The Power of Positive Thinking

Doesn't always work *sigh*.
Another $5 card. But....they were giving out $10 gift cards as a promotion for any purchase over $50.
And.... I did pick up some good books. So I guess it's not all bad.

Well - I'm off shortly to get my last Tim Daly fix *deep heavy sad sigh* as this is the last week The Nine is on. But being ever the optimist, I still have my DVD of The Outsiders.

'til later

*Edited to Add*

Ah damn, damn and double damn again!!! The bastards cancelled it already!

But some brighter news!!!

Drop Dead Gorgeous has hit the shelves near me! The neighbourhood Chapters has 85 copies! 85!! Wow. Methinks they must think this one will sell!
There are also enough other books to make up my wish list so who knows? I have to go out tonight anyway so I might (ha! I will) stop at Chapters and I will win $1,000. I will!
It will temporarily soothe my disappointment over a cancelled TV show.

'til later

Damn! Damn! and Double Damn!!

Now see - this is why I hate getting invested in television shows!! I just read in the paper that ABC in their infininte wisdom are cancelling The Nine! I love this show. Apart from the fact that I think Tim Daly is mighty, mighty fine, it's a very good show! The writing is intelligent, the characters are well developed, there is a mystery to it that keeps me coming back week after week to see what happens next, Tim Daly is mighty fine and Scott Wolf is a cute thing. I HATE when this happens! I haven't been this bummed since they cancelled The Guardian.
In fact, I'm so upset about this nasty turn of events, I'm taking a brief moment, ducking in real quick and doing this from work - I'm just that unhappy :(

'til later

Isn't he a sweetheart? Well, they both are.

I'm referring to my youngest son. He sent me an email yesterday. Apparently a little while ago, one of his coworkers was asking how his mom (that would be me) was doing. He told her about the 'library' Lisa and I built, that it was filled with romance books (that would have been an interesting conversation) and that I'm taking a creative writing course. His coworker sent him an email about a one day seminar they are holding here in the city about writing and revising and getting published. I think I'll take that too.
To be honest, I wasn't sure how much he was taking in of what's going on with me so I was tickled when I got his email. He also bought me a Nora Roberts a couple of weeks ago - just because. And it was one I didn't have.
He's the accountant of the two. He's known since he was 4 years old what he wanted to do. At age 4 he was better in math than I was. He's got his eye set on being the CEO of the company he works for and I can see him doing it. They are paying for his university education so he is taking that on-line as well as being the head of the finance department and he's only 26! I think he's a changeling.
Now my oldest son is my Peter Pan. I love him just as dearly but I think when he hit about 14 he just kind of stopped growing up. I look at him sometimes after he's said something a 14 year old would think and just shake my head. I think he's a changeling too. Although I am sitting here listening to the newest Loreena McKennit CD which just came out that I bought tonight using a HMV gift certificate he gave me.

And in an entirely different vein, why oh why can't publishers just stop publishing books? Just for one month. Just one. I was at Walmart tonight buying cat food for the Princess when I just happened to check out their rather good book department. Darn them anyway! Of course I couldn't get out of there without buying more. And none of these were even on My List!


Lord Grenville's Captive by Nicola Cornick.
This one looks interesting. I think it take's place during the Civil War in England between the English Civil War.

Her Lone Protector by Pam Crooks.
Yea! A Western. And Sybil has these ones too. And is it just me or is he popping up EVERYWHERE as a cover model?

Erinsong by Diana Groe.
A Viking romance - interesting and not your average historical. Her last one got very good reviews (and is still sitting in my TBR pile *sigh*)

Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie.
I was delighted to find this one as it's one of hers I haven't read.


So now you're probably wondering why I didn't get them at Chapters and use my gift card to see if I won $1,000. Well - Walmart has them on for 25% off and Chapters for 10%. So if I see the books at Walmart, they have the better price. Darn them anyway.

This 'n' That

First off -

Happy Dance! Happy Dance! I won a book over at Dear Author. I love winning books. The lucky book is Darker than Love by Kristina Lloyd. (nice name)

Drop Dead Gorgeous is on the shelves here. Well, some of them. There are two bookstores within a five minute drive of where I live but of course it's not at either of them. Nope - the copies are on the other side of the city. Now I'm trying to decide whether to wait or drive way out of my way to get this one. I've been impatiently waiting for it for ages now. I'm leaning towards waiting since I have another gift card with a chance of winning $1,000. The last one yielded only $5, so if I can wait until there are enough books out totally the $50 I need to spend, maybe I'll be luckier this time. Let's see:

1. Drop Dead Gorgeous by Linda Howard 'cause I love Blair & Wyatt
2. Bad Girls Don't by Cathie Linz 'cause Sandie really loved it.
3. Under the Wire by Cindy Gerrard 'cause I'm liking this series
4. Mercenaries by Angela Knight 'cause it's finally out in MM
5. The Cursed One by Ronda Thompson 'cause I liked the first one even though I still have the second TBR
6. Autumn in Scotland by Karen Ranney 'cause I have every book she's written pretty much and I hate to break a streak
7. Passions of the Ghost by Sara MacKenzie 'cause I have the first two even though I haven't read them (why should that stop me?)

Yep - I think if I exercise patience I can do it!


My last creative writing course class was tonight. There is an advanced one that starts in January. I think I'll take that one too. It's the same teacher and she is very good. The only problem is there is a lot of writing in class and I don't know if it's carpal tunnel or arthritis or just cheap pens, but it hurst my wrist to write a lot anymore. I think I'll see if it's just the cheap pens. Maybe I need to get fatter ones.

Anyway - that's an update on my life for now.

'til later

Too busy and still too tired

I'm not so sure I like this working and still trying to blog thing!! I love to blog! I need to blog! But I'm getting a bit frustrated at the lack of time I seem to have to do it anymore. I'm slowly adjusting to the working thing. I'm a little less tired this week than I was last week. And now that Dancing with the Stars and Lost are off the air, I have a bit more time. But still - I got used to posting almost every day and now I can't seem to be able to do that. I don't like it. I don't like it at all! Of course I'm also getting de-programed from the soaps which is a good thing. Although I really do want to know what happens with John McBain darn it all!

So - being as my brain still hasn't fully climatized, I thought I'd share another writing exercise we had to do. This one is a 500 word more of less than 10% dialogue. We all had to have the same first line and the same last line. What we put in between was up to us.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Becky cried. She dropped the pen she was holding and looked up from the bed where she was doing her homework and glanced in anguish at her mother who was standing in the doorway of her bedroom.
‘Damn him,’ Katherine thought as she looked down at her beloved 16 year old daughter. ‘Didn’t he didn’t he care that it was their child that was being hurt by his nasty games?’ It was this lovely girl who suffered whenever Michael, her ex-husband pulled one of these stunts.
“I’m sorry sweetie.” Katherine replied sadly. “But your father just called and he claims he doesn’t have the money for this month.”
“But you promised Mom! You promised that we would go look for a special dress for the dance on Saturday.
“I know I did, but that was before I had the trouble with the car. That ate up a lot more money than I thought it would.” Katherine said on a sigh. She entered her daughter’s bedroom and glanced around at the lilac coloured walls that they had such fun painting themselves and the posters of whoever was Becky’s celebrity crush of the moment and idly thought back to her own teenage days and how black and white the world seemed then.
“Well, there has to be something you can do” Becky said impatiently. “You KNOW how important this is to me! Kyle Turner asked me to go! Kyle. I mean like every girl in the class wants to go with him.”
Katherine looked back to her daughter. She knew she felt a mothers love and was bound to be prejudiced, but her daughter was a beautiful young woman with her auburn hair shoulder length hair and large chocolate brown eyes that expressed every thought, her tilted nose with just a brief sprinkling of freckles, her normally infectious that was know where to be seen at the moment.
‘She was a good daughter’, Katherine acknowledged to herself. Katherine knew she was lucky that way. Except for a few rough patches, so far they seemed to be handling this mother/daughter relationship pretty well.
“What if you use your charge card?” Becky asked, a hopeful tone in her voice
“I’ve already pretty much hit my limit on it.” Katherine replied. “After working so hard to get it paid down, I don’t want it going up again.”
“Well, how about if I call and ask Daddy?” Becky countered. “Maybe if I tell him how important it is, he’ll come up with the money? He must have some saved. He has a real good job this time.”
“I think you’ll be wasting your time honey.” Katherine sighed. “He’s already overdue on his payment. And besides, I don’t want you getting in the middle of this issue between your father and me. It isn’t fair to do that to you.”
“Well, then.” Becky announced. “I’ll call gramma D and ask her”
“No!” Katherine sharply replied. “You will not call her.”
‘That’s all I need.” Katherine thought to herself, ‘to get my ex mother-in-law involved in this.”
“You have to do something then.” Becky said, her voice rising.
Getting up off the bed, Becky flounced out of the bedroom and with a final shot, angrily announced “You must have some money. I never knew you were such a cheapskate!”

'til later

Recent Reads

Take Me by Lucy Monroe
About the book:

Jared, Viscount Ravenswood, has no choice but to honor the deathbed wish of his servant: that he introduce her soon-to-be orphaned daughter to the notorious Duchess of Clairborne. But this is no ordinary child. She's the key to the Duchess's shocking secrets, and to Jared's own unexpected past.

I got this one when I read a great review at Sanctuary's Finest. Earlier I mentioned how much I had enjoyed The Real Deal, but then how much I loathed Come Up and See Me Somtime. This one ended up falling somewhere in the middle. I liked it, I really did. In fact part way through the book I went out and got the first two in the series. I liked Jared. I thought he was an interesting hero, a bit rougher than your normal Viscount so I liked that. And I liked Calantha too. But ultimately I ended up docking points on this one because it was such a cliched story line. The heroine is one of those "virgin widows" with the "evil dastardly husband". I didn't find that believable. We're expected to believe that her "evil dastardly husband" raped servants right left and centre yet didn't touch her for four years. Unh uh - didn't buy it. On top of that, once she meets the hero, she, who has been abused for four years, becomes a died in the wool sex kitten. Nope - didn't really buy that either. Ms. Monroes writing is good. I will read the first two - sometime. And it cleared away the awfulness that was CUASMS so I'm glad I read it, but I just didn't enjoy it as much as Jazz.

Grade: 3 1/2 out of 5


Don't Look Down by Suzanne Enoch
From Amazon:

Enoch introduced art thief Samantha Jellicoe and her British multibillionaire lover Rick Addison in Flirting with Danger (2005). Now the fearless, feisty, "semi-reformed" Samantha is back for a second caper, and so is long-suffering Rick. Having finally decided to leave her life of crime, Samantha goes into the security business. But being legitimate doesn't come easy. Samantha resents all of the unsolicited advice Rick offers, and Stoney, her partner, best friend, and fence, keeps trying to get her to return to the more lucrative life of crime. Plus, there's always the fear that a colleague from her former life, a police officer, or someone she's robbed, will show up at her office. Things aren't much better on the home front. Rick's ex-wife, Patricia, wants Rick back, even if she has to frame Samantha for a crime she didn't commit. As the cherry on the cake, Samantha's first customer turns up dead. With their undeniable chemistry, their witty repartee, and their adventures sleuthing in the glamorous world of Palm Beach glitterati, Samantha and Rick are reminiscent of The Thin Man 's Nick and Nora.

I read Flirting with Danger, really enjoyed it and was delighted to see that Ms. Enoch was planning on a series with these two lead characters. I bought this one when it first came out and it languised on my TBR pile for a while. I figured I'd best get to it when I bought the third one, Billionaires Prefer Blondes. I'm glad I got to this one because it's delightful!! I adore Sam. She's a former cat burglar who's finding it difficult to go straight. She is such a hoot. Strong, independant, she makes Rick, the hero, work for her. I like that in a heroine. And Rick - what a great hero he is. English, rich and a billionaire, he's still down to earth and mad about Sam. I like that in a hero.
This series is very reminicent of the In Death series with a few differences. Sam is a strong, knows her own mind and won't be trampled by the hero heroine. She's also afraid to commit to the hero. Rick is an English (as opposed to Roarke's Irish), rich business man who is more that willing to take the relationship further. They are slowly developing a circle of good friends. They are both very hot for each other. But the differences make then very good too. These are much lighter than the In Death books. Sam isn't nearly as tortured as Eve and Rick seems much more good-natured than Roarke. There seems to be more of a focus on the romance - at least in the first two. The In Death books are shelved in the mystery section around my parts, which I think is right. But this series is shelved in the romance section, which I also think is right.
I'm looking forward to more of these ones.
I haven't read that many of her historicals although I do have a number to be read, but I'm really enjoying her contemporaries.

Grade: 4 out of 5

'til later

I'm so easy!

I was out for a coffee with a friend this morning. The coffee shop just happened to be next to Chapters. I ordered Born in Death online 'cause it was much cheaper doing it that way than it was getting it in the store and when the book came the other day, there was a mystery card inside. Apparently, with a $50 purchase, I had a chance to win $1,000 when they scanned the card.
So with all kinds of releases coming out in the next few weeks, could I wait?
Of course I couldn't!!!! Dumb, dumb, dumb! Instead I took my mystery card, and bought some books I really didn't plan on getting (see recent buys).
And darn it all - I didn't win $1,000. Nope - not even close! Instead I only got $5 off. As Sybil says le sigh.

And to top if off, when I got home and was entering them in the spread sheet, I discovered a couple of them were Avons!!!! So - the inadvertently get another chance. They are ghost stories though, a genre that doesn't have that many and one I enjoy so maybe I'll have to eat my words and enjoy them at the same time.

'til later

Better late that never

And when you see what I got - Whew!!

I'm finally doing the Grab that Book for Devonna.

1. Grab the nearest book.

2. Open to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the text of the next four sentences on your blog along with these instructions.

5. Don't you dare dig around for that "cool" or "intellectual" book on your shelves. (I know you were thinking about it.) Just pick up whatever is closest.

Can you guess my book?


"Lift up," he said.

She did the best she could, and he gently pulled her shirt off over her head. Another easy toss landed the soft pile of sheer red silk on top of his T-shirt. The black lace bra came off next, and his hands came around to cup her breasts.

Can you guess this one? I haven't read it yet - but something tells me I will soon!

Here is the book I am reading. It might be a bit easier.

Tears trembled, spilled again, but she kept going. "She was on the floor, and there was blood, and the room was - it was like there'd been a fight. Broken glass from her perfume bottles and the little bowls she like to collect. She was on the floor. The pink rugs. I was with her when she bought them. They were soft, like a cat. She couldn't have pets. The rugs were soft. I'm sorry.

I'd love to write more, but I think I'm off to bed soon.

"And it's only 8:30!" she wailed.

I have to finish up my big assignment for the class but I'm too tired to even do that. Hopefully I'll be back up to snuff soon as I really hate being this tired!!

So - what's been happening.

First off we had a great weekend! It was the first time in a year and a half that Lisa & I have seen Nancy. While they were bratty younger sisters when we were growing up, thankfully we outgrew that. To be honest, I think it's more that we all moved to different homes and didn't live together anymore. Lisa and I both agree that if we lived together it would be nightmare city. But since we do all live in different locations, we have all become very close.
So it was very nice seeing Nance again. We shopped and we shopped and we shopped. I was most dismayed however when I realized that the bookstore with the good romance section had closed :( So I didn't get nearly the books I had thought I would.

And then came Monday - my first day of work in six months. I'm quite a bit more philisophical than I used to be years ago. This will get a bit gross - but I think many can relate. For the previous week, I'd felt these two zits coming on. I thought they would be big ones when they finally made an appearance but was optimistically hoping they would go away. No such luck. They decided to come 'out' on Sunday and by Monday morning they became the mothers of all zits! The tsunami's of pimples. There they sat - side by side. They are so big I named them. Franky and Freddy did not help start the day off right! I covered them up as best as I could but boy are they nasty. I remember when I first started getting them in my teens, my mother said eventually they would go away. Well, I have entered the second half of a century *ack!* and I'm still waiting! And the hair was almost as bad. I've been trying to let my hair grow and it's been so long since it's been this long, I really have no idea what to do with it. One day it will look great, the next day it looks like crap and I can never figure out what I did the day before that made it looked good. Monday was a bad hair day. A very bad hair day. I looked back at myself in the mirror at work and almost screetched at how awful I looked.

But apart from that, the day went good. It was very strange though. I didn't know that much about the place before I started although I did look them up on the internet before hand. It was part way through the morning when the girl training me was telling me all about what they did when I realized that this was the place that arranged for the home care Ron received. I just found that very eerie. How very strange that the first place I worked at would be something I was so closely and so recently connected with. The second morning they had a committee meeting with an End of Life committee that included many people involved in palliative care and those treating patients who were dying of cancer. One of the duties I'll be doing is taking minutes at these kinds of meetings and Mary, the girl who is training me gave me the option of going or not. I had told her a little of Ron. I decided to go to it and while it was painful, it was also interesting to see how much compassion these people have for those in these circumstances. One of the women at the meeting was a nurse practioner who came to our house every other week. I believe there is purpose for everything that happens in one's life and while I don't understand why of all places to work, this is the one that I'm at, still I'm sure I will understand in time.
Mary is a very nice person and we seemed to have hit it off very well. Unfortunately, she's the person I'm replacing while she goes in for surgery - so she will be back, but she seems to think there is a very good possiblity that they will need to hire more people and it will be expanding in the new year and she's already said she would love to work with me. Ditto with her. So - who knows. The work I'll be doing is almost all kinds of things I've done before so I don't think it will be too hard to learn the job.

But as I said right after I finished work on Monday, I had my creative writing class. The teacher had us write two short stories in one evening!!! So after a very hard concentrating day at work, I had another hard concentrating evening. My mind was mush I tell you - MUSH when I got home. I think the brain is like any other part of your body and when you don't exercise it for a while, it HURTS when you start again. Since I hadn't really worked since May.

One of the hard things though is coming home. For as long as we were married until the last couple of months he was working afternoons, Ron was always home around 3:30, so when I went back to office work, he was always home when I walked in the door. It's hard now but I expect that it will get a bit easier with time.
The princess though, sure isn't a happy cat. She is all over me the rest of the evening, after she chews me out for leaving her for the day. But - she's good company.

I still haven't forgotten that meme Devonna - I'll be back to do it shortly :) but now this tired old brain needs a rest. I'm retiring it for the night.

'til later

I had forgotten

I had planned a nice long blog about my first days of work, but sadly, I'm too tired. Things are going good though and I'll post longer when I'm not quite so tired. Between a weekend away, a new job (after being off work since May), a busy class last night and getting groceries after work tonight, I'm not even sure I'll make it through Dancing with the Stars!!

Anyway, I'll do details when I'm a bit more with it :)

'til later

Lest We Forget

Today is Rememberance Day. My father served very proudly in the Royal Canadian Air Force in WWII.

He lost two brothers and we never got to meet two uncles.

Whatever one's opinion on war, we have to admire and honour those who choose to serve our country.

I will think of my father, his brothers and so many more who lost their lives. And the brave men and women who are continuing to loose their lives - for us.



And I will wear my Poppy proudly today.

Here's my haul

As Cindy mentioned, I drove to her place yesterday. It was my second last hurrah before I start back working full time come Monday. There were a few books I've been looking for that haven't shown up yet so just for the heck of it, knowing I'd be visiting and she kind of asked if I might want to check out the Chapters in her neck of the woods, I looked them up in her Chapters. And low and behold - they were there!! The only store within a 25 kilometer distance of either the city I live in or the city she lives in. It was fate I tell you!

So once I got to Cindy's and after we had about a two hour gab-fest we headed out - shopping. We went to Home Sense first. Now I wish with all my heart I could show you what I got there, but I seem to have bungled up my IE somehow and I can't download pictures from the digital camera. Lisa is nowhere around to fix it for me. I told her about and she said it sounds like I'll have to reinstall it. *snort*. Like that's going to happen. Risk another call to Cable Guy - I don't think so. I'll just wait until the next time she comes and very pitifully ask if she can help me. But, once this little problem is taken care of I'll post pictures. In the meantime and because the internet is my friend, I found pictures of what I got.




This one is a Cutty Shark


This one is The Bounty. Now if only I had a little Mel on board. Well - maybe not.

These ones are much bigger than the other ones. I had no idea how big until I put them on the book shelf. But - I'm starting my Armada!

Then we headed over to Chapters. And my purchases there:


Cindy made me buy this one. She did! She pointed out the nice low price so how could I refuse? And I think we both bought one in honour of Maili's return knowing how much she adores Scottish historicals :)


This one got a most excellent review recently at Dear Arthor, so I just HAD to have it!


I read the first one of this series and really enjoyed it and I just started the second one which has been hanging around for a while. When I read Nath's review, I just knew I had to get the third one.


This one I bought just for me. I've read all her books and adored almost everyone. And by the way - this is the second time she has outbought me on books *g*. But we did have a most wonderful time staring in rapt adoration at the bookshelves and comparing reads. There's no doubt she's read a lot more paranormals than me, but I think I beat her in historicals and RS.

So, I said the trip to Cindy's was my second last hurrah. My last one starts early tomorrow. Lisa and I are travelling to Port Huron Michigan for the weekend to meet up with Nancy our youngest sister, the sister we haven't seen in well over a year, the sister who I'm going to have to find all the presents I squirrled around the house for. And guess where I'm going to see if I can talk them into going? Heh heh. I have my American money just waiting to be spent! So depending on what time we get back on Sunday, I may be MIA for the next few days. I start work on Monday, then have class right after that. And I expect I'll be one tired puppy by the time I get home considering I haven't worked since May.

'til later

The Last of Last Night's Lost

Oh! Wow!

Oh! Wow!

OK - I watched it twice and if it was on for a third time, I would have watched it again!
Tonight (or last night since it's after midnight in this section of the woods) was the best episode of the season I thought.
So what did I love about this one?
I loved Kate's back story, it was so sad, even though I've lived in caves and didn't know who Nathan Fillion was until C2 was kind enough to tell me.
I loved how for a change, they didn't raise more questions that drove me nuts.
I loved how Jack turned the tables on the Others for a change.
I loved how Locke went back to get Eko's stick.
I think I'm missing something.

Oh. Right.

I LOVED the scend in the cage between Sawyer and Kate. My sympathies to all the Kate and Jack fans but since I'm in the Kate and Sawyer camp, Oh Wow! That sure as hell beat The Kiss in the first season. I LOVED how Sawyer asked Kate if she was just saying she didn't love him to save him from getting beaten and I LOVED how she didn't answer. And I LOVED how the then told her he loved her too. And I LOVED that little smile Jack gave when he saw them together on the camera. And I LOVED how brave Sawyer was when he thought what's his name was going to shoot him. And I LOVED how he told Kate that he didn't mention they were on a different island because he didn't want her to give up hope. And I LOVED how hot the love scene was.
There was only one thing I didn't love. And that's the fact that we have to wait until next February before we get to see it again 'cause I wouldn't mind watching that episode all over again.

'til later

Recent Reads

OK - I couldn't wait until morning.

Here are a couple of recent reads.

Cold as Ice by Anne Stuart
This one seems to be getting very mixed reviews! Jennifer B of I Just Finished Reading loved it! BAM didn't! Janine of Dear Author really liked it! KarenS didn't! Tara, once she found her glasses liked it.

My thoughts. I'm going to take the middle ground. I didn't think it was one of her best but it was OK. I started it, put it down and read another book I liked much better. Then I picked it up again and very shortly put it back down to read the next one I'm reviewing. I finally picked it up again and finished it this time.

I found Genevive annoying after a while. For the first part of the book, I liked her quite well. I thought she was rather plucky - a different sort from some of Ms. Stuart's other heroines. But then, after she was rescued and she kept trying to get away, I thought she lost a few bricks there. Trying to escape from Peter with no money, no car, wearing only black silk pajamas wasn't the work of the brightest toothpick in the log they were cut from. (we practiced similies in class tonight so bear with me). And I just didn't buy the fact that after one night of most excellent sex she was in LOVE. Absolute, love him forever, never gonna end LOVE. It was too drastic a change in too short a time. And I found Peter to be a slightly faded carbon copy of Bastien Toussaint from Black Ice. Mind you I liked him - I like all of her heroes. He just didn't pack the wallup that Bastien did though. And I kind of got the feeling he thought he was all that, when, well, really, he might have come close but didn't quite take the biggest stuffed animal at the fair prize.
The villian, Harry Van Dorn was a hoot though. I thought his plan of 7 was wacky enough, but when he kidnapped the orphans - well, that was certainly the top star on the Christmas tree.
So to sum it up, I'm glad I read this one. Everyone seems to be reading it and I hate to be the only one missing the pajama party. And she did a most excellent job of setting up her next book in Takashi O'Brien - waiting for that one already.

Grade 3 1/2 out of 5

I was going to do two books tonight, but it's almost 1:30 and I need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow so I will continue then.

'til later

Music to soothe the savage beast

Well - I had a choice of two things to blog about. Black as Ice and movie soundtracks. I decided to go with movie soundtracks first. After Ames posted about her favourite movies, I told her I would do a post about movie soundtracks. Now when I say movie soundtracks, I don't mean ones like Grease or something like that (see, I can't even think of any recent movies - I had to go way back in the time machine!) What I mean is the musical scores in movies. For some reason, I really seem to notice them and if I like the score, I'll get the soundtrack even if the movie itself wasn't that good. Case in point is this first one


I don't really remember much of this movie other then Brad Pitt gets it in the end. But I did love the musical score.

I loved this next movie, but I don't own it. When Ames included it in her favourite movies that got me to thinking I really should track it down - maybe see if I can find it in one of the cheapo movie bins. But I do love the soundtrack.


Now this one is another movie that I loved but don't own. I do own the soundtrack though


In fact, I love the sound track so much, I went Back to Titanic for a second one


This next one is the score from various movies, Rob Roy, Treasure Island, Tristan and Isolde (a much older version than the one just recently released), Barry Lyndon (anyone remember that movie with Ryan O'Neal? I saw it but can't for the life of me remember it)

The Chieftans are an Irish band with very infectious music!

And now we come to the movies I love, have and bought the soundtracks of


Ahhhhh Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom - or rather Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner.

Next we have

The first one


The second one (hmmm - looks like I need to do some dusting there)

And last but not least

(Is that not a drool worthy cover :)

And finally - my latest acquistion.

Actually I did have this on tape but the tape got all mangled and twisted and completely unlistenable.

So there you have it - my movie CD collection!

And Ames - I wish I did know how to do audio clips 'cause I would love to include some!

'til later

Don't you love it when you score?

I decided to celebrate by - surprise - visiting a couple of book stores. I made a few good scores!

I've been reading Take Me by Lucy Monroe and really enjoying it so naturally I had to see if I could find the two previous books.

And sweet - I did! Chapters purchases



And last but not least

Score!!

And then on the way home I stopped at a UBS 'cause I had quite a nice little credit and got these ones
I've kind of been keeping my eye for this one. Score!

I think I've heard good things about this one. It's a spec buy and since it was free - Score!

And - last but not least.
Are you ready?


One of the few Stuarts I didn't have.

Score!!

And it stays good. I'm off to see POTC II shortly!

'til later

We interrupt this regularly scheduled program!

What a flippin' roller coaster day it's been! And it's not even noon yet!!!

I noticed I had a light on my car last night and thought it would be best to take it in. I hadn't had it in for servicing for a looooonnnnnggggg time so I figured it would be costly. But I didn't think it would be as costly as it will be. Bad brakes in addition to regular servicing in addition to the reason I took it in the first place don't you know. We're talking over $1,ooo. And dummy me! I didn't think to ask if any of it would be covered under warranty because in the meantime I got another call.

I got a job!!! I got a job!!! It's the one I mentioned a few weeks ago working for a non-profit organization. I had called last week to see what was happening and was told the place decided they didn't want anyone after all. I was very bummed about that. But she called back this morning and said it was back on again. They had looked at my resume and decided they wanted me to work for them. And I didn't even have to go for an interview!!!

I start November 13!!

'til later (I need to recoup!)

ETA

After speaking to the car/dealership again, I found out that the warranty I have does indeed knock almost $200 off the repair bill. It's still higher than I thought but somewhat more acceptable. I thought since I hadn't kept up with the scheduled check-ups, I might have somehow voided the warranty - but luckily I didn't.

Last Nights Lost

OK - I'll admit it. I was in a bit of a panic before the show started last night. I saw on the previews that someone dies and in another scene, Brian says that only two of the three will survive. I tried to brace myself for Sawyer's demise, thinking if it was him I wouldn't be watching the show anymore. I've said the same thing before about shows only to end up watching them a few weeks later. I did that with Dancing With The Stars when Willa and Max got booted off, but *sigh* I'm back watching it again. (I'm hoping Joey wins although all three of them are most excellent dancers).
But back to Lost. It seems the last few weeks have seen more of a return to the Lost of old. We get to see more of the other survivors. I had a feeling once the show started it would be Eko's turn. Well, more than a feeling I guess since it was pretty obvious. I kind of thought through previous shows that he had turned himself around and become a good guy, but it didn't seem as if he really did did it? At the end, when he thought he was confessing to his brother, he obviously wasn't the least bit repentant.
And that was kind of an interesting clue about the black smoke wasn't it? Locke said he saw a bright light and Eko saw black smoke. I wonder if it's a Ghost kind of thing?
And what was with the deal with Juliet? I can't figure out what the heck is going on with these people. Are they really staging a revolt against Ben or is it another mind game?
And if they are doing everything just because Ben wants Jack to operate on him, why the heck didn't they just ask him instead of messing aroung like they seem to like to do?
And again, at least by the previews, I'm going to be worrying if it's the end of the line for Sawyer.
As per usual, more questions than answers. Lisa will be real cranky now*g*. She watches it but doesn't like the fact that nothing seems to get answered.
And I think next week is the final episode for a while.
I know I've said it before, but I really don't like what they are doing!! They have overdosed me on previews of the show that's replacing it and while it looks interesting, they have now oversold me.

'til later

Recent Reads

I'm fortunate that even though I'm mired in a horrendous reading slump, I think I've read four or five books this month compared with the normal twelve or 15 - in fact I'm even in Very Serious Danger of making AngieW's Wall of Shame, the books I have managed to read so far have been Very Good Ones.
Such is the case with this one

Hard Evidence by Pamela Clare

It's no secret how much I adore her historicals. In fact Ride the Fire cracked my all time top 10 list and was my favourite book of 2005. I read her first Romantic Suspence and while I liked it, it didn't quite grab me the way her historicals do. So I wasn't sure what I would think of this one.
I LOVED IT!
From the back cover blurb:

After the murder of a teenage girl, a mysterious man in a black leather jacket was seen lurking near the crime scene. Investigative reporter Tessa Novak has him in her sights as the culprit...

That man was Julian Darcangelo, an undercover FBI agent working with the Denver Police. He's closing in on the trail of a human trafficker and killer. Tessa's accusations could blow his cover, and he wants her off the investigation.

But just as Tessa has made Julian a target of interest, she is now a target of the killer. And as they are forced to trust each other, their physical attraction escalates as intensely as the threat from a ruthless murderer who wants to see both of them dead...

So what is so appealing about this one? Number one would have to be the hero Julian Darcangelo. Wow - is he a great hero! A former FBI agent, he's now working on a contract basis trying to track down and find a sociopathic Russian mobster who deals in human trafficking. Julian had screwed up a few years earlier while on the trail of the same villian and has been suffering guilt because of it ever since. He tries to remain in the background but is spotted by the heroine Tessa Novak. Having come from a fractured and disfunctional background, he's still pretty rough around the edges, and deep inside he longs for a normal family but doesn't think he will ever get one. He makes one really really good hero.
And I also really liked Tessa Novak as the heroine. She too has come from a background of poverty and disfunction and really made something of herself as a top investigative reporter. She was standing right next to the young girl who was gunned down and feels a great deal of anguish that she wasn't able to do more. As a result she tries even harder to find out what really happened. She did one thing near the end that some readers might consider a TSTL kind of action, but I didn't see it that way. It was a dumb thing to do yes, but even as Tessa did it, she knew that it was and admitted it. To me a TSTL heroine is one who keeps making the same kind of stupid move over and over without even realizing what an idiot she is. For me, Ms. Clare has made me feel the devastation Tessa feels, the need to do something, anything, even if it involves doing something that might not be the brightest of ideas.
And the chemistry between Julian and Tessa! Wowzers is it hot! A recent review gave this a warm rating and I have to admit, that had me scratching my head as this has some very well written smokin' hot sex scenes.
And while I often buy books based on covers alone, in this case I would have bought the book because it was written by Pamela Clare, but even if it wasn't, I would have bought it on the cover alone. This cover is HAWT!
It's a rare author who can write books I love in such opposite genres but Pamela Clare is definetely one of them!

Grade: 4 1/2 out of 5

ETA - It's now November and *shaking head sadly* I do indeed have to be put up on AngieW's wall of shame.

'til later