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of RWA and they recently instituted a program whereby a published writer (that would be Sandra) is paired with an unpublished writer (raising hand - that would be me!).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.