All in Suzuki Life of Manns

I left with some friends at noonish yesterday to head to NYC, got home at 4:05 this morning, and got up just before noonish today. It was a rockin' 24 hours!

First, huge thanks to Megan for driving into NYC, which is always an experience. We shall never forget her creative curses thrown at other drivers, many of whom also had out-of-state plates but jumped on the "moron city driver" bandwagon with relish.

Second, nearly as huge thanks to my friends. How often can people spend 16 hours together, non-stop, and not only not run out of things to talk about, but never get annoyed with each other or have any kind of tension? You guys rock harder than the bands did!

So. The bands.

The venue, Sullivan Hall, was fine. Standing only, which was annoying but tolerable, especially since we got there at 6:45 or so and there was hardly anyone there. The sound was kind of bad, but we were right up front, so everything sounded mostly okay to us, except when there was feedback.

Ace in Blind was a pretty decent rock band from New Haven, who thanked their friends and family for coming down for the gig. So cute. Sad that they didn't have more people there, but we helped make up for it by buying their CD. I also got their T-shirt for Number One, and told her wearing a shirt for an obscure band makes her look cool. Or she could tell her friends it's a band her mom went to see in NYC, which would make me look cool. But she said that would make her look like a dork. Oh, well.

Next was Andy Suzuki, who played with The Method, I think he said. He had a high, sweet voice, very emotional lyrics, and tons of energy. The band was really interesting, with the typical guitar, bass, keyboard, and drums, but also another guy who did all kinds of eclectic percussion, a backup soloist (his sister!--Mom sold his CDs for him), and the coolest, an electric fiddle. He was good. He dueled with the guitarist and his fingers flew! The instrument sounded even sweeter than Andy did.

Doesn't he look a lot like Joseph Gordon-Levitt?



Next came Life of Riley. I became a Riley fan (love that name, too, have it slated to use in a book :) ) back when Jason Manns first did a tour with them, and they were great on stage. I was disappointed when they had to stop.

Which was a real problem with the whole setup. But I'll get to that.



Finally, we got to Jason. He was accompanied by Jonah, the Life of Riley drummer, and that was a great enhancement. The backup percussion supported Jason's guitar and his incredible voice, and they had nice on-stage chemistry. I grinned every time Jason growled, and my friends looked at me and laughed every. single. time. But damn, it was WAY too short.


Here's the problem. The bill was typical--less experienced bands first, more well-known, experienced, skilled performers last. But the bar had another gig at midnight. So when the first band started nearly half an hour late and ran 45 minutes over, it pushed all the others, so the last one, the one we traveled 8 hours to see, was the shortest. Jason didn't have time to play any of his new stuff and left off many of the favorites (damn, I really want to hear "Journey" live--maybe someday).


Still, it's a minor complaint. We did have time to meet Life of Riley and talk to Jason for a little bit.



Overall, it was well worth the trip, and I'm satisfied for now. I won't have to go to such extremes to go see Jason play again, at least not for a while, though I do expect to see him again sometime. I already feel like a groupie, can't make that complete without the actual hanging around part. :)

Now, to try to recover enough from the trip to survive the rest of the summer...

Extreme Perseverance

I'm blogging today over at Magical Musings. Come check it out! I'm giving away a free book, too, either a paperback copy of my latest, Indulgence II, or an e-book of your choice from my backlist. All comments count, even if it's just "hi!" :)

Things that Are Annoying Me This Week

ETA: I remembered the third thing! Look below!

1. Visible bras with tank tops.

If the tank is too see-through to go without a bra, it's too see-through to wear by itself. If the tank has thin straps, it probably also has a built-in bra, and if that's not sufficient for you, you shouldn't be wearing a tank by itself. Just my opinion. I think visible bra straps are trashy and I don't want to see them.

2. Readers who try to dictate to me.

I'm really sick of e-book readers telling everyone we're dinosaurs and MUST move into the 21st century and change our ways (and paper readers who decry the push for e-books--no one's threatening your reading preferences). Today's society is all about choice, and that's what readers have, too. A choice to read an old-fashioned paper book or an electronic book. The options exist for a reason.

Case in point:
I know a guy who reads about a dozen books a year at an average of $8.00 per book. That's $96 (plus tax) to get the reading experience. So why should he spend $300 in addition to that? He's expressed interest in dedicated e-readers, but it doesn't make sense to him. I told him he can read them on his Blackberry, and he pooh-poohed that immediately. Screen too small, and he doesn't want to be tethered to an outlet when the battery zips down to nothing.

Many people I know who read avidly can't afford an e-reader or just plain don't want to read on a screen. And I also know many people who love the accessibility of their iPhones or Blackberries or Kindles or Sonys and can't imagine going back to paper. That's fine. It's personal.

So all you judgmental people, just mind your own business and leave ours alone. (Note: this diatribe stems from comments at a PW post regarding the B&N announcement of it's e-store.) (Another note: I am aware of the irony of telling people to stop judging when I did that in #1.)

3. I had another thing that was irking me yesterday, but now I can't think of it. I'll come back and edit this post if I do. In the meantime, feel free to jump in and share what's annoying YOU this week! :)

ETA: I remembered the other thing. It's magazines that have a teaser on the cover, but the table of contents don't use any of the words in that teaser, so you don't know which article it is. For example, Harrisburg magazine had "Spice up your summer" and the "Spice" font was reminiscent of Harlequin Spice, so I wanted to see if that's what it was about. The word "spice" was NOWHERE in the table of contents. I decided it was the recipe section, though that was pushing it, as there was only one recipe that had anything remotely spicy. And it took me forever to flip through the magazine. I was at work. I don't have that kinda time, you know? :)

Books to Film

I just finished reading the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, curious after watching True Blood how close it came. I liked it enough that I plan to get the second book, because I'm still curious, though not enough to run right out and get it.

I'm not exactly sure why that is. It may be because the show was amazingly close to the tone of the book, overall, as well as to the events. I felt like I'd been watching the show, not reading. Unfortunately, while I really liked Anna Paquin's Sookie and Sam Trammell's Sam, I didn't care for Bill at all, and that carried over to the book. I can't tell if I'd feel any differently if I hadn't watched the show first.

So I can't say I liked one better than the other (book versus movie), which is a rarity.

It's always more straightforward when things go the other way, and I read the book before seeing the movie.

~~~~~~~~SPOILER ALERT FOR HALF-BLOOD PRINCE MOVIE~~~~~~~~

A true Harry Potter fan has to have certain expectations going into a Harry Potter movie:

1. The casting will be mostly great.
2. The atmosphere will be awesome (kudos to cinematography, set dressing, props, costuming, makeup, etc.).
3. The quality of the acting will have improved (for the young ones, anyway--the older ones are mostly awesome, too).
4. The script will suck.

We all understand--intellectually, anyway--the difficulties inherent in condensing these very chock-full books into a 2-and-a-half-hour film. But some things are just incomprehensible to us. As a writer, I get putting your own stamp, your own twist, on an adaptation. But you don't f*** with Harry Potter.

For the most part, Half-Blood Prince is very well done. I found it to be the best of the six movies, overall. I was so pleased with the smooth editing, a huge improvement over the jerking around of Order of the Phoenix. I also--after the initial moment of disapproval--liked the way they incorporated Draco's thread into the film. It couldn't have been handled the way it was in the book, it just wouldn't have worked. And to see his desperation, his intensity, was a treat. Tom Felton did a fabulous job.

There was a ton of humor in this film, too, more than most. Ron and Harry under the influence of their various potions were delightful breaks of normal character. (One fave moment was "and the pincers" with the little hand gestures and clicking.) Through the bulk of the film, I was okay with how they'd "outed" the Harry/Ginny feelings for each other and the Hermione feelings for Ron, all of which were much more obvious than in the book. Since the movie gives us more than one point of view, that was realistic and fun. And it helped solidify Harry and Hermione's sibling-type friendship, which will hold them in good stead for the final movie(s).

But it all kind of fell apart at the end. There were some elements that worked, but they were among others that, for me, didn't work at all, and left me dissatisfied.

1. That kiss. In the book, Ginny gives Harry a hard, blazing look and runs to him, throwing her arms around him, and he kisses her deeply. It's TOTALLY a movie kiss. In the movie, it's gentle, he doesn't know it's coming...and they completely drop the entire thing until the very end, capping it with a tossaway "Ron's okay with it." With what?! There's nothing going on!

So okay, big deal, at least they're together, right? But then...

2. The kiss happens while Ginny is guiding Harry to hide the potions book in the room of requirement. Grrr, because only Harry has been in there, alone, when it's a hiding warehouse, but never mind. And the changing of the reason he's hiding it cuts a lot of pages and it's believable, it fits the movie story, so okay. But she has him close his eyes so he doesn't even know where it is. This shreds any hope I have for the final movie(s). (In the book, Harry marks the book's location with a bust, wig, and tarnished tiara that turns out to be the diadem of Ravenclaw, one of Voldemort's horcruxes. Without that, there's no reason to return to Hogwarts, where the epic final battle takes place.)

And hey, while we're on the topic of horcruxes...

3. They dropped a lot of the Dumbledore/Harry discussions and exposition. Sure, it would be slightly tedious and drag out the movie, but please. Take five minutes to lay out how many horcruxes there are left and what they are likely to be, so Harry's not working completely blind. (On the other hand, nice little touch with the ring and the flash and Dumbledore's dawning expression as he realizes what it means.)

Then we get to the very end. The inciting event that puts Harry on his path to death and Voldemort's defeat. Aaaaannnnndddd...WTF?

4. Why not have Dumbledore freeze Harry under the cloak, as in the book? I found it impossible to suspend disbelief that Harry would stand by like that, or that Draco could disarm Dumbledore without the distraction he had in the book. Snape knowing Harry was there feels wrong, though I don't think that change has a huge impact. I understand why they dropped the battle scene, though I lament the loss of the connection with the other DA members. They don't want to detract from the last movie(s), and it would have been expensive and add length they didn't want to add (though I don't think a three-hour movie would be a problem; it never is!).

BUT!

5. Harry's confrontation with Snape left me wanting, too. Some of it was spot on, like "Fight back, you coward!" and "Don't you call me coward!" But the "Until you learn to keep your mouth closed and your mind shut..." line was highly significant. And I was completely distracted by Hagrid's hut being aflame and Harry not at all concerned that Hagrid might be burning alive. (In the book, Hagrid is outside after the Deatheaters come past, and it's Fang inside, with Hagrid battling.)

Bottom line:

The end result is a strange mix. Every other HP movie, I've had to see multiple times. The first time is to get through the "they changed that...they changed that..." compulsion. The second time is usually a lot better than the first, and I often see them a third time, just to absorb the whole thing or catch details I missed.

This time, I feel more satisfied with the movie as a whole. It engaged me fully, so I wasn't muttering mentally all the way through. Yet I'm unhappy enough that I don't want to see it again and feel even more dissatisfied.

The one thing that hasn't changed, though, is that it made me want to read the books again, despite having just done so a couple of months ago. :)

Taking a Breath

I finally have a moment to do so!

*inhales deep*

Wanna see what I've been doing around the web?

At Supernatural Sisters, I explained why I love the classic episode "Roadkill." (Classic as in "prior to season 4")

At the Gabwagon, I expressed my disappointment at how the RWA annual general meeting proceeded last Thursday.

Coming up, I get to be a guest at the fabulous Magical Musings, talking about how evolution of a career often brings you back to basics. And about how I type with my cat stretched across my wrists. That will be on Thursday, but check out their other great posts in the meantime. I love reading what those smart ladies have to say, though I confess to rarely having comments.

So. Taking a breath? Last week was of the "incredible that I made it through" variety.

Monday
I already posted about this. It was slightly better on Friday. I also have to work a couple of days this week, and I'm feeling more confident. Though the file I couldn't find was apparently where it was supposed to be, which made me feel dumb.

Tuesday
Harry Potter was excellent. Mostly. I'll do another post later that has spoilers, but don't want to bury them here. I think it was the most well done of all the movies, and so much better than the last one as far as cohesiveness and narrative flow. Most of the things they changed, I understood and thought they did well. A few didn't make sense why they changed them, and two big things bothered me a lot and made me afraid for the last movie(s). But, as I said, more later.

Wednesday
Tuesday, of course, ran into Wednesday. When teenagers go to sleep at 4:30 a.m. (ish), they don't really want to get up in the morning. I was aiming for home at noon, but got them all delivered by 1:00. Then I barely had time to get some work done before I drove to DC with Number One, who got to go to her first booksigning ever and meet authors who write the stuff she reads, not just people who are her mother's friends first, authors second. We had a nice dinner and some great conversation, and got home about 10:00 p.m.

Thursday
Up at 6 to drive back to DC with Misty Simon and Vicki Smith. It was a pretty smooth ride into DC, despite being rush hour (and just after) and we got to the hotel in plenty of time for the main meeting, which was half fiasco (see Gabwagon post). The rest of the day was awesome, though. I got to see a bunch of people (though not as many as I would have seen if I'd been attending the actual conference, which makes me sad, but maybe next year I can make it work!) and spend quality time with Agent Awesome. Cathy McDavid and Libby ICanNeverRememberHerLastName had their second annual wine party, which was tons of fun. I didn't want to leave, but finally forced myself to. We got home about 2:45 a.m.

Friday
More freelance work in a.m., outside work in p.m., birthday cake shopping that failed, birthday dinner that did not.

Saturday
Sleeping IN. More freelance work. Soccer game beach party.

Sunday
Two people ended up dropping by, one foreseen, one a pleasant surprise. I had a very nice visit, but spent so much time trying to get Number One's birthday present to work right that the freelance work delayed grocery shopping, which I now I have to do tonight while Number Two is at soccer practice. But the good thing is that, despite some running around and the tightness of scheduling that working outside causes, this week should be MUCH more breathable than last. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Funny Story of the Week:

I took my husband's car to DC, because it's a hybrid and bigger than mine, so more comfortable for passengers. The speedometer is lined up differently than mine is--that's my only explanation, unless it's flat-out wrong, because I had it on cruise and I never set it that high. Then there's the fluctuating speed limit on route 15. Not excuses--I deserved to be pulled over. Just reasons.

So it's 1:30 in the morning, three women in a car, all dressed up. He asks where we're coming from, I say DC. Asks if I'd had anything to drink. I said about "this much" wine, showing a couple of inches, a few hours before. It was actually that much twice, but in a small plastic cup--really less than a full glass overall, and I finished the last bit about...I don't know, 10:30? But of course he wouldn't take my word (and rightfully so) so guess what?

I got to do my first ever field sobriety test and Breathalyzer^TM! Of course, I passed with flying colors. And get this--he gave me a warning for the speeding. That has NEVER happened to me before in my life.

Misty said it was the cleavage shirt.

We Now Welcome You to the Survival Portion of Our Summer

My former boss called me on Friday in a panic. She needed me to fill in while a former colleague was on leave. I worked all day yesterday, and...yeah. After three years, I don't remember anything. Especially stuff I never did. It was quite a challenge. Looking forward to Friday. Right.

I currently have five animated teenagers playing Wii while they wait to leave for the midnight showing of Harry Potter. We found out that the theater had sold out theaters 1 through 9 by 6 this evening. That line will be fun. Right.

Tomorrow I have to get 5 kids to different locations, four of them after they were up past 3:00 a.m. Then I have to try to finish a formatting job before I drive to DC, mainly because I'll be in DC all day Thursday, too, and much of the night. Which will be awesome while I'm there, I'm not complaining, but oy.

I'm just hangin' on, taking everything one minute at a time. I don't know how the heck other people manage even busier schedules. I guess they just do it.

Right.

Status Report

I am wayyy behind. I spent much of today dealing with Verizon's nationwide meltdown, which entailed going to the library to check e-mail and retrieve a file I needed for a client for a new, rush job. The meltdown seems to have been averted, and everything is now accessible to me from home.

But I didn't get any new writing done on Zoe yesterday, and today looks bad, too.

I did the preliminary edit and most of the formatting for book 1, just waiting for some details from that client. Book 2 is in the works. Judging contest entries--well, since today's Wednesday, I should have three done. I have one. Deadline is weeks away though, so that's okay.

But lookee!

*Post to Gabwagon and Supernatural Sisters blogs

*Do short writeups for book sequels

I actually did something completely enough to cross it off!

Oh, and in other good news, a really great guy was helping me with the PDF thing and magically, it was fixed. I suspect the Verizon problem was the culprit, their glitches interfering with my PDFServlet thingy. Yes, I'm a techie, can't you tell? The new DVR receiver arrived this morning, so I need to get that installed and set up sometime. But not now. Now, back to rush job for Cool Client!

*rushes off*

Incompetence Drives Me Insane

Last night, our DVR receiver died.

At first, it wasn't dead, it was only sick. The picture cut in and out, and it kept flashing messages about trying to connect to the satellite. Eventually, resetting it got me locked into nothing while it failed to download satellite info. So I bit the bullet and called DirecTV. He had me switch the satellite 1 and 2 cables and hit reset.

THEN it died.

"Oh, gee, I'm sorry, our only option now is to send you a replacement receiver." He totally ignored me all three times I said this was the third receiver in less than a year, and why did they keep sending us crap?

Yeah, I know, I'd switch to Verizon FiOS in an instant, but DirecTV holds us hostage with their exclusive contract with the NFL. I can't live without the NFL Sunday Ticket. Well, I can, but I don't have to, so I refuse to. That's what keeps my husband married to me, you know. :)

So that's our choice, which means I have to deal with crap and idiots. Hey, at least it happened in the summer. If it had happened during the regular season, and I'd lost the entire season of Supernatural? You'd have heard the roar of fury, no matter where on the planet you are.

But that's not all. The frustration continues. Today I got an e-mail that my mortgage statement was ready for viewing. For the third month in a row, I can't open it. I get a blank screen, no matter what browser I'm using. I double checked, and Adobe Reader is completely up to date. I can open every other PDF I try, from any other site I've been on. I can open all statements prior to May. But May, June, and July, I can't open. Last month I sent an e-mail, and got what was probably an automated response that they were mailing copies and for future convenience, I could go to the website to access my statements from my account...

So today I called them. The CSR tells me there's no problem from their end. Asks me if I consulted a computer professional. What the ? I asked for technical support and got an "I'm sorry, ma'am."

There's no upside to this one.

I'm not paying a computer professional because of this random, specific glitch. It would be different if I was having a problem with all PDFs, or even just random, specific PDFs from other sites. But it's just this one.

I supposed I'll have to go spend time I don't have looking for smart, competent people on some forums somewhere that might have a solution. God forbid the mortgage company should HIRE SOME OF THEM.

Alibi Junior High

I've been reading a lot of YA fiction lately, because there's so much good stuff out there. But so much of it is female-centric. It's a problem I only sympathize with from the outside, because I have daughters and that limits my perspective. But as a professional, I'm aware that YA and middle grade fiction targeting boys, or even about boys (because hey, girls don't mind reading about boys!) is rarer than it should be.

I haven't read Alibi Junior High yet, but I just added it to my Wish List. Spies, adventure, normal life, even a little (crush-level) romance! Sounds excellent!

Summer Swampage

I am so swamped.

I'm not quite sure how it happened. Holiday weekends can be deceiving, I guess. They're undemanding, family-oriented, relaxing, etc. Then Monday comes, and blammo.

What I have to do this week:

*Finish Zoe (about 10k or so left)

*Edit two books for clients

*Format both books

*Judge contest entries

*Post to Gabwagon and Supernatural Sisters blogs

*Do short writeups for book sequels

*Prepare for chapter meeting on Saturday

That's just the work stuff. I have to squeeze it in between Number Two's percussion lessons and soccer training, tomorrow's City Islanders game in Maryland against DC United, and all the regular family/pet/household stuff that never goes away.

Next week gets even crazier, if you can believe it. So I'm keeping this short, because even though I've been working diligently for hours, I still have tons to do.

Wish me luck!

Procrastinating

The kids are at the pool. I have an hour before I go get them. I should be writing.

But I'm procrastinating because nearly everything I wrote yesterday must go. Thousands of words. I don't have to cut that much very often, but it's so painful when I do. Not because I want to keep the words. I knew they were wrong as I wrote them, but my brain wouldn't go in the right direction. No, it's painful because I always keep track of word count, I always have a self-imposed deadline or goal, and setbacks SUCK. HARD.

Alas, it must be done. I'm going to force myself to stop here, before I start to ramble, and go redirect Grant and Zoe to the proper location and sequence of events.

Wish me luck.

Harper's Island, Etc.

I am very sad that this show did so poorly. Is it one of the best on TV? Hell, no. But it's been really interesting to extend the typical old horror movie format. We actually come to care for the characters before they get killed. We have people we really want to root for, and complex relationships instead of just random screaming and stuff.

I was going to comment on Sandy's excellent write-ups at Sci Fi Chicks, but I'm a couple of weeks late and my comments really exceed comment level. But go read them, she's got some excellent insight and theorizing.

The best example of the characterization on this show is Cal and Chloe. So many of us were rooting for them to die quickly. But Cal turned out to be not a silly, pathetic man desperate for the supermodel type toying his affections. He was brave, and honorable, and confident in himself despite the huge contrast between himself and Henry's macho friends. And Chloe won me over when she fought for her engagement ring. She was a weak person in her fear, but sympathetic and believable, and she found tons of inner strength in the end.

Henry and Abby are supposed to be the central focus of the show, but Cal and Chloe's deaths were harder to take than anyone else's. Cal's determination to save her, even when his chances were infinitesimal, and Chloe's four simple words--"You can't have me" when she let go and fell to her death on her own terms (kind of). Incredibly poignant, and how the heck are they going to top it?

There's been other good stuff, too. I admired Jim Beaver more than ever because I think he, himself, is awesome, and I adore Bobby. But no matter how hard I tried, I really didn't like the sheriff. I don't think I was supposed to, but it was so subtle, and then such a contrast to his final scene, when he poured so much love and emotion into his begging to Abby.

Now they've made us suspicious of Jimmy. I'm not buying it. They made us suspicious of JD with trumped-up evidence, then of the sheriff with blatant clues. So Jimmy was in jail once, and the sheriff had a file on him. Of course he did! He didn't like the guy, and Jimmy loved his daughter. Could have been a reason for her to come back, something her father definitely didn't want. He wanted her healthy and whole and away from the horror he'd lived, more than once, on that island.

As Sandy pointed out, over there on SciFi Chicks, we're in the difficult final hours, where we care more about nearly everyone, and deaths have an impact on us. If HI follows horror movie tradition, only two people will be left. So let's see who we have:

1. Madison. They're not going to kill the kid, though then it would defy tradition, so probably three will survive.

2. Shea. I don't mind if she dies, but then Madison would be alone, and that would suck.

3. Danny. He can die. Probably will.

4. Sully. Probably second only to Cal and Chloe in the character arc. He was a jerk trying to take another guy's girl. Then he let her go, befriended the guy, and saved his life. Unevenly, apparently, but then, that didn't matter much in the end. I don't want him to die. He probably will, too.

5. Jimmy. I was mad when he was apparently killed. Interesting shift, the way he was spared. I like him enough to keep me from expecting Henry and Abby from getting together. Because that seems the way things should go, doesn't it? There's speculation that he's Wakefield's child, but that would make him Abby's brother, because her mother was the Wakefield kid's mother, too, and that's just icky. Though they DID go to great pains to show us how they never had sex, and why.

6. Trish. She's been interesting. I keep going back and forth between not liking her and liking her. She's not a pure stereotype, and I've always been glad she didn't display animosity or jealousy toward Abby and Henry's protectiveness toward her. She's gonna die.

7. Henry. He's been consistent and solid, the stable centerpiece for Abby's whirling morass of emotion. I'm on the fence about him. I can see him going either way, but if he dies, Jimmy survives, or vice versa. Unless...

8. Abby is the heroine, the main protagonist, the one with the baggage and the relationship to the bad guy. So she's going to survive, and she's probably going to be the one to kill Wakefield. The only question is under what circumstances? Will she and Jimmy and Henry and Trish (and Madison, to be adopted and in therapy the rest of her life) all make it? Happy ending, hope for the future? Or will it just be Abby, alone and stranded on an island among all the dead?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I usually spend the summer watching a TV show on DVD, something with multiple seasons and stuff. This summer, it's not happening. I did True Blood and I have Entourage, but only one season of each (there is only one season of TB, and Entourage is released so far apart, I've been watching as it goes) and they aren't real seasons.

This summer, that's okay, because there's a lot I'm interested in checking out. Mostly on cable networks, but some on the big ones. Merlin and The Philanthropist I have started recording but haven't watched yet. Virtuality, a failed pilot, is sitting on the DVR, too.

Leverage and Eureka return this month. Warehouse 13 interests me. And then there's Royal Pains. I first fell for Mark Feuerstein on Caroline in the City wayyy too long ago to think about. Then I liked him in Good Morning Miami. I haven't watched everything he does, but the premise and his starring role intrigued me enough to check it out. And I happened to have four eps piled up (vacation is to blame!) so I watched three last night. And I really like it! The setting is gorgeous, of course, and his character is too good a guy to dismiss. I'm not too sure about Jill yet. She's okay acting-wise, but a bit too close to the throwaway rich beauties surrounding them, looks-wise. The other secondary characters are awesome, especially Tucker. This one's a definite winner for me!

The other show I'm recording, I don't want to watch: MTV's 16 and Pregnant. I just feel a parental responsibility to watch with my 14-year-old. I'm not going to let the fact that she spent all day yesterday working out her high school schedule (all four years!) to best benefit her into the future (subject to change) lure me into complacency. It would be all too easy. But smart, mature, forward-thinking girls, even ones who still avoid boys-as-boys, still fall prey to hormones and emotion. I'm not above scare tactics to help prevent mistakes. So we'll see what we think of that show once I force myself to force her to sit down and watch. :)

What TV are you into this summer?

Not Battable

I always swore I would not be a cliché. That I would be open and accepting, because it's just the way life goes. But I can't help it:

Getting old sucks.

Shut up, Bicky! LOL

But you know why it sucks? It's not because of my weird tanning/freckling or the slight wrinkles on my face, or the fact that everything creaks when I stand up (that's the lack of exercise as much as the aging).

It sucks because my eyelashes have disappeared.

I don't wear makeup much anymore because it's a pain, and because it makes no difference. I only ever wore eye makeup, but now the eyeliner and shadow get absorbed in a few hours and the mascara doesn't have enough to adhere to, so instead of highlighting my eyes, it just irritates them.

So I was excited when I saw the ad in People magazine for Latisse. Even though I knew I couldn't justify whatever the cost is for a little vanity. I did some research this morning, read some reviews, looked at the before-and-afters...and it's really, really tempting.

Results, of course, vary. My lashes are shorter and sparser than most of the ones in the gallery, and one or two of the featured subjects didn't have a very big difference. Some had a HUGE difference, though, enough to make me salivate. The side effects are minimal--temporary itching and redness for some people--and the process simple and convenient.

The cost is usually $120, plus whatever the local doctor would charge (there are only 2) to see me and prescribe/provide it. And the results fade after you stop using it. Plus...who cares if I have short lashes? I mean, it would be nice to look better. I'm not totally unattractive, overall, and it's hard to see my best features (eyes, lips) fading away. I don't spend much time looking at myself, and I don't see other people all that much, and they probably aren't sitting there thinking, "I'd be enjoying this conversation so much better if Natalie had nicer eyelashes."

So I guess I'll skip it. Unless someone wants to treat me for my birthday. :)

Five Things Make a Post

CE Murphy is always saying that on her blog, and I keep thinking of little things to post, and that sounded more interesting to put in the subject line than something generically random.

1. I have a vacation story I forgot to tell. It's not that unique, but still amazing. We were down in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, near the Great Smoky Mountains, right on the edge of the national park, and nearly 600 miles from home.

So on Wednesday night of last week, I was walking back to our cabin from the pool. There's a couple sitting on the porch of the cabin next to ours, and the guy calls out to me. A few questions about our hot tub, our grill, etc. I, cold and wet and anti-social, kept trying to escape into the cabin, but he kept calling out to me. Finally, he asked where we're from.

Me: "Pennsylvania."

Him: "Us, too!" Before I can ask, he adds, "Harrisburg area!"

Okay, that's freaky, so I stop and actually give him my attention. "So are we!"

Together: "Mechanicsburg!"

Turns out, they live literally about a block away from us. Their street is behind our house, on the other side of the parallel street. He had his granddaughters with him, and Number One had come outside when she heard me yelling across, so he asked how old my girls were. Turns out...his younger granddaughter and Number One hang out in the mornings before school.

I apologized to him for being so rude. I told him if I was never going to see him again I wouldn't care, but since I could run into him at the grocery store... He didn't really listen, so I don't think he even noticed my rudeness.

2. I'm going to say something I never thought I'd say. In fact, some of you may think this isn't me, that my blog's been hijacked.

Scratch that. Very few of you will have any idea what I'm talking about. Where's Kim W. when I need her?! Oh, well, I'll say it anyway.

Terrell Owens has earned my respect.

I know. Totally O.o and :o and whatever the emoticon is for "are you out of your freakin' mind?"

You may know I really, REALLY don't like reality TV. I don't watch any, and never have. But on vacation, the kids wanted to watch Super Stars, and I was reading in the same room (family togetherness, 24/7) and got...well, hooked. It's going to be a regular Tuesday-night family date now.

The premise of the show is that a celebrity gets paired with an athlete. The kids wanted to watch because their favorite dancer from DWTS, Maks, is one of the celebrities. And it's a really fun show, with fun personalities. All except one. And no, that one is not Terrell Owens.

T.O. is the most loudmouthed, obnoxious member of the NFL. He is arrogant, disruptive to every team he is on...and, unfortunately, talented enough to make them tolerate it. But on Super Stars, he's met his match.

His partner is some supermodel I've never heard of. She spends all her time pooching her lips and smoothing her hair off her face. She wore goggles in one of the events--the only person who did--so she wouldn't mess up her eye makeup. And she continuously harangued her partner.

EVERY other team was supportive of each other, no matter how poorly they did, and even of other teams. By last night's show, the second round of competition, there was true camaraderie among everyone--except her. She is so friggin' SNOTTY. They got eliminated in the first round, but due to injury were brought back. No matter how poorly she does, everything is T.O.'s fault. She drops non-stop F-bombs, says "you call yourself an athlete?" and "you're not worth the millions they pay you" and so on. She's HATEFUL.

And here's why I respect T.O. He's totally the kind of guy who can give as good as he gets. But it wasn't that kind of environment, and he NEVER said anything back to her. He tried, very hard, to be a good sport, to cheer her on, to be a team player. He took her crap and refrained from whacking her upside the head, which I, a non-violent person most of the time, felt was completely justified. The worst he did was say, "I feel sorry for your boyfriend" as they walked away and he probably thought they were off camera.

Good for you, T.O. Impressive stuff.

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Okay, well, 5 things can't make a post when you're this long-winded. Plus, I can't remember what else I was going to post about. Hope I wasn't too boring--I promise, tomorrow I'll be shorter and more interesting. I think.

Summer Excitement

I'm back from vacation! I fully intended to post while I was away, but barely had time to keep up with my e-mail. We had a lot of fun. White-water rafting, obviously, though class 2 rapids aren't exactly "white." Number Two begged us to go to the upper river later in the week, which had class 3 and 4 rapids, and we said maybe next time. My friend Jody Wallace came to see us, with her adorable children, and we spent a great day at the pool, evening at Dixie Stampede, and breakfast at Mama's Table or whatever it was called. In between we walked all over Gatlinburg, toured Cades Cove (and caught ONE five-second glimpse of a bear, despite the warnings everywhere of how active they've been), and played mini golf. Number Two's influence again. She's a fanatic.

As promised, here's what my knee looked like a few minutes after it happened:



I thought the pattern was pretty. The damned thing still hurts, because the skin gets pulled with every step I take, and there's no comfortable position for it when I'm not moving.

My inattentiveness didn't stop there. Thursday or Friday, I'm not sure when, I ran over my middle toe on my right foot with the bathroom door. I did some kind of damage, not sure what--nail bed, probably--because even though the toe itself doesn't hurt anymore, I can't wear a sock. I know. Weird, right? I put on my socks to go work out yesterday morning and the pressure of the sock on the toenail was too intense. I don't think Planet Fitness allows flip-flops on the treadmill. So no workouts this week.

Let's see, what else...oh. Yeah. Stupid animals have FILTHED up my house! I don't know, I think they had a party. How else could there be so much dirt and fur scattered so far and wide? We had a family obligation on Sunday, and yesterday I caught up with the checkbook and e-mail and grocery shopping and stuff, so today's been cleaning. I'm getting there, but I had something going on that kept me tethered to the computer. I kept forcing myself to go vacuum...then come back and check e-mail...then go scrub the bathroom...check e-mail...find reasons to stay at my desk--hey, I need to blog! LOL It's over for now, so I'm off to finish de-furring my floors.

I just wish it lasted for more than five minutes. :(

Smokin' Day One

First day of vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains!

Yesterday was 10 hours of travel, and though we started out in a torrential downpour, the drive was mostly really good.

Shoney's is the most ubiquitous restaurant in the world, and I get queasy thinking about eating there again. The food was fine (except for Number One's steak--J said "never order steak in a place like this!) but the faucet in the bathroom was so corroded there was a hole in it. For some reason, that really grosses me out.

Tennessee is beautiful. A lot of the time I can't tell we're not in Pennsylvania, but then the land opens up and it's a little more rolling, and of course the mountains are grander. I can't believe all the trailers/mobile homes here. Most of them are situated on huge tracts of land. Odd.

Today we woke around 6 to thunderous storms. They moved on after a while, and the weather was good enough to hike the Laurel Falls trail in the park. It was excellent. Just enough of a hike for us out-of-shape adults, with natural A/C at the falls themselves to cool us after the uphill climb.

On the way down, I hit a patch of...well, patching on the paved trail, and my food skidded out from under me and I landed hard on my knee.

Twice.

J tells me "slow down, small steps!" I told him I'm not 5. After I realized the patches and my right sneaker didn't get along, I was fine. I took a cool picture I'll post when we get home, since I failed to bring the camera cable.

It rained hard again on the way back to our sweet cabin (I think this place is bigger than my house), but when it stopped we went swimming. Then I drove the one-hour round trip to town to get pizza for dinner.

Yeah, that's a bit of a lament, that we're so far out of Gatlinburg. It's not really a full half hour to get to town or a park entrance, but it's not close, either.

Tomorrow we're tackling white water rafting, and then I think I need to do laundry already. (We had to pack light due to reduced trunk space in the hybrid--but it's worth it to get 37+ mpg!) I'll give an injury report afterward. :)

Power of Suggestion, or...

I had my annual exam last Friday. My doctor felt fullness re: my left ovary and scheduled a pelvic ultrasound.

So I did that yesterday. They asked me a few times about feeling pain, and I said nope, not at all.

Guess what I have today?

So It's Mondays

I seem to have fallen into a Monday blogging habit. Is this the only time I can get it in gear? Apparently. Monday is like the New Year's Day of the week. Or something.

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I blogged at Supernatural Sisters today, a list of things that would be worse than bad Supernatural. I couldn't come up with much, so I added ways that Supernatural could be made irredeemably bad. Check it out and weigh in!

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The Summer Plan so far is doing okay. Not perfect. Last week Number One and I worked out Monday-Wednesday, as planned, while Number Two was at her band lessons. But she wouldn't get out of bed today (she did her therapy and a bike ride afterward). Last week we managed to clean all the rooms, mostly on schedule. I skipped my office, which BADLY needs it, and pushed the kitchen to Friday. I also bribed the kids into cleaning out the litter boxes for extra allowance. \o/

BUT. *sigh* The "work" period of the day seems to fill up with junk, or stuff that's not junk, that needs to be done, but isn't "work." I got all my paid work done and have a little lull, but I'm trying to do a crit for a friend and things keep interfering. Like the migraine I got last night. I finally got around to starting to plan for vacation--we leave in 5 days--but not for Father's Day, because my bank just changed its name and therefore its website and will not let me in.

So have I written yet this summer?

That's a big NOPE.

Of course, at the moment, I have no reason to write, as I wait for various people to do various things. I have a bunch of books already written and in various stages, but no direction because I don't know what's going to happen next. As soon as one of six people gets back to me, I'll have a better idea, and will have a hard-core reason to structure my time in a particular way.

Right now, though, I must take my kids bowling, to assuage the guilt of leaving them alone two weekdays in a row while I combined doctor's appointments with errands.

Is your summer going according to plan?

Quote Quiz

Supernatural Sisters has a quote quiz with a prize! Head over and test your obsession level knowledge of the show!

Judgment Call

I just read something tantalizing and I need some advice from my peeps!

I admit, I loved Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles primarily because of Brian Austin Green. I was devastated when he was shot, and therefore not all that disappointed when the show was canceled.

Now he's reportedly going to be on One Tree Hill this fall. It doesn't sound like a huge role (Nathan's sports agent?) but I'm gonna watch anyway.

The question is, should I now DVD 6 seasons of the show this summer in preparation? Would I like it? Would it be necessary for watching season 7?

Any viewpoint welcome! Thank you!

BTW

My finger is fine. Once in a while, the joints feel crampy when I put pressure on them laterally, so I'm expecting "fine" to not last that long, but the trauma has healed completely.

I love my keyboard (Microsoft Wireless Keyboard 7000) and the mouse is mostly cool, just doesn't glide across the surface as smoothly as I want. I keep forgetting to take it up to rub dry soap on the little pads.

I miss Supernatural like crazy. True Blood is good so far (but only 2 episodes in) but it's not easing the pain.

Terminator: Salvation was excellent. I love the kid who plays Kyle Reese (also Chekov in Star Trek) and can't wait to see him in new stuff. I'd heard several people hated the ending, so I was prepared and therefore didn't hate it.

Can't wait to see The Proposal this week. I have a feeling Betty White steals the movie.

Starting summer schedule this week. Plan is as follows:

8:00 Drop Number Two at mallet percussion lesson
8:06 Work out with Number One at Planet Fitness
8:45 Pick up Number Two
9:00 Check e-mail and plan work for the day
10:00 Clean designated rooms
11:00 Work
2:00 Do fun plans with the kids
4:00 Write

We'll see how well that works out.

A Little Rant

One quick thing before I head off to add to my work in progress...

You can't graduate from kindergarten, or eighth grade, or whatever arbitrary break in grades moves you from one school to another.

Six-year-olds in shiny caps and gowns are adorable. They finished their first year of school, and yay, they're on to big-kid classes where they actually get to learn stuff. Sixth or eighth or even ninth graders (my junior high was 8th and 9th, high school 10th-12th, and we didn't have a ceremony that I remember in between) are transitioning to, usually, a new level of responsibility and perspective and challenge.

But they haven't completed anything. In most states, they are required by law to go on to the next grade level. You don't get a diploma until you finish all of the requirements of high school, and then you're graduating.

Someone could probably pull out a dictionary definition that proves me wrong, and I admit this is just a peevish opinion, but it's been bugging me. Being able to "graduate" from every grade kind of diminishes the final accomplishment, doesn't it? That's why I was so pleased with Step Up to High School--that's exactly what it is, with equal emphasis on the achievements to date and the goals to come. The celebration is warranted, but in the right way.

I place too much importance on word choice, I guess. But, hey, that's my job! LOL

Decisions Rewarded

Ten years ago, when we started looking to buy a house, there were two school districts we were willing to move into. I'd been listening and watching and learning over the nine years we'd lived in the area, and we were determined to move into the one that gave the best educational framework for my kids.

It's the best feeling to have a decision like that borne out.

Honestly, determining such a thing is not easy. Without having direct experience with a system, you can't possibly know how it will play out. Things change. And one person's excellence is another person's nightmare.

Today Number One had an awards ceremony and then a Step Up to High School ceremony. The awards ceremony was only for half her class (they divide into academic teams, and keep things spread pretty even among them). And I didn't keep any quantifiable stats or anything. But it was pretty impressive.

First, they had students in orchestra, band, and chorus stand. Fully three-fourths of the students were on their feet for the applause. I think that's pretty amazing in a world where music and arts are systematically being erased from schools to accommodate all the standardized testing and reduced budgets.

At the Step Up ceremony, the guidance counselor read each student's name, then some of their self-listed achievements and interests, one word to describe themselves, and their goals for the future (I talked about the goals part on GabWagon today).

Some of the words the kids chose were pretty interesting. Gregarious? Enigmatic? How are they so self-aware? Even if they didn't pick the words themselves...my daughter said she didn't know what to choose, because she didn't want to pick something everyone else was saying, so her friend told her to say "authentic" because she's very genuine. Okay, how many eighth graders are that tuned into their friends? Maybe a lot, I don't know. I didn't have that many friends in eighth grade, and none close enough to say stuff like that. That's something I'd say to a friend now.

The counselor impressed me, too. Not all the kids were there, but he never missed a beat. He glanced at the next student, knew instantly who it was, and turned to their page--about 275 times or so. He never missed a step--even for the kids who were new this year. Sure, he's been this class's counselor for three years, but he said it was his first class, so it wasn't like he'd developed a system over decades. Plus, I tend to think of guidance counselors as concentrating on the kids with difficulties at home, or behavior or academic issues, or on the student council and stuff. He knew every. single. kid. And what's more...he knew their nicknames. Not even just Jay for Jarrell--he knew Carlie for Margaret.

That says a lot about how a school approaches its job.

Finally, the principal at the end said he was ditching the rest of his speech and talking off the cuff. He said this was the most respectful class of its peers he'd seen. An hour and a half of reading names and attributes, a lot of them the same, and there wasn't shuffling, or murmuring, or whispering or laughing or anything. They all sat quietly and paid attention. 275 teenagers.

Now, I know they're not perfect. Kids fight and ditch classes. One of the boys picked the word "godly" to describe himself. A student has been hospitalized or under treatment for depression for much of this school year. We don't escape the negatives, of course.

But I got all warm inside when a few students thanked their classmates for making it so easy to relocate from other states (especially when one boy said the kids here are much nicer than the kids in Texas! heee!). And I gave heartfelt thanks that my husband and I made the decision we did, and found the house we found, and that my kids are getting the education I'd always hoped they'd get.

I only hope other parenting decisions bear out the same way. Time will tell.

Oh, Well, Maybe Tomorrow?

I opened my WIP yesterday.

*pauses for recognition of momentousness*

Okay, okay, it's not all that momentous. But it's been two weeks, so it felt good to get into the story again. I barely had time to read through the last chapter and finish editing the parts I was editing, but I did do it. I was actually thinking I could finish by my self-imposed deadline of next Friday (it's a writer's group goals thing). 3,000 words a day is doable.

Then today happened.

And it was a good day, it just kind of...gobbled.

Had to get up at 7 for a soccer game at 9. Watched game (great game, despite the 1-0 loss, Number Two had some spectacular saves in goal). Took kids to get brunch, drove 45 minutes to game 2. Watched game. Cheered Number One when she stepped on field first time since MCL tear. Cheered again when she kicked ball. Stopped obnoxious behavior.

Wow, I must be tired. Look how I abbreviated my sentences more and more.

After 12:30 game (won 9-0), stopped to get lunch and drove to game 3, which was still Number One. We had about 15 minutes at home, enough time for her to ice her knee and declare it fine. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, but I forgot to sunscreen my arms and they burned, and I didn't spread the SPF broadly enough so burned my chest and neck a little. Serves me right for being lackadaisical. She won that game, too (5-1) and still felt fine when we got home (with gelati).

But then we had to go get my car that we'd left in the game 1 parking lot, and I was hungry (gelati's a cool dinner but not filling enough), and then I checked e-mail for the first time all day, and now it's 10:00 and maybe I'm getting old, or maybe it's just too difficult to shift my routine back to how it was 3 years ago when I know it's not strictly necessary, but I have no energy for writing.

You know what kind of effort it took to make all of those complete sentences?

Wrapping Up the Season

I just did my first writing since I got back from the retreat. I know! Lazy bum. Well, not really. But I finally found time to focus.

The weather isn't really helping with that. I think I've said here how annoyed I get when people claim cold weather is evidence against global warming, and I argue that the planet doesn't just uniformly get warmer, it's an average increase, and it causes instability. Well, man, have we got that this spring!

The long weekend was beautiful. Got a little hot. Ran the A/C all weekend. Tuesday dawned 30 degrees cooler. Number One complained of the cold on Wednesday morning, so I let her turn the heat back on. I wore a friggin' sweater to work yesterday, and was glad I did, because though they predicted 73 degrees, it never really got above 60. Last night and this afternoon we had thunderous storms that made me fear for my basement, as the unclogged gutters were overwhelmed by sheer volume. Thunderstorms! In May! An hour after that, Number Two and I were outside in shorts playing ladderball in the sun. Totally schizophrenic, and it makes me afraid.

Anyway. The season I'm REALLY here to talk about is the TV season, though it essentially ended two weeks ago. I can't let it pass without my thoughts.

I was really glad that Castle and Dollhouse got renewed. Castle's cliffhanger wasn't that huge as cliffhangers go, but I have to have answers. Plus, the show got better and better as it went, and I'm glad ABC is, uncharacteristically, giving it time to grow. Gladder that I get to keep watching Nathan Fillion. :)

Dollhouse didn't grab most people, but I find the intertwining elements so dang intriguing, I can't wait to see what happens next. What compels me the most is how someone like Ballard can get drawn in, when he was so against it in the beginning. And his decision to get November/Katie released instead of Caroline was heartwarming. I was happy for her, and it was good for us moralizing fans to see that she remembered nothing, was fully accepting of her decision to give them the time and her body/brain to use. You could tell, though, that she didn't get what she wanted out of it. For her, no time had passed. Therefore, there was no easing of the grief that had driven her there in the first place.

The Mentalist surprised me, that they took us so close to Red John. It will be interesting to see if they get us closer next year, or resolve it. Stuff like that dragged over more than two years gets boggy.

The Numb3rs finale was awesome. It trumps the other awesome Numb3rs finale, when Colby was revealed to be a traitor, only because of the ending, which I totally called and was soooo happy to see them follow through with.

Let's see, what else? Glad Chuck got a pickup--of sorts--because of the gamechanger with the new intersect. Chuck's decision and new skills bring a new maturity and open up a huge range of possibilities. Disappointed that we have to wait so long, even more over the few episodes it gets, but oh, well.

OH. LOST! How could I forget that one? I'm so pissed about Juliet, but I have no idea where they're going next and I can. not. wait. for next season. Of course, that's a killer wait, too.

There are a few new shows that look worth trying (Glee was awesome, looking forward to that one; Vampire Diaries I have to try for some reason) but I'll have a lot less on my slate in the fall.

In the meantime, I'll finish up Harper's Island and wait eagerly for the return of Eureka and Leverage and premiere of Royal Pains, because I like Mark Feurstein.

What will you be doing with your free time this summer?

Surfing

I blogged today at Romance University, all about applying the pirate's code to your romance career. There's a prize drawing going on, too! Check it out!

And if you're surfing, looking for interesting stuff, stop by Supernatural Sisters, where we posted an interview with Betsy Morris, screenwriter of Ten Inch Hero. She shares what it's like to be a screenwriter (very similar to being a novelist, actually) and gives us some insight into Jensen Ackles' character.

While you're at it, for huge laughs check out Jody Wallace's interviews at I Read Romance and Jess Granger's Butterfly Blog. Seriously, don't drink while you read.

Retreat Craziness

Oddly, all the craziness--or, at least, all the craziness I captured--was on Saturday.

First, we wanted to go for a post-dinner walk. But the weather wasn't quite cooperative. So Mandy suggested we use the excellent canvas bags Joyce and Kristine gifted us with:



But it cleared up for a while, so we managed to get out.

Then we hazed Elizabeth.



She was a new member on her first retreat! Had to do something! Actually, someone said something about how we should make someone lie down on a grave, and she volunteered. Said it was peaceful.

Remember the weird circle from two years ago?



It's still there.



Misty decided the weird circle demanded more weirdness, though.



Supernatural fans know what a weird circle in a cemetery means, but the only zombie we encountered was Megan:



Vicki demonstrated how NOT to ride a playground dog:



And then we went to the other cemetery, which we haven't done before. I don't know, it's just not as creepy without the fence:



I don't think we'll be going back. I mean, how much fun is a cemetery if you can't bring coat hangers?



Saturday night we played our game. Here's Beth, posing after she won putting Johnny Depp together, defaced as he was.



We laughed harder than at any other retreat game, and that's saying something. Joyce hyperventilated and had to sit down:



Gotta love David Beckham as Spock played by @ZacharyQuinto.



We were equal opportunity defacers, of course:



But honest, among all the insanity, we did work!



Now, don't you want to have a retreat of your own?

Finally, My Thoughts on "Lucifer Rising"

Because I know you were all hanging out here with bated breath waiting. LOL

Stuff that's mostly response to other people's stuff:

I did not take Azazel's words literally. I was kind of surprised to see so many recaps state that he was Lucifer's son. But remember back in "Sin City," the demon talked about Lucifer as someone to have faith in, much like God is to humans (and angels). I took Azazel to be calling Lucifer his father in a worshipful manner, just like people refer to God.

Many people are having a hard time with the depiction of certain angels. I'm thinking Uriel's and Zachariah's performances (well, Robert's and Kurt's performances) are just so powerful, they feel bigger. But really, of all the angels we've met, two are on our side, two don't care about humanity. That's even. Plus, all the angels Uriel killed were unwilling to join his plan.

As for that plan...how is it any different from war in real life? The only difference I see is that the world leaders who engage in war pay lip service to caring about the people who actually put their lives on the line and die for the effort. Zachariah doesn't pretend to care about humans. He wants what he wants. I think it's a very deft metaphor, intentional or not.

Pop culture references... I can buy Zachariah figuring out what might appeal to a guy he wants to keep compliant, plus, he's got psychic ability, so some unimportant stuff is going to leak in there. Upper management always has time on its hands once it's done delegating--he probably tuned in to Gladiator one night when he was bored. Likewise, we know Dean soaks up late night TV, and The Suite Life of Zach and Cody seems to be on 24/7. I can totally picture Dean flipping around, pausing, and being unable to look away in horror.

The idea of God being in absentia is intriguing, and keeps drawing me back to the Incarnations of Immortality series by Piers Anthony. I read it at a crucial time in my spiritual development, and Supernatural is echoing some themes the Incarnations addresses. Megan thinks God is actually orchestrating everything, just from afar, and no one knows that he's involved, which is also a theory I can get behind.

Some people also seem to think Dean left that message that Sam heard. One write-up said he'd left it before he left the one we saw him leave, but no way Dean went that far. Plus, look at Ruby. How would she know what Sam was hearing, if she hadn't had something to do with it?

I thought Castiel was going to offer angel blood for Dean, for a moment, and in that instant, it was one of those "OMG that's perfect symmetry" moments. But of course, thinking about it, Dean would never have done it. Or, not easily. Woulda been hot, though. *stares into space*

Where was I? Oh. Right. Finale.

The "why it had to be Sam" thing seems pretty clear to me. It wasn't, like, destined that he'd be the one. He just came out on top all the way through the journey. Azazel was still setting up kids even after Sam and his "kind" were maturing and coming into their powers (remember Rosie?). Plus, he didn't have the Colt. He needed the most powerful kid AND the Colt, and that came together with Jake. Jake was the one who let Lilith out of Hell. But Sam killed him, so he couldn't go on to the end game, and Sam was the last one available. They had all the pieces lined up: Lilith out and breaking seals, and one guy with the demon-created ability to kill her and free Lucifer. That's why it had to be Sam.

The only thing I'm uncertain of is the archangel. Is he coming after Castiel because he somehow thinks Cas is a threat to Chuck? I don't know why, because they didn't threaten him. Or, did Chuck aiding and abetting the disobedient twosome render his prophet status null and void, and the archangel was coming after all who'd violated that? Whose side is the archangel on?

I can't wait to see what the aftermath of that confrontation was.

Ruby, ah, Ruby. I always like the characters who defy the "rules," even the self-imposed rules of a contained world like in Supernatural. So I'd hoped Ruby was at least partly good. That she somehow cared about the boys, or at least Sam, even though I was pretty sure her end goal was very self-serving. By the end of LR, though, I wanted her gone. Stabbed in the gut by Dean while Sam held her in place. Well how about that! That's what I got! LOL

In just a few seconds, they made it right. It's not right, of course. Dean broke the first seal, Sam broke the second, they've got a lot to atone for, even if just in their own minds. They fought, and meant it. It can't be glossed over, so the journey "back" (I put that in quotes because it's really a journey to better, not back, they can never go back) will be a long, hard one. But they had one important moment of working together, of apology and acceptance, of being side by side, touching, bridging the chasm, and facing the evil together. It was perfect.

I'll save speculation about next season for another post. But man, I can't wait.

Release Day!

It's been a while since I had a release! But for all you paperback lovers who, like me, prefer to hold a real book in your hands over reading digital ink, Indulgence II is here!

I know, lame title. I'm a lame titler, what can I say? But I've always claimed my work is indulgent fiction, designed for pleasure reading, escapism, fantasizing over possible...shall we say...alternate realities. :) Indulgence is more appropriate than ever with these stories:

Indulge yourself once again in scorching fantasy. Fall in love with a younger man, a rock star, a superhero, or an emotionally tortured savior of abducted children.

Previously available only in electronic format, these four novellas of pure escapism have now been combined for a paperback edition! Included are the titles...

Letting Go
Inspired a little by all the talk amongst my friends and online acquaintances about the wrongness of attraction to a man young enough to be your son. :)

Rebuilding Forever
This one's a sequel to Lost Our Forever (e-book and also found in Indulgence, but you don't really have to have read that one to enjoy this one. This is the closest I've ever come to male/male erotica. Seth and Julian are just so delicious!

Renegade
For my Supernatural friends out there, Jake and Dan are not Dean and Sam, but are definitely inspired by them.

Under Control
Reluctant superhero. Nuff said?

(Full descriptions and excerpts for each story
are available by clicking on the above links!)

The paperback is available at the publisher's site here, or directly from Amazon here. If you are local to me, I've ordered a few to sell, so let me know if you're interested in a signed copy at a slight discount. I know! Bargain! :)

Have a lovely holiday weekend!

Book Fair for Boys

Agent Awesome has been talking about the Book Fair for Boys by Guys Lit Wire. They're doing a drive to obtain books for kids who really need them. I know you're bombarded with worthy causes, but encourage anyone who believes in:

1. The importance of books in life, in any shape or form
2. The importance of giving at-risk kids (or worse) choices and chances

to check it out and see if you can help.

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Stay tuned for posts with:

--Photos from the retreat craziness
--My thoughts on the Supernatural finale
--Comments on the Upfronts and other finales
--Lament about the spoiling I might have just done to myself re: Prison Break, which I have not yet watched and won't for a while due to the NBA Playoffs
--Some other stuff

Romance University Launches Today

Romance University’s three weekly topics include:

Monday – Crafting Your Career
NJD note: I have an interview in this category next week! It focuses on my "A Pirate's Guide to a Successful Publishing Career" workshop.

Wednesday – Anatomy of the Male Mind

Friday – Chaos Theory of Writing

RU’s purpose is to:

Empower Writers. Entertain Readers. Understand Men.

Don’t miss our upcoming visiting professors: Lori Foster, Jessica Inclán, Donald Maass, Brenda Novak, Alicia Rasley, Christie Ridgway, Loucinda McGary, Natalie J. Damschroder, Blake Snyder, Theresa Stevens, Leslie Wainger, and several men who will share the male perspective on romance, love and sex.

Stop by Monday (TODAY) to chat with Brenda Novak, who will head the class with details about her road to becoming a New York Times bestselling author. Leave a comment and your name will be entered in a drawing to win a $50 gift certificate and a tote full of goodies.

WAIT! We have more good news.

Would you like to win a nifty new iPod Nano? Leave a comment during our launch week, May 18 - 22, and your name will be entered in a separate drawing. Courtesy of RU’s faculty members (Adrienne Giordano, Kelsey Browning and Tracey Devlyn).

Romance University – A place where friends are made and dreams are realized
www.RomanceUniversity.org

Problems?

Someone just told me they were having problems with my blog. Is anyone else? Like, having a whole bunch of windows opening unexpectedly? If you are, let me know! I want to fix it, if I can.

Thanks!

Bye-Bye!

We have this corner cupboard in the kitchen. It's above the countertop, and you know how they are--wedge-shaped, very deep, and very difficult to get into. So last weekend were were collecting things for the Post Office's canned food drive, and I said there might be some things in there. Sure enough, we found some things.

That expired in 2003.

But that's nothing. We have Vicks Vap-o-Rub that expired in 1999 in the medicine chest. Don't ask why it's still there.

Okay, so, I'm off. Not quite yet. I'm about done with my computer stuff and packing my work items (laptop, Neo, updated iPod, etc.), so I'm going upstairs to pack and then I'll be offline (kind of) until Monday morning!

I'm so excited!

Where the H*** Have I Been?

I was thinking, "How did I keep up with blogging when I had a full-time day job?" Then I looked and...I didn't.

Speaking of blogs, go check out Romance University. They soft-launched today and start out next week with Brenda Novak. I'm a guest professor on 5/26.

My days seem unendingly busy. I finish an editing job, feel relief for about 3.2 seconds, and another one pops in. Which is great--everything is great, I really can't complain. But I'm exhausted.

Luckily, it's T-minus 33 hours and counting until the retreat! At which I won't be blogging, probably. But the break is most definitely needed.

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I'm tired of negativity. Especially about something as unimportant as TV. Yes, entertainment is vital, and yes, it's not unimportant to those who make their living creating it. But srsly, I just want to watch and enjoy, and not feel icky because other people I don't really know are whining about stuff I love.

Which is not a rant against them, they are entitled to say what they want. I just need to avoid it.

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Here's the post I wrote yesterday but didn't get to upload until today:

I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day, despite pet problems and in-law invasions. No one deserves crap on the one day a year they get celebrated. Whether that crap is doggie diarrhea or passive-aggressive attacks on your character.

I had a fabulous day. I got breakfast made for me. It was funny--Saturday, on the way to the City Islanders soccer game, we saw that our very favorite bagel place is now open on Sunday. So I requested Bob's Bagels, and they drove over early...and found a sign on the door, "closed for Mother's Day."

I got a gift card for Amazon (hopefully--the store didn't activate it, so J's taking it back today) and the keyboard that shipped last night (hopefully it arrives before I leave for the retreat, but it's not looking good), and we had dinner at Passage to India after a gorgeous hike at the environmental site near the schools.

I also got to see Star Trek, which was so good I'm sorry I already saw it.

But let me back up. Friday night I dragged J to see Wolverine. It was great. Very well acted and structured, though I wanted a lot more Bradley, Wade, and Remy. I definitely want more Remy. I hope they do a Gambit movie next. Anyway, it was well done for a film that was basically rehashing everything we already knew, and the bit after the credits was shiver-worthy, well worth hanging around for.

Saturday we had soccer all day. The Islanders won again, which was cool. Even cooler was the Pittsburgh goalie getting red-carded. The goalie got a red card!!!!

I caught up slightly on TV this weekend, though I'm still way behind. It's okay, because the finale season makes me sad. Pretty much everything is over already, over this week, or ending next week/soon. The longer it takes me to watch, the longer I can stretch the season.

The Scrubs finale was perfectly done, though I'd have liked to see Cox's friend played by Brendan Fraser. I was very misty-eyed through most of it.

Alan Tudyk? Evil? Never thought he would make me so scared. Gah! But I love him more than ever.

So, back to Star Trek. I've never been much of a Trekkie. Casual fan. Never really saw the original, but absorbed enough to "get" the jokes/tropes/commonalities, etc. I did watch some TNG and all the movies. This one is by far the best of them.

First, I want to give kudos to the casting director and anyone else involved in that. It could not be more perfect. The only actor who didn't completely emulate a young version of his predecessor was Chris Pine as Kirk, and I can't say that a true fan wouldn't find him lacking, but I didn't. I didn't expect Karl Urban to do McCoy so well, nor did I think I could divorce Quinto from Sylar. It helped that I haven't watched Heroes for a couple of years, but even my husband, who still watches it, said he was perfect.

The plot made me squee. It connected the franchise with its past/future, grounded the characters and us in a new present, and set up a completely blank slate so they can do anything they want with additional movies.

The details were delightful. Accents and lines and mannerisms and the vastness of space, the relationships they established, the motivations...I don't know how they managed to do it all, but they did. And I have to admit, I never saw the red shirt coming. That's completely on me, because it's not like they didn't throw hints at us like darts. But the action was so very much modern adventure, all I could do was stare in exhilaration.

Anyway, go watch it. If this is at all your kind of movie, you won't be disappointed.

OMFG

I thought I was broken.

It's been a rough week, and we all know last week's episode was incredibly draining and hard, and I kept saying I couldn't do it, I couldn't watch the rest.

And today I actually thought about not watching it. I had no positive anticipation, just dread. I really felt like I could walk away and never watch it again.

Do I need to tell you I'm glad I didn't?

It's late, I'm very tired, and this week's ep was again very draining. I was het up a few minutes ago, but I fade fast nowadays. Bottom line: expect this post to be all over the place.

First, Number One and I had a brainstorming moment:

Ruby: [Lilith's] older than she looks.

Number One: But in season three, Tammy said she was a new up-and-comer in town.

Me: Well, maybe she was just new on earth.

My brain: Except she was on earth when she collected Ruby, even though that was hundreds of years ago.

Me: Or had to wait to start breaking seals until certain things were in place, like Samhain can only be raised every 600 years.

My brain: ...but hundreds of seals...can't be timing re: Samhain, jus tuse other seal...wait, what else was timing...In the Beginning...Aza--

Me: Gasp! *grabs Number One's arm*

Number One: *stares at me* Your hand is warm. Please remove it.

Me: The demon gate to hell! Lilith was in hell until Jake opened the gate! That was Azazel's plan for all that time, he was trying to get things into place to open the gate and get Lilith out! Because she was the only one who could free Lucifer!

So now it seems pretty obvious, and I'm sure most of you already thought of it. I mean, Lilith appeared after the gate opened (though many episodes after). Castiel said in "In the Beginning" that they were trying to work out Azazel's end game, and that it was tied to Lilith. The clues have been there all along, so... Anyway, it felt like a revelation to me.

Lilith eats babies. Of course. And OMGgross.

Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki knocked it out of the park. Incredible performances, especially Jared, being alone most of the time. I can't imagine withdrawal is easy to portray, what with the twitching and all.

Sam being flung around the edge of the panic room might just be the best damned stunt they've ever done.

When Castiel told Anna he had orders to set Sam free, I figured that means Dean has to save the world from Armageddon by somehow defeating Sam in some special way. It's another thing that seems obvious--if indeed it's right--but I've been fighting the whole brother-vs-brother idea very hard all season. Still, it's very Cain and Abel, so it feels right.

Anyone else think Bobby wasn't Bobby for a while? When he was telling Dean they were killing Sam, and maybe they should let him out and use him to stop Lilith, and so on, I just couldn't buy that the words were coming out of Bobby's mouth. And when Dean said no, no way, this was the line he would not cross, and Bobby looked at Dean...he looked just like Zachariah. So I'm thinking Zachariah possessed Bobby.

Now, of course, there's the whole anti-possession tattoo thing. Bobby's GOT to have one. But those charms and tattoos are to prevent demon possession. No one knew or believed the angels even existed. Plus, I think Z is powerful enough to bypass it. I know he talks to Dean next week, so maybe he'll confirm if I'm right on this.

If I'm wrong, then...bad writing, Sera. OOC beyond justification, and you all know how much I can justify. :)

But that brings me to the preview for next week.

MAJOR SPOILERS (PROMO-RELATED) FOR NEXT WEEK, PLUS SPECULATION

Sam's eyes go black. Two possibilities--he's crossed over to Monster!Sam, or he's possessed. But he has the tattoo, and Lilith said she couldn't do anything to him. Then, at the end, he says he's been waiting for this for a very long time. Well, that doesn't fit Sam, so it points to possession again. The words indicate Lilith, but that doesn't seem possible.

So I'm thinking Lucifer. I know, that doesn't suit the black eyes, but it fits everything else. It fits the "wait for long time" thing, it fits the rules of possession--Lucifer isn't a demon, either, he's an angel, and maybe a fallen one, but presumably pretty powerful--and the damned episode is titled "Lucifer Rising." If they're gonna send Dean to hell, why wouldn't they raise Lucifer? And all supernatural beings need a body to walk the earth. Lucifer would totally pick Gigantor Sam.

OOooooohhhh...I just had another thought. We've all assumed Ruby has something else in mind for Sam, right? That she probably doesn't just have simple revenge on her mind.

I bet she's been prepping Sam to host Lucifer.

OMFG.

Random Sunday

I'm not in the market for a new laptop yet, but I'm dreaming. The problem is, I hatehatehate the trackpad and that it pushes the keyboard so far back from the front of the casing. I could use a separate keyboard, but that kind of defeats the purpose of traveling light. So I'm wondering if anyone out there is aware of a laptop that either is laid out differently, with the keyboard to the front, or one with a detachable keyboard.
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My dog doesn't bark much. She does this little howl thing when she's outside and wants to come in, or when she'd happy or hungry or excited. She only does those warning barks when the oil guy comes to fill the tank.

So the other day, as I was finishing my shower, I heard her bark, loud and sharp. My first thought?

Why don't I keep salt in the bathroom?
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So I think my finger/hand will be okay. It gets aggravated a lot when I work the day job, which requires a lot of toggling (between programs) and puts lateral pressure on my middle finger. And if I'm not careful and try to hold or carry something heavy with that finger, it hurts a lot. But overall things are improving.

Slowly, though, because nothing is really helping. I got a finger kit that had a splint--that put too much pressure on the knuckle and when I took it off made it unbendable, stiff, and sore--and straps to buddy my fingers--which helped mostly at night except they'd slide off so I used tape anyway, and of course I can't type with them so I don't use them during the day--and a cool gel-freeze sleeve with a gauze finger cover for protection, that works excellently but doesn't stay cold for more than 10 minutes. *sigh* At least the kit didn't cost too much.
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My Twitter resistance is thinning. I really don't need more time sucks, as far as following people, and I don't have enough short things to say, the opportunity to post them, or the memory to do so even if I come up with ideas and opportunity.

But I almost caved this week. Someone started twitting whom I have a vested interest in following. But I settled down and just bookmarked her page.

You won't get me, Twitter! *shakes fist*

No, She Wasn't

(Spoilers for last night. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you don't care anyway. LOL)

Everyone is saying that when Jimmy's wife went off screen for a few seconds and came running back with a blanket (or whatever), that's when she was possessed. Immediately.

I say no she wasn't.

I'm not saying all those who believe she was are wrong. I'm just deliberately choosing to disagree.

First, the whole thing was heartbreaking enough. I can't stand the idea that the scene at the car wasn't real. So that's the illogical, emotional reason I say no, she wasn't.

Logistically, it doesn't quite fit, either. This episode wasn't flawless with the details. There were a few little things that didn't work. But five seconds isn't quite enough, especially when the black smoke would have had to enter her--the guys would have noticed that. Doesn't it make more sense that it happened as they drove away? I don't think we actually have her off screen, but there could have been a moment between leaving in the Impala and while they waited for Sam to do the hotwiring when she was out of view for it to happen.

If she did it right away, why wouldn't she just grab the kid again? Why go to all the trouble of letting them drive away, then calling them back? Doing so gave her time to call a couple of goon!demons to help, sure, but it also gave her a long time to try to fool three guys who are very attuned to demon possession. That's a big risk when you're trying to bide your time.

Oh, and why didn't the boys give her an anti-possession amulet? That frustrated me.

That's all I'm going to talk about here. I have really long comments on Trish's excellent recap/discussion at Supernatural Sisters, so head on over and join in! There is much angst, for sure.