramatic one and I'm the one rolling my eyes, as she did then. She must feel she can do this to me now that she's as tall as me. False. She still has a half-inch to go. At least.
I dragged her back to my room and pointed wordlessly at my lifeless device. She gave me another odd look and sat down in front of it, hitting the power button.
"I tried that," I said miserably as the pixels filled the screen again.
Bryn studied the screen and selected Start normally.
"I tried that too," I sobbed.
She shook her head, telling me to be quiet. I waited with bated breath. Suddenly, I could see something on the dark screen. Something white. The mouse pointer! I jumped up beside Bryn, squeezing her arm.
"Ow," she told me.
I let go. Suddenly I heard it. The sound of hope. The duh-dun, duh-DUN! of the computer booting up.
"YOU DID IT!" I whisper-screeched, throwing my arms around Bryn.
"Asphyxiating here!" she gasped, pulling my arms away. "I don't know what your problem was. It wasn't that hard."
"You're a miracle-worker!"
"Okay," she said, shrugging. "I'm going to bed now. Night."
She left and I scrambled into my seat, logging in. When I saw the words Mind Meld, I could only clutch my chest and take deep, therapeutic-ish breaths. It was....it was...ALIIIVE!
True to my word, I spent the next hour backing up every story file on my computer. And next on my agenda is to buy one of those cooling pads for my laptop, and get my sister some chocolates and, maybe, a teddy bear and balloons or something while I'm at it.
[Note: some parts of this story were dramatized. Kind of.]
6/16/2010
Chicago
I'm way behind on blogging. By way of catching up/explaining I'll just say that Chicago was fun, finals were not fun, and I'm glad it's summer now.
Printer's Row was really fun, even though it rained on and off both days. Not that I minded, but my mom seemed to want me to wear a rain jacket when it started to pour, and that was annoying.
When I was in Chicago I did an author presentation for the Mount Prospect Public Library. I spoke at the nearby Starbucks. It was awesome for many reasons, only a few being that a) it smelled like coffee deliciousness, b) I got to use a microphone, and c) the poster advertising the event was really cool.
Yeah, like I said, those are only a few of the reasons why it was awesome. I got to meet some neat new people and answer some really good questions they asked. Signing books was fun and I had my picture taken! (Speaking of which, if you took a picture with me, feel free to send it to me!) Also there was a film crew there. Later this summer I'll post a link to the program the library's TV channel is going to put together!
Overall it was just really fun. I'd definitely like to thank Rose Allen again for coordinating the whole thing.
Oh, and when I was in Chicago I had my first deep-dish pizza. Yum.
Printer's Row was really fun, even though it rained on and off both days. Not that I minded, but my mom seemed to want me to wear a rain jacket when it started to pour, and that was annoying.
When I was in Chicago I did an author presentation for the Mount Prospect Public Library. I spoke at the nearby Starbucks. It was awesome for many reasons, only a few being that a) it smelled like coffee deliciousness, b) I got to use a microphone, and c) the poster advertising the event was really cool.
Yeah, like I said, those are only a few of the reasons why it was awesome. I got to meet some neat new people and answer some really good questions they asked. Signing books was fun and I had my picture taken! (Speaking of which, if you took a picture with me, feel free to send it to me!) Also there was a film crew there. Later this summer I'll post a link to the program the library's TV channel is going to put together!
Overall it was just really fun. I'd definitely like to thank Rose Allen again for coordinating the whole thing.
Oh, and when I was in Chicago I had my first deep-dish pizza. Yum.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)