I’m counting down to the day that I will deactivate this blog.  Yes, after all the hard work that got put into this baby, it will no longer be.  But it costs money and so I must bid it adieu.  When, you ask?  No set date yet, but as soon as hubby gets his shit together and points the karmelajohnson.com name over there, it’s a done deal.  Where?  Here. I’ve been test-blogging over there for about a month now, tweaking the design and basically pouring my heart out.  Come join.

T-minus three days:

And T-minus too goddamned long:

Is anybody else reading the riveting story of Chandra Levy’s disappearance?  The Washington Post is rehashing the whole sad, sordid tale, years later, from fresh new angles and a whole new light.  Turns out the congressman she was having an affair with had nothing to do with her disappearance, and that wonders of wonders, her murder might have been a random act of violence.  We’ll never know for sure, but that’s where the Post’s story is heading.  Check it out here if you wanna read it.

I’ve always been transfixed by investigative journalism, long winding pieces that explore the why moreso that the other four Ws and H.  Motivation is key, baby!  It’s what makes a story, fiction or nonfiction, absolutely riveting.  Historical figures come alive when we know that this person was guided his entire life by a desire to overcome a lifetime of poverty/abuse/neglect/lack of love/etc.  In fiction, protagonists are much more admirable and villains become more sympathetic when we know what drives their actions.  WHY is he doing what he’s doing?  What does he think he wants vs. what does he REALLY want?

Still working on my Fast Slow Draft.  Despite the fact that it’s against the rules, I had to go back and rewrite.  But it’s shaping up!  My heroine is so, so, so internally flawed.  I don’t think I’ve ever written a character that had so many fears, insecurities and misplaced prejudices.  But she also has tons of redeeming qualities.  Which...hmmm...I think I haven’t explored deeply enough.  I want to make her funny.  Problem is, if she’s funny, then *I* have to be funny.  Am I funny enough to have a funny heroine?

We’ll see.

Okay, here’s the soundtrack for The Novel Tentatively Titled Fast Draft (TNTTFD).  Fresh, young, hip, current if I do say so myself:

1. Control Me, Brad Walsh
2. Killa, Cherish (feat. Young Joc)
3. American Boy, Estelle (feat. Kanye
4. Forever, Chris Brown
5. Elevator, Flo Rida (feat. Timbaland)
6. Don’t Touch Me (Throw Da Water On ‘Em), Busta Rhymes
7. Whatever U Like, Nicole Scherzinger
8. Come and Get Me, Timbaland (feat. 50 Cent and Tony Yayo
9. Touch My Body, Mariah Carey
10. Shawty Get Loose, Lil Mama
11. How Do I Breathe, Mario
12. Closer, Ne-Yo

Hawt!  Totally burning a CD of this.

The closer we approach August, the more giddy I’m becoming.  You see, I’m a C.O.N:  A Certified Olympic Nut.  Sure I care about the medal count and the tallies, but I care more about the stories behind the athletes and the organizers.  I’m also really curious to see how Beijing will pull this off.  It’s hard being a politically repressive regime when a hundred thousand foreigners are coming to town, examining your every move.  When I was in Beijing back in 2000, they were already zealously prepping for the Olympics.  Buildings were going up and construction was already at a frenzy.  There were already draconian mandates against spitting on the streets and all manner of littering.  And they were working hard on cleaning up their air quality, which at the time was abysmal.

We’ve all heard about the small pockets of unrest going on there now, particularly the protests surrounding the demolished schools after the quake.  But the Chinese are anxious about presenting Good Face, and how can it go wrong when numerology-wise, it’s starting on the most auspicious date possible?  Yes, 08.08.08.  No number luckier than that.  Except perhaps 07.07.07.

A couple of good articles from the NYT are here and here.