Making eye contact.

I've always been pretty oblivious of other people when I'm out in public.   There are so many times where I can recall being out at the mall or somewhere with friends and having them say stuff like (for example!), "Hey, did you see that guy who was checking you out?"

And my response was always, "Guy?"

Because if there was any guy around, I sure didn't notice him.

I did some things this past weekend that were outside of my comfort zone.  And one of those was looking people in the eyes.  Holding their gaze.  Sometimes, it hurt  to do it because there is so much to see.   And because I was perhaps afraid of what they were seeing.  But then, it started to feel (mostly) natural.

Today, without making a conscious effort, without even thinking about it, I looked my bus driver in the eyes and said, "Thank you" as I got off the bus.  I don't do this ever.  In fact, I often choose to exit from the rear doors because the idea of having to look at the bus driver makes me panic.  At the same time, the idea of ignoring the bus driver makes me feel rude.  When I do have to exit from the front, I'll often look past the driver or maybe watch the floor as I mumble, "Thanks."  Then I step off as quickly as possible. 

And so, every time I ride the bus, I experience a minimum of thirty seconds of anxiety.  Not today, though.  It was freeing in an unexpected way. 

After that, as I walked through the bus tunnel and up the street to my office, I looked people in the eyes.  The homeless woman who is always standing in that same place.  The other downtown workers headed my way to get to their own offices.  For some, it was only a quick look.  For others, we held the gaze until we were passing each other. 

By the time I'd made it those few blocks, I'd seen into dozens of pairs of eyes. 

There were tears in mine. 

For the first time in my life, I saw people.

HTML!

I'm trying to change the color of the text for the bio in my profile.  I've forgotten how to do it!  I found the color HEX I want to use, but I don't know how to format from there!  And doing it up in a Rich text entry, switching to HTML, and then c&p'ing it all into that box in the "Edit Profile" does not seem to work. Help!

Oh, my!

I'm kind of calmly freaking out.  Got this email from my agent:

Hey Mindi,

  Two quick questions:

a)     Can I get a bio of you? I forgot to ask for one before we went out!

b)     Here’s a strange question from a publisher. I gave my answer but wanted to check in and see what yours was: “What do you and Mindi consider the hook that makes this novel special, aside from the voice and writing?”

   Talk soon!

So, I read this and ran outside to take the garbage out in my pajamas because my husband left me a message saying he forgot.  When I came back in, I started getting dressed, then read the email again so I can ponder and try to write something up while I'm on the bus.  (I have to leave for work in about ten minutes.  Yes, I'm sitting here in my bra, typing this when I really need to go!)

Then, I absently scrolled down further on my computer screen.  And noticed this beneath the message I'd read:

Hi Jim,

I just wanted to let you know that I fell in love with Mindi Scott's novel virtually from page 1.  I presented it to my publisher for acquisition, and while I highlighted all the amazing reasons to acquire, she wanted a "hook."  Now, coming from Alloy (and being the creator of Gossip Girl), I should have no problem with hooks.  But I am stuck.  Can you help?   What do you and Mindi consider the hook that makes this novel special, aside from the voice and writing?  I know this is Mindi's debut novel--is there something compelling about her we can use to help sell this to Sourcebooks?  I want to acquire this book!!

I realize this plea for help is somewhat unorthodox, but Publishing is made for rule-breaking.

And thus, my bio and answers for the hook are suddenly even more important than I realized!  Holy crap.

*runs away to finish getting dressed*

HSM.

It all started last November.  My husband and I had checked out of our condo in Hawaii, and still had a few hours to kill before catching our flight home.  We stopped at the movie theatre and decided to watch whatever was coming on soonest.  MAX PAYNE had just started, so we paid and rushed into the theatre that the usher guy pointed to.  As we took our seats, a bizarre scene with young people singing and dancing at a basketball game unfolded before us.

"I think this is the wrong movie," I said.

I was right. 

We busted out of there in a dazed state seconds later, and saw on the sign above that HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 was playing in the theatre we'd just come from.  The movie we'd paid for was the next one over. 

After sitting through MAX PAYNE, we joked that we'd made the wrong choice and should have stayed for HSM3.  We started saying we need to have an HSM marathon.  Ha ha ha!  But somewhere along the way, we forgot that we were joking.

So, this weekend, it happened! 

I have a lot of opinions of this franchise... not all of them bad.  (But seriously, what is UP with Sharpay always having a change of heart from her villainous ways at the end?!!!)  I have to say, there are so many incredibly cheese-tastic moments throughout.  But some of those were the moments I adored the most!  I absolutely love any scene with sports equipment used for synchronized dance.  LOVE IT.   I'm a big fan of "Get'cha Head in the Game" from #1, "I Don't Dance" from #2, and "The Boys are Back" from #3.

What do those have in common?  Boys dancing around with sports equipment (and car parts) being (mostly) unintentially hilarious!  I laughed and laughed until my stomach hurt and yelled, "Awesome!" so many times during those numbers.

Favorite character:  Troy (Zac Efron), of course.  Second fave is Ryan.
Least favorite character:  Gabriella.  Sorry.  She's so bland.

I suspect I won't watch these movies again, and I could never abide having the soundtracks.  But I might get those three aforementioned songs.  Especially "I Don't Dance."  I'll do anything (aside from watching the film again) to keep the memory with me of those boys singing at each other on the baseball field!

DRASTIC MEASURES!

I need to make a playlist statim. 

And so I shall brave using the old laptop I gave to my husband (because I hate it and the slowness it represents).  I will access iTunes.  I will do this thang.

Oh, sigh.

(FYI:  I know that there will be no Staind on this playlist.  Nor will there be Social Distortion.  Those are the only things I know so far.)