Saturday, December 29, 2007
TT #80
I already have a plan for next week's Thursday Thirteen, but I wanted to post those pictures Dagny took at the Ohmbachsee, so here they are:
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11.  | 12. |
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Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
- You're next!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Categories: ThursdayThirteen, AboutMe
Labels: TT
Weekend Update
- Monday morning I made a couple of treats: strawberries (except all coconut, no nuts) and magic bar cookies. Partly because they were easy, and partly because I like them--they're from my childhood. I'm not sure if anyone else liked them or not.
While I was cooking, the kids cleaned up the house to keep them from nagging about their stockings, and Carl finished his last-second shopping.
When he got home, we decorated the tree.
Finally. Here it is all finished: 
and here it is with the lights on:
- Christmas Eve, we opened our stocking stuffers. We've got really big stockings--about a yard tall. A friend made mine when I was in high school, and I made the rest of them. Mine's red gingham with red trim, and I made Dagny's to match, and Carl's is green gingham with green trim. When the boys came along, I got a little more creative: Curran's is a red teddy bear print with green trim, and Camden's is a blue rocketship print with red trim. Both Curran and Camden have outgrown their designs, and I'd like to be a little more creative with all of them, but whenever I suggest making new ones, they all object rather strongly.
- After the stockings, we had our traditional Christmas Eve supper of finger foods--cold shrimp with cocktail sauce, and we raid the commissary's freezer section for an assortment of fun and yummy things. While we ate, we watched this year's new Christmas movie: The Bishop's Wife (review will be forthcoming eventually).
- Christmas morning, the plan was to begin opening presents at 10. I think we started at 11, but we tried. It's much different now that the kids are older and like sleeping in as much as we do! Everybody was happy with their gifts and enjoyed giving each other presents as much or more than getting them.
After presents, I made dinner: ham, red potatoes with lemon & chives, confetti asparagus, and spiced winter squash. I couldn't find recipes online for the last two, but that doesn't matter much, because I changed the recipes anyway. Not a huge dinner, but stuff I like that didn't take all that long to make. For dessert, we had cherry cheesecake that Dagny made the night before. (She said she wanted cheesecake, so I handed her a cookbook and told her to go for it.)
After dinner, I crashed, and went upstairs to take a nap while Carl and the kids went to the Ohmbachsee for a walk--it was frozen over and Dagny took some gorgeous pictures of it. Maybe I'll use those pix for a belated TT, or for next week's.
In the evening, we played a game of Apples to Apples, the family gift left by Santa. Thanks everybody who recommended it--we loved it, and only managed to stop playing by setting a time limit that kept getting extended until we all got too tired to argue about extending it anymore. Then we settled in and watched Life of Brian, which was somewhat appropriate. The review for that will also be forthcoming eventually.
- Boxing Day (well, we don't call it that, but it sounds better than "the second Christmas Day" which is what my in-laws call it, or just "the 26th") we went to Carl's brother's house for the family dinner and gift exchange. We had a great time, and after Oma and Opa went home, the rest of us went downstairs and played Sing Star with the kids. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to post the video of Carl and Mike singing Achy-Breaky Heart. You'll have to take my word for it that it was amusing.
My mother-in-law, me, and Curran:
Camden, Oma & Opa, sister-in-law Andrea, and Dagny:
nieces Emily & Aileen:
brother-in-law Mike:
- Thursday I crashed--I was wiped out. Hence the lack of a Thursday Thirteen. Carl and the kids went up to Idar-Oberstein
so Dagny could do some shopping and Carl could get a replacement bowl for his little fountain. Thursday evening we went to see The Golden Compass (yes, review to follow). - Yesterday, Carl had to work, and I had an appointment to have my teeth cleaned. I love having my teeth cleaned--they feel so smooth and slippery afterward. We got a whole bunch of mail--all the packages that hadn't arrived in time for Christmas, and--finally--my December order of books from Barnes & Noble. I have no idea why they took so long. Normally, they arrive in less than two weeks. This took about a month. Camden wasn't feeling well and was sporting a bit of a fever, so we ordered in from the döner place and watched Dagny's present to Curran: The Best of the Colbert Report.
- Today, Camden's feeling better. They bought a whole bunch of fireworks for New Year's Eve at the Edeka, and we're crossing our fingers that this year, it won't rain. Tonight, Carl and I are going to go see Gone, Baby, Gone.
- Hope everyone had as great a week as I did. Happy New Year!
Categories: AboutMe, WeekendUpdate
Labels: about me, weekend update
Friday, December 28, 2007
Windfall
***** Windfall by Rachel Caine. Contemporary fantasy.
This is the 4th book in Caine's Weather Warden series. I really wish I'd written about it sooner (I read it a month ago), because now I've lost all but my most general impressions. Still, I loved it, and that generally means I'll just gush anyway.
Joanne's no longer working as a weather warden--instead, she has a job as a weather girl on TV. Not the glamorous one, either--she's the one who has to dress up in goofy costumes and get drenched with water. The weather's going wacky, and Joanne's the number one suspect, but it can't be her, because she's losing her powers because her lover/friend/Djinn David is becoming an Ifrit and feeding off her powers. And if that's not enough, there's a cop stalking her because of events in the previous book.
This is such a well-written series. Instead of using the more standard monster-of-the-week format, Caine's continually reinventing the series, and taking Joanne in unpredictable directions. The developments in Windfall, particularly with David, are both surprising and intensely emotional.
Kudos, too, to Caine for keeping a nice balance of sensuality in this series without tipping it over into other genres.
I buy the books in this series as soon as they're released, with the result that I have two waiting in my TBR pile. I'm going to have to dig for Firestorm--it's making me nuts wondering what'll happen next.
Categories: Books, 5stars, ContemporaryFantasy
Labels: 5 stars, books, ContemporaryFantasy
Friday Flashback
This is from August 2005, a movie this time instead of a book:
*** Stealth. Action/adventure.
Directed by: Rob Cohen.
Starring: Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Sam Shepard
This was originally posted here, and frankly, I'm surprised I gave it even 3 stars.
Categories: Flashback, Movies, 3stars, ActionAdventure
*** Stealth. Action/adventure.
Directed by: Rob Cohen.
Starring: Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx, Sam Shepard
I don't expect a lot from an action movie, but this one had me wishing that I'd brought a book and a flashlight for the first 45 minutes or so, as it started with an action sequence with no point, then pulled out clichè after clichè, until I started laughing at the predictability. That scene showing each of the pilots in their quarters on the carrier was the last straw.
Halfway through, the action did get more interesting, if predictable.
The good:
The special effects, particularly the flying scenes.
The scenery.
The action in the last half of the movie.
The bad:
The lack of any reason to care about the characters.
The stilted dialogue.
And, to use a clichè of my own, the ugly:
All the clichès:
The pilots: a white male, a black male, and a white female--which one will not live through the movie?
The plane even sounded like Hal.
The characters: all 2-dimensional stock figures culled from hundreds of other military action movies.
The verdict:
Rent this one on DVD, and fast-forward through the first half.
This was originally posted here, and frankly, I'm surprised I gave it even 3 stars.
Categories: Flashback, Movies, 3stars, ActionAdventure
Labels: 3 stars, action, flashback, Movies
Monday, December 24, 2007
Monday Morning Meme
I found this Christmas Meme at JoyIsMyGoal. Some of the questions were on last week's, but that just makes it easier, right?
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both, depending on the gift and the recipient. This year, for example, my immediate family gets wrapping paper, and the in-laws get an assortment of wrapped and unwrapped things in gift bags.
2. Real tree or artificial? Real.
3. When do you put up the tree? Hah. Today. Sheesh. This is one of the years when good intentions get sidelined by the hectic pace. Carl's TDY to Kosovo really threw us off this year.
4. When do you take the tree down? First week in January. They collect the trees just after Epiphany.
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but like a milkshake, it's very filling and I'd rather fill up on other things.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I can't really remember anything specific at the moment. Maybe anything that wasn't a combination birthday/Christmas present.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. I have a glass one, and a couple of years ago my mom gave me the cardboard pop-up one from my childhood that's at least as old as me.
8. Hardest person to buy for? In my immediate family, it's my husband--he buys himself all the fun stuff for his hobbies; new clothes sit in his closet while he wears the old comfy ones; he doesn't wear jewelry; he reads my books when he reads at all... I usually let him pick out his own big gift and then stick to DVDs and cute silly stuff for the rest. In the extended family, it's my father-in-law. Men are tough.
9. Easiest person to buy for? My younger son. He's got a wacky sense of humor and it's fun finding things he'll enjoy.
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? My mom tends to be hit-or-miss. Lots of things with strong scents when I've been sensitive to smells since I was a child, clothing that's not remotely my style, etc. Not always, but often enough to point out that she doesn't know me very well.
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. It's always fun to receive cards in the mail and I like to return the favor.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I like Christmas movies a lot. Miracle on 34th Street for the oldies, maybe, and The Santa Clause for new ones.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever I see something I think somebody on my list would like. I start shopping in earnest in September.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Christmas cookies &/or fudge.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored--the assorted kind. I enjoy looking at all-white lights or other solid colors, but for myself, I like the multicolored lights.
17. Favorite Christmas song? I like most of them. Possibly Carol of the Bells.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? This year is the way I like it best: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at home, Boxing Day at the in-laws.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes: You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donder and Blitzen... but do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph....
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither. It's more of a spire.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Stockings on Christmas Eve, presents Christmas morning. That way, the stocking stuffers don't get overlooked.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Not getting everything done I'd wanted to.
24. Do you buy gifts for your pets? Yes, and for the pets of the extended family. Not a lot, just a little toy or chewy treat.
25. Have you ever been Christmas caroling? Yes. Quite often when I was a kid. The last time I went, we caroled through LRMC, a bit more than 20 years ago.
26. Hot chocolate or hot apple cider? Depends on my mood. Hot apple cider unless it's the really chocolatey kind of hot chocolate and not the kind that's mostly sugar and milk with a little bit of chocolate flavoring. *shudder* And if you take the good hot chocolate and add some kind of liqueur to it--like Baileys or amaretto or peppermint schnapps, that's the best.
If you celebrate, you're likely too busy to do this meme, and if you don't, the answers will all be "n/a," so tag yourself if you've got a free couple of minutes to do something fairly mindless.
Happy Holidays to all, whatever you celebrate, and if you don't celebrate any holidays this time of year, then have a happy day.
Categories: AboutMe, Meme
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both, depending on the gift and the recipient. This year, for example, my immediate family gets wrapping paper, and the in-laws get an assortment of wrapped and unwrapped things in gift bags.
2. Real tree or artificial? Real.
3. When do you put up the tree? Hah. Today. Sheesh. This is one of the years when good intentions get sidelined by the hectic pace. Carl's TDY to Kosovo really threw us off this year.
4. When do you take the tree down? First week in January. They collect the trees just after Epiphany.
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but like a milkshake, it's very filling and I'd rather fill up on other things.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? I can't really remember anything specific at the moment. Maybe anything that wasn't a combination birthday/Christmas present.
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. I have a glass one, and a couple of years ago my mom gave me the cardboard pop-up one from my childhood that's at least as old as me.
8. Hardest person to buy for? In my immediate family, it's my husband--he buys himself all the fun stuff for his hobbies; new clothes sit in his closet while he wears the old comfy ones; he doesn't wear jewelry; he reads my books when he reads at all... I usually let him pick out his own big gift and then stick to DVDs and cute silly stuff for the rest. In the extended family, it's my father-in-law. Men are tough.
9. Easiest person to buy for? My younger son. He's got a wacky sense of humor and it's fun finding things he'll enjoy.
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? My mom tends to be hit-or-miss. Lots of things with strong scents when I've been sensitive to smells since I was a child, clothing that's not remotely my style, etc. Not always, but often enough to point out that she doesn't know me very well.
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. It's always fun to receive cards in the mail and I like to return the favor.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? I like Christmas movies a lot. Miracle on 34th Street for the oldies, maybe, and The Santa Clause for new ones.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever I see something I think somebody on my list would like. I start shopping in earnest in September.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Christmas cookies &/or fudge.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored--the assorted kind. I enjoy looking at all-white lights or other solid colors, but for myself, I like the multicolored lights.
17. Favorite Christmas song? I like most of them. Possibly Carol of the Bells.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? This year is the way I like it best: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at home, Boxing Day at the in-laws.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes: You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donder and Blitzen... but do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph....
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither. It's more of a spire.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Stockings on Christmas Eve, presents Christmas morning. That way, the stocking stuffers don't get overlooked.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Not getting everything done I'd wanted to.
24. Do you buy gifts for your pets? Yes, and for the pets of the extended family. Not a lot, just a little toy or chewy treat.
25. Have you ever been Christmas caroling? Yes. Quite often when I was a kid. The last time I went, we caroled through LRMC, a bit more than 20 years ago.
26. Hot chocolate or hot apple cider? Depends on my mood. Hot apple cider unless it's the really chocolatey kind of hot chocolate and not the kind that's mostly sugar and milk with a little bit of chocolate flavoring. *shudder* And if you take the good hot chocolate and add some kind of liqueur to it--like Baileys or amaretto or peppermint schnapps, that's the best.
If you celebrate, you're likely too busy to do this meme, and if you don't, the answers will all be "n/a," so tag yourself if you've got a free couple of minutes to do something fairly mindless.
Happy Holidays to all, whatever you celebrate, and if you don't celebrate any holidays this time of year, then have a happy day.
Categories: AboutMe, Meme
Labels: about me, random memes
Link of the Week #54
GoingJesus is one of my favorite holiday sites to visit every year. This year, it's the Cavalcade of Bad Nativities II. Spend some time, and make sure you check out more than just the first page, or you'll miss the Leprechaun nativity or the Jawas. And once you're done with that, check out previous years' offerings: Angels We Have Heard Are High and the first Cavalcade of Bad Nativities. And if you haven't had enough yet, go on to The Passion of the Tchotchke and The Stations of the Kitsch.
The perfect antidote for holiday stress. Enjoy!
Categories: LOTW
Labels: cool links
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Weekend Update
- Well, you can tell Dagny's settling in... the bickering's started. One thing about having three kids: two are always ganging up on the third. So far, we've had Dagny and Camden versus Curran, and Curran and Camden versus Dagny. We told them next time it ought to be Dagny and Curran versus Camden, just to be fair. The nice thing is, it usually doesn't last long.
- Mostly, this week, Dagny's been sleeping a lot. Her room's in the same room as the computer, which explains why I haven't been around much. On the plus side, I've gotten a lot of wrapping and laundry done. The Christmas wrapping is finished. The laundry... never.
- My birthday on Thursday (thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!) was very nice. We went out to our favorite Thai-Vietnamese restaurant for dinner--I had beef & fruit in a coconut-curry sauce, which I thought was nicely festive. The owner gave us a little bottle of lychee liqueur--their Christmas gift to regular customers--but I decided to consider it an extra birthday gift. Then back home for cake (marzipan cake--yum) and presents: an e-book reader and stone schnapps glasses (can you call them glasses if they're made of stone?) from Carl, a BookMate from Dagny, and a Polish cream and sugar set from the boys.
- Friday we went to the Christmas Market in Michelstadt with Oma & Opa, and Carl's brother and his family. It was seriously cold (about 23 F when we got there, and got down to 17 on the drive home), but we had a great time anyway, and the Bratwurst and Glühwein helped keep us warm. We took a lot of pix, but I think there are enough for a Thursday Thirteen, so I'll just give you a taste now:
- Saturday we went shopping in downtown Kaiserslautern. It was still icy cold. I was still missing two packages, so I needed to get substitutes: lounge pants for Carl and a sweater for Camden, both of which I'm pretty happy with, though I'm still annoyed that the shirt & tie I'd ordered for Camden didn't show up. We found just the right thing for Carl's mom at the Christmas market, but I must say, Kaiserslautern's Christmas market doesn't hold a candle to Michelstadt's. It really lacks the atmosphere.
- Then Saturday night we finally went to the Italian restaurant in Miesau for pizza. We've lived here for 3.5 years, and this is the first time we've been there. The pizza was good, the service was friendly, and they gave both Dagny and Curran the after-dinner liqueur (Ramazotti, or something similar), which made their day. My kids tend to look younger than they are, so it was a novelty not to get the kiddie after-dinner treat. We'll be back, I think.
- Today was the final (for me, at least) pre-Christmas shopping at the Commissary and PX. As a novelty, we went to Ramstein instead of Vogelweh. Mostly because they're close together there and you can park once and go to both. They were pretty much as crowded as you'd expect, but we found everything we wanted. Well, except for squash, which necessitated a quick change in the Christmas menu. And we ended up forgetting the ham. So Carl will be going back again tomorrow, poor guy. Or maybe we'll just scrounge around the freezer and find something. LOL
- Tonight we introduced Dagny to Mork and Mindy, then played Simpsons Monopoly, and Dagny kicked all our butts. It might have been in retaliation for Mork and Mindy, I don't know, but she started out with the reds and ended up with 2/3 of the board.
- Hope you're all enjoying the holiday season as much as I am.
Categories: WeekendUpdate, AboutMe
Labels: about me, weekend update
Friday, December 21, 2007
Friday Flashback
Another one from January 2002:
Broken Honor by Patricia Potter. Romantic suspense.
This was originally posted here.
Categories: Flashback, Books, RomanticSuspense
Broken Honor by Patricia Potter. Romantic suspense.
OMG, a hero who's an Army Lieutenant Colonel! I have one of those right here! Very cool.
Broken Honor has a lot of the elements I really enjoy---the military hero, the mystery from the past, and a couple that at first glance would seem to be completely wrong for each other.
I loved watching Amy & Irish overcome their pasts & prejudices to make a future together.
The military details were pretty accurate, which I appreciated. Nice not to have 25-year-old colonels or privates who are tops in their field (so why haven't they been promoted??) or sergeants who are rolling in $$. Only one big discrepancy I could see---the 'bad guy' was supposedly able to get Irish a promotion out of the blue. Not gonna happen. Promotion boards occur once a year, then the list has to be approved by everybody all the way up to congress. So I didn't buy that, but orders to Hawaii, that was reasonable.
I don't want to say too much about the mystery, but it was interesting seeing how what happened in the past carried through to the future, & watching the threads weave together to form a whole story.
The secondary romance with the cousins was fairly daring, I thought, & well done. Dustin & Sally started out as mildly unlikeable, but gained my sympathy as I got to know them better. In love with each other, but avoiding it, & feeling guilty about it because they're cousins. Could have had a whole story about these two, although I suspect the cousins bit would squick a lot of readers, so perhaps they're better off as supporting cast.
I especially liked how Amy reacted to the dangerous situations---she wasn't TSTL (Too Stupid To Live), but she didn't have a sideline of hand-to-hand combat along with her history degree, either. She behaved the way an intelligent woman without fighting experience would behave.
All in all, I really enjoyed Broken Honor.
This was originally posted here.
Categories: Flashback, Books, RomanticSuspense
Labels: books, flashback, RomanticSuspense
Thursday, December 20, 2007
TT #79
December 20
- Feast of St. Dominic of Silos
- Go Caroling Day
- Completion of the Louisiana Purchase
- Sacagawea's death
- first signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence
- Irene Dunne's birthday
- Peter Criss's birthday
- first preview showing of It's a Wonderful Life
- Uri Geller's birthday
- Alan Parsons's birthday
- My birthday!
- John Steinbeck's death
- Carl Sagan's death
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
- Sandy Carlson: bells
- Dragonheart: Christmas
- Julia: presents
- JoyIsMyGoal: anticipation
- Robin: pizza
- Susan Helene Gottfried: wired
- Jenn: wishes
- Joely Sue Burkhart: Evermore
- Amy Ruttan: movies
- Tanabata: books
- Carrie Lofty: "Sundial"
- Julia: cookies
- Nap Warden: graphics
- Open Grove Claudia: suckage
- Lori: lines
- Ellen B: poinsettias
- Denise Patrick: carols
- Dane Bramage: carols
- You're next!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants
Categories: ThursdayThirteen
Labels: TT
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Shoot 'Em Up
***** Shoot 'Em Up. Action/adventure.
Directed by: Michael Davis.
Starring: Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti, Monica Bellucci.
I really didn't know what to expect when Carl and I went to see this at the Hercules... and now I don't really know how to describe it.
Clive Owen is Smith, who just wants to be left alone to eat his carrots, but a very pregnant woman runs past and is pursued by gun-toting thugs, and he can't not rush to her aid.
He helps deliver the baby amid gunfire, and in their escape, the woman is killed. But it's not over--now the thugs are after the baby.
What follows is one over-the-top action scene after another, interspersed with Smith's attempts to relieve himself of the responsibility for the baby--he eventually gets Donna (Monica Bellucci), a specialty prostitute, to help him care for the baby--and head bad guy Hertz's (Paul Giamatti) attempts to complete his mission and placate his wife.
Smith was a wonderful reluctant hero, an irresistible blend of world-weariness and conscience with extraordinary martial skills. Hertz was the perfect foil--twisted and cold, but also a bit hen-pecked, and oh-so frustrated at Smith's spoiling his simple mission.
As you could no doubt guess from the title, Shoot 'Em Up is full of violence. It's mostly exaggerated, comics-style violence, but there were a few times I had to shut my eyes (those carrots were pretty gross). There was also a hilariously cool sex scene where Smith and Donna continue going at it while dodging bad guys.
Not for the squeamish or the anti-violence, and it definitely earns its R rating, but boy, was it fun. One of those movies where I grinned through the whole thing.
Categories: Movies, 5stars, ActionAdventure
Labels: 5 stars, action, Movies
Rocky Road
**** Rocky Road by Anne Stuart. Contemporary romance.
Jennie MacPherson has spent two years away from the rat race on Muscatoon Island, working part time as a cook at the inn and living off her share of the Tom & Jennie's Ice Cream profits. She loves the island and her friends, but her biological clock is ticking, and she's beginning to realize she'll have to leave if she's to find the family of her own that she wants.
Enter Matthew Connelly, a burned-out cop renting the neighboring cottage for the summer to recuperate from a line-of-duty gunshot and the accompanying nightmares, and to decide what to do with the rest of his life.
Jennie doesn't know any of that, however. All she knows is that his sister asked her to look out for him, and that when she was there to greet him with a casserole, he shouted at her and made her leave. . . . And that she's very attracted to him.
Even 22 years ago (Rocky Road is from 1985), Anne Stuart was writing about the darker side of human nature...or at least she didn't ignore it or shy away from it. Not that Rocky Road is a dark story, or even a romantic suspense. I'm used to romance novel couples who are emotionally perfect, who never lose their tempers without a noble reason, who never do anything they might regret. These characters do, and it makes the book much more vital and real.
It is, though, clearly one of her earliest works. There are some threads that aren't fully developed, or that go nowhere. Jennie is a rather simple, sweet heroine, typical of the era, even if she does display a surprising temper.
Still, it's an entertaining, readable, and solid romance, and Matthew has enough depth for both of them.
Categories: Books, 4stars, ContemporaryRomance
Labels: 4 stars, books, ContemporaryRomance
Past Redemption
****½ Past Redemption by Savannah Russe. Contemporary fantasy.
This is the second book of the Darkwing Chronicles, about vampire spy Daphne Urban.
This time, the Darkwings' mission involves a new drug, susto, that's exclusive, expensive...and deadly. The investigation is complicated by Daphne's love life: Darius, the ex-boyfriend who'd been a vampire hunter until she'd turned him to save his life, keeps popping up, wavering between love and loathing. He says he loves her, but who's that woman he's hanging around with? And Fitz, the nice guy she's just met, may very well be part of the drug ring. As if all that weren't enough, there's been a sudden influx of vampire hunters.
The series seems to hit its stride with Past Redemption. The person and the mystery plots mesh nicely, and we're getting to know the players a little better. There's an intriguing side-mystery about new Darkwing member Bubba's pre-vampire identity, and the team is starting to work together as a unit rather than as separate individuals.
Darius's hot and cold reactions could become tiresome, but they don't. It's clear that he's having real difficulties adjusting to becoming what until recently he'd hunted and killed, but it's also clear that that's not the whole story, and that he's hiding something.
One small quibble is that Daphne, like so many other heroines in this subgenre (contemporary fantasy/chick lit/suspense? there are relationships, but regardless what the spine says, this isn't romance) is fashion-obsessed. Unlike the others, however, Daphne at least doesn't tout the same handful of designer names that make me think the rest of them all share the same closet.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I have Beneath the Skin and In the Blood on my to-buy list.
Categories: Books, 4.5stars, ContemporaryFantasy
Labels: 4.5 stars, books, ContemporaryFantasy
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Midnight Kiss
****½ Midnight Kiss by Rebecca York. Romantic suspense.
This is another early Rebecca York, from the 43 Light Street series.
Film director Jessica Adams is embarked on the project of a lifetime: she's put her reputation and her savings on the line to make a movie of reclusive author Matthew Griffon's bestselling vampire horror novel Midnight Kiss.
Almost from the start, the project has been plagued by problems--her production manager falls down broken steps in the spooky old mansion where they'll be filming, and Jessica has heard a vampire calling her. She chalks it up to nightmares until a dead body is found in her car--exsanguinated--and they move the cast and crew out to the mansion, where they discover that she's not the only one hearing things... then the bridge floods, the phones go out, and they're all trapped like they're in an Agatha Christie mystery, with everyone a suspect.
Also from the start, Jessica and Matthew have been drawn to each other. But Matthew has demons of his own and is determined not to get close to anyone.
I docked this one half a star because some of the characters were a little too credulous to be believable, but other than that, it's a wonderfully gothic romantic suspense. The tension builds through the story, each event in both the mystery plot and the romance plot adding to it.
We learn about both Jessica's and Matthew's pasts gradually and naturally, and the unfolding of their histories gives the reader insight into their motivations and serves to add to the increase of tension.
Even the secondary characters are interesting and believable. One small detail that really added to their believability and the general setting is that the film people related things to movies fairly often, rather than a more general mix of pop culture references from movies, books, TV, etc.
I've been collecting Rebecca York's backlist. I still have quite a few to go (she's written over 100 books!), and I'm looking forward to them--she's one of my guaranteed good reads.
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Categories: Books, 4.5stars, RomanticSuspense
Labels: 4.5 stars, books, RomanticSuspense
What Crappy Christmas Gift Are You?
I grabbed this from Sparky Duck:
Categories: Quiz
| You Are Socks! |
 Cozy and warm... but easily lost. You make a good puppet. |
Categories: Quiz
Labels: quiz
Monday, December 17, 2007
Monday Morning Meme
Okay, so it's more like Monday evening meme, but at least it's still Monday. I stole found this Christmas meme at Sandier Pastures:
1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
Hot chocolate
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Santa leaves a joint present out on the table. The bulk of the presents are wrapped, though, and not from Santa.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
I like the colored for myself, but city decorations here tend to be all white, and it looks beautiful.
4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No
5. When do you put your decorations up?
Hopefully before Christmas Eve.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Excluding dessert? We don't have quite as strict traditions for Christmas dinner as we do for Thanksgiving, but if we're having Christmas dinner at home, we'll usually have a spinach/tomato/mushroom casserole that I love, and I'm also very fond of the spiced winter squash. At Christmas, nobody really cares about dinner, so I make things I like.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child:
I don't remember anything specific--it's all a blur.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I never believed in Santa. We always had a few presents with "from Santa" tags, but we always knew they were from mom & dad.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
We open the stockings on Christmas Eve. See above re: not believing in Santa. It works out really nicely, because the little stocking stuffer presents tend to get overlooked on Christmas day, what with all the big presents, so on Christmas Eve, it's just all those fun little things.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Colored lights, huge variety of ornaments, from fancy glass ones to popsicle stick ones made by the kids.
11. Snow? Love it or Dread it?
Well, I'd rather have snow than cold rain, but it's more fun to look at than to deal with. With the exception of Christmas vacation, when it's nice if there's enough snow to build snowmen or have snowball fights.
12. Can you ice skate?
Yes, but I haven't in years.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
No.
14. What’s the most exciting thing about the Holidays for you?
Giving presents to my family.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
pecan pie
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
driving around on Christmas Eve with a Christmas CD on, looking at Christmas lights
17. What tops your tree?
a blue and gold spire
18. Which do you prefer – giving or receiving?
giving
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Carol of the Bells
20. Candy canes?
Maybe one per year. I like them, but I get tired of them really quickly.
I'm tagging... everybody who reads this! Leave a comment if you play, so I can read your answers.
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Categories: AboutMe, Meme
Labels: about me, random memes
Weekend Update
- It's been a pretty busy week, which is obvious since I'm doing my weekend update on Monday instead of Saturday.
- Last Monday was Camden's winter band concert. First the 6th & 7th grade beginning band played, then the 7th grade intermediate band. What a difference a year makes! It was obvious from watching them walk into the auditorium--not from the size of the kids, but from their confidence. The beginning band students looked nervous or sheepish or embarrassed or cocky. The intermediate band students looked confident. It's an amazing and wonderful thing as a parent to see your child being confident and proud of himself. We didn't get very good pictures--here's the best we've got:
Camden's in the white shirt and gray tie, standing in the middle. Here's a video of one of the songs--again, the one that turned out best of some pretty poor ones. You can see why: we were seated pretty far in the back. - Early Tuesday morning, Carl left for Kosovo and was gone three days, which made things at home a little more hectic than usual. Curran and Camden are always exceptionally helpful while he's gone, though, and we have our dad's-gone-routine down pretty well by now. We eat different foods (tuna patties are a favorite), and watch a different sort of movie. This time it was Star Spangled Girl (review will eventually be forthcoming).
- I spent quite a lot of time this week trying to get things ready for both Christmas and Dagny's arrival on Monday (today). Organized a lot of the books in the computer room, which is also the spare bedroom (have I complained lately that this house is small?), and wrapped all the presents that are here.
- I'm pretty pleased with the wrapping scheme this year. Instead of using tags, I use a different kind of wrapping paper for each of us. This year, I got everyone 3 small rolls of coordinating paper (thank-you, Oriental Trading!), so Curran has black & white, Camden has blues, Carl has silver & gold, Dagny has pink & green, and I have blue & purple. It looks pretty cool.
- Coincidentally, when Carl went to the mail room on Friday when he got back, we had exactly 13 packages. They weren't all the ones I had listed--a couple of the orders came in more than one package, so I'm still waiting on about half a dozen.
- Saturday was the LRMC Holiday Ball. We had a wonderful time, even though Carl was the only one present from PM, so it was a little iffy finding people to sit with. We made the acquaintance of a Navy nursing supervisor, an Army lab tech, and one of the NCO-of-the-year candidates who'd come up from Vicenza for the competition, and they were all very friendly and helped make the evening fun. Also at our table was someone we actually knew, a civilian from infection control, IIRC, and she's terrific.
For a once-a-year thing, I rather enjoy all the ritual and ceremony. The vocalist who sang the German and American national anthems was impressive, and the solemn ceremony for the missing/fallen soldiers choked me up as usual. They have the same ceremony every year, and every year it puts tears in my eyes. The speeches were much shorter this year, but no less affecting. I always leave the ball with renewed respect for the LRMC staff... even after watching some of them dance.
One new thing they did this year, possibly because LRMC is now fully a joint operation, was to have members of each service stand and sing their service song. The Army song is horrible, but the rest of them were great. The Navy song had nearly as many people singing as the Army, but there were only a handful singing the Air Force song. What was cool, though, was the Marines hymn. There were only 3 Marines present, but everybody knows this one, so they ended up with a lot of help.
We did take advantage of the photographer there, but the prints won't be back for a while, so here's a snapshot:
Hopefully the professional pix turned out better. At least they'll show off the dress, which I loved. And check out Carl's new dress blues--snazzy, no? I'm so glad he got new ones. Surprised me when he said he preferred wearing them to wearing a regular suit. The band was really good, part of the Air Force band. We took a couple pix of them, too, but the lighting was bad and they don't show up very well. They played a wide variety of music, and we even danced a couple of slow songs--my feet hurt, and we didn't have nearly enough to drink to overcome our inhibitions.
Sunday Carl and the boys went to yet another big model train exhibit--apparently this is the season for them.
Dagny arrived this morning. We got to the airport a half hour later than we'd expected due to horrible traffic, and then spent quite a while determining that there were no spots in the parking garages for Moby. Finally, Carl pulled up to the curb and I walked in to find her. Then I came out the wrong door and we spent another 20 minutes trying to find Carl again. We stopped for breakfast at the Grünstadt McDonald's--our usual tradition--and it was actually cloudy there (no matter how cloudy it is elsewhere in Germany, it's almost always clear over Grünstadt).
- Then in a construction zone we hit a post and whacked the heck out of the driver's side mirror. PIA. So once we got Dagny tucked in for a nap, I found the parts online and ordered them--we've learned from experience that going through a German dealer for American parts is asking to pay at least double, between the customs, transportation costs, and the exchange rate. It's still not cheap, but it's below our deductible.
- So, it was an eventful week. This week promises to be eventful as well. If I'm not around much, that's why.
Categories: AboutMe, WeekendUpdate
Labels: about me, weekend update
Friday, December 14, 2007
Friday Flashback
This one's from May, 2003:
Murder of a Snake in the Grass by Denise Swanson. Mystery.
Originally posted here.
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Categories: Books, Mystery, Flashback
Murder of a Snake in the Grass by Denise Swanson. Mystery.
This was an interesting premise--a school psychologist as an amateur sleuth. It makes sense--she'd have the contacts to investigate, and being a psychologist would make her good at solving puzzles, particularly ones dealing with human nature and emotions.
There was a lot going on in this story: a murder mystery, a troubled (& trouble-making!) teen, the return of Skye's ex-fiance, and a budding new romance. It all kept me turning the pages.
The small town atmosphere was fun, and I loved Scumble River's bicentennial celebration. It reminds me of the town where I grew up.
Originally posted here.
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Categories: Books, Mystery, Flashback
Labels: books, flashback, mystery
Thursday, December 13, 2007
TT #78
- Order from Kohl's containing clothes for the boys and Carl. Every year an outfit is one of the Christmas presents. This year it's dressy clothes--shirts and ties and dress pants.
- TV season DVDs from Columbia House. This year each of the kids is getting a season of a British TV show. Carl's getting the 3rd season of original Star Trek.
- Stocking stuffers from Think Geek including a "don't drink and derive" button and a mini sock monkey. There's also a metal wind-up Bender for Carl, who collects robots.
- My December book order from Barnes & Noble.
- A sock monkey hat I ordered for Dagny from eBay.
- A Gundam model Camden ordered for his brother from Gundam Store and More.
- Another big order of DVDs from Columbia House. They had an irresistible sale--buy one, get the rest for 50% off, then an additional 15% off and free shipping. I got new releases and the average price per DVD was $7.80. You can't get used ones for that price. I admit, I think I went a little overboard.
- And then since I'd ordered so many movies from Columbia House, I had a whole bunch of Fun Cash, which has to be redeemed by the end of the year. So there's another package coming, including Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, which I'll have to arm wrestle Dagny for.
- A DS game from GameStop (through Barnes & Noble, because GameStop doesn't like APO addresses) that Curran ordered for his brother.
- Another package from Kohl's because the shirt and tie I'd ordered for Camden was out of stock. This one has the same one in a larger size, and a different one. I'm not taking chances.
- Two CDs by The Flash Girls I ordered from DreamHaven Books via the Neil Gaiman Online Store. This was simply the result of fan-geekiness. After reading Anansi Boys, I spent a lot of time browsing around Gaiman's website, and couldn't resist when I discovered they had Emma Bull's folk duo CDs available.
- A package from Omaha Steaks I'm having delivered to my mom.
- A big box containing a pig-face helmet for Camden from American Home Furnishing via Amazon which I had delivered to Dagny (nobody who sold helmets liked APO addresses) and which she's bringing with her when she comes on Monday.
Wow. I thought I'd have to cheat a little and include a couple of things that have already arrived, but yes, there are that many packages on the way. I didn't even include the books I ordered from eHarlequin.com, or the deliveries from my Zooba and YourMusic queues. Hope Carl gets a parking spot close to the mail room tomorrow.
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
- Moondancer Drake's TBR pile
- Damozel: animal videos
- Ann: calendars
- Julia: Booking Through Thursday
- Joely Sue Burkhart's Amazon wishlist
- Nap Warden: reasons to hate snow
- Carrie Lofty: procrastinating
- Heather's favorite Christmas CDs
- PussReboots's week in review
- Doug hates eye exams
- Susan Helene Gottfried: Musical Hannukah Celebration
- Robin: cookies
- Frigga loves her job
- Mar: pix from Gran Canaria
- Tilly Greene: the Getty Villa
- Harris Channing: celebrity mugshots
- Tanabata: winter titles
- Dane Bramage's Christmas wish list
- Head Gaggler's favorite things
- AnGlOpHiLe FoOtBaLl FaNaTiC: kids say the darnedest things
- Ellen B.: Handel's Messiah
- Holly's favorite Christmas things
- Tempest Knight: ebooks
- Coco: 13
- Adelle: Christmas funnies
- Tink: multilingual Merry Christmas
- Open Grove Claudia: acts of kindness
- JoyIsMyGoal: nativities
- Babystepper: WWII books
- Friday's Child: Christmas around the world
- You're next!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Categories: ThursdayThirteen
Labels: TT
