Four Things

1) An add-on to book binge vampires... J.R. Ward's latest installment of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, Lover Avenged = very very good.

2) While surfing around for other things, I found this website: Loves Vampires. It's a website dedicated to 'vampire fiction' and they occasionally interview authors. There's a fairly recent interview with J.R. Ward that gives an interesting insight into how she views her own characters.

3) Vampire-ish, but not strictly related, I can't say enough good things about the Cleolinda Jones: Occupation, Girl site, especially her installments of The Secret Lives of Dolls (SLoD). Cleo is a writer of many talents and much humor. She is also a doll/action figure collector, and her Shelfian community is a pan-fandom mash-up of characters from a variety of movies, including several characters from Lord of the Rings, The Golden Compass, Pirates of the Carribbean, Van Helsing, and probably a few more. And, as of last week, the community on the Shelf also includes not one but two sparklepire versions of Edward Cullen from the Twilight saga. Once you get past any lingering hesitation you might have about reading about dolls, then it's a fantastic and hilarious serial story -with photos!- about a bunch of characters that you probably already like. And Cleo's ability to draw out different sides of the same character, the way she's done with The Littlest Edward and Tonner Edward (or EdwardTallen, take your pick) is wonderfully insightful. Go check it out!

Occupation, Girl's Secret Life of Dolls: The Littlest Edward

4) X Men Origins: Wolverine = hell yes!

Vampire Weekend

You know, when life gets weird, sometimes it just pays to drop off the radar for a little while....

First, I was berated by a homeless man - for being an uptight white woman who wouldn't give him any money, and for having (a little) gray in my hair.

*What?!?*

I mean, all I said was 'no' and kept walking, and for that he got personal about some gray hair?! Stinky bastard - at least I didn't say that out loud!

Then, only a week later, I'd had a rough week at work and wanted to just chill out come Friday night. So I stopped at my regular bookstore, and was wandering the aisles somewhat aimlessly. At some point, I glanced around and noticed a guy a few aisles away. Didn't think much of it at first, but something seemed off. So I wander a little further away, and glance back.

And holy crap, the pervy bastard is um, ahem....fully exposed and wanking in the middle of Borders Books. After I stopped giggling with nerves, I told one of the employees, and security escorted him out. I am an unabashed book nerd, so this was really unsettling. I mean bookstores are my happy place, so that's just....nasty.

That same weekend, I also went with a friend who does dog rescue to check out a situation in AL. The short version is, the owner had some hard times befall her, so she needed to find new homes for her eight Great Danes - 8!! And oh, by the way, she lives in a cabin in the woods, and doesn't have heat in the house. She's got shower curtains across the doors so the dogs can come and go. Arggghhhh!

me with Cinderella, one of the 'Alabama 8'

So, let's just say that there were nine kinds of crazy going on with the dog owner, and the do-gooding families that came to check out the dogs for possible adoption. Four of the eight dogs did get adopted, but....it just, it...wasn't good. It was a very good reminder of why I don't do dog rescue stuff any more. I promptly went home, locked the door, fixed a stiff drink, and curled up with my own dogs.

Is it any wonder that by the time Thanksgiving week rolled around, I'd had it with crazy? Sure I still had to go to Thanksgiving dinner with my family, but that seemed do-able - with alcohol. So, on a whim, I started the first book in the Twilight series, just to see what all the fuss was about. I thought, "Oh sure, teenager falls in love with a vampire, blah blah blah. And what's all this crap about sparkling?"

Five days, four books, and one movie later, I finally came up for air.

And ya know, I feel a lot better.

Twilight: Bella and Edward

Let me just say that the Twilight series isn't good, exactly. No matter what your age, if you're a reasonably independent-woman sort, much of it will make you screech with rage and/or befuddlement. But it's very very entertaining escapism - especially when real life is throwing (literal) wankers and Alabama rednecks your way, ya know?

Damn, I'm still a teenager - at least in my head.

I'd had no idea how huge the whole Twilight thing was until the movie hype started a few months ago. If you're old, with, like, gray in your hair and stuff, and don't know about it all, there's oodles of fandom sites out there. And they are absolutely rabid about the books, and the casting of the movie, and they take it all very seriously.

Actors Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, from Twilight

On the other hand, if you're like me and feel rather sheepish about liking the books, despite how silly some of it is, then please please check out the awesome Cleolinda's take on everything Twilight, especially her three theories on why it's so popular. It's a snarkfest, in a good, fan-ish way.

Oh, and yes, to be completely nerdy, Vampire Weekend (the band) was in my cd player all weekend.