Le Cupcake...Or, I Couldn't Find the French Word for "Cupcake."

The idea of France makes me smile, just the idea. It's been my dream to visit since the good nuns of St. John's decided to teach French to 7 and 8 year olds. I was hooked at: Bonjour! I could recite all of Little Red Riding Hood, AND I understood what I was saying. Really.

Unfortunately, they didn't continue it past the second grade. The French language and I did not cross paths again until JR. High School, 8th grade...ah, Bonjour! Comment allez-vous? It was a pretty good reunion -- even moving to Rhode Island and trying to decipher French through a Warwick accent didn't phaze it.

You'd think I'd be proficient...five years of French (six, counting 2nd grade), and all I can say now is: Le vagues son tres forte. Yeah, those waves are pretty darn strong. Oh, yeah, and: Quasimodo rit! Yet, the dream lives on -- I still want to go to France, they all speak English there, right?

Patty Griffin - Heavenly Day

Happy Expectations...Are Great.

Happiness comes easily to me, even in the midst of sorrows, I can compartmentalize and see joy -- over...there, while feeling pain, here. I think it's a skill, or maybe a handicap, whatever it is, it gets me through the day.

Happiness comes easily to me, so what? So, I want to spread it.

Like frosting

Swirl it around, make peaks, create designs, and then lick my fingers. Yum.

So, here's the thing, I'm going to try to do just that -- spread that happy joy joy here, without treacle (too much of a good thing, and all that). This blog and moi have gone through a few inceptions, but I've decided on sticking with joy.

Happiness/Joy in all flavors -- books I love, people I adore, writing days that make me sing (even those that don't -- I'll try to find the humor), music that makes me wish I were young(er) and could be someone's dancing queen.

My happiness goal for this blog: Post 3x a week, in combination of words, collage, music.

I chose "Cupcake" as my blog name because, of course, it makes me happy.
What makes you happy?

A Few of My Favoritest Things...

In no particular order:
Bacon. Who doesn't like bacon? I had a vegitarian yoga instructor, he would say, "Well, if it's a gift (the bacon), then you can eat it."

Pigs. Unfortunate, I know -- I love them for their smarts, and always try to not love bacon after visiting with one.

Crackly ice. The kind you step on, not the kind in drinks...well, that kind too.

Crackly fall leaves. Walking through them. Not so much raking them.

Hard Rock. The better to clear my head, and bang it.

Opera. The better to feel to the depths of my soul. No, really.

Glasses on toddlers. I don't know why...I just love it.

Good coffee with cream/tiny espresso with a twist of lemon. self explanatory.

Dirty Martinis. Also self explanatory.

Clean Kitchens. The better to make the coffee and the Martinis.

Boots. Especially ones made for walking...

Handsome men who are nice.

Eating potato chips late at night.

Chocolate cake for breakfast.

Ice cold milk. With the chocolate cake. But not the potato chips.

And finally (for now) one of the things my youngest loves:
"I love the word 'uber,' it sounds so cool -- and, it's a real word!"

betwixt

betwixt by amy kennedy featuring a pink brooch
YA paranormal. complete, until I made this piece, now I'd like to add more things!

steampunk redux

steampunk redux by amy kennedy on Polyvore.com

Write What You Know...nononono.

So I'm trying to think of an overall villain or Arch Nemesis for the heroine of an Urban Fantasy series I'm brainstorming. We're always being told to write what you know, so I thought about my own Arch Nemesis, yes, I have one...he's pretty lame, not exactly a Lex Luthor or Moriarty, more of a "Newman" to my "Seinfeld." But, still a Nemesis, and Arch, at that.

My husband asked me,"So how did he become your arch nemeses?"
"Well," I said. "He smokes cigarettes at little league games whilst blowing smoke at the back of my head...AND he irritates me."
"So, am I your arch nemeses too?" my husband asked.
"No, you don't blow smoke at the back of my head." fa-dump-dump.

Truly, I think I just like saying he's my Arch Nemeses, rather than him (his?) actually being my Arch Nemesis. But every cell in my body rebels whenever I see him and I literally have to growl a little. The last time I saw him he looked me in the eyeball and burped as he passed me. Seriously.

Clearly I need a much stronger villain for my books. A surprising villain, my A.N. is surprising, simply because why would some random passive aggressive blow hard be my villain. But I need someone more surprising and not so irritating. So, in this case I have to look outside my what-I-know box. Way outside it. I sort of have to do that for the whole series. What my heroine does for a living is outside my "known" box, as well as what her powers are. I'm doing a lot of: NEED INFO HERE, stuff.

It's scary to be outside that box, yet, along with the fear, there's excitement. A what-the-hell-do-I-think-I'm-doing excitement, but, still, excitement.

So, when you're way outside your "known" box how do you react and what the heck do you do about it? And, who's your Arch Nemesis?