LSMs

Okay, I'm late. Sorry. I don't have any nominees today, do you?

In Memory . . .

A nice way to remember a troubled man who nonetheless was a genius in his field and made an immense contribution. I hope you will enjoy watching this again.

Have you seen these kids????

My Rant For the Day

Hello my friends and welcome. My name is Erika and I am not a perfect parent. I have lost my temper, I have yelled at my kids, I have said things that I have had to apologize for later. None of these things make me an unfit mother. None of these things have ever gotten me reported to CPS or the Phoenix Police Department.

The cover of In Touch weekly features Kate Gosselin spanking her daughter once, on the butt, with the palm of her hand. SERIOUSLY? The front page of a magazine? I do not advocate spanking. I don't spank my kids but it's my own personal decision for my own personal reasons just like I'm sure all of you have your own personal reasons for the way you discipline your children. Having said that, spanking is not against the law, so please explain to me why the cover of In Touch magazine made it a point of letting the entire world know that Kate Gosselin was caught spanking her daughter and the police arrived minutes later? The police department went on the record to say that they arrived at the house because too many people were gathered outside watching. Do these people not have anything better to do with their time? Who sits in front of someone else's house watching them sit in their front yard with their children? WHO DOES THIS? Witnesses were reported as saying "The little girl grabbed her botton in pain...she was crying..." Of course she was. She got in trouble for doing something wrong. My kids burst into tears at the idea of being in trouble.

The article also goes on to say that Kate's always distracted by her phone. This accusation is accompanied by 4 photos of Kate on her cell phone or looking at her cell phone in front of her children. Again I say, SERIOUSLY?

All of you perfect parents out there, raise your hands. *crickets chirping* All of you who think you would be perfect parents and don't actually have children, all you can do is assume. People in glass houses . . .

The media needs to quit scrutinizing every move this woman makes. She's only human.

Kay, I'm done. What do you think? Am I way out of line?

League of Shirtless Men!

LSM Nomination Day

I'M BACK! I was out of town last week, but I'm back and ready for some half naked men!

I don't have a theme this week. Does anyone have suggestions for next week?

My nominee this week is Daniel Dae Kim



My DD's nomination is Tyson Beckford



Who are you thinking of?

BTW NOTE:

I have somehow ended up with TWO copies of Blood Magic. SO! Any of you who either haven't read it (shame on you) or have read it but don't own your copy. Let me know and I'll ship you mine. If there is more than one of you, youngest will draw a name out of a hat.

You've got to check this out

Creepy or really cool?

Useless Information About Me

I was over at Jill Shalvis' blog the other day and she was sharing information that you may or may not know about her and I thought, this is a good idea.

Here are a few things about me that aren't important, but help make up who I am:

I love to drive fast. It's a compulsion. I'm one of those people. You know the ones I'm talking about. You're driving along doing the speed limit or 5 miles over and that jackass pulls up behind you and can't get around you fast enough, only to have to stop 3 blocks ahead at the exact same light that you had to stop at. You sit in your car and think, good thing you raced to this red light, jerk. Yeah, that's me, I'm not trying to be an ass, I just like to go faster than you.

I am addicted to video games. When I was a kid it was Ms. Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. Now I play things like Chocolatier, Supermarket Mania and CSI.

I love ice cream. I can turn down almost any dessert except ice cream.

I like to play tennis. I took lessons when I was a kid and didn't do much with them, but i still love to play. Now if I could only find someone else who would play with me I'm sure it would be much more entertaining.

I like fresh cut flowers. I don't care if they die shortly after you get them, for the time that they are sitting pretty in a vase on my kitchen table or counter they brighten up the room.

Finally, I can hold a grudge forever. It's not something I'm proud of, but it's true. I'm trying to get over it. Really I am.

What about you? Anything you'd like to share with the entire world wide web?

Jon & Kate Plus 8

OH. MY. Who would want their entire life displayed on national cable television for the whole world to see and judge?? Not me.

I will admit I have never watched this show until about two minutes ago. I decided since I was going to blog about it and take a side I should be informed. I watched this episode where the dog Nala had to go to the vet because she ate one of the kid's toys. A stuffed pony.

I don't think Kate is all that bad. She's a woman who is taking care of 8 kids, count them EIGHT with little or no help from the man she's married to, who by the way, doesn't seem to have a job. I didn't see anything wrong with her parenting skills or the way she treated her husband. He does step up to the plate when she goes out of town on business trips, but when she was home I didn't see him helping out, of course I only watched one episode, I could be wrong.

Also, I'm not sure Jon has a ton of common sense. The vet told him the dog had to stay calm. Not chasing the kids or being chased by the kids. Calm for two weeks. When they get the dog home what does he do? He lets the other dog out of the kennel and let's them both go run around outside to play, chasing and jumping on each other. This is not calm.

As far as I can tell Kate is an ordinary wife and mom. What mom doesn't lose her temper? What wife doesn't wonder what the heck her husband was thinking when he did X? What mom doesn't tell her kids to sit down and be quiet? Kate found out her husband was cheating on her about the same time the rest of the world did. If your husband cheats on you or my husband cheats on me it's a private matter. We deal with it privately, we cry privately or we beat the crap out of him privately. She doesn't have this luxury. You can say she asked for it when she allowed her life to be aired on television, but do you really think she thought that was going to happen? Do you think she thought this would be part of the story America would follow? Or do you think she thought it would be a show about the happiness of her family. How she and her husband band together to raise EIGHT children.

This is what I know, if it were my life being aired on national cable television you all would be giving my husband an award for putting up with me. You would be calling me names and criticizing my every move. You all would have a say on what you thought was best for my children and I would have to tell all of you to bite me. No one has a perfect life. No one. What's that saying about walking a mile in someone else's shoes?

72 Year Old Great Grandma Tasered by Texas Constable

Does anyone else think maybe this officer of the law overacted just a touch? I'd love to hear what you think.



UPDATE

So I asked Karin Tabke what was the deal with signing a speeding ticket. In the state of California they can take you to jail for refusing to sign. WHO KNEW? Karin did. So I looked it up online and found this answer. Note: this is not specific to any one state, just a general answer.

What could happen if a police officer wanted me to sign a traffic ticket and I refused?

The traffic ticket contains an actual notice to you of a pending court date at which you must appear. By signing the ticket, you are providing an acknowledgment of receipt of the "notice to appear." Since the officer is charging you with a violation of law, he could take you into custody. By signing the traffic ticket, you avoid being taken into custody at that time, and are "released on your own recognizance" pending the court date. It is better to sign the traffic ticket and go about your business pending the court date. By signing the traffic ticket, you remain free and retain the right to show up at the hearing to contest the issuance of the citation or summons. A person is free to refuse to sign the traffic ticket; however, the police officer is free to place him/her under arrest and take him/her into custody.

Sometimes Sexy Wears A Shirt - dammit

Sometimes Sexy Wears a Shirt - Part 2

Due to popular demand Sexy Wears A Shirt is back for one more week. Who are you thinking of ladies?




















On a separate subject, sort of, I saw this online yesterday and just had to share.

Top 5 reasons a guy dumps a girl he's into

5. We're Too into You
Just when you thought it was all bad news, here's a hard-to-fess-up admission: Guys are protective of their emotions. Translation: We're scared spitless of being hurt. So, if we start to feel like we're getting into a situation where we'll be destroyed if you dump us, we might launch a preemptive strike and yank the plug first.

Say it with me ladies . . .

LOSER!!!!!!!

Summer Vacation

Do you remember when you were a kid and you didn't think summer vacation would ever get here? I used to count down until summer vacation, usually starting around winter break. Finally summer would arrive and I was SO grateful. FINALLY! When I was in grade school/middle school I would go to a sleep away camp for a couple of weeks every summer. I always had a great time but finally got too old (or too cool, I can't remember) to want to go. Once I got into high school I spent my summer vacations sleeping in (until noon), watching education specials on television (MTV, Bon Jovi videos), and eating gourmet meals whenever I felt like it (cereal). It was totally awesome for about three weeks, then I was completely bored. *sigh*

I grew up in a neighborhood that wasn't close to anything. There wasn't a movie theater, mall or video game arcade within walking distance. The bus didn't travel that far north yet and none of my friends had cars because none of us were old enough to drive. So guess what we did during the summer. Go ahead guess. . . . We hung out with the boys!I got my first kiss the summer of 7th grade with a boy named Rogers. After that, well, I was hooked.

My daughter is going into high school this fall. Am I worried that she's spending her summers with boys? Nope. Wanna know why, even if you don't I'm gonna tell ya. Because she has a little brother at home who will totally tell.

What do you remember about your summer vacations? Do you have a favorite memory? Were you home alone like I was or was your mom a stay at home mom?

Smiley Test

This is a test. This is only a test. If this were an actual post there might have actually been some thought put into it.

Nico - So You Think You Can Dance, Canada

Thank you Janet for the heads up for this hottie. Ladies, I give you Nico, Winner of So You Think You Can Dance, Canada. . .

So You Think You Can Dance

So I'm now watching So You Think You Can Dance. I heard that Chelsey Hightower and Lacy Schwimmer both came to DWTS from this show so I thought I would check it out. Last night was the Las Vegas Top 20 results.

My pick Brandon Bryant is in. Did any of you watch this? Did you see the way Mia and Lil C laid into this kid? Check it out on the video below, he starts at 8:03 into the video, I think you can fast forward. It continues on the second video at the begining.





Do you think when the judges are harsh like this it only puts more fans on the contestants side? Like when Len laid into Ty Murray on DWTS and told him it was time for him to go and yet, the fans kept him in it. What do you think, do you think this will hurt Brandon or increase his votes?

"Black Moments"

The other day over at Murder She Writes S.J. Day blogged about "Black Moments". Black Moments are the moment when you're positive that there is absolutely nothing that will get the H/H together. There is no will and there is no way. At least that's what I gathered from the post. Many people had many comments on this topic and quite frankly I was left a little confused. If this sounds at all sarcastic I don't mean it to, I'm genuinely concerned for the future of my book.

After reading this post I began racking my brain. Black moments, black moments. I started thinking about all of my favorite books, Bet Me, The List, The Horse Whisperer, Anges & the Hitman. . . black moments, black moments. It was driving me crazy. I don't know if I can find the "black moments" in these books. It's my understanding that it's not a "black moment" if the characters just need to get their sh*t together and talk it out. If it's a problem that can be talked out, it doesn't count.

*** SPOILER ALERT for above mentioned books ***



So let's talk it out. *giggle* In The Horse Whisperer Tom Booker dies, unlike in the damn movie, but we're not discussing that today, so there's no way in hell the H/H are getting together in the end of this story. In The List Abby is pretty sure Jack is trying to kill her and once he explains that it wasn't him, it was "the other guy" and "the other guy" proves him right the H/H are together. You have your HEA. In Bet Me once Cal & Min are both able to get past their own insecurities they're together. HEA baby. I don't think there is a moment like that in Anges & the Hitman. Shane kills all the people trying to kill Anges, discovers his own identity and that's kinda it. HEA.

Do you think these are "black moments"? Does it make them bad books if they're not? Please please blog readers I want and need to know what you think. Am I defining "black moment" incorrectly? HELP ME!

Sometimes Sexy Wears a Shirt . . . dammit

Sorry for the delay. Here we go . . .

Ahhh . . . the sad truth is . . .

sometimes sexy wears a shirt . . .

Nominate your favorite sexy man who wears a shirt. Maybe later we can try to talk him out of it. *grin*

Lover Avenged

Lover Avenged by JR Ward (7th book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series)

Rehvenge, owner of ZeroSum, brother of Bella, newly appointed leader of the glymera and half sympath has been asked to assassinate Wrath, the Blind King. Rehvenge has troubles of his own and has tried to stay clear of the Brotherhood. If his sympath identity was ever revealed it would mean exile to the sympath colony and death at the hands of the sympath community for being a half breed. Through all the chaos he finds Ehlena, a nurse at Haver's clinic who is free from the corruption and unscrupulous dealings that are part of his every day world. For Rehvenge, Ehlena represents all that is good, kind and decent, the kind of woman that Rehvenge knows he will never be good enough for.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love JR Ward's work. Lover Enshrined was not my favorite BDB book; I was leary as to where this book was headed, but I preordered it anyway because I'm loyal like that. Or stupid. ANYWAY, I was not disappointed.

Lover Avenged is different from the other BDB books in the fact that this isn't just Rehvenge's story. While other BDB books covered some other information of other characters, I feel that Lover Avenged gives you not only Rehevenge's story, which is the bulk of the book, but also has a subplot for Wrath & Beth, John & Xhex and plenty of insight into the sypath society. Tohr is back and the fallen angel Lassiter, who, I believe it would make sense, is the first character is JR Ward's new series Covet: A Novel of the Fallen Angels. The book jacket says to go to her website for more information, but I couldn't find a link for it or information about it, so I just have to assume it's coming.

Overall I thought Lover Avenged was a great book, albeit a little long. JR Ward takes you deep into Rehvenge's head and you understand the why fors of his actions. Ehlena is a character equal to Rehvenge. I don't want to give too much away so we'll just leave it at that.