There's too much stuff happening today, so let's see if I can hit them all:

1. "May the 4th Be With You"

Unofficially today is "Star Wars Day" so to all the Star Wars fans, happy May 4th. I have seen a lot of Star Wars resurgence on Tumblr and people coming out of the woodwork for Star Wars since the extended trailer hit. I guess 2015 is the year of Star Wars. (Sorry, Avengers/Marvel. But you're also owned by Disney. . . so maybe 2015 is the year of Disney?)

Anyway, Vanity Fair has the Star Wars gang on its cover. There's also a Behind-the-Scenes video that contains minor spoilers; so be on the look out for that, those that want to stay unspoiled. (I'm including myself in that gang. Speculation is fun and okay, but no ACTUAL! REALLY! TRULY! movie spoilers. Thanks.) Anyone else think Daisy Ridley is a dead-ringer for Natalie Portman? If she is not a Skywalker/Solo kid, I will go out and buy a hat and eat it.

ETA: Of course after I post this, the entire article appears online. There's minor spoilers about secondary characters. (I didn't read the article; so there may be spoilers in there, too.) But there are lots and lots of pictures!

2. Happy 86th Birthday, Audrey Hepburn


(GIF SOURCE)

I've been on an Old Hollywood/Turner Classics Movie kick as of late, and while I wouldn't consider myself a huge Audrey Hepburn fan, I do love her. Not solely because of her talent and acting career. (Though, if you've never seen Wait Until Dark, you must!) But she was a damn fine, caring and compassionate person. She's proof that beauty not only lies outside, but matters inside, too.

3. 129th Anniversary of The Haymarket Affair

So, I'm not going to lie: The first thing that comes to my mind whenever someone mentions "May 4th" is The Haymarket Affair. It's been on my mind lately--more so than how it relates to The Book--but because of the events in Baltimore right now. I'm not saying both cases are the same (even the strikers of 1886 didn't bother getting the under-served African American community involved). This is where I add another recommendation--Death in the Haymarket by James Green--and tell you that people with power have always, and will continue, to misuse that power until they are called out on it.

I salute all those in Baltimore who are peacefully protesting, who are bringing attention to the injustices in their city and around the entire country. I hope Freddie Gray and his family get the justice they deserved. And I hope the people that matter--the lawmakers, the civil rights protectors, the gatekeepers who can make the changes that are desperately needed--heed the words that the protestors are saying.

4. Nurses's Week

Some of you may know that my mom is a nurse. (She works in Maternity, FTR.) Nurses are severely under-appreciated and over-worked. They are the busy bees that make a hospital run. So, go out and hug and thank a nurse this week.

5. One month until Hannibal premieres

It knows why it's last on my list of things today.

The title sounds more dramatic than it really was; but after standing outside the venue for 2 hours in below-freezing temperatures, once again standing next to a drunk guy who almost picked a fight with a guy near my brother, before being escorted out by security, during the show, and limping my way back to the "L" station in the middle of the night to get home (not to mention not feeling well leading up to the concert and thinking I'd have to miss it altogether) getting through the concert unscathed is a huge accomplishment. Like the previous Emilie Autumn concert I'd been to, everything about it was awesome. Standing in line--though we were freezing--with the very nice fans (or Plague Rats/Muffins) made the chilly wait almost bearable. All the "teasing" starts that started with loud cheers, only to devolve into nervous laughter, made the anticipation more electrifying. Singing the first verse of "Thank God I'm Pretty" as Emilie played the harpsichord reminded me of last time when we all sang "My Fair-Weathered Friend" together.

( A long, slightly rambling discussion about the concert and inspiration )

The title pretty much says it all.

The concert: Awesome. The fans: Awesome*. The Bloody Crumpets: Awesome. Emilie Autumn herself: Awesome, and totally adorable, funny, and talented. I wish I could share it all with you guys; but (of course) my camera decided to die right before the show started (I swear I had just changed the batteries too), and my brother's cell phone kept taking blurry-ass photos. (*Minus the guy who kept shouting at the end of every song.)

Full disclosure: This was my first concert ever. That said, it's going to take something special to top it. ( Read more )

I want winter to be over. SERIOUSLY. What the hell happened to my mild winter? What the hell changed between September to now that everyone who said we would have a mild winter is now saying this is going to be a record breaking winter? I feel like it's snowed more than last year--not that we've accumulated more snow, but that the frequency with which it's snowed it more. Every week it's like there's a new snow storm, and today we're preparing for SNOWPOCALYPSE 2011.

Here are the stats: from 3pm today to 3pm tomorrow, we are waiting for a blizzard promising to bring anywhere from a foot to two feet of snow. (At this point, all the weather people are trying to out-inch each other. Some asshole quoted 31 inches earlier this morning.) With the snow, we've been warned about 20 - 30 mph winds, which would cause a whiteout effect. For all those blessedly ignorant towards snow, a whiteout means you can't even see the tip of your nose--the wind is blowing the snow that hard. Everyone is being warned not to drive at all once this storm hits. My mother even packed a bag in case it's so bad she has to stay at work. (She works at a hospital...so there could be worse places to be stuck at.) Currently, we have a couple inches from last night and it's a bit windy. It's like the amuse-bouche before the main course...OF WINTERY HELL. At least there aren't any reports of an ice storm. I'd take snow over ice, let me tell you guys.

Remember the winter storm that freaked out everyone in the South a few weeks ago? That's how it is here. There is actually panic in the Chicago streets. My mom called yesterday in a panic, wanting to know if there was anything we needed from the store. (She didn't end up going because, hello, she went grocery shopping THE DAY BEFORE. Panicking, I say!) Even the weathermen from New York City have flocked across the Mississippi because they want to see a real storm. (One inch my ass, New York City.) Oh, you'd think we, being Midwesterners, would be prepared for a snowpocalypse. That we would shrug and say, "Eh, must be Tuesday." But two feet of snow is two feet of snow no matter where you are. That's a buttload of snow that needs to be shoveled off driveways and roads. And since most of it (18 inches they're saying) is supposed to come between 9pm tonight till 3pm tomorrow, there is no way in hell to keep up with it unless you stay up all night. Given that it's 7:30 am right now, I will not be staying up all night.

So, that's what we're waiting for here in Chicago. As long as the internet doesn't go out, I'll probably post updates, starting when SNOWPOCALYPSE 2011 hits. I'm going to hunker down with Jane Eyre. (Rhoda, you'll be happy to know it's taken me four days just to get 2/3 of the way through the book.)

1:00pm Update: Finished reading Jane Eyre, watched the trailer for the upcoming movie (mmmmm, Michael Fassbender), and we have flurries.

2:45pm: Howling wind? Check. Persistent snowfall? Check. Undrivable conditions? Check. SNOWPOCALYPSE 2011 is upon us!

8:45pm: So, Mom took her crazy pills and drove home...in 0% visibility. Apparently she passed quite a few cars in ditches/abandoned in the street. (I'm so glad I'm not working at the mall anymore. I'd probably be stuck there, fighting off zombified snowmen a la Dawn of the Dead.) Also, we're entering the worst part of the storm where it's going to snow continuously till 6am, dumping one-two inches of snow per hour. ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!

10pm: Aaaaaand...now we have lightening to go along with our snow. Lightening!

What did I do all day yesterday and again at 7 o'clock in the morning today, and wish to never do again? That's right, shovel snow!

The big, bad winter storm hit us in Chicago during the wee hours of the morning yesterday and continuously-with-a-capital-C snowed for 24 hours. According to Tom Skilling, our faithful weather man, we received 12 inches of snow. The mounds at the end of our driveway beg to differ. The trick to dealing with continuous snowfall is to stay on top of the shoveling so you don't have 12 inches of snow to shovel all at once. My mother and I, every couple of hours, trudged outside and shoveled the snow like it was manure. Dear readers, I wish I was shoveling manure, because there is no way a freakin' cow could dump enough feces in two hours to match what was just cleared off the driveway. I am over winter.

It stopped snowing a few hours ago allowing me to clear off the dandruff from above. (Seriously, the angels/the big guy upstairs need to invest in some Head and Shoulders.) Unfortunately, because of the below freezing temperatures, there is a nice coating of frozen snow I could not lift up. The perfectionist I am, I don't care anymore. Besides, the mounds of snow were mocking me, and threatening to avalanche. I was given no other option but retreat.

Because of the snow, the earth in Illinois decided to shake it off earthquake-style--as one normally does in this sort of situation. We bypassed it here in Cook County. The 3.8 quake happened in DeKalb, a couple counties over. Trust me, if it did hit here, I would not be wasting my time in writing this post when I have suitcases to pack and flee Illinois. There was no serious damage from what I hear, just a jolt of shaking that awoke the DeKalbians at 4 o'clock in the morning. Again, I'm glad it avoided Cook County because I would be the one to panic and gather up all the cats and bunker down in a doorway. I panic at tornado warnings, even though I've never experienced one. Micro burst, yes. On a school bus, no less, when I was in middle school; and then our bus driver dropped us off at the neighborhood entrance that was littered with tree branches (I am not kidding), told us good luck, which was followed by my next door neighbor having the bright idea to terrify us thirteen-year-olds as we walked to our respective houses with the information that micro bursts happened in pairs, so we best be getting home before another one hit, which would most likely throw us off the street and into a tree. Thanks for that, Mr. B. But I digress.

I am slowly editing through my WIP. I completed a chronological read-through last weekend, which includes me taking notes to document where plot holes have formed (there is a major one I just plugged up) and places where things need to be added (I speak good technical words). My goal is to add another 10,000 to bring the word count up to 80,000. Okay, I don't want to insert 10,000 words of crap--I just know there are places where I can fill it out more. So, the maximum I want to add is 10,000 words. I've already added 1,000--9,000 more to go!

Fingers crossed I can have this manuscript finished by the beginning of March. I am itching to start my next project. Query Hell...not so much.