As If Of Wings [ficlet]

I wrote a new ficlet today! Comment and critique, please. :-)

As If Of Wings
The woman held a jealous hand over her protruding belly and eyed the receptionist with mean green eyes.

“What d’you mean he’s in a meeting? Our ‘pointment’s supposed to be now!”

The receptionist’s smile cracked but held. “Um, ma’am, he should be done shortly. Please have a seat and I will let you know when the doctor’s ready.”

The woman cast her eyes meaningfully towards the clock behind the receptionist’s head, then slunk back towards her seat, muttering unintelligible curses under her breath.

I eyed her with a mixture of revulsion and pity. Placing a hand on my own flat belly, I wondered for the umpteenth time whether I was really pregnant. 10 ept tests assured me I was, but it still hadn’t sunk in yet.

Suddenly, I felt what I could only describe as a flourish in the pit of my stomach. A stirring, as if of wings. The rude lady locked eyes with me and I cried, “I think I just felt the baby!”

“Man, you ain’t felt nothing yet,” was her terse rejoinder before sticking her face firmly into a magazine.

Shameless Plug: Ana Cristina's Pages

I now have three blogs, including this one and my Twilight Blog! My newest blog, Ana Cristina's Pages, features my reviews of the latest books I've read. So far I've reviewed Breaking Dawn and Watchmen.

I have big plans for my new blog - in the future, I'd like to include not just reviews, but recommendations for books and author spotlights. Who knows? Maybe I'll even get lucky and land an interview with one of my favorite authors.

To read my reviews and check out my new blog, go here. Be sure to comment me and let me know what you think! :D

Fish and Chips

Last night, Ricky and I went to our new favorite restaurant, The Pub, with some friends of ours, Joanna and Douglas. It was their first time, our third. The Pub has quickly become our favorite restaurant due to its laid-back atmosphere and great menu. It serves British style cuisine and has an impressive beer list (and for me, who's become a newly minted beer afficiando, this is a good thing!). Ricky had the quintessentially British dish, Fish and Chips, while I ordered the Americanized version, Chicken and Chips. After trying a bite of his Fish and Chips, though, I was very jealous, so jealous in fact that I endeavored to order that the next time we go. Which will probably be soon, given how frequently we've been going - just last weekend, we took another friend, Jennie, for her first time, and funnily enough, the same waitress attended us last night, too.

Both times we ordered dessert, though I preferred last night's Jamaican Cheesecake to last week's Brownie Sundae. Last night's cheesecake was out of this world. Joanna and I both agreed that we could easily down another plate of it, no problem. The only problem would be our expanding waistlines!

It was nice to get out and enjoy ourselves with some friends. Of the two of us, I'm definitely more antisocial than Ricky, or at least I think I like thinking I am, but once we're out with friends, I realize how much fun I have in a crowd. I'm nothing if not a complicated woman, I guess. ;-)

Credits

Well, things are starting to look up, at least in the thesis department. I had thought that I'd missed the registration deadline, and was dreading to find out what would happen if I wasn't continually enrolled, but when I called yesterday to see if it was too late, they let me know that I had until 5:00 PM that same day to walk a memo over from my department (English) giving me permission to register.

Thank God Ricky was able to take me to FIU so I could do this! I don't know what I would do without him, I swear. I really need to learn how to drive ASAP.

So now I'm registered for one thesis credit, and the remaining credit will go for Spring semester, meaning I'll be graduating then, not in December. I had asked for two credits, but they wrote one credit on my form. At first I felt nothing but a surge of relief - more time to write my thesis! Then I started feeling a little disappointed - I really wanted to be done in December.

But the way I see it, that doesn't mean I can't be done in December. With the thesis, of course.

Sleepwalking

I am almost caught up with my grading, joy! But in other parts of my life, I am woefully behind.

Item #1: Thesis
Status: Not done; Oct. 23 is the deadline to turn it in in order to graduate in December.

Item #2: Teacher Certification
Status: Not done; temporary certificate expires in June 2009.

I need another summer vacation, because I wasted this one! :( I did not even notice the days fly past, they went by so quickly. It's like I was sleepwalking.

On Demand

Cable companies are seldom good things, especially for their customers, but I don't have much bad to say about Comcast, mostly because of On Demand. On Demand is a service included with their plan which allows viewers to see free films and videos of various genres, as well as pay-per-view films and events such as boxing, concerts, etc. But it's really their free films that I'm a fan of. Ever since they've started this service, I haven't used Blockbuster at all, and have saved money doing so.

Today I saw two films on On Demand - Pride and Prejudice and Arabesque. The version I saw of Pride and Prejudice was the 1940 film starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. I could see where the most recent version of Pride and Prejudice (which I adore), starring Keira Knightley, derived much of its inspiration - I think the director most likely viewed the 1940 version, because I could see many similarities. Both are beautiful films in their own right.

Arabesque was a silly 1960's mystery caper starring Sophia Loren and her outfits. I swear, I don't even remember the actor who starred opposite her. Was it Peter O'Toole? Don't remember. All I could remember was Sophia's stunningly beautiful gowns and stylish hair style and makeup. I will definitely be taking a page out of her style book, especially when it comes to the elegant swoop of her black eyeliner and the Arabic lines of her dresses.

Hard to Tell [ficlet]

I wrote a new ficlet today, after many days and maybe even weeks of not writing. I saw the film "Black Snake Moan" today with Ricky (crazy, but great) and it kinda sorta inspired this piece.

Hard to Tell
The man slung his guitar over his shoulder and took a pick out of his back pocket, its silver surface glittering in the dust motes. The bar patrons sat motionless, not blinking, barely breathing. I hastily lowered my hands, having raised them in order to applaud when he stepped on stage. Apparently they did things differently in this bar.

I tried catching my friend’s attention, but Jean was sitting just as rapt as everyone else. I hitched my seat closer to the stage, trying to get a better look.

The man on stage was nondescript. I wouldn’t have noticed him on the street, not because he was ugly or even plain, but because he looked like everyone else. Both his hair and eyes were of indeterminate color, and he could have been 30 or 50. It was hard to tell.

Just as I was beginning to regret having agreed to accompany Jean to this seedy bar, the man on stage bent over his guitar and began playing, the chords shattering the air, scattering the light so that suddenly all I could hear, all I could see, was him.