Cat Nuns For All

Just had to share.

So the family and I have been watching a lot of Doctor Who lately. They're watching it for the first time and I'm having a grand old time re-watching episodes I haven't seen in years. Everybody's enjoying themselves.

Anyway, we're watching the Season 3 episode "Gridlock" and the following image pops on screen:



I immediately yelled "CAT NUN!! YAY!!!" and everyone in my family looked at me like I had suddenly grown two heads.

What can I say? Apparently, I'm very enthusiastic about cat nuns.

Weekly Reading Wrap-Up:

I said I would probably do it. And I totally did. I reread Susan Elizabeth Phillips' 'Nobody's Baby But Mine."



My take? It's still an old favorite of mine but it's not one that's easy to recommend to others. It starts out rough with some remarkably unsexy sex, a heroine who goes completely off her rocker, and a vengeful and irate hero (his reaction is more than justified). But then it gets awesome. I love the interplay between Jane and Cal. As I previously mentioned, the "cereal killer" scene and the one where Jane locks Cal out of the house are classic. Just classic. And boy do I love that reconciliation scene in the hardware store.

It's a rough go at first, but I still love it. I'm even coming around on the new cover. That cherub one's still inexcusable, though. I'm not budging there.




Next up, I read two books about... ah yes, smutty smutty cowboys. What's not to love about smutty smutty cowboys?



I enjoyed the first two entries in Vivan Arend's "Six Pack Ranch" books. They have sexy cowboys and awesome loving family dynamics. The first one, "Rocky Mountain Heat", has a spunky heroine who decides it's time to quit waiting for the object of her affection to realize she's crazy about him and to push the issue. It was fun but the heroine was a little too perfect at absolutely everything in the world for my taste. It would have been nice if she'd had some flaws.




The second one, "Rocky Mountain Haven", was my favorite of the two. Middle brother Daniel pursues the nice widow with three young boys who just moved into a rental on their ranch. The widow's still recovering from the car accident that killed her abusive husband but is ready to move on with her life and hop back onto the sex wagon. Daniel is more than willing to assist with this endeavor. A really sweet and tender romance ensues. Not too much conflict, but overall a nice satisfying read.

Verdict? I enjoyed both books and am looking forward to the next one, especially since the brother in that one got dealt a shitty hand girlfriend-wise in the first two books and is more than due for a happy ending.

Note: These books are technically contemporary erotic romance rather than regular contemporary romance because of the smut level. I thought the sexytimes were pretty mild for "erotic romance" but I may be desensitized after spending so much time with Lorelei James and her Rough Riders (those men sure do love their rope, threesomes, and lube).



To wrap up the past week or so, and to cool down from the smut a bit... I caught up with Jill Shalvis' "Lucky Harbor" Series.

The Lucky Harbor Series starts out with three half-sisters who grew up separately from each other and who come to Lucky Harbor, a small town outside of Seattle, to deal with the dilapidated inn their free-spirited mother left them when she recently died. Jill Shalvis books are like comfort food for me. They don't usually wow me, but I nearly always leave me smiling. The Lucky Harbor books are no exception.



"The Sweetest Thing" is the second book in the series and it revolves around the relationship between a prickly southern belle and the man from her past she's unsuccessfully been trying to dodge for the past six months. And then the daughter they gave up for adoption 17 years ago throws herself into the mix. I liked this one better than the first in the series. I have a weakness for prickly (i.e. bitchy) heroines so Tara worked well for me, her rather annoying "I want him to not let me walk away" issues not withstanding. The birth daughter storyline was a tad cheesy, but I could live with it.





And then I read my new favorite in the series, "Head Over Heels." My first thought when I finished it was "Who knew asthma sex could be so hot?" Yeah. There's that to recommend it. There's also the super sexy stoic sheriff hero. He's gruff and a man of few words. Doesn't need them, though.



Alright, that's it for this week! Next week's reading wrap-up promises at least one non-romance read (I know, shocking!) and a historical romance I am just finishing up now but am loving so much that it just may get it's own post.

Cover Art Gripe

I follow romance author Susan Elizabeth Phillips on facebook because she's a hoot. Her avatar recently changed to the cover art for a new edition of her book Nobody's Baby But Mine.

I am very fond of "Nobody's Baby." It's got a strange and off-putting initial premise: Socially inept yet brilliant astrophysicist Jane decides she'd like to be a mother and she wants to make sure her child has a normal IQ so that he or she can have a normal life unlike the one Jane herself had. She then proceeds to pretend to be a prostitute to seduce a famous quarterback she assumes is a dumb meathead for the express purpose of getting pregnant with his neanderthal sperm. She succeeds. He finds out and understandably loses his shit. Romance eventually ensues.

See? Whack-a-doodle.

That premise shouldn't work. It does. Phillips is a master at that. She's also a master at dialogue and whip smart banter. The fight scenes in this book kill me with how funny they are. "You're a goddamn cereal killer." gets me every time. And the groveling? Oh, the grovelling. This book has one of the best "proves his love" scenes in any novel I've ever read. So good.


Uh? I got off track there and started to gush and ramble, didn't I? Yup. Sure did.

Anyway, back to my original point (yes, there was one). Cover art!

I'm a bitch about cover art. There, I said it. I get very attached to the cover art I'm used to, especially with beloved books, and tend to universally hate change.




I don't like this cover at all. I know why it exists. It's a sweet and pretty cover designed to attract new readers. It's much softer and gentler than the previous covers this book has had.

But, for me, that's not "The Professor" on that cover. Jane, the brilliant absent-minded professor who scrawls equations on her kid's diaper when she's not paying attention, would never wear that sundress. That annoys me. I have said my piece.




This is the cover I own and think of as "the right one." That's Jane dressed like a somewhat old fashioned high-class call girl. That ribbon's a significant object in the story. I like it. It resonates with me.


Ugh, and then there's this one apparently...




Cherubs!?! Just ugh. That is all that needs to be said about that.


Cover rant (sorta?) done. I'm going to have to reread this damn book soon aren't I? Yeah, most definitely.

Doing What I Damn Well Want To Do

I want to write, frequently. Then I second guess myself and don't do it all.

I thought that starting fresh with a new blog might help the situation but, honestly, I love this little neglected blog. I love all of the red. I love my silly tag categories. I love all of the posts about reality television.

The blog makes me smile.

So it stays.

And I am damn well going to write when I want to.

Taking back my "Wow"

Amusing anecdote:

Earlier (i.e. five minutes ago because the joke won't be funny in another five minutes), I'm fiddling around with a trivia game on my iPhone when the category "Physics" comes up. Surprised and a bit impressed, I think "Wow. Really? Ok, let's do this." and wait for the question.

"The study of animals is called what?" pops up on the screen.

I want my "Wow" back.

Old Jokes Are The Best Kind

Silliness today is making me think of the best "mishearing" that I have ever accomplished.

The conversation, from about 5 years ago, went as follows:

- Wait, what did you just say?
- "My Mommy think I'm cute."
- Oh, ok. That's makes a lot more sense.
- Why? What did you think I said?
- "My monkey says Fuck You."


One of my finest moments right there.

Song Loop!

Am I the only person who gets a song in my head and then happily listens to it over and over and over and over again on repeat?

I do it all of the time.

My current obsession?


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYn8a1ZVoNo)

Huey! Oh, I love this song. For the last year, it's been getting heavy rotation on one of the internet radio stations my uncle listens to in his office and every single time I heard it I would sing and dance along and declare "I NEED this song. I love it." Yet, I'm a fickle bitch so I did nothing about it.

Until today. Now I can play it to death on my ipod.

A Little Naked Pool To Soothe The Soul

Had a really tense and awful day on the back of weeks of tenseness and worry.

The bright spot of my day? This:












Community. Funniest comedy on television at the moment. Hands down.

Yet Another Guilty Pleasure

Just what I needed in my life. Another guilty pleasure.

I have an unjustifiable fondness for "candid" or "day-in-the-life" reality shows.

Yeah, I admitted to it.

You would think, after falling madly in love with shows called One Tree Hill and The Vampire Diaries (though that one is getting an entire post on why it's actually balls-to-the-wall fabulous and not a guilty pleasure at all), there would be little to be embarrassed by. Oh, how you'd be wrong.

I have watched two entire seasons of The Real Housewives of New York City, the entire first season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey, every episode of Kendra, a slew of episodes of The Girls Next Door, the entire Rachel Zoe Project, and most of the last season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

Pheww. I admitted it out loud, and it's ok.

They're not the worst the genre has to offer, but there's only occasional redeeming moments to most of them (and none at all to RHONJ). A couple of points in their favor: I love Bethenny Frankel and Kendra Wilkinson. They're both incredibly entertaining and seem genuine. I got to see a woman scream "Prostitution Whore!" and throw a table on RHONJ. Kendra and Rachel Zoe have the two most supportive and loving husbands on reality television. And the Kardashians brought a surprisingly emotional and touching episode involving the birth of Kourtney Kardashian's son. I will never forget watching her reach down and literally pull him out of her body by his shoulders. It needs to be seen to be believed.


So, what brought on this post? Well, I spent $1.99 on itunes today and purchased the latest episode of Bethenny Gettign Married?, the new spin-off to RHONY. And I did not regret a penny of it.


Ok, it's bedtime now because I've recently discovered that if I go to bed before midnight, then I don't wake up in the morning from crazy-ass nightmares. More on why Bethenny Getting Married? is actually an awesome show tomorrow.

Apparently, Jesus Walks

I woke up this morning with Kanye West rapping Jesus Walks in my head for no apparent reason that I can discern. (I also woke from yet another dream in which I was being pursued by a serial killer).

And then it continued. All. Damn. Day.

So, in an effort to get the earworm out of my brain... I pulled the song up on my ipod. And after it was done, Jesus Wrote A Blank Check by Cake started to play and, being a moron, my first thought was "Gosh, my ipod's found religion" and then my second, far more reasonable thought, was "...or I've got the shuffle feature turned off."

Want to know exactly how many songs starting with "Jesus" I have on my ipod? Three.

The best, and last to play, was Wilco's Jesus, Etc. I love singing that song.

So, how religious is your ipod?

Some Good Old Fashioned Mocking.

I spent a solid ten minutes today laughing uncontrollably and mocking my dog, who got herself stuck wrapped around a bush and had to bark for assistance.

My favorite part of the whole debacle is the irony. See, she couldn't have reached that bush and gotten herself trapped if she hadn't first broken free and pulled the stake that her leash is attached to out of the ground.

This is the first time I've found her trapped in a bush. Usually she gets stuck in the retaining wall blocks stacked up against our house. That scenario has the added hilarity bonus of finding her trapped while precariously sitting over a foot in the air on blocks.

Oh, silly Pepper. Bushes aren't for dogs.

Crazy Stalkers and Flame Engulfed Pianos, Oh My!

Oh, I am so thankful "One Tree Hill" is back on air in all of it's crazy glory.

It's stalker time again! It's been a whole two seasons since OTH has had an obsessive stalker! And this one? This one is a mental patient off her lithium meds who happens to be identical in appearance to a character's dead wife (because they're played by the same actress, naturally). And she was last seen stealing his wedding video and re-enacting it on her sofa. Heehee, oh the soapy goodness.




Oh, and did you know that depression could lead you to accidentally spill your martini on your piano but then intentionally set fire to it with the lit candles you keep on top of said piano while you're playing it? Well, then this public service announcement was for you. Now you know.

A Little More Dialogue To Tide You Over

Not to be outdone in the ridiculous quote department by my sister, here are some gems from my littlest brother that I found in my unpublished drafts:

-Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooom! Can. I. Have. Some. More. ChocolateMilk. PLEASE?!?
-No.
-I won't puke! I PROMISE!
-No.
-Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!
-No.

-**knock** Is somebody in there?!
-Yes! I'll be out in a minute.
**silence**
-DO NOT GET NAKED IN THE HALLWAY!
**silence**
-DO NOT!
-I'm not!
- (yeah right)

Makeover!

Well, this sadly neglected blog has a gotten a much needed makeover.

It's so red and pretty now!!! Yay!

I've also gone back and properly labeled posts so that it's easier to find things. My favorite labels are "This Here Post Is Mostly Video" and "Yes I'm a Crazy Person." Now all of the other labels need clever titles to match... which is so not happening. Got any suggestions?

There are still some tweeks to be made but now I'm in the process of working on new content to make the makeover worth the effort. I'm trying! Posts by the end of the week on ice cream and hip hop dancing! I PROMISE this time.

Oh, and I've been getting some anonymous posting recently, so if you've stumbled here from somewhere else I've been writing or from the internet at large, feel free to say hello! All are welcome.

Helping Around the House

When I help around the house, it usually involves mopping the kitchen floor, sorting the kids' toy room, and shampooing the carpets.

When my sister helps out around the house, the following sentences tend to come out of her mouth:

"Dammit, I need a chain saw."

"I don't want to destroy it! I want to put it in a glass box and look at it!"

"Well, the carburetor needs to be taken out and dusted off."

"I can make it flat. I just need a shovel."

"The whole point of working out here today is to get a tan, so I'm not worried about getting out of the sun."

"I moved a few till I founds lots of bugs. Then I got grossed out and ran away,"

Boy, has it been an adventure-filled day.