I am amused by odd things sometimes

Sometimes I think we live in a bizarro world; a bizarro city in particular. I was on my way to work this morning, listening to the radio when there were two stories that rather tickled my funny bone.

The first one: as with many a city throughout Canada and the US, we had a Occupy (fill in the blank) group occupying our main park. Now while I certainly appreciate their passion, I think their focus is pretty nebulous. They planned to stay there until…..until what they were never quite sure. I think, at least according to local news reports, our city was the first to turf them peaceably. They did in the middle of the night and nary a soul was injured. The excuse the city used for removing them was the group was breaking a civil by-law by camping in the city park where overnight camping is not allowed. Needless to say, the group did not take their evacuation well.

They were protesting don’t you know. Well, now they have a "plan". They put out a newspaper – I’d love to read it since as I said they or any of the other “Occupy” groups don’t seem to have any real achievable goals – so it would be interesting to read their ‘manifesto’.

But what really tickled me is they plan to take their paper and protest against the by-law enforcer for breaking a by-law himself. The crime; nailing a copy of the by-law the protesters broke into a tree in park they were illegally demonstrating in. Again, they are calling this guy to task for nailing a piece of paper into a tree.

The second one: Apparently there is a school in our area that expelled a young student, well, they didn’t expel him exactly, he could still attend class but he had to sit in a room all by himself and do his schoolwork but not interact with his fellow students. What did he do wrong you wonder? Well, it was his dress or more specifically a bracelet (or whatever guys call it) a “boobie” bracelet to be exact.

It seems this is a fundraiser for awareness of breast cancer aimed more for the younger set. But I gather the school thought it crossed the line of decency. I guess wearing a bracelet for cancer with the word Boobie on it is too stressful for high school students to bear.

I’m not sure what I found funnier/ironic, the fact that 14, 15, 16 etc year olds should be protected against ‘that’ word, or listening to the news jockeys’ telling the story.

Laugh for the day

I watched this AFTER I put on my eye makeup and pretty much ruined it laughing so hard!

Recent Read

Earth Guys are Easy by Karen Kelley

Why this one: It was an impulse by at Chapters. I was in the mood for something light and this one fit the bill.

Steam Level: Yep - this one had it - not as much as the previous book mind you, but this one was fine in the steam level.

Author Web Site Blurb:

Kia can’t imagine why her cousin Mala left planet Nerak - utterly perfect in an ever-so-slightly boring kind of way - to go in search of Earth men. At least, not until she meets a virile, muscular human intent on rescuing her (how quaint!) from a bar brawl. And while at first Kia just wants undercover cop Nick Scericino to help locate her cousin...well, it would be a shame to come all this way without finding out whether everything really is bigger in Texas...

Nick knows trouble when he sees it. And right now, trouble is sitting at the bar - black-clad, sexy as hell, and about to mess up his sting operation to take down some Russian mobsters. Could she have mafia connections? Kia’s certainly not like any woman he’s known - flat out demanding sex, and following through with a sensational romp that leaves his mind blown and world rocked. Other options: a) she’s crazy, or b) she’s not kidding about being an alien. In which case, he’s in even deeper trouble. Because the only thing worse than falling wildly in lust with someone who’s not playing with a full holodeck is the thought that she’ll soon be leaving for a galaxy far, far away.

My Thoughts: This book was silly. Now silly can be different things. Silly can bring out a 'roll your eyes and give me a break' reaction or it can be a sudden bark of laughter when something ridiculously funny happens while you are reading and if you are in a public place you look around furtively to see if anyone heard you reaction. This book was the second kind of reaction. Most mornings anymore when I'm on the later shift, I spend part of my time blog hopping and net surfing, but yesterday morning I spent my time reading this book. I didn't want to put it down to get ready for work and I didn't want top put it down to leave for work. I read it on my breaks and I read it at lunch instead of the newspaper. I read it as soon as I got home and for most of the night. And it put me in a very good mood yesterday and it was just so darn silly I just had to keep reading it. And trust me - that is a very good reaction.

Kia is a young woman from the planet Nerak who heads to earth in search of her cousin in order to bring her back to the utopia world she came from. But things hit a snag when she lands in a tree. Eventually she finds her way into a biker bar where she is rescued by the hero, Nick Scericino, who is undercover. A brawl ensues and Nick is forced to save her and then bring her back to his place when he realizes she has no place to stay. Things heat up very quickly when Kia makes it very clear she wants sex. You see - though the planet Nerak is almost perfect, it's missing a few vital ingredients - men being one of them. It's a woman only planet with the female inhabitants conceived in labs. Although they have male robots for those urge satisfying requirements, it's not quite as the real thing. After doing the deed, Kia figures it's time to confess the truth about herself.

He nuzzled her neck. "What are those promise stone things?"

Maybe it was time she told him more about where she came from. He seemed ready to listen. "The stones I brought with me are from my planet."

His hand stilled on her breast. "Your what?"

"Planet. I'm not from the planet Earth. My planet is many galaxies away. It's called Nerak."

"Well, hell!" He swung his legs off the bed.

Maybe this hadn't been a good time to tell him she was an alien.

Both Kia and Nick are very likeable characters. Kia is clueless of course when it comes to earth customs and this causes many a hilarious scene. She is gorgeous and all men fall at her feet. And Nick is a hoot once he realizes that this strange young woman is telling the truth.

This isn't a deep book at all. There is no world building at all to speak of. We only get glimpses into what makes them work. But it is very silly in a very good way and had me bursting out laughing and smiling when I wasn't laughing. I found it highly entertaining and that was just what I was looking for. Humour is very subjective and maybe not everyone will find it as funny as I did. But I quite enjoyed it. This was my first Karen Kelley book but now I know where to go when I'm in need of a laugh.

I know I'm dating myself here, but if anyone watched the show I Dream of Jeanie and found themselves laughing at the antics of Jeanie and Major Nelson, then I think this one will hit the spot for them too.

Grade: 4 out of 5