The headline for this post was going to be, Just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you should, because that's one of my favorite quotes from Jurassic Park -- the movie, not the book. I read the book once and liked it; tried to read it again and didn't finish it. Some stories are better the first time.
But the movie kept my attention both times I sat down to watch it and, even though it's been a few years, I've always remembered when the dreamy Dr. Ian Malcolm said that particular line. I've said the same line a few times myself. In fact, when the Good Witch told me that Jeff Goldblum (who played Malcolm) had just married a woman half his age, I said those words. It made G.W. giggle.
When my friend Sue told me her son wanted to dress as a toilet bowl for Halloween, I said the line again. Sue didn't laugh -- it turns out, her son was serious -- but I still thought the words were appropriate.
That was before I found out that I'd remembered the line incorrectly. Now I just feel silly.
What Dr. Malcolm really says in the movie is, Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should, which is a perfectly fine line but so much less quotable by me. If I worked for NASA or the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, I could drop it into the conversation now and then, but I bet no one there would giggle. They'd probably wonder why I wasn't bent over my atom-splitter, threatening mankind's very existence.
Because if anyone is ever foolish enough to expect me to operate potentially-deadly scientific equipment, I'm telling you now, the world should tremble. There are times in life when you know that a mistake has been made. Giving me an atom-splitter would be one such mistake. So is the yogurt in the picture above.
I like yogurt, I do, and Glynn likes yogurt, so he somehow thought I might like to try a new variation on that dairy-based theme. When he said he'd found a new flavor, we should each have a container, I asked, "What flavor?" Thinking we'd be testing something with blueberries in it, maybe. For me, blueberry yogurt is an adventure.
He told me, "Pineapple-kiwi, maybe some spinach", thinking I was distracted and wouldn't hear him properly. But one of those things wasn't like the other, my ears perked up, and I said, "SPINACH?"
I refused to taste it for a week. Even then, Glynn went first. But you know what? Once I actually tried the yogurt...it was sour, and off-putting, and I am never, ever having it again. (Glynn said it wasn't so bad. He's been known to lie.) The Dairy Scientists at Kroger knew they COULD put spinach in a yogurt -- but they never stopped to think if they should.
But the movie kept my attention both times I sat down to watch it and, even though it's been a few years, I've always remembered when the dreamy Dr. Ian Malcolm said that particular line. I've said the same line a few times myself. In fact, when the Good Witch told me that Jeff Goldblum (who played Malcolm) had just married a woman half his age, I said those words. It made G.W. giggle.
When my friend Sue told me her son wanted to dress as a toilet bowl for Halloween, I said the line again. Sue didn't laugh -- it turns out, her son was serious -- but I still thought the words were appropriate.
That was before I found out that I'd remembered the line incorrectly. Now I just feel silly.
What Dr. Malcolm really says in the movie is, Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should, which is a perfectly fine line but so much less quotable by me. If I worked for NASA or the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, I could drop it into the conversation now and then, but I bet no one there would giggle. They'd probably wonder why I wasn't bent over my atom-splitter, threatening mankind's very existence.
Because if anyone is ever foolish enough to expect me to operate potentially-deadly scientific equipment, I'm telling you now, the world should tremble. There are times in life when you know that a mistake has been made. Giving me an atom-splitter would be one such mistake. So is the yogurt in the picture above.
I like yogurt, I do, and Glynn likes yogurt, so he somehow thought I might like to try a new variation on that dairy-based theme. When he said he'd found a new flavor, we should each have a container, I asked, "What flavor?" Thinking we'd be testing something with blueberries in it, maybe. For me, blueberry yogurt is an adventure.
He told me, "Pineapple-kiwi, maybe some spinach", thinking I was distracted and wouldn't hear him properly. But one of those things wasn't like the other, my ears perked up, and I said, "SPINACH?"
I refused to taste it for a week. Even then, Glynn went first. But you know what? Once I actually tried the yogurt...it was sour, and off-putting, and I am never, ever having it again. (Glynn said it wasn't so bad. He's been known to lie.) The Dairy Scientists at Kroger knew they COULD put spinach in a yogurt -- but they never stopped to think if they should.
Now it's my turn to try my own little experiment. I've rarely given away the stories we write...okay, so my mom is the one exception...but I'm giving one away for the next three days. From March 31st to April 2nd, Twisted Games is available for free from Amazon.
I'm doing this because no one is buying the story, no one is READING the story (so much worse), and it needs some visibility. I think it's a fun and steamy mystery-romance-shifter tale that hasn't found an audience. Maybe with a few more reviews, it will.
I do this with a touch of trepidation. Some people in my writers' group tell me that free reads always result in at least a few bad reviews but I thought it was worth the gamble. After all, there might be some more good reviews offered, too.
Today, the first of the giveaway days, it seems like a good idea. But to once again quote Dr. Ian Malcolm, this time from The Lost World: Jurassic Park, "Oh, yeah. Oh, ah, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming."
.
I'm doing this because no one is buying the story, no one is READING the story (so much worse), and it needs some visibility. I think it's a fun and steamy mystery-romance-shifter tale that hasn't found an audience. Maybe with a few more reviews, it will.
I do this with a touch of trepidation. Some people in my writers' group tell me that free reads always result in at least a few bad reviews but I thought it was worth the gamble. After all, there might be some more good reviews offered, too.
Today, the first of the giveaway days, it seems like a good idea. But to once again quote Dr. Ian Malcolm, this time from The Lost World: Jurassic Park, "Oh, yeah. Oh, ah, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and screaming."
.
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