The LSM otherwise known as The League of Shirtless Men

My daughter and I created a club for all men who should never be allowed to wear shirts. (does this make me a bad role model??) We have decided it is selfish to keep this only for ourselves and are opening our "club" to the public. *grin* We have compiled a list of all existing men that we have already inducted into the "league". (See photos below) If you would like to become a member the requirements for membership are listed below.

RULES OF MEMBERSHIP

1. You have to be female (sorry)
2. You have to love shirtless men
3. You have to nominate someone into the "league" who is not already there
4. You must bring cookies to at least one meeting (kidding....kinda)

***UPDATE****

I would like to introduce our newest members of the LSM club: Ban, Silver and Jen. Welcome aboard ladies, we are happy to have you. I have added your inductees to the member *snicker* list. Happy viewing!

EXISTING INDUCTEES

HAIR! ARGH!

I have naturally curly hair, and while some women respond quite bitterly when they learn this I am here to go on record as saying this, it's not all it's cracked up to be. Some women have beautiful natural curls. They wake up in the morning, wash their hair, run a pick through it and begin their day with beautiful curls without any work at all. Kinda like this chick over here. We don't like her.

Then there are the naturally curly hair people like me. While this is not an actual picture of me, the hair is a close relative. The only time my hair has had pretty curls is when my stylist was using me as a guinea pig and permed it. How wrong is that???? I have naturally curly hair, I am never suppose to need a perm. EVER. *sigh* The sad truth of it is, not all naturally curly hair is pretty. It's unfortunate and it sucks for those of us who have to live with it.

SO - in order to combat this unruly mass on top of my head I spend my morning straightening my hair. First with the blow dryer and then with a curling iron. I used to use a flat iron, but then it just laid there, in my face, doing nothing at all, with no semblance of style what so ever. So I'm back to using the old fashioned curling iron, not at all like I used to. (Remember the early 90's?)

To get to the point of my rant, this morning I was curling my hair with that stupid curling iron and I burned my forehead. Yes, you heard me correctly. In my vain attempt to be beautiful I burned my damn forehead. Now I have a big red burn mark above my right eyebrow. *sigh* It sucks to be a girl sometimes.

So in case any of you are just as lame with a curling iron, flat iron, etc. here is what WEBmd says to do when you scorch yourself:

http://firstaid.webmd.com/tc/burns-topic-overview

By the way, TGIF everybody and happy reading.

RENT

Alas, RENT is no longer on Broadway and it's a shame. They had a good run though, 12 years. Some say that RENT wouldn't have been the success that it was if the writer of the "rock opera", Jonathan Larson, hadn't died suddenly the night before opening day. I disagree and I think anyone who has seen RENT would also.

RENT was here recently and I had the pleasure of seeing it one last time with my BFF and my daughter with two of the original cast members (Anthony Rapp & Adam Pascal). I can't even describe how amazing it was and the women who played Mimi Marquez (Lexi Lawson) and Maureen Johnson (Nicolette Hart) were absolutely awesome.

I wanted to link the video for You Tube here, but I can't figure it out, SO instead here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aky2XUYRrA

So, do you have a favorite play or musical?

What I learned this weekend

My Internet was down for nearly 5 days. FIVE DAYS! I had no idea that I relied on the Internet as much as I do. I was having withdrawals. I couldn't check my favorite blogs, I had no idea how to find out what was playing at the movie theater. I had to locate the yellow pages (the actual books) to get the phone number to the Chinese place down the street, I had to look on my bank statement to find out how to check my balance. I was just shocked at how much I use the Internet for. Thank goodness for my friends Donna & Renada who allowed me to use their Internet to check my e-mail and check up on my favorite blogs. *applause applause*

SO, you're probably wondering what I did with myself all weekend...okay, you're probably not, but I'm going to tell you anyway. I finally finished all of the grunt work so that I could my taxes done, I read Blood Magic from start to finish (excellent read BTW), I harassed my husband into cleaning out the closet and I caught up on a lot of television that I had taking up space on my DVR. I hung out with my really cool 13 year old daughter and with my bestest friend in the whole world Renada. Then, finally, on Sunday *hear the angels sing* the Cox guy came out and hooked up my Internet. The clouds parted, the sun was shining, I had Internet once again.

So my question for the day is this: Am I pathetic and sad or what? Do you all use your internet as much as I use mine or do I just need to get a life?

Happy Reading!

Just the Sexiest Man Alive

I'm not a reviewer. I've never written a review for a book in my life. That being said, I wanted to let anyone who reads this entry to know that I finished reading Just The Sexiest Man Alive by Julie James and it's definately one for the to be read/bought list.



Here's the premise:



COOL. CALM. COLLECTED.
Nothing fazes Taylor Donovan. In the courtroom she never lets the opposition see her sweat. In her personal life, she never lets any man rattle her–not even her cheating ex-fiancé. So when she’s assigned to coach People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” for his role in his next big legal thriller, she refuses to fall for the Hollywood heartthrob’s charms. Even if he is the Jason Andrews.

CONFIDENT. FAMOUS. IRRESISTIBLE.
Jason Andrews is used to having women fall at his feet. When Taylor Donovan gives him the cold shoulder, he’s thrown for a loop. She’s unlike any other woman he’s ever met: uninterested in the limelight, seemingly immune to his advances, and shockingly capable of saying no to him. She’s the perfect challenge. And the more she rejects him, the more he begins to realize that she may just be his perfect match. . .


This is Julie James debut novel and what a debut it is. The characters and the dialogue in this book are amazing. Taylor Donovan is witty, sarcastic and sensible while Jason Andrews is a prize jackass who will have you rolling your eyes at his arrogance and self importance yet somehow manages to be charming and likable.

While I was reading this book there were points where I actually had to put it down to wipe the tears from my eyes I was laughing so hard. Julie James has made me a fan, I am definitely buying Practice Makes Perfect.

Favorite author, not so favorite book...

There are certain authors, we all have them, that we buy their books as soon as they come out. No questions asked, we just assume that it's going to be wonderful because why wouldn't it be? I have a list of these authors: Jennifer Crusie, Janet Evanovich, JR Ward, Jennifer Lyon aka Jennifer Apodaca, (I'm noticing a "J" theme here) and a lot of others. I have recently purchased a book, not written by anyone listed on this page, that I am struggling to get through. Each paragraph is making it harder and harder to get through, but I am determined. I love this author, I'm sure it has to get better. Right? I mean I'm only on page 182 out of 232, there's still time isn't there?

*WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR INTERNET IS DOWN? YOU HAVE TIME TO FINISH A BOOK BEFORE YOU FINISH YOUR POST*

Okay, so while I was waiting for the highly qualified Qwest guy to finish upgrading my Internet (4 hours later) I had time to finish the above mentioned book. I liked the end but I didn't think it was ever going to come. So do you think this author ran this draft by any of her friends first? I mean it got published so that says something, but I'm not really sure what...

Have you ever run into a book like this? Did you finish it and if not do you wish you had?

Ideas, Ideas, Ideas. How do you fit them all in?

I have LOTS of ideas for stories. I can hear the characters of these stories bumping into each other in my head saying things such as "When is it going to be MY turn??" I try to explain to these characters that I'm only one person. One person who is trying to raise two kids, work a full time job, be a wife, keep the house reasonably clean (everyone has their own definition of what that means) and love and take care of my two dogs. The characters don't care. They keep insisting that nothing is more important than their particular story. I assure them all that eventually they will all get written, but they're very impatient.

The characters I'm currently trying to pacify are Carly and Jack. The reason I chose their story first is because they were the loudest. They hound me every where I go. Work, the shower, my first cup of coffee in the morning. They're EVERYWHERE! The good news about Jack and Carly is that they are both very vocal. They have given me more information on their past and their personalities, their likes, their dislikes, their friends and their families than I will ever be able to put to good use. Initially I thought all this information would come in very handy, I'm finding though that it's kind of getting in my way.

I had this whole outline of how this story would be written. I had my beginning, my middle and my end. I had a plan dammit. I was ready. They balked. Can you believe it? Who do they think is writing this story anyway??? I initially thought it was me, I can hear you laughing, but apparently I was mistaken. Who knew? I finally had to buy a digital recorder to catch all their chatter.

So my question is, how do authors find time for everything in their lives? Anyone?

Happy Reading!