Dust Bowl and Thor: The Dark World

Still trucking along on my Dust Bowl novel which I am now tentatively calling "The Summer of August Hunt" because it sounds 'oh, so official' and literary.  I might change it eventually to something to do with dreams since that is a theme and actual 'thing' in the novel, but for now it's SoAH.  I think I actually know how I want the novel to end which is awesome because it's a good rule of thumb to know what you will write before FADE OUT before you ever write FADE IN (screenplay writing advice from eons ago).

We found out about workshop groups today via an email sent out from the director of the MFA program.  I'm in a small group of six (including me) and I'm very excited because I will get to have Steve Huff in one workshop and Randall Kenan in the other!  I've never worked with Randall before but have wanted to for a long time.  This is going to be fantastic.  For both workshops, I plan to send in chapters of SoAH and keep the Death Man out of the lime light for a little bit.  I want to work on that novel pretty hard core right after the residency as well as pump out my critical thesis as fast as humanly possible.  I'm going to finish up my ideas for Sterling to look over in the next day or so and then start making book lists for both ideas.  I want to be rocking and rolling by the time I leave Boston.

In other news, Hannah and I had a date day today.  We went to see Thor: The Dark World.  It was supremely kick ass and much better on all fronts than the first Thor.  (Except Anthony Hopkins.  I do love this actor, don't get me wrong, but his performance or 'presence' was just as uninspiring as it was in the first).  And I do love Kenneth Branagh, but his milk toast version of Thor was more of a bedtime story than an action packed smack down.  In this sequel they got a better director.  Much better.  Alan Taylor did a kick ass job of piecing together amazing cinematography, special effects, and witty banter.  The side characters have a much more integral and interesting part to play and the music - OH! the music! - it was wonderful and memorable and not a soft underlying backdrop. This time the music was a character and I loved it. Thank you Brian Tyler! Other things I liked (and some people might consider these things to be spoilers): jocular nudity of a male character, dismemberment, Mjonir's scenic route through New York, boy-saves-girl-girl-dips-boy-and-kisses, and the merriment of chasing birds outside your own dimension.  Oh, and Loki gets into Captain America's pants.  Now go see it!