Keeping the Reader in the Story

I did a book reading marathon this weekend, reading six books in three days and kind of a theme that followed (in hindsight, that is) was, keeping the reader in the story...what pulls you out.

Okay, so let me say upfront that I liked all the books but there were a couple of things that pulled me out of the story.

First I read Nancy Block's Once Upon a Pirate:

Here's what got to me with this book...The heroine falls through a hole in her home onto a pirate ship. She looks up to see the pirate and he has dark (black) chest hair with a little gray.

Anything jump out at you yet? The hero on the cover of the book has ZERO chest hair. None, zip, nada. Yet in the book it's referenced a number of times and the heroine enjoys running her hands through his chest hair.

Now, I know it's not at all the author's fault but every time there was a reference to his chest hair, I flipped over to the cover. Drove me nuts and pulled me out of the story.

Other than that, it was a fun time-travel book. (Think seasick pirate. ;o) )


Next I read Linda Barrett's Reluctant Housemates.

The issue I had with this book also had to do with the cover. The heroine in the story had short hair...as short as the hero's hair. Yet on the cover, the heroine's hair is down her back. Again, not the author's fault but it was a distraction. Other than that, I absolutely loved this book, as I have all of them in this series.


Next I read Debra Clopton's And Baby Makes Five:


This was my first ever Inspirational book. I met Debra at the airport in Houston, waiting to catch our flight to Atlanta. She was a very sweet woman with a distinct accent (and as such I heard every single one of her characters with that same accent).

My "problem" with this story was that, the book starts off with a pregnant, unmarried heroine - and no explanation. It shocked me, being that it was an inspirational book. You're well into the book before it is explained that she was married but her husband, not interested in being a father, left her as soon as he found out she was pregnant. Other than that, I really liked the book. Samantha was my favorite character. :o)


After that I read Shane Bolks' Reality TV Bites:

Only complaint was a secondary character, Rory. Shane's book, The Good The Bad and the Ugly Men I've Dated was not a favorite of mine (even though it was up for a Rita this year for best first book) because Rory was soooooooooo into Star Wars and I'm so not. She would make comments that would only make sense if you were a Star Wars fan and so I didn't get a lot of that book. So, having her in this book doing the same thing annoyed the heck out of me. Thankfully she wasn't in the book much. This was a fun book to read and I enjoyed it.


Next, I read Emily McKay's Surrogate and Wife:


The heroine looks very young on the cover. In the story she's a judge...who's afraid of losing her job because she's pregnant and unmarried. I might not have been bothered at all, if she didn't have the job/profession she did. Other than that, I really liked the book. I liked the way they built the relationship. Good book.


And lastly, I read Erica Spindler's Cause for Alarm:

Only beef was I couldn't read it fast enough. I love her books!


As I said, I enjoyed all the books but sometimes little things can stand out.

So, what sort of things pull you out of the story when you're reading a book?

New Favorite Book of All Time

Several years ago, in a Dallas airport, as I waited for my connecting flight, I read a couple of chapters of John Grisham's Skipping Christmas. I was reading a particular scene that tickled my funnybone immensely. I was in a public place and I couldn't stop laughing to save my life (seriously, I couldn't). Finally, after about five minutes of uninterrupted hysterical laughing, someone came up to me and said, "Excuse me. What are you reading?" Unable to stop laughing, I flashed the cover at them. Of course, John Grisham doesn't normally write funny books but this wasn't your typical Grisham book - it wasn't even remotely a thriller - so they just looked funny at me. When I continued to laugh, they commented that they might have to read it, since it was so funny.

The Red Hat Club Rides Again had me laughing so hard my sides hurt and tears were streaming down my face. And it wasn't just for one or two scenes. About eighty percent of the book had me laughing that hard (and Honey, if you're reading this, I did a LOT of snorting-laughing with this book). The other twenty percent of the book tugged at the heart strings though. It was a very touching book about friendships and loving your friends, no matter what. Friends for more than thirty years, these six women have been through it all together. Marriage, divorce, death, cancer, drug and alcohol addictions, and they are there for each other - no matter what (it's one of the "traditions"). And even though the women are in their fifties, the humor is ageless. The things happening are not age specific and could happen to anyone in their twenties or thirties or forties. It's a story about life and love.

If I had been reading this book in the Dallas airport, instead of Skipping Christmas, no doubt security would have been called in to subdue me.

The Red Hat Club Rides Again was such a fun read - I couldn't put it down. I can't recommend it highly enough. If you get an opportunity to read this book - DO IT! You won't regret it!

Meanwhile, this book whore has already ordered The Red Hat Club (Rides Again is the sequel), even though I still have a gazillion more books from Atlanta that I've not yet read. And I don't bear even the slightest regret or guilt. ;o)

Vamps

I picked up an autographed copy of Vamps and the City while in Atlanta and sat down today to read the follow up of How to Marry A Millionaire Vampire (which I made comments about here). I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending to How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire but Vamps and the City addressed the issues I was frustrated with. My frustration might compare to watching The Wizard of Oz and at the end when the good witch tells Dorothy she's always had the power to go home, if they stopped the movie there and rolled the credits. You'd be wondering "did Dorothy figure out what to do? Did someone tell her? Did she make it home? What happened?"

Of course, having the "wrap-up" in another book would be like later telling the Scarecrow's story and, indirectly, letting the reader know that Dorothy made it home okay - and how.

But it was done in Vamps and the City without being intrusive into this story. I really liked this book. Even Gregori "I'm too sexy for my fangs" was in it and still as adorable as ever. :o)

Now for the blurb:

Who says a vamp can't have it all?

Darcy Newhart thought it was a stroke of genius -- the first-ever reality TV show where mortals vie with vampires for the title of The Sexiest Man on EArth. As the show's director, Darcy's career would be on track again. And she can finally have a life apart from the vampire harem. Okay, so she's still technically dead, but tow out of three's not bad. Now she just has to make sure that a mortal doesn't win. If only she wasn't so distracted by a super-sexy and live contestant named Austin...

But Darcy doesn't know the worst of it. Austin Erickson is actually a vampire slayer! And he's got his eye on the show's leggy blond director. Only problem is, he's never wanted any woman--living or dead--as badly. But if he wins her heart, will he lose his soul? And if it means an eternity of hot, passionate loving with Darcy, does that really matter anyway?

15 Things I learned in Atlanta

15. Burger King does not sell alcohol (okay, I knew that going in but apparently the other parties in the car didn't)

14. You can be a multi-published, big name author and still be a nice person

13. You can be an unpublished nobody and still be a snot

12. The fact that there are plenty of free books for everyone doesn't mean you won't get trampled as you head for the one book you don't have (apologies to all I may have hurt in my endeavors)

11. One can never have too many books

10. No amount of perfume will cover up the fact that you haven't bathed in four days

9. Not all perfume smells good

8. If the elevator doors open, regardless of the direction it's going, if it has room for you to get in, GET ON THE ELEVATOR

7. Pressing up against the elevator panel can result in your ass pressing the emergency button

6. Your ass pressing the emergency button will result in the elevator stopping, doors opening and an alarm to sound

5. Someone can attend ONE workshop and determine that the whole conference sucks

4. Everyone else can attend the same workshop and think it was the best workshop offered

3. You can learn a lot by hanging out in the bar (some would say this just applies to RWA Conferences but I may have to do some "research" before I reach a determination on that point ;o) )

2. One not used to wearing a cell phone on their hip can freak out the first time it vibrates, assuming they're dying (they'll later pay people to call them but that's another story)

And the number one thing I learned in Atlanta.....

1. Tiara or no tiara, Melissa Francis is one of the warmest, most genuine people you can hope to meet (even though she called me a bitch and told me she hated me...I know she really she loves me)

Hungry Dogs

I came home from Atlanta to an empty kitchen. And by empty I mean no food. So I stopped by the grocery store after work yesterday to restock my kitchen.

Among the items I bought were my muffins. I have a 5-point muffin every morning. I love those muffins. I look forward to those muffins. I dream about those muffins. They are what keep me going.

Did I mention that my dogs love those muffins too? I'm sometimes bad about putting away my groceries though. I'll put away what absolutely HAS to be put away and then leave the rest for later. But I've learned that certain things (like my muffins) need to be put WAY out of reach of my dogs, otherwise they "disappear" in the night. (Literally!)

Well, last night was a lazy night and I only put away what HAD to be put away and totally forgot about the muffins.....totally! So when I got up this morning, looking forward to having a muffin, they're gone.

My dogs were dancing at my feet, waiting for their morning treat, and I'm digging through the bags looking for my muffins (and cussing because I know I'm not going to find them - at least not inside the house).

I went outside (I have a doggy door for my dogs, in case you didn't know) and sure enough, there were the remains of my muffins. While I was asleep, my dogs drug the muffins outside and ate them. Thus proving the saying, "You snooze, you lose." *sigh*


Okay, I just remembered that the books I shipped home were there when I got home last night with my groceries. I was so excited and now that I really think about it, I'm probably very lucky that my WW ice cream isn't melted all over my kitchen floor. So, my apologies to my dogs for all the bad names I was calling them...it's really more my fault than theirs. But dang, I really wanted my muffin this morning. :(

Excuse me, Adult Beverage Please?

Go here for the scoop on Mel and SEP (Mel admitted it and there were witnesses).

Okay, with that out the way...

After several weather-related flight delays, I made it to Atlanta about 5:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. My roommate had rented a car and we'd picked up another chaptermate at the airport so there were three of us headed to the hotel. JoAnne (the other chaptermate) had asked if we could stop by a liquor store to get her some alcohol (to help her sleep...at least that was the "official" story). We said we would.

Meanwhile, a friend of mine was scheduled to have surgery on Wednesday and I hadn't gotten to talk to her Monday so I was trying to call her all morning Tuesday (while we waited for the danged plane!) without success. So Tuesday, as we're headed to the hotel, I finally reach her and I'm telling her about the events of the morning when the car I'm in pulls into a shopping strip parking lot. I assume we've found a liquor store but instead we pull into the drive thru of a McDonald's or Burger King or something, anyway... They pull up and order two cokes (I'd said I didn't want anything), which is fine but I was a little confused - didn't we want alcohol??? But I was on the phone, so I said nothing. These women pull up to the window and say - I swear this is what they said - "Do you know where we can get some alcohol?"

I wish I could have gotten a picture of the poor girl's face when they asked for liquor at a drive thru window! Poor girl probably thought I was on the phone trying to score some drugs from my dealer. Seriously, what kind of lush thinks they can get alcohol at a drive thru? LOL

Probably not the best impression to make in a new city. Welcome to Atlanta!

Oh, and we never did find the alcohol. *sigh*

What a dork am I

I probably shouldn’t admit this but I may be the only person (female in particular) on the planet who cannot identify Hugh Jackman. I know he’s a popular actor but I don’t know who he is (know the name though), and don’t know that I’ve ever seen a movie he’s been in. And, you know, I’m okay with that. (Even now.)

So when they did a clip from his movie Paperback Hero (thanks to Blogging National for that info) at the awards ceremony Saturday night, I thought it was a "staged" thing. THEN, when the women on either side of me say, "Ohmigod, that’s Hugh Jackman!" I, having never seen Paperback Hero and not realizing it’s a clip from a movie, jump to the conclusion that RWA has hired Mr. Jackman for this little performance. Seriously, that is what I was thinking as I watched that. I’m thinking they opened the purse strings and shelled out for a spot with Hugh Jackman. I’m that stupid.

It wasn’t until they started showing clips from other movies (that I knew) that I realized what they were doing and that the clip with THE Hugh Jackman was probably from an actual movie. And now, all I can think is I want to see that movie.

I’m such a dork.

~L

RWA National

Well, I made it home, safe and sound (so did the boys).

I would post pictures but the only one I have on my camera was of my roommate in bed (I was testing the camera to see if I remembered how to use it), and while she doesn't know this blog exists (few do), I don't think she would appreciate me posting that picture. HOWEVER, she took a bunch of pictures for (and of) me that she said she would email to me so I will be posting some in the near future.

As for National, suffice it to say, I had a wonderful time. If I can be perfectly candid (and who's going to stop me?), I was considering leaving RWA altogether. It's not that I've been depressed or discouraged but more dispassionate about writing and my membership dues are due at the end of this month. But a week or so ago, Claire Cross/Delacroix posted a blog entry that made me want to stay in RWA (and I renewed my membership a day or two before I left to go to Atlanta). And National got me motivated again.

But here's the deal...it wasn't a workshop I went to that did it. No. Thursday night (during Moonlight Madness) my roommate and I went to the bar and got a table (and if you were in Atlanta, you know that was no small feat). It was a large table and only the two of us sitting at it. We saw these two women looking for a place to sit down and told them we had room at our table - and they joined us. They were both published authors (Nancy Block and Sharon Schulze). They could not have been more open and giving of their time and knowledge. We visited until well after midnight (missing the entire MM, which we'd planned on going to...well, we had stopped by when it opened but it was way too busy to stay then, which is why we went to the bar, so technically, it was that we never made it back to MM...if you want to be technical). By the end of the night, I had a renewed desire to write and felt like I'd made two new friends (we saw them several times more during the conference and Nancy and I even have a "challenge" going about writing - it was so cool!). For me, that was the best thing of the conference - bar none. And, not that I have a problem or anything (I came home with thirty pounds of books, not to mention I shipped another thirty pounds of books home.), but the first thing I did when I got home was order Nancy's book - and I can't wait for it to arrive so I can read it.

But enough about that...tomorrow (or one day soon), I'll tell you about being witness to Mel making Susan Elizabeth Phillips cry.

Until then.....

~L

Do you see what I see?

So, yesterday I went to my Weight Watchers meeting like I do every Tuesday. I usually wear the same thing each week. I have two shirts that the only difference is the color (although one fits looser) and I usually alternate those with my pants. The shirt has a light jacket that I remove for the weigh in (the white one, I know for a fact, weighs .6 of a pound).

Yesterday I wore a dress instead of my usual weigh in outfit (it's a laundry issue...totally forgot..anyway...). I'm going to try to describe the dress so that you know what I was dealing with. The dress is in two pieces. The "skirt" portion of the dress is like a full dress except that the top portion of the "dress" is not intended for viewing by the general public...it just holds the "skirt" portion up. It's not obscene or anything but the top half of the skirt portion is definitely "under" wear. Then there is the top portion of the outfit. It has a button down shirt with delicate buttons (it's a very nice outfit - very professional looking) on the front. This portion of the outfit is necessary...repeat, necessary! Hopefully that gives you an idea of what it looks like?

So anyway I walk into Weight Watchers wearing this. I had been bad most of the week and I was feeling particularly "fat" when I went into the meeting but I'm a believer in weighing in anyway (particularly since I won't be able to next week...vacation and all), not to mention I didn't want three weeks to go by with no weigh in. So I step up to the scale and tell the person (Betty Jo) "don't look yet...let me see first."

Betty Jo graciously accommodated me. And I stepped on the scale. I'd figured I'd gone up in weight but it was slightly more than I'd hoped (I won't say expected because I was pretty bad last week) and I gasped. Betty Jo immediately suggested I might want to take off the "shirt" portion of my outfit (assuming it was two-piece, which, as I mentioned, it is) to weigh.

I really was surprised by this because when I've suggested it (jokingly) in the past, she shot the idea down.

There were only three of us in the room at the time and she got up to close the doors and she and the other woman stood in front of the door windows (yes, the doors have windows in them) so that no one would see me "stripping" to weigh in. Then, for some reason still unknown to me, I took the shirt off and weighed (it also weighs .6 of a pound, in case you were wondering).

The second I stepped off the scale the two women stepped away from the door windows. Now you may have noticed that I didn't say I'd put the shirt back on...because I hadn't. I'm still standing there "exposed" when they stepped away from the windows. I'm mentioning this fact when someone swings one of the doors open wide and comes in.

Of course, I'm freaking out, frantically trying to get dressed before anyone else walks in (or by) because stripping at work is just not my thing.

At that point I hadn't decided if I was going to stay for the actual meeting but they talked me into it so I went up to get my lunch. I stood in the coffee bar visiting with several people (telling a couple about being "naked" in the conference room with the door flying open lol) as my lunch heated up. I go back to the meeting, sit through it and then go back to my office and work.

A couple of hours had passed and I had talked with a number of people. Gotten up and done things, had people come in my office, etc. And then I had to go to the Ladies Room.

I do my thing and am washing my hands, looking in the mirror when I realize...I'm not properly buttoned up!!! In my rush to get dressed I'd missed buttoned myself. And no one told me.

And this, my friends, is why I have the policy of no stripping at work.

Dentists vs. Housekeepers

It's official. I've given in. I'm hiring a housekeeper to come clean my house this weekend. The dust bunnies have dust bunnies and it's time some serious attention is given to it - and I don't want to do it so I've called in the experts.

But here's the deal...I'm sitting in my living room thinking "can I let them see my living room like this? maybe I should pick up a little." Then I go into the bedroom and think "there's two inches of dust on the dresser, maybe I should just dust a little." Bathroom "I really use it when it looks like this??? I can't let anyone else see it like this...I'll just scrub the toilet...and the bathtub...and the floor."

Then I think, "why am I going to pay them to clean my house if I'm going to clean it first?" That is, after all, why I'm hiring them. Right?

So I did an informal poll at work, asking people if they had someone come out to clean their house, would they "clean" before the housekeepers got there?

The majority said no, that that is why you were paying them. It was their job to clean - don't do it for them.

One person started giving me a lecture on that point so finally I looked at her and said, "Okay then. Answer me this. Do you brush your teeth before you go to the dentist?"

She looked at me like I'd grown a third breast or something and said, "Yes. Of course!"

"Why?" I asked. "Aren't you paying him to clean your teeth? Doesn't that mean you're doing his job for him?"

Funny, she didn't have a quick comeback for that.

Great Summer Read - FINALLY OUT!

Sandra K. Moore has a knack for continually upping the level of suspense, and with Dead Reckoning, she delivers more than promised. I highly recommend Dead Reckoning.

Chris Hampton was used to bailing her younger sister out of tight spots, but discovering Natalie needed rescuing from her abusive, drug-smuggling husband, was definitely new territory.

Reluctantly, Chris accepts help from DEA Special Agents "Smitty" and Connor. They set out on her 70-foot motor yacht, Obsession, to take advantage of a two-day window of opportunity before Natalie leaves her husband’s private, highly guarded, island. Chris has no room for navigational error.

The stakes go even higher when she finds strange equipment concealed onboard Obsession, and discovers that someone is stalking her, believing she’s hiding a stolen fortune.

Despite her best efforts to stay focused, Chris finds herself responding to the advances of both agents. But after an "accident" in the engine room nearly costs Chris her life and the discovery of a dead body in the salon, Chris realizes that someone on her boat will do anything to stop her.

Torn, Chris doesn’t know who to trust. She’s drawn to Connor, but fears he is trying to seduce her merely to distract her from her purpose. And is Smitty really suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, as he claims, or is he pretending in order to further his own deadly agenda?

I thoroughly enjoyed Dead Reckoning. The flow was fast paced, and I was drawn in from page one. I was there with Chris, sharing her love of boating as she risks all to go after her sister. I suffered through her upheavals, doubts, and fears. And, I was there with her in the end when she is heart-wrenchingly forced to choose between the two things she loves most in the world.

Will Chris be able to survive and save her sister?

I'm too sexy for my fangs...

This is for Maria, who said she likes blogs about books. :-)

I just finished reading How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks. I'm not particularly drawn to vampire stories (I know they're hot right now but I don't feel the pull) so it's been easy to resist buying this one in the past.

That was until last Thursday when I went to dinner with a friend (and had a margarita) and then followed that up with a trip to the bookstore. I was happily shopping the aisles of books, telling stories of different authors (and no, the friend doesn't know I write) and books as we went. She said she wanted to find a book for her daughter-in-law who liked vampire stories so I pulled this one out for her, telling her it was a local author. She started reading the back cover as I walked away and then she started laughing. I wanted to know what she was laughing at but she was laughing too hard to tell me so I picked up another book and started reading the back cover myself.

Here's the back cover contents:

Nobody said love was perfect...

Roman Draganesti is charming, handsome, and rich...he's also a vampire. But this vampire just lost one of his fangs sinking his teeth into something he shouldn't have. Now he has one night to find a dentist before his natural healing abilities close the wound, leaving him a lop-sided eater for all eternity.

Things aren't going well for Shanna Whelan, either. After witnessing a gruesome murder, she's next on the mob's hit list. And her career as a dentist appears to be on a downward spiral because she's afraid of blood. When Roman rescues her from an assassination attempt, she wonders if she's found the one man who can keep her alive. Though the attraction between them is immediate and hot, can Shanna conquer her fear of blood to fix Roman's fang? And if she does, what will prevent Roman from using his fangs on her...?

My friend and I both bought the book. :-D

I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending, but overall, it was a fun read. Some seriously funny moments, including one where one vampire was singing "I'm too sexy for my cape, too sexy for my fangs. Too sexy!"

Blog Etiquette, Part II

Okay, so you get a blog...what is acceptable blog material? Is it better to keep the material superficial? Personal? Business oriented? Mix it up?

Blogging is a form of journaling but how personal should it get? For instance, I used to keep a journal but I only wrote when I had something really bothering me that I needed to get off my chest and I addressed my entries to God. Letters to my heavenly Father. I didn't write every day but when I did write, it was because something was bothering me. If anyone read that journal today I think I would come across as very troubled or angry because I was when the entries were written - and that's all they'd see. Nobody wants to read that.

If I blogged that way, well, I wouldn't keep reading a blog that was only venting frustrations so why would I think anyone else would? So, I try to keep the rants (hence the blog name ;-) ) to a minimum (they still get in there occasionally though).

But my question is, what kind of blog (if you have one) do you have (see list above ;-) )? And what kind of blogs do you enjoy more? What turns you off of a blog?

Again, inquiring minds want to know. ;-)

Blog Etiquette

Have you ever thought about your obligation to your blog audience?

Should you always respond to their comments?

And as a blog reader, what obligations are there? If you read the blog do you have to post a comment?

I was thinking about this because of a particular blog I frequent. I have no idea how large her audience is (I will say that I've seen her blog link on several author's blogs and she is published herself) but what I do know is that I'm typically the only person commenting on her blog. A lot of times I don't know what to say so I say nothing but when I can think of something, I post it because I know that seeing a lot of 0 comments can be discouraging and she has interesting, thought-provoking posts.

Well, she recently posted an entry asking all her readers to post a comment so she'd know they were out there. I immediately jumped up, raised my hand, said "I'm here" then posted a comment (because she couldn't "see" me jumping up, raising my hand, and oddly enough, she couldn't hear me either...weird how that works).

But here's the deal, every time I read her entries and post a comment, she responds....once. For example, I post a comment and she posts a reply. Her reply makes me think of something else, a comment, a question, whatever, and I post another comment. She never responds back to the second comment I make...NEVER - even when I am asking a follow up question - never. So if you see her blog she either has two comments or three comments...never four or more. Not that I'm complaining, I just find that a bit odd and that could just be me.

Anyway, not all that long ago a discussion was raised somewhere that bloggers should respond to their comments, otherwise the commentors will disappear, not feeling valued (which, for the record, I know I'm bad about NOT doing that but it has more to do with my own belief that I'm a topic killer than anything else - I really do appreciate the comments!). So my question is, when is it acceptable to cut off a dialogue with someone reading / commenting on your blog? Is there a magic number - if so, what is it? Do you feel you owe it to your "audience" to respond? Would you stop commenting if you didn't get a response from the blogger? Would you stop reading their blog altogether if they didn't respond?

I guess the real question (feel free to answer as few or as many as you like :-) ) is, do you have rules you follow when it comes to blogging? If so, what are those rules.

Inquiring minds want to know. :-)

The Devil Wears Prada

I just got home from seeing The Devil Wears Prada with Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. I loved it! Very Fun!

I've seen several interviews with the cast and have heard Meryl Streep say that it wasn't a fun movie to make. Not fun because, because of her role, she felt she had to maintain a distance from the rest of the cast and crew and to her, that is the best part of making a movie. (Cast members had even commented on it in their interviews.) But, the final result is she pulled off one wicked, bad-ass bitch on screen.

Anne Hathaway also did a good job with her role. However, all the movies I've seen her do, she plays the sweet, down-to-earth girl and this was no different. But, she did a great job with it.

One of my favorite lines from the movie (and mentioned as one of the actor's favorite lines) was "I'm one flu bug away from my goal weight."

Good movie. :-)

Story Ideas

It's a question that's been asked a million times but I always like to know where story ideas come from.

For me, so far anyway, there has always been a basis of fact in my ideas. For example, the story I'm working on now (a recent idea but I've been going to town on it, so to speak) came from an event that happened a week ago - at the baseball game. Since most everyone who reads this blog has access to my other one, I'll be brief in the description but it came from the kiss cam proposal that happened at the baseball game I went to. The woman had a deer-in-headlights look throughout the entire episode and the man was giddy with excitement. I never saw him ASK a question and I didn't see her give an ANSWER so what if there was a miscommunication there? Maybe the question is only implied and something she does (which actually happened), albeit inadvertently, causes him to jump to the conclusion that she's accepting the implied question. (Well, not so much implied since it was in big letters on the big screen but not actually verbalized.)

Aside from the fact that I witnessed a proposal like this recently, I've incorporated some other incidents from my personal life. Like, it's their third date and they haven't so much as kissed (or even held hands) and he's proposing. (That actually happened to me a few years back.)

But this brings me to my big question of the day. How much of your personal life / experiences do you bring to the table when forming your ideas? How much of your heroine is actually you?

Inquiring minds want to know. :-)

Work in Progress, otherwise known as Change is Good :-)

Last night I was wandering around online and to make a long story short, I decided my blog needed a face lift, so I went in search of a new look and this is what I decided on.

Now, being that I'm not a computer programmer, don't know computer codes, I'm pretty limited on what I can do without mucking up the page. In fact, last night when I was trying to deposit all my information/codes onto this new template I had a heck of a time. Things were overlapping at one point, which, sadly, wasn't the worst of it. Oh no! During one stage of the update process, the clock, current book, archives, favorite links, etc. appeared after every single blog entry. That's right folks, you didn't have to scroll to see what time it was in Rome because at each new entry, there was the clock, along with everything else now on the sidebar.

Fortunately, I had opted not to "save" my changes until I got it right because I never would have figured out how and what to pull out of the template to fix some of my mistakes. However, I was afraid to add too many extras not already on the template because of some of the snafus - which is why the page count feature is not currently displayed. I don't think this is the final - FINAL product but I think it's a good starting point - for now.

It seems to suit me. :-)

Take me out to the Ballgame...

Last night my group at work was treated to a night out a Minute Maid Park to see the Astros play. We'd worked out the details long before Roger Clemens announced he was coming back to the Astros and finding out he was going to be pitching his first game this season on the night we were scheduled to go was pretty cool. The stadium was completely sold out and it was standing room only but because we'd planned so far in advanced, we had good seats.

Now since Roger Clemens was pitching they turned out the lights and let the stadium be lit by the flash photography. Ha! (But let me tell you, cameras were flashing all over the place!) We had a company/department camera with our group and I had stressed that I did not want my picture taken because I hate the way I look in photos these days. As a result, there are more individual pictures of me than of anyone else in the group. The one to the left was the least offensive to me. LOL

One of the pictures of me was taken when I was tapped on my shoulder by one of those white tubes you see (posters of Roger Clemens) and I turned around. I saw the camera pointed at me, closed my eyes and said NO. What the camera captured was my eyes closed and my mouth WIDE open, as I looked over my shoulder. Not attractive at all. And if I hadn't suffered a moment of intense annoyance when I saw it, I wouldn't have deleted it and would have even posted it here for your viewing horror. LOL

Anyway, the most exciting thing about the game was the parking experience. I rode with someone from work and my "guest" for the evening met us at the game, having come alone. Now, the person I rode with is like me - not cheap but a single woman with bills to pay so she knew where we could find $5 parking "two blocks" from the stadium. When we got to her parking lot I was afraid to get out of the car the neighborhood was that bad - and it was daylight! (For the record, two blocks to my friend means "two blocks this way and two blocks that way" which means four blocks to me, but I digress.)

So, we realize that my friend is probably parked in a different $5 parking lot and since she's my guest, there is no way I am going to let her walk to her car alone after the game. I tell her we'll take her to her car. Her response was, "Or I can take y'all to yours." Nothing further was said on the matter and we head out of the stadium. We're walking and talking and walking and talking when my cell phone rings (gotta love "vibrate" when they're in your jeans pocket lol). It's a friend from work (actually the woman whose back you see in the picture) - she'd meant to walk my guest to her car but had forgotten. She's at her car and wants to know if her and her husband should wait for us. I said no, we were fine that we were going to take Tamara (my guest) to her car. Tamara stops and says, "I thought y'all were going to take me to my car." Kelly (my ride) says, "I thought we were going to your car."

Apparently we were wandering aimlessly through downtown Houston without a clue as to where we were headed. (Being that I was a passenger regardless, I'd left all decision making up to Kelly and Tamara...maybe not the best decision of the night. lol) I relay to Brenda (the friend from work who is waiting at her car for us) what is going on and change my thought about them waiting...I ask them to please wait for us. Please.

At this point, I have no idea where we are or where we're going and I'm not convinced that Kelly or Tamara know where they are either. The crowd that you walk out of a game with has thinned and it's just the three of us and Kelly's six year old son walking in the middle of no where. We finally find Tamara's car (she had been parked next to Brenda and her husband) and send her home. Brenda took us to Kelly's car and we all left.

Now, I already mentioned that I was not happy with the parking lot in the daylight but thought it could just be my imagination running away with me, right? (because I do, after all, have an active one at that) Come in this morning and Brenda was talking about how scary of an area it was that we parked in, what with all the homeless people hanging out there and all.

But hey, we only had to pay $5, right? LOL

Saved by the....t-shirt?

I'm all for helping someone who gets in a bind - through no fault of their own but someone who squanders their money and then wants someone else to bail them out??? Sorry. Not for me.

Have you seen the news that Dustin Diamond (aka Screech from Saved by the Bell) is about to lose his home to foreclosure so he wants to sell t-shirts to raise the money? He said that "If the public didn't care, I as an entertainer wouldn't have been a success."

Dude, you're asking for handouts. Obviously our definitions of "success" differ.

I don't know. Maybe it's just me but I wouldn't buy one of those shirts if the money was given to me to do so. To do so would only encourage this type of behavior in the future, by him and others who would either a) live beyond their means; or b) piss their money away and expect hard working people (who live within their means) to support them.

So not happening!

Second Chances

I'm not usually one to give an author a lot of chances to impress me. Occasionally I'll give an author a second chance but it has to be on a recommendation of someone I respect.

Which brings me to the book I read today, Kiss Me While I Sleep by Linda Howard. My last venture into Linda Howard's books was last summer and To Die For. It was told in first person with a strong heroine and a totally alpha male. If you don't know this already, I can't stand alpha males. I really liked the heroine in To Die for and I really liked the story but I kept hoping that whoever was gunning to kill the heroine would miss their mark and kill the hero instead. Of course that didn't happen. But it really put a bad taste in my mouth for Linda Howard's books.

So, Pam mentioned the suspense in Kiss Me While I Sleep in her blog and I had to buy it, giving Ms. Howard a second chance. I should probably throw in her that last night (or maybe this morning, time is a bit of a blur the last couple of days) I looked at the reviews of To Die For on B&N.com and I wasn't the only one, shall we say, less than thrilled by the book. Several people commented that it wasn't how she typically wrote and that it was enough to reconsider buying her again - despite the fact that she'd until now been an automatic buy. That says a lot.

Anyway, I started the book late in the afternoon today and finished it this evening. It was good. Told in third person so you have several points of view throughout. I really liked Swain. I thought Lily trusted Swain too easily, given the circumstances, but I really liked them together. I enjoyed the story and, despite Pam's chant (it’s a romance so they are going to live, it’s a romance so they are going to live, it’s a romance so they are going to live), there were points (and one in particular) where it wasn't clear that a romance fashioned ending was in the cards for all parties. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Next up is Lisa Kleypas' Someone to Watch Over Me. I bought it at my local chapter meeting for $1. It's an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) and the cover looks nothing like the cover on my side bar but I've heard it is a good story and that I'll enjoy it so..... :-)

Pride and Prejudice

I've finally finished Pride and Prejudice and I have to say, it was hard to read. And by hard, I mean it felt like it was taking forever. Not in a, "I hate it, when will it end" kind of way but I usually can gauge how long it will take me to read a book based on the number of pages I have to go. This was not the case with this book. Every page took longer than I would have thought - almost as if I was reading a textbook. I will say this though, about the pages, the typeset seemed to be smaller so it may be that more words were actually on the page than would have been in most books. But that's just speculation on my part.

In any event, I really liked the book. I loved the story of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy (did we ever learn his first name? I don't think we did, now that I think of it.) and the way it was told.

I also loved the story of Jane and Mr. Bingley. Jane reminded me of Melanie in Gone with the Wind with her loving, forgiving heart.

And Mr. Bennet, I loved him, even though he was barely mentioned in the book. His fondness for Elizabeth and his dealings with his wife were humorous - well to me, but then I'm easily amused. :-)

I think what I was struck with most though was the fact that I was reading a story that, when written, was a contemporary novel. It wasn't a written "historical" as we know them today. The author didn't attempt to "transport" the reader back in time because that was what was happening at that time. Few of the male characters were addressed, if ever mentioned, by their first names. And when women were married (Charlotte), they were then known/addressed as Mrs. whoever (Mrs. Collins), as would be appropriate for that time. Today's historicals would reflect more of a familiarity between people in that, while they might address each other as Mrs., Mr., Lady or Lord whoever, the reader almost always knows their first names.

Same goes for fashion. Wardrobe was once mentioned when Lydia married and her mother was concerned that she have a "wedding" wardrobe. Aside from that, no particular attention was given to the dress of the time. Today, pictures are painted with the words to show what everyone is wearing, presumably to transport us back in time.

Hair, once, to address that it was more important that Jane's hair be attended to than anyone else's since it was Mr. Bingley visiting.

So bottom line for me is this: I loved the story but I also loved the lesson in history it gave and the differing styles of today's writing vs. that time. It makes you wonder what generations from now will think of our writing.

But now that I've FINALLY read the book, I can finally watch the movie. I can hardly wait. :-)

I'm finally going to do it

I'm going to read Pride and Prejudice. Yes, I realize I'm the last person on earth that hasn't read it before now but I'm going to this weekend so I can check that off my list of things to do - presumably.

I don't know why I've waited so long to read it. I don't know of anyone who didn't like it. Heck, my friend is watching the movie over and over and over again (she watched it again last night - although that's not necessarily the same thing as reading the book but...). Maybe I'm afraid it's been built up too much and can't possibly live up to its hype. Of course, that never stopped me from seeing movies that were built up (but then, I've been disappointed in that area as well).

Maybe it's because it was written so long ago, how could it be any good? Yes, I know that makes no sense but what can I say? I don't know what it is that has made me reluctant to read it.

I will say this though, Nora Ephron has never steered me wrong before. After all, if Nora hadn't made Harry and Sally obsessed over Casablanca, I probably would have never watched it. Loved it by the way.

It was Nora who introduced me to An Affair to Remember in Sleepless in Seattle. Again, good movie.

And it was Nora who made Pride and Prejudice its own character in You've Got Mail.

She was right about Casablanca and An Affair to Remember so she has to be right about Pride and Prejudice - right?

Right!

Well, I'll let you know in a day or two if I still feel that way. :0)

Obsessions

I've blogged before about having a book buying obsession...in fact I may have alluded to that fact in my last post. :-) (By the way, I won six more books in Brenda Novak's auction and bought another book at the store today - Impulse (Thanks Pam! lol) by JoAnn Ross.)

Anyway, I get teased a lot about the number of books I buy and read. (Since my last blog - in addition to the auction and the "Impulse" buy - I ordered two more books off of amazon.com.) But, this one lady at work (who really gives me a bad time - all in fun) was telling me that she recently bought the movie Pride and Prejudice (the newest version). She was telling me how she watched it all weekend long - over and over and over again. And she was telling me what she liked about it and how every time she watches it, she sees something she missed in it before.

So today I was telling her that I won those books in the auction and she was giving me a bad time - again - and we were laughing about it. When she left my office...or should I say as she ducked out of my office, she says "I watched Pride and Prejudice again last night."

Which one of us has a worse problem do you think? I'd say her. At least I'm reading different books each time. lol

Book Bonanza

I love long lazy holiday weekends where you don't HAVE to do anything.

This was one such weekend and I spent it reading - and buying more books.

Friday I read Jessica Trapp's Master of Desire. Saturday I read Rachel Gibson's It Must Be Love. Yesterday I read Claire Cross' Third Time Lucky. And today, I read Julia Quinn's Romancing Mister Bridgerton.

As for buying books, I mentioned over at The Cupcake Police that although I'd resisted some recommended books, I couldn't resist when I saw someone had read something by a new favorite of mine...Erica Spindler. So, in four to twenty-one business days I should be receiving Erica Spindler's Killer Takes All, Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic and Sister, Jennifer Crusie's Faking It, and Janet Evanovich's Three to Get Deadly (yes, I know I'm way behind ;-) ).

That doesn't include the many books I have bids on in Brenda Novak's auction.

No, I don't have a problem. Not at all. LOL

Coming Soon....

In my currently reading section of my blog is a copy of Sandra K Moore's newest book cover - Dead Reckoning. It's what is next on my "to be read" list.

Here's the deal - it won't be released until July 2006. BUT, Sandra and I are both members of the Houston Bay Area Chapter of RWA and they recently instituted a program whereby a published writer (that would be Sandra) is paired with an unpublished writer (raising hand - that would be me!). We each have roles and responsibilities in this partnership.

For my part, I have to read all of her books before they are released (I know, tough job but somebody has to do it ;-) ) and then write a review of it. That review will go in/to the following places: 1) the HBARWA newsletter; 2) on the HBARWA webpage; 3) amazon.com; and 4) barnes & noble.com. For me THAT is the hard part. I want to do the book justice.

You see, I'm already worried about not saying enough good / nice things about this book. Thing is, I just got the ARC at last night's chapter meeting and all I've read is the excerpt that is posted on her webpage (which, by the way, you really should check out because it's good and will leave you wanting more - but I digress). So how do I know it's so good? Well, first of all, I read her first book and couldn't put it down and I have no reason to thing this one will be of any lesser quality.

Which brings up a question for me. I have the utmost respect for Sandra, as a writer and as a person. She was the first person I ever communicated with when I was looking into joining RWA and she's never been anything but supportive - not just to me but to all of our chaptermates. Sandra's the kind of person I want to be when I grow up.

But that's not really the question. The question is, are you influenced by someone's writing based on how you feel about that person personally? I'm wondering this because many moons ago (read two years ago - give or take) I "encountered" another published author. This author writes in at least two different genres.

Well, let's just say my first impression of her was not good. In fact it was quite bad. But okay, maybe she was having a bad day.

And, it's possible she was having another bad day the next time we met. And the time after that. And the time after that. And the time.....and so on.

Now, despite all the "rough" (I'm really being kind here) encounters we've had, I thought I would read a book of hers. I couldn't get through the first chapter. I made excuses and said the timing was off for me and I've planned (but never actually done it) to go back and try to read that book again.

Then I find that this author has a book out that was a Rita finalist. It's in a different genre than the first book I tried to read (and let me just say here, I'm a fan of both genres so that wasn't the problem) so I thought I'd give her another try - despite that I don't care for her as a person.

So, I finished the book but I didn't think it was that good. I'm wondering if I'm letting my personal opinion influence my "reading" opinion. Which leads me to my question...would your personal opinion of someone influence your opinion of their writing work? Could it if the author truly was a good writer but just a snot to deal with?

In any event, I'm really excited to be getting a sneak read of Sandra's book before it's available to the general public and I know it will be great - and that has nothing to do with the fact that she's just a great person. :-)

So keep your eyes out for the book in July - you won't want to miss it. :-)

Are you for sale?

Yesterday, as I was surfing the net (work avoidance thing) I went to the MSN homepage a number of times. Something that caught my eye was a picture of a man. Underneath the picture, in bold letters were the words Mr. Right. And below that, the tag line that read "World's Most Eligible Billionaires".

Now, I never actually opened the article to find out what it said because I was too annoyed at the message I was getting from the visuals.

Let's back up a few years. I'm a lot younger and only recently separated from my now ex-husband. I went out with a friend of mine to a Pub she frequented a lot. Enough to know the regulars. Non-alcoholic drinks were free (which was good because I was poor), and we could play pool and darts (both also free) to our hearts content.

Well, this man came up and put his arm around me. I'd never met him so I was immediately put off by that. He was drunk and openly undressing me with his eyes. It gave me the creeps. Anyway, he asked me how old I was so I told him sixteen. He didn't care, he tried groping me anyway. I told him I was jailbait, he needed to back off and it didn't even slow him down. We moved over to the bar and he followed us, forcing his way between me and my friend. I said rude, mean things to get him to back off but he didn't.

Now I should point out that my friend and I met in a sign language class so we both knew sign (her better than me because she was the deaf instructor's interpretor - but that's beside the point). She was behind this man, signing over his shoulder to me, telling me to be nice, he was a millionaire! Like that somehow excused his behavior and made it okay for him to be a total ass.

Eventually the owner of the Pub asked the man to leave. He did and we waited a while before we left - only to find that this man had waited for us outside. He became more aggressive towards me, trying to break out the car windows once we made it to the car. The owner of the Pub came and held him back so we could leave, all the while my friend was telling me I was stupid for not going for it with this guy - and it was HER car windows he was trying to bust out.

So fast forward to yesterday when I'm seeing that image. Why would anyone be attracted to a person simply because of the size of their bank account? Yes, money is nice - it's even necessary in life. But just because you have it doesn't mean you're a decent person, worthy of my attention.

It may be that you can fall in love with a rich man as easily as a poor man but honey, if that's all you have to attract me, you're dead in the water with me.

A picture's worth a thousand words...

When my mother passed away several years ago, the elderly single women in my step-father's community descended on him with a vengence. Seriously, he told me some stories and those women were aggressive!

Anyway, we were having a conversation about something that had happened and he told me this story about another man who had a similar situation....

It wasn't that the man wanted to live alone the rest of his life but he wanted the women to back off a bit. So he worked with his two hound dogs for a week or so to "perform" for him on cue. Then he invited one of the more aggressive women over for a home cooked meal.

He set the table and set out the food and they had a lovely dinner. Nice conversation - very pleasant evening.

At the end of the meal the lady stood up and started to pick up her dishes to carry over to the sink. "You don't have to do that," the man said. "I've got it covered." Then he whistled and called the dogs over.

The dogs promptly propped their front paws on the table and licked the dinner plates clean. The man then picked up the plates and put them in the cabinet.

She never bothered him again.

(Side note: My step-father said it took him a week to train the dogs to do that and six MONTHS to untrain them. ;-) )

So, when someone sent me this picture, it reminded me of that story.

Happy happy

Growing up there wasn't a lot that my family agreed on but one thing we did was, we all loved The Carol Burnett Show. It came on either Friday or Saturday nights (I think) and we would put aside any bad feelings we had about each other and all sit down in front of the TV and laugh for an hour, as a family. It was a sad day for us when it went off the air. It was like losing a family member - one we liked at that. ;-)

Years later I read her autobiography and I fell in love with her again. She has such a kind, gentle spirit about her. I'm just a big fan of hers - as a person and as an actress. She doesn't hold back.

So, happy birthday Carol. May you have many, many more.


And in honor of Secretary's week - enjoy a picture of Carol dressed as one of my favorite characters...secretary, Mrs. Wiggins. ;-)

A dog's life

I have several blogs that I check out every day and there's this one that hasn't been updated in a while. Every day when I go there and it hasn't been updated I'm disappointed because I like this blog. And then today I realized, she's updated hers since I've updated mine. *Oops* I thought, I might ought to update mine, otherwise I have no room to whine, right?

So anyway, I'm getting ready for RWA's National conference in Atlanta this summer. Last year the plan was to have someone come watch my dogs at my house. She was going to stop by twice a day and walk them, feed them and help them to forget that no one was with them at night. Only thing was, we were having awful weather during this time and my dog, Max, was knocking down the fence gate and running the neighborhood - scared, which is not a good thing. At the last minute I decided I should kennel my dogs, as much as I hated the thought.

Two friends recommended this place in League City. Both said the woman that ran it lacked people skills but was great with dogs. These two friends have never met so I took that as a very good sign for this kennel. I booked my dogs there.

When I dropped them off I asked to see where they were staying. I meant literally, she thought I wanted a tour of the place. So I got the tour.

It was your typical kennel type place and had a variety of environments for the animals. My favorite - which of course was not available on such short notice - was the "rooms". It's a room 3-1/2 feet by 8 feet (I know that from seeing it on the webpage) with a sliding patio door on it. I thought if I ever needed to kennel them again, that's what I wanted for the boys.

So, I'm planning early this year, right? I email the kennel and inquire as to the availability of the rooms. She replies back that I need to book before the end of April (I sent the inquiry about three weeks ago -when it was still March). I reply with an email that I wanted to book it, to please consider my email as confirmation of my intent to book and to please reply back with confirmation of the booking.

I got no response. So a week or so later, I forward the email and said I hadn't heard back from her, could she please confirm that I would get the room. She replies back and asks - get this - did I want the room with the sliding patio door or did I want the room with the bed and the TV.

TV??? For a dog's room? Ummm, okay.

I replied back that I wasn't aware that a room with a bed and TV were an option, that the room with the sliding patio door would probably be fine, would she please reply with confirmation of the booking and with the rates.

She replied back with the rates for the room with a bed and TV AND the room with the sliding patio door. But no confirmation of booking.

I went to their webpage today. The picture posted above is an actual picture from their webpage of the room with the bed and TV. Since the dog isn't looking at the camera I can only assume it's watching the TV. Scooby Doo is probably on.

I think I'm going to go with the Bed/TV room. Now all I need to know is, does it come with a VCR?

Sex, Lies and Online Dating

Rachel Gibson's Sex, Lies and Online Dating was nominated for the reading group at RWAOL. Even though it wasn't one of the three (yes three) books I nominated, I voted for it. (Hey, the books I nominated were already in my TBR stack and going to be read anyway and this one looked fun.)

It did not disappoint.

Rachel Gibson created characters that were human and likeable. She told a story that was fun and kept you guessing (it was a mystery, after all).

Lucy Rothschild is a mystery writer who is doing research for her next book titled dead.com. It's about a woman who makes dates with men she meets online. And then she kills them. Lucy is making dates with men she meets online so that she can be authentic with the "losers" one would meet online. As they pour out their hearts to her on their "dates" she's mentally thinking of all the ways she wants to "kill" them in her book.

Quinn McIntyre is a homicide detective assigned to a serial killer's case. Breathless, as the killer is called, appears to be setting up dates with her victims online. She meets up with them and kills them.

When Lucy and Quinn meet up the attraction is almost immediate. Lucy is disappointed because she can't see killing him off in one of her books. Quinn sees her as a potential murder suspect. His superiors force him to spend more time with her and the more time he spends with her, the more convinced he is that she is the killer. This tears him apart because he is drawn to her, even believing she will try to kill him.

On the other hand, Lucy is also drawn to Quinn and feels guilty about lying to him. Once she decides there could be something there, she comes clean about her profession but that doesn't clear her of murder in Quinn's mind.

This book was so much fun to read. It had humor, it had mystery and it had loveable characters. It's been a while since I've enjoyed a book this much (and I love books). Having never read her before, I wasn't a fan of Rachel Gibson's before I read this book but I certainly am now! :o)

Is this a good thing?

Never having seen the movie, I have no idea...

Your Famous Movie Kiss is from Spiderman

"I have always been standing in your doorway. Isn't it about time somebody saved your life?"

What Famous Movie Kiss Are You?

I've always wanted to procrastinate, but I keep putting it off

Last night I want to my local RWA chapter meeting. The topic was procrastination, writer's block and burn out. The speaker, Kara Lennox, also spoke about writer's fears (which she blogged about here).

Anyway, on the topic of procrastination she said many of us waste time on things, like computer games and surfing the net. Me, I don't do those things. And while I wasn't doing those things today, I happened upon a blog and something happened.

It really was quite innocent. Really. And if not, it was Kara's fault...let me explain...

See, Kara told us she'd blogged about this topic on Romancing the Blog so I wanted to check it out. I found it (see "here" link above). As I was scrolling to find the post, I noticed that they had a LOT of author blogs listed. Alyssa Goodnight's caught my attention, seeing as she's a chaptermate of mine and all. It's been a while since I stopped by so I was glad for the "encouragement" to do so.

So, I read Alyssa's posts and when I scrolled back to the top I noticed that she only had three links. Argh Ink caught my attention. Turns out it's Jennifer Crusie's blog (I know, I need to get out more).

Since I've decided I like Jennifer Crusie now, I read several of her posts, including the one entitled "Things I'm Not, Part II" (sorry, can't get it to link). At press time, it had 35 comments - which of course I had to read (so I'd have the full picture and all, you understand).

There was one from Sam, which I thought might be my Sam, so I had to check it out. Of course I was wrong BUT, I noticed this cool clock thing on her blog...you know when I was scrolling down because I was, um, reading her blog and all.

Anyway, underneath the clock it said "Paris, France". So I asked myself, was Sam really from Paris, France? Her picture looks like she's from the good ol' U.S. of A. I think she just likes to know what time it is in Paris. But anyway, so I click on it and find out I too can have a clock for my blog! I was so excited. So I had to play with it and enter code into my template and all so that I could get it just the way I wanted it. Then I went to The World Clock to get the time for Rome, Italy and set the clock. Not because I live in Rome but because I could live there.

So you see, I wasn't really procrastinating at all because, in Rome it's 4:00 in the morning and how can you be procrastinating when you should really be asleep? ;o)

What the heck?

Desperate Housewives is currently my favorite show. Last season it was the number one show in America. This season it's moved down but still in the top five. And I have to wonder, would it have moved down if it hadn't been preempted umpteen times since January 1 and then shown repeats when it actually does air? If I didn't know better, I would think the show was not doing well and the reason repeats were being shown was because they weren't filming new episodes. What the heck is going on? Grrrrrrrrrr!

Best Laid Plans...

Do you ever make plans only to see them go up in smoke before your eyes? That was kind of my day today. I'm not complaining because, all in all, it was a good day - just not the one I'd planned.

I've been waiting a long time for Failure to Launch to open. I sent an email to my girls a month or so ago to see who would be interested in going to see it with me. Two people said they wanted to go but that they couldn't go the weekend it opened - one of those said any time after the 15th. So, I scheduled it for the first Friday after the 15th so it would extend my weekend by a day (I took a vacation day). Then I asked if anyone would be interested in visiting before and/or after the movie. Everyone seemed to like this idea and one woman suggested a restaurant, that only she knew about. :o)

Okay, so we have a date, a restaurant and a movie time (1:40 p.m.). We're all set!

So yesterday, I mapped out my whole day for today. I was going to get up at my regular time, take the dogs for a walk, take a long, leisurely bath while reading a book or magazine, shave (I planned on wearing a sleeveless shirt / with jacket combo), dry my hair, french braid my hair, get dressed and go. That was the plan.

I got up at my regular time but that's where the plan and reality parted company. My mistake was in logging onto the internet when I got up. You know, I was thinking I could check my email quickly and be about my business. I know myself well enough to know that's not how things work but I did it anyway.

Meanwhile, some surfing and a couple of TV shows later (since I have SO much time before I have to leave [picture me rolling my eyes here]), I realize that not only do I not have time to walk the dogs anymore, a bath is out of the question too. All I have time for is a quick shower, blow dry and dressing (which is not optional). I consider not wearing what I planned because I don't think I have time to shave under my arms. I look in my closet and it's all I really have ready so I have this debate in my head. You have the jacket, no one will know you didn't shave. But what if it gets hot today? Doesn't matter, the jacket must stay on. Doesn't matter how hot it gets the jacket must stay on! But... No buts, the jacket stays on no matter what. If it gets so hot that you have to choose between removing the jacket or dying, you don't remove the jacket. Because if you do, you would die of embarrassment when your friends saw you wore a sleeveless shirt without shaving. We're just cutting out the middle man. The jacket stays on! Um, okay.

I get dressed.

I finally get out of the house at 9:50 or so (meeting at 11:00 but it's across town and I have to stop for cash), hoping I've allowed enough time because I don't know where the restaurant is. Well, I find it easily and arrive 20 minutes early.

What I forgot to mention is that I sent out a reminder email last night (in case anyone forgot). I heard back from two last night. One said they couldn't make it (they had a funeral to go to). One said she'd try now (she does this every time so this wasn't a big surprise). On the way (which, for the record, was further away from me than anyone else - not that I'm complaining, just explaining), my phone beeps, telling me I have a message (I didn't hear it ring). It's a third person saying she can't make it because she's sick.

I'm starting to think I'm completely on my own for the day. Which would be fine, I don't mind going to the movie alone but had it been planned that way, I would have taken last Friday off, when the movie opened. To make a long story short, I was the only one at lunch. I had two more emails when I got home. One was sick and the other had spent the night in the hospital with her father.

But there was still the movie to see. I went to the theater at the appointed time (well, actually way early because I'd allowed almost 3 hours for lunch - I spent some quality time at a book store after no one showed at the restaurant but still got to the theater way early) and waited for the lady who had said she couldn't make lunch but would be there for the movie. I debated buying a ticket before she showed and decided I was going to see the movie that day, with or without my friends. So I bought a ticket and waited. My friend did show up and it was just the two of us. It was funny because right before the movie started she turned to me and said, "I don't know if you've ever sat next to me when we do these things" (we get our group together a few times a year to go to the movie), "but I tend to comment on things during the movie. Is that going to be a problem for you?" I said it wouldn't but told her I tended to laugh uncontrollably at things and continue to laugh long after the scene is over. I asked if that would be a problem for her -did we need to separate "now". She said no, we'd be fine.

And we were.

So, it wasn't the day I'd planned but it wasn't a bad one. :o)

P.S. It was a fun movie. :o)

I must be psychic

I be-bopped over to Mel's blog and saw she was doing a blog tag - and I knew - knew that she had tagged me. Anyway, I'll play along:


Four movies you would watch over and over:
When Harry Met Sally
Titanic
Roman Holiday (Audrey Hepburn/Gregory Peck version)
It Happened One Night

Four places you have lived:
Pasadena, Texas
Houston, Texas
Katy, Texas
Baytown, Texas (I know, I get around)

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Desperate Housewives
Dancing with the Stars (when it's on)
Ellen Degeneres
Seinfeld re-runs

Four places you have been on vacation:
Hawaii
New York
Las Vegas
Los Angeles

Four websites you visit daily:
Cathy
Sandra K. Moore
Laura Drewry
The Cupcake Police

Four of your favorite foods:
Pizza
Tacos
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sundae (Weight Watcher's 2 points)
Chicken Crispers (at Chili's)

Four places you would rather be right now:
Paris, France
Rome, Italy
New York
Las Vegas

Tag four friends you think will respond:
Okay, Mel tagged the two people who ever read my blog so...I'll just have to let these people know they've been tagged. hehehe
Honey
Laura Drewry
Jan Conwell
Pamela Hathaway

Sinking of the Titanic

I have a friend who has no luck when it comes to sailing on cruise ships. Seriously, I swear this woman was on the voyage of the Titanic - in another life of course.

A few years back this friend went on a cruise with her sister and mother in tow. Her mother and sister flew in to Houston and the three of them drove to Galveston to board the ship. As it set sail, a tropical storm entered the Gulf. And as is the case for any storm that enters the Gulf, the National Weather Center makes predictions as to when and where it will make landfall. This prediction can change 50 times in the few days before it actually makes landfall. But it's on these predictions that ships make decisions about what they're going to do.

So anyway, the prediction that the decision was based on said that the storm was headed towards the Texas/Mexico border - first stop of the cruise ship. The ship decided it couldn't take the chance and turned around, deciding to dock in New Orleans instead.

As the ship docks in New Orleans, they learn that the storm has taken a turn and is headed straight for them! It's too late for them to pull out, so they have to stay and ride it out. Meanwhile, because the storm is headed towards them and they have no choice to stay, the crew won't allow any of the passengers to leave the ship! So, not only do they not get to go to the exotic ports of call they were supposed to go to, they can't even enjoy the one they were forced to stop at.

A lot of complaints were made and those making the complaints (my friend included) received a coupon for another cruise (only discounted - and not by that much). It had an expiration date and I don't think my friend got to utilize it before it expired.

Anyway, her mother finally talked her into going on another cruise out of Galveston. They left last Sunday. (Neither of them wanted to go again during hurricane season.) I spoke to my friend on Friday and she was sick as a dog and unable to get in to see her doctor. I'm sure that made for a fun cruise.

You know, now that I think about it, it's not just cruises she has problems with. Last September she scheduled a flight home to visit her family. Had it booked months in advance. And it just so happened that the weekend she was supposed to leave was the weekend we had a visit from Rita (that's Hurricane Rita to you) and all the flights were cancelled.

This friend has tried to talk me into taking vacations with her and the more I think about it, the more I'm glad they haven't worked out. I love you Suzanne but you and vacations just don't mix. :)

And the Oscar goes to...

Tonight the 78th Annual Academy Awards is on. I plan on watching but as I looked at the list of nominees, I realized, I haven't seen anything that is nominated.

Seriously, the only movie up for any awards, that I've seen is The Constant Gardner (loved the movie, the book it was based on - not so much). I was present at a showing of the Star Wars movie but it never grabbed my attention and I couldn't tell you much that happened in it. (It also marked my last date with this man I was seeing - but that's another story.)

So if I haven't seen anything up for an award, why do I want to watch the show? For the glitz and glamour. And just because I haven't seen anything doesn't mean I don't have an opinion of who should win. ;o)

Here are, in my "I have no basis for my opinion" opinion, my picks for tonight's awards:

• Best Actor - Joaquin Phoenix
• Best Supporting Actor - George Clooney
• Best Actress - Felicity Huffman
• Best Supporting Actress - Rachel Weisz (remember, I've seen this one!)
• Best Animated Feature - Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (Johnny Depp did voices - that's enough for me)
• Best Achievement in Directing - Good night, and good luck
• Best Motion Picture of the Year - Tie - Crash and Good night, and good luck
• Best Adapted Screenplay - The Constant Gardner (In my opinion, they improved on the book - big time)
• Best Original Screenplay - Good night, and good luck

There you have it. My top picks, based (with the exception of The Constant Gardner picks) solely on who I like and not at all on who may be deserving.

Good luck to all the nominees.

Gossip Mongers

I admit, I love celebrity gossip. In the morning, as I get ready for work, I put on the news. All I'm really interested in is 1) celebrity gossip and 2) weather report (gotta know how warm to dress).

I subscribe to People Magazine. I read the headlines on the tabloids as I wait in line at the grocery store (I won't pay money for those though...so if you want to send me your copies when you're done..... ;o) ).

But, where's the line of what's acceptable to write about/ask about a celebrity? I read an article online yesterday (and I wish I had saved the link, I would post it here) where Bruce Willis went off on reporters. He was doing a press junket for his upcoming movie 16 Hours and got asked questions about his personal position on matters, unrelated to his movie. Expletives flew left and right as he railed on them about the questions they were asking. And all I could think was good for him. Everyone, celebrity or not, deserves to have their privacy respected. The individual should get to determine what is public and what's not. No one should ever have to be in a position where they feel they have to explain or defend their thoughts or opinions. He wasn't doing an interview with Barbara Walters (where anything is fair game and you know it going in) - he was doing a press junket for his movie, and that's what the questions should have been about.

On the other hand, for people, like Tom Cruise, who behave like an insane person at every opportunity, I think they've consciously given up their right to privacy. I think it's all fair game. (I think he gets off on the publicity.) I say this knowing that I have no interest whatsoever in knowing anything that happens in that world. He's gone off the deep end and he's inviting the publicity he's getting. For people like that, I have no sympathy.

I still like hearing the gossip and I have no intention of giving up my People Magazine subscription any time soon but I think reporters should respect the privacy of celebrities and boundaries of the interview topic/intent. Celebrities that behave like lunatics hopped up on drugs though, is an entirely different matter.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

Last Dance

Tonight they crown the winner of Dancing with the Stars. In my opinion, Drew Lachey deserves to win the title. He's been consistent throughout the competition and all of his dances have been fun to watch (which, for me, is important). His freestyle dance on Thursday was awesome! He deserved every 10 he was awarded on Thursday - again, in my opinion. He got every one of my votes and I couldn't put in all I wanted because it was impossible to get through (and I kept calling until they told me it was too late to call) - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Next there's Stacy. I really like Stacy. She's pretty, she seems genuinely sweet and she's a good dancer. But, it was several weeks before I was impressed with what she'd done on the dance floor. She'd done fine but nothing that made me wanted to vote for her and I really didn't see / understand the fascination with her. Now, though, I'm a fan. I wasn't, however, impressed with her freestyle dance. There was so much they could have done with that and it was so plain, so unspectacular. The judges were right when they said that she'd set the bar high for herself and that she just didn't give what they'd (or the fans) expected. I wouldn't be heartbroken if she won but, in my opinion, I think Drew deserves it more (and I'm speaking from an overall perspective - not just the one dance).

Jerry's the one that scares me. Personally, I don't think he deserves to be in the finals, much less win the title. I thought he should have gone several weeks ago but obviously he has a large fan base - and that's what scares me. Realistically there could be a three way tie tonight (if Jerry got the most fan votes and Drew got the least) and if that happens, Jerry would walk away with the trophy (fan votes trump judges votes) and he so does not deserve it. Don't get me wrong, he has worked hard but he has struggled from day one. He still does not look like a dancer. Having said that, I will say that Thursday was, by far, his best performance to date. His freestyle dance was a lot of fun. He deserved to place second in that category. However, that does not entitle him to the title. If he wins, I will be upset.

Now the other thing, I'm excited that the other dancers will be back tonight. The thing I don't understand is, why the heck does the show have to be for TWO FRIGGIN' HOURS? Last year the longest show was one hour - period. In that one hour the couples danced their dances (even when they had two dances in a night) and one was eliminated before it was over - all within an hour! This season though, the shortest show was an hour? And that was elimination nights. At this rate, in a couple of "seasons" Dancing with the Stars will be on seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day. Seriously, I like the show but don't cause the viewers to burn out. We have lives too, you know.

But hey, it's only my opinion. :-)

Here I come to save the day

My first "real" day at work (you know, when other people are actually there) at my new job, I go out to my car, turn the key and hear "tick". That's it..."tick". Not the Vrrrroooooooommmmm you expect to hear. Just "tick".

Just great, I think to myself.

I go in and make a few phone calls and get a ride into work. (My friend offered to get jumper cables from her boyfriend to bring over but since neither one of us know how to jump-start a car, I didn't think that was such a good idea.)

I get in about an hour late - on the first day - but oh well.

Anyway, I finally get home that evening and my friend's father agreed to come over to help me get the car started (he lives one block over from me). Since my car was in the garage, I thought I'd get it out to the driveway before he got there, saving him that trouble.

I put my car in neutral and slowly start to push my car out of the garage, hoping it goes straight so that it doesn't hit the garage walls on the way out, doing damage to the car and the garage. It did great until it hit the slope of the driveway. Suddenly it starts flying down the driveway, heading straight towards my mailbox (which is all brick because my neighbor kept mowing the "post" mailbox down with her car). So what do I do?

Being the ever-calm in a crisis person that I am, I grabbed the bumper and tried to stop it that way.

Yeah, and when that didn't work (gee, don't know why it didn't) I ran to the side of the car, flung open the door and slammed on the brakes, just shy of it smashing into the mailbox. Did I mention that my neighbors were out in force and witnessed this great feat? Uh huh, not at all embarrassing. LOL

Tune in tomorrow when I leap a tall building (or a Barbie dream house) in a single bound. ;o)

People are funny

I recently (think yesterday) changed jobs at work. I didn't leave the company. I didn't even leave the building...I just moved to a different department, two flights above where I worked before.

But, people acted like I was moving far, far away to a land where I couldn't communicate anymore. I forward to a co-worker an email I receive that gives updates on soap operas she watches. At my going away luncheon she approached me and asked if I was going to continue to send them to her, like by changing groups I could no longer communicate with the old group. My reply was something like "I'm going to the third floor, NOT a third world country that doesn't have internet access. Of course, I'll continue to forward the emails."

And suddenly everyone from my old group wants to schedule lunch with me. I'm not anti-social or anything but I usually take lunch in my office and read a book. I like to get out once in a while but it's rare that I do, and rarer still that I go with someone from my old group. But now that I've left the group, I'm suddenly in demand and my lunch schedule is booked into the next millennium.

People are funny.

Ex-sighting

I got divorced in 1991. I haven't seen or heard from my ex-husband since 1993. But, I know exactly where he is tonight. He's in California, apparently working as a camera operator for Dancing with the Stars. Did you see the shot of the floor and someone's feet? My ex did that shot. If you don't believe me, come watch our 1988 Hawaiian vacation, that'll make a believer out of you. ;o)

Anyway... the competition is getting so much tighter. I think the final dance off will be between two of the following three: Drew, Stacy and Lisa. I wasn't a big fan of Stacy's in the beginning. I really didn't see what was so special about her dancing but the last two weeks, I'm convinced. I really think she deserved all the 10s she's gotten. I think she has a good shot at winning the competition.

Lisa has come so far, in my opinion. She's fun to watch. Tonight though, I didn't think the song fit the dance. I like the song but it made the dance seem slow and draggy. I tried tuning out the music and I enjoyed the dance more but the two didn't seem to go together. It helps me though, knowing that they don't actually pick the song they dance to...it's kind of "given" to them. Knowing that, I think they did a darned good job with what they had to work with.

I wasn't overly impressed with Drew tonight. He was technically "perfect" I suppose but I was watching thinking I wasn't really seeing him cover new ground. It looked like the same old dances to me. I guess what I'm saying is it didn't seem "fresh" to me. I really wanted to see him shine and I didn't see that tonight.

I love George. I really hope he makes it through tomorrow. Next week should probably be his last week but I really want to see him make it to next week. He's so much fun to watch. :)

I think Jerry needs to go next. Let me rephrase that, I want to see him go next. There are several reasons but of the remaining dancers, he seems the least comfortable with it. Dancing doesn't seem to come naturally to him. It appears forced and it's not as enjoyable to watch.

So that's what I think. What do you think?

I want to live in a soap opera

Seriously. Think about it.

You're driving down a winding road, down a hill, in a mudslide and lose control of your car. It goes off the edge of the cliff and your car goes up in flames. But your body is never found. That is, until you show up at your husband's (he thought you were dead) wedding, right after the minister has pronounced them man and wife.

Did I mention that the intervening years didn't prove a financial hardship either? Despite the fact that you had no money on you and never accessed your trust fund (well actually, you couldn't because before the fire was put out on the car, your loving family had divvied up your assets).

Or, if you were a particularly awful person before the car went up in flames, you lose your memory and come back as a sweet, kind, generous, giving person - and everyone accepts you.

You're offered jobs, hand over fist. And none of them expect you to work more than six hours a year, five of which are spent fighting with your arch enemy, who, of course, shares your cubicle. But never fear, if the boss complains, you buy the company and fire their hineys.

Then there's the facts of life. Kids are a gift from God. As such, they are perfect from the beginning. They sleep through the night and apparently are self sufficient from birth, as mommy and daddy galavant around town, never hiring a sitter. And as they approach the terrible twos, they aren't seen for a couple of weeks and are miraculously aged into their teen years, potty-trained and all. Not that being potty-trained was a problem, since soap babies never make a poopy diaper.

And murder. Where else can you kill a man in cold blood, admit it to the first officer on the scene and never see the inside of a court room? And if you do get as far as a court room, the right accessories can get you off of any crime.

But don't worry if you're the murder victim because, despite the fact that we saw you die on the operating table, watched as you were cremated and your remains scattered in the ocean, tomorrow is another day and death will never be final as long as there are rating sweeps to win.

A dog's life

Watching Ellen DeGeneres' show today, I got an inspiration for a book idea.

Blair Underwood was talking about his new book, Before I Got Here : The Wondrous Things We Hear When We Listen to the Souls of Our Children. It's filled with stories about the profound things kids say, a couple of which were read. It sounded like a sweet book.

Here's the deal, he created a webpage and solicited stories about things kids had said. Being a celebrity and all, he received a lot of entries. Then he went through them and compiled his favorites for the book and he's making a bajillion dollars now, I'm sure.

It got me to thinking. Who doesn't like animal stories? Okay, I know there are people who don't but the majority of people do like animals. So why not have a compilation of animal stories? I'd like to start with dog stories. You know, fun, sweet stories about man's best friend. I think it would sell well.

So here's what I need you to do: Send me all your fun, sweet dog stories. Tell all your friends and family to send me their fun, sweet dog stories. It would be helpful if the breed of dog was identified but it's not entirely necessary (I can improvise if necessary ;o) ).

I see a different book for every breed.

And don't think that because I will be keeping all the proceeds from the book that I won't recognize everyone - I will. Of course it might be something like, "I'd like to thank everyone..." But make no mistake, when I say everyone, I mean you and only you because it's your story(ies) that are going to make it happen.

Yes, this could work.

One Classy Lady

All of the dancers have really been doing incredible work. It's getting harder and harder to tell who the professionals are and who the "students" are. It's incredible.

Last night, for the first time, I was awed by Stacy's performance. She was incredible. Every 10 she received was well deserved, in my opinion. It was fun, it was fast and she looked great. But how intimidating would it be to have to follow someone who got a perfect score? And she went first! Wow!

Tia Carrere had the lowest score from the judges - it was a score of 22. Last season, that was the average score of all the contestants. On an especially good night, the top score might be 25 or 26 so that shows the level of work this season's dancers are putting into it (well to me anyway). And that's not to take away from Tia's performance. Although it wasn't my favorite performance, she did a good job and I enjoyed her dance last night.

Anyway, tonight was elimination night. Tia is one of only four of the contestants I knew who was when this competition started. And I like Tia. As such, she's had my support from the beginning. I'm at a point where I don't want anyone to be voted off because I really like everyone. More so, I really don't want those I knew (and liked) going in being voted off. But, having been in the bottom two a couple of times now, and having the overall lowest score from the judges last night, I knew in my heart that Tia had in all likelihood danced her last dance last night.

I gave her all of my telephone votes (and one of my online votes) but alas, she was voted off anyway tonight. When her name was announced as the contestant being voted off and she did her final "interview", she was so gracious and classy. I really hate to see her go.

Maybe when they do that "surprise" bring back of Giselle, they can bring back Tia too.