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Monday Morning Meme

2011-10-31T01:02:00.000+01:00

Halloween Meme

Found at Never Never Land

COSTUMES:

1. What past Halloween costume of yours do you remain particularly proud of?
I won a prize when I was a kid with an Ichabod Crane costume--hooked nose made of Silly Putty is all I remember clearly.

2. Are there any other costumes – worn by someone other than yourself – that you remember as being really clever?
Some of the kids' classmates' moms came up with some awesome costumes over the years. A thunderstorm was pretty memorable.

3. What was the lamest costume you've ever seen?
Well, the German kids who would come trick-or-treating didn't really get the idea. A funny hat was about as good as it got.

4. As a child (under 18), did you ever dress up as a Star Wars character for Halloween?
*cough* I was 16 when Star Wars came out. Much too old for trick-or-treating (IMO then, anyway), and too young for the cool parties of a couple years later.

5. What's the sexiest Halloween costume you ever wore?
I never really wore a sexy Halloween costume. Always went for scary or funny. Closest would be the year Carl dressed up as a vampire and I was his victim. White wig, pale makeup, ragged clothes.

6. Can I see a photo of that?
There's one somewhere, but like I said--not particularly sexy.

TRICK OR TREATING:

7. During your primary treak-or-treating phase, was there ever a year when you did NOT go out? Why?
Not that I can remember. Although I do remember having to wear a winter coat over my costume a few years. Ah, Michigan....

8. What kind of candy in your trick-or-treat bag did you never, or almost never, eat?
Necco wafers. Yuck.

9. Did you ever pull any “tricks,” like smashing a jack o'lantern or TP'ing someone's house on Halloween?
No.

10. What was the most unusual “treat” you received at a neighbor's house?
Compared to today's standards, they were all unusual: homemade cookies, popcorn balls, caramel apples, quarters. The candy bars were the unusual treats.

11. How old were you when you went trick-or-treating for the last time?
Twelve, IIRC

12. Do trick-or-treaters come to your door, where you're living now?
Holy crap, do they ever. Hundreds of them. Hordes. You can't even shut the door between trick-or-treaters--it's a steady stream. We start stocking up on candy in September.

SCARY STUFF:

13. What's a little-known or underrated scary movie you'd recommend to people this Halloween?

Camp Cuddly Pines Power Tool Massacre, but only if you're over 18. :)

14. Do you believe in ghosts?
No. But I also don't believe we know everything there is to know.

15. Have you ever seen a dead human body, outside of a funeral?
Yes. I worked at a hospital. People died.

16. What's the most frightening thing that ever happened to you personally?
Chest pain and shortness of breath. I feel stupid about it now, but at the time, I was scared.

17. Who's scarier looking, Dick Cheney or Donald Rumsfeld?

Cheney. That's the face of pure evil, there.

GENERAL:

18. Do you wish Halloween would just be celebrated on the last Saturday of October, when you could really cut loose, instead of the 31st every year?
Well, maybe. It does make it tough on the (parents of) kids, when there's trick-or-treating in the middle of the week, and confusing when some neighborhoods have official trick-or-treating on days other than the 31st. Parties, however, can be any time, and it's not a big deal.

19. Provided you had the resources, would you rather set up an amazing Haunted House in your front yard (or parking lot, or apartment hallway, or whatever) or go to a really great party wearing the best costume in the room?
Oh, I'd definitely rather set up the Haunted House.

20. Is Halloween your favorite holiday of the year?
It used to be, back when we were younger and went to parties. I still like it, but it's not my favorite anymore.

Categories: Meme, AboutMe

Song of the Day

2011-06-15T11:08:00.003+02:00

"Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel, from Bridge Over Troubled Water

SIMON AND GARFUNKEL - BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER von maniac-pro

Hmm. Let's see if this works. I couldn't get a studio version of this song on YouTube because I'm in Germany. *sigh*

This is such a classic, and I've never heard anyone else do it justice. They turn it into a pale, insipid shadow of itself. It's a powerful song, and the dynamics are an important part of it. I love how it starts out quiet and peaceful, and then gets reeeaally loud. I nearly smacked Carl once when he turned down the volume when the song got loud.

Here's a recent, live version, with both Simon and Garfunkel singing.

Footnote: I'm seriously irritated by simonandgarfunkel.com. It automatically defaults to simonandgarfunkel.com/de (de = Germany), and there's apparently no way to see the original site from here, at least not one that's easily found. More and more websites are doing this lately.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-06-14T15:15:00.002+02:00

"Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games" by Of Montreal, from The Sunlandic Twins

This is the first song I ever heard by Of Montreal, and it cracked me up: "Let's pretend we don't exist. Let's pretend we're in Antarctica." It reminded me strongly of 10CC: the whimsy, the harmonies, and just the general style. So I listened to more of their songs, and got hooked.

I read the comments, and a LOT of them referenced Outback Steakhouse. Wha? This is what comes from living in Germany for the past 7 years. Here's the commercial: =>LINK<= So, good for Of Montreal, I hope they made a bunch of money. But the song is still "Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games," not "The Outback Steakhouse Song." *rolling my eyes* Kind of like that Muse song is "Neutron Star Collision," not "The Twilight Song."

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-06-13T07:48:00.003+02:00

"Words I Never Said" (feat. Skylar Grey) by Lupe Fiasco, from Lasers

Regardless of how you feel about rap, listen to the words here. "I think that all the silence is worse than all violence." This is the modern version of the protest songs of the 60s and 70s. Plus, it's great to listen to. If you watch it on YouTube, the lyrics are in the description.

I can't embed the live performance on the Colbert Report, but here's the =>LINK<=.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-06-10T08:07:00.004+02:00

"Stray Cat Strut" by Stray Cats, from Built for Speed

Here's an older video, =>HERE<= but the embedding is disabled, so you'll have to go to YouTube for it. I either saw this particular performance, or another one at the same time, because I bought the album in 1982.

The shuffle gods handed me "Stray Cat Strut" this morning, the Stray Cats' signature song, and one guaranteed to lift the spirits--they obviously knew I really needed that today (read http://is.gd/MRzx1i and http://is.gd/H1a5ZY to see why).

Such a classic. I never get tired of it, and it's hard not to sing along.

When we move back home (and maybe before then, if I can figure out the logistics), the stereo is not going to be in the loft with the TV. Which is really the stupidest place ever for it, and why we almost never use it. I've got decent speakers for the computer, so I listen to iTunes, but when I was checking to make sure I still had Built for Speed, I really wished I could listen to it. And I could, but I'd either have to have it on loud enough to hear all the way on the other side of the house (I'm sure the neighbors would enjoy it, right?), or just sit in the living room and do nothing else while I listen. Hmmm. I'm going to be thinking about this for a while. I'm sure I can come up with a solution.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-06-09T13:31:00.003+02:00

"Crying Lightning" by Arctic Monkeys, from Humbug

Wow. Two rock songs in a row. I'm on a roll! See what I did there?

Again, I like this whole album, but this was the first one that came up in the shuffle, so it's the one I'm posting.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-06-08T08:41:00.002+02:00

"Screaming Bloody Murder" by Sum 41, from Screaming Bloody Murder

This band is completely new to me, but boy, do I like this song. This is a pretty good video, too. I almost went with the slightly-more-professional-looking video from Jimmy Kimmel Live, but in that performance, the whole song was harder rock without the lyrical bookends (not to mention the annoyingly obvious Bud Light sponsorship). And after a little more searching, I think this performance has more energy than the one on Lopez Tonight.

I'll definitely be checking out more from this band.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-06-07T15:07:00.002+02:00

"In the Glass" by OK Go, from Of the Blue Colour of the Sky

I like this whole album, but today, this song edges out the others as my favorite. It has a nice blend of styles. "What have I done, what have I done?"

There was another video with the album cover and the lyrics in the description, but whoever wrote down the lyrics didn't listen to the song very carefully: "I tried to come back to and melt the glass and perfect"??? (the lyric is actually "I tried to call out to him but the glass was perfect") *sigh*

Several live amateur videos are also on YouTube, of which this one had the best sound, though the picture is a little dark:

New live album out, which I'm tempted to get despite my rule against buying live albums, since physical orders come with confetti. Oh! I'm officially hooked, after seeing this picture: ==>link to picture<== Please, go look. You'll understand when you see it. Well, assuming you recognize who's in the picture. Okay, I'm shallow and easily influenced. But it always gives me a little zing when someone whose music/writing/acting/whatever I like also likes something I like. Makes me think a little more highly of them.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-06-03T08:16:00.003+02:00

"Sweet Home Chicago" by The Blues Brothers, from The Blues Brothers Soundtrack

Sorry it's not the clip from the movie. I searched for one for a while, and tried every keyword I could think of: movie, original, genuine, etc. It's either unavailable or buried so deeply in a pile of amateur bands playing this song or people singing along to karaoke in their basements recording themselves on their iPhones. It wasn't pretty.

But never mind the video--the song is the point. Turn up the volume; get up and dance. It's Friday!

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-05-31T09:55:00.004+02:00

"Always" by Panic! at the Disco, from Vices & Virtues.

This is such a pretty song for a rainy Monday morning. "When the world gets too heavy, put it on my back." Very romantic.

Unfortunately, the video is just the album cover, but if you go to YouTube, the description has the lyrics. Note to whoever wrote out the lyrics: it's "levee," as in something that protects you from floods, not "levy," as in the imposition of a tax, which makes no sense.

Here's a live video of a portion of the song:

I had a hard time finding one that wasn't obscured by the audience singing along. Question: why would you go to a concert and then sing along to the songs so you can't hear the band??? Anyway, this one was in Hamburg, so I guess we're just lucky the song wasn't obscured by the audience rhythmically clapping along.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-05-12T09:45:00.000+02:00

"Starlight" by Muse, from Black Holes and Revelations

and here's the live video. Because you know you want to hear it again.

I've not been posting songs--or anything else--lately, because I've been so busy, but after I listened to this three times in a row this morning, I decided I needed to share it. Love this song.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-04-28T08:34:00.003+02:00

"Ambling Alp" by Yeasayer, from Odd Blood

"Stick up for yourself, son. Never mind what anybody else done." Good advice. Cool song. Catchy.

I routinely put Camden's iTunes on shuffle to find new things to listen to. This is one of those bands where I heard one song, loved it enough to check out another song, and ended up putting the whole CD on my playlist.

By the way, iTunes, it's pronounced "yay-sayer," not "yee-sayer." Surprised me that there was even a question about it: "yea" is pronounced "yay." Doesn't anybody read the King James version of the Bible anymore? Sheesh.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-04-27T08:37:00.004+02:00

"Broken Sorrow" by Nuttin' But Stringz, from Struggle from the Subway to the Charts.

I had a difficult time choosing one song from this album. Today this one's my favorite. So emotional, it gives me goosebumps.

Here's the video from their performance of "Broken Sorrow" on America's Got Talent. They were robbed, by the way. I was shocked that they didn't win.

One nice thing about posting songs of the day: I check out the artists' websites. On Nuttin' But Stringz's website, I discovered they have a new song. It's not on iTunes, and as far as I can tell, you can only download it from their website. Here it is on YouTube, though the title is "Winner!" not "Winners." *sigh*

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-04-26T08:07:00.001+02:00

"Dancing Lasha Tumbai" by Verka Serduchka, from Eurovision Song Contest 2007. There's also a CD of nothing but remixes of the song.

This is the first song on my gym playlist--it's a great motivator, and always puts me in a cheerful mood.

Eurovision 2007 was the first Eurovision we'd ever watched, and arguably (at least from our perspective) the best. You can see the rest of the entries =>here<=. It was very interesting watching the voting, by the way. For example, Russia gave its next-to-top score to Georgia (subtext: sorry for the invasion, but, hey, we voted for you!), while Georgia didn't give Russia any points.

The most recent Eurovision, last year, was much more serious. My theory: because of the worldwide economic situation. Last year's winner: Lena, from Germany. Another theory: everybody was sucking up to Germany because of the European economic situation. It clearly couldn't have been because the song was the best. Or maybe that's because, living here in Germany, you heard it ALL THE FREAKING TIME. Then there was the World Cup, and a version of the song for that: "Schland O Schland" (I'm guessing "Schland" is short for "Deutschland"). At least it's not sung by Lena.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to this year's Eurovision, May 14.

Anyway. "Dancing Lasha Tumbai." Well, you can see by the video why we liked it. Apparently "Lasha Tumbai" means "whipped cream" in Mongolian, only it doesn't. And after you've listened to the song multiple times, you can clearly hear "Russia goodbye" instead of "lasha tumbai" in a couple of places. Wikipedia has the scoop, sort of.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-04-23T08:19:00.003+02:00

"Gronlandic Edit" by Of Montreal, from Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

Just the album cover on this video. YouTube has amateur live videos and a homemade music video for it, but I figure the song stands on its own.

Of Montreal reminds me quite a bit of a 2000s version of 10CC: the tight harmonies, the quirky lyrics, and just the general style. I suspect I'll be buying all their albums.

Speaking of the lyrics, the description to this video has the lyrics. "Physics makes us all its bitches." Indeed.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-04-22T09:16:00.003+02:00

"I'm Awesome" by Spose, from The Audacity! *

Warning: this video has a lot of cursing in it.

No matter how many times I hear this song, it continues to crack me up. "I'm only 'bout as sexy as John McCain." I looked for a "clean" version for those offended by the cursing, but all the ones I found were really amateurish. Here's a link, if you want--the description has the uncensored lyrics in it, which I find pretty funny.

* at least, according to the Wikipedia article. It's also supposed to be on an album called We Smoked it All, but I couldn't find even a weak link for that one.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-04-21T07:33:00.004+02:00

"When the Day Met the Night" by Panic! at the Disco from Pretty. Odd.

It sure seems like summer here--sunny, high 70s. I wore shorts and a tank top when I walked to the gym yesterday. And when the calendar says it's summer, it'll probably be cool and rainy. So to celebrate the gorgeous weather, and to give a little pick-me-up to those of you living where winter's still hanging on, I decided to post a summer song.

Plus, this song is just so infectious. It's fun in the live version, but the orchestra in the studio really puts it over the top.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-04-20T07:59:00.003+02:00

"Hysteria" by Muse from Absolution.

I had trouble choosing which Muse song to post today--I haven't yet heard one I don't love. I was going to post "Neutron Star Collision" and describe it as a geeky love song... until I looked up the videos and discovered it's the one on Twilight. This one's a little harder rocking, though, and the energy is perfect for getting me motivated on a hump day morning.

If you're like me and prefer your music videos to actually show the band playing the song, here's a live version:

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-04-19T10:07:00.004+02:00

"The Beat Goes On" by Beady Eye from Different Gear, Still Speeding.

This is one of those times I'm annoyed with living in Germany. There's an official video for this song from EMI, but I'm not allowed to see it since I live in Germany. Argh. Here's the =>link<= for those of you who can see it.

Still, it's a gorgeous song. I can't stop listening to it. "Are you singing along?" Yes. Yes, I am.

Categories: Music

Song of the Day

2011-04-18T08:14:00.006+02:00

"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, from A Night at the Opera, 5 live albums, 3 greatest hits albums, and who knows how many "rock classics" or "best of the 70s" albums.

This is the song against which all others are judged and fall short.

I remember seeing this video on late night TV way back when, but I don't remember what program. MTV didn't start until a few years later.

My love affair with Queen started with this song. I bought the 45--trying to choose between "Bohemian Rhapsody" and another song, possibly "All By Myself". I chose "Bohemian Rhapsody" because, being longer, it seemed like a better deal.

Check out the Wikipedia page--it's fascinating.

Categories: Music

Monday Morning Meme

2011-04-18T07:42:00.003+02:00

I actually got this a couple years ago, but forgot to do it.

Reading Meme

to play: Copy the questions into your own post, answer the questions, and tag any friends who would appreciate the quiz, including the person who sent you this. Don't bother trying to italicize your book titles. We know you want to.**

1) What author do you own the most books by?

Nora Roberts.

2) What book do you own the most copies of?

Storm Front by Jim Butcher--3 or 4 paperbacks, a couple different hardcovers, and an audiobook. Oh, and an episode of the TV show.

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?

No. I think the prohibition against ending sentences with prepositions is the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put. :D

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?

First literary love: Francisco d'Anconia. *sigh* Current heartthrob: Harry Dresden.

5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?

Hard to say. There are several I've read more than half a dozen times: Atlas Shrugged, Outlander, Naked in Death (and probably the next 4 or 5 in that series), Storm Front.

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?

When I was ten?? Hmmm. Maybe the Black Stallion series by Walter Farley. I've never been a horse-person, but I loved that series.

7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?

Probably the one where an army captain in on a 6-month "leave of absence" from the military (??) because the male general is sexually harassing him (?? no mention of DADT?), and he falls in love with a woman who can bench press TWICE her own body weight (?????? the world record holder doesn't even do that!). I got so bogged down and irritated by things like that I could barely get to the plot.

8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?

Changes by Jim Butcher. So aptly named, and it's his best yet. Ghost Story is even better, but taunting isn't nice, so that's all I'm saying about that.

9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?

Why We Suck by Denis Leary. There's something there to annoy pretty much everybody. :)

Alternatively: The Big Necessity by Rose George.

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?

I don't keep up with current "literature"--too often I've found it to be over-hyped and either tedious or pedestrian. So I have no idea what would even been in the running. I've been impressed by the past winners I've read, though.

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?

Furies of Calderon, though I'm afraid they'd turn it into a kids' movie, so maybe just skip to Captain's Fury. So many great special effects in that series. And I've always thought Nora Roberts's Hot Ice would make the perfect romantic adventure/caper movie.

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?

Laura Kinsale's For My Lady's Heart and Shadowheart--I don't think a movie could capture the intensity, and the middle-English would be very hard to watch. Likewise, Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles. Too busy, intense, and subtle for film.

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.

Well, there was the dream where I was making oven-fried chicken and fish nuggets in a church basement kitchen with Jennifer Crusie and Nora Roberts. That was vivid and memorable and weird.

14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?

Defining a "lowbrow book" as one for the uneducated/uninterested/uninvolved, I'd have to say those "mysteries" that are just shells for recipes or crossword puzzles. And also some of the "erotica" or "romantica" that when you read it, you can almost hear the author snickering in the background about how naughty and daring they are.

15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?

House of Leaves was definitely not an easy book to read.

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?

I don't think I've ever seen an actual Shakespeare play.

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?

I've read very little of either, so I have no real preference.

18) Roth or Updike?

I've read more Roth than Updike, but I'm not sure that indicates I like Roth more.

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?

Never read either.

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?

Not that big of a fan of any of them.

21) Austen or Eliot?

Austen--Eliot seems to be a little more long-winded and tedious, although I do like her plots and characters.

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?

There are a lot of "classics" I never read, but I've been remedying that with those 100 free classics I got with my first e-reader.

23) What is your favorite novel?

So many different ones for different reasons.

24) Play?

Noises Off. :D

25) Poem?

I am not at all a fan of poetry. I find most of it pretentious, and I simply don't have the patience for or the interest in absorbing imagery.

26) Essay?

Anything by Mil Millington.

27) Short story?

Tod Golberg's collection Simplify is a notable exception to my dislike for short stories in general. And I noticed when I was looking up the links for this that he has a new collection out: Other Resort Cities. Must buy.

28) Work of nonfiction?

I've been reading a lot more nonfiction lately, and I've been enjoying it, but none of the books has reached the status of "favorite" yet.

29) Who is your favorite writer?

Neil Gaiman. Closely followed by Terry Pratchett, Jim Butcher, Jennifer Crusie, & Laura Kinsale

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?

Nicholas Sparks. *shudder*

31) What is your desert island book?

Probably Atlas Shrugged--it's got everything: romance, adventure, philosophy, mystery, drama, plus it's a big fat doorstop of a book that has proven to stand up to re-reading.

32) And... what are you reading right now?

I just finished The Source of Magic by Piers Anthony, and am reading a couple short stories from Murder by Magic and a chapter from a women's fiction book that irritates me (like 95% of all women's fiction that I've read) but that I still feel compelled to finish. I haven't decided yet what to read next.

** whoops. I italicized my book titles anyway.

Categories: Meme, AboutMe, Reading

Theory # 47 Dads and Childbirth

2011-04-17T16:57:00.005+02:00

I'm not sure if I should keep calling these things "theories," since they're more just opinion-filled ramblings, but what the heck.

I've been cleaning out my inbox, and ran across an article on fathers and childbirth. It wasn't a very in-depth article, mostly just introducing the notion that men who avoid involvement in the birth of their children will be more confident fathers.

Once I calmed down enough to think about it, it occurred to me that men feeling marginalized and passive during childbirth is symptomatic of relationships between the sexes in general.

Carl was present for the births of all three of our children. No, "present" doesn't really describe it. He was involved. It was truly a joint effort, though I was obviously doing the hard part. He didn't stand passively or stare at the TV; I didn't shush him when he talked to me. He was my advocate with the medical staff; he paid attention to when I needed ice chips or those tennis balls on my back, and when it was early enough in labor that I could be distracted by chatting. A nurse told us she'd never seen a couple work together so well during labor and delivery.

Which seems very sad to me. Why was that not the norm? My theory (ah-ha! there it is!) is that despite all the poetry, love songs, and romances out there, far too many couples don't really "become one." There may be love and attraction, but there's a real fear of losing oneself in a relationship, that it means giving up something. It is risky, but so is everything worthwhile. And really--if you can't trust the person you're marrying, why are you marrying them in the first place?

Modern life encourages people to protect themselves first. Everyone knows someone--probably many someones--who's been in an abusive relationship or gone through an acrimonious divorce. And even if it miraculously hasn't touched you personally, it's all over the media. But protecting yourself also prevents you from being truly intimate with another person. The time for protecting yourself is when you're choosing that special someone. Once you've made a commitment, though, those walls need to come down.

If there's real intimacy, you don't lose anything by letting go of gender roles or accepting help from your partner. On the contrary, you gain. There seems to be a real tendency on the part of a lot of women to push men away and discourage them from helping, from the delivery room to changing diapers to vacuuming the rug. We may say we want help, but we complain that the towels are folded wrong, or the baby's clothes don't match. It's not that those things are that important--it's that we're protecting our territory. Many men, on the other hand, seem to view either asking for or giving help as dangerous dependence. Horrible generalizations, and both methods could be true of either gender, but the result is a lack of intimacy.

Yes, it's scary, and yes, it's risky. But the rewards are commensurate with the risks. If your relationship is loving and intimate, it's not a man hanging out in the delivery room while his wife gives birth because it's expected, or even because he wants to make her happy. It's a couple bringing their child into the world. If you can make that kind of connection, it spreads through the whole relationship. It's not so much compromise or give-and-take as it is having the same goals and priorities.

So how do you achieve that intimacy? One person can't do it alone. And you can't hold back or protect yourself, because it won't work. Putting each other first is key, as is honesty. And reminding yourselves over and over again why you're together and how important your relationship and family are to you. If you get the attitude down, the rest will follow.

Granted, all this sounds very idealistic, and I have to say that a lot of it is coming from 26+ years of marriage. We didn't always manage quite so well. For all I know, I'm just incredibly lucky, and this is just not possible for most couples. But I still think it's worth trying for.

Categories: Theories, TWBTS, Relationships

Midnight Resolutions

2011-04-17T09:29:00.003+02:00

***** Midnight Resolutions by Kathleen O'Reilly. Contemporary romance.

If you read my recent Weekend Update, you know I just got back from a spring break trip. The week before our trip, I was really tense and stressed, and my mom suggested I take some fun reading along. At the time, all that was left unread on my e-reader was classics (a LOT of them), and some dense fantasy, and while I'm sure I'll enjoy them when I read them, my mom was right--this wasn't the time.

So I went shopping at the Sony Reader Store, and a few minutes later had five new books ready to go. (Have I mentioned how much I love my e-reader?) I haven't bought new books other than nonfiction for so long that I had no idea what was out there, so I just searched for authors I trusted and came up with Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Anne Stuart (a.k.a. Kristina Douglas), and Kathleen O'Reilly.

from the back of the book:

When midnight strikes...The last thing temp agency owner Ian Cumberland expects on an icy New Year's Eve is a little magic. But when a stunner of a woman plants a sizzlin' kiss on him in the middle of Times Square, Ian's world explodes. A moment later, she's gone....But as much as Ian shakes Rose Hildebrande to the tips of her designer shoes--and a few other choice places!--she can't afford to fall for a charming pauper instead of Prince Charming. Still...there's something about Ian, his sexy good looks, his charming kindness, that inspires Rose to find him and seduce him. But will their naughty fling still be blazing come summer?

One thing about e-books is that you don't really see the cover, which is a good thing. This would have irritated the heck out of me. Ian Cumberland does not own a temp agency. He works for an employment agency, and has since he was laid off from his prestigious job as an investment banker. It's a big step down, and part of his personal journey.

But Ian is not the primary focus of this story--it's Rose. Gutsy move on O'Reilly's part, I have to say. Readers love damaged heroes. Damaged heroines, not so much. Unless the heroine is damaged in a way that makes her ultra-lovable. (insert eye-roll here) Unlike the other reviewers I read, I was captivated by Rose from the start.

It was clear from the beginning that Rose had Issues, and pretty serious ones. I loved how she had to fight herself, how she struggled between what she believed she should want and what she did want. Even better was how the origins of her issues came out a little bit at a time. Each chapter I knew her a little better. And it was never all laid out like "Rose was screwed up because of X, Y, and Z," not even when she finally came clean with Ian. It was very well handled.

Midnight Resolutions demonstrates exactly why Kathleen O'Reilly was one of the first authors I looked for. She's a master of category-length romance, a difficult length for many authors. Both characters grew and changed, the conflicts were real, and the secondary characters were three dimensional and their challenges added to the main conflict.

One more reason to like my e-reader: Midnight Resolutions, being a Harlequin Blaze, is already out of print in paperback, but it's still available in e-format.

Categories: Books, 5stars, Contemporary Romance

Song of the Day

2011-04-17T08:27:00.007+02:00

"Wall Street Shuffle" by 10CC from Sheet Music, which I have on vinyl. It's also on The Very Best of 10CC, which I have on CD.

I picked this song because it fits with one of the books I read last week: Midnight Resolutions by Kathleen O'Reilly. The hero was an investment banker until he was laid off.

Little bit of trivia: "Wall Street Shuffle" hit #10 on the UK charts back in 1974. I tried to get a video from the 70s, none of them allowed embedding. Here's a link to one: 10CC Wall Street Shuffle. It hasn't changed all that much.

Categories: Music

Weekend Update

2011-04-16T12:22:00.010+02:00

You may have noticed what will hopefully become a new feature, just before this: Song of the Day. Eventually, I'll update the sidebar so you can find them all easily--for now, there's just one, and you can find it (and future ones until I update the sidebar) on the Index.
We just got back from a trip to the North Sea over spring break. Poindexter (the new GPS--so named because he's a snotty know-it-all) said it would be a 5.5 hour drive. It ended up being more like 8 hours.
Last Saturday, we took Diva to the kennel in Wuerzberg (not to be confused with Wuerzburg). It was a bit of a zoo... heh... lots of people there to walk dogs. They remembered Diva, and she seemed happy enough to see them. On the way home, we stopped by our favorite ice cream place in Erbach. I had the Odenwald sundae--vanilla and strawberry gelato with a lot of fresh (!) raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and currants, topped with raspberry syrup and whipped cream.
Then Sunday was our niece Emily's confirmation. There was dinner at an Italian restaurant. I had a salad of baby greens, rucola, grilled chicken, tomatoes, onions, little balls of fresh mozzarella, and a thick drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette. Nice. Afterward, there was coffee and cake at the house. The weather was great--sunny and mid-70s. It was tough leaving, but we still had to pack.
Packing took longer than expected--it always does, so I don't know why our expectations are so short. We took Carl's mom and Camden's friend Andre along. Rented a vacation house in Bensersiel. Long drive. I sat in the third row seat, wedged in by the cooler, because Carl's mom's motion sickness is even worse than mine. Thank goodness for Dramamine. And for my new iPod shuffle, which appears to have more storage space than my old one.
Nice thing about our timing: German schools don't start spring break until next week, so we had the place mostly to ourselves.
We arrived at the vacation house pretty late, unloaded the car, then headed off to find food. We opted for an Italian restaurant and had pizzas. Mine was a veggie something--I was too tired to remember much, except that it had black olives and artichokes. Camden and Andre had seafood pizza--Camden's usual, and a first for Andre. He looked a little askance at the tentacles on his pizza, but ate them anyway. Ah, teenage testosterone.
The plan for the week was breakfast and showers, then shop for food while the boys got up and showered, lunch, then off to some activity. Tuesday we had Nuernberger bratwurst, broetchen, potato salad, cucumber salad, and cabbage salad. The rest of the week we had sandwiches and the rest of the salads.
Our timing was a little off--we walked along the dikes on Tuesday afternoon, and it was excessively windy.
(Camden and Andre) (Doris) (Carl) Carl estimated 60 mph wind. It nearly blew us off the dikes. Once we gave up our pride and pulled up and tied our hoods, it was a little more comfortable walking. Carl's mom was really tired afterward, so she stayed at the house and the rest of us went to a Greek restaurant for dinner. I'd wanted moussaka, but since there wasn't much business (every restaurant we went to in Bensersiel, we were the only patrons), they didn't have it. So I had bifteki instead.
Wednesday, we drove to Wilhelmshaven and visited the Aquarium and the Naval Museum. (Naval Museum--picture of the sub taken from the deck of the destroyer) Then on the way back, we stopped at a Chinese restaurant with a buffet and a Mongolian grill. The create-your-own-stirfry was a little annoying, because they didn't use the little clothespins to identify your plate and deliver it to you--you had to stand there and wait. Still, they had a great variety, including whole cuttlefish, kangaroo, and ostrich, in addition to the usual meat and seafood. And it was a new experience for both Andre and Doris, and they enjoyed it as well.
Thursday we went to the beach, and intended to take the ferry to one of the barrier islands. That was our one fiasco--not bad for a mostly-unplanned trip. First we arrived at the ferry ticket office only to find that one ferry had just left and there wouldn't be another one for an hour and a half, which would leave us just 30 minutes on the island before the last ferry would bring us back to the mainland. Carl asked for the prices, and "how much all together?" The answer was 20 euro for the adults and 12 for the students. I'm sure you can see where this was going, but we're thinking 32 euro total. So we spent the hour and a half checking out the beach and a souvenir shop, then came back to buy tickets. Give yourself a brownie if you figured out that the total cost would have been 84 euro, and another one if you said we decided the guy at the ticket counter was right--it really wouldn't be worth it.

So we went back to the beach, where the tide was out, and you could walk pretty far. It was the best weather of our trip so far, so it turned out to be a good plan. The boys took off their shoes and ran. (this was taken on the first trip to the beach--before they took off their jackets and shoes)

Interesting thing about North Sea beaches--instead of umbrellas on the beach like you have elsewhere, they have what's called a "Strandkorb"-- "beach basket": Here's a picture of an open one:

We decided a trip to the North Sea wouldn't be complete without eating fish, so we went to a seafood restaurant. Camden, Doris, and I had the fish plate special with four kinds of fish.
Friday morning we packed up. The rental agreement said we were supposed to turn in the keys at 9 a.m. (!), but since they didn't have new tenants arriving until Saturday, they said we could take our time. On our way out of town, we stopped by the "Life on the Sea" museum in Esens. Like everything else, it was empty, and the young guy at the door asked us if we wanted a tour. Unfortunately, his English wasn't good enough to explain things to the boys, but we adults learned a lot of interesting things about the area.
Stopped at McDonald's a few towns later. I got an Italian Bagel and a cappuccino at the McCafe. I don't know why I never think of getting my lunch at the McCafe--it's so much nicer than a burger and fries, and most McDonald's restaurants in Germany have them now. Coffee, of course, but also nice bakery desserts and interesting sandwiches. All served on real dishes. Here's a post that tells a little more about it: =>LINK<=
There was a lot of traffic, so it was taking us longer than expected to drive home (see above, re: the amount of time we expect things to take), so we stopped at an old-fashioned rest stop restaurant for supper. I had split pea soup and a broetchen. Got back home around 9 p.m, unloaded the car in record time, and then pretty much just crashed.
Carl and Doris went to the flea market in Metz, France this morning--they intended to leave at 6. I don't know what time they left: I was asleep until 8:30!

Categories: WeekendUpdate, AboutMe

Song of the Day

2011-04-16T11:54:00.004+02:00

"In the Backseat" by Arcade Fire, from Funeral.

"I like the peace
in the backseat,
I don't have to drive,
I don't have to speak,
I can watch the country side,
and I can fall asleep."

That's how I spent a good portion of the past week--in the backseat. I didn't realize until I looked up the lyrics to make this post that it's a very emotional song about Regine's mother dying.

Live version:

Categories: Music

Weekend Update

2010-09-21T10:51:00.006+02:00

It's come to my attention that I'm shamefully behind in keeping in touch with... well, with just about everybody. So rather than try to catch up individually, I thought I'd post what's been happening, and then go on from there.
The busy-ness started this spring, when Manfred, Carl's mom's husband, and pretty much the only grandpa my kids knew, became ill. The time between his first hospitalization and his death in April was shockingly short. At the last, he was transferred to a specialty clinic here in Heidelberg, which was a godsend. Doris was able to stay with us, and Carl was able to visit Manfred daily.

Telling Dagny and Curran about their Opa's death on the phone was one of the hardest things I've done as a parent. I still tear up thinking about it.

Since then, we've made a point to try to visit Doris more frequently, which is something we're glad we're able to do, but it does add to the amount of activity. Mostly, we're thankful we were still in Germany so we could be here for her, and for Manfred in his last days.
Around the same time, Camden joined the high school track team--the first of our kids to ever join a school sports team. He had a rough time with shin splints for the first month or so, and tended to skip practice at least once a week. Still, he improved with every meet. He ran long distances--1500 and 3000 meters, and finished middle-of-the-pack.

This was a good thing--it was good for him physically and for his self-confidence, and he made a lot of new friends, as well as having something to help deal with being the only kid left at home--but it added a lot to our schedule at an already-busy time. Track meets, every Saturday for a couple of months, last the entire day.
For those who didn't already know, Dagny's working on her teaching certificate. She has her English degree, but needed a bunch of extra classes. Because she's trying to finish up, she had to take some classes in the summer term, which meant that the only time she
was able to come visit was in May, and she could only stay a couple of weeks.

At least Dagny and Curran were able to arrive at the same time, but Camden was still in school, which made things a little difficult. We pulled Camden out of track the last two weeks of the season, so he could spend at least a little time with his sister, but he still had
school.

So late spring was really busy, but thankfully Dagny was still able to visit, even if it wasn't for as long as we'd have liked, and the timing wasn't the best.
While Dagny was here, she joined me at the gym. Then just before she left, Curran started coming, too. I do a half hour of Nautilus, and then about 45 minutes on a cardio machine almost every day. I started going September '09, doing just the weights, and s l o w l y building up on the cardio. I'm very proud of my progress--for someone with CFS, this much activity is just amazing. Plus, I'm focusing on strength and endurance, which is why I'm still going. If I were focusing on weight, I'd have given up a long time ago. I've lost a whopping six pounds in 13 months. *sigh* But I'm really strong.

I do love going to the gym, but, well, that's an extra hour and a half out of my day.
In July we went to Italy again. Did our usual "spa vacation"--gym in the mornings (which was really nice--the gym had been expanded and had all new equipment. Though some of the new equipment was Life Fitness, and let me tell you--however much more Nautilus costs? it's worth it. The Life Fitness machines were anti-ergonomic.), beach in the afternoons, and all kinds of fresh, healthy food. Pisa on Sunday--I got a new purse, Carl got another mask.

The coolest thing was that we ran into a family we hadn't seen in 23 or 24 years. The military can be a very small place sometimes.
Then just in case everyone was getting bored, I decided to spend a night in a German hospital Intensiv Station (ICU).

We were on our way to Carl's mom's. We were in Moby, Carl was driving, Curran and Camden were along, and we were listening to Death Masks. Nice and relaxing. My left arm started aching, but I figured it was the a/c, so I put my jacket over it. Then my
chest started to feel tight, and I squirmed a little, thinking maybe I'd worn too tight of a bra. Mostly, I was just trying to ignore it and listen to the book. But it kept getting worse--the pressure turned into pain, and I started sweating and having trouble breathing.

So Carl pulled over... and dialed 112. Which was almost more shocking than the chest pain. The ambulance arrived right away (we were only a couple of blocks from the hospital), and they asked a few questions and loaded me into the back of the ambulance. How embarrassing.

Turns out my blood pressure was something like 200/105, which is a wee bit alarming for doing nothing but riding in a car. Death Masks has some exciting parts, sure, but even if this were the first time I'd read it, I don't think it would have that sort of effect. So they called the Notarzt (emergency doctor), in a helicopter. They explained to me that it was in case they needed to send me to a hospital other than the local one, but in retrospect, we suspect the helicopter was because we had Tricare, which translates here as the magic words of "private insurance."

So, overnight in intensive care, and of course it was the one time I didn't have a book along. Curran had a Bible along--he's been reading it--and his iPod, and he let me keep both, which was a real sanity-saver (I read the bit about Noah putting a curse on his grandson because his son saw him naked when he--Noah--was drunk and passed out.).
Health-digression: I'm trying to be chronological here, but this is an ongoing thing, so I'll stick it all together. It's reminiscent of when I first got CFS: nobody's been able to figure out what's going on. So I've had a bunch of tests and doctor appointments since, half of them with the cardiologist in Landstuhl, which is a good hour-plus drive, depending on the traffic, so it's time-consuming. The cardiologist put me on blood pressure medication, increased it when she had to stop my stress test early (my blood pressure went up to 235/56), and the increased dose made me feel like I was having a CFS relapse. It seems to be slowly getting better, but I was decidedly Not Happy about it. Not to mention being a tiny bit freaked out because that stress test was a lot less work than I do at the gym.

The fatigue is again a factor. Maybe it's all been from the medication, or maybe it was just creeping up because I kept increasing my time on cardio machines (I was up to almost an hour), but it started dawning on me that once I got home from the gym, that was pretty much it for the day. I could sit and click silly Facebook games, but concentrating on anything, even answering email, was strenuous.

So that's where I am with that. Back to the chronology.
In August, Carl's brother's father-in-law died suddenly. We didn't know him well, but we'd known him for over 20 years. It was especially hard on our nieces, who lost two Opas within four months. And of course on his wife and daughters. Just a real rough time for the family.
After summer semester, Dagny had a little time off, so she and Andrew decided to take a road trip from Texas to Michigan to visit her grandma, my mom. They took Andrew's Audi as the more reliable of their cars, and the two dogs.

Unfortunately, on the way home, the car broke down near a small town in Indiana. To make things worse, they'd left early because Andrew's aunt had died. Long story short, they ended up stranded in Indiana for several days before it became clear that the car wasn't going to be fixed before they needed to be back for work and school and they got a rental car (thank goodness Dagny's 25 now!) and drove home, then Andrew, Curran, and a couple others drove back together to return the rental car and pick up Andrew's.
This is (finally!) Dagny's last semester of coursework. In the spring semester she'll be doing her student teaching. It's a pretty rigorous program, with high expectations and a ton of fieldwork (including tutoring, mentoring, etc.).

On top of a full-time load of classes, she's working at least 30 hours a week at KidSpace, a drop-in daycare center where she's assistant manager, which means she has to do more than just show up and watch the kids.

Any of you who are parents of adult kids know why this is in my list of why I'm so busy. Even though (or more likely because) she lives on another continent, we spend a lot of time on the phone. I'm really glad we do, but there's not a lot I can do while talking on the phone besides Facebook games. Maybe I should see if I could find a phone with a headset.
Camden did cross country this fall. He initially went to stay in shape for track, but now he likes it a lot more. I only had to drive him to practice one day a week (the rest of the week he just stayed after school and took the sports bus back home), but there was a pasta party every Friday and meets every Saturday. Of course, I couldn't just take frozen lasagna or a baguette or pre-made cake from the commissary, so I generally spent most of Friday cooking. And even though the cross country meets were shorter than track meets, they still ended up taking up most of the day.
Halfway through the season, and ON HIS SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY, Camden got the flu. He was out of school for almost a week, missed practice for almost two weeks. He'd planned on having friends over for his birthday, and we cleaned the house, including his room, in preparation. Which we repeated two weeks later when his friends did come over.
Then someone ran into Curran's car at the university parking lot. A week later, while he was in the process of dealing with the insurance companies and making appointments to get the car fixed, he got hit again, sideswiped, further damaging the same side of the car.

Lots of phone calls from here to Curran and to insurance companies, particularly after the second accident, to figure out who should pay what. Of course the two drivers who hit him had different insurance companies. Fortunately, because it was an insurance claim, they allowed a 20-year-old a rental car.

Too bad it hadn't been just one insurance company--they might have totaled the car, and then we could have got him a new one. Dividing the repair cost in half, though, put it under the limit.
As of October 1st, or 15th, or November 1st, depending on which set of orders you read, Carl changed jobs. He's actually still in the process of changing jobs, and has been doing both jobs for the past month. His new job is the European Regional Medical Command's Director of Force Health Protection, and the challenging part is that they're restructuring the whole thing. Big ego boost, because he's got people calling up wanting to work for him, but it's also a lot of headaches, a lot of phone calls, trips, and late-night teleconferences (because of the time difference, any teleconference involving people in the States takes place in the evening here).
I'm sure there are other things that I'm not remembering. As an illustration, here's what we did this last weekend, which was not at all atypical:
- Friday--last cross country pasta party. I made pumpkin pie Chex mix, which only took an hour to make, but we also volunteered to take wrapped baked goods and candy for the concession stand on Saturday, so that was a trip to the commissary.
- Saturday--cross country European championships. Camden wasn't running--it's the top 7 runners from each team, and he ended the season around #10 (out of 20), but as the championships were held here in Heidelberg, the entire team had to attend, for support, and to help out. Camden was a course marshal. Took Camden out to the course by 9 (it's here in Heidelberg, but it's at least a 20-minutes drive, so just driving him there takes close to an hour), then went out ourselves at 11.
  
  The meet was great--absolutely perfect weather--clear skies and 60s, and apparently we made a killing on the concessions, which is why the kids got all new uniforms this year and could keep their nice Puma warmups for just $25 (the price tag on each piece was around $40). We left around three and had to go to the PX for supplies for a project Camden had due on Monday.
  
  Then I made an early dinner (bacon, spinach, and tomato salsa sandwiches--they were a huge hit), so we'd be finished by the time trick-or-treating started at six.
  
  Starting shortly after six, the hordes came. We just sit outside the door because there are so many kids you never get a chance to close the door. Carl and I took turns handing out candy while the other one got dressed and ready for going to a play with friends. This is the shirt Carl wore to pass out candy.
  
  Camden's friends arrived with one friend's nephew, so there were three 16-year-olds in silly hats and masks (Camden wore a Mexican wrestling mask and his antique top hat) taking one toddler around trick-or-treating. One of our neighbors asked them to do tricks for their treats, so Camden juggled candy, for which they gave him extra.
  
  We'd intended to leave at seven, but it was really hard to find a lull in the onslaught--you just cannot shut the door in kids' faces--so it was almost ten after when we left, and the play started at 7:30. Fortunately, our friends picked up our tickets for us.
  
  We'd pre-positioned the car over by the gym, a 5-minute walk away, because our street is NOT navigable by car during trick-or-treating. I'd forgotten this, and wore boots with 4-inch heels. Even so, we got to the theater with five minutes to spare.
  
  We saw Titanic - The Musical. They always do a nice job, and this was no exception. I was impressed with how well they managed the small space they had to work with. But it wasn't my favorite of their productions. The main thing was that it was nice to get out and spend time with friends.
- Sunday--Camden had to work on his project for Honors English/History. We'd planned on going to Carl's brother's house in the afternoon, but his wife was sick, and Carl and his brother decided to meet at their mom's and put the winter tires on her car for her. I'd intended to go along, but all the activity the previous day had wiped me out, so I stayed home and helped Camden with his project (I'm mostly relegated to proof-reading. Carl's the one who helps with the artistic stuff). Good thing I did, too--Carl didn't get home until an hour after our bedtime.
So that's kind of what's going on with me. I'm not really sure if we are actually very busy, if it seems that way because we're not used to being this amount of busy, or if it's just that I don't tolerate this level of busy because of the CFS. Regardless, it's made it difficult to keep up with all sorts of things. Getting up at 5:15 on school days doesn't help either.

I'm a little ashamed that it took me so long to realize I needed to do something about it. Hopefully you'll have noticed that I'm trying to keep in touch better lately--if not, you should notice it soon.

ETA: Wow. The last time I wrote one of these, Camden had just had the flu again. Next year, he's getting the vaccine the day it comes out. No waiting for the school. Poor kid.

Categories: WeekendUpdate, AboutMe

I Write Like...

2010-08-10T19:02:00.004+02:00

I'm not really sure what that means, though they did give me a link to his books on Amazon. Maybe I should check them out.

Categories: Quiz, AboutMe

Amberville

2010-05-07T09:19:00.004+02:00

** Amberville by Tim Davys. Fantasy.

I've linked to the Sony Reader Store for two reasons: 1) it's where I got the book, and 2) while I usually link to Barnes & Noble, I was irritated that their e-book was marked "These items ship to U.S. addresses only." I am really, really tired of things that don't ship to APO addresses, particularly when there's no actual shipping involved. Sony didn't have any trouble letting me download the book. Take last week, for example. I got an email from Sears (Sears! I order from them all the time, and they're excellent about APO shipping) saying they couldn't ship to the address I'd given them, and would I like them to ship to my daughter in Texas (whose phone number I'd used because they won't allow anything other than a 10-digit phone number) instead. I sent off a scathing reply. Didn't get an answer back, but the next day there was a your-order's-been-shipped email. *sigh*

Got a little of the subject there. Sorry.

Okay, the blurb, so I don't have to synopsize:

What does it mean to be bad?

Eric Bear has it all: a successful career, a beautiful wife, a blissful home. He knows he's been lucky; a while back, his life revolved around drugs, gambling, a gang of stuffed-animal thugs, and notorious crime boss Nicholas Dove.

But the past isn't as far away as Eric had hoped. Rumors are swirling that Dove is on the Death List and that he wants Eric to save him. If Eric fails to act, his beloved wife, Emma Rabbit, will be torn apart, limb by limb.

With a nod to the best of noir and the wisest of allegories, and interlaced with greed and gangsters, Amberville depicts an alternate world that mirrors our own realities and moral concerns, and reminds us of the inextricable link between good and evil.

Stuffed animals. Okay, I could possibly get into that, if there were any good reason for the characters to be stuffed animals. There isn't. If there were some reason for the type of animal each character was, or if perhaps they didn't get hurt as easily because they're stuffed animals, or if there were a connection with our world, there might be a point. But there just isn't. In fact, most of the time, it's hard to remember that they are stuffed animals, until some detail smacks you over the head (like the disembowelment scene, where it's stuffing being pulled out instead of intestines). And then it pulls you out of the story because you'd forgotten they were stuffed animals.

Even without the inexplicable stuffed animals, the story is pretty bland and straightforward. Eric Bear (could the names be any less inspired? first name followed by type of animal. wow.) ultimately has to choose between the two people he loves the most, but... ***semi-spoiler*** that choice is rendered moot--it's not unlike the vampire books where the hero spends the entire book trying to come to terms with what he is, then at the very end the good fairy poofs him back to human more or less on a whim--not due to any effort on the hero's part.*** If it hadn't been on my e-reader, the book would have hit the wall at that point.

There's not even much suspense in the search. The bad guys are just randomly bad, and there's very little motivation for any of them except for Nicholas Dove, who, of course, doesn't want to die.

What kept this book from being a complete waste of time (at least it wasn't a waste of money--it was a freebie) were the differences in POV between Eric, his brother Teddy, and Emma. I did enjoy seeing that what each character believed was not the entire story, and how it differed drastically among them.

Bottom line: with a few minor tweaks, this could be a decent children's story. The format, stuffed animal characters, and the whole death list mechanism would fit that genre much better.

Categories: Books, 2stars, Fantasy

Theory #46: Health and fitness and motivation

2010-05-06T14:31:00.005+02:00

I get a whole bunch of health newsletters in my email. On the one hand, it's made me more knowledgeable about health issues. On the other hand, though... I can see why so many people just throw up their hands and say the hell with it. There's so much contradictory, outdated, and impractical advice out there, it's impossible to follow all of it.

The one that irked me the most this week: "it's impossible for women to build large muscles." If the author of that article had been sitting here, I'd have punched her in the nose. And then asked her why all my shirts were too small when I got home from basic training. It wasn't fat that made my arms and chest larger. Grrrr.

Then there's the one that says exercising any less than an hour a day, every day, is pointless. I have to wonder what they're trying to accomplish there. Okay, now I do exercise an hour a day most days (I skipped today because it's cold and rainy and I'm just seriously exhausted, but it's my first day off since last Friday), but it took me quite a while to work up to this. If I were just starting out, and if I weren't seriously cynical about health advice, this article wouldn't motivate me to jump right into an hour a day--it would make me believe that the 20 minutes I had the time and energy for was pointless, so I shouldn't even try.

The most hurtful article this week asserted that neither stress, birth control pills, menopause, nor stopping smoking caused weight gain. Reported weight gain associated with these events was instead due the the women failing to compensate by reducing their caloric intake and increasing their activity. Excuse me? It seems to me that if you have to change your diet and/or exercise levels in order to keep from gaining weight, it follows that it does cause you to gain weight. If I'm feeling charitable, I can assume that the author was trying to say that it's possible to keep from gaining weight from stress, etc, and that she was just a really bad writer. But mostly, I just think she's a size 0 with a high metabolism, a natural ectomorph, who likes to feel smug.

You've got to love the articles about healthy alternatives to favorite foods. Do they really think there's going to be a rush of people bringing bowls of roasted cauliflower to movie theaters instead of buying popcorn?

The comments on the healthy-living websites are just as bad. One memorable comment on a recipe screamed (in all caps) "SUGAR IS POISON! DON'T MAKE THIS RECIPE!" The amount of sugar in question? One teaspoon. That's five grams. Granted, most of us eat too much sugar, a lot of which is unnecessary, but one teaspoon of sugar stretched across four servings is not going to hurt anyone.

My theory, based on reading at least a hundred health-related articles and newsletters in recent months, is that a lot of them aren't trying to improve the general health. It's elitism. People like to feel superior. So whatever it is they have going for them, whether they were born into a wealthy family, are naturally thin, belong to a certain religion, live in a certain country or neighborhood, are tall or attractive or outgoing or smart, that's the highest virtue. It's human nature to feel pride in whatever it is we feel sets us apart. And I think if we're all honest with ourselves, if we have any self-esteem at all, we do feel superior about some things. And that's okay. I think it's necessary for self-esteem, as long as it's limited, and accompanied by empathy.

What's not okay is using that to make others feel bad, or worse, to sabotage their efforts to better themselves. I don't think the woman that wrote the these-things-don't-make-you-gain-weight article wanted to help other women struggling with weight gain. I think she wanted them to gain weight. That way she could continue to be superior. Granted, there's no way she even thought that to herself. But if your motivation is to help women who've gained weight because they stopped smoking, or who are concerned about doing so, you're not going to do it by accusing them of gluttony and sloth.

Likewise the various recommendations for vitamins, minerals, fiber, etc. Nearly every article I've read--and it's significant that each article focuses on just one nutrient--says you shouldn't take supplements, not even a multivitamin--you just need to eat... have you ever added up all the stuff you'd have to eat to manage all the recommended daily allowances? Good grief. So what's the motivation? Why give us impossible recommendations? None of them are willing to say you can skip the walnuts one day or have fewer than six cups of green tea (and this along with the four cups of coffee I recently read was recommended, the eight cups of water, the glass of red wine, and however much skim milk the pundit-of-the-day espouses). Call me cynical, but I think they're not making serious recommendations. I think they're just trying to sound like they know it all. And I think they want people to fail, because then they can continue to feel smug and superior. (Well, it's too bad that you got cancer, but you only drank five cups of green tea a day, so it's your own fault.)

Hmmm. Maybe the better answer is that I should stop reading health newsletters.

***Note: Actually, I take all of this with a grain of salt (okay, virtual salt, because I don't need the extra sodium), make my own decisions, and pretty much believe in the gospel of moderation.

Categories: Theories

Link of the Week

2010-04-04T02:06:00.000+02:00

Peeps Show III
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2009/04/10/GA2009041001969.html?sid=ST2009070901266

What's an Easter basket without Peeps? If you're inclined to play with your Peeps, these dioramas might give you some inspiration. But love them or hate them, you have to enjoy the whimsical creativity of some of these artists.

This is a link to the third Peeps Show. The page also has links to the first two: (1 and 2). By the time this posts, there may even be a fourth. If there is, I'll add it.

Categories: LOTW

Monday Morning Meme

2010-03-29T08:22:00.001+02:00

Tired of all of those surveys made up by high school kids?! "Have you ever kissed someone? Missed someone? Told someone you loved them? Drank alcohol?" 35 questions for the people who are a little older...Tag me when you finish.

1. What bill do you hate paying the most?
car repairs

2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner?
Bombay Restaurant in Einsiedlerhof. There's something very sensual about Indian food.

3. What do you really want to be doing right now?
sleeping! It's Monday morning--do you even need to ask?

4. How many colleges did you attend?
two: University of Michigan, and University of Maryland.

5. Why did you choose the shirt that you have on right now?
It was the only clean one in my pajama drawer that a) was warm enough (i.e. not a tank top) and b) I didn't need to wear a bra with.
If you're asking why it was in my drawer--it's an old comfy long-sleeved henley of Carl's.

6. What are your thoughts on gas prices?
I don't pay attention much. Over here, we just put $$ on our card and then fill up the tanks until we need to put more on.

7. First thought when the alarm went off this morning?
Since I was already awake (I've developed an annoying habit of waking up 10 minutes before the alarm goes off, but I stay in bed until it does, dammit!), I was most concerned about turning it off before it woke Carl up, because otherwise he'd dash into the bathroom ahead of me. (and then go back to sleep for another THREE FREAKING HOURS! No, I'm not bitter. Why do you ask?)

8. Last thought before going to sleep last night?
Well, since I fell asleep while reading, it was probably something about the current read: Mr. Murder by Dean Koontz.

9. Do you miss being a child?
Not really. I like my life now.

10. What errand/chore do you despise?
Scrubbing the tub, and dusting the rock collection. Neither of which gets done nearly as often as they probably should. Eh. Do it yourself if it bothers you.

11. Get up early or sleep in?
I'd love to sleep in, but these 5:15 mornings have killed my ability to do that, even on weekends.

12. Have you found real love yet?
Oh, yes.

13. Favorite lunch meat?
roast beef

14. What do you get every time you go into Wal-Mart?
I never go to Wal-Mart. They're not in Germany anymore because Germany requires companies to allow their employees to join unions. Hah. Even in the States, I don't go there. I loathe Wal-Mart.

15. Beach or lake?
Beach.

16. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual?
The ceremony thing, or the practice? I see no point to the ritual, but think that the concept of making a commitment to someone you love is an important one. I find stories about people discovering they're "not really married" because the priest/minister/rabbi/judge/whatever was a fake to be ridiculous.

17. Sopranos or Desperate Housewives?
I've never watched either one, and don't really want to.

18. What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
Stephen Colbert.

19. Have you ever crashed your vehicle?
You mean, while I was driving, have I ever run into anything? No. But I've been in 3 accidents, one as a driver, two as a passenger.

20. Ever use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose?
Nope. And never for an unintended purpose either.

21. Ring tone(s)?
Whatever came with the phone. Which I never use. I'm not even sure I know how to unlock it.

22. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth?
When I had braces as a teen, I was fanatic about brushing immediately after eating, and I always had a toothbrush in my purse, so probably the strangest would be restaurant bathrooms, or maybe by the water cooler on a picnic.

23. Somewhere in California that you'd like to go, but have never been?
I've never been to California. Someplace quirky and off the beaten path. I'm not so much into the usual touristy things.

24. Do you go to church?
No.

25. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or a new relationship?
Career.

26. How old are you?
49

27. Do you have a go-to person?
Probably Carl.

28. Are you where you want to be in life?
In some aspects, yes. I'm a work in progress in others.

28. Growing up, what were your favorite cartoons?
Scooby Doo, Rocky & Bullwinkle

29. What about you do you think has changed the most?
Being more comfortable in my own skin. I know who I am and make no apologies for it. I don't bend to make myself fit to anyone's expectations or wishes like I did when I was young. (stealing Deb's answer because it's a good one!)

30. Looking back at high school were they the best years of your life?
God, no.

31. Are there times you still feel like a kid?
Occasionally, but less and less often.

32. Did you ever own troll dolls?
No.

33. Did you have a pager?
No.

34. Where was the hang-out spot when you were a teenager?
No clue. If there was one, I was unaware of it.

35. Were you the type of kid you would want your children to hang out with?
Oh, sure. They're less trouble-prone than I was, definitely, but I was never the instigator.

Categories: Meme, AboutMe

Link of the Week

2010-03-21T01:11:00.001+01:00

http://www.oddthingsiveseen.com/

It's just like the title says: odd things. From anti-gravity monuments to R2-D2 mailboxes, Stephen King's house and Harry Houdini's grave, blogger J. W. Ocker presents various odd things he's seen.

It's like a mini-encyclopedia of the odd.

Enjoy!

Categories: LOTW

Monday Morning Meme

2010-03-08T03:42:00.001+01:00

The Handwriting Meme

Found this on Forgetfulone.

RULES -

1.) Go ahead, get a piece of paper and a pen. Prepared? Okay!

2.) Write a pangram* in your language. Sign your paper with your first name or your nickname (not your signature!!!). You can also include your blog URL if you want to.

3.) Take a picture, or scan the paper.

4.) Post it on your blog! Leave a comment here (or a trackback) once you have posted.

5.) Link back and tag - don’t be shy!

* A pangram, also known as holalphabetic sentence, is a sentence that contains all letters of the alphabet at least once. “The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog.” is a common example in English. There are pangrams in all languages - for a little inspiration spy *here*. Feel free to use one of these common examples or come up with something on your own.

Categories: Meme, AboutMe

Link of the Week

2010-03-07T02:53:00.000+01:00

http://www.sp-studio.de/
If you like South Park--and who doesn't?--this site lets you create your own South Park character.

Here's mine:

I made one earlier, but I couldn't find where I'd stored it, so I made a new one. Doesn't matter--the other one probably wouldn't have fit my current mood.

Have fun, and post pictures of the ones you make!

Categories: LOTW

Monday Morning Meme

2010-03-01T09:15:00.000+01:00

Bookworm Award
Meme

I was given this Award/Meme a loooong time ago by Julia from Julia's Books Corner. Thanks so much! :)

Rules:
Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56. Write out the fifth sentence, as well as two to five sentences following.

From Fool Moon by Jim Butcher:

"No, no, no," I growled at Bob. "Werewolves. There's more than one kind of werewolf?"
"Eh? More than one kind of what?" Bob tilted his skull over to one side, as though cocking an invisible hand to his ear bones.
"Werewolf, werewolf."
"There wolf," Bob replied solemnly, his voice seething with a hokey accent. "There castle."

Okay, I did fudge a little bit, starting on the 7th sentence instead of the 5th. But it is the closest book to me, and it is page 56.

Categories: Meme

Happy ? Anniversary to Me

2010-02-28T14:26:00.001+01:00

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: the beginning.

Nine years ago today, my life changed dramatically. I developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It ranks up there with the most life-altering events I've experienced: my parents' divorce, joining the Army, and the birth of my first child. (Note: obviously, there've been multiple events that have changed my life, but these four things made the biggest impacts, and led to other life-changing events.)
I've decided to commemorate the occasion by writing it all down. It would be cooler if I waited until next year, but, well, I have the urge now, so now it is.
February 28, 2001.
- The Nisqually Earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter Scale hits the Nisqually Valley and the Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia area of the U.S. state of Washington.
- 2001 – Six passengers and four railway staff are killed and a further 82 people suffer serious injuries in the Selby rail crash.
- and I woke up feeling sick as a dog with what I thought was the flu or something.
Not a good day, apparently.
I felt as sick as I can ever remember feeling, and so weak I could barely stumble out of bed. But I had kids to get ready for school, so I pushed myself. I even walked the boys the half-mile to school. Very very slowly. It took me forever to get back home, but I didn't dare stop or sit down, because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get moving again.
Every once in a while, I wonder if things would have been different if I'd just gone back to bed and told Carl to take the kids to school.
After a couple of weeks of feeling really sick and not getting better, I went to the clinic. They said I was probably dehydrated and that they could either give me IV fluids or I could just go home and drink a lot. So I went home and sucked down bottle after bottle of Gator Aid and lots of water. For days. No change.
Not only did I not get better--I just kept losing more energy. Walking up the stairs was like climbing a mountain. Some days it was all I could do to crawl the the bathroom.... and then lie on the floor waiting for enough energy to crawl back to bed. I'd have been scared to death if I'd had the energy to feel that much. Which is just as well--Carl and my mom were scared enough for me.
Even worse almost was the brainfog. I've always been shy, and think through what I'm going to say before I say anything, but this was almost like you hear from stroke patients--I couldn't think of the simplest words, and it became nearly impossible to concentrate on anything. Watching TV was out of the question--I couldn't follow what was going on. Thank goodness I could still read. Sometimes I'd have to read a page several times before I made sense of it, but it was better than nothing.

Answering questions was tough. Like: where's the tea? I could picture the answer in my mind, and if I'd had the energy, I could have got it myself with no problem. But how to describe where it was? In the door by the place where stuff is cold (the cupboard next to the refrigerator). That sort of thing.
So we started on the rounds of doctors. I'm sure I'll forget some, and I only remember one name, but it lasted for a couple of months.
One of the first doctors I saw suggested Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but I balked. That was "yuppie flu," for hypochondriac whiners who wanted attention. Heh. Regardless, CFS is a diagnosis that gets made after all sorts of other things are ruled out.
The neurologist said I was neurologically fine and set us on the course of what else to rule out.
The internal medicine doc couldn't find anything and suggested a cardiologist. And gave me hell for skipping the gynecologist. (I hadn't been in about 7 years.)
The cardiologist was frustrating. Gave me a stress test. Put me on a treadmill and said to keep walking until I felt I couldn't anymore. I wasn't really sure what that meant. I kept walking, and I felt like I was floating further and further away. First my eyes crossed, then my vision narrowed. I was still all there in my head, but seriously disconnected from my body. So I got off the treadmill and stumbled over to the exam table. The doctor kept asking me why I stopped, and in my head I was answering him, but nothing would come out of my mouth.

So he sent the nurse out to ask Carl if I was a little slow--and Carl said yes (see above, re: thinking before I speak). Still bothers me to this day. It's probably somewhere in my medical records that I'm mentally defective. Grrrr. But at least the question was answered--my heart was fine.
The rheumatologist was probably the best doc I went to. Too bad I didn't have something he treated. He repeated the CFS idea, and suggested going to an infectious disease doc to rule out lyme disease, etc.
But in order to get an appointment with an infectious disease doc, I had to go through a general practitioner first. That's the one whose name I'll never forget: Dr. Jael. He decided I was just a depressed housewife who wanted attention, and told me to go home, take some Prozac and quit wasting medical resources. Literally. If we hadn't been so scared and exhausted from trying one thing after another, we'd have followed up, made a complaint.

I did have enough on the ball to argue, though. I'd been researching CFS, and discovered that antidepressants, and Prozac specifically, made symptoms worse unless taken in minuscule doses. Plus, it tends to kill sex drive, and sex was pretty much the only thing physical I could do. I was not about to give that up.

So I tried to be reasonable. Me: How can you tell I'm depressed? Dr. Jael: Have you lost interest in things you used to enjoy? Me: No, I just don't have the energy to do them. Dr. Jael: Do you feel sad or hopeless? Me: No. Dr. Jael: ignores me, writes prescription for Prozac. Me: so do you think I should see a psychiatrist? Dr. Jael: No, the Prozac should do it.

At this point, I'm so furious that I can't talk anymore. Carl takes over and finally makes a deal with Dr. Jael: we'll take the prescription if he'll write a consult for the infectious disease doc. Dr. Jael highly disapproved, but he did it. I didn't get the prescription filled.
The infectious disease doc was great. He seemed to enjoy the puzzle. Though I had to laugh at my last appointment with him: I'd say you have chronic fatigue syndrome if you'd been sick for six months, but it's only been five and a half... Still not sure if he was joking.

More next time.

Categories: AboutMe

Link of the Week

2010-02-28T01:55:00.000+01:00

http://www.rcdb.com/

If you like roller coasters, then this is the site for you: a database of roller coasters.

From the first one I ever rode, the Wildcat at Cedar Point,
to the most recent one I rode, the Expedition GeForce at Holiday Park.

It even helped me figure out what coaster it was that Dagny rode at Astroworld when she was five: Greezed Lightnin' and the name of that amusement park we went to in Michigan when we visited my mom: Michigan's Adventure.

Lots of nostalgia there, and lots of roller coasters to drool over. And I note that Europa Park has ten roller coasters as opposed to Holiday Park's two. I'm thinking Rust can't be that far of a drive....

Enjoy!

Categories: LOTW

Monday Morning Meme

2010-02-22T01:59:00.000+01:00

Book Tag: Seven Random Book Facts

The rules are:

Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
Share seven random and/or weird book facts about yourself.
Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I was tagged by Julia, a very long time ago.

I could read before I turned 3.
I'm a critical reader, but I don't mind reading books that I don't think are very good.
I prefer to read a wide variety, from nonfiction and classics to Harlequin romances.
I'm never without a book, and I read in lots of small stolen moments, like while brushing my teeth.
I love my e-reader and was contemplating using it for most of my new-book purchases in the future, but now it needs to be sent in and updated, and that has me rethinking the whole idea. I need to call Sony up and find out if they will use USPS instead of UPS so I can get it here instead of having to use the kids as an intermediary. I researched the idea of just getting a new one, but none of the new ones are as appealing--they're all either too big (mine fits exactly right in my purse), or the screens are too small (or both, which is really ridiculous), and a lot of them don't have book covers--they use sleeves instead, which I don't like. And I wouldn't use the wireless feature anyway because we've had ZERO luck with doing anything wireless here. (T-Online sucks, at least if you're trying to use it with US hardware.) So I want to keep my e-reader and use it as my primary source for reading, but it seems that fate's against me.
I have huge piles of books stacked on my computer desk and a big box full of books in the middle of the floor of the computer room. I've read all these books and need to do something with them. For quite a while I thought I'd review them all before trying to find a home for them, but judging from the sheer number of them, I'm slowly coming to the realization that that is not going to happen.
I'm not really concerned about how my books look. I do appreciate the look and feel of a pristine cover, but a well-worn cover means to me a book that's been well-loved.

Categories: Meme, AboutMe

Link of the Week

2010-02-21T05:34:00.000+01:00

http://www.85qm.de/up/BigRedButton.swf

Admit it: you pressed the button.
.
.
.
.
.
.
how many times?
.
.
.
.
.
.
how many times?!

Categories: LOTW

Monday Morning Meme

2010-02-15T01:11:00.000+01:00

A way-long meme

Discovered at One Gal's Musings.

1. My eye color: blue
2. Favorite car: my red 1988 Mustang GT Convertible... that's currently in the garage in San Antonio. *sigh* Benny (black Mercedes C300) and Moby (white Ford Expedition) are great, but the Mustang is still my favorite.
3. Right-handed or left-handed: Right
4. Shoes you wore today: white Rykas so far--my in-the-house shoes
5. My fears: big dark things (walking up next to the submarine at the Auto-Technik Museum in Speyer creeps me out horribly), deep dark water, heights.
6. Goal you would like to achieve this year: get even stronger
7. Thoughts first waking up: what kind of breakfast to make
8. My bedtime: should be 9, but it ends up being more like 9:30 or 10. (insert rant here about high schools starting so early despite numerous studies showing that teens do markedly better when school starts later)
9. Pepsi or Coke: Diet Pepsi--but cola's really not my beverage of choice.
10. Single or Group Dates: single would be nice--with having only one kid at home, we don't go out as a couple nearly as much as we used to.
11. Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate. The darker the better.
12. Do you smoke: Nope. never saw the point.
13. Do you sing: hehe. Yes, particularly when I wake up the teenager.
14. Have you been in love: Yes. Still am.
15. Do you want to get married: Again? Currently happily married.
16. Do you get along with your parents: fairly well with my mom, though slightly distant. haven't seen my dad in ages.
17. Do you play a musical instrument: yes--piano
18. In the past month have you smoked: No. See #12.
19: Favorite candy bar: that Lindt dark chocolate with chili. To die for.
20. In the past month have you gone on a date: No. See #10.
21. All-time favorite sports team: Er. U of M Wolverines? Not a big sports fan here.
22. Ideal girlfriend/boyfriend: Confident and competent.
23. My best friend(s): Carl
24. Do you believe in love at first sight: No
25. Favorite clothing brand: hahahahahaha whatever's on sale, fits, and looks good on me
26. Dream vacation: someplace warm with beaches and a handful of sightseeing opportunities.
27. My favorite singer: Freddie Mercury
28. My favorite movie: What's Up, Doc?
29. Have you ever fired a gun: absolutely. Scored sharpshooter, too.
30. Do you like answering these questions: why else would I be doing it?
31. Do you like yourself: Usually
32. I am addicted to: books, shoes, tea
33. Favorite drink: jasmine white tea
34. Do you have a crush on anyone: Yes.
35. Are you ticklish: Yes
36. Favorite ice cream flavor: Cherry gelato.
37. Define yourself in 3 words: logical, loyal, literate
38. Do you believe in God: depends on how one defines "god." definitely don't believe in any religion's version.
39. Favorite day of the week: Monday--I love fresh starts.
40. Heads or tails: tails
41. Favorite author: Pratchett, Gaiman, Butcher, and Crusie. oh, and let's add in Kinsale and Dunnett.
42. What magazines do you read: National Geographic
43. Sweet or sour: sour
44. Favorite chewing gum brand: it's been decades since I chewed gum. I really couldn't say.
45. My hair color: brown
46. Height: 5′ 3"
47. My heritage: all-American mutt. I know there's Irish & German in there, probably some Dutch, and who knows what else.
48. My weakness: tend to get bogged down in details
49. My perfect pizza: oh, so many. The more interesting, the better. Had one in Frankfurt with rucola, black olives, and ham that was wonderful.
50. My most overused phrase on IM: Don't IM anymore, but it would probably be LOL
51. My best physical feature: My muscles. I'm getting quite proud of them.
52. Do you get motion sickness: Yes
53. McDonalds or Burger King: BK in the U.S., McD's in Germany.
54. Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Oh, please. Brewed iced tea, please.
55. Cappuccino or Coffee: coffee--not some 6000-calorie syrup concoction that pretends it's coffee. *shudder*
56. Do you swear: seldom
57. Do you want to go to college: Not anymore
58. Do you think you’re attractive: sometimes, for my age
59. Do you like thunderstorms: yes
60. In the past month have you drunk alcohol: Yes
61. In the past month have you been on drugs: No
62. Favorite cartoon as a child: Scooby Doo
63. Favorite sport: gymnastics or figure skating
64. In the past month have you been on stage: No
65. Ever been beaten up: only fighting with my brother when we were little kids.
66. How you want to die: Suddenly
67. Number of piercings: one in each ear
68. Favorite color: purple
69. Favorite food dish: oh, too many. what's coming to mind at the moment is a ratatouille couscous recipe I've made a couple of times. Yum.
70. My parents are: acrimoniously divorced
71. Do you have children: yes, three.
72. Do you have pets: 1 dog, 1 turtle, 1 chameleon, assorted fish
73. My favorite music genre: rock, particularly when mixed with classical (eg: Savatage)
74. My favorite season: summer
75. Silver or Gold: Silver
76. Who was the last person that called you: Dagny
77. Are you a good driver: yes
78. Would you rather be rich or famous: Rich
79. When I’m sad or down, I prefer to… read or play mindless games
80. What is your phone’s current ringtone: the generic one it came with
81. The longest you’ve gone without sleeping: 24 hours, probably. maybe longer. trips to & from the US tend to involve long periods of being awake and miserable.
82. What would you do with a million dollars: Pay off the house and bills, put some away for each of the kids, take a great vacation.
83. What makes you laugh: Camtino Awesimo.
84. Your favorite book: Freedom and Necessity by Emma Bull & Steven Brust, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (despite the fact that way too many people incorrectly interpret this as approving of greed)
85. Most embarrassing moment: oh, too many. I think I'm becoming immune.
86. Favorite item that you currently own: my e-reader
87. Have you ever moved: oh, yes.
88. Kisses or hugs: hugs
89. Are you a very emotional person: nope. call me Spock.

Categories: Meme, AboutMe

Link of the Week

2010-02-14T04:22:00.000+01:00

http://www.videojug.com/
From the website: "Whatever you want to get good at, Videojug can help." The site has thousands of instructional videos covering just about everything.

For example, you know how uncomfortable it is if your arm gets trapped while you're cuddling in bed? Well, this video explains how to avoid that:

How To Avoid Trapped Arm Whilst Cuddling In Bed

and here's one that explains how to get cheap drinks:

Pub Tricks: The Cheapest Drink

and of course the classic shirt-folding video. I use this ALL THE TIME.

How To Fold A T-Shirt In 2 Seconds - Explained

There are even more serious ones, like:

Enjoy! And let me know what YOU get good at.

Categories: LOTW

Internal Organ Quiz

2010-02-09T09:32:00.000+01:00

I named 13 organs in 4 minutes!

Categories: Quiz

Monday Morning Meme

2010-02-08T09:35:00.000+01:00

Fun With Your Name Game

I found this at Shannon's Moments of Introspection. Feel free to play along and leave me a comment if you do so that I can visit your blog!

__________________________________________________________________________

01. Your rock star name (first pet, current car): Duchess Mercedes

02. Your gangsta name (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe): French Silk Boots

03. Your Native American name (favorite color, favorite animal): Violet Armadillo

04. Your soap opera name (middle name, city where you were born): Kaye Alma

05. Your Star Wars name (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name): Stoda

06. Superhero name (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Orange Jasmine Tea

07. NASCAR name (the first names of your grandfathers): Durwood Harold

08. Dancer name (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy): Cucumber Lindt

09. TV weather anchor name (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Ayres Anchorage

10. Spy name (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Summer Lilac

11. Cartoon name:(favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now): Mango Socks

12. Hippie name (what you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Oatmeal Live Oak

13. Movie star name (first pet, first street where you lived): Duchess Coe

I've done similar name games before, but this had some that were a little different. And I hate to admit it, but I had a horrible time remembering the name of my 5th grade teacher. Kindergarten, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th I remember fine, but 1st grade still escapes me. How odd.

Categories: Meme

Link of the Week

2010-02-07T02:42:00.000+01:00

http://totallylookslike.com/

Ever look at someone and think "that totally looks like..."? Well, so did the people at Totally Looks Like. In the tradition of I Can Has Cheezburger? and FAIL Blog, Totally Looks Like features reader-submitted pairings that are sometimes uncanny. A couple of examples:

Just a warning: as is true of similar sites, Totally Looks Like can be a real time sink. Peruse at your own risk.

Categories: LOTW

Typealyzer

2010-02-02T02:36:00.001+01:00

I went back and forth on this, trying to decide whether I should post this on a Tuesday or a Sunday. See, Tuesdays are for quizzes, and Sundays are for cool links. I finally decided it was more of a personality test than a cool link. Yes, I know that's a wee bit odd. That little tidbit probably tells you more about me than most of the quizzes I post here. heh.

http://www.typealyzer.com/

You plug in your blog URL, and it analyzes the first page of your blog and comes up with your Myers-Briggs personality type. Here's my result:

That's pretty accurate, surprisingly. When I take the test (as opposed to my blog taking the test), I'm almost always INTP, but my N and S scores (intuition and sensing) are usually pretty close.

Categories: Quiz, AboutMe

Monday Morning Meme

2010-02-01T04:25:00.001+01:00

found on Shannon's Moments of Inspiration:

-->Start copying here<--

Copy these rules to your post.
Link to the person who tagged you.
Keep track of your points. (Don't peek at the answers.)
Add the answer YOU got (and maybe an image) at the end of your post.
Tag some people.

The Quiz:

Which one of the following describes the perfect date?
a) Candlelight dinner (4 pts.)
b) Fun/Theme Park (2 pts.)
c) Painting in the park (5 pts)
d) Rock concert (1 pt.)
e) Going to the movies (3 pts.)

What is your favorite type of music?
a) Rock and Roll (2 pts.)
b) Alternative (1 pt.)
c) Soft Rock (4 pts.)
d) Country (5 pts )
e) Pop (3 pts.)

What type of movies do you prefer?
a) Comedy (2 pts.)
b) Horror (1 pt.)
c) Musical (3 pts.)
d) Romance (4 pts.)
e) Documentary (5 pts.)

Which one of these occupations would you choose if you only could choose one of these?
a) Waiter (4 pts.)
b) Professional Sports Player (5 pts.)
c) Teacher (3 pts.)
d) Police (2 pts.)
e) Cashier (1 pt)

What do you do with your spare time?
a) Exercise (5 pts.)
b) Read (4 pts.)
c) Watch television (2 pts.)
d) Listen to music (1 pt.)
e) Sleep (3 pts.)

Which one of the following colors do you like best?
a) Yellow (1 pt.)
b) White (5 pts.)
c) Sky Blue (3 pts)
d) Dark Blue(2 pts.)
e) Red (4 pts.)

What do you prefer to eat?
a) Snow (3 pts.)
b) Pizza (2 pts.)
c) Sushi (1 pt.)
d) Pasta (4 pts.)
e) Salad (5 pts.)

What is your favorite holiday ?
a) Halloween(1 pt.)
b) Christmas(3 pts..)
c) New Year (2 pts.)
d) Valentine's Day(4 pts.)
e) Thanksgiving(5 pts.)

If you could go to one of these places which one would it be?
a) Paris (4 pts)
b) Spain (5 pts)
c) Las Vegas (1 pt)
d) Hawaii (4 pts)
e) Hollywood (3 pts)

With which of the following would you prefer to spend time with?
a) Someone Smart (5 pts.)
b) Someone attractive (2 pts.)
c) Someone who likes to Party (1 pt.)
d) Someone who always has fun (3 pts.)
e) Someone very sentimental (4 pts.)

The Answers:
(10-16 points) You are Garfield : You are very comfortable, easy going, and you definitely know how to have fun but sometimes you take it to an extreme. You always know what you are doing and you are always in control of your life. Others may not see things as you do, but that doesn't mean that you always have to do what is right. Try to remember, your happy spirit may hurt you or others.
(17-23 points) You are Snoopy: You are fun; you are very cool and popular. You always know what's in and you ' re never out of style , you are good at knowing how to satisfy everyone else. You have probably disappeared for a few days more than once but you always come home with the family values that you learned Being married and having children are important to you, but only after you have had your share of fun times
(24-28 points) You are Elmo: You have lots of friends and you are also popular, always willing to give advice and help out a person in need. You are very optimistic and you always see the bright side of things. Some good advice:try not to be too much of a dreamer. Dreaming too big could cause many conflicts in your life.
(29-35 points) You are Sponge Bob Square Pants.
You are the classic person that everyone loves. You are the best friend that anyone could ever have and never wants to lose. You never cause harm to anyone and they would never not understand your feelings. Life is a journey, it's funny and calm for the most part Stay away from traitors and jealous people and you will be stress free.
(36-43 points) You are Charlie Brown: You are tender, you fall in love quickly but you are also very serious about all relationships. You are a family person. You call your Mom every Sunday. You have many friends and may occasionally forget a few Birthdays. Don't let your passion confuse you with reality.
(44-50 points ) You are Dexter: You are smart and definitely a thinker... Every situation is fronted with a plan. You have a brilliant mind. You demonstrate very strong family principles. You maintain a stable routine but never ignore a bad situation when it comes. Try to do less over thinking every once in a while to spice things up a bit with spontaneity!

-->Stop copying here<--

I scored a 32--I am Sponge Bob Square Pants:

Categories: Meme, AboutMe

Link of the Week

2009-12-20T05:25:00.004+01:00

We Hate Sheep. We Love Holiday Sweaters.
http://weloveholidaysweaters.wehatesheep.com/

You can either browse through the hundreds of sweaters others have designed, or create your own by clicking on "start knitting," like this one I did:

or this one:

And then you can send the sweater to your nearest and dearest, all without having to make sure it fits!

Enjoy!

Warning: this site can get addicting.

Categories: LOTW

Friday Flashback

2009-12-18T03:08:00.000+01:00

from December 2002:

Midnight Bayou by Nora Roberts. Paranormal romance.

1. I'm with you, what happens to Abigail makes me so angry. Every time I read it, I'm willing Claudine to come back in time, but she never does.

3. I also liked the way the ghost references were introduced. It really made me understand how it felt to Declan, just having these incongruous thoughts pop into his head as if it was something he'd already known, seeing things that aren't there but when he's seeing them it feels natural. Somehow that gives it a whole different feeling than if he'd been immediately startled by them.

4. LOL on the "women in packs" reference. I've learned quite a bit about men from Nora's books---she definitely has a handle on what makes them tick.

7. Declan's genuine affection for Odette is one of his best traits, IMO.

8. Wow, good eye, Jill! I was completely thrown by the idea that Declan was Abigail, much later in the book. But you're right, there are hints.

10. Yes, a little misdirection there, and I fell for it.

12. I think you're right. I know I picked up more the second time around, and probably if I'd reread it immediately, I'd have picked up even more.

16. Well, probably authors do that to add conflict, but I think it made a lot of sense that Lena would pick fights with Declan. She's trying to protect herself, and to keep a little distance between them.

20. Jill, you were definitely more on the ball than I was.

His memories of giving birth were priceless. Too bad we don't have a way to induce memories like that in more fathers.

I always appreciate your notes, Jill! I knew you'd have good ones for this book.

One thing that's different about this book is that the focus is much more on the hero than on the heroine. I find myself identifying with Declan instead of Lena. Not that she's not a complete, well-drawn character, but Declan's even more so, at least for me. I liked his manners, that were so deeply ingrained that they were a part of him. And I liked his courage in leaving a career that wasn't right for him.

As is probably evident, my comments were in response to someone else's. You can read the entire thread here.

Categories: Flashback, Books, ParanormalRomance

Link of the Week

2009-12-13T03:38:00.000+01:00

Create-a-Cookie
http://funcards.bhg.com/createacookie/
From the Better Homes and Gardens site--you know, the people who brought you the ubiquitous red and white checked cookbook. Decorate and send a virtual cookie. You have to register with the site to do it, but it's free.

Here's one I made:

Unfortunately, it doesn't come with little toothpicks for removing stray icing, and you can tell I don't have the steadiest mouse-hand in the world. Still, it's cute and fun, and there are a dozen different shapes you can you.

Enjoy!

Categories: LOTW

Friday Flashback

2009-12-11T03:30:00.000+01:00

from July 2003:

Taste of Honey by Eileen Goudge. Contemporary romance.

To truly appreciate this book, I probably should have read the first Carson Springs novel, Stranger in Paradise, first. Not that Taste of Honey wasn't a complete story in itself, but I'd like to see how some of these characters' stories unfolded before I met them in Taste of Honey.

Gerry's intention of becoming a nun was derailed when she became pregnant by a priest. Twenty-eight years later, after a marriage, divorce, and two more children, she finds the daughter she'd given up for adoption.

Claire had been raised by loving, but overprotective adoptive parents. The story of her being torn between two families is very poignant and real.

While they get to know each other, Gerry and Claire also learn more about themselves, and open their hearts to love.

The next Carson Springs novel, Wish Come True, is out in hardcover now, but first I'm going to catch up on events in Stranger in Paradise.

Originally posted =>HERE<=.

Categories: Flashback, Books, ContemporaryRomance

Friday Flashback

2009-12-04T02:57:00.000+01:00

From December 2002:

The Forest Lord by Susan Krinard. Paranormal romance.

I'm so glad that paranormal romance has become popular lately! I've always read fantasy and science fiction, and am only a recent fan of romance, so it's nice to combine the two. If I'd known of stories like this one years ago, I'd have been reading romance longer than 6 or 7 years.

Harn, Hartley, Cornelius, whatever name he goes by, he's an interesting character. He has the Fane outlook---superior, selfish, powerful, and he believes himself incapable of and above the emotion of love. It's interesting to watch him slowly get caught up in emotion. He keeps telling himself that it's practicality or his own whims that drive him, when really, he's falling in love. Always fun watching romance heroes delude themselves, and The Forest Lord is better at it than most.

Eden began as a naive girl, turned into a rather jaded young woman, then matured almost overnight when her husband died. It was understandable that she believed her father responsible for taking her son away---after all, he'd disappeared himself. Finding her son, providing a good future for him, and restoring Hartsmere gave her a purpose she'd been lacking before. She was deluding herself as much as Hartley was, thinking that she'd make a better life for Donal by marrying Rushborough and getting Donal accepted in society. It became clearer every day that the sort of life she envisioned wouldn't be good at all for Donal, but it was the life she knew.

I kept trying to see Aunt Claudia as someone who just wanted the best for Eden, someone who truly believed that Eden was happier with her previous social life in the city, and only wanted to help her return to that life with Lord Rushborough, but she made me so mad! I didn't suspect that she was responsible for sending Donal away, but I did feel vindicated when I found out! Very interesting ending to that part of the story, I thought. I wonder if her husband was the fox who'd been hunted earlier in the story.

I loved that Donal had inherited his father's magic. The scene with Hartley teaching him in the woods was very sweet.

It was perfect that Hartley did take Donal to Tir-Na-Nog. I always worry when characters just end up changing their minds, that they'll have second thoughts later, after the book ends. I think it was important that he did follow through with what he planned, and thought it was so appropriate that he couldn't enter because of the love in his heart. It made me laugh when the fairy offered to get rid of it for him!

And what a nice little jolt at the end, finding out that Mrs. Byrne, who I'd thought was just a nice housekeeper, turned out to be Nuala---I'm imagining Mother Nature.

All in all, a wonderful, entertaining story. Definitely a keeper!

You can read the entire thread, including comments from the author, here.

Categories: Flashback, Books, ParanormalRomance

Friday Flashback

2009-11-27T03:24:00.000+01:00

from June 2003:

The Puzzle Bark Tree by Stephanie Gertler. Women's fiction.

The Puzzle Bark Tree is an intriguing puzzle. Grace's parents have always been cold and distant, and she has been plagued with nightmares of drowning and a fear of water for as long as she can remember.

Her parents' dual suicide and their bequest to Grace of an island home she'd never known they owned suggest a clue to the answers she needs.

The crisis also puts a spotlight on Grace's shaky marriage, forcing her to contrast it with her sister's happy one. When she travels to the island against her husband's wishes, she finds someone who provides her with some of her answers, as well as the compassion, comfort, friendship, and passion she'd been missing.

Beneath Grace's story of the discovery of her own past is the story of how tragedy changed and shaped the lives of her family, particularly those of her parents.

The Puzzle Bark Tree is intriguing and thought-provoking, making me wonder how different personalities would react to the same tragedy, and particularly how I would react.

Originally posted =>HERE<=.

Categories: Flashback, Books, WomensFiction

TT # 136

2009-11-26T01:48:00.001+01:00

Thirteen More Things We Know (that aren't true)

I first visited this topic back in 2006--same time of year, too. How odd. If you want to check out that post, it's here: Thirteen Things We "Know".

#	what we "know"	the real story	details
1	"Beam me up, Scotty." --Captain James T. Kirk, in the Star Trek series.	The closest that Captain Kirk ever got to this was "Beam us up, Mr Scott", in the 'Gamesters of Triskelion' episode.	click here
2	"Elementary, Dear Watson" --Sherlock Holmes	In fact the line doesn't appear in the Conan Doyle books, only later in Sherlock Holmes' films.	click here
3	"Play it again, Sam." --Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), in the 1942 film Casablanca.	Bogart's supposed line from Casablanca. This is well-known as one of the most widely misquoted lines from films. The actual line in the film is 'Play it, Sam'.	click here
4	"You dirty rat!" --James Cagney	This line didn't appear in any of Cagney's many films. In a speech to the American Film Institute in 1974 he made a point of saying: 'I never said "Mmm, you dirty rat!"'	click here
5	A duck's quack doesn't echo.	A duck's quack does echo. The misconception may be because "the way a duck quacks, with a long 'aaaacckkk' on the end of the call, tends to mask any echoes that are produced."	click here
6	Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs Bunny) hated carrots.	He did spit them out after crunching them for the taping, but that was because it would take too long to chew and swallow.	click here
7	Water goes down a drain counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere	Hurricanes do rotate counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere, but the Coriolis effect doesn't extend to drains.	click here
8	If you don’t wait an hour after eating before you go into the water, you’ll get stomach cramps and drown.	This rule showed up in the 50s and 60s with some shaky pseudo-scientific rationale that blood needed to keep muscles moving would be busy digesting food instead, which isn't true. In fact, some competitive swimmers eat large meals just before meets to give them energy.	click here
9	Sitting too close to the TV can damage your eyesight.	In the 60s, there were some televisions that emitted excessive X-rays, and parents were warned not to allow their children to sit close to the TV for more than an hour. Mostly, though, it's a case of mistaking cause for effect: children who are already nearsighted sit close to the TV so they can see it.	click here
10	Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis.	Not so. It can, however, damage joints and cause swelling.	click here
11	Drinking coffee will stunt a child's growth.	No. There are other effects you might want to avoid, though, such as the obvious one of giving a child a stimulant, the calorie content of many coffee drinks, and staining and decay of teeth.	click here
12	If you swallow gum, it will stay in your digestive system for 7 years.	Nope.	click here
13	The first Thanksgiving included turkey, pumpkin pie, corn on the cob, and cranberry sauce, and was eaten by Pilgrims dressed in black and white with those big buckles on their hats and shoes.	Well, they did have turkey.	click here

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Categories: ThursdayThirteen

Friday Flashback

2009-11-20T02:46:00.000+01:00

From December 2002:

The Texan's Wager by Jodi Thomas. Western historical romance.

It's been a long time since I've read a Western historical romance. Didn't they used to be more common? Seems like they've been replaced by Regencies in popularity lately. Anyway, it was a nice change of pace, and a fun story. I never watched many Westerns on TV (well, except the Wild Wild West, but somehow I don't think that's quite the same.)---if they were anything like this story, though, I missed out on quite a lot!

I wasn't sure what to expect from the beginning of the story---at first I was expecting the drifter to end up being a rough-around-the-edges cowboy who'd end up just needing the right woman to tame him. Have I mentioned I don't read the backs of books so as not to prejudice my reading of the story? Boy, was I wrong! I liked the teamwork between the 3 women---all of them taking a whack so that Bailee wouldn't be the only one guilty of murder.

I really felt for the sheriff. He had his hands full with 3 women confessing to murder, and a town full of single men. The lottery was inspired.

Once again, I wasn't sure what to expect from Carter. He took me by surprise with his silence. I was thinking macho, strong silent type. Well, he was strong and silent, but not because of being macho. Once I started understanding him better, I just wanted to give him a hug. Awwwwww....

Loved the sign language parts--I'm picturing Bailee learning it and them using it quite frequently. And his thoughts about wanting the first thing he said to his wife to be something special nearly made me cry.

Bailee really stirred up his life, and, as in the best romances, they both saved each other. The gypsies were just hilarious. I loved how he accepted their presence for her.

Another thing that surprised me was Carter's secret room---I thought he'd end up telling Bailee about it eventually, but too late, and that she'd be hurt and upset with him, etc. I'm really glad it didn't turn out that way.

I'm also glad we got the little teaser for Sarah's story at the end---I'd been worrying about her, and I'm eagerly awaiting it. Too bad there wasn't a title attached.

You can read the entire thread here.

Categories: Flashback, Books, WesternHistoricalRomance

Friday Flashback

2009-11-13T15:17:00.003+01:00

from February 2003:

Love Me Forever by Donna Fletcher. Historical romance.

It's hard to say anything without giving away the twists that happen at the end. I like twists, and a couple of them I really didn't see coming.

What an idyllic way to fall in love---secluded in a cabin, just the two of them.... of course, the injuries weren't fun, but that gave them the excuse to stay where they were and spend time with each other.

I had the impression that Brianna's brother Ian and his wife Moira had a story of their own--or was that wishful thinking?

You can read the entire thread =>HERE<=.

Categories: Flashback, Books, HistoricalRomance

Silk and Secrets

2009-11-12T09:42:00.000+01:00

**** Silk and Secrets by Mary Jo Putney. Historical romance.

Unfortunately, in my hit-or-miss approach to collecting Putney's backlist, I've once again found myself in the middle of a trilogy. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to have been a problem in enjoying the story.

Lord Ross Carlisle, the Marquess of Kilburn, has been married to Juliet Cameron since he was 21 and she was 17. The only thing is, he hasn't seen her for twelve years, since she inexplicably abandoned him after six months of marriage.

They're reunited in Persia, of all places, when his mother-in-law sends him to find out what happened to his brother-in-law (Juliet's mother and brother), a British army officer who disappeared in Bokhara.

It was a fascinating setting, and there was high adventure aplenty, the kind of story that you'd expect to see in an old movie. And watching Ross and Juliet fall in love again was fun. My only problem was that I didn't really buy the reason Juliet left him in the first place.

Definitely worth reading, and I'm looking forward to seeing the beginning and end of this trilogy eventually.

Categories: Books, 4stars, HistoricalRomance

Friday Flashback

2009-11-06T04:34:00.001+01:00

From November 2002:

Smoke in Mirrors by Jayne Ann Krentz. Gothic, romantic suspense.

It's been quite a while since I've read a romantic suspense---odd, since it's one of my favorite kinds of books to read. I fell into this one right away. It reminded me of Barbara Michaels' books, with the creepy house with all those mirrors, and I was hooked from there.

I wrote a lot more about this book, but it's all in conversation form, including comments from Jayne Ann Krentz. Read the entire thread here.

Categories: Flashback, Books, Gothic, RomanticSuspense

What Carnival Ride Are You?

2009-11-03T04:10:00.000+01:00

You Are a Carousel

You are young at heart and a truly playful person. No one would ever accuse you of taking life too seriously.

You are definitely in things for the fun. You find joy easily, and you are often building up anticipation for your next adventure.

In relationships, you tend to want to be babied and taken care of.

And while you may be a bit high maintenance, you are incredibly loyal.

Your life is simple and satisfying. Each day you treat yourself to something you enjoy.

You have a lot of emotional attachments, and experiences are extra vivid to you.

You tend to be nostalgic and sentimental. The past is important to you.

Comfortable around all living things, you have a special connection to animals and children.

At your best, you are whimsical, free spirited, and creative.

Even if your schemes seem a bit strange, they usually work out wonderfully.

At your worst, you are spoiled, demanding, and impossible to satisfy.

You've been known to act like a brat if you aren't getting your way!

What Carnival Ride Are You?

Blogthings: If Quizzes Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Take Quizzes

Babied??? High maintenance? Spoiled, demanding, impossible to satisfy brat?!!?? Maybe I should take this quiz again.

Still, I'm tickled it called me "whimsical."

Categories: Quiz

Monday Morning Meme

2009-11-02T01:25:00.000+01:00

3's of You

3 names I go by
Darla
Mom
Darla Kaye

3 jobs I've had in My life
photoduplication clerk
preventive medicine specialist
tax accountant

3 Places I've Lived
St. Louis, Michigan
Seybothenreuth, Germany
Miesau, Germany

3 Favorite Drinks
jasmine white tea
diet A&W Cream Soda
Averna liqueur

3 Tv shows I watch
The Colbert Report
Dr. Who (on DVD)
Chuck (on DVD)

3 Places I've Been
Sleeping Bear Dunes
Prague
The Alamo

3 of My Favorite foods
Chicken Nurani at the Bombay Indian restaurant in Einsiedlerhof
Fish with red curry and coconut milk at the Orchidee restaurant in Landstuhl
buttered popcorn jellybeans

3 friends who will respond
no clue, and I really hate this question on all these surveys, so I refuse to answer it.

3 things I look forward to
going to the gym
Dagny, Curran, and Andrew coming for Christmas
sleeeeep. :)

Categories: Meme, AboutMe

Weekend Update

2009-10-31T10:27:00.004+01:00

So it's been two weeks since my last update, but there's not a whole lot to say.
The big thing is that Camden came down with the flu. H1N1, we presume, since he had the flu shot a few weeks before he got sick. Poor kid was really sick for about three days, then miserable for another two. He's been back at school since Tuesday, but he still has a residual cough.
Carl has a mild form, we think--he's got a cough and a low-grade fever. It was worst on Thursday, since Wednesday night he was at work until midnight because of a video teleconference with somebody back in the Pentagon on... (cue irony music) pandemic influenza. A lot of people were chastising him for going in to work on Thursday and Friday, and I have to say I see their point. He's the local subject matter expert on pandemic influenza, telling everyone to stay home if they're sick, but he goes in to work. Granted, he has an office to himself and can limit how much he exposes other people, but still.
I, on the other hand, had one day when I had a mild temp and a scratchy throat, and that could have just been sleep deprivation. I'm trying not to be too proud of my immune system for fear that karma will kick me in the butt with a horrible case of flu. But I did read an article on Spark.com that said that people who exercised daily got sick less often. And it's been 7 weeks now that I've exercised daily, still going to the gym every other day and doing Callanetics on the off days.

I still haven't lost an ounce--in fact, I gained a pound--but I'm getting slimmer. The biggest thing I noticed was when I put on thigh-high hose. Instead of going up to mid-thigh, they went all the way up. And then there was.... if any of my kids are reading this, STOP NOW TO AVOID FURTHER TRAUMA!!! I definitely noticed a difference during sex. Okay, I'm not going to get into details. But it was very cool. I even had more stamina, and I was only up to six minutes on the dread elliptical. Talk about motivation! I've even noticed a lot fewer of the age-related aches and pains. It's not as difficult to get up and down from the floor, and (okay, what does it say about me that what follows is what embarrasses me?) I don't grunt anymore when I bend over to tie my shoes.

I realize I'm in danger of becoming one of those tiresome people who preach vigorous exercise to everyone, but just in case you're interested, it took six weeks of working out daily to get such noticeable results. Message: don't give up.
My mother-in-law did indeed have a gallbladder infection. They kept her in the hospital on IV antibiotics to get the infection cleared up, and then were going to operate on Monday morning. Unfortunately, they neglected to tell her that, and they neglected to tell the nursing staff, or her nurse made a mistake, one or the other, because they served her breakfast Monday morning, and she ate it. Of course, you can't have surgery with a full stomach. What's irritating is that the doctor was told that she refused surgery--sounds like the nurse trying to cover up her mistake. Anyway, she's back home and scheduled for surgery on the 16th.
Halloween is going to be very laid-back this year. The brother- and sister-in-law and nieces won't be coming, because they're going out to dinner for a friend's birthday. I'm really rather peeved. It's not like we can postpone trick-or-treating for the kids, but mostly I'm offended that a last-minute dinner invitation takes precedence over plans we made with them a month ago.

They are coming over on Sunday, but now we have to come up with something to entertain them, rather than having the Halloween festivities to do so. I'm also annoyed that we're expected to be content with conversation and grilled burgers when we visit them, but that we have to provide some sort of entertainment for them to visit us. Argh.
Last weekend, we went to the play The Mystery of Irma Vep with Carl's boss and his wife (S&R, who I mentioned in the last Weekend Update). It was very funny, once I figured out what to expect. I felt really bad that Camden was too sick to attend--he'd have loved it.

Categories: WeekendUpdate, AboutMe

The Tristan Betrayal

2009-10-30T09:38:00.001+01:00

**** The Tristan Betrayal by Robert Ludlum. Action/adventure.

This is another of those authors whose books I generally enjoy, but I haven't gone out of my way to look for.

Stephen Metcalfe is a spy-turned-ambassador, and he's called on to help stop a coup--communist hardliners threatening to overthrow Gorbachev's new government. Along with the present day story, we get flashbacks of Metcalfe's life as a spy during the 1940s, with quite a few hair-raising adventures and near disasters.

The flashbacks were exciting, and made Metcalfe a more interesting and sympathetic character, even if he was a bit luckier than was easy to believe. Experiencing his past, though, gave the present story more depth. Plus, you don't often get to battle Nazis and communists in the same book.

Categories: Books, 4stars, ActionAdventure

Friday Flashback

2009-10-30T04:28:00.000+01:00

From July 2003:

The Old Fox Deceiv'd by Martha Grimes. Mystery.

Originally written in 1982, this is a good introduction to Martha Grimes's Richard Jury mysteries.

I must confess that while Martha Grimes is a familiar name to me in the mystery genre, I'd never read any of her books until now.

This story is filled with the atmosphere of British mysteries, and features a mystery within a mystery--not only whodunit, but who-was-it-done-to.

A clever mystery with an engaging cast of characters, The Old Fox Deceiv'd has ensured that the next time I'm in the mood for a British mystery, Martha Grimes will be on my list of authors to look for.

Originally posted here.

Categories: Flashback, Books, Mystery

TT #135

2009-10-29T09:21:00.008+01:00

Our Trip to Prague, part 1

We also went to Prague this summer. Just a four-day trip, but we made the most of it. Dagny has always been the most tourist-y in our family--she likes to go places and see things, whereas Carl and I are perfectly content to go to Camp Darby every summer and visit the gym and the beach with a day in Pisa and a couple of evenings in Tirrenia. So we told her to go for it: we gave her a budget and told her to find a place to visit, and to make the arrangements, and we'd pay for it. This was the result.

It turned out really great, although Dagny was a little nervous the whole time because she was worried we wouldn't enjoy it. There are lots of pictures--this is just part one. Part two next week.... assuming I get to it.

The header is the poster advertising the Museum of Communism, one of the places we visited.

You can always click on the pictures to see a larger version.

1. dolls from the toy museum

2. a flying monkey at the toy museum. heh.

3. the front of the castle

4. just a few of the many, many tour boats on the river

5. Dagny

6. Carl

7. a church--click to see the larger image here--the shape of the windows is very cool.

8. a random balcony. I was really struck by all the ornate architecture--you don't see all that much in Germany, for obvious reasons.

an ornate building

10.this red building is the front of the mall--we parked Moby in its underground parking garage

11. top part of a building

12. this was supposed to show the very old next to the very new. not sure it worked, but it's still a cool structure.

13. you'll have to click to see the brightly-colored Haribo car.

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Thursday Thirteen hub

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, AboutMe

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

2009-10-28T15:37:00.002+01:00

***** Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Mystery, action/adventure.

Directed by: Shane Black.
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen

We got this from Netflix, and Carl and I started watching this Sunday night while Camden went to bed early (because he was sick--usually I'm the first one to crash), reasoning that since it was rated R, he wouldn't be watching it with us anyway. We only had time to watch half of it before I started drifting off, and I enjoyed it so much I knew I wanted to be awake to watch it. I also realized that there was nothing that I felt inappropriate for my 15-year-old. So Camden watched the first half while recuperating on the couch on Monday, and we watched the rest together that evening.

As you can tell from the five stars, I absolutely loved this movie. Robert Downey, Jr. is Harry Lockhart, our narrator. He's a thief, and not a very good one. While running from the cops, he stumbles into an audition for a crime movie and ends up in Hollywood teamed up with private detective "Gay Perry" (Val Kilmer) who's supposed to teach him how a real detective acts. He also ends up renewing his acquaintance with his childhood sweetheart, Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan).

A simple surveillance leads Harry and Perry to a dead body and puts them in all kinds of danger. There are twists and turns and chase scenes and fight scenes all leavened with understated humor.

The relationship between Harry and Harmony has about as many twists and pitfalls as the mystery story.

Probably my favorite part of the movie is that Harry tells us he's the narrator, and there are several references throughout the movie to it being a movie, which I'm a huge sucker for (and why Season 1 of She Spies is one of my favorite TV shows ever). It's not as distancing as you might think, and it really adds to the noir feel of the film.

I also loved an early scene where Harmony is passed out at a party, and when Harry sees actor Harlan Dexter (Corbin Bernsen) groping her, challenges him to a fight... a fight which he loses spectacularly. I was so expecting the street-wise thief to kick butt, but that wasn't Harry.

These are just such great characters. Harmony is a wannabe-actress, but all she has to show for her decade-plus in Hollywood is one commercial. Harry, of course, thinks that's wonderful. Their personalities show through so well in all their opinions and actions.

Anyway. We all loved it, and intend to buy the DVD--I'm going to want to watch this one again.

As for the rating... Netflix's parental guidelines are usually pretty good, but I have to strongly disagree with them here. Any nudity or sexual situations were more implied than shown. The "dismemberment"... Harry's finger gets slammed in a door and cut off. And not remotely graphically. Okay, yes, there was a lot of cursing. Harry apologizes for that at the end of the movie. But what really, really has steam coming out my ears is the notion that simply because "Gay Perry" is gay makes the movie inappropriate for teenagers. WHY? It's not like there's gay porn in the movie. Perry doesn't even have a love interest. Argh. Bottom line: I'm happy with my decision to let Camden watch this with us.

Categories: Movies, 5stars, ActionAdventure, Mystery

What Does Your Favorite Candy Say About You?

2009-10-27T04:15:00.000+01:00

In honor of Halloween this weekend:

You are a Secret Weirdo

You are a very strange character. Much stranger than people realize at first.

Like candy corn, the more people think about you - the weirder you seem.

While you are quite quirky, that's what is lovable about you.

You are bright, bold, and simply happy. What could be better?

What Does Your Favorite Candy Say About You?

Work is Hard. Time for Blogthings!

You know, candy corn is kind of weird. Irresistible, but weird.

Categories: Quiz

Monday Morning Meme

2009-10-26T07:26:00.002+01:00

I found this at Culture Kills:

Trick or Treat: Halloween Meme

1. What is your favorite work of horror fiction?

Dracula

2. Who is your favorite monster?

the Vord from Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series.

3. What horror movie gives you the most chills?

The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Cannibal the Musical? I'm not a fan of horror movies.

4. Freddy versus Jason?

I guess Freddy because I did actually see the original Nightmare on Elm Street, but I've never seen any of the Friday the 13ths.

5. Ghosts or goblins?

Goblins.

6. What is your scariest encounter with the paranormal?

Nothing in real life.

7. Do you believe in ghosts?

I'm skeptical. I believe there's plenty that we don't understand yet, but I'm far from certain that the answer is dead people.

8. Favorite Halloween costume?

I was quite pleased with the Ichabod Crane costume I came up with one year when I was a kid, complete with Silly Putty nose. I even won a prize.

9. If you had an unlimited budget, what would your fantasy costume be for this Halloween?

Oh, I don't know. Something really goofy. On the order of a bag of french fries, but something I'd never seen before.

10. When was the last time you went trick or treating?

Myself? I think I was 13. The last time I took the kids trick or treating was probably around 10 years ago--at least before I got CFS. I tend to be the one giving out the candy.

11. What's your favorite Halloween candy?

Smarties--the American ones, not the European ones, which are basically M&Ms.

12. Tell us about a scary nightmare you had.

When I was a child, I had a recurring dream that someone shot an arrow into my parents' bedroom window and it went through the house and killed my little brother.

13. What is your supernatural fear?

Nothing specific, just things that go bump in the night.

14. What is your creepy-crawlie fear?

Worms. *shudder*

15. Would you ever stay in a real haunted house overnight?

Sure, why not?

16. Are you a traditionalist (just a face) Jack O'Lantern carver, or do you get really creative with your pumpkins?

I like to get creative, but on my own--I wouldn't buy one of those fancy kits. We always have a puking Jack O'Lantern, at a minimum.

17. How much do you decorate your home for Halloween?

Not much. We used to do more, until our older son was about 5 and started getting really freaked out by even funny or cartoony Halloween decorations. So we got out of the habit.

18. Do you think Halloween is too commercial these days? Do you miss classic Halloween costumes or traditions from your childhood?

I guess it depends on where you are. My kids have almost always come up with their own costumes, even when their friends were sporting expensive professional ones (their choice, by the way). And I like the trend toward more decorating--our neighborhood had some really cool yards this year. But like Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter, I think the stores push the holidays too much for too long.

Categories: Meme, AboutMe

Link of the Week

2009-10-25T05:16:00.001+01:00

Scary Jane
http://scaryjane.com/

In honor of Halloween, here's a blog with various scary products, from the blood table pictured above to witch shoes, vampire welcome mats, creepy artwork, and, my personal favorite, a bloody shower curtain.

Check it out.

Categories: LOTW

Friday Flashback

2009-10-23T04:16:00.000+02:00

From November 2002:

Wicked Lies by Laura Renken*. Historical romance.

Wicked Lies is definitely a good title for this book. Lies and deception are behind almost everything that happens in it.

It was fascinating watching these two very loyal, responsible, determined people dance around each other and slowly untangle the net of lies surrounding them.

The circumstances of their first meeting hardly inspired trust. Catherine protecting her brother, Julian protecting his identity. I loved the irony of neither one trusting the other, yet having to rely on each other to escape and survive.

Laura pushed the boundaries here by making their first sexual encounter more about affirming that they're still alive than about falling in love. Not that I think Catherine would have had sex with just anyone at that point---there was an attraction---but I think it mostly a matter of needing to connect to someone after being in such danger.

The boundaries get pushed again when Julian turns out to be Catherine's brother-in-law. I was surprised that they had such different memories of Patrick, but he, too, wasn't what he seemed.

I don't want to get into too many details in case someone's reading this who hasn't read the book yet, but Julian and Catherine aren't the only ones deceiving each other.

What I liked so much about this book is that it took one of my least favorite conflicts---one of the characters keeping a secret from the other---and turned it into one of my most favorite types of story: a convoluted tale in which nothing is what it seems. And of course Merlin is very like the Scarlet Pimpernel, my favorite story from my childhood.

The secondary characters are engaging as well. I was very upset with Catherine's family in the beginning, but they redeemed themselves, especially Daniel.

You can read the entire thread, including a conversation with the author, here.

* Laura Renken is a.k.a. Melody Thomas.

Categories: Flashback, Books, HistoricalRomance

What Kind of Sundae Are You?

2009-10-20T03:57:00.000+02:00

You Are a Meaty Sundae

Wacky, savory, and unconventional.

You're an "acquired taste"... no doubt about it!

What Kind of Sundae Are You?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

Gak! Way to spoil my appetite for ice cream, Blogthings!

Categories: Quiz

Weekend Update

2009-10-17T13:40:00.002+02:00

Okay, I've given up on catching up. If I remember anything pertinent, I'll add it. Otherwise, this is just going to be recent stuff.
For five weeks now I've been exercising daily. I'm so proud of myself. Every other day I go to the gym and on the alternate days, I exercise at home. The gym is my favorite. We always go when we're in Italy, and I always just did Callanetics and then a few exercises with dumbbells. But the gym here doesn't have a big selection of free weights. What they have is Nautilus machines. Lots of nice, new Nautilus machines. And then a variety of disgusting cardio machines (heh--actually, they're new, too--I just hate cardio).

Five weeks ago, I went to check out the gym with Carl. It's only a 5-minute walk from the house, but I'd never been before. There weren't many people there, and I got Carl to show me how to adjust the machines he knew how to use. Then on Monday I went back. I remembered how much I love weight training. And it occurred to me that I'm 48 years old. Even if I never touch weights, I'm not going to have skinny arms and legs, and even if I could--who cares? I'm old enough to do what I want. I've been going every other day since then, and despite the fact that it ends up taking me at least an hour and a half, I look forward to it. Yesterday, I didn't even mind walking there in the rain.

I may not have lost an ounce yet, though my clothes do fit better. What's cool though, is that I feel strong, and I love it when I can move the weight peg down a notch. Unsurprisingly, my favorites are the ones where I can move the most weight--the triceps (95 pounds!), the leg abduction (outer thighs--155 pounds!) and the dip machine (shoulders, triceps, and upper back--125 pounds!).

I did start adding a few minutes on the elliptical machine (an effective torture device, if you ask me), but it's been slow going. Took me a while to realize that the blinding headaches it was giving me were due to overheating, so now I make sure I drink a lot of water first and that I get a machine next to a fan, and it's a little better.

I do Callanetics on the alternate days (like today), and that seems to be going well. I haven't gotten bored with them yet, but I've got a couple dozen exercise videos to use if and when that happens. I'm pretty sure it's the Callanetics that made my outer thighs and triceps so strong.
Sorry for going on so long--I'm just really excited about it. And weekends, Carl always goes with me, which is fun. It's nice having a workout partner, and it's always... ahem... inspiring to watch him workout.
A couple of weeks ago, Carl's new boss S invited us over for dinner. It was very nice--almost too nice. I was a wee bit intimidated by the things like cloth napkins and napkin rings, but they're so friendly I got over that. His wife R is about as shy as I am, so it was a little low-key, but I hope we'll be doing some more things together.

They went away for a week to Garmisch and asked Camden to pet-sit for them. They have four cats and a bird. I can't remember the type of bird it is--it's a small parrot of some sort. He doesn't talk, but mimics sounds, like the doorbell, the microwave chime, the phone, and if you whistle at him, he'll repeat your whistle back to you. He's very entertaining, though R says he can get on your nerves at times.
S is even more into antique clocks than Carl is, so I can see this might be dangerous. The post had its annual holiday bazaar last week (it's early so people can ship gifts back to the States), and there were a couple of antique dealers there, and Carl did buy another clock. This one's about 100 years old, which is pretty cool. What's interesting is that the dealer was starting up an antique clock club for enthusiasts--not just to hang out and talk about clocks, but also to learn some of the repair and maintenance. Seems useful to me, and something he might enjoy. Hope he goes for it.
Can't believe it's only two weeks until Halloween. I'm thinking we need to start getting more than just two bags of candy a week. Last year, we ran out after about a half hour. It was ridiculous. So we've been buying two of the largest bags we can find every week, trying to stock up, but I suspect we'll need more.

Since it's on Saturday this year, we're hoping Carl's brother and sister-in-law and their girls will be here earlier, so we can carve pumpkins and stuff as well as do the trick-or-treating. They always enjoy it, so I'm expecting to have a good time. Not making caramel apples this year, though, unless somebody can tell me why the caramel keeps sliding off the apples. It's far too frustrating, though I LOVE caramel apples. HELP!!
I've already started Christmas shopping, thank goodness, and discovered the crafts store on post so I can get fabric to make a stocking for Dagny's boyfriend, who's coming to visit at Christmas along with Dagny and Curran. I think I'll have to do it right after Halloween, because time flies so fast after Thanksgiving.
Went to see the movie Zombieland last night and enjoyed it a lot. I'll try to write up something about it soon--maybe if I hadn't spent so much time writing this....
Just found out Carl's mom's in the hospital--her husband wasn't real clear on what was wrong other than stomach pain and vomiting, but she said last weekend that she'd been having trouble with her gall bladder, so we're guessing that's what it is. Carl's going there today to take Manfred to visit, and then we'll all go visit tomorrow. Will keep you posted.

Categories: WeekendUpdate, AboutMe

Friday Flashback

2009-10-16T04:09:00.000+02:00

From June 2003:

Coffee and Kung Fu by Karen Brichoux. Chick lit.

The cover of this book say it's a debut novel. So I thought I'd read it with a kind eye. I didn't have to. In fact, I had to force myself to put it down a couple of times.

And now I'm not quite sure what to say--so many things are going on in this book.

Nicci seems to be like any other 20-something single, dealing with work, dating, and family. And like others, she's not quite satisfied. Through the events in the book, she begins to realize who she is and what she wants out of life.

It sounds pretty ordinary, describing the plot like that. But what makes Coffee and Kung Fu special is the characters. Nicci, of course, with her habit of judging dates by the type of movie they like, but also the large cast of secondary characters, from her friend Carol to the mysterious guy at the coffee shop. They're all very vivid and three-dimensional.

I enjoyed the snippets from Jackie Chan movies that Nicci uses to illustrate greater truths. I'm really feeling the urge to watch some Jackie Chan movies.

Coffee and Kung Fu is a perfect title for this book, even though Nicci doesn't drink coffee. The coffee shop and kung fu movies are the two things Nicci can count on while everything else is crashing in on her.

You can read the entire thread, including a conversation with the author, here.

Categories: Flashback, Books, ChickLit

What Length Hair Should You Have?

2009-10-13T03:52:00.000+02:00

You Should Have Short Hair

You are calm and level headed. You don't get stressed out easily, and you have a playful streak.

Your hair tells people you are responsible and serious. You know how to have fun, but only when the time is right.

You are a bit unpredictable and have the tendency to flip flop. You seem a lot more together than you actually are.

You have learned that it's important to put on a brave face in life, even if you're not feeling so brave.

What Length Hair Should You Have?

Blogthings: Learn Something Surprising About Yourself

Grrrrr. I don't THINK so.

Categories: Quiz

Friday Flashback

2009-10-09T04:00:00.000+02:00

From November 2002:

From This Moment On by Lynn Kurland. Historical romance.

This is one of the funniest books I've read in a while. Colin has such a unique and.... manly way of looking at things.

Alienore was different from the usual heroine who's masquerading as a man---she wasn't a tomboy, and she didn't particularly like the masquerade, but it seemed the only way out of her predicament.

I loved the irony of two years of running leading her to exactly what she was trying to avoid.

Alienore was a very believable and admirable heroine. It was fun watching her learn fighting with Colin. She started having a lot of pride in what she'd learned.

And Colin's wooing of her.... He took her out in the lists, cleaned her gear, & couldn't think of anything else she'd like better.

Obviously Alienore was the perfect match for him.

It's hard to say too much about this book without giving away all the funny stuff. I've been recommending this one.

You can read the entire thread here.

Categories: Flashback, Books, HistoricalRomance

Road Trip Test

2009-10-06T06:00:00.001+02:00

You Take the Road Less Traveled

You see life as precious and special. Heritage and family are very important to you.

You live life at a fairly leisurely pace. You take time to enjoy the sweeter parts of life, even when you're busy.

You're willing to take a few risks in life. You may not take the road no one travels, but you're happy to take the road less traveled.

You are able to find a fairly healthy balance between work and play. You work when you need to, but you never let yourself burn out.

In another life, you could have been a great artist. You trust your creative instincts enough to let them lead you.

The Road Trip Test

Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

I don't know about "heritage," but the rest fits well enough.

Categories: Quiz

Cat in a Sapphire Slipper

2009-10-05T15:41:00.005+02:00

***** Cat in a Sapphire Slipper by Carole Nelson Douglas. Mystery.

You know once I finished Cat in a Red Hot Rage, I couldn't make myself wait for the next book. And Cat in a Sapphire Slipper did not disappoint. I swear, I love this series more with each book. If you're unfamiliar with the Midnight Louie series, click on the link above--I put a mini-summary of the series in my review.

This time, the action moves slightly outside Las Vegas--to a brothel called the Sapphire Slipper. Temple's aunt Kit and eldest Fontana brother Aldo are getting married, and all the Fontana brothers plus their uncle and Matt Devine (Temple's fiance) are heading to Aldo's (planned-to-be fairly tame) bachelor party at a local strip club when their limo drops them off at the brothel way out of town. The limo driver had been replaced and they were abducted.

It soon becomes apparent that it's just a prank: now that Aldo's getting married, the other brothers' girlfriends decided to hold them all hostage for engagement rings of their own. Until a dead body shows up, murdered while Matt and Nicky Fontana (the only other married Fontana brother, and Temple's occasional employer--he owns the Crystal Phoenix) are hiding out upstairs, and Matt is actually in a hidden voyeur-room in the murder room. Only his ex-priestly scruples kept him from witnessing the murder.

Because the Fontanas are reputedly mob-connected, they're all hoping to get the murder solved before calling in the police... so they call Temple.

And of course Midnight Louie is on hand--or should that be paw?--to help untangle the mystery.

There are some very interesting developments in this book (and please don't read further unless you've either a. already read at least up to Cat in a Red Hot Rage or b. don't intend to read these at all, because while it's not a spoiler for this book, it is for previous books. Here--I'll give you a little spoiler space... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... )--Midnight Louie finds an old flame, and the big news is that Max shows up, alive, injured, and amnesiac, in a clinic somewhere in Europe. Not that any of the cast of characters back in Nevada are aware of this. Nor will they be for some time, I'm guessing.

The brothel setting made a wonderful backdrop to showcase ex-priest Matt, particularly when he's interviewing the "girls" to discover who the victim was and who might have had the motive and/or opportunity to kill her. His innate kindness shows through, but it's also apparent that it's difficult for him. He also does a little soul-searching when he realizes that he might have witnessed--or even prevented--the murder if he hadn't closed the two-way mirror in an effort to give privacy to what he assumed would be one of the Fontana brothers and his girlfriend having a little make-up party.

One thing that really struck me while reading Cat in a Sapphire Slipper is how well the characters' personalities and emotions are conveyed in very short bits of dialogue. It's something I've noticed subconsciously before, that the dialogue in this series isn't very drawn-out, but I still feel as though I know these characters, and that they're real. Truly a nice job of wordsmithing, and one that's appreciated, albeit belatedly.

Fortunately, Cat in a Topaz Tango arrived in the mail on Friday, and with only a momentary qualm for all the books that have been waiting forever in TBR-pile-limbo, I started reading it right away. I haven't finished it yet, but I think it's safe to say that the streak (of loving the series more with each book) is still going strong.

Categories: Books, 5stars, Mystery

I've been Bambied!

2009-10-05T13:15:00.001+02:00

Got this--actually a while ago, but I'm way behind on email--from Antje: here. I'd translate, but it makes me blush. Thanks, Antje!

Link of the Week

2009-10-04T05:00:00.001+02:00

People of Walmart
http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

This is just a collection of snapshots of people seen at Wal*Mart. If you've ever been to Wal*Mart, especially late at night, you won't be surprised.

Categories: LOTW

Friday Flashback

2009-10-02T03:48:00.000+02:00

From August 2002:

Harmony by Jayne Castle. Paranormal romance.

This is a trade paperback reprint of After Dark and the novella "Bridal Jitters", but since I hadn't read either of them before, it was new to me.

I read a lot of science fiction, so I didn't have any trouble with the different world scenario. I did drive myself a little crazy trying to figure out when the books take place, since the inhabitants of Harmony were cut off from Earth 200 years before the story starts---is it 200 or more years in the future, or did they lose contact with Earth 200 years ago? I finally had to just ignore that. (OCD much? me? )

In both stories, the hero is a ghost-hunter, and the heroine is a tangler. Tanglers apparently have a deep distrust of ghost hunters, who are kind of like Harmony's version of the maverick cowboy, or a fighter jet pilot---sexy, arrogant, not reliable. I really liked that the strength these men had was mental strength, rather than just physical strength, although they did have nice bodies, of course. And what was really nice is that tanglers & hunters have complementary skills---they have to work together, which crosses over nicely into their personal lives.

Also interesting in "Bridal Jitters" were the two forms of marriage---the MC, or marriage of convenience, and the covenant marriage. Nice idea. The MC was for a limited period of time, renewable---basically conferring legal benefits to an affair, while a covenant marriage was considered permanent. I was thinking it would be a good solution to the high divorce rate, but then I realized that everyone thinks it'll be forever when they get married. Maybe in 200 years....

Anyway, these were fun, entertaining stories. I'm glad I read them.

You can read the entire thread, including an explanation from Jayne Ann Krentz, here.

Categories: Flashback, Books, ParanormalRomance

TT #134

2009-10-01T02:33:00.004+02:00

Our Trip to Italy

These--including the header--are ALL the pictures I took when we went to Italy this summer. Carl took a bunch with his new camera, but, well, they're on his camera. He says I can feel free to remove the memory card from his camera, put it in my camera, and upload the pix. Uh-huh. Obviously he realizes how much time this takes.

We went, as usual, to Camp Darby.

You can always click on the pictures to see a larger version.

1. there were new cabins this year--here's Carl standing on the porch of ours

2. inside the front door of the cabin--we bought the broom and left it there--you cannot stay in such a sandy place without a broom

3. refrigerator, microwave, TV, VCR, DVD player, and, most importantly, AC (not shown)

4. the little bedroom

5. the bigger bedroom

6. the purse I bought in Pisa

7. Italian scenery

8. Swiss scenery

more Swiss scenery--there are dozens of these waterfalls

10.just spurting out of the sides of the mountains

11. more

12. Swiss

13. scenery

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Cat in a Red Hot Rage

2009-09-30T15:47:00.002+02:00

***** Cat in a Red Hot Rage by Carole Nelson Douglas. Mystery.

I can't believe I waited to read this until the book after the book after this was out already. Particularly since this is one of my absolute favorite series. One good thing about it, though--I didn't have to wait to read the next book. I am a bit on pins and needles waiting for Barnes & Noble to deliver the most recent one, though. The series story is getting pretty darn suspenseful and I suspect the new one will go straight to the read-now pile.

If you haven't read any of this series yet, here's a thumbnail sketch: Temple Barr does PR for the Crystal Phoenix hotel in Las Vegas. She ends up solving a lot of murders with the help of Midnight Louie, a cat who writes some of the chapters in the books. She's also been involved in a romantic triangle with magician/secret agent Max and ex-priest/radio counselor Matt. Each book has a mystery, but there's also an ongoing story in the series, so I'd highly suggest reading them in order: Catnap, Pussyfoot, then colors in alphabetical order from Cat on a Blue Monday through Cat in a Topaz Tango.

It occurs to me that even though I'm avoiding spoilers for this book, even the beginning situation is spoilery for previous books. So if you want to avoid spoilers for previous books, stop here until you catch up.

The "Red Hot Rage" in the title refers to the Red Hat Sisterhood convention taking place at the Crystal Phoenix. Temple's landlady Electra discovers a murder, and the victim just happens to be "the other woman" who married one of Electra's ex-husbands. Molina's busy investigating Max's disappearance, so it's Su and Alch on the scene, and Su is ready to throw the book at Electra. So it's up to Temple to find out whodunit.

It's complicated, of course. There's a reporter running around with a hidden agenda, and Electra's ex-husband shows up with some other disgruntled men to protest the Red Hats. It's a PR nightmare, so Temple's up to her neck in trouble.

It's not quite enough to keep her mind off her personal life, though. She's deliriously happy with Matt, but it's hard to move on when she can't talk to the missing Max personally. Temple's aunt Kit is still in town, and getting serious with Aldo, the eldest Fontana brother.

And of course there's Midnight Louie and his (unacknowledged) daughter Midnight Louise. Louie is all for helping Temple solve the murder, but Louise thinks enough people are working on that problem, and she's trying to find out what happened to Max.

Even with all that's going on, the story doesn't feel cluttered or confusing, and plenty of page space is given to character development. Matt's emotions in particular are very clear. He's such a wonderful blend of confidence and insecurity, and it's lovely to see how that confidence has increased over the course of the series. Temple is even more complex, and I love the realistic hints that as much as she loves Matt, she's still a tiny bit concerned that she's his first.

I also love that we learn more about landlady Electra Lark. In this book, she becomes a lot more three-dimensional, once we find out a little of how she became the free spirit she is now.

Actually, I'm glad this was still languishing in my TBR pile, because I'd been in a reading slump for a while--I kept picking up books and finding them too easy to put down. Cat in a Red Hot Rage was just the opposite--nearly impossible to put down. I'm only glad I didn't end up dropping it while I was reading it in the tub!

Categories: Books, 5stars, Mystery

Strangers

2009-09-30T09:30:00.001+02:00

Strangers by Lisa Jackson. Romantic suspense.

This is a 2-in-1 volume of previously published romantic suspense novels.

*** Mystery Man.
The first book is about Chelsea Reed, who's looking for her disappeared fiance, Devlin McVey. She doesn't believe he would just leave her, and despite what everyone else tells her, is afraid something happened to him. The search leads her to the Caribbean and Mitch Russell, who she thinks might be Devlin in disguise.

It's a readable story, but I did have trouble believing a beard and different clothes could keep her from recognizing her fiance. A casual friend, sure, but not a fiance. Mystery Man is about what I expected from a backlist story from Lisa Jackson.
** Obsession.
The second book was more of a disappointment, though I can see why these two were combined in one volume: both are about reuniting old loves.

Kaylie is an actress; Zane Flannery was her bodyguard. They fell in love when he was protecting her and married, but he turned her into a virtual prisoner after a stalker attacked her, and it led to a divorce. Now the stalker is out of prison, and Zane wants back in her life.

Truthfully, I didn't see a lot of difference between Zane, who ends up kidnapping Kaylie "for her own good" and the stalker. I could almost see Zane's point, because Kaylie was too stupid to live, but geez, I seriously disliked both these characters, and I absolutely cannot find the story remotely romantic.

Categories: Books, 2stars, 3stars, RomanticSuspense

What Kind of Adventure Do You Crave?

2009-09-29T08:53:00.002+02:00

You Crave a Physical Adventure

Life has gotten a bit unchallenging lately, and you really would like to push yourself to the limit.

You want an adventure that gets your blood pumping. You want to test yourself and see if you have what it takes.

Whether you're climbing a tall mountain or sky diving, you won't feel like you've had an adventure unless you've accomplished something big.

You love the confidence you get from taking risks... as well as the bragging rights!

What Kind of Adventure Do You Crave?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

Skydiving? Mountain climbing? I don't think so. Physical, yes, but more on the lines of hiking.

Categories: Quiz

The Adventures of Vin Fiz

2009-09-28T07:21:00.000+02:00

***½ The Adventures of Vin Fiz by Clive Cussler. Juvenile action/adventure.

I bought this for Camden, then when he was finished reading it, I put it in my TBR pile.

The story is about twins Casey and Lacey, who live on a farm. They meet a new hired hand, Mr. Sucoh Sucop (hint: read it backwards), and discover he's invented a magic mat that will turn their toys life-sized. So they try it out with their toy plane they call "Vin Fiz" and go on some adventures.

You'd think that with the name Clive Cussler on the cover, those adventures would be exciting. But they aren't, really. It reminds me a bit of Stuart Little, in the types of adventures, and in the way that there's no overarching plot to the book--it's just a series of things that happen. Actions have no consequences, and there's very little emotional component to any of the things the kids do.

The writing, as well, is rather stilted, something that surprised me after years of loving Cussler's grown-up fiction.

Camden liked it more than I did--he read it when he was 11--but even then, he said it was "good but not great." Which doesn't surprise me. I know kids can enjoy books and movies that don't follow the rules of good storytelling (like having a coherent, logical plot), but the more they experience well-constructed stories, the less they'll enjoy the poorly-constructed ones, even if they can't explain why.

And no, I absolutely do not mean that kids should be reading classics or award-winning books--far too many of which are dull or depressing. But there are a lot of better-written books for kids that are also fun.

Categories: Books, 3.5stars, Juvenile, ActionAdventure