Five Flavor Friday

For any of you that are fans of Johnny Depp, I invite you to visit Wenches today.

Cheryl, one of my blogger buds on that blog and online period, created an meme of sorts last week. This is how it works:

Here's the catch, post your favorite, sexy celebrity with a food item, displaying a food item, or any food item associated reference.

I posted mine for the week over there, feel free to click the link and have a look, and if you want, play along.

We have a special theme on Tuesdays as well, Tasty Tuesday which is just our way of sharing our favorite men with the world. So go ahead, you know you want to have a look!

Happy That My Brain Still Lives Inside My Head

Jon did a fantastic and detailed post about what makes him happy. I doubt that I'll be able to make such long and detailed post. I'm not sure that there are that many things that make me happy.

I'll do it on a more entertainment oriented basis. After all, we know what some of the answers are going to be, perhaps you'll be surprised by others or even wonder if anything makes me happy at all.

Movies that make me happy:

Benny and Joon
Pirates of the Caribbean
Nightmare Before Christmas
Mars Attacks
Love Actually (Must get that DVD soon)

Books that make me happy:

The Phantom of the Opera
Anything by Anne Rice
Cheesy Harlequin romances

Music that makes me happy:

Don't Need a Reindeer - The Moody Blues (I still smile even though it's 80 degrees outside when my winamp shuffles this precious song on)

Ok ok, not many songs by the Moody Blues can really make you happy, most make you go....geeze these guys are sappy and depressed, but I don't care I love them anyway.

Blue Chair - Elvis Costello and the Attractions: No particular reason, but the man has a way with words and catchy tunes that will keep me singing all day. Much like the Moodies, his music isn't really "happy" but it makes me grin

The Mighty Quinn - Manfred Mann: Just listen to the song, you''ll understand what I mean. You'll probably also join me in singing "Come on without....come on within...You won't see nothin like the mighty quinn!"

Anything by Erasure - I swear Andy Bell the lead lovely is perpetually happy. You can't listen to Erasure and not smile.

Waiting on a Friend - The Rolling Stones: I'm not a huge Stones fan, but the ones I like always bring a smile to my face, add Start Me Up to the list as well.

Mayor of Simpleton - XTC: Fantastically lovely funny song. Very catchy and sweet. Love this band!

Jimmy Buffett - All of his music brings a smile to my face, but Fruitcakes, Cheeseburger in Paradise and Vampires Mummies and the Holy Ghost really make me grin

None entertainment things that make me happy:

Driving with the sunroof up on Bernie.
Shopping at Dots.
Long walks at the walking path in the neighboring town.
Writing.
Tiramisu.
Foamy (though foamy is technically entertainment, he still makes me happy)

I'm sure I could probably add some more to this list, but you get the idea of it now.

Small Changes

I've been trying to clean things up on the blog. I'm hoping to get some template issues straightened. Not real issues with the template which is gorgeous, but with my clutter.

So in attempt to spring clean the blog I took down some of the buttons and put those people's bloggy addresses in my dailies. So Sabra and Brighid I still love ya, you're in my dailie list, don't worry.

Dear god in heaven I have a lot of dailies. And do you know what, I try to pop in on everyone's blog at least once a day if not more. (Why more? Cos I get bored and just mindly click linkys on my site)

And while we're onto the changes thing. I suppose I should clarify why Diana Krall isn't a favorite of mine. I do forget sometimes that a few of the people reading this don't know me as well as others and don't know my obsessions.

Elvis Costello is a huge...no not huge, gi-normous (As gi-normous as Marie Hayward's teeth) favorite of mine. I lust after Mr. Costello. Nuff said.

Ms. Krallstello, Diana, Krallomort as I've been known to call her, is his wife. Point number 1 against her. Points 2 and 3 are songs she covered, namely And I Love Him (her) and A Case of You. Both of those tunes turned my stomach and sent my opinion of her spiraling to the lowest level and opinion can sink.

In my book, killing a Beatles song is an unforgivable offense. She killed a Beatles song and a Joni Mitchell song. That's a huge double whammy.

These are the reasons why some people will be truly astonished by my liking The Girl In The Other Room.

So thats definitely a change...to go along with all the other little ones

Stuff More Stuff

I hate it when I realize I need more stuff. Not the fun kind of stuff that you look forward to buying but the odds and ends that you really need sometimes to make life just a little less messy. Yeah I need some boring stuff.

Drat!

I'd like to spend a little of my next paycheck on those two Justin Hayward reissues, especially since CD Universe went and cancelled my order. The preorders kept getting pushed back, so now I have to reorder. Dammit Justin, I hope these things are pretty, cos they were supposed to be out in March!

Sadly Night Flight and Songwriter aren't on the list of things that make life a little less messy. Though if I sit around and think for a few hours I might be able to make them fit in that category. Justin Hayward is always useful.

But really the things that I need have to be bought soon.

1. A travel case for my cdrs - you know those zipper things that hold mondo many dics? Yeah I need one of those. People kept buying me those 99 cent jobs at Wal-mart and now I have a trillion of them. (or so it seems)

2. Black Ink Cartridge. I hate being out of ink.

3. New desk and chair for other bedroom. This isn't happening for awhile, but my large corner desk is really ready to be firewood.

4. Black slim cases for cdrs

You may ask why that is a necessity, but it's because I have become a part of yet another mix cd swap, so I need the cases for that. All I have left are colored ones and those are just not what I like to use, but oddly seem to be the only thing available at the time.

5. I need the Night Flight CD..yup just rationalized needing that while I typed.

Do you want to know why?





I think that's good enough reason, don't you?

And the 4 Horsemen Ride

Why you ask do the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse ride? Well you better sit down for this.

Are you sitting?

Ah that's good. Here let me put some pillows on the floor, cos you will hit it when I make this announcement. Really, you will.

Are you ready for the shock



This album, is fantastic.

OK, are you alive?

Get up now! I warned you!

I dont know what made me listen to clips from the net, perhaps it was her husbands involvement in the writing of some of the tracks. Either way, I was prepared to be annoyed and disgusted, but low and behold, it is a gem, and one I plan on purchasing in the near future.

Yes, you read that right, I will be purchasing a Diana Krall CD.





I'll get the smelling salts for you.

I was particularly pleased with her cover of Almost Blue, a track written by her husband, probably close to 20 years ago if not more. Again I expected the worst, considering I had heard a few of her previous covers. I was wrong.

This looks to be a great album and I look forward to being able to listen to all of it soon. It may not make me into a huge Diana Krall fan, (I don't think that's possible) but it has given me a new found respect for her.

Wednesday Mind Hump

Let's Do The Mind Hump Again

It's just a jump to the left....

And then a step to the rii----iiiiight

Ooops that's the time warp. Sorry.

This week's mind hump brought to you by those crazy ladies at BDI!

This week free association - some fun with "I say, you think" with a crazy sort of Spring twist.

First, as a warm up, using the letters G-A-R-D-E-N reveal six things about yourself.

Now that you're warmed up ... Let's hump, shall we? Below are a list of words. Respond with the first words, words, phrase or insane idea that pops into your head!


Groovy - as in feelin' groovy
Always tired these days and very sad about that
Reads a lot. (Mostly vampire stories)
David Justin Hayward (That's his full name...allow me to thud now)
Editing is the thing I hate most about writing
Never will give up my love for music

1. hoe garden
2. lips kiss
3. butter bread
4. pie Sweet Cherry (anyone remember that cheesy song by Warrant besides me?)
5. groovy Feelin' Groovy - by Simon and Garfunkel
6. hook line and sinker
7. believe in me, I wish someone would
8. fountain of youth
9. bush don't reelect that weed masquerading as a plant
10. sprout bean

Happy Hump Day to one and to all!!

A Story About the Hayward, that Sabbie Will Find Amusing

I was watching one of the old interview clips over at Justin's website. In the interviews section there is a lovely clip that can be viewed with real player or quicktime that is quite worth a few minutes of your time, so if you will, clicky here.

If you don't want to watch the whole thing, I believe the bit about Justin and the Olsen Guitar is C or D in the segment clips, but it's only a few minutes, so why not watch the whole thing?




I believe that this is the guitar in question.

Don't Bother Me

Have you ever reached the point in your life where you just want to crawl up in a little ball and hide from the world? That's me right now.

It's hard to explain too.

I should rejoice on Saturdays, it's a day when I can get together with my friends, relax and enjoy the day. Now that I'm back to work it's a day off instead of just one of many. Why am I unmotivated? Why do I not want to leave the house? I had this feeling on Saturday. I didn't want anyone around me. I wanted to be alone with my computer.

GAH! Thats insane.

It has to be partailly the result of the unemployment running out and the 2 weeks I was without a job as well as all the things that came up that required money, and lots of it.

You know I'm sure

1. The car dying
2. Buying Bernie
3. Atlantic City tix -- of which I must pay my sister back for at some point in time or I will feel like Lord Goddess Queen of the Dorkalopes
4. Pittsburgh tix
5. Bowie and Fleetwood Mac Concerts
6. 1776 with Malcolm Gets at the Civic Light Opera on my birthday. I want to go so badly.

Do any of you remember Malcolm? He played Richard on Caroline in the City. I loved him. He has a role in that musical and I so want to see it. He was here a few years back, or maybe it was last year, I can't remember and I wanted to see him. This year the incentive is, the show is on my b-day!!

~sigh~

If only the money fairy would drop on by, but he never does.

Until that unlikely event happens, I guess I'll have to force myself to want to do things without feeling guilty.

Must Get Rid Of The Sleepies

I don't know what it is, but since starting back to work, I've been incredibly sleepy. More so than I've ever been. I really think I'm trying to get sick or something. My hours changed a bit now. I used to work 8:30 - 4:30 now it's 8 - 4. That's no big deal at all. Of course it's been over 8 months since I did that shift, but even then I didn't get to off track with my sleeping habits, I was always up and about by 8:30, so I'm wondering why I'm so tired now.

I can't even say that its because I've been going to bed later.

~Grumble~

I've been in bed by 11 or midnight everyday for the past week.

I swear it has to do with the lighting where I'm working. Until next week or possibly later this week, I've been working out of my boss' house. We're going to be moving into a new office soon, but he keeps the house so dark. Oddly I'm not sleepy when I'm at work, but once I leave I feel like a ton of bricks has been dropped on me.

Two Beatles songs keep sticking in my head when it comes to this; I'm Only Sleeping and I'm So Tired. Must quit yawning, yawning only makes it worse.





Aw great, the smiley is even yawning. This is not good. All I need now is a pillow and a blanket and I'll be fast asleep on my computer. Hmmmm



Well at least the smiley is getting a nap.

Doing the Mambo --Italiano Style

Ok, here's the Monday Music Mambo, brought to you by the wacky ladies at BDI.


So here we go. Using the letters of your favorite band or artist tell us a little more about yourself.

Totally outrageous when it comes to music
H as to have the entire collection of her favorite bands
Elvis Costello - I lurve him second best

Moody Blues concerts kick butt.
Oingo Boingo is another favorite of mine
Originally I was a fan of the Monkees
Die hard Duran Duran fan
Yaz is a band I love which is made up of Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet

Boy George used to be one of my favorite singers, still is.
Let It Be - the naked version isn't nearly as good as the original
U2 is a band I've never seen in concert, but would love to.
Erasure is my favorite techno pop band
Siouxsie and the Banshees are yet another band in my cd collecion of over 3000 discs.

There you go, I'm a mamboing on out of here.

The Monday Memes

The first of two. The Mambo will follow later today. This one is my favorite, Monday Madness

I'm running out of ideas (hint! hint!!) I hope you enjoy this week's question. Using the letters in the word 'blogger' describe your blog for us.

Bold colors
Lovely and full of musical musings
Over the top sometimes
Gorgeous men in photos
Grateful there are no more "g"s in Blogger.
Every day blogging
Rants on a regular basis

A Writer's Meme

I was wandering though Livejournal's and such, searching for inspiration this morning. My mind is turned off to Not My Slave at the present time, the sleepyness has taken over again, so I thought I'd poke around and see what other people were writing about, I came across this.

1. Why do you write?

I write as a release. I have many thoughts inside my head, plots storylines, etc. If I didn't get them down on paper or in a document, I'd probably go insane. As it is, I have at least 2 other stories waiting to be written after I finish Not My Slave, plus the additions to Broken Dreams/MOOT.

BTW...those of you that are reading Broken Dreams, any feedback yet?



2. Why did you first start writing?

I started writing because I saw a video on Mtv in 1986 maybe. I've always enjoyed doing essays and I tried my hand at lyrics, but that wasn't really my forte. I really can't believe that the reason I began to write is the band that I love the most today. It was the video for Your Wildest Dreams that started my writing. A story about a dancer that fell in love with George Harrison and their struggles to finally find each other again.

~sniffle~

That story filled a 3 subject notebook. My friend Tina has it somewhere. It was my first finished work. Ahhhh George, words can't express how much I miss that man and his music.



4. What kind of advice would you give/What would you tell someone who might consider writing, but needs a little nudge?

First of all, if you have a story, write it. Everything can be fixed, unless it's utter crap. If the plot is good and the characters are there then put it down on paper. It can't hurt.

I have this theory, if one person enjoyed what you wrote, then its all worthwhile. I'm glad Broken Dreams has been worthwhile. I know at least 4 people enjoyed that one. It may never be published, but it's been read and that makes me very happy.

5. What kinds of writing do you do? (stories, poetry, essays, articles, etc; please include genres if you write fiction)

Well, as you can see I obviously do essays/articles, but my love is fiction, romantic fiction to be more precise.

I've done fanfiction, as seen by my linky on the sidebar of this page, romance, historical, erotica and some fiction about life in general that doesn't fall under any real category.



General questions for everyone:

Do you think that anyone can write? Why or why not?

Everyone that has a story to tell can write. It may not be good, but they can write. Writing is about expressing and idea or a message to others. It's a story you have to tell. If you have any of these and the desire to tell it, most likely you can write.

The fundamentals may not be there, but most people can learn those. That's the way I see it.


How/Why do you encourage someone you know (if you do) to write?

I don't. You can't make someone write. I wish you could make someone stop. Dear god, the world should have silenced Danielle Steele years ago, before she killed off another character.

If someone wants to write, they'll do it. If they don't they'll make excuses and the story will never happen. It's as easy as that.

Writers shouldn't need encouragement, they need inspiration.

Even when I hit rough spots on stories it wasn't, "aw you have to finish" statements that kept me going, it was something that I found that made the story come alive. Sure it helps to have a nudge but inspiration is what gets the story going!

Benny and Joon

I watched this movie again last night. Its only the second time that I've seen it, but I love it. I can watch it over and over, much like Edward Scissorhands and Pirates of the Carribean, two of Mr. Depp's other films. It's no secret that Johnny Depp is a favorite of mine has been since my last year in high school. So it's hard to believe I missed this one.

I missed a lot of his films actually. I've only just begun to catch up on them, but that's not really the point. The point is, Benny and Joon is the sweetest movie you'll ever see that isn't a Disney flick.

I'd love to lose a poker game and end up with Johnny Depp coming home with me. I'm not sure I'd want him to make me a cheese sandwich though.

The movie was odd, in the way that all movies with Johnny Depp in them happen to be. The way the script handles a few of the issues of the film leaves me to go hmmm, as well.

Case in point.

1. Joon has a mental illness, (it never says what it is) and they suggest a group home, but by the end she's in her own apartment with Sam (Johnny Depp) A plus is, the apartment is supervised by Benny's girlfriend.

2. Sam is basically illiterate, but he does eventually get a job at the video store. (did someone help him fill out the ap? How did that happen?)

Just 2 points that made me go hmmm while watching, not that it mattered or anything. The movie doesn't need to be deep. The movie is much to sweet to go deep. It's the perfect movie if you are in need of cheering up. There are no characters that you truly hate.

The best thing is, even when things go wrong, you don't get that sense of dread that comes with most movies. You know that it's going to end up ok. I think that's why I like it so much. It's a damn happy movie. Well, it's also got Johnny Depp in it and that adorable song by the Proclaimers, 500 miles.

So to end my mindless rambling for the day, if you haven't seen Benny and Joon go rent it, or you might make Johnny sad.

My Top Twenty List Mix

Some people at Art of the Mix came up with the idea to make a mix of your 20 favorite songs. After I had a small aneurysm trying to imagine how this could be possible, I set to work on mine.

The hard part was getting the 20 artists that I found to be my favorites or did a song that had to be included in my most earth shattering music list.

This is how it ulitimately ended.

The Beatles -Think For Yourself
The Monkees - Saturday's Child
The Moody Blues - Gemini Dream
Herman's Hermits - Just A Little Bit Better
Manfred Mann - The Mighty Quinn (The Eskimo)
David Bowie - Life On Mars
ABBA - The Piper
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - The Waiting
Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
Nick Lowe - When I Write The Book
Cheap Trick - I Can't Take It
Elvis Costello - Just About Glad
Glass Tiger - I'm Still Searching
Duran Duran - None Of The Above
Erasure - Fingers & Thumbs (Cold Summer's Day)
Oingo Boingo - Try To Believe
Siouxsie & The Banshees - Slowdive
XTC - King For A Day
Semisonic - Chemistry
Matchbox 20 - Long Day

The mix runs about 77 minutes long.

The artwork can be found here. Oh and to explain the reason for that particular image, it had to be a dead celebrity, so who better than the man that sings the first song.

And When I Win the Lottery or the Money Fairy Visits

OK, so the first part of that won't happen, because I don't play the lottery. For me it's a waste of money, the only luck I have is bad, so I'd never even win the token 5 dollars.

But if I did once all the bills were paid, I'd travel to all the places I've always wanted to go. See in my 29 years I've never really been much of anywhere. I was in Toronto for a few hours back in 92. My family vacations always consisted of trips to Erie, where my brother lived at that time, sometimes to Sea World in Aurora OH and very often to Lancaster, PA.

Funny thing is, if I had the money right now, that would be where I'd go first. I'd probably go there for a week and do all the things I love doing there. Eating at the family style restaurants, like Good N' Plenty and Plain and Fancy, shopping at the farm markets and the outlets. And lastly I'd go to Longwood Gardens. Longwood Gardens is the most beautiful place in Pennsylvania. If you're ever in the Philadelphia area, try to get to Kennett Square to see this place. It's just a beautiful experience and if you love flowers it's not to be missed.

~sigh~

I won't be going there anytime soon. I wonder if I'll ever go anywhere again. I mean besides Atlantic City. I'm going to have to drive past these places in a few weeks. I'll probably cry.

See my last vacation was about 11 years ago. When there was some money, there were other things that kept me from going, and now, well there isn't any money and its not looking like there ever will be.

So my guess is I've put a lot of my life in things rather than places. At least I still have things. When you go to places, you have memories, but I often wonder if memories are worth it. They are only one step above a fantasy and they only reside in your mind and maybe on film. So if I have choice between the tangible and the intangible, I'm going with the tangible.

I'm strange like that. I want clothes and pretty things. I want stuff. I always have. Stuff amuses me. The more stuff I have, the better.

I guess that's why the farthest I've been from home could see me back home in 24 hours.

Now I'd start doing what I want, if I could. Only I wouldn't know where to start, besides the usual. I'd spent more than a night in Atlantic City. I'd go to Cedar Point. Spend weeks lazy by Lake Erie, then on to Niagra Falls. If I felt more inclined to drift far away, I'd go to Vegas. I'd drive there too, because frankly the thought of airplanes leaves me feeling nauseous.

I'd see all the shows I want to see. If I ever did get the urge to fly, I'd go to England. (my fantasy that will remain a fantasy until I die, I imagine) I'd see Michael Ball in concert.

Not the Moody Blues, they come to places in the US enough that I'd want to see someone different, and Michael Ball is one of my favorite performers from musical theater. He has the most beautiful voice. He was one of the 3 versions of the song A Winter's Tale that I found this Christmas. ~sigh~ I love that song so very much, whether it's Justin or Michael or David singing it.

I think the only place I'm going today is in my mind...so without further ado, this lonely dreamer is off.

Finally a Dream With Justin Hayward

Yee Ha! Only I wasn't snogging him or anything fun like that. I was showing him pictures of flowers. Though I did make a comment that he had a nice tush. That made him blush.

I'm sure finding this picture had something to do with it.



Justin, dj, John, for those of you that aren't as Moodily inclined as myself.


I think this is probably one of the only pictures of Mr. Hayward I have where he looks deshevled, though he was in D.C at 8 or 8:30 am after being in Youngstown OH until about 11 pm. I know this, cos I was there! That my friends was my first Moody Blues concert. This year I'm looking forward to 2 more shows. Yee ha!!!

There will be so much Haywardian beauty that I may simply be overcome. With the added beauty of Lodgey...oh mylanta...I'm doomed. It's going to be a great summer I think!

I'm So Tired

I never thought going back to work would make me this sleepy. Seriously, I've been in bed by midnight all week. That's terribly unusual for me. Nice thing though is that I've been plagued by some really lovely dreams, celebrity dreams at that, and Diana Krall wasn't in a single solitary one of them!!

YAY!

It's bad enough that she can come to Pittsburgh to do a concert but it takes 13 years for her husband to come around. ~kicks Elvis Costello in the shins~

The night before last, I had a weird but wonderful dream about John Lodge. I never dream about Justin, don't ask why, cos I don't know, and its a constant state of aggravation for me.

Well Lodgey was just coming from the dressing room or the bathroom, most likely the bathroom when I noticed that his shirt wasn't tucked into his leather trousers properly. It was all bunched into the back. How he managed that, I do not know.

I was fixated with looking at his butt, for more than one reason, of course. He turned and flashed me the Lodgey-est of grins. It was so cheeky and so sexy and he said, "What are you looking at darling?"

If you've ever heard Lodgey talk, his voice is pure sex. Seriously!

I was lucky that I managed to blurt "Your wedgie." or something like that, back at him.

I reached out and slid my hand down the back of his trousers, flattening out his shirttails. (and feeling my way around a bit)

That's my kind of dream I tell you. The question now is, why am I still so darn tired after all this good sleep and all those wonderful dreams?

Happy Mind Hump Day

It's time to join the wacky ladies at BDI and their crazy pig, for the Wednesday Mind Hump. So without further ado, let's get . Pardon me while I borrow the man in the picture below to do that.

Mmmmmm yeah..

Ooops onto the Mind Hump

First, as a warm up, using the letters I-N-S-A-N-E reveal six things about yourself.

Insane (of course)
Nice (ewww)
Sleepy (at least right now I am)
Adorable (ok...I'm joking)
Nit wit
Energetic

1. What's the best pickup line you ever heard and did it work?

OK, you'll never believe me, but I don't think I've ever heard a pick up line. At least not one that I remember. I'm just not the kind of girl, guys hit on. Run far away from, yes. Hit on? NO.

2. If you were a character in The Wizard of Oz, who or what would you be?

I think they'd create a character for me. A combination of the Wicked Witch and the Cowardly Lion. Hmmm The Cowardly Witch!

3. If you were an element of weather, what would you be?

Wind. That way I could blow the things that bother me away. Far far away...

4. If you were a breed of dog, what would you be and why.

I'd be a mutt. No breed at all just a mixture of everything. Much like I am now.

5. If you were a toy or a game, what would you be and why?

I'd be Barbie, cos I want all of her clothes, her town house, her many careers, and cars. Heck she even dumped Ken it seems. Go Barbie!

The Cutest Belly Button In The World

I don't usually find belly buttons attractive. In fact I prefer not to see them, but I make an exception for this one. I also applaud the designer of this sweater or the person that shrunk it in the wash...



Mmmm belly button. I could just...nevermind...you don't want to hear that.

Time to Mambo....Italiano..

This week's mambo....brought to you by the wacky ladies at BDI.....

The question of the week is?

If you could trade places with 2 different artists for one day each, who would they be and why?


The answer of the week is

1. Diana Krall: Not that I like and or admire her. Her voice grates on my nerves and lordy I don't want to look like the human version of Miss Piggy, but hell, if I get to shag Elvis Costello, well then I'm all for it.

(Did you expect a different answer for that one?)

The second one, now that's a bit difficult, cos I don't particularly care for many female artists...(at least none that I'd want to be for a day)

I'm tempted to answer Madonna for the second one, but then I think of Lourdes and Rocco and remember my allergy to rugrats. They give me hives something awful. So I couldn't be "I, Mother, Madonna" for the day...nope...

Being Siouxsie Sioux would be kewl, but she's not touring or anything....so I'd be sitting around doing Siouxsie things whatever they might be. Hmmmm...NO.

Cher?....Definitely not, unless I got to keep some of the clothes...

Celine Dion?

HA HA HA HA HA....I'd rather be dead...though if I could do something to end her career.....well then maybe..

So one thought comes to mind....

SARAH BRIGHTMAN!!!!

Why? I think she's still touring for the Harem album, and if I'm going to be someone for the day, I want to be on stage, singing my heart out. (on key at last!!) Oh and I still want to bring back some of her costumes etc. Sarah has the greatest costume designer for her tours.

Hmmm I wonder if she has some interesting groupies?

Monday Madness....The Meme of Choice

Monday is the day of 2 of my favorite memes as you all know. This is the first of the two. Up bright and early

Pick a letter; any letter.........Got one?
.....
.....
.....
.....
Ok, for the following questions, each of your answers must begin with the letter you chose.......Have fun!! =)

M is the Letter of choice.....Mmmmmmm..... M

1. If you were limited to 3 things to pack for an overnight trip, what would you pack?
Makeup
Munchies
Medicine (as in tylenol or something of the like)

2. What 3 things would you pack in your picnic basket?
Munchos
Melons
M & Ms

3. What are 3 things you'd rather do than go to work?
Make out (tee hee with the Hayward...) maybe change that to Make some dreams...
Make some Zzzzzzzzz
Make up some stories...

4. Name 1 song.
Monday Monday - Mama's and the Papas

5. Name 1 movie.
Moonstruck ---That movie with Cher

Who Would Have Thought It?

I feel so naughty...

A Fun Biographical Funny

Brighid sent me an email with a link to this comic done about Anais Nin. For those of you that don't know, Anais Nin wrote some of the best erotica in the past century.

Her diaries are well known in literary circles as well as her own fiction. For those of you interested, I recommend Delta of the Venus. It's a collection of short stories. My favorite from this collection is The Veiled Woman.

She's my idol.

I Blow Raspberries At You

This post is dedicated to all the people that need to have their meds adjusted.

1. To the people that think I have to like a celebrity's wife, just because.....I blow raspberries at you
(PS I like and admire only: The late wonderful Linda McCartney, Olivia Harrison, Iman and Kirsten Lodge)

2. To the people that criticize me, but have never once exchanged an email with me or even know me other than through internet exchanges. I blow raspberries at you.

3. To the people that think they know everything about everything. YOU DON'T....and I blow raspberries at you too.

4. To the MB's who read my blog only because they are

a) masochists
b) not on enough meds
c) beyond help and have no life
d) obviously entertained by what I have to say in some sick way because "it" keeps coming back to the blog (and my other blog..reading all the archives...) MB I hope you were most entertained by what Cheyl, Lady Starlight, Deb, Mary, myself and any of the other Wenches wrote from January through to April)

I blow raspberries at you...No wait....I don't blow raspberries at you..



Itchy blows raspberries at you.

To the rest of the world...Huggles and Lovebuckets for a wonderful Sunday.

I'm So Tired

The first few days of really warm weather are so hard to deal with. I get so lethargic. I just don't want to do anything. My big outing for the day was going to Perkins for breakfast/dinner. Perkins is the IHOPish family restaraunt in PA. We wanted to have the potato pancake crepes...but no, they only have them on the weekdays.

~sob~

I'm not meant to have crepes.

I had such plans for getting things done today, but I've felt nothing but sluggish since I woke up sweating at about 8 a.m. Being awake that early on the weekend is bad enough. Being awake and miserable is even worse.

The only thing I've managed to accomplish today was writing. I've sent one update of the vampire story, Not My Slave out to a few people and I may have another one before I go to bed, that is unless I haven't fallen asleep on the computer first.

BTW, those of you reading MOOT, what do you think? You can be honest. I can take criticism. I may be cranky about it, but I'll take it. Im thinking I might want to add a chapter or two to the story to make Peter a bit more vivid. I don't want to take out his chapter, so I may add something to it. I can think of a few places where I can do some adding, but I'd like to have some feedback before I start. Plus I'm suddenly getting into Not My Slave, so that'll make working on Broken Dreams a little trickier.

I'm rambling beyond belief now aren't I? Eyelids are droopy. I want to sleep...

A Random Obsevation

I've noticed this a lot, because I sit in front of the computer too much. Hopefully that will change in the coming week, but that's another story or rant altogether.

AIM Away messages: I have a friend that has one up almost 24/7 and it makes me wonder. Why keep the dang program up and running if you are going to be "away" all the time? It boggles the mind. Worse still, AIM now has another away type message so that you don't have the little yellow box by your name...so out of boredom you may IM a person...and then find, yup, they are away.

Yahoo is evil too. It doesn't have any such features...except maybe invisible, which is nice, but people can still find you online. Damn those offline messages. Those are another thing I don't understand. If I'm not online, why use them? Most people on my buddy list have my email, (probably 1 or 2 of them) so why not email me?

Oh yeah, that would be too easy. How could I have forgotten that?

That was my rant for today...I'll try to think warm fuzzy thoughts now.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm

Do you ever wonder about the people that read your blogs? I mean, those of you that have blogs, of course. I check my 2 traffic counters daily to see who's been here. (Yup...it logs ISPs too, so I know the troublemakers...and they know who they are)

They think they are so funny acting like this




Seriously, and this is going off my subject, but there is no person whose ass I'd kiss for something trivial. The people that know what I'm talking about...without my mentioning names..other than Moody Bitches...will know the person whom I am referencing now.

And to them, I say, go read LadyStarlight's post of 4/16, and heed her words.

Take that Moody Bitches..Again or at least get stuffed.

But back to the rant at hand...All of you lurkers out there. Why not say hi? You are here for a reason...obviously. Say something! I need some amusement in my life.

Moody Tix

Can you say...3rd row right side? 8th row right side and 10th row center aisle?

5 people are going so I have one extra ticket and I don't know which seats I'm going to use for myself!

But everyone will be heavily armed with cameras for maximum Moody picture enjoyment.

To which I say!! SQUEE!

Music That Shaped My Life

This was the post I intended to do yesterday, but the Anything But Here post that nobody really read and my flower show escapades prempted.

This could really be the soundtrack of my life. The songs that made me love a band or an artist enough that they became the focal point of my attention for months or years out of my life. There is usually one song that does it. One song that hooks you and reels you in. There have been so many over the years that it's hard to keep track. Some are bands that most people know, others more obscure.

I'd do a time line but it's hard to pinpoint the beginnings. I will do it in the order that they came into my life the exact years I can't recall on some.

I'll Follow The Sun - Beatles 65 - The first song I fell in love with thanks to the Beatles Cartoons. I still have the original vinyl of that album, I hope my brother doesn't want it back, cos it'd be over my dead body.

Daydream Believer - The Birds The Bees The Monkees - I used to watch the Monkees on WPTT 22 everyday at either 4 or 5 o'clock. At five years old I was determined to marry Davy Jones. I still wouldn't mind it.

Karma Chameleon - Colour By Numbers - The roller rink song of my childhood. Oddly enough I wanted to marry Boy George too. I was a strange child.

Phyiscal - Physical - This song and Xanadu were my two favorites by Olivia Newton-John. Yes, I wore the headbands and legwarmers, shut up!

Kyrie - Welcome to the Real World - This song by Mister Mr played on the radio over and over in the year that the Monongahela River had its worst flooding in decades. I heard it zillions of times as we waited to hear if we needed to build an ark.

Talk Dirty To Me - Look What The Cat Dragged In - I wanted to be a metal head for a brief time. Thankfully that didn't last very long.

Pour Some Sugar On Me - Hysteria - Well if I liked Poison, I had to love the Leps.

Got My Mind Set On You - Cloud 9 - The cheesiest song of George Harrison's career and the song from the album that I waited forever to own. God Bless You, George! The world misses your sweet voice.

The Flame - Lap of Luxury - The most beautiful Cheap Trick ballad ever. My freind JoAnn and I, used to obsess over them in high school. Robin Zander was the man of the moment for a time.

Elevator Man - Boi-ngo - I had a boyfriend who thought he was Danny Elfman. He turned me on to boingo. Not the first song that I heard, but the first song that really made me giggle.

Your Wildest Dreams - The Other Side of Life - I can't believe I didn't buy that album until last summer. I wanted to be the girl in that video. I don't know why, in the year that video came out, the Hayward wasn't my cuppa tea.

~gasp~

God's Comic - Spike - Thus began my love affair with Elvis Costello. This song inspired me to write a songfic back in 10th grade. Its posted in the archives somewhere

Ordinary World - I got into Duran Duran thanks to this song. I haven't recovered from this obsession yet.

Cry So Easy - Wonderland - Thanks to my friend Tina for loaning me this Erasure tape. Techno pop at it's finest. I have more of their CDs than most anyone in my collection.

Cruel To Be Kind - Labour of Lust - I don't own the album, but I do own many other cds by Nick Lowe. Vh-1 Classic is to blame for my love of this man, more so than Elvis Costello. Great songwriter. Fun music. Cute old geezer too.

Eloise - single only - Thanks to Erin and April for this one...and the Turkey Song!!!! Get Turkey out of the house...~sings silly-ly~ You just can't help but love Eloise and I don't really know what it is about the song that does it. I heard it once and loved it.

The Angels Cry - Annie Haslam - A song written by the Hayward for Agentha from Abba. Annie's version is far superior and her first solo album is just beautiful. I'm slowly working to build a collection of her material.

I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones that I remember now and that have a special place in my heart and music collection.

A Flowery Day

I spent the better part of this afternoon at the Spring Flower Show at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh today. I'm seriously a flower show freak. I don't know why. I suppose it was from all those shows I was dragged to when I was small. There was a long gap where we never went, but now that I have a digital camera, I want to go again and again.

I haven't a green thumb. My only talents are writing and making mix cds...oh and annoying people. So I can't explain my enjoyment of these floral escapades.

So if you'd like to view some of my snapshots from today...including the pictures of the Oakland area of Pittsburgh, go here.

There's also a picture of a Mini Cooper in the album, cos I had to snap a shot so I could send it to Erin, as she has the biggest Mini fetish of anyone I know. The building in the pictures is the Cathedral of Learning...aka the big penis in the sky.

If you look at it for awhile, you'll understand why I (and others) call it that.

Enjoy!

A Musical Fantasy Ride

And because life is so unexciting for me, lets play a little game called Anywhere But Here. It seems a lot of people are playing it right now, I've seen it being played in at least two blogs in the past few days, so I'm going to jump on that follower bandwagon that I so easily jump on and play it myself.

But why does the Music Whore need to have an Anywhere But Here fantasy?

Cos she doesn't have a funfilled life, that can keep her mind occupied on other things. So allow me to lose myself into the fantasy world I so adore.

I've hopped on a plane and even in my fantasy, I'm deathly afraid to fly. I'm clutching at my seat muttering Hail Marys and Our Fathers and any other prayer that will pass my lips at the time. I'm so engrossed with my sudden religious devotion that I don't see another passenger take the seat next to me.

"Are you praying because you're scared to fly or because they might try to take your trousers off again," he mumbles.

I turn around and I see the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen sitting beside me. I do a double take, because it cannot be who I think it is. After all, he'd be sitting in first class.

I stop my praying and give him a further inspection. Not able to help myself, I blurt, "You sure look like Justin Hayward. Consider yourself the second luckiest man on the planet, god isn't that kind twice."

Well the gentlemen smiles very sweetly and replies, "Well thank you but no, I'll consider myself the first luckiest man on the planet because I am Justin Hayward."

My jaw hits the floor and I look at him in disbelief. "No you can't be Justin Hayward. The next thing you know, John Lodge will be sitting on the other side of me, and you'll try to serenade me with something off of Strange Times, or better still, you'll sing Gemini Dream."

I continue to blush at my cheekiness, especially when a man looking suspiciously like John Lodge steps over me, giving me a beautiful view of his leather clad rearend. I long to reach up and grab it, but I think twice and instead focus on the man who claimed to be Justin.

"I didn't know that we were taking requests, I don't have old red with me, so I'd have to do anything acapella." He leaned forward. "John, the lady would like us to serenade her."

John flashed me a dazzling grin and I sunk down deep into the cushions of my seat. These men were the Jays!

"No really, you don't have to but..." An evil grin spread across my face, "If you want to sing Don't Need a Reindeer, feel free to do so."

"But my dear it's the middle of April..." he starts.

"Ah, but that's the one I want to hear," I reply with a pout. So the man launches into the most infectuous Christmas song ever written. By the end of the second verse the whole plane is singing "Don't need a reindeer, don't need the snow....tell me you love me and I'm ready to go."

The passengers on the plane burst into applause when he finishes. I have a broad smile on my face as well, because I'm sitting between the Moody Blues Jays. It can't get much better than this. But wait, it does, because both Jays lean in and kiss me on the cheek. I nearly pass out from the excitement, but Justin's still holding my hand, and I don't want to miss a minute of it, so consciousness rules.

We fly off to England where I end up spending a fun filled week with my moody jays. Doing things that Moody Bitches only imagine doing. Life couldn't be better than that....and why? Cos I'm Anywhere But Here.....and I'm with the Blue Jays!

The Music Whore Rants

I was struck with a rant today, and I have posted it over at Wenches. For those of you that aren't familiar with that link, I'll tell you a bit more.

About 8 or 9 of my blogger and online friends rant, critique, bitch and share our thoughts on day to day issues, media and entertainment issues and well just other issues that plague us.

I rant more often than some. Today I took on the music industry, music being my specialty. So go on over..have a look and say hi to the other wenches.

It's Time To Hump Your Mind

Yup the wacky ladies at BDI have brought us another freaky meme. So as always I have to do this one. Nothing else to blog about on a cold, wet, rainy Wednesday.

This week some fun with free association and then some. What is free association? It's a "I say ____, you think _____" sort of thing. You can list the first word, phrase or idea that comes to your mind.

First, as a warm up, using the letters M-I-N-D reveal four things about yourself.

Moody (as in Blues...as also in mood swings)
Indecisive no...wait...innocent...no maybe not...how about..oh yeah.....Indecisive
Never growing up! Nope I won't do it, you can't make me
Dreamer

1. chill out...DUDE!
2. poodle skirt
3. tissue paper
4. sharp wit
5. foam y as in foamy the squirrel
6. wee little
7. crack of dawn
8. bellybutton lint
9. bounce dribble
10. disco ball ~ Stayin' Alive...Stayin' Alive...ah ah ah ah Stayin' Alive!!

Where I blog

Sabbie's doing it..Friday started it, I guess I should join the club, as I've always been a follower more than a leader. So do you want to see where I blog?

I know you do.

I can feel you bursting with excitement saying "Where does the Music Whore do her blogging?"

Are you ready?

Sit down...cos the computer desk might be too much for you to handle. The luxury of it all is astonishing.





That is the desk. Take note of the Moody Blues December ornament hanging from the speaker and the background of CDs and Vinyl that have no place to go. That my dears is only part of the Music Whore's vast collection of CDs.




Meet Misty-facator, queen of the computer. Her bottom must always be warm, so where else does she sit, but on the monitor. Misty is one of my 4 kitties. To see more go to the fotolog, and wander through my photo archives.

There now, you've seen my blogging space, are you thrilled?

Well It's Tuesday Morning, not Afternoon

A little picking on the Hayward this morning, or rather the Hayward tune. I don't think today's weather suits his song much though. Ark anyone? Really!! I think it might be necessary.

So it's slightly before 8 on this less than lovely Tuesday morning and I'm wondering just what in the hell I'm doing with myself today. Am I going to an interview? Am I going to my boss' house to get him situated for moving back into an office (the old office to be exact)? I wish to god that I knew, but for the last 8 months I haven't known a damn thing, and it doesn't look like I'll be starting now.

This is the kind of thing that really aggravates me. I want to know what I'm doing. I have plans to make a sad little life to live, please somebody let me do it.

And they respond by blowing raspberries in my face.

If reincarnation is a fact, I was probably someone like Jack the Ripper in a past life. No, I lie, if Jack's coming back, he's coming back as a prostitute, I think that would be only fair, but you get my point.

Danny Elfman wrote a song called "Nothing Bad Ever Happens To Me"

I counter that with "Nothing Good Ever Happens To Me" which though it may not be true, feels true at least 90% of the time.

So anyone know what I'm doing today? Nope? Didn't think so.

When It Rains It Pours

And that's what it's been doing all day today. A miserable trickle down and then pour down rain. Not condusive to doing anything really, except bring strange things out of hiding. Strange things like my amazing missing boss, who turned up finally after a month today. After I told someone I'd come in for an interview tomorrow afternoon. I may be working tomorrow instead.

If only...

I would be so happy to be back in my office doing menial craptastic clerical work. I want the sun to shine. I want to go back to going walkies for an hour and a half each day. I used to walk 5 miles a day at the walking path in a neighboring town. I loved it. I could walk for hours and it wouldn't bother me at all. I miss that.

I want to go back to working. If I go back to my job.

1. That threat of bankruptcy might stop looming over my head.
2. I can pay for some of those concerts I'm going to. And get cool stuff while I'm there.
3. I'll stop wanting to kill people at home. (It's more fun to want to kill them at work)
4. I may be able to start doing things again. (I haven't been out and about in months anywhere fun)

On that note I have accomplished a few things in my time off.

1. Wrote a 395 page novel.
2. Wrote several short stories totaling at least 200 pages.
3. Saw the Moody Blues in concert (and some other nice things)
4. Saw Eddie Izzard too.

It's not all bad, but it sure hasn't been a bed of roses.

Monday Music Mambo



It's time to Mambo to this Monday's Musical Meme! Woot! Does a little dance...makes a little love...with the Hayward and the Lodgey of course...and sings a little song...

This week's mambo..

What's in a Name? Take the letters of your first name and see what song titles can come from your name...or band names....or hey do it twice and do it with both..

Firstly by song title

All Along the Water - Duran Duran
No New Tale To Tell - Love & Rockets
Dream Away - George Harrison
Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac
Everyday I Write the Book - Elvis Costello
And The Tide Rushes In - The Moody Blues

Now by band names

ABBA
New Order
Depeche Mode
Roxette
Erasure
Adam and the Ants

All songs I like...and all bands I like too. And drat me for not having an "M" in my name!

This bout of insanity brought to you by the crazy ladies at BDI.

The First of the Monday Memes

What else is there to do on a Monday Morning, but memes? Right now I bring you Monday Madness, one of my favorite weekly memes.

'What color is your favorite.......'

1. Vegetable Green...I'm fond of peas
2. Beverage Brown...the beautiful color of Coca Cola and amaretto sours
3. Room Pale Blue...the color of my computer room
4. Outfit Black...most of my clothes are black.
5. Mood Red..a passionate angry angsty mood...it so suits me
6. Season Orange...My life will be forever autumn...now you're not here.
7. Fruit Green...I lurve green grapes
8. Dessert Cream and Brown...Mmmm Tiramisu
9. Pair of shoes Black...which is the color of most of my shoe wardrobe
10. Color???? Purple

A Fun Little Meme While I Wait for the Easter Bunny

This one is the Daily Dirt.

Which ____ couldn't you live without?
Sunday, April 11, 2004
1. CD (Album OR Single): One? Mean and cruelness that is. Sorry Moody Men...Elvis Costello's Blood and Chocolate, cos I need my snarky Elvis.
2. Book: Gaston Leroux - The Phantom Of The Opera (I'll forever love this book)
3. Video/DVD: The Moody Blues - Hall of Fame. Sorry, the Red Rocks sluts..erm backup singers ruin that one for me.
4. Website: Ill Will Press Go watch Foamy! I mean it! Go!
5. Person: the real answer is my mother. the answer that I'd like to give and mean is:

A Season Of Forgiveness And Joy

There's so much to Easter that we forget, simply because its a religious holiday. We try to cover that up with chocolate bunnies and marshmallow peeps. But there is more to it, and even if you are in the non-religious and non-believer sect that so many people seem to fall under these days, I think you should take the time to reflect on life and the joys of spring at this time of year.

For those of us that have our faith and belief, this is a time that brought true forgiveness to the world. Forgiveness that we as people don't always extend those around us. We center too much on hate and the bad things in life and neglect hold out a hand and say "It's finished" "It's forgiven."

No one wants to be hurt and no one wants bad things to happen to them, but nonetheless they do. Do we forever hold our grudges and punish the world with our anger? I'm as guilty as the next person, in holding my anger in and not easily forgiving slights against me. But is it really the right thing to do? No.

So today, on this spring morning, that's just a touch bit chilly in my part of the world, I say to those of you that I've had arguments with, that I've not spoken too. "It's finished" "It's forgiven," because someone at sometime has forgiven me.
That's the true joy of Easter, receiving forgiveness for what we've done wrong and the joy of knowing we have a new beginning.

And for me, I offer all of you the blessings of the Easter Season.

Blogger Is Evil

I just wanted to share that random thought with the world, since I've been trying to publish a post for about two and a half hours now.

Kicks blogger.





Hell I'll even let the smiley yell for awhile.

Meet Gavin Loudoun

Well it took a bit of researching to find a proper name for my new character in Not My Slave. I figured a certain blonde gentlemen helped to shape Broken Dreams, I'm hoping this gentlemen can bring this story back to life. Lord knows it needs some life breathed into it.

So for those of you that were interested in the inspiration for this new character, I shall post a picture. Which was sent to me sometime ago, by a fellow blogger and member of a few MB communities. There's one of Justin as well, but well, that's a totally different story that's yet to be written I think.

So onto the prettyness.

Meet Gavin.



Doesn't he look oddly like John Lodge? Mmmm maybe it's just me.

I've Been Plagued With Dreams Lately

At least last night I wasn't dreaming about Diana Krall. I send up a prayer of thanks for that. I don't think I could stand another one of those for awhile, a long while.

I had one of those nights where I can remember bits and pieces of a dream but not all of it, or what it's really about. I just have vague recollections of who was in it. Bless the Lord, my new character from Not My Slave was in it!

I suppose the story was weighing pretty heavily on my mind when I went to sleep last night, mostly because this character doesn't have a name. Well, he does but I can't very well use it.



~sigh~



It was also one of those nights that left me more tired on waking up than when I went to bed. I truly hate that, because it's almost 9 a.m. and I'm still yawning and I still have this character wandering around my head without a name.

He needs a name and I'm not sure what I want to call him yet, and yet he's minutes from entering the story. I was planning to introduce him in chapter 3, which is where I left off last night before bed.

GAH! Maybe I should go back to bed for awhile and see if he names himself. (something other than JL)

It's Starting To Come To Me

Finally after almost discarding this story, I'm getting deeper into Not My Slave. So far none of my inspiration has come from a song. How totally amazing is that? For two days now I've been adding pages in leaps and bounds. Leaps and bounds being 2 - 5 a day. I'm quite pleased with that. I'll be adding an additonal chapter to what I've already written as well. That brings me some joy.

Not My Slave was started when I was deeply into Danny Elfman and Tim Burton, not saying I'm not deeply into them now, it's just they aren't high on my lust lists or must see lists. (OK...Big Fish was...nevermind)

The pace of this story was fast from the start and I've been working dilligently to slow it down, while my minions read Broken Dreams. Do you mind being minions? I've always wanted minions of my very own. I'm looking forward to your reactions to the characters and what you think might need changed.

But back to Not My Slave again. Once I started back to writing, I realized I needed to change one character, and since I couldn't drop the main one, Nicholas Davenport (my redheaded vampire), I had to dispatch Patrick. His character won't be in the revised version I'm sorry to say. With the turn the story is taking, Angelina needs a stronger protector, I have a picture of the man my mind wants in this role. It won't resize nicely, so I can't post it here. Leave a comment if you'd like to see him. (and no he's not Justin Hayward)

Once I had this in mind, the story has started to come together, for the first time in 3 years. So wish me luck.

Dreaming Of You

Well dreaming of Diana Krall, again. You know this is getting absolutely sickening. This woman plagues me. I don't even have to think about her, and POOF! there she is in my dreams trying to be friends with me.

All this because I'm downloading yet another bit torrent over at Sharing The Groove. It's so much nicer to download bit torrents rather than trade. Saves on postage, I can burn on any cdrs that I like and I usually have the show in about a day or two. (Well except for the Costello shows that seem to take yonks)

But back to the story at hand. Another dream where Elvis Costello's wife number 3 wants to be friends with me. What in the hell is my brain doing when it should be resting and sleeping. Seriously, there hasn't been a Costello CD in my player in yonks, this should not be happening. The man isn't even in my top 3 list of shaggable males..OK maybe top three, cos I've not been thinking of Richard Coyle much lately, but still.

What the hell does this mean? No I don't want to know. It's not as if I'll ever be taking tea with his missus and have to be nice to her.

Maybe I just have to stop downloading Costello shows? Maybe it's North. GAH! I tell you that album brings out the worst in me. I'd rather have bamboo shoots rammed under my fingernails than listen to it. And I've tried and tried and tried to like it. Will reiterate that I do like tolerate the songs when they are proformed live.

All I can say is thank god the man is supposedly recording with the Imposters and will likely have a new album (prays that it will not sucketh so) by the fall of this year.

And When I Write The Book

I'm in between stories now, kinda, which isn't something I'm used to being. Railway Hotel is one of the short stories I'm most proud of. Mostly because it's not a fanfic and because I really enjoyed the characters in that one. At some time I would like to do something novel length from the point of view of the son, from that story.

A small plot summary for ya.

David Harber is devasted by the loss of his wife Maddy, Madeline, and he finds himself seeking comfort by telling his story to his son Colin and daughter-in-law Laura. His story is a tale of love and learning. And how even death won't keep true love apart.

As David recounts his courtship of Maddy to his family in pictures and in words, the memories flood back to him, some good and some bad, but all of them make him remember the bittersweet time that was the summer of 1967. The summer of love and the summer of his love.

In only 30 pages I really became attached to these characters. Maybe it was because the song that inspired it was so vivid. But the song really only plays into the last small portion of the story.

I'm really trying to work on a story about vampires. I started it many many moons ago. Seriously, some parts of the story lurk in the archives of this blog, making it at least 2 years old. The problem for me with this one, is I'm not feeling the characters. In MOOT/Broken Dreams, Alex, Tristan, Everett and Jodi and all the rest were like people in my life. I may not have had the easiest time writing it, but they were always there, nagging at me to continue.

Railway Hotel did something similar, the plot of the story jumped into my head and wouldn't let me work on anything else until I had finished it. The stuff I write usually has a tendency to do that. Not My Slave, which is the working title for the vampire story, has not. I'm thinking of adding and removing some characters to this one. Nicholas and Stefan and Angelina are the 3 main characters.

Nicholas and Stefan are both vampires. Angelina is a mortal woman that has a mental connection with the vampire world. There are forces that would like to see her dead because of this ability, and Stefan and Nicholas have taken on the duty of protecting her.

In the original 49 pages I had a character I called Patrick who was to see Angelina safely to England, but I don't think he's staying in the story. There will be a similar character, but I'm pretty much sure that Patrick is not going to be it.

This story is very fast paced, which is probably one of the reasons I'm finding it so hard to write. At one point I think it was moving too fast, and what I'm doing right now is writing from the middle to slow the action down a bit. Not an easy task.

So until another story jumps into my mind, I think I'm stuck with this one. Can you tell I'm not very happy about it?

Wednesday Mind Hump

Happy Hump Day...It's Mind Hump Time!

Yup, another lovely Mind Hump, brought to you be the insane ladies at BDI.

This week, another "getting to know you" meme with a twist.


1. Week 11 you were asked to list four things about you using the letters B-L-O-G. This week do the same thing but use the letters H-U-M-P. Just use one word or feel free to get gabby about it.

Hysterical - I try not to be too serious when I don't have to be. Fun and Funny is better for me
Unique - Really there aren't 2 people like me, and you should be saying prayers of thanks for that.
Moody Blues - The favorite band of the moment
Peculiar - I think that goes hand in hand with unique don't ya?


2. If you were a dessert, what would you be and why?

~grins evilly~
They made me think dirty thoughts...and now I have to act on them. Bad ladies at BDI....BAD!!

I want to be whatever Justin hayward likes for dessert...cos then he'd well...you know...



3. Imagine if you will that you are being held hostage by a pompous, self-grandizing, BORING person on your IM. You're trying to be polite but really want to brush this person off. Being crazy and creative, list three things that you could tell that person to excuse yourself now AND discourage them from contacting you ever again.

1. My zoloft is wearing off and that butter knife is looking mighty tempting.
2. Oh wow I see piggies humping and flying past my second story window. I must go and get a closer look...
3. I think I hear my mother calling....and she's at the grocery store so she's yelling really loud.

~ and since I use Yahoo...once I excuse myself I rid them from my friends list....and they can never bug me again. Cos my IM settings are private. Muhahahahaha!

4. You are a work of art. What are you? Explain why.

I am a song, like Nights In White Satin. I'm brilliant and pretty, but I can annoy the hell out of you, if you hear me too much.

~ Cos I love you.....Oh....How I love you.......(inserts orgasmic look from the Hayward)

5. Do you have an talent that is interesting but totally useless? (Example: being able to touch your nose with our tongue, tear a phone book in half ... ) Tell us about it.

So far my writing is the only useless talent I have. ~sigh~ Only my online friends read it, therefore it doesn't do me much good. ~double sigh~

When Life Becomes Like A Novel

What do you do when you find yourself identifying with a character in a book? I'm reading the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, and I find myself feeling much like Sidda in the story. I can sense her envy of her mother and others that have that longstanding bond with girlfriends.

All my life I've been much of a loner, through choice mind you, but that doesn't mean I never dreamt of being the one people fawn over and people want to befriend. Nevermind that I've always been to snarky for that or maybe just to shy for that.

I dont think there was ever a time when I had more than 2 or 3 close friends, and when I talk about friends here, I mean ones I talk to or see on a fairly regular basis. Online friends are a different species altogether. I never know how to approach online friendships. How much do you really let, or want to let complete strangers know about your life? Telling too much can get you in trouble, as I've seen quite a bit of in my 4ish years online.

So my close friends number 3, and they know who they are. Some of them even read this journal. ~waves~ Even though they don't comment. ~pouts~ At least not often. But so is the nature of the beast of friendship, sometimes they are silent.

I had one friend that I had known since 6th grade, and suddenly she's all but disappeared from my life. I get a random call from her every now and then, but it's awkward talking to her. I don't call her, because I've hit a point where I don't know what to say and I'm sure the same is the case for her. It's just very sad.

It's more understandable when a friend marries or moves away. Changes there aren't quite so painful, though they still hit pretty hard.

I guess that's part of life and I suppose I'm writing this because I'm still feeling a little sorry for myself. I think the incident with the car has hampered my chances of employment with the temp agencies. I'm at my wits end, and there's no one I can talk to about it.

The only happy thing to happen is those tickets. Squee to infinity and beyond there. I also finished writing a short story, called Railway Hotel. It's one sentence over 30 pages, literally. I'm kinda proud of it too, because it's a different kind of story from what I usually write. It interrupted my work on the vampire fic, which I'm now sorting through, ready to abandon for the umteenth time.

I will calm down now and try to think happy thoughts and go to my happy place. The happy place being wherever Justin Hayward and John Lodge are.

Atlantic City Here I Come

I didn't want to post yesterday, cos well it just would have been one big huge Squee of a post. Oh and for those of you that don't know, Squee is a sound of joy emitted when something wonderful happens.

So in case I haven't mentioned this.




Squee!!!!




So on June the 18th Lady Starlight and I will leave for the Tropicana Casino to see, yup you guessed it, The Moody Blues!!

We were lucky enough to procure 11th Row Orchestra Right seats.

The two of us will be taking our digital cameras. And all the pictures will be mark free to our friends. So that the deserving will get to see them. The undeserving, and those Moody Bitches as we like to call them, know who they are, will have to wallow in self pity. I doubt they will be, because they sell their pictures for a profit so they can go to every show the band plays.

But I won't rant about them, that would spoil a perfectly happy moment, and I'm still perfectly happy.

In which case...I have to post pictures of my moody men.







Oh and did I mention



SQUEE!!

Hey Mambo

It's time to Mambo with those crazies at BDI


The Question you ask?

This week's Mambo...Tell us 5 favorites of your 5 favorites.
That is 5 favorite songs by each of your 5 favorite bands.

1. Moody Blues

a. Driftwood
b. Top Rank Suite
c. Steppin In a Slide Zone
d. Talking Out Of Turn
e. Haunted

2. Elvis Costello

a. Other Side of Summer
b. I'm Not Angry
c. Everyday I Write the Book
d. This House Is Empty Now
e. Blue Chair

3. Oingo Boingo

a. Elevator Man
b. Try to Believe
c. Not My Slave
d. Private Life
e. Insanity

4. Duran Duran

a. New Moon On Monday
b. The Reflex
c. Electric Barbarella
d. Ordinary World
e. The Sun Doesn't Shine Forever

5 The Beatles

a. Something
b. Here Comes the Sun
c. I'll Follow the Sun
d. Nowhere Man
e. Ticket To Ride....

The Music Whore is Mamboing on out....

A Little Bit of Monday Madness

Couldn't start a Monday without this one. Keeps me on my toes.

1. What makes your country special?
This could turn into an all out rant. In the beginning it was the freedoms that we had in this nation and all the opportunities that could be found for anyone. The American dream was there for the taking. Sadly over the last 40 years those freedoms and that dream have erroded, but still we are a better nation to live in than most.

So I'll just say....that the United States has so much natural beauty that it has to be special. Lets hope our gov't leaders keep it that way.

2. What makes your hometown special?
This is an easy one. There are only 2 Charlerois in the world, Charleroi PA where I live and Charleroi in Belgium. Both are glass making towns. There's a fun factoid for ya!

3. What makes your neighbourhood special?
There's something special about it? I hadn't noticed. Actually, we're a pretty close knit bunch of people. My father cuts grass for the neighbors and my grandmother lives across the street. We all know each other, but thankfully we don't know each other's business. Which is why we're all friends I suppose.

4. And your loved ones - what is it about them???
I think it is the dysfunctionalness of my family that makes them so lovable. There's nothing normal about anyone in my family. To tell you all about them would take pages and pages of entries. But what I suppose is good and special about them, is that all of them would do anything to help another family member, or offer encouragement when things are rough.

5. And finally you - what is it that is unique about you...???
Me? Oh dear. I suppose its my writing talent. I'm almost done with a short story. It's going to be about 30 pages long, based on the song Railway Hotel by Mike Batt. I always have an idea for a story in my head. I finished writing a nearly 400 page long novel about 2 weeks ago, and now I'm almost done with a 30 page short story. So I think that's probably what's unique about me.

Everyday Is Like Sunday

It's nice that they make Daylight Savings Time coincide with Palm Sunday this year. Which means I've slept through morning mass, because no one woke me. Grumble grumble.

If only this were one of those calm relaxing Sundays, but no. We have family visiting from OH that are here for my dads birthday, which was Friday. He turned 78. It's my brother's 2nd family. Allow me to explain that. Brother dearest has been married 3 times. I think when you were married for 20 years and your wife up and leaves you, it sends your world into a shambles completely. That's an altogether different story though.

He's here with his third wife, who we all adore and his two children from marriage number 2 that are 10 and 7. The house is a little rowdier than usual to say the least. And since I'm not one for playing with children, well only imagine what a funfilled weekend this has turned out to be.

I haven't even driven Bernie around the block since I put gas in her Friday night. Yup that's how exciting my life has become, putting gas in a 15 year old car is an event! Yee Ha!

Oh I did do something spectacular. Not really but it's worth mentioning. I finished reading Out of Africa. If you ever have insomnia, read this book. It's the second book this year to drive me close to insane. The first one was Stephen King's Dreamcatcher. I'm still trying to find a way to get that one out of my home. So now I'm onto reading The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. I've had it for ages, but never read it, so it's next, and it's not a romance, so it falls under my regular reading for the year. Be proud, I'm keeping that New Year's Resolution.

In other happy news, the Atlantic City Tickets for the Moody Blues go on sale tomorrow. I'm so scared. I want good seats. I want to see my J'tiny Poo and Lodgey! I know better than to expect the wonderful time I had in Youngstown to repeat itself, but a girl can dream. A girl can dream endlessly about a tall man with curling gray hair and a warm cashmere coat that was so warm that you just wanted to snuggle into it and follow him wherever he went. Not to mention, he was a hottie.

LODGEY I NEED YOU AND YOUR COAT NOW!!!

~cough~

I'm fine, just a bit cold here today in PA. All will be well soon I hope.

But It's Not A Penumbra Moon

No the moon we see in the sky is a waxing gibbous moon. I saw that when I clicked a weather link from Sabbie's blog today. So it prompted me immediately to ask. What the heck is a waxing gibbous moon? Thank god you could right click on those words and get taken straight to the answer.

For any of you that care a waxing gibbous moon is when the Moon appears to be more than one-half but not fully illuminated by direct sunlight. The fraction of the Moon's disk that is illuminated is increasing.

Sadly though, I have the song Penumbra Moon stuck in my head. And I also have the curiousity to learn what a Penumbra Moon is. So I had to do a search, and guess what I found! Yup! Song lyrics!

Thanks Justin but unless you are going to sing me to sleep with the Penumbra Moon song, then you really aren't what I'm looking for right now.

This was the only site I could find that made any sense to me on the nature of the Penumbra Moon.

So in honor of all this talk about the Moon. I bring you the loving song by Billy Nicholls, which was recorded by the handsome songbird, Justin Hayward for his Night Flight album.



Penumbra Moon


Standing in the moonlight
I saw you standing in the moonlight
With your hair a shining blue
I shivered in the midnight air.
He was in the shadows
He was hiding in the shadows
Why he looked so dark and cold
And lonely, only heaven knows.

Oh! Penumbra! Just like that moon
Some of it black, some of it bright, some of it blue
Oh! Penumbra! I'm just like you
Feeling so shy
Hiding behind somebody too.
Oh I'm just like you

If I could have one wish
Oh I'd take you on a starship
But I wouldn't know what to do with
All the love I have for you.

Nothing much between us
No there's nothing much between us
Even Mercury and Venus
Couldn't take me far from you

Oh! Penumbra! Just like that moon
Some of it black, some of it bright, some of it blue
Oh! Penumbra! I'm just like you
Feeling so shy
Hiding behind somebody too.
Oh I'm just like you

Meet Bernie

Yeah, so at 8:30 this morning, I'm outside, in the rain, taking pictures of the newish car. Ha! New!

Look, even the smiley knows better than to call it new. Bernie (and yes, it's a she...she's named after Bernie Barlow backup annoyance for the Moody Blues) is a 1990 Beretta. She does have my cd player inside, so that's a plus. She also has a sun roof, that's kinda nice and another plus is she only has 65,000 miles on her.

I have two ongoing jokes about cars in my life. The first one is that someday I may own a car with less than 50000 miles on it. Hey! I'm getting closer, be proud. The second on is that I may one day own a car that is less than 5 years old. Well Bernie is older than the last car.

Greta the Grand Am was a beautiful 94' teal green sedan. She was a pain in my butt, but I loved her dearly. Why because I'm a fool for pretty things.

Bernie is a gray Beretta.

~sigh~

I doubt highly that I'll ever come to love her as much as I did that stupid piece of junk, Greta. While waiting for the paperwork so that Bernie could be mine, I wandered out and sat in Greta for the last time, and I cried. My Greta is going to the junkyard. Poor sweet, always breaking down for some stupid reason, Greta is going to the junk yard!!

~wails~

See what many of you don't know is that I fought to get Greta. She was the newest car I've ever owned. I think she was only 6 when I bought her, and she was beautiful, but she was damn expensive and had high mileage. She's gone to the junkyard with 136,000 miles on her, only 40,000 of which were put on by me.

So before I lapse into another crying spell, let me introduce you to the new lady car in my life, Bernie





I hope she lasts a few years. God only knows when I'll be able to afford another one.

If A Tree Falls In The Ugly Forest

Yes, this is kinda mean.....but it was inspired by a post made by the ever funny and witty Moody Mistress.

One day a very young Marie Hayward was walking in the ugly forest with her husband Justin. It was a beautiful spring day, but once they walked into the trees, it became dark and gloomy.





Marie wasn't happy to be there, because she had just learned to golf, and preferred that to keeping company with her young and handsome husband. (stupid woman....silly stupid woman)

As they walked a stick from the ugly forest came down and smacked Marie in the face. Minutes later her teeth grew to gi-normous proportions.

Her husband Justin stood transfixed by the change. This was surely not the woman he had married. He liked horses, but that didn't extend to women that looked like them. On and on they walked. The ugly stick following behind them, continously beating Marie, when it could, making her older and uglier.

Soon all the other trees were wanting to join in. Surely this handsome man could do better than her? The forest was outraged.

After all a man that looked like this





Should have a beautiful wife. A vivacious wife a wife that would follow him to the edge of the earth.

See the trees in the ugly forest are enchanted and they could read Marie's thoughts. They knew she'd rather be golfing than walking in the woods with her handsome husband, and they found her stupid for it.

One lone oak decided to take his chances and uprooted himself.......casting an aging spell as he fell forward..collapsing onto Marie.

That's why Mrs. Hayward looks like this today.




It all happened because a tree fell in the ugly forest...and she was beat with the ugly stick.

Thankfully the trees would do nothing to harm Justin, for he was given the gift of eternal beauty and the voice of a songbird.

That's why at 57 he looks like this





Sometimes the trees in the ugly forest are kind. At other times they are not. So watch what you are thinking when you walk through the ugly forest with your lover, or you might come out Zombified, like Marie.

A Random Day of Pretty Men

Why? Cos If I started ranting today, I'd never ever stop, and I thought I'd spare you from that. So you'll just have to look at my favorite Concubines/Manwhores. I hope you can deal with it.


Elvis Costello



I love the pics from this photo shoot. If you want to see another just go to the Wenches blog and scroll down to Tuesday's post.

Justin Hayward



No post is ever complete without one or two of this blonde god. In fact, here's another, only with the band from the mid - 80's. Just ignore the ugly goober with the really dark hair. Patrick doesn't deserve to be noticed. Focus on Justin and John...the men on the right.



Davy Jones



Why? Cos I lurve him and I lurve the Monkees.

John Lodge



My other favorite Moody Man....giving the classic d'oh look.