Random Vampire Books

After Sense & Sensibility and Persuasion, I needed to take a break and read something mindless.  I went to my favorite second hand bookstore and picked up some cheap paranormal paperbacks.
Mary Janice Davidson's "Dead and" series is entertaining and fun so I picked up a collection of short stories.  I've never been a prude but there was so much straight up porn in these stories that I felt a little dirty.
If I want that much sex, I'll watch real porn!
I picked up another author I've never read before, Kimberly Raye.  It wasn't the first book in this particular series but I didn't know that until I got home with it.  It was mindless and entertaining....just what I want in my paranormal fiction.  But I guess this is becoming the norm in this genre...the explicit sex.  And please believe me when I say I AM NOT A PRUDE!  Without over-sharing, I've been known to be a little wild but for some reason, having to read in EXCRUCIATING detail about how and where two people put their mouths and fingers, where they are tingling and bodily fluids galore is a bit off-putting - to put it mildly.
This is why I stopped reading Laurell K. Hamilton.  I loved the first several Anita Blake books but suddenly, each book became more about near hard core porn than about paranormal escapades.  They were all sex, no plot.  Seriously.

So, I guess I'll keep looking for the perfect mix of fantasy and subtle sexuality.
Or maybe I'm just getting old.  *sigh*

Persuasion by Jane Austen

I've been so MIA that I've had a hard time finding myself!
Jane Austen has been difficult for some of the participants but there are at least two of us who are loving every second.

Life got overly dramatic for me in the middle of Persuasion but I persevered and really enjoyed it.
So many people told me this is their favorite Austen novel and although I really enjoyed it, I can't say I liked it more than S&S. 

I just love the way Jane Austen fleshes out her characters.  They are so multi-layered and their faults aren't hidden. 
Anne is a goody goody but everyone adores her...I even liked her and I hate goody goodies! (Not really!)
I loved how Captain Wentworth gave her the cold shoulder at first, too.  She sort of deserved it for not standing up to Lady Russell!

Pride and Prejudice is next.  I've read this one before but I'll give it a once-over to refresh my drink.

It's hurricane season...pass the Xanax

Oh Lord...here we go.
There is a tropical thing/disturbance/pain-in-the-ass out there. The media vultures are loving this. They are practically peeing in their collective pants.
Like I don't have anxiety issues enough as it is, they lead the news at every turn with this thing and of course we have a reason to worry....the oil spill.
I don't even want to imagine the horror of a hurricane blowing right through that oil cover a large portion of the Gulf. I just can't think about it.

So, I've turned my attention to World Cup soccer, baseball, iPhone iOS4 and Doctor Who.
USA is playing Ghana today and I'll get home just in time to watch most of that.
The Astros broke the Rangers' 11 game winning streak last night, so that was exciting.
I'm loving the new operating system for my iPhone that came out this week! Sure, merged mailboxes, faster, zoomier cameras and multitasking is awesome but I now get to put a pretty wallpaper on my home screen. Yay!

Who knows if anyone is reading this besides Colin but just in case....
I know times are tough out there for so many of us. I'm struggling day to day myself but most of us are doing better than others. I can feed my dogs, buy them flea prevention and treats and sometimes buy food for myself so I think I'm pretty fortunate.
Some people are really trying and still can't seem to make it. I've been reading Libby's blog for a long time and her posts and pictures are super charming. She's having a lot of problems right now and needs some help.
Just thought I'd pass it on.

Told You So

I KNEW it! Britney didn't have a stylist for her train wreck interview. This girl is just plain losing it.

From NY Post: "Dateline" staffers were shocked when they showed up with Matt Lauer to interview Spears last week and found the pop star alone in her Malibu manse. "Neither of her publicists, Leslie Sloane Zelnick or Nanci Ryder, showed up," said our source.

Ok...I'm shutting up about Britney Spears now. You'd think I was obsessed or something.

link stolen from Pink Is the New Blog

Tidbits and crapfests

I've had a really bad week.
Our network went down and I was afraid we were infected. It took a team of three IT people (me and two others) to get things back up and running.
I'm still VERY cautious....I just can't believe we did it and it all seems very precarious right now.

For four days, I've been super stressed out and the only thing that made me feel better was the fact that I found episodes of Last of the Summer Wine on You Tube and I've been able to watch them on my iPhone at home.
I'm VERY excited about this discovery!

I would be excited about World Cup but I don't have cable so I'll just have to read about it.

I have a birthday coming up...tomorrow to be exact.
A friend took me to dinner Wednesday night and gave me a gift card to Massage Envy. Believe it or not, I've never had a professional massage! After this crapfest of a week, I decided to take this afternoon off and go get that massage!
I can't wait!

Baseball and.....hotdogs?

Well this was good news to my newly vegetarian ears.

Minute Maid Park's Veggie Menu Gets PETA Love

According to PETA, MMP has all sorts of stuff like "veggie burritos, quinoa tabbouleh, and sun-dried tomato rigatoni, all new for the 2010 season. Minute Maid Park also serves up hearty veggie dogs, Thai noodle salad, hummus and vegetable wraps, vegetarian sushi, fruit smoothies, rice and beans, and organic baby-vegetable ratatouille."

Where IS this stuff? It took me two trips to the ballpark to find the veggie hotdogs.

Do they supply a food map?

Jonesin....

for a new tattoo.

Someone stop me!