Trying Too Hard

I really truly do not want to sound like an old fart. But Miley? On last night's American Music Awards?

 Trying WAY too hard. Way too hard.

I get the imagery, symbolism, all the other attempts at artistic representation. The other words for "cat", the fact that it sticks out its tongue, the message she's trying to send to the "establishment", all of it.

But.

Seriously. If you have to go to such extreme lengths to make a point or get attention, isn't something off?  

I know, I've already Tweeted and Facebooked this, but I figured I'd make the trifecta with a post since I've neglected the blog so long.

What I was thinking as I watched the winking Universe kitty was, first of all, the song itself (Wrecking Ball) is decent and fun, sort of anthem-y, and Miley's voice is so strong, why did she want to distract from that power she held all by herself?

And I was also thinking, this is exactly the problem I am having with the first line of my WIP.

I am trying too hard.

But I feel driven, because my first line is really humdrum. I mean, REALLY. The definition of "meh".
And I just haven't been able to come up with anything better.
And I want to send out a new query.
So last week, I took a terrific query writing Webinar (WD : Beyond the Query, with Jennifer Laughran, whose blog is linked on my sidebar) and got some great advice for query writing. So THIS week, armed with a freshly edited query letter and some new (good, I think) edits on the first 10 pages, I am back in the first line trenches.
Argh.

But it's still just dogging me, and I write a new one a day, which a little crazy. (!!!).

Maybe I just need to let it sit, marinate, and stop trying to wink at the universe.  
Yah, right.
I'm too hyper to meditate on it for long, but Miley does give me pause (paws) .....  (sorry, couldn't help it)