2011 Has Been A Happy Blur
The big event at the end of 2010 was the wrap-up of Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption. We spent the first few months of 2011 patiently waiting through the editing process; we tried to get back on schedule for homeschool, reviews, etc, but the winter season was one of the worst Michigan had seen in decades. Everything was scheduled around the blizzards.
At one point, we were literally trapped in our house by snow drifts that required the help of several neighbors with snowblowers, just to be able to get outside to free up the garage. One snow drift in particular took until spring to be completely cleared off the driveway. Of course, it was great fun for Gideon, who had an especially large snow fort, with two exits.
In March, we attended the movie premiere for ZA:R. It was a wonderful experience; most everyone involved in the making of the movie worked very hard...defiinitely something for the Michigan film industry to be proud of. The movie ended up winning an award at one of the first film festivals that featured the movie. Gideon doesn't necessarily want to pursue acting, but it was a nice experience to add to that homeschool year.
Once the snow was gone for good, Gideon and I started taking the train to Chicago on day trips to see the Field Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Adler Planetarium, and the Shedd Aquarium. Rich came with us on one of our day trips, but he was mostly busy with various film projects, as well as his engineering work.
While Gideon reviewed what he learned during his kindergarten year, I was buried under book review requests. I was attempting to write more for The Zombiephiles with interviews of authors, actors, and artists, so by the summer, I had finished writing for This Zine. Add in yard work, and the summer flew by. It ended with a SyFy-type of moment with a yellow-jacket colony...long story short: some of them were sucked into the air conditioning unit & made it into the ventilation system. Needless to say, we had the vents professionally cleaned by Stanley Steamer.
Seems like autumn is already over before it had a chance. We had a great experience at the Flint Horror Convention; Gideon signed his first autographs at the ZA:R booth. Rich was approached for more movie projects, and he has an ongoing railroad project that takes him to the other side of Michigan half the time. The writing projects that I was a part of earlier in the year are now published...look for Lucky Streak and War Against The Walking Dead.
Now Gideon is a couple of months into his first grade year, I'm not quite as buried under books, and Rich is enjoying a brief break from movies and plays. Hopefully, I'll have more time to post the stories to go along with the photo album.
Take care,
Ursula
Yikes!!
Judging by the lack of ANY 2011 entires, you'd think this has been an uneventful year, but it's actually been so busy, I've been struggling just to update my photo albums!
When I have more time, I will catch everyone up to speed.
Cheers,
Ursula
Entertainment Weekly
I made it into EW with a letter to the editor! Permuted Press has been extremely happy about it, as well as many authors at PP.
Literally, Pirates vs. Zombies
We have been very busy with various projects:
1) Rich -- helping to clean up the oil spill in Michigan, rehearsing for his role as Robin Hood in a local play, and playing a bad guy/zombie in the sequel to Zombie Apocalypse (currently being filmed)
2) Gideon -- everything he usually does, plus one of the survivors in the movie Zombie Apocalypse 2...between Gideon's & Rich's scenes, we are onset quite a bit
3) Myself -- receiving new zombie books every week to review...quite appropriate all things considered
Thank goodness things will slow down before Halloween...or so we hope...
Later,
Ursula
Chihuly Has New Art Book Series
Read about a local exhibition, the artist & his books, here.
July/August Issue of THIS
The new issue is available at http://www.thiszine.org/ which includes my review of a new historical fiction book set in the South Dakota Badlands in 1917.
My Masthead at THIS Blog
Rockford's Summer Celebration
Rockford, Michigan, is having its annual carnival & related festivities this weekend. For a schedule of events, check out http://www.therockfordnetwork.com/start-of-summer.php
Lots of kiddie rides (as well as some adrenaline rides for the bigger kids), and no child will go away from the game booths empty-handed: prizes are guaranteed!
Later,
Ursula
