The Geek Inside

2012-01-05T21:25:00.002-07:00

The Thorn and the Blossom: A Two-Sided Love Story by Theodora Goss
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a love story - the story of Evelyn and Brendan. I really enjoyed this book - the format is something I think a lot of people will be talking about. It's printed "accordion-style" and you can either read Evelyn's story first or Brendan's, it doesn't really matter, they both read from front to back, from different ends of the book.

Evelyn is an American who sometimes "sees things" like fairies and trolls that no one else sees and is always being told she's too imaginative for her own good and that she needs to get more serious with her life. She feels herself needing a break, and takes a week's vacation in Cornwall where she meets Brendan, who along with his father owns an old bookstore in town. He tells her of the legends of the Queen of Cornwall and her lover, Gawan, a knight who comes to her rescue. They're cursed for their true love to spend 1,000 years apart. Evelyn and Brendan have feelings for each other but Evelyn has another vision and flees to America.

Of course, years later, in America, they come together again. Can they get past the visions Evelyn has? Are they the modern version of the Queen and The Knight? Has their 1,000 year separation finally come to an end, or are they destined to be parted yet again?

As in any good love story, things come between Evelyn and Brendan, and I was anxious that their story be resolved in a happy way. I'll admit it here: I'm a sucker for a good story of Hope - the promise of happiness is so important and so many stories don't give you that.

I enjoyed this book, it's shorter than most books I read but definitely packs a punch. I loved the way the book is styled, though I kept dropping it all over the place (I blame that on me, not the book). I loved the drawings, they really added to the feel of the story. I gave it 5 stars because even though the stories aren't long, they surprised me with their charm.

I read the book Evelyn's story first, then Brendan's story. Just in case you're interested. I'm sure it would have been different had I read his story first but it just seemed to me that's how it needed to be done.

* Note: I received a review copy from Quirk Books, but as always, my opinions and the review above are my own.

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An awesome Christmas gift for the music lover in your life!

2011-12-07T09:30:00.001-07:00

I was lucky enough to recently receive a review copy of Quirk Books' Gig Posters Volume 2 by Clay Hayes. What an awesome book! It's huge, first of all, and loaded full of amazing posters for music shows. I personally love music posters - I grew up in the era of record albums and would spend hours looking at the sleeves and the liner notes. There was plenty of room for art and there were always all sorts of cool things inside. Music posters are, to me, right along the same line.

The book is sorted by the artists who created the posters, with assorted small pictures and a full page spread of some of their work. There are descriptions of the posters from how they were made to how the ideas for the designs came about.

Now, the quality of these photos here isn't the best because I took the pictures, but the book is really nice. There's a great variety of bands - from world famous to I-never-heard-of-them-before but the posters are all top notch and from shows in the last year or two.

The best part of the book? All of the full size posters are perforated so you can remove them from the book, frame them and hang them on your wall! Now my only problem is finding enough wall space.

Find out more about Gig Posters Volume 2 at Quirk Books' official webpage (click on link): Quirk Books.

I'll admit I find this funny.

2011-11-30T13:54:00.001-07:00

Even my dad knows how it rolls...thanks, Dad.

2011-11-29T06:36:00.001-07:00

2011-11-17T14:26:00.001-07:00

Why I love my husband.

Last night, while watching TV a commercial for a highly anticipated supernatural movie coming out tonight at midnight came on. I loved the first book in the series, but even though I read all the other books, nothing lived up to the first book.

I saw the first movie too, but you know, I just refuse to see any of the other ones. I'm sorry. I just can't.

Anyway, the commercial comes on and my husband stops the commercial, freezing it on the wolves, and yells "Tony, Jessica is cheating on you with Mark!"

I would say that 99.9% of you wouldn't have any idea what that meant, but a man that can randomly reference Lumpy Space Princess from Adventure Time has my heart, always.

(LSP from adventuretime.wikia.com. Wolves from TheTwilightSaga.com

Even The Losers Get Lucky, Sometimes.

2011-10-28T11:47:00.004-07:00

Today I read online that Jim Ladd was "let go" from KLOS 95.5 radio in LA. Jim Ladd has been a DJ for as long as I can remember - a DJ along the lines of Wolfman Jack or Casey Kasem (if you're old enough to remember them) - a DJ who played what he wanted to play, no matter what. He didn't use set lists. He didn't have a programming manager, he just played music.

Music today has become something that's corporate owned, and corporate run. I love 100.7 KSLX, the local classic rock station, but I can't tell you the crap I get from one of my best friends (who, by the way, owns a record store here in town) about how KSLX only plays the top one or two songs from all of the bands they play and you NEVER hear anything deep or different.

While they do have my heart, and my ears, I do have to agree with him.

I propose a radio takeover. One night a week, one hour a night, one weekend day, something - let's play something besides the norm. Let's hear "Even the Losers", or "Shine on You Crazy Diamond", or "Heart of Stone" or "I Saw Her Standing There" or "DJ" or "Destroyer"...the same old bands, yes, but something different. There's more than one song on those old LPs, you know. I'll even come in and play it myself, just give me the chance. I'll even bring my own LPS, how's that?

The airwaves are a little less diverse in LA today, but
maybe we can take a little step for all radiokind.

* yes, those are my albums.

A Little Too Frightening.

2011-10-19T11:02:00.002-07:00

There's a Halloween store called Spirit. It used to be a good store to take the kids to buy Halloween stuff but nowadays it's just too scary for two out of the three Geek Kids. They have things like zombie babies and displays set up where the animatronic characters yell inappropriate things at you ("I'm gonna chop your head off!") or spit blood or whatever.

It's really just too much.

That being said, every day when I go to pick up my oldest son at school, we drive by a Spirit and the youngest always points it and makes everyone look. Yesterday we went in there to buy this shield and sword for my middle son's costume and I had to hide Four's eyes all the way through the store.

Today we drove by and happily (as usual) he yells from the backseat: "Spirit!"

"Yes," I say. "It is."

Four (still smiling): "Yeah! Can we never ever go there again?"

Where the geek came from.

2011-10-06T07:13:00.004-07:00

We all have things that affect who we are. I was a teenager in the 1980's - which seems like a lifetime ago now because things were just so different then. Most people I knew didn't have computers yet and cell phones were non-existent. I was a geek even then, back in the heydays of John Hughes geekdom.

I clearly remember when Apple came into my life - my boyfriend had a Mac that his dad gave him. His dad was a bigwig at a public television station in town and did a lot of work at home, on the computer. My boyfriend and I were in our early twenties, and instead of going out and doing whatever twenty-somethings do, we would mostly stay home and play games on the computer.

I want to say the game was Uninvited, but I could be wrong. When I think back on it, it seems like the video game that Tom Hanks plays in Big - very primitive, but we loved it. There would be a picture on the screen, and you click on something in the picture that caused some change and you could move on to the next clue, making your way through the game one logical little step at a time. It was addicting.

Twenty five years later video games are still a complete daily part of my life, but sitting in front of that tiny little Mac screen made the geek in me feel like it had come home. I love everything Apple - it's clean and sleek and elegant and simple and perfect. As a music lover, the iPod is amazing - I can put a ton of songs in my pocket and feel like I'm walking around with my own life soundtrack. It didn't replace my LP collection but it made my life better.

My MacBook is the same way - I have had it for years and never had a single problem with it. It intuitively fits with what I want and do, and to hear yesterday that Steve Jobs had died really just shocked me.

Not many other people have made such change in the face of how we live on a day to day basis and I just wanted to say my thanks.

image from oldcomputers.net

RIP.

2011-10-05T19:17:00.002-07:00

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel

2011-10-05T07:31:00.000-07:00

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Graphic Novel by Seth Grahame-Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I was a kid, I was lucky enough to stumble upon a huge stash of comic books that belonged to my father and I developed a life-long love for comics. When I heard that one of my favorite books, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, was turned into a graphic novel, I was excited to get my hands on it.

I have to tell you how great it is. Yes, sometimes graphic novels are a little hard to follow. My kids love to read The Legend of Zelda graphic novels and since they’re Japanese-style, they read from back to front. I swear I get lost trying to figure out which panel to read first, but this book is fairly straightforward.

Maybe the drawings aren’t as detailed as you’re used to, or they’re not in color. However, there are hidden benefits to everything. This particular book is perfect, because it combines three things I love: reading, comics and the opportunity to color.

Yes, color. I still love to color. I’m in my 40’s, but I’ll admit it. When I was a kid, I had some amazing art coloring books and this book totally takes me back. The paper is perfect for colored pencils. We recently went on a trip to the beach and I took PP&Z with me and it was entertaining and made for hours of enjoyment. Which color should I use for Elizabeth’s dress today? How many streaks of coral can I put in her hair? Should she be blonde or brunette? Brunette, of course!. Should I make the zombies green or purple? How about green with purple guts?

The possibilities are endless.

I love to pack the book and my pencils in my purse, for when I’m waiting in the car at pickup after school or if I have to wait in the dentist’s office. It’s good to get out your aggressions coloring a little zombie mayhem.

I’m sure Quirk never intended to publish a coloring book, but this graphic novel is a must have for anyone who loves to find the quirkiness in everyday things.

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Where do we go? Wherever, it's the right way.

2011-10-03T12:29:00.001-07:00

Three is taking a bath and hears Guns & Roses playing in the kitchen on the radio.

"Slash!" I hear, from the tub.

We are huge Guitar Hero fans and Slash is Three's favorite so it's not surprising that he recognizes him. What is surprising, however, is that the song playing is not the song from Guitar Hero.

I'm so proud.

image taken from SunsetStrip.com post dated 7/6/10

2011-09-22T15:55:00.005-07:00

Open Letter to Stephen King (with unabashed begging and bribery):

Dear Stephen:

I hope it's OK if I call you Stephen, since we've never met in person. I know your friends call you Steve but I think that I'm more comfortable with what I've seen on your books for the last thirty years so I'm going with that.

I heard today through the Twitterverse that you're going to be embarking on a book tour. I want to take my chances here and BEG and PLEAD for you to come visit my favorite independent bookstore, Changing Hands Bookstore, in Tempe, Arizona. I hear from them that they've put in a bid for a stop on your tour, but hey, maybe you'd like to hear from the Regular People too.

I have been reading your books since I was about 15. About then, lots of stuff was happening in my life. I was living in Nebraska and this guy I had a huge crush on for two years or so finally liked me too. I had a great group of girl friends and thought my life was pretty much perfect. Then I found out that my mom and my stepdad were getting a divorce, I was moving back to California and my life pretty much went into the toilet. More on toilets later, but it wasn't good.

Back in California, I discovered your books at the local library and absolutely fell in love. Completely. Reading your books really helped me through a tough time, and I've been reading your books ever since. Weird things pop up for me, all because of your books...like, instead of the classic SNL skit popping into my head like it does for most people when I hear "Don't Fear the Reaper", I think of the beginning of The Stand. Every time I go to the bathroom, I have to check the toilet first to make sure no snakes are in there, thanks to It. My sons and I always have conversations about what would it be like if you're driving through a long tunnel and they lights go out and I know how to describe it, thanks to you. I leave out the gross dying people and the Captain Tripps, of course, though my 3-year old is getting pretty well versed in zombies thanks to The Regular Show (see: Grave Sights) so he might be OK with that.

If you come and visit my neighborhood bookstore, I'll even come pick you up from the airport! I'm sure you'll have a fancy hotel and all that, but hey, you're own personal driver would be nice. And no, I'm not your biggest fan, so don't worry about that. My friend has an indie record store right next door to the bookstore so you can shop for some music or even play on their stage (I'm sure we could round up some locals for you). Whatever you want (that was the bribery part).

Just please, please come to Changing Hands. I would love to meet you just once in my life. I'd probably be stupid and babble like a fool, but I'd never forget it (begging, again). Lauren Groff said she would come some time if I bring her cupcakes, so I'll buy you dessert too if you want. Thanks.

2011-09-20T14:38:00.003-07:00

Well of course we do.

Having a conversation with 3 about my parents visiting Friday:

Me: So, who is Pop to me?

Three: Your brother.

Me: No, he's not my brother. What is he to me?

Three: Nice?

Me: Yes, he's nice. But how is he related to me? He's my...

Three/Me (together): DAD!

Me: Now, how about Grandma? What is Grandma to me?

Three: My mom?

Me: No, she's my mom.

Three: Yes, but we share her.

2011-09-13T15:06:00.003-07:00

Tell Me What It Takes.

Stopped for a snack at a local bar/grill with my teenager and the youngest of my three boys. We ordered soda and/or lemonade and fries.

Sat at the table with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Damn the Torpedoes and The Cars first LP hanging on the wall.

Laughed. A lot.

Heard this:

Not generally a fan of 90's era Aerosmith but I make an exception for this one. Hope you're having a grand day, too.

2011-09-11T15:27:00.003-07:00

9/11.

Living in Arizona, I wasn't there when it happened, but like everyone else, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard.

Today has been especially emotional for me. I don't know if it's just because it's the 10th anniversary or what, but I'm awfully teary.

The first time I saw a plane fly after 9/11, I was driving home from work on the freeway right past the flight path for the airport and a plane flew right over my car. I burst into tears and cried all the way home. I've found today I'm looking at the sky a lot, searching out those planes, because when they're up in the sky, you know that means things are OK.

The biggest thing for me ten years ago was how much everyone realized that we're all in this together. That we all have hopes and dreams and wants, and we're all equally deserving of living a good life instead of being jerks to each other and living in our own bubbles. I think that feeling has long been gone and I want it back.

I'll just start with me and hope I can pass it on.

2011-09-09T11:57:00.003-07:00

I'm Pretty Sure, Yes.

I just received a phone call for Suzanne (samelastnameasme).

Me: I'm sorry, there's no one here by that name.

Man: Are you SURE?

Me: (stunned silence) Um, YES.

Man: (sounding disgruntled) well...fine.

How many times does this guy call someone and have them say that and then say "Oh, no...wait...I AM that person! Sorry! I forgot!" ? I'm just wondering, because it never happens to me.

2011-09-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

I just finished reading Bedbugs and really feel like I should go take a shower.

Bedbugs is the story of Susan, Alex and Emma Wendt. They miraculously find an apartment in Brooklyn - two stories of a brownstone that they can afford on only Alex's salary. Susan is a stay at home mom who should be painting but isn't, and soon after moving in, Susan begins to suspect that the house has a problem and she begins to be a bit obsessed.

Is the problem bedbugs, or is it something worse?

I give props to Quirk Books for the tiny little black bugs scattered throughout the book. Creepy, and perfect to make you just enough paranoid that you find you're absently scratching the back of your neck, or checking your arms, or what is that on the bed there, while reading Susan's story. Because Susan's story is truly more than just bedbugs, it could be her sanity.

Or could it? Read it and see. I am sure you'll be just as creeped out as I was.

I thought Winters did a good job of keeping the creep factor going. Sometimes I was a bit irritated with Susan - she stays home, spends money all day, has a nanny for her 3 year old so she can "get things done" and paint (which she only does once) - but I think the story is told well. As a stay at home mom myself the amount of money she spent on non-important things became something I became fixated on, but I think that's probably just my problem.

You don't know if Susan is really seeing things or not. You don't know what pieces of the story are important (and come up later) or not important, so after a while, everything is suspect. And I think the story resolves itself satisfactorily at the end (if not a tad bit quickly). Overall, I liked it.

Note: I received a preview copy from Quirk to review.

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2011-08-30T12:42:00.001-07:00

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. That is your role, your gift." - Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

This book is truly beautifully written. The story of a game, of magic - of two talents reaching across time and space to win a competition that neither asked for and neither truly understands - it's probably one of my favorite books, ever. Every description, every person, every wondrous tent in the cirucs is something to discover. I simultaneously wanted to race to the end to find out what happened and also wanted to take each page leisurely and as slowly as possible so as to not finish.

In the end of course, I couldn't help myself, I had to finish it. It's lovely. I am absolutely in love with this story.

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2011-08-18T06:55:00.005-07:00

Alice Returns.

After my Alice Cooper-esque turn in the pool a while back, I saw an ad for Burt's Bees "facial cleansing towlettes". I thought I'd try them, because truly, I'm lazy - and who wants to wash their face before they go swimming? Not me.

Yesterday I used one before jumping in the pool. It seemed like it did take off the mascara - it was all over the wipe - so I confidently headed into the water knowing I wouldn't scare the suits off of my kids.

I wasn't quite correct.

Nine: Did you put that black stuff on your eyes again?

Me: Yes, but I thought I got it all off.

Nine: Not quite.

Me: I bought these wipes to take off makeup, are you telling me there's black all under my eyes still?

Nine: Well...let's just say that was a waste of your money.

Back to the store.

2011-07-21T12:15:00.002-07:00

Video games, these days.

Nine and Three are playing a video game.

Three: Mom, that guy's name is Fartface.

Nine: No, it's Lumbering Fool.

What ever happened to Mario or Zelda or Donkey Kong? Sheesh.

image from ps3trophies.org

2011-07-14T20:16:00.003-07:00

No, it is worse.

We went swimming today and I didn't bother washing my face before I got into the pool so my mascara went a bit...weird. After we got out, I was laughing at myself in the mirror.

Me: I look like Alice Cooper!

Three says to me: You don't look like Alice Cooper, you look scary!

Nine: You don't even know who Alice Cooper is.

Three: She's worse.

2011-07-11T18:27:00.001-07:00

Brotherly Love.

Nine, to Three:

"We're not laughing with you, we're laughing at you."

Should I laugh? Cry? Who knows.

2011-07-01T19:50:00.001-07:00

Why I love YouTube:

2011-06-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

Check it out:

Pottermore

Can't wait to see what this is going to be!!

2011-06-13T07:19:00.001-07:00

Textual Healing by Eric Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a free copy from the author, Eric Smith. Review copies of books are great - except there's always that fear that you're going to get a book and not like it, and then what do you say?

I picked this book up last night, meaning to just read the first page or so to see how I liked it and read the entire book straight through. I really like this book! Andrew Connor, the main character, is a writer who no longer writes. His former bestselling book is on sale at Barnes and Noble for $1.37. His girlfriend left him. His used bookstore isn't really doing all that well (but does it have to? He seems to have enough money and that's what makes it fine). His well meaning neighbor tricks him into joining a writer's group called Textual Healing, which turns out to be a bunch of writers who aren't writing.

Of course he meets a girl, and of course in the course of a week, she changes his life. But is it for the good, or is she just going to leave him as well?

Eric Smith really knows how to write characters you care about. I really enjoyed the dynamics between Andrew and well, pretty much everyone in the book. I liked Shawn. I liked Brian and Valerie a lot - the entire bookstore thing reminded me a lot (in a good way) of my favorite Nick Hornby book High Fidelity. I liked the Orchid, Hannah, Stephanie. I think the only person I didn't like was Daniela, but that's because we're not supposed to so I was fine with that.

There's a lot of humor in this book, a lot of musical references (which always do it for me) and the story flows effortlessly, though there are one or two spots where a fact or two doesn't quite fit in (but that's just an editing thing). I really enjoyed it, and for sure would read another book by Mr. Smith anytime!

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2011-06-07T12:27:00.002-07:00

Watch out, he'll get you.

This morning The Littlest Family Member was playing with his oldest brother. Mostly they wrestle a lot and today was no different.

The thing that made me laugh was that The Littlest Family Member was supposed to be The Tiny Tornado, and he kept yelling "Watch out for The Tiny Tomato!"

Now that would be something to see, though probably a pain to clean up after.

2011-06-05T06:49:00.003-07:00

Not very puzzling.

When I was younger, and lucky enough to live near my parents, I would go over and visit them often. My dad and I always enjoyed doing jigsaw puzzles together on the kitchen table. It was nice because there was a kitchen table and a dining room table, so we could leave the puzzle out as long as we wanted.

I really miss being able to sit and just hang out with my dad. We would always have music on, and maybe we would talk, and maybe we wouldn't, but we always just enjoyed each other's company. We kind of had a thing going sometimes where if you knew the other person was looking for a piece and you found it, you'd give a little extra "tap" on the piece if you found it and put it in it's rightful place.

The boys and I have always liked puzzles but now that summer has started, we've started doing puzzles on my desk in the living room. The dining room is far away from the living room, and this way, we can still all hang out with everyone else but still do our puzzle. I like that I can just pull out a puzzle and someone will wander over to help.

We don't all have the same puzzle strategies, for sure. My dad and I always would build the frame first and then fill it in. Nine likes to just go gung ho, pulling out every piece in the box at once and working on things as he feels like it. It sort of throws me, because that's not how I always did it, but he does do one thing the exact same way (and Twelve does, too):

the "tap".

It's just like being home.

2011-06-04T12:40:00.002-07:00

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

(spoiler alert!)

I am giving this four stars because of my love for the series...but I fear that chinks are showing in the armor of my love for Sookie Stackhouse and her friends.

While I enjoyed the book, I feel the writing has slipped into repetitiveness. I know how Sookie feels about most things, but she just keeps telling me over and over. And over. The fun has gone out of things a little bit.

I love Eric and Sookie together but I was really not even caring at the end when it looked like they weren't going to be together anymore. I haven't cared at all about Sookie and Bill as a couple and almost thought "Hey, let's have them get back together! Why not?"

There wasn't a lot of character development in anyone new and the people that I know and love (or hate) were not very well developed other than their normal stuff.

I was happy to see Bubba and I enjoyed Dermot. Alcide was just thrown in there as a mention. Amelia just sort of mucked things up. Not enough Sam. And Sookie's magic fairy charm was introduced but then never used.

The series has gone from "must have" to "I'll wait until it's my turn to check it out at the library".

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2011-06-01T07:06:00.002-07:00

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

by Ransom Riggs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jake's grandfather Abe has always told him fantastical stories of his boyhood - growing up in an orphanage with children who can do amazing things - though Jake has given up on believing them now that he's a teenager. When Abe is horribly killed by a monster only Jake can see, Jake begins to think maybe there was something to Abe's stories after all.

A letter leads Jake to the orphanage in Wales where Abe grew up to try to solve the riddle of his death. Even Jake's parents don't believe him but he knows that there's more to what's going on then the crumbling ruin of a house he finds. And how was the house destroyed in the war, if the letter from Miss Peregrine the headmistress was only written 15 years earlier?

I thought this was a terrific book. Ransom Riggs collects vintage photographs and the idea for this book came from the photos, which are interspersed in the book, but feel completely, naturally part of the book. I couldn't put the story down and read it in a day!

This book is categorized as YA but I think it's written more for adults, not content-wise so much, but just the way it's written. Also, there will be a movie made at some point - I will definitely see it.

Here is a link to the book trailer from Quirk Books:

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2011-05-31T08:53:00.004-07:00

Don't mess with The Mom.

Recently, my 12 year old told me that he didn't ask me to go on the school field trip to the zoo because "you and dad both have different things you're good at and yours don't include the outdoors".

OK.

Saturday we went to my father-in-law's house. It was close to 100 outside, not anything you'd want to be outside in for very long, but we all decided to go to my father-in-law's gym and play goofy golf. Grandad said that his team included me and The Littlest Family Member. The other team was Mr. Geek, 12 and 9.

Mr. Geek hadn't even brought me a hat from home because he said he didn't even think I'd want to go. 12 and 9 both harassed me about being outside, which of course, made me mad.

Can you guess which team won? Yep. And can you guess why? Yep. There was a really cool hole with a giant mountain. You had to hit it in the top and then it came out on another green and you putted there. The Other Team's best shot was five. Mine was two.

Don't make The Mom mad, or you'll be sorry. Now excuse me, while I go back indoors. It's hot out here.

2011-05-28T20:38:00.008-07:00

Mario goes to Phoenix.

We were lucky enough to score some Phoenix Comicon passes today from some friends. Nine found a Mario he liked.

Since most of my pictures have my kids in them, I give you Mario instead. He had a good time.

2011-05-27T09:30:00.006-07:00

Even it up.

A few days ago, we found a small dog. He's a chihuahua and he ran out in front of my car, so after a little coaxing (and chasing) we caught him. He had no collar but he was a good little guy, so we brought him home.

We already have two dogs. Both chihuahuas. We have three kids. We have enough.

However, now we have three dogs and three kids. We're actively trying to find Banjo's owners (that's what the boys named him, the first step towards the inevitable keeping of the dog). We took him to the vet for a micro-chip scan, which was negative. We put up a million flyers. I put a generic ad on Cr*ig's L*st but only received a (very questionable) response from one person who stopped communicating with me when I requested a photo of her "missing dog".

Anyway. I was talking to my dad last night, telling him "we only need two dogs!" but we hadn't had anybody come forward on Banjo, even though he was such a good dog.

My dad jokingly says "well, you could always just pick the best two and find a home for the worst one!"

I'll admit, I laughed at that one, but look at those faces. Could you pick?

2011-05-23T18:00:00.003-07:00

Just delivered...can't wait to read it!

I'm trying to reread The Passage by Justin Cronin before he's here on June 7th for a book signing but this may find it's way in there before I finish.

2011-05-22T14:01:00.002-07:00

The Meowmorphosis by Cook Coleridge

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Quirk Classics is known for their "mashup" books - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and PP&Z Dreadfully Ever After are two of my favorites. I was totally excited when I heard they would send me a copy of their newest book, The Meowmorphosis.

I'm sorry, Quirk. I tried, but it was just OK. I did read Kafka's original way back in high school but truly, I didn't remember much of it other than the main idea: Gregor Samsa wakes one morning to find he is a cockroach instead of a man. The idea that he was a cat instead intrigued me. I just couldn't get into it. I wanted to, but it was pretty depressing.

I found myself forcing myself to read it instead of wanting to read it and that disappointed me.

I thought the story was written well - I was just looking for more humor.

View all my reviews

2011-05-16T16:53:00.002-07:00

I hate projects.

I hate them in the sense that once you start one project, suddenly there are ten other projects that have to be done in relation to that first one.

Earlier this year, we got a new toilet in our bathroom. The old toilet was from when the house was built (in the late 70's) and had a much larger base than the new one does, so there was a big ring around the bottom where the linoleum didn't meet up. After a while, it started peeling so I was cutting off pieces every once in a while to keep it neat (we're eventually going to redo the floor so I didn't really do much to it).

Yesterday in a fit I ripped all of the linoleum out.

Today (of course on the internet) I found out that since our flooring was probably from the 70's, it probably had asbestos backing on it, which was still all over our floor.

Great!

So today I spent almost three hours spraying the floor with a mineral spirit/water solution and scraping it all up with a utility knife. And wearing a mask. And big rubber gloves. And it pretty much sucked.

I will say that it's fortunate that the bathroom floor is only about 2-1/2' x 4' or so. If the room had been bigger, I would have had a screaming fit instead of just the minor meltdown.

I also will say that I'm not going to be randomly starting any more household projects in the near future.

And I need a nap. All of this work is wearing me out.

2011-05-13T09:44:00.006-07:00

The Money Making Possibilities are Endless.

I'm totally sick of finding my kids' shoes flung all over the house. I ask, I beg, I threaten...and yet still there are shoes everywhere.

Finally, in desperation, I went all Bad Cop and I told my oldest I was going to hide his shoes and make him pay me for them if I found them on the ground again instead of where they were supposed to be. Of course, he didn't listen, so when AGAIN I found his shoes on the floor, I promptly hid them where he wouldn't find them.

Since he's 12, he only wears one pair of his many shoes and yesterday morning, 3 minutes before he was supposed to leave for school he comes to me and says "Mom, do you know where my shoes are?" "Yes! I do!" I sweetly reply with a big smile, and then I get in the shower. "If you want to know, you'll have to pay me $1.00."

Silence, as he leaves and tries to find them.

Finally he comes and sticks his hand in the shower curtain with sixty five cents. "That's not a dollar!" I sing to him. The hand disappears.

A few minutes pass and suddenly a dollar in quarters is flung under the shower curtain. "Under your bathroom sink!" I cackle, and he leaves without saying goodbye. I don't even care if he's late to school - he needs to learn to take responsibility for his own stuff and to clean up around the house.

I'm feeling pretty good about my new money making capabilities for the next hour until I have to leave to take 9 to school when I realize that my twelve year old SON has HIDDEN my shoes. Not that I don't have twenty pairs of shoes but I guess I'm as bad as him because I wanted my one pair of Havianas I always wear and they were MIA.

Little turd.

Luckily, he doesn't think things through as well as I do and we managed to find my shoes pretty easily. Oh, I laughed with him when he got home but I let him know in no uncertain terms if he ever hid my shoes again, he'd be paying me in more than money.

2011-05-10T06:42:00.010-07:00

Sad Truths of Life.

Whilst washing the dishes with my oldest son last night, we started talking about a field trip that he is going on with his school to the zoo.

Mr. G is going on the field trip to the zoo, not me.

The Oldest says to me "I thought of another reason why it's good that Dad is going on the field trip and not you, then you don't have to find someone to watch The Littlest Family Member. Usually you would ask your best friend, and then he (TLFM) would get to see their new puppy and that's not fair to the rest of us because we can't see the puppy, too."

OK. That's a good reason why I shouldn't go.

I say to him "Oh, you just like Dad better," and he laughs at me, "no, that's not it."

The kicker:

"Mom, you and dad both have your strengths. Yours just don't include "The Outdoors".

I'm waiting for the museum field trip. He damn well better be asking me to go on that one.

2011-05-05T18:37:00.001-07:00

A Dog Named Slugger by Leigh Brill

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received A Dog Named Slugger as a preview copy from Blue Dot Literary, and I thought it was a great book.

This is the true story of Leigh Brill. Leigh has cerebral palsy and has spent her entire life trying to fit in and be like everyone else. Leigh becomes a perfectionist - striving to be a perfect student to make up for her physical differences. Finally, in college, she realizes that it's OK to ask for help and begins the process of joining with a service dog - Slugger.

Slugger is a wonderful dog. He's full of personality and he really helps Leigh in so many different ways - from simple things like picking up items she's dropped (it's hard for her to bend over to retrieve things due to a lack of balance) and shutting doors to big things like boosting her low self-confidence.

As Leigh's confidence in her partnership with Slugger grows, so does her confidence in herself. She is able to be much more independent with Slugger by her side than she ever was when she was alone. Slugger is more than just a service dog, he's Leigh's partner and a guiding force in her life.

I enjoyed reading this book. Normally I prefer fiction but as an animal lover I agreed to read this and found myself inspired by Leigh's story. The story is written very simply but the love Leigh and Slugger share shines throughout.

View all my reviews

2011-04-25T06:45:00.003-07:00

Aprilynne Pike writes YA books about Fairies, which I enjoy. The first two are called Wings and Spells. The third book, Illusions, comes out in a week.

I'm entering a contest to win all three - so I'm posting a video to catch you up.

NOTE: This video contains spoilers about the first two books, so if you haven't read them yet, maybe you might want to scoot out and get them beforehand.

Can't wait!

2011-03-28T13:20:00.002-07:00

Congratulations to Melissa!

You have won my copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Dreadfully Ever After. Please email me at thegeekinside at yahoo dot com with your info and I'll send it out to you.

I hope you enjoy it! (and don't forget, it's the third book in the series).

Have a terrific day.

2011-03-22T06:33:00.006-07:00

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First off, let me say I really liked this book. I was lucky enough to receive an advanced reading copy from Quirk Classics and I really enjoyed it.

When I first read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith, I thought it was hysterical. Such a great idea and funny and yet still there was Elizabeth and Darcy, right in the thick of it all.

Jane Austen and zombies - two of my favorite things, together at last.

I have not read the second book (the "prequel" to the story - Dawn of the Dreadfuls, also by Steve Hockensmith) but let me tell you, after reading this one, I am for sure going to go back and read it as soon as possible.

Dreadfully Ever After starts out with a dissatisfied Elizabeth walking home from a dinner party at her sister's house with Darcy, who is bitten by one of the undead. Elizabeth knows that there's a cure out there - for someone with the right connections and money. The only problem is that they have to go through Darcy's heinous aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who hates Elizabeth and would like nothing better than to have her separated forever from Darcy and united with her strange daughter, Anne.

Lady Catherine sends Elizabeth off on a quest to recover the cure, away from Darcy, who must stay with Lady Catherine. Kitty, Mr. Bennet and eventually Mary all come to help Elizabeth in her quest. They hit London with a mission and London and it's undead (and some horrible living creatures) are determined to hit back.

I liked how the story was about more than just Elizabeth and Darcy - a lot of the story was about Kitty and Mary. I thought the resolution was good as well. My favorite page of the book - page 284. Plenty of resolution and absolutely perfectly written - but don't skip ahead! It will mean nothing to you unless you've read the rest of the book.

I definitely recommend this book - if you're an Elizabeth and Darcy fan and you enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, you'll enjoy this.

View all my reviews

*****

Contest: Due to a mailing mixup, I received two copies of this book and would like to give one away. If you live in the US, please leave a comment and let me know your favorite zombie story. I will give away a copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Dreadfully Ever After on Monday, 3/28/11.

2nd Contest! If you "like" the Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Dreadfully Ever After Facebook page, you will be entered to win an "antidote" necklace. Click here for more info.

Good luck and good reading!

(Note: I did receive a free copy of this book to review but the opinions above are all my own. I enjoyed this book!)

2011-02-20T20:28:00.005-07:00

Ah, young love.

So last week was Valentine's Day. Normally I pretty much shun V-Day, as I feel like it's a made up holiday to sell things. Luckily, my husband feels the same way so we sort of celebrate a little bit for the boys but we really don't do anything for each other. (NOTE: Except for receiving chocolates from my dad. I do always appreciate that!)

Here's how I like it: last week we went to Disneyland. Out of nowhere, my husband bought me a tiny Lotso Bear (from Toy Story 3). He is cute and squishy and smells slightly of strawberries. I got him for no reason at all and I love him with a big, capital heart.

That's the kind of present I want: for no reason at all. We won't get into the fact that I'm 44 years old and still love stuffed animals. That's for another day.

Anyway, getting back to the ol' V-day, last week there was a dance at the middle school 12 attends. One of his teachers was in charge and asked me to help, so I agreed. I was surprised that my son wanted to go because none of his close group of friends was going. Usually he is too shy to go to something without someone he knows going too.

We walked over to the school and on the way he picked me a flower which I wore in my hair. I stayed up front and took tickets at the door. I actually dressed up, kind of. I still wore jeans but a cute shirt and a nice jacket and I wore cute little ballet-type flats.

A few years ago, I broke my big toe. I slammed it into a chair in our living room while I was vacuuming one day and never got it looked at and it's never been right since. I pretty much have to live in either sneakers or flip flops because any other type of shoe is just absolutely painful for me. But I wanted to look nice so I wore my flats.

The dance went super. The kids all looked so cute and they all had a great time. There was a lot of mingling, no one came with a "date" except one kid, there were video game trucks where the kids could play. It was a great night. When we left, 12 and I had to walk out where all of the kids were waiting for their parents. I didn't want to be all MOM-like and so I tried to be casual about leaving so I wouldn't embarrass 12, walking a little bit ahead of him. Except for my foot was killing me so bad that I was starting to lurch ahead of him instead of actually walking like a normal person.

I felt like Frankenstein. Lurching. Trying to not walk too close to 12. I almost thought I was going to cry, but I held out, luckily. Once we got past the main parking lot, 12 and I were walking evenly with each other again and I just thanked God my son wasn't too old to walk with his mom and that I was able to be there to see him having such a good time.

And I won't ever where those shoes anywhere again. Or at least I won't walk all the way there and home in them.

2011-01-20T10:15:00.002-07:00

The January Glooms.

Even though I live in Arizona, this is always the time of year when I don't feel like I'm getting enough sun. I don't need the heat, but for sure, I need the sun...so I spend a lot of time with the lights on during the day or being outside as much as I can to kind of beat the glooms.

Lately, I've been craving a lot of summer music. Could be a knee-jerk reaction to the month of Christmas music I subject myself to each December, but it's here in full force, and so you're getting a bit of what I want:

It may not be summer, but I never can say goodbye.

2011-01-15T13:23:00.007-07:00

False advertising?

I saw no such "man stuff". But then again, I was just driving home from Sonic anyway, so not a loss.

2011-01-06T13:54:00.002-07:00

Street Art.

2010-12-20T09:53:00.003-07:00

And the song played on.

Friday was the three year anniversary of my grandmother's death. My grandmother Louise was a big supporter of her local library and I carry her library card in my wallet so I think of her every time I see it in there.

Friday I sent my dad a text telling him I was thinking of him and her, and that I hoped he was doing OK. My dad sent me this back:

This is the house my grandma lived in when she died. Obviously we were thinking the same thought at the same time.

It's nice to have a bit of jewelry to wear here and there to remind me of her. It's nice to see her library card in my wallet, but one of the nicest things is that my grandma lives on - in my oldest son. My grandmother was always walking around the house, humming to herself. Sometimes I would know what the song was but more often I didn't. My oldest son is ALWAYS humming or singing to himself. ALWAYS. We usually just laugh about it but it struck me that it's something that's been passed down, regardless of what a person does or doesn't do, and I treasure it.

At this time of year, I have the Christmas music on and I sing to it all. It doesn't matter that I have a horrible voice and unfortunately for my family, I just don't care. The season makes me happy and I sing. And my son sings. And hums. And the music lives on.

Louise would have liked that.

2010-12-17T06:40:00.007-07:00

Chopped.

I had a dream last night that I cut off all of my hair. As my hair is just now at the length that I like it, I was horrified that I had done this. It looked fine, rather "mom-ish" but ok, but I wasn't happy with it. It was boring.

I like my hair either where it is now (below my shoulders) or chin-length short but I'm super-duper lazy and short is much too much work for me. The middle ground of the year of growing out is pretty much sheer torture for me.

Can I tell you the utter and complete relief I felt when I woke up and realized it was all a dream? Thank God.

2010-12-11T08:39:00.003-07:00

Conversations with 3-year olds.

We took 8 to school. Coming home, The Littlest Family Member flings open the fridge.

3: Where is the watermelon?

Me: We haven't had watermelon since summer.

3: I'll have a fried egg then.

2010-12-10T12:44:00.001-07:00

Extrapolating further on Christmas Music.

2010-12-04T10:40:00.005-07:00

All I Want For Christmas...

Every year, I turn on the Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving and listen through Christmas. Inevitably, there are songs that I like and don't like.

For instance, my two all-time favorites are White Christmas (of course the Bing version, though I do like The Drifters' version as well) and The Christmas Song (preferably the Nat version though I do appreciate the Mel Torme version as he wrote the song). I usually don't like Step Into Christmas by Elton John (love Elton, can't stand this song) and Last Christmas by Wham (again, like Wham, don't like the song). This year there's another version of Last Christmas, so it's a song I have to doubly dodge.

This year, I seem to not like anything by The Jackson Five. I think I just can't stand listening to Michael Jackson so cute and innocent when I know how it ends. It makes me sad.

The ones I like, well, it's funny. Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas seems to top the list. I know, it even shocks me, but it makes me happy and I like it. Check it out:

The other song I like this year (there are two) is Please Come Home For Christmas. I pretty much like all versions, but I chose the Charles Brown version to share:

It doesn't matter that for two weeks after Christmas I have to listen to metal to rebalance my system; for now, it's Christmas all the way. Happy Listening! And let me know what you're listening to, I'd love to know.

2010-11-18T15:02:00.001-07:00

Can you dig it? Yes, I can.

Today I was at lunch with my best friend and my lovely three year old, when Saturday in the Park came on. Chicago is my dad's favorite band, so I have this song as the ringtone on my phone for when he calls.

My three year old turned to me and said "Mom, listen! Someone else has this song on their phone, too!"

Yeah, baby!

2010-10-07T11:53:00.001-07:00

at the park, under a tree.

2010-10-06T11:11:00.002-07:00

at the park, on the swings.

2010-10-02T20:18:00.002-07:00

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a...

Eight and I went to In-N-Out for take-out burgers. A dust storm picked up and we were sitting at a light on the way home when a big tumbleweed blew by.

Eight yells out, "Mom! Look! It's one of those rolling balls of stuff!"

Yes, we're teaching him a lot about our environment here, aren't we?

image from phoenix.about.com, copyright Judy Hedding. (google: tumbleweed images)

2010-09-15T11:22:00.002-07:00

It Didn't Suck.*

totally made me laugh!

* thanks to my dad for the title.

2010-09-08T06:32:00.004-07:00

Sing it, Garth.

When I was a teenager (back in the dinosaur days of cassette tapes for the car), my friends and I used to drive around aimlessly singing at the top of our lungs. We didn't care what we sounded like, we ALWAYS sang.

The older you get, the less you sing in front of other people. I will still sing in the car around Mr. G and the kids, but you have rules now. If one person is singing, maybe nobody else is singing. Or someone will say "Will you please not sing?" We apparently are bugged easily in this family. That is requested a lot.

It's nice for me to have the littlest family member around. We are together all the time, often in the car. He is a huge music fan, like me. He loves to sing. At almost three, he can sing a lot of songs, and knows what he wants to listen to. He doesn't say TURN IT DOWN, he says LOUDER! Every time I put the CD in, he is surprised and happy at what comes out.

"We Will Rock You!"

"We Are The Champions!"

"Mama Mia! Mom! It's Mama Mia!"

"(mumble) Bites The Dust!"

The only drawback is that we pretty much always have to listen to Queen's Greatest Hits. It's not bad, don't get me wrong, I love Queen. But that's his repertoire right now so it's pretty much only that.

But hey, we can sing it together, we can sing it loud, and without a care for who is around or not. I highly recommend it - it's great therapy. Who doesn't feel better after a rousing version of Bohemian Rhapsody?

Mama Mia!

2010-09-07T14:28:00.001-07:00

apparently the love of Bigfoot is passed through to the next generation.

2010-09-03T06:45:00.004-07:00

Guest Editing, part 2.

"Anonymous" brought up a good point in my comments last night regarding my guest editing post.

It is my understanding that volunteering oneself in a clild's classroom does not involve getting involed with the curriculum itself.

Regardless of the quantity of assignments and school work that this educator is responsible for, this "educator" is likely undermining their very own teaching skills.

Your school system is essentially depending on parents to "edit" a pupil's classwork?

I know of volunteers' work in the lunchrooms, in the school libraries, in the offices and on field trips (chaperones).

This type of volunteering appears to be erosive and in conflict with proper methods of evaluating teachers.

Glendale....right?

Wot up wit' dat, yo?

My response was this:

You are correct that most parents do not help edit or grade any work when they volunteer. I have been volunteering for seven years and it has always been in class (maybe helping kids read one on one) or helping copy things for the teacher or general things like that.

This particular teacher has 150 essays to go over by herself and asked for volunteers to help guest edit. She certainly will not be taking my papers and handing them back to the kids without going over them first and making sure that what I've written is acceptable to her.

As someone who is a huge reader and has been writing for most of my life (though that may not come through here) I do know how an essay should be written and how to develop and present a basic idea. I think I'm qualified for that. After the teacher gets all of my papers back today, she can tell me whether or not she agrees and if she doesn't, I would certainly not do this again.

I would be concerned if some parent was editing my child's work without knowing what they were doing as well, but again, while it's something I don't do all the time ON PURPOSE, it is something I know how to do.

I agree that it would be hard for a school to judge how a teacher is doing if parents are actually doing the work. I also think that it would not be right for some parent to be giving my child a grade - they may or may not (probably not) be qualified to handle the work they're doing. I wouldn't want some random parent grading my child.

I also want to point out a key fact that wasn't mentioned yesterday: these are only the rough drafts. The first tries. I am never going to see anything past this. There are many more steps to a final finished essay that have not even occurred yet and the teacher will be the one handling all of that. I am not doing any grading. I am simply saying "capitalize this" or "put a period here" or maybe "try not to say three times in a row that tattoos and body piercings are similar because they HURT!!! We got that the first time." That's all.

I just wanted to point this out because I thought the points brought up were valid and I wanted to clear any confusion about what was going on, either on the teacher's part or mine.

PS I will say, it was fun to read the papers. The kids have great imaginations and I thought did a good job.

2010-09-02T06:41:00.002-07:00

Guest Editing.

I always feel bad for the middle school teachers because the force of volunteers that are around in elementary school seem to just disappear once kids hit 6th grade, so I volunteered to help my son's language arts teacher edit papers.

I'm not an editor, but I have a cheat sheet. I thought, "Hey, I think I can do this." Technically, I think I'll be fine but I have a little sniggling issue.

I think I'm going to get too into it.

I don't want to discourage anyone and I don't want to do their work, but I think I'm going to be one of those people with a lot of Helpful Notes in the margins. I see some good ideas from the kids but I also see a lot of FILLER. As in, saying the same thing five sentences in a row in slightly different ways.

You're going to have to do the work, kids. I'm going to have to do to the work. I hope I can do this and do it right. It's my first week, so we'll see how it goes. Wish me luck.

image from sc.edu

2010-08-27T06:37:00.005-07:00

All you need is an interest.

Not this. As a music lover, I sort of freaked the hell out when I saw this at the library last night.

Maybe something like this works for fixing a toilet, but for The Beatles? No dice, my friend.

2010-08-26T09:07:00.005-07:00

Have you checked your batteries lately?

The other day our smoke alarm started chirping. It was time to replace the battery and when I took the battery out, I was shocked to see that it was from 2006! I know this because I write the date on the battery with a Sharpie so I know how long it's been in there.

Apparently I haven't been good about checking and replacing them yearly because last I checked, 2006 was not one year ago.

So. Check your batteries and even if they still work, if it's been more than a year, replace them today. Then you'll have the peace of mind of knowing everything is up to date, and you too may have Mr. Battery and his googly eyes to view.

(NOTE: Of course, Mr. Battery is cool, but I made my son throw him in the hazardous waste recycle box because everyone knows that batteries aren't toys).

2010-08-19T11:34:00.008-07:00

Let It Be.

This morning I asked Twelve to give me his violin practice sheet for school so I could sign off on the time he has practiced. When he opened his case...guess what? His nice violin shoulder pad I got him was gone, replaced with a crappy pad and his violin was broken.

The kids drop off their instruments in the orchestra room before school and then use them during their class and pick them up after school to take home.

There are two things that bother me here:

1. This is the second time that we have had a nice pad stolen out of the case. While it is not a matter of money (seeing as it was only $5.00) it is a matter of principle - this is twice now I have gone across town to buy a neck pad and have had it stolen out of the case.

2. We are lucky enough to be able to have a school violin to use but we have to sign a release form in case of damage. If someone else is going to be *$&%ing with the instrument during the day, how am I supposed to be held responsible for damage that occurs then? Because it definitely wasn't like that when it was dropped off before school.

The teacher said that she would loan my son one of her personal violins and have it repaired. She said that kind of thing happens all of the time because of how dry and hot our climate is and that it's not a big deal. That part is fine, I will take her word for it and not worry about it.

It bothers me that I'm still bothered though. I'm bothered because I take the time to make sure my child has what he needs to do his job well and I keep having to go out and replace things over and over. I'm bothered by the stealing. I'm bothered that I'm bothered over something I have no control over and bothered that it is a little thing but I seem to be overly upset about it.

I also know that it will take forever for the violin to be repaired (if it is at all) because schools just don't have the money for this sort of thing.

I need to learn how to just BE BOTHERED and then forget about it. This is my first step...the publish post button will be me letting it go. I hope.

* Yes, Paul McCartney plays a Hofner violin bass, which has nothing to do with this post but makes me feel better when I look at the picture. Image from Amoeba.com (blog).

2010-08-17T12:39:00.005-07:00

Blog boredom and complete and utter lack of motivation.

I don't know if it's the heat, the fact that school is back in and I spend all my time entertaining a two year old or just plain old boredom, but I've been rather amiss in blogging.

I want to blog but I've been spending my days playing playdough, painting, doing puzzles and playing Fireman with The Littlest Family Member, and I just don't really have anything worth reporting. It's not that it hasn't been fun, it's just not any fun for anyone else to read about it, I'm sure. Today our excitement is waiting for the UPS man to bring us our Wii back...I had to send it in to Nintendo to have the disc drive replaced.

(A side note: Nintendo is DARN fast and good about repairs. They received my Wii last Friday and repaired it and returned it by Saturday. I knew I loved them!).

So. Snore. I know. Hopefully I'll come up with something more exciting to say soon. In the meantime, I'll leave you with this:

My favorite character, Totoro, at a museum exhibit in Mesa. You may have seen him in Toy Story 3, at Bonnie's house, if you looked carefully.

2010-08-03T12:54:00.008-07:00

It's about that time, again.

The boys go back to school in a week and I've been preparing. Not buying new clothes or backpacks or school supplies. I have to prepare by collecting empty glass jars.

Eight is a collector. A world-class Finder of Odd and Lost Things. Every single day last year he came home with some small trinket he found at school. If it was something big (like once he found a really nice pencil bag and it had someone's name on it) then we did our best to return the item, but it if wasn't (which was the majority of the time) then he was allowed to keep whatever he found.

Once he came home with a giant geode looking rock with beautiful purple crystals. He found it in a tree. (I don't know, don't ask).

Anyway, the jars live in the laundry room because for the most part, I don't see a lot of the stuff until I check his pockets when I do the wash. I hate back to school because I miss having my boys with me...but I do have to admit, I look forward to watching the jars fill up.

(ps if you click on the photo, you can get a better view of the Random and Odd).

2010-07-28T06:17:00.001-07:00

San Diego trip, part 2 - Torrey Pines.

2010-07-25T06:42:00.004-07:00

San Diego trip, part one.

We went to San Diego last week. The weather was beautiful and we spent most of our time down at the beach. It's nice to wear a sweatshirt in July! These pictures are from the beach near Crystal Pier, just south of La Jolla. There was a lot of seaweed...in some places, the sand was entirely covered with it. If I was little, it would have creeped me out but I thought it was cool.

2010-07-15T08:33:00.002-07:00

Too funny, part II.

Star Wars GPS Voices - Yoda records directions @ Yahoo! Video

2010-07-14T06:42:00.000-07:00

Too funny.

Darth Vader GPS recording session @ Yahoo! Video

2010-07-10T17:22:00.001-07:00

This is the video for the last blog post titled "Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead, for Katy.

2010-07-03T06:23:00.013-07:00

Fake Plastic Trees.*

Last night I dreamed that John Lennon was my boyfriend. I'm not sure why, as I've always been a Paul sort of a girl and not a John sort of girl, but he wasn't a great boyfriend so I guess it keeps in line with that.

I spent all of my time propping up his feelings and babying him to make sure that he was happy because he was super needy and insecure. I remember thinking "Wow, this is a lot of work.," (which is a feat for someone with three kids to think). I could not even do anything at all for myself because I literally just followed him around making sure he was happy the entire time.

Glad to wake up, even though it was 5:53 AM.

* = here

2010-06-30T07:54:00.003-07:00

It's all in the details.

I woke up this morning from a weird dream.

In the middle of summer, where it's over 100' most every day, I dreamed that I was at Disneyland with my gay brother and his three friends. It was autumn, and I was wearing a long nubby skirt with a slit on the side and a fabulous jacket. I had knee high brown leather boots that looked terrific. I had a great kind of curly twenties hair thing going and a cool hat. The weather was perfect outside and we were trying to decide what to do.

Behind the Wheel by Depeche Mode was blaring over the loudspeakers and my brother and his friends made me instant coffee.

This was the jarring detail that caused me to wake up. It wasn't that I was enjoying autumn weather. It wasn't that I was perfectly coiffed and dressed. It wasn't that I had a brother, let alone that he was gay (because I don't even have a brother). It was just the fact that if I did, he never would serve me instant coffee.

2010-06-21T06:03:00.003-07:00

I started another blog for fun - it's called Not Just Scraps of Paper. Some of my friends and I found that we like to use specific things to mark specific books we're reading which I thought was funny, so I am putting up pictures of our books with our bookmarks.

Nothing earth shaking, but if you like to do that, too, send me an email at thegeekinside (at) yahoo (dot) com and include a picture and I'll put yours up. Make sure you put Not Just Scraps of Paper on the info line so I know what it is.

Have a great day!

2010-06-18T18:51:00.006-07:00

Conversations with a two year old, again.

I'm taking a shower. The Littlest Family Member comes in the bathroom, strips and informs me he is showering with me.

As he gets in the shower, he looks at me and says "I'm not getting wet," and I say that's fine.

He looks at me again and says "It's awfully very wet," and leaves.

The end.

image from my sister, Cari...the snowman is not showering, but I liked his smile and bratwurst sounds kind of good today.

2010-06-18T15:19:00.007-07:00

My parents went to the Laker game last night...

look at this amazing picture my dad took!

2010-06-18T10:10:00.002-07:00

Conversations with a two year old.

"I want to eat cuties.

I want to eat bananas.

I want to eat cherries.

I want to eat skeletons.

No,

I don't want to eat skeletons."

image from geekologie.com

2010-06-14T07:25:00.004-07:00

Book Review: A Bad Day for Pretty, by Sophie Littlefield.

A Bad Day for Pretty is the second novel about Stella Hardesty. Stella is a 50-ish woman living in a small town in Missouri. Stella spent more than twenty years married to a wife abuser - her marriage ended with her husband being on the receiving end of a wrench to the head after he tried to beat her up one too many times. Since everyone in town knew that he spent most of his time doing exactly that, Stella was never prosecuted.

I think the publisher description calls Stella "tough as nails". I'm not sure if that really paints her the right way - she is tough, yes, but I really liked her as a person. It was nice to read about someone who was older than me, for once, and not 15 or even 22 who was gorgeous and had a wonderful life and a perfect, handsome undead boyfriend. (Ok, maybe I read too many vampire books).

Now Stella helps make sure other women aren't being abused. She has a "day job" at her sewing machine repair business that she inherited from her dearly departed husband, but that's not her main focus. Stella wants to make sure that no one else has to live their life the way she did. Stella's ways and means to help abused women aren't always above board or even in the same zip code as legal, so all of this is on the hush-hush, learned about through a grapevine of whispered confidences.

As the story begins, Stella is having a cozy dinner with the local sheriff, "Goat" Jones. Sheriff Goat and Stella have been tiptoeing around each other for a while, and after three years of widowhood, Stella thinks she's about ready to take things a little bit further with Goat. The night isn't starting off well because a huge storm has hit the town, with a tornado expected to touch down any minute. The storm brings Goat a surprise visitor: his wife, whom he neglected to ever mention.

Stella has another surprise the next morning: the tornado has ripped out the Snack Shack at the local track and there's a body buried underneath. The caretaker of the track, Neb, is a friend of Stella's, and he's under suspicion for murder. His wife asks Stella to help clear his name.

Stella brings in a former client, Chrissy Shaw, to help her out - both in finding out just what is going on with Goat and clearing Neb of a crime she can't believe he would commit. The story moves along at a great pace and I enjoyed it. My only suggestion to you would be to make sure you read the first novel in the series A Bad Day for Sorry first. I felt like there was a lot of talk about Stella's reputation and how tough she was but there wasn't any of that story line in the second book to really back it up. I felt like I was missing a lot of her character so after I finished this one, I actually went back and read the first one and it made more sense to me, character-wise. It also filled a lot in for Goat and Chrissy, who were both in the first book.

The publisher of this series, Minotaur books sent me A Bad Day for Pretty to review. I agreed to read and review it but I'll tell you, usually if I don't like a book I'm sent, I don't even put a review up. I did like this book and look forward to reading more about Stella, Goat and Chrissy. I would like to read more about Stella's past and how she got to where she is now. I understand that years of abuse would cause a person to snap and just not take it any more, but I would like to see what happened between Stella finally stepping up and stopping that abuse and how Stella got to be helping other women. I think it would be interesting to read how she built herself up from having no self-esteem and not being able to stick up for herself to putting her life on the line for others.

A Bad Day for Pretty is available now, check out your local independent bookseller to buy it. Also, check out Sophie Littlefield's blog.

2010-06-11T07:31:00.006-07:00

Really, Real Simple?

This month's Real Simple Magazine lists "Three Easy Shortcuts - Beach Edition" (page 50). They suggest to "windproof a beach towel" that you use metal skewers to hold it into the ground.

I don't know about you, but I think that's a spectacularly idiotic idea.

Children + sharp metal objects = not a good combination. Even if you don't have kids of your own, the beach is crawling with them.

I think they need an editor for their Solutions Department. That solution just doesn't work.

2010-06-08T08:56:00.005-07:00

Summer, and the living is easy.

So, summer is upon us and we are home all day long. The first week is spent bickering because we're not all used to being together ALL. DAY. LONG. but we've gotten past that. Now we're into crafts...and this is what Eight has put together.

Meet Agent 8 (yes, that's his name):

Yesterday we made Agent 8 a coat. Eight decided that he was going to make Agent 8 a bunch of accessories for his coat, since he's a Ninja. The accessories are attached inside the coat with sticky velcro dots. The way to change the coat into different "suits" is to attach the desired accessory to the front (i.e., the magnet turns the suit into a magnet suit and he can stick to metal things).

I was complimenting Eight on his work and he said "My favorite item is the missile launcher. I mean, he's a Ninja and all, but everyone needs a missile launcher."

Darn straight.

Agent 8: Now with Ninja Accessories: grenade, missile launcher, magnet, boomerang, Ninja Star and Health (heart).

2010-05-27T14:04:00.005-07:00

Apparently there are a few thorns that actually have roses.

A long time ago, in a zip code far, far away lived A Girl who listened to KROQ. Now, KROQ (at that time) was full of bands with names like The Cure, Depeche Mode, U2, The B-52's, Siouxsie and The Banshees and Oingo Boingo.

Not bands like Poison.

Accordingly, The Girl (who dated a guy in a KROQ-ey type band) tended to look down upon mere Hair Bands, as Poisonesque bands tended to be called. The Sunset Strip was loaded with these pretenders (not The Pretenders, Chrissy kicked ass) and they were not typically Her sort.

Recently, The Girl (now married with kids) saw Bret Michaels on Celebrity Apprentice. The Girl will admit freely to being a reality-tv junkie (but still, a selective reality-tv junkie) and was actually shocked to find that Bret was not the complete and utter doofus that She had believed he was for many, many years. Despite his Rock of Love past, The Girl actually began to respect him - he was very creative, a hard worker, a good dad and really, a generally all-around nice guy.

After a complete and utter rollercoaster ride of almost dying, coming back, having a stroke, showing up for the finale of Celebrity Apprentice and winning it (sorry if that's a spoiler, it's been four days, The Girl figures that's enough time to wait to break the news to you), Bret showed up and was actually a high point in the finale last night of American Idol, singing Every Rose Has It's Thorn with Casey James. After twenty years of hearing that song and rolling her eyes, The Girl actually liked it.

Surprise, surprise. Well played, Bret Michaels, well played.

Now don't try to tell Her that David Lee Roth is a good guy. There has to be some sort of clown out there who really still is a clown.

PHOTO: Vince Bucci/FOX

2010-05-22T18:34:00.005-07:00

I wish I would have thought of it.

We're watching Charlotte's Web during dinner.

Eight turns to the Mr. and says:

What do you get when you cross Charlotte and Wilbur?

(wait for it)

(image from Amazon)

2010-05-10T10:35:00.003-07:00

I got a Severus Snape wand for my birthday

and you didn't!

2010-05-08T07:01:00.004-07:00

My birthday philosophy.

I've come to the realization that as long as I'm amused by things like this:

I'm doing ok.

2010-04-26T09:48:00.001-07:00

An Open Letter to Facebook.

2010-04-19T06:20:00.002-07:00

Have you heard?

My mom has this terrible habit. It's so bad that it's gotten to the point of being funny. She will call me and ask me if I've seen a movie, and then when I say no, she will completely and utterly tell me every single thing about the movie, down to the way it ends.

I have to actually say, "No, I haven't seen it and I'm going to so DON'T TELL ME!" and even sometimes that doesn't work.

I'm not sure why she does this.

*random picture from our Disneyland trip

2010-04-18T06:59:00.004-07:00

My new favorite blog:

Missed Connections NY (<----- click on the title to go to site).

image copyright Sophie Blackall, missedconnectionsny.blogspot.com

2010-04-09T06:49:00.003-07:00

I might do it.

We have a little patio outside our front door. It's never been a place we've really used for anything and lately we've been thinking about taking out all of the rocks, getting some furniture and redoing it so it's a place we could sit outside and actually enjoy.

Eight has been planting things (just on the other side of that wall there on the right) and actually doing very well with his planting: radishes, tomatoes and even corn (about a foot high right now).

Instead of a patio, now I'm thinking maybe I'll just rip out all of the rocks and plant a big garden. I'm reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer right now and I'm really unhappy with the entire business of where our food comes from, how it's treated and what is done to it all. My friend M. has practically an entire farm at her house and she has hens...we're thinking "Hey! Maybe we can do that!"

Suddenly instead of a nice little patio I've got a garden, hens and somewhere, I need a composting area. I'm not sure what I'm getting myself into but I'm actually a little bit excited about it.

Still thinking, though. Still thinking.

2010-04-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

So much for wholesome.

There are a lot of shows on TV for kids to watch. There are all sorts of reasons why a show may or may not be "mom approved" - from subject matter to how parents may be portrayed (usually, as complete idiots) to how many commercials show during the program.

I'm kind of picky.

One show I really love is Arthur. I will often just sit and watch Arthur with the kids because, frankly, it's a great show. Well written, funny...and it's on PBS so there are no commercials for a million things my kids don't need.

The other day we were at the grocery store. There was a mom with a little boy about two in her cart that we kept seeing as we were driving through the store. At one point, the Mr. was walking around with Eleven and The Littlest Family Member. They were laughing and having fun and Eleven said "What are you looking at?" to The Littlest Family Member - quoting Binky Barnes, the big "bully" on the show.

The Littlest Family Member is a smarty pants. He knew that wasn't the entire quote, and as they swung through yet another aisle past the Other Mom and her Sweet Child, The Littlest Family Member apparently leaned out of the cart, looked right at the other toddler and proceeded with "What are you looking at, Doofus?"

Luckily for everyone involved, Eleven knew what was coming and slapped his hand over the offending mouth just in time. But we know better now, oh yes. That sweet face can't be trusted one bit.

2010-03-31T06:34:00.000-07:00

Word for word, entirely true and unvarnished.

Scene: In the car. We are driving from one store to another, doing errands. Distance between stores: maybe three minutes. Paul McCartney and Wings playing (of course). Silence other than that.

Two (completely out of nowhere):

Then, you say, "what's that?"

Then, I say, "garbage".

Silence again.

I have no idea what it means.

2010-03-30T13:59:00.004-07:00

The view from where we sat:

The big panels on the sides were video screens. Before the show, there was a nonstop scrolling of old photos and videos and art from Paul, Linda and The Beatles. Pretty amazing. It looked closer while we were sitting there, this is from my phone and not that great of a photo.

2010-03-29T11:08:00.001-07:00

Video Blog: Paul McCartney Concert, Glendale, AZ 3/28/10

2010-03-26T10:24:00.004-07:00

I hate being The Cleaner.

Why is it that things like this only happen after The Mr. goes to work?

Yes, there was much screaming, yelling, jumping, icking out and laughing. But still, I could have done without it, and so could have my couch.

2010-03-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

He's very Two.

The Littlest Family Member was in trouble. He stole the silverware holder out of the dishwasher and was running around, hitting people with it. I sent him to his room and made him sit in his bed.

The problem is, his crib has one side off because we converted it to a bed. He's too big to just stay in it, and rather than have him climb out, we just took the side off...and he just walked out a minute or two later.

We were in the living room picking up the big legos and he started getting mad and wouldn't help.

Me: Do you want to go back to your bed? If you don't want to help, that's fine, but you will go back to your bed.

Two: I not help and I NEVER go back to bed!

Too soon. Too soon.

* he was just like this, it seems

2010-03-16T07:55:00.003-07:00

These are the days.

One thing I will miss when my kids are all "grown up"...

2010-03-13T14:58:00.003-07:00

So Faux.

We're watching Dora with The Littlest Family Member (who is sick). Eight turns to me while watching Dora, Boots and Benny riding in a car avoiding cones in the road and says "That looks so fake and computer generated."

I guess the animation isn't all that great if an eight year old thinks it looks fake.

2010-03-08T14:19:00.003-07:00

Dang.

I thought I made up a cool word the other night, but it's in the urban dictionary.

Grudgemental: judging someone with a bias due to a previous grudge

And here I thought I was all cool.

2010-03-04T12:42:00.006-07:00

I want to live in a place called Bonnybridge. Especially since I looked it up and it's "The UFO Capital of Scotland".

How cool is that?

image found via google images from David Hannah's flickr account.

2010-02-20T18:45:00.004-07:00

The Ozzman Cometh.

Me: Hi, Ozzy!

Ozzy: Hello. How are you?

Me: I'm great, how are you?

Ozzy: Rather tired, actually.

Me: Tell Sharon we're rooting for her on Celebrity Apprentice.

Ozzy: I will.

la fin. and not a swear word to be found.

2010-02-18T11:56:00.003-07:00

Tell me, who are you?

Yesterday I went to pick up my friend at her house because we were going to run some errands together and some woman I didn't know was at the end of the block getting in her car and she waved at me.

I didn't know her and vaguely registered she was waving at me as I drove by, and laughed about it to my friend as I picked her up and we drove away.

So...of course, this morning, I'm walking Eight into school and saw what I thought was a friend of mine (same car, tinted windows) and waved - like an idiot, because it was some woman I didn't even know.

Though I did recognize the vague look.

* flowers brought back from a walk last night by my boys - nice!

2010-02-13T07:43:00.006-07:00

My Valentine's Story.

AKA "Why I Love My Husband".

We were at Lowe's, looking at flowers and garden items to possibly pick something for our Green Thumb that is Eight. I liked the Ranunculus and thought that would be a good choice.

The Mister says "Isn't that a spell in Harry Potter?"

image from greenscenelandscape.com

2010-02-10T14:44:00.002-07:00

I love Joe Hill's books - this is out next week!