What I did this weekend

Ron loved trees. When we moved into the house, there were already five of them on the property but that wasn't enough for Ron. Over the years he planted five more. And we don't have that big of a lot! I think we have more trees per square footage than most homes in the city! They didn't all make it though. He planted an oak tree that was doing very well, but then he decided it was too close to the house and would cause problems once it really started to grow so he transplanted it further away. Sadly it didn't survive the move. Oak trees are rare around here and it would have been nice to have one. He also had a tree that was doing pretty good until a neighbour across the street kind of hit the gas instead of the break when she was in reverse and rammed very heavily into the tree. I was at work that day, but I guess it was quite the crash. I think she felt a lot worse about it then Ron did. The tree developed a gash over the years that kept getting bigger and bigger until finally a couple of years ago, Ron cut it down.

We also had a couple of fruit trees that were deeply affected by the summer droughts we had 3 years in a row and half of both trees died. Ron cut them back until now they look more like flowering bushes than trees. I never really minded this weird kind of hobby of his. They all gave nice shade in the summer. And since I rarely cut the grass, having to mow around them didn't really affect me. And as for raking leaves in the fall, well I helped in a very half assed kind of way. I'd rake for about an hour and then take a three hour break to read a book while he and the boys continued to rake.

But I've found out since, what a pain his hobby was. I cursed those trees when I had to start mowing. And I began to dread in August what I knew was going to be a killer of a job in late fall. Well, that day arrived last Sunday. Yep - time to really rake leaves. And boy oh boy were there a lot of leaves. I knew it was way to big a job to tackle alone so I had asked both boys if they could come and help me and I bribed them with the offer of pizza for dinner. Pizza and Sunday football when we were done.

Things started off bad when five minutes after we began, I told Brent, the oldest son to go home. Just go home! He's my Peter Pan son. I love him to death, but for some reason, he stopped maturing about the age of 14 even though he is now 28. He's the one I recently offered up to Romancelover as a possible husband so she could be my daughter in law but then rescinded the offer and told her in a Mr. T like way, "I pity the fool who marries him" He started of whinning and complaining - how he didn't see why he had to help, how this is the reason he would never own a house, how his back was so bad and on and on and on. Since he can't complain without interspersing four letter words throughout, I just didn't feel like listening to him and told him to leave. He stormed in the house but came back out 10 minutes later with a slightly better attitude. The scary thing is he's the one most like me. We're both left brain thinkers - leaning more towards the art side of things. And he can be quite the "Drama King" when he wants. He then proceeded to rake for the next 1/2 hour - while talking on his cell phone at the same time. Ryan and I just looked at him and shook our heads. This is son #1 who just the day before complained about his $300 phone bill.

Sometime later I managed to overhear a fascinating conversation between the two of them. Ryan was telling Brent what it takes to be a man. It meant doing things you didn't want to do, like raking leaves because sometimes that was what was the right thing to do. I kind of teared up at that and looked into the sky and told Ron we did good with Ryan. See in addition, the Atlanta Falcons were on, Ryan's favourite team, and he doesn't have cable and rarely gets to see them, but not one word of complaint did he utter. Instead he worked like a trooper and did the majority of heavy work. Ryan is the numbers son and more like his dad. He works 'til the job is done with no breaks. Now he's single too, but I think he's a bit too young. And he has a girlfriend although their relationship is kind of rocky. He's wants a commitment but she's dragging her heels.

It took us over 3 hours to rake those damn leaves and we didn't rake under one tree that still has most of it's leaves on. So I know there's probably an hour or more worth of work left, not all of them are down on the other trees either, but I can handle that myself.

But I look outside now and don't have that panicky feeling I did on Saturday.

And to show you just how much work was involved, and because I wanted to play with my new toy again, here are pictures!






And here is what we have ended up with - so far!



See - not nearly so scary anymore



'til later

What is the point?

Although I don't think many of them are worth the time and effort readers put into them, sometimes if I'm trying to remember the storyline of a book I haven't read in a while and I can't find one anywhere else, I'll check out the reviews for it on Amazon. This can be most frustrating at times as I notice a lot of them don't give any kind of outline at all of the story.

Take this one for example:

I was captivated by this book. I enjoyed coming home every night from my hectic life to escape into this book. Penelope Williamson is a CLASSIC writer!!!!!! I highly recommend THIS book as well as her others. You can't go wrong opening any one of her books!

What the heck is the point of that? It tells you nothing! It doesn't even mention the characters names! Then there is this review of the same book:

Browsing through Amazon reviews for fun, I saw this book had none. Can't have that! I've read all of Ms. Williamsons books, and as always - this one doesn't disappoint. It has great character development, a plot with surprises, and enough steamy romance to keep the pages turning. She also touches upon a great time in Early American History. Treat youself to a great read!!!

Again - not story outline, no character, not nothing. The thing that amused me though was seeing that 6 out of 8 people found it helpful. Helpful for what?

The book by the way is A Wild Yearning by Penelope Williamson - going for $25. And I have one!

Here's another review of a different book by the same author:

This book is in my top five all time favorite book list. I have read this book at least ten times and I love it as much now as I did when I was 16. I highly recommend this book to all romance lovers this is what a romance book is suppose to be like. ENJOY!!!!

Once in a Blue Moon by Penelope Williamson

If I'm in a contrary mood, I often answer the "Was this review helpful to you" question - always saying NO! It didn't tell me a thing.

I also get a kick out of reading 1 star reviews. Here's real gem:

I couldn't enjoy this book because the heroine got treated like crap the whole book by everyone because of the sins her sister committed. Even at the end of the book, they were all still treating her like crap. And none of the people who hurt her ever got their comeuppance.

Again - no plot, no characters, nothing. I answered No to this one being useful. But 4 out of 8 people did find is useful. In what way I have no idea.

This Side of Heaven by Karen Robards

Here's another 2 star review that is completely meaningless:

I feel like the lone ranger here, but I did not enjoy this book. I finished it all the time hoping that something would click, but it just never happened. I never came to care about the characters and the story dragged on for what seemed like forever.

Swan's Grace by Linda Francis Lee

I dunno; it seems to me if you are going to go to the effort of writing a review on Amazon, you should at least mention character names, a brief summary and maybe a more detailed reason of why you liked or disliked the book. Harriet Klausner, although many mock her (myself included at times), at least makes an effort to tell something of the story. And that's very helpful when I need help with my memory

'til later

My next assignment

Since I got such great feedback and wonderful advice on the first assignment I did for the writing course, I thought I'd share my next one. This again was to be a 500 word more or less description of a place. Once again I sent it to Cindy for her to critique. The one I'm working on now is "My Most Embarrasing Moment" so I'm not sure about that one :) and nope - it's not the GU story *G*

I close my eyes and can still see the scene so clearly, as if I was there only yesterday instead of the dozen or so years it really has been. It has become a part of the fabric that makes up my being. I can hear the raucous cries of the seagulls as they drift across the sky, wings spread and bandied about by the wind that whips up the waves and carries the myriad of birds with their gray and white bodies lazily where it will. Or I can hear their harsh guttural cries as they land and do battle with each other for the morsels of food thrown their way. The waves that crash across the rocks create music of their own. The faint sound of traffic overhead as cars travel from one country to the next over the majestic bridge is a background accompaniment to the music of life. The occasional blast of a horn from a ship that is heralding its passing echoes deep inside me with its resonating tone. I hear the laughter of children as they race up and down the green space of grass between the road and the rocks that line the shore, their joy expressed for all to listen to fondly with the nostalgia of age. Added to the orchestra of sound is the hum of the jet skis as they race across the river, swelling and then disappearing into the tunnels of the swift flowing river current.

I look out as the waves, angry and boiling, their varied shades of winter grey, with their whitecaps rising and cresting hypnotizes me. I glance up at the magnificent structure rising above me, marveling at the work that must have taken years to complete, its two cement bases, with the plaques commemorating its completion, the steel girders, and the expanse of the bridge reaching across and joining the two countries. My gaze then turns to the right and I see the vastness of Lake Huron opening up, the colours different now, calmer and with softer shades of sapphire and azure blues and grays, sailboats bobbing up and down in the distance, like toys that young boys love to play with. The lighthouse stands alone; a beacon warning the ships that approach of the danger of rocks that awaits them if they travel too close. And even further away I observe two freighter ships slowly making their way to the entrance to the St. Clair River, just a brief run-by on their journey across the Great Lakes.

As I close my eyes, I feel the breeze on my face, mixed with the hot sun of another beautiful sun-drenched summer day. The moisture that ascends from the river helps cool what the sun has heated its rainbow of moisture another testament to the beauty of nature.

The smells, ah the smells have never been forgotten. The air is thick with the aroma of a mixture of grease and vinegar from the chip wagon that has been a staple on the landscape for close to 50 years. The smell of the lake seaweed and decaying fish adds it own pungent tang.

This is a place I will carry always in my heart, a place of fun, of memories never forgotten, a place of reminiscence that still to this day has the power to make me weep.

And this is it in case anyone is wondering

The Bluewater Bridge in Sarnia, On.
'til later

I Finally Did It!!!!

What??? What??? you're all asking.

I finally watched the Keira Knightley version of Pride & Prejudice! I noticed that it was on TV the other night and thought about watching it, but it was on a regular station and I didn't want it interrupted by commercials. So when I was in Walmart the other day, I noticed they had it there. I decided to go for it. Later that day a friend and I went out for dinner and then we went back to my place and watched it. She hadn't seen it either so it was a new experience for both of us. (and yes, she saw my 'library and was suitable impressed although I think she agrees that I have a wee small addiction)
So! What did I think of the movie?
I loved it! I'm going to have to watch it again soon because I don't know if it was because I didn't have the volume high enough or because of the accent or because Kiera Knightley just spoke so darn fast, but I didn't catch much of what she or the others were saying during the first part of the movie. But once I turned the volume up (d'oh) and kind of caught on to their speech patterns, what a wonderful movie it is. I'm glad I decided to buy it so now I can watch it again at my very own convenience any time I want. It makes a most excellent collection to my historical type DVD collection!
And of course what would a trip to the mall/Walmart be without also purchasing new books? I was really looking for Take Me by Lucy Monroe that Jazz of Santuary's Finest gave such a glowing review of. I knew I had seen it at Walmart! But damn it all - they didn't have any copies any more. Neither did the book store at the mall. So naturally I overcompensated in my dissapointment. Instead I got:


I go curious about this one after seeing Valeen's review at Turn Another Page.


I loved her last one.

I'm a bit behind on her books. I really enjoyed the first two but haven't read the one previous to this one.

OK - this one got me because of the cover and I was in overcompensation mode.

I've read her other books in this series and really enjoyed them. And hey! It's a Western!

One I picked up and then put back down was this one:
I love the cover but the back blurb made it sound annoying. Has anyone read it and what do you think? Any good?

'til later

Last Night's Lost

OK - I watched this one twice tonight. I missed the first little bit the first time around so I decided to watch it again 2 hours later. Can I say I love the fact that I can catch missed shows as long as they play on a Canadian station and I can watch them again when they play on the West Coast? But both times, I had to actually leave the room when a certain part came on. Think Sawyer strapped to the table. Think BIG needle. I don't know what happened exactly since I left the room - twice. I'm very sqeamish!

So - except for the part I missed - twice - I loved this episode! I thought when Sawyer poured the bucket of water (presumably cold) over his head when Kate was changing was a riot! I enjoyed the back story. Of course since it was Sawyers, that's a given. I think he is such an interesting character. Just when you're ready to write him off a complete scum, he does something like leaving money to little Clemintine, and he draws you back in again. Of course the fact that I find him mucho hoto doesn't hurt! And if nothing else, he's a well read con man.
I just don't get The Others. They keep saying they aren't the bad ones, yet they keep doing bad things!
And Desmond is turning out to be just as mysterious as Locke and Ekko. I'm glad I watched it the second time 'cause I didn't get what the pole with the golf club was for. Then I realized it was because he was protecting Clare, Charlie and the baby.
And even watching it twice (minus few seconds there) I still can't figure out what the whole point of conning him was. Are The Others on a different island? I always thought it was the same island. And what did showing Sawyer have to do with anything. Won't they still try and escape anyway? Anyone else understand the point?
And *sad sigh* it looks like we only have 2 or 3 more episodes of Lost until January. I do not like that they are doing this!

And while it's not Lost, I love The Nine. I think it's a very good show too!

'til later

Truth time

I was tagged by Suisan to tell 5 truth's so here goes:

1. I'm getting scarily lonely. I'm the only one in the house except for the cat and since I'm unemployed at the moment - but working on it, I have no one to talk to all day. I can go an entire day or longer without hearing the sound of another human voice unless it's on the television and it's terrifying. I'm a people who needs people.

2. I miss sex. Boy am I starting to miss sex! As one can gather, we weren't very adventuresome in that area of our married life, more on Ron's part than mine. I was willing to try all kinds of things but he wasn't. I kept offering to tie him up or vice versa but he always thought I was kidding. I wasn't. (and now that tells you something else :) )But when you have a steady partner for 30 years and then it's gone - well - it's something you don't realize until you don't have it anymore how important a part of your life it is.

3. I used to be a lot more judgemental of people. I would meet them and make snap decisions (and often I was wrong about that person and had to revise my thinking) but getting to know people online without the benefit of face to face contact has made me sit back and wait before deciding on someone.

4. Like Suisan, I am a Christian and I am saddened by the anger that inspires in so many people. Yet at the same time, I think many so called Christians have brought it on themselves with their intollerant judgemental "I'm somehow better than you because" attitude, so while I'm sad at the anger, I can understand it. I just would like to say we aren't all like that and just like so many of different groups, don't paint us all with the same brush. I couldn't have gotten through what I have without my faith.

5. I hate politicians (Suisan excluded of course) I hate them with every fibre of my being. I always vote but at times it seems pointless because even if they start out with the best of intentions, I just know that corruption is sure to follow.

Whoa - that was scary!

Now - whom shall I tag

Cindy, Devonna, Tara, Renee, Nicole

'til later

Keepin' it simple

For now I'm just going to be a blog pimp.

Dear Author has a great post today about author websites - what makes them work - what they should have. There are a lot of good ideas there

Mailyn asks a very interesting question about Anne Stuart heros.

Suisan has a hilarious story! She also won a great gift at Megan's place

Tara Marie is looking for the best of the best of alpha heros for her scale.

If you like sports at all, Margee, Devon's sister (who also has a deliciously funny post herself) has a wonderfully entertaining blog with a woman's take

Bev is looking for ideas on why some sex scenes just don't seem to work.

And not a blog, but the latest At The Back Fence at AAR is very interesting!

And I get to play with my brand new non-romance book!



'til later

The writer in me

I've always loved writing. I went through an anguished poet stage early on when I was much, much younger. I have no idea whatever happened to them but alas they are gone. And I remember way back in grade 4 or 5. I wrote a poem that came in first in the glass. A few fellow students accused me of having one of my parents' write it and I can still dredge up the indignation that I felt at that accusation. In the back of my mind I always had this nebulous idea of someday maybe writing something that might sell but it always remained way back there where it didn't bother me much. Having a blog really soothed it. But I signed up for a creative writing course when my life changed so drastically. Every week the teacher assigns us an assignment. The first one was a 500 word (or thereabout) character description. We then have to read it out loud in front of the class for critiquing. So - laying it all out there - here is my first assignment.

One of the reasons she had been promoted through the ranks and into the role of executive assistant quicker than most was because of her intuitive powers of observation. She spied him getting onto the private elevator that would bring him to the top level.

He stood there in the elevator, his hands clasped loosely in front of him. His dark gray suit jacket was obviously an expensive one; it hugged his well built frame just right. She guessed that it had been tailor made just for him. It would be hard to find one with such perfect fit for his large frame. The gray shirt she noticed was also costly and the matching silk tie, was tight against his throat. It was clear it had been done by an expert hand.

Most people would fidget if they knew they were being watched and the small camera high in the elevator with its green light glowing was a sure indicator that he was under observation. Yet he remained perfectly at ease, as if he didn’t give a damn with whatever someone watching might think. His close cropped golden hair shone in the artificial lights, his skin tanned as if he had just returned from a tropical island.

She judged his age to be around 35, and although it was from a camera, she could still see the steel glint in his vivid blue eyes, framed by his dark brows. His nose straight and slim but for a slight crook in the middle as if it had been broken once or twice. His lips appeared full but firm.

Overall he was a very good looking man, with the kind of charisma both men and women would notice as he walked by. There was stillness to him, a calmness that indicated he was comfortable in all situations. “He would need that” she thought to herself.

The elevator reached the top floor and opened. He exited and she switched her glance to the next camera and watched as he strode down the hall, looking neither to the left or the right. He walked on, not even glancing at the names on the other doors as if he knew exactly where he was going. He reached the door to the outer office and she held her breath – waiting to see what impact he would have in person after watching him so intently. She quickly turned off the cameras and prepared herself. The door opened and he walked in. He glanced briefly at the closed door on the right and then directed his gaze directly into her eyes. She knew instantly she hadn’t braced herself enough for the powerful gaze or the intensity of his deep blue eyes, the colour of the deepest ocean, as they zeroed in on her. Power seemed to radiate off him as she raised her eyes to his. His perfection was marred only by the slight crookedness of his nose, more noticeable in person.

“Yes? May I help you?” she asked suddenly shaken by the knowledge that she was in the presence of someone cold, someone chilling.

“Stirling. Stirling Fletcher to see Mr. Warner” he answered, his gravely voice deep and commanding.

She knew right away that her boss just might have bitten off more than he could handle with this man. She picked up the phone to dial and let him know that his next appointment was here.

The general consensus of opinion of the class was that it was pretty good, but I should have opened with a description of him, rather than starting with her. Of course the class doesn't know yet about my OVERWHELMING love of romance and that, of course, I was thinking romance between her and Mr. Fletcher. I sent it to Cindy before the night we were too hand it in for her opinion and she seemed to think it was good. One of the difficult things to do was to make it "correct" grammatically speaking. I have a tendency in writing in the blog or emails to not really care about grammar. I think most of us do; we write more the way we speak than the way we would write. Plus it has been many years since I was in school and it's very easy to forget many of the rules I learned.
Now - if only I can get going on this weeks assignment. It's a 500 word (or thereabout) exercise in dialogue. This one is giving me fits! I don't know if it's because of the week I had or what - but I really must get to it! Soon!

'til later

PS - and why the heck have the fonts gone all kerfluie???

And less you thought I had forgotten my new found love

You Tube and going along with the previous post theme,

This one is SO funny

If it's not books - it's

Movies!

I don't have an extensive DVD collection - not nearly like the book one, but as I was going through them last night trying to pick out a couple to take to a friend's house to watch, it occurred to me that the ones I do have are very much like my books!!

I have My Historicals



My Medievals


My Western/Colonial



A nice sports contemporary


A real tear jerker


A couple of pirate adventure
(ok, ok - this one is on VHS.
And here is a mighty fine picture of Mel Gibson before we all realized what a pysho nut job he really is)


A couple of really sweet fairy tales


And this one which I'm not sure how to categorize. I'm thinking - paranormal!


Now this one just represents one of the six I have - yes 6. The original releases and then the extended versions when they came out.










So there you have it! My rather small but ALL romance oriented movie collection!

'til later

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Rosie asked what books were on our night stands. One of the books I'm reading (yet again) it Linda Howard's To Die For. I needed something funny and something that would cheer me up. Since her next one, Drop Dead Gorgeous, is coming out soon, in November, I thought I would reaquaint myself with Blair and Wyatt. I'm not going to say too much about it, cause I have - lot's of times, but I came to the pink hammer part that cracks me up every time!

To my right was a tool bench, with one of those big, red, multidrawered tool chest like mechanics have parked off to one side. An array of hammers, saws and other guy stuff hung neatly on the pegboard wall. I stared at them, wondering if he knew what to do with all of them. Men and their toys. Huh.
“I have a hammer, too,” I told him.
“I bet you do.”
I hate being condescended to. You could tell he thought my hammer was nowhere in the ballpark with his collection. “It’s pink.”
He froze in the act of getting out of the car, staring at me with an appalled expression. “That’s perverted. That’s just not right.”
“Oh, please. There’s no law that says a tool has to be ugly.”
“Tools aren’t ugly. They’re strong and functional. The look like they mean business. They aren’t pink.”
“Mine is, and it’s just as good as yours. It isn’t as big, but it does the job. I bet you’re against women joining the police force, too, aren’t you?”
“Of course not. What does that have to do with a figgin’ pink hammer?”
“Women are mostly prettier than men and mostly not as big, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get the job done, does it?”
“We’re talking hammers here, not people!” He got out of the car and slammed the door, then stalked around to my side.
I opened the door and raised my voice so he could hear me. “I think your aversion to a tool that’s attractive as well as functional – mmmph.” I glared at him over the hand he’d clapped over my mouth.

This book just cracks me up.

It's amazing sometimes the little things that thrill us. In a previous post I showed pictures of all my TBR's sitting in the hall (some with the princess sitting on them). Of course they couldn't stay there - for one thing I couldn't get into the hall closet which houses the dust broom. So I went and bought out the maple book cases at Walmart yet again :). Now Lisa had helped me in the past putting them together, but I was determined to do it myself this time. Well - kind of. I bought 2 of them and last time Ryan was over, I asked for his help. He put one together and offered to do the other but I said "Nope, I wanted to do this one by myself!" So I did! I didn't ask him for a single piece of help or advice. Then of course, I needed that third shelf. So this time I decided to do it all by myself - I AM WOMAN - HEAR ME ROAR. I went to the lumber store, picked the wood, had them cut it and brought it home along with the little pegs I would need. Now the little pegs were bigger than the holes, so I had to make them bigger. With a power drill. All by myself. And I did it! I was so pleased with myself that I managed to use a power drill with no help and that I didn't damage anything!

So - here are the TBR's formerly lined up in the hall - in their new home with the rest of the books.



So - any suggestions as to which ones I should read?

'til later

Keeping my fingers crossed

I had the appointment at the agency today. (my putting it like almost makes me sound like a spy doesn't it?) I had a bit of a struggle trying to fill in what kind of work I wanted whether temporary/full time or full time or part time. I have a whole different mind set than I did a year ago. Then I wanted a full-time permanent job and was hoping the one I had would lead to it. Well - now I'm not so sure what I want. The ideal job now I think would be a medium to long-time, part time position. And it doesn't matter as much if I get full-time. A year ago money was pretty important (and I was making good money!) Now - it's not so important. I mean - I'm human - it still is but what is more important is knowing I'm making a contribution. That and talking to people on a regular basis.
After I called this morning and they asked if I could come in for an interview this afternoon, I made some phone calls to see if it was alright with the people I had in mind for references were amiable to giving them. One of the people I called was my former supervisor. It was a good call. She said she had been wanting to talk to me to see how I was doing but was almost afraid I didn't want to hear from any of them given the way things fell out. I assured her it wasn't the case at all. I've been very pragmatic about the whole thing and knew all along that if it was up to her they would have kept me on. Goodness knows I'm chock full of insecurities about so many things, but if I'm doing a good job, knowing that I am isn't one of them. She asked if I would want to go out with her and a couple of other people for lunch some time and I told her I would love to.
So - with references and resume in tow, I went for the interview. It turns out the councilor I was talking to already had a job in mind. And guess what? It's in the non-profit segment. I think that would be right up my alley! She will be submitting my resume and hopefully I'll here either tomorrow or the beginning of next week!
So - I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well and they decide that I'm the person for the job!

'til later

Last Night's Lost

I'm late, I'm late - first of all, the keyboard wasn't working right this morning. It wouldn't type and it took me a while to figure out what was wrong, it was unplugged and then when I figured that out and "duh" plugged it back in and tried to get it to work and it still didn't, took me a while to figure out I needed to restart the computer *sigh*
And then I decided to take action on the job search front and called a temp agency. They want me to come in for an interview this afternoon, so I had to make calls for references and all that other kind of stuff.
But here it is.

For Tara:
The polar bear played quite a bit the first season. Have you watched it yet? It was a very mysterious creature that kept popping up at the oddest of times. It was on the cover of a comic book that Walt had and it was wondered that he had strange powers (which they didn't develop at all last season) that maybe he conjured it up somehow.
Last night they seemed to be going back to the shows roots - and I liked that.
I think Locke was at the compound or whatever after Katie Segal dumped him. It was a place for him to go to and try and get over the trauma of what his father put him through.

My thoughts:
I liked it!!! Although we didn't see Jack, Sawyer or Kate last night, it was good to see the old gang back again. I missed Hurley (who did look bigger didn't he) and Charlie again. I was so glad to see that Desmond made it out!
So - looks like everything in the hatch was destroyed doesn't it? And they had some nice stuff in there. It was good to see Locke go all mysterious again. He kind of lost a lot of credibility last year. And it appears as if Desmond and or Hurley has something weird going on - the way Hurley had that conversation with him about Locke speech before it even happened!!
It's a shame that Locke and Charlie had such a falling out last season. It was Locke that helped get Charlie off heroin, but maybe they can fix things between them once again.
And I thought it was interesting that Locke considers them a family. I guess he needs that considering his roots.
I don't know if I'll be able to watch next week. Of course I will, but it looks like they are going to torture Sawyer. I think I'll be hiding my eyes most of the night.

And update on the cheque - still hasn't shown!! And now I have this interview this afternoon. *sigh* It doesn't rain but it pours.

'til later

Men Reading Romance

I've been kind of thinking about this lately. Zeek wanted some advice in one of her recent posts about convincing her BF that romance novels weren't porn. This isn't going to be about that. We all KNOW that is a ridiculous assumption. Then Jenster in a comment said she was trying to get her husband to read a Sherilyn Kenyon book but he balked at the cover. I imagine she would have had even less success is she had tried with an Avon book *g*.
Now in my case, Ron would never read them. He would pick them up once and while and do the half-naked man on the cover = porn thing too and I could never really explain in the right words I needed why it wasn't. I always wished he would try one, because while in so many ways he "got" me, in the very basic of ways he didn't. That old book title - Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus is really true. I think men and women operate out of different parts of their brains. I had always liked watching sports, but once I got married, I got into them in a big way because he loved them. It became such a big part of what we enjoyed doing together, that I still find it very difficult to watch baseball and I almost cry when I see how the Bears are doing this year. Ron LOOOOVVVEEEDDD the Bears. I still have all his Bears sweatshirts, ball caps, t-shirts etc. But while I entered a portion of his world, his passion for watching sports, he never entered mine, a passion for romance novels. If he had been willing, I think he might have gotten a glimpse into mine and other women's heads. The vast majority of romance books are written by women. The heroes are what we would like to see in a guy. And if you read them - it's not perfection. I don't particularily care for the perfect heros.
But in my way of thinking, it's an untapped gold mind, for men in getting clue into women's pysche.
So, I'm curious. Does anyone out there have a significant other who is open to or has read romance novels? Does it make a difference in him "getting" you? Is he tolerant of your reading them or does he wish they would all burn in a fire?

'til later

A most excellent read!

I haven't been reading as much as I used to, but I'm very very lucky in that what I have been reading has been very very good. I just finished another most excellent book

True Blood by Patricia Waddell

I had just finished a great book and was looking in my very frighting TBR pile for something to read next when I saw Tara Marie give a good review of this one. To be honest it was her Zero Gravity Sex line that made me sit up and take notice as I'm sure it did others. Often it is switching from genre to genre that keeps things fresh for me and since I had just finished a great historical with an Egyptian setting, a futuristic sounded just the thing to keep me on a roll.

And keep me on a roll this one did. It seems as if it's the first book in a series and she got off to a great start with this one. I've read 3 or 4 of her historicals and while I enjoyed them, I think she works much better in a futuristic voice.
Cullen Gavriel is an enforcer for his home planet of Korcia. Danna MacFayden is a diplomat from Terran with a special talent of being able to "read" objects. They begin to work together when a True Blood Korcian is killed in an explosion that also killed everyone else on the space craft. They work together to try and find out what happened and avoid a planetary war and along the way discover they have growing and deepening feelings for each other.
Cullen mad a great hero. In his role as enforcer, he did anything to get the job done. He doesn't really want to work with Danna as it becomes clear that there is a deeper conspiracy at work and he is used to working alone; he is an alpha type hero - and a good one at that. But he realizes that it does make sense to use her talents. Danna also makes a very good heroine. She's smart, intelligent and doesn't let Cullen steam roll over her; she stands up to him.
This was a great read and I'm already looking forward to Ms. Waddells next entry. As well as Tara's most excellent review, there is also a good one at AAR.
And as for the Zero Gravity Sex Tara teased us with - ah yah!!!!

Grade: 4 1/2 out of 5

'til later

After a quick run to the mall

I am somewhat calmer (see previous post). I couldn't stay out too long as I was waiting for CIBC to call back - they did, still no cheque. If it's not in by Thursday - HEADS WILL ROLL. And even if it is, I am going to make them fully aware that what they did is completely unacceptable! I also have some RSP's in They Royal Bank of Canada - but after tomorrow? Nope! My FA is coming over and I'm taking everything out of there!!

But I'm still loaded for bear. So I could be in no finer frame of mind than to snark on THEM again.

I wonder why it is that even Cassie Edwards can get herself a decent cover. You know - Cassie Edwards who has had some "winners" in the past? Such as this one?


or this little gem


Now this next one isn't the worst, but the title, Rolling Thunder is a hoot! Makes me think of one of those long satisfying farts.


Now I wouldn't want to be the person in this next one walking behind the rolling thunder


But, while chances are slim to completely and totally non-existent that I will ever read it, the cover of this next one isn't bad at all



So why can't other publishers (and you know who I mean) get a clue?

The hair, the hair! And the naked chest


Or this one! The hair, the hair! The puffy shirt, the puffy shirt! His hair, his hair!


Or say this attractive studly hero? Get a load of his belt!!


And finally this one. Bet I know where he has her hand headed!




And in other news, while I was out, while I did look for a book, almost better than chocolate when one is upset. I couldn't find one to ease my frustration but I did get these three yesterday
Lisa Plumley either really works for me or she doesn't. We'll have to see with this one.

This is a new to me author, a medieval and a much lesser know publisher. Being a risk taker - I'm on it!

Now I'm honest. This one I bought for the cover. I'm pretty sure it's the one I picked at the annual AAR Cover Contest.

'til later

A tale of two banks

subtitle

Kristie tries not to freak out

Ron left me comfortably off. I can live a modest life if I choose not to go back to work. This isn't the plan though. I love to work and even more I need to work. I wish with all my heart the place I was at before had renewed my contract. At I said in a previous post, my supervisor loved me and the feeling was returned. I was looking forward to going back and they were looking forward to me coming back. But the corporate world is a cold and hard place and they really don't give a damn about people. It was decided much higher up that in order to recoup losses, all contract people would be let go at the end of their current contract. I just haven't had the energy, the stamina, the whatever you call it, to go the job hunting route yet. But I do plan on it very soon.
But as I was saying, Ron left me comfortably off for now. He dealt with a different bank than I did. That all happened when we split up for a year a number of years ago and when we got back together again, we were both fine with the status quo. I paid my share of the bills from my bank, he paid his share from his. We had both made wills when he was first diagnosed so when he died after a bit of a hassle, I did get control of the money he had saved. I've had a financial advisor for a number of years now and he has been investing the money I was saving very wisely. After Ron died, he set up some kind of plan that would pay out a monthly allowance while not touching the principal and also allowing it to grow at the same time. There is a further sum I've been working on transfering to him so the allowance would double in size as well as the principal. I don't have cheques to Ron's bank, but I do to mine. So what I did was go to my bank and asked them to transfer the money from his to mine and then I wrote a cheque to my FA. I did this the last week of September. I've been checking on a regular basis (gotta love on-line banking) to see if the money has transferred over yet. Today I made a horrifying discovery. The money from Ron's bank was withdrawn last week, but hasn't yet shown up in mine. It's a considerable sum of money and when I saw that I freaked!!! I called my bank to see what was going on - where had the money disappeared to. The woman who has been working on this called the other bank to see what has happened. It turns out this other bank, Ron's bank, sent a cheque in the fuckin' mail!!!! The MAIL???? Can you imagine anything so unprofessional, so stupid, so grossly incompetent? Good Gawd I can't believe it. In this day and age of electronic transfers and things they fucking mailed it!! One can tell by the amount of cussin' I'm doing I am NOT a happy camper. I'm not going to be able to breath easy until the CIBC - the bank I deal with and am very happy with, receives the cheque from The Royal Bank of Canada - the asshole bank Ron dealt with, the bank that has given me problems in the past. This is the bank that has an employee who called me a week after Ron died - on my birthday no less, to chew me out in the snottiest of tones for daring to question her view of a series of events that happened when she came to the house to deal with financial issues when Ron was to ill to leave the house. I repeat, this is The Royal Bank of Canada, who put a large cheque INTO THE FUCKING MAIL.
I called my financial advisor and he was as horrified as I was when he heard this.
I have to go and walk off this steam I have built up.

'til later

After visiting Cindy twice now, she and Bob came to London to visit me! I don't know about her and Bob, but I had a great time. And this time we got a chance to check out our local Chapters! And we even *surprise suprise* bought a few books each. They didn't stay too long as I had my creative writing course tonight. That's what this post is really about.
Tonight we discussed writing dialogue. As usual I learned quite a bit. But the teacher had us do an exercise that threw me. She wanted us to write speaking traits of someone close to us, someone we talked to all the time. And as I thought about it, it dawned on me that since I lost Ron, I didn't have anyone to write about. I don't talk to someone on a day to day basis anymore. My sons each call me once or twice a week and I speak to Lisa 3 or 4 times a week. But that's about it. I'm still not working so I don't have any coworkers. I talk to Ron's mom once a week but they are always very brief conversations. I talk to a neighbour a few times a week when we get together for walks or Survivor night. And I meet with a grief councelor once a week. And I have a few friends I talk and meet with on a semi-regular basis. But that's it! There is no one I talk to every day. So then I just doodled for the remainder of the alloted time and tried very hard not to cry. Luckily I didn't. But then she went around the class and wanted us to read what we wrote. When it was my turn, I said I didn't do it and didn't give any further explanation. Thankfully after looking at me a bit strangely she let it go. If I had had to tell her why, I would have had to leave the room in tears.

That's why this blog and everyone I have met through it is so important to me. Although I don't talk to everyone in the normal sense of the word, I still feel connected to people on a daily basis. But it's talking through writing, not through speaking. In a way it's even better. I don't have the barrier of shyness that holds me back quite a bit. I can really be free and be myself. So I guess this is a thank you to everyone for being out there. I know that even though I don't talk to anyone on a regular basis, I still "talk" to a lot of wonderful people.

Because it amuses me

Let's play a game. How many differences can you see?

This is the cover of my copy of Dream Fever by Katherine Sutcliffe published in 1991!


This is an inside step cover

This is the cover of a release in October, 2006


This one isn't.


Would you not think a publisher as successful as Avon, could afford new covers after 15 years?


(and no - I didn't rake leaves. Ryan decided there weren't enough to bother with right now. I didn't argue with him)

'til later