Today is the last day of the month, and I have successfully completed the challenge of posting every day for the month of November. Some days I even posted more than once. I was never much of one to post every single day, but I think it was good for me. There was no way I could take part in NaNoWriMo. My fiction muses are fickle still, but I'm hoping to change that. The thing is I am writing again. Probably more than I have in a long while. I am writing for Blogcritics, and this week I signed on to write for TeeVieo. If you head over there now, you can find the latest update on the writers strike! It doesn't look good. I am proud to have stepped up to the challenge and being successful. It pushed me to a new limit, and I hope to continue on posting daily with the occasional day off here in there for a long time to come.
Thursday Thirteen #4
My Thirteen Favorite Cartoon Characters
1. Tweety Bird
2. Bart Simpson
3. Bugs Bunny
4. Goofy
5. The Care Bears
6. Rainbow Brite
7. Charlie Brown
8. Frosty the Snowman
9. Pop-eye
10. Casper the Friendly Ghost
11. Winnie th Pooh
12. Pinky & The Brain
13. Fat Albert
Yes, I know this is a bit late today! I've been a bit busy doing things, and I was having a hard time coming up with a topic. It finally came to me, so here we go. These are some of the cartoon characters I grew up with and loved. You can't have Pinky without Brain, and the Care Bears are adorable as a whole. I still watch cartoons from time to time. I didn't really touch on movie cartoon characters. That is a whole other ball of wax. Maybe next week! Have a great Thursday evening everyone.
The Wonderful Depp
I have always been a huge fan of Johnny Depp and his work. I have been since I saw him play on 21 Jump Street years and years ago. When he jumped into movies, I followed along. Never been a Pirates fan, but I've loved so many of his movies over the years. One of the movies of his that stands out to me is Cry Baby. I remember going to see the movie in the theater after it came out. It might seem like the silliest movie ever, and it really is. I loved it though. It was cheesy and fun. Some of the dialogue was wacky, but it was just a great movie. My favorite part of the movie is when Depp's character, Cry Baby Walker, is in jail and his girlfriend comes to visit. The song there just made me laugh. One of the best scenes of the whole movie in my mind.
Another one of my favorite Depp films is Don Juan DeMarco. This is just a great film, and one of my all-time favorites. With Marlon Brando, you can't go wrong. There is an amazing song on the soundtrack also by Bryan Adams. Have you ever really loved a woman is one of the greatest love songs of all the time, and I think of the movie anytime I hear it. For the past few weeks, I've been seeing previews for Depp's new movie coming out this Christmas, Sweeney Todd. I don't know much about the story behind it, but the previews have me really interested. I'm not sure if it the best Christmas movie with some of the scenes I've seen, but Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are really an unbeatable combination. You can visit the official Sweeney Todd movie site to find out more about the movie before its released. You can also visit Sweeney Todd on MySpace.
There are really so many good movies coming out in the weeks and months ahead. It is really making it hard for me to choose which to see first. Awake comes out Friday, so I'm hoping to catch that. The Other Boleyn Girl is on my list for February. So many movies, so little time!
Everything is going my way ...
At least it feels that way. Yes, the car is going to cost a lot to fix, but it should be ready tomorrow. After that, the car should be in perfect shape for a car its age. Things are just going well in other areas of my life. A few months ago, I was in horrible shape, but my outlook on life has changed. It has been a complete turnaround. I'm exhausted at the end of the day because I'm writing all day. It's good. My mind is working again. Now I just need to get into fiction mode again. That is the next step. One thing at a time. That is always the best way to approach things I think. Sort of like that old television show I remember watching growing - One day at a time. That is one of my life philosophies, and it has always worked for me.
A delight for the holiday season
With Christmas coming, it is time to really crack down and think about what to get the people in our lives. I still have no idea myself, but I have a few ideas. I like looking around at different sites to get ideas. I'm a huge online shopper as I've mentioned time and time again on this blog. Shopping online is so convenient. You don't need to deal with the traffic at the mall or in the stores. You don't have to fight for that last one of that super hot item that you know everyone wants. You don't even have to get dressed. You can be in your pajamas, your hair a mess and barefoot and no one will say a thing about it to you. I think that is part of the reason why I love to shop online anyway. There are some things you just don't want to chance buying online as I've learned, but small items are good. I'm an Amazon and eBay regular. Now if I'm not careful I might get hooked on other sites too.
Today, I heard about one that might just be ideal for those far away. Gifts delivered right to their door is what they will get, and what could be better or easier than that for your family and other loved ones? No dealing with mailing yourself, which we know around the holidays can be such a hassle. Mail is going to only get crazier in the days ahead. I don't even want to think about it really. The crowded stores, the hours on my feet ... damn. All of that is so easily avoided, and you can find that perfect gift for your loved one. Right now, it looks like they are even offering free shipping because of the holidays. Can't really beat that can you?
Read more about Delicious Deliveries below.
DelightfulDeliveries.com Recognized as Hot 100 Retail Website
Internet Retailer Ranks Website Among Best in Nation for 2008
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DelightfulDeliveries.com, the premiere Internet Gift Retailer and America’s #1 Gift Basket Website, today announced it has been named one of The Hot 100 Retail Websites for 2008 by leading industry magazine, Internet Retailer. The Hot 100 list represents the best of what retailers are doing online, highlighting innovation and setting the standards in online for what the rest of the industry should be doing.
DelightfulDeliveries.com, a privately-held company, with one of the largest and most unique selections of gourmet gifts, ranked alongside larger sites such as Dell, Nike and Amazon.com, by building its award-winning site on selection, functionality, speed and the complete customer experience. A recent re-design has improved the customer’s shopping experience to make holiday gift-giving easy and enjoyable, including rating and reviews, behavioral recommendations and free shipping offers.
“We are extremely honored to be recognized as a pacesetter in online retailing,” said Eric Lituchy, Founder and CEO of DelightfulDeliveries.com. “We pride ourselves on using the latest technology to make gift-giving fun and easy. Being named among the best in the nation validates we are succeeding in our efforts to deliver the best possible customer experience.”
In addition to making Internet Retailer’s The Hot 100 list for 2008, DelightfulDeliveries.com was recently recognized by Inc. Magazine as part of its Inc. 5000, which highlights the fastest growing private companies.
DelightfulDeliveries.com offers over 2000 unique and delicious gifts from America’s best brands to the finest boutique shops. Consumers can easily shop the site by gift or food category, occasion, type and best-seller. Corporate gift-givers can choose from hundreds of customized gourmet treats.
For additional information, and to see a complete selection of gifts available, visit www.DelightfulDeliveries.com.
About Delightful Deliveries
DelightfulDeliveries.com is an award-winning website that began in 1998 and quickly established itself as one of the premier Internet gift retailers. Its mission is to bring great products to gift-givers, while providing world-class service. The company selects its offerings from a broad variety of fine food gift products for consumers and for corporate gifts, and gathers them in one place to make the selection process quick and simple.
Wordless Wednesday #4
Four of these already! This is the picture released this week of Heath Ledger as The Joker in Dark Knight. I'm so excited for this to come out next year. I loved the new Batman that was released last. I love Christian Bale, and I really think he fit the role perfectly as Bruce Wayne and Batman. I know they made some changes with the cast this time around, but Bale and Freeman are coming back. I'm also excited about Bale in the Terminator movie coming up. I heard Vin Diesel might be cast as the role of Terminator. No Arnold though! That bugs me. Arnold is the Terminator.
Reconnection
Last night, one of my cousins called to tell my father and I he was in town for a visit. Most of today was spent visiting with this cousin and a couple of others, laughing and catching up over food and drink. It was good. Really it was. It was good watching my dad laugh and be amongst family. All our family lives in California. We now know one lives rather close now, and it'll be good to see him again. We're not as isolated from our family as we once thought, and that is really a good thing. For me. For my dad. For my brother. I like seeing my dad happy.
Happy Tuesday!
Today is going to be a busy day. I just feel it. Last night's Dancing With The Stars Finale didn't impress me all that much. I think Helio will end up winning it all, but not even he was all that impressive with his scores. It'll be interesting to see the scores tonight and see who wins. Good news on my side of things, I have been added on a staff writer for another blog covering television. I start immediately, and I'm excited about it. I talk about television so much here that putting together short little news articles elsewhere won't be all that hard for me to do. I've done it before. We're still waiting to hear back on the car. Hopefully today. We have family stopping in today for a visit. See? It is just a crazy day with a lot to do.
I've been thinking a lot about my blog lately as well. Changing things around on my sidebar. Taking out things. Adding on things. I'm trying to make a clean looking sidebar. Simple. I keep looking at different templates, and maybe after the holidays I'll look at getting something new. Perhaps even paying for something. I like looking at all the little gadgets you can pick up, try them out and see if they work. Today, I found this one site full of Blog Stuff. Just little quizzes and widgets you can add. They have a countdown timer, and I was just thinking of adding one of those the other day counting down to the Bon Jovi concert in April. I received my ticket for that yesterday. I'm so excited for that. I just wish it wasn't so far away!
Dancing With The Stars Finale Tonight
I've been hooked on this show since season one, and I'm all ready for tonight's finale. I'd been Team Garth since day one this season, but she is no longer in the running. I'd really love to see woman win this year. We haven't had one since Kelly Monaco won season one, and that was just a joke. Don't get me started on what a joke that was. The lone man left this year is actually favored to win it all. I am throwing my support behind Mel B. Who are you wanting to win it all this season?
Blogging Your Blessings Sunday 11/25
This is late today because I wasn't feeling very blessed this weekend. I'm thankful for many things. Many which I talked about in my post on Thursday. This has just been a bad few days, but I know I'm blessed because tomorrow is the start of a new week. Sometimes all you need is a fresh start.
The No Good Very Bad Day
As it turns out, it wasn't just the fuel pump with the car. They talked about water pumps and timing belts and God knows what else. Thing is it is our only source of transportation in the house. The bad news is to fix it we will need to pay out nearly $1500 dollars. I know the streak of good luck wouldn't last for long. Hopefully, nothing else happens. I'll just try re-crossing those fingers, and I'll try to distract myself with a movie or two. Saturday is always good for that at least. I have a bunch of new DVD's too. Today has just been a lousy day.
Oy car problems!
Last night, as I mentioned, the family car died on the way to go pick up the fixings for Thanksgiving dinner. With everything closed yesterday, we couldn't do much to have the car fixed. We thought it might just need a quick jump, but now it looks to be a bad fuel pump! I swear if it isn't one thing with this car it is another. Something is always happening with our car. It is used and nearly ten years old. We really need a brand new car. We're working on it. This one just keeps acting up on us. We should just let it set at the car repair place we take it to. The amount of money we've spent in the last few months is horrible to. I'm hoping it is just the fuel pump. Crossing my fingers on that.
Cars are so touchy though. Anything can go wrong with them. When I think of car repair, one of the first companies that come to mind is AAMCO. In California, I used to see them everywhere. Right now, they are having a new promotion that will send one lucky winner to Hollywood, California. My hometown! The name of the contest, Drive Hard/ Die Hard amuses me because I plan to be watching the latest movie in the Die Hard movie series sometime this weekend as a review for Blogcritics! Right now, I'm starving, and I'm waiting to hear back on the family car. It would be great to get away for a few days to California!
Black Friday Is HERE!
But I'm not out in the stores like I have been in past years. My mom used to love the Black Friday sales. We used to spend all day at the mall shopping, but after she passed on I stopped seeing the point. These days you can shop online, and I have my eye on a couple of deals. I might check out a few of the sites now to see if anything catches my eye. The stores were probably insane this morning anyway. I had planned to go out and see August Rush today, but there is still no car here. We're having it looked at later today. Plus, somehow August Rush seems to have been rated 1/2 out of a possible 4 stars. Ouch. I could go see The Mist instead, but I might just wait for my movie trip until next Friday.
Awake, the new Jessica Alba movie, comes out then, and I am really excited to see it. She filmed it a couple of years ago, and some are saying it is her break out role. I'd love to see her do something serious and get more recognition than she does. She is always cast in these roles as the hot chick, and she has some great potential. At least I think she does. She has been one of my favorite actresses since Dark Angel came out years ago. I still love that show, and I even have the DVD's for both seasons. It really got a bad deal from Fox, but Fox is known for giving it series trouble. What movies are you venturing out to see this weekend? Check out the trailer for Awake below.
Let's Walk For Art
Most everyone has had their Thanksgiving dinner, and they are stuffed on pie and turkey. Our own dinner here has been postponed. Last night, when my father was going up to get the rest of the fixings for today's dinner, our car died. We'll be taking it in the morning to get fixed, but all we had was a turkey. It is great, but it isn't much without the rest of the goodies. Right now, I'm watching the ASU vs. USC game, and we'll be eating chicken tonight. Not a bad dinner. I can wait a day or two for turkey.
I'm an ASU alumni, and I still live in the city the college is located. This year has been a good year for the Sun Devil football team. I lived on campus, and right up the street they used to turn the main boulevard near the campus into this huge art festival every month or so. I used to love attending those. Walking along and looking at the different vendors, listening to the musicians on the street. I haven't been in awhile, and I'm not even sure they have the event anymore. That part of town has been so built up over the years since I graduated.
Today, I saw about the St. Augustine Artwalk in Florida. I have a few friends that live there, and one has asked me to come visit. It is on my to do list of places to visit someday. The First Friday Weekend Art Walk is a monthly event. The artwalk sounds good. Just walking around and looking at pretty things. Sounds just about perfect to me. I hope everyone had a great day! I'm off to watch the rest of the game.
Thursday Thirteen #3
Another Thursday is here. A special one for us here in the US as it is Thanksgiving Day. I'm thankful for a lot this year, so that is what my thirteen will be about this Thursday. These are in no particular order.
1. I am thankful for my health. Even with my migraines, back and neck problems and various other ailments I know I have better than most, and I am grateful for that.
2. I am grateful for my dad. He's a big part of my life. We may fight and disagree sometimes, but I still love him.
3. I am thankful for my brother Joe who lives here with us. He is a big pain half the time, but he has his moments of good. I'm also thankful for the family I have that is far away.
4. I am thankful for little sunshine, my cat Mikey, who loves me and I know it. He's a terror, but he is the sweetest thing alive.
5. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to have my cat JJ in my life. Watching him leave me and this world was one of the hardest things in my life. I know he is in a better place.
6. I am thankful for my friends, both online and offline. They make me smile on a constant basis, and there are some I do not know what I would do without.
7. I am thankful for the friends I have made through my writing, the Divas especially. I know I disappeared for a long time, but I am glad to be back among you all, even if I lurk a great deal. You've always been supportive of my writing efforts, and that means a lot.
8. I am thankful to have a roof over my head, food on the table and a place to call home.
9. I am thankful that I had a mother that raised me the best way she knew how. She was always in my corner, and even though she is no longer with me in body, she is still with me in spirit.
10. I am thankful I am getting to see my favorite band in concert in April with a really kicking seat. Yes, I am counting down the days to Bon Jovi!
11. I am thankful to be able to share the gift of the written word with others, and I hope to continue to do in the time to come.
12. I am thankful for music, as it the one thing that sometimes helps me through the bad times. A song can lift me like not much else can, other than my friends.
13. Lastly, I am thankful to everyone that stops by here on a daily basis, leaving comments and sometimes emails. You keep me going here, and for that I thank you.
Have a great Thanksgiving those that celebrate.
Now we can say the holidays are here.
It is Thanksgiving eve, and tomorrow is Thanksgiving day. I bought a stuffed snowman the other day, and I'm as ready for Christmas as I can be right now. I know next on my list is sending out cards. I saw a cute box of them at the store the other day, but I didn't end up picking them up. My sister sends out this pretty cards. You know the type right? Those pretty little photo cards like the ones you see on that site.
Every year they send us their Christmas card, and the family is so cute. My youngest niece is a senior in high school this year, and I keep asking myself how time flies. I'm not sure, but it is another holiday season, and that means it is time to break out the Christmas cards. I was checking out this site, and I love the cards they offer. It might be too late to get something this year, but maybe next year. I'll have to look into it.
Right now, I'm off to think about tomorrow's dinner.
More Terminator Movie news
Rumor has it that it looks like Christian Bale is being cast as John Connor in the next Terminator flick, Terminator: Salvation. The next film will be the start of a new trilogy with the battle of the machines and Skynet against the remaining humans left after the events that ended Terminator 3. I've always been a huge fan of Christian Bale, and if the rumors are true, I think he would make an excellent John Connor. Now, I wonder who they will cast as his wife, Kate Brewster. Any guesses anyone?
Oh internet, my internet!
This December will be the start of my third year of high speed internet service. Before that, I was stuck on dial-up hell on AOL. Things were so slow. It used to drive me mad. I now have high speed cable internet, but things still aren't perfect. My provider isn't the best, but they are pretty much the only ticket in town. I've looked into DSL, and I've even thought of going wireless or using a satellite connection, but I've stayed with my cable company, even with all the problems. I'm not even sure how many times I've had them come out to visit with no real solution.
Today in searching I found a sute that helps you compare the various internet providers available out there. Every thing from dial-up and cable to wireless providers. They even have comparisons on VOIP. As whenever you go on the Internet, it is important to remember to protect your computer. I don't have as much of a problem now, but when I was on dial-up, I always had viruses popping up. It is important to have spyware protection for your PC computer. MAC's have it easy. They don't get with spyware or viruses. It is only us Microsoft Windows people that need to deal with them! What a pain huh?
What a day
I'm anxiously awaiting tonight's episode of Dancing With The Stars. I've been Team Jennie from the very beginning, and I would love to see her make it into next week's finals. I truly think the last spot is between her and Marie Osmond. The other two spots will be snatched up by Mel B. and the lone male dancer left in the competition. That is a bit of a switch from past years. It is usually the women that end up going first. I think this might be the best competition we've had for this series yet. Everyone is on top of their game, and they all really deserve a spot in the finals. Who are you hoping makes it? Speaking of dancing shows, what do you think of the new spin-off ABC has been promoting with Bruce and Carrie Anne, Dance Wars? It looks interesting.
Help Freeze It!
Back Pain. Leg pain. Neck pain. It is something, we know well in my family. We all experience it. I know I certainly do. My father probably has it the worst though. I've mentioned him a lot lately on this blog, and that is easy to do because I see him every day. He suffers from each and every single day and night. At eighty-one, he has lived a long life, and he has suffered a lot of injuries over the years. From playing sports, being in the military, and just living his life everyday. Now he suffers from Arthritis pain every single night. His knees and legs hurt him more than anything, and he uses cremes and other treatments every night before he goes to sleep. I hate to see him in such pain.
He has used a number of different treatments to help him with his aches and pains, and some are better than others. A few months ago, I remember receiving a sample of Freeze It Gel. It did work on the pain, but we haven't tried it again. My father is one of those types that tends to stick to something if it ends up working with him, and he's found something at that moment that seems to be doing the job.
Freeze It can help with any number of ailments you may suffer including back pain, arthritis pain and any of those pains you may have to deal with before you go to bed each night. I suffer from neck pain myself, and there are times where the pain is just unbearable. I'll try anything to try and find relief. I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels that way. Pain comes with old age, but I still don't like to witness my dad in pain. He's lived a full life, and he is still doing so to this day. He works forty hours a week, and I know that doesn't help matters. He won't stop though. At least not yet. Check out this commercial for Freeze It!
Strike Enters Week 3
Here we are in the third week of the strike, and we can truly start to see the effect it is having on things. Word has it that Saturday Night Live has fired its staff. Many television studios are now dark, and two motion pictures have decided to not go forward at this time on their productions. The good news is the writers will be going for talks on the 26th. That is a week from today. Hopefully, they will have some holiday cheer and we can see an end to this strike sometime next week. I've been stock piling my television show episodes to keep me company if things go longer than now. That and a lot of new DVD's I've been picking up lately. Need to have something to watch, don't we?
Blogging Your Blessings Sunday 11/18
This week I'm blessed because I allowed myself to take a chance. I had let a completed story, the first one I'd completed in years, sit on my hard drive for just about two years because it had been rejected. I resent it out last week, and within two days I heard back with an acceptance, the first ever for one of my fictional stories.
I didn't give up, as much as I wanted. I tried again, even though I was scared to do so. I don't deal with rejection well, but then again who does. I let rejection turn me off and retreat, and for the past couple of years I've been in retreat mode. It's something I'm working on, and I'm blessed because I tried again, and someone out there was willing enough to give me a chance.
Grooving Tune 11/17
Anyone that reads this blog knows I'm a huge fan of Bon Jovi. The group will be coming to the city I live in for a show in April, and I was able to get a ticket four rows from the stage this morning. I am so very excited for this. I haven't been to see them for a few years, and the last tour they skipped here. Here is a song from their most recent CD, Lost Highway. 'Til we ain't strangers anymore' is today's grooving tune.
Santa is coming to town!
I can't believe it is that time of year already. Thanksgiving is just next week. The Black Friday sales are already being advertised. Before you know it, it will be the day after Christmas and time to ring in the New Year. I'm already looking forward to that too. One of my favorite groups just added a concert date onto their tour that puts them an hour away from me. Tickets go on sale in the morning, and I'm going for gold or broke, depending on the way you look at it. Who knew concert tickets could cost so much. $130 for a floor seat. Half that for lower level. I'll only go for a floor seat if its within a certain number of rows. Other than that, I'll go for lower level.
I'm excited for Christmas though. I have a little extra pocket money this year, so I'm hoping to buy a few gifts this year. Today, I found this site with the Top 10 Christmas Gifts. They have him, her and the kids covered. They even have family gifts. The only thing that interested me for myself is the Apple iPhone, but that is for me and it is listed as a gift for him. Hmm! I want an MP3 player this year. I keep looking for one on a good deal. I'm hoping one pops up at the Black Friday sales. I might have to wait on that though with the concert. I'll see tomorrow. They do have some great gifts though. Chocolate seems to be popular because it popped up on two of the lists. I love chocolate. It is a perfect gift anytime! Just not for Christmas.
What are you looking to buy yourself or others this Christmas?
It's coming back
I have always been a huge fan of the Terminator series of movies. I'm so unbelievably excited for the new series coming to Fox in January. Yesterday, new posters were released, and I am completely in love. I've been waiting to see this show since it was announced. Fox is never good to mid-season replacements, but with the strike Fox might just keep The Sarah Connor Chronicles around for a bit. I'm hoping they do. Lena Headey, from Imagine Me & You and other films, is playing Sarah Connor, the role made known by Linda Hamilton.
I love Linda, and I loved her as Sarah Connor. She was also amazing in the television series, Beauty & The Beast, if anyone remembers that show. I'm curious to see Lena's take on the role. In other terminator news, McG has just signed on to direct the next Terminator film, Terminator 4. We will finally get to see the war with the machines that has only been talked about since the first film came out over twenty years ago. Exciting to me as a fan.
There Is No Place Like Home
I've always lived in apartments. I've wanted to have a home of my own someday, but I've never managed to get into one. I'm happy where I live. I'm the type of person that doesn't like to move from place to place. Growing up, my family lived in the same apartment until I was eighteen years old, and then I moved from dorm to dorm for a couple of years before we settled in this apartment. On December 2nd, we'll have been here twelve years. The new owners are planning to remodel all the apartments in the building, and ours will be done sometime early next year. New carpets, new window coverings, new floors in the bathroom and kitchen and just new everything. It will be a hassle moving furniture around and stuff, but it will still be our apartment just so much better once its done. I've stayed in hotels for trips, and I don't mind them at all, but it still isn't home. I never feel totally comfortable in them.
I know it sounds silly, but the saying 'there is no place like home' really does apply to me. I know there are even people out there that actually live in hotels, and that is just something I could never quite understand. My dad has been talking about going away for the holidays, and I think I'd love that. If we ever could think of affording it, I'd love something like these Luxury Holiday Apartments. It might cost a bit more, but it might a bit more home like. Maybe anyway. First, we need to be able to afford a holiday trip. Then we can worry about where we are going to stay.
Getting in shape
I'm trying to anyway. I've started walking. I walk a mile three times a week. It might even be a bit more than a mile. I walk up to the corner shopping center, look around a bit at things, and then I head back. I try to do this every other day. I walked up to get my hair cut on Tuesday, and I would have gone out for my walk yesterday, but it was raining outside. Today I headed down again because I needed to mail off something. Came back and found another one of my packages here. I have three more that I've ordered and two review items that I'm waiting for as well. I'm trying to cut back on my eBay shopping though because it can be really addicting. Also have a book coming in from Amazon.
Things are just going really well right now. A welcome change from a couple of months ago. It's like a complete 180, and I'm not sure how it happened. I'm glad it did though. I might have my new kitten in time for Thanksgiving. We'll see. If not then, I'll have him the week after that. I'm working at getting things in order in my life, one thing at a time. I've been making changes continually to my blog here. Mostly on the sidebar. I think I might be done with things now. Google seems not like my blog very much at the moment, and I'm not sure why. That is what prompted me to make a few more changes.
In other news, I just saw the trailer for Eric Bana's next movie a few minutes ago on you tube, and I so cannot wait for this movie. Apparently from the comments left there and elsewhere, the book is nothing like the movie. I have the book, so I might check that out once I finish reading my current read. The Other Boleyn Girl comes out in theaters on February 29th, and I really am excited to see it. That and The Time Traveler's Wife as well. Check out the trailer for The Other Boleyn Girl below.
Not sure how I manage to do it!
Every morning when I wake up, my mattress is half off the bed. I must really move around at night for the bed to do that. My bed is old. When I moved in here, it was used, and that was almost twelve years ago. The bed belonged to my brother. I keep telling myself I need to get a new bed. This one has definitely seen better days, but it still sits in my room and it is the bed I sleep in every night. I don't understand how the mattress shifts the way it does. In the morning if I'm not careful, I can almost fall off the bed when I move to get up. I've done that actually. Not the way to wake up in the morning.
When I see ads on television advertising beds or mattresses, I always watch. There is always these ads for the beds that are supposed to be better for your back. Help you sleep better. I have a bad back, so I always look at these select comfort beds where you can choose the firmness or softness of the mattress you're sleeping on. That just sounds perfect to me. I wonder if beds like that actually are better for you to sleep on. Anyone know? I guess I'll have to find out for myself if I ever do manage to buy one. Someday maybe. I need to get rid of the old and bring in the new.
Gloomy!
That is what today is. It has been raining on and off all morning. I'm cold and I'm hungry. I was going to head out for my new walking regimen, and about 10 minutes after I decide to do it, it started to rain and thunder. There went that idea. Oh well. There is always tomorrow right?
Thursday Thirteen #2
Last week I shared my thirteeen favorite actors with you, and now it is the ladies turn. These are my top thirteen favorite actresses.
1. Drew Barrymore
2. Jessica Alba
3. Katherine Heigl
4. Charlize Theron
5. Meg Ryan
6. Kate Hudson
7. Natalie Portman
8. Jennifer Connelly
9. Sandra Bullock
10. Calista Flockhart
11. Naomi Watts
12. Emilie de Ravin
13. Hilary Swank
I probably could have gone on and on here. There are so many wonderfully amazing actresses in the world. Which would be on your list if you made one?
Matt Damon Sexiest Man Alive?
People magazine has just named Matt Damon their sexiest man alive for this year. Definitely not my first choice. What do you think?
What is it about ...
Television isn't supposed to make you cry, but last night it did to me. I was watching The Unit on CBS, and on last week's episode one of the five main characters died. It was sudden and unexpected and it was just plain good television how they played it out. They had one almost dying the whole entire episode, and then out of nowhere one of the others is shot, and he dies instantly. Last night, we saw his death dealt with, and at the end of the episode where they showed his memorial service and his name was called with no one to stand up for it, I teared up a little.
The Unit is one of my favorite shows, and I say this time and again, but I'm not one for military related programming. This show gets to me though, and it has since the very beginning. I hate guns. I hate them. I think the most I'd ever be able to handle is a paint ball gun. I don't know why, but that looks fun to me. Whenever I see people playing paint ball or read about it somewhere, I also think how fun it looks. Probably seems weird, but people do look like they are having fun, and it helps get some unwanted aggression out. I know a lot of people are into it, and you can even buy a paintball gun package online.
It looks like a sport that people can have fun with anyway. Using paint ball guns you can have just a bit of fun, let out some anger and be around others. That is the only type of gun I see myself handling.
Making It Through
Finances are always a problem in my house. Things are tight. My dad works. My brother coaches. I help out where I can. We all chip in somehow. At the end of the month, we're just trying to scrape by, and there have been times in the last couple few months where things have been especially difficult. A few unexpected bills and repairs came up that none of us really could expect. We have one car that kept breaking down, but right now it is the only car we have. Over the summer though, it was breaking down constantly, and it cost money to repair. I think I lost count on how many times my father came to me to borrow money. Money I gladly loaned him. He hasn't been able to pay me back yet, but I'm not worried about it.
On television, I'm always seeing these commercials for these payday loan places, and I always wonder about them. I know if my dad didn't have me when his car broke down, there would have been a definite problem. He might have had to go to a place like that. I found one online called No Fax Payday Loans. Just apply online, and they will give you a loan quote with no credit check required. It sounds harmless enough. Looks easy enough, but you never know. I know a lot of people do it too. If I was in a bind I probably would to, and my father would have to resort to something like this if things had continued. The bad thing about loans when you're already in trouble, the money just keeps adding up. That's the bad part.
What a difference
Today I went to get my hair cut. I have very long hair. Well, I had very long hair. I told her to cut to my shoulder. Twelve inches of my hair were gone less than thirty minutes later, and it is amazing how different it feels. The weight on my upper body is gone, and I know my hair was the cause of a lot of my headaches and other problems. It feels so strange at the same time though. It wil take some getting used to.
Someone needs to keep me away.
I've become an eBay addict. I'm learning how to buy there, and I've picked up some great deals on used CD's the last few days. Now I keep going back and looking for more things. The other day, I almost bought an MP3 player from there. I don't like buying electronics on the internet, but it was such a great deal. I didn't manage to snag it though. I did try! Buying used is sometimes good. I usually buy all my books used. I picked up a book just last week. I buy a lot of used DVD's too.
I've been looking at some of my current DVD collection, and I've been wondering if I should sell some of the ones that just sit there not getting watched at all. I can sell them, and then buy the DVD's I really want. I've been thinking about it. Today, I found this site which helps you with eBay research. I never realized what an art eBay could be. This one set helps you decide on when to sell, what to sell and how ... its a lot of information, but it may come in handy someday. Right now, I'm just resisting the urge to go back and find something else to bid on.
I have no idea how I'm awake.
I've been up since about 6:30 this morning, and I have no real reason to be up this early at all. I am though.I could have gone back to bed, and trust me I did think of it. The gardeners are now outside my window being quite noisy, and I turn on my computer to find this damn ad that keeps popping up. I just did a total scan of my computer for spy ware and viruses two days ago, so this is something new. I'll have to run another scan and get rid of it. I'm running a cleaner first. Then I'll do the scan. The day has begun. Thanks to everyone that congratulated me over on the Diva's forum and elsewhere about my acceptance. This just means I need to write more! Once I get my computer clean again. Good day, everyone.
Searching
For the past year, my dad has been looking into getting a new car. As I've mentioned before, he doesn't have the best of credit, and he has a repossession in his history. That doesn't help at all, so it had made looking for a car difficult. We might have come into luck though somehow. Not sure how things keep falling into place lately, but they are. A neighbor in the building died last week, and her husband is looking to get rid of her car cause he can't afford the payments. He wants someone to take them over and take the car. My brother and dad are looking into it, and it might work out.
Getting into a new car isn't easy. They are so expensive these days. There are ways of finding cheaper cars though. You can buy used of course, and then there is also wholesale and auctions. You just need to know where to look for and find the best deals. I found one site online offering a Honda Car Quote among others. A site like that puts you in touch with deals and helps you find the best deal possible. I'm really hoping that my father is able to work out some type of deal with our neighbor here in the building though. It's been hell having only one car in the house the past year. Both men work, and its just been a hassle working out schedules with the car. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
The Wait Wasn't That Long!
I emailed my story back on Friday, and about thirty minutes ago, I heard back with an acceptance. More details soon, but I just sold my first story. I'm on cloud nine at the moment.
The week begins
Another Monday is here. A good many of you have the day off today for the holiday, and I hope you enjoy it. Checking out the news today, I find that on the strike front it looks like we have our first non-writer causalities. The people at The Office have laid off a good many of their behind the scenes staff with both writer's and actors from that series on strike. Also looks like fans of Scrubs will not be getting a series finale. That's how it looks like now anyway. Hopefully this doesn't continue on for too long. This is the end of the first week, and things are already looking dicey.
I have television to catch up on, but I'm almost tempted to save some of these in case the series I watch end up disappearing in the weeks ahead. Of course, less television to watch means more time to do other things, and then there is always DVD's too. I'm becoming an E-bay addict. I'm trying to resist, but I'm learning how to work the auctions, and I've been winning a few of them. Mostly low priced DVD's. I love DVD's. I might go through my collection, and sell a few I don't want anymore. I know there are some I never watch. Maybe I'll do that later.
But I Don't Want To Go ...
I hate going to the dentist. I always have. Ever since I was a young child, I hated going, and to this day I put off visits to the dentist far longer than I really should. I don't have the best of teeth. I am a grinder, and my back teeth have suffered because of it. I was told that a couple of my back teeth will be all grinded down by the time I hit forty. I was told this when I was a teenager, and I didn't believe it. Now at almost thirty-two, I do believe it. One tooth on my upper right, and one on my upper left are nearly gone. This causes toothaches from time to time, especially in the colder months or depending on what I eat. I've had braces, so there is almost no pain that matches that for me, but it has come close.
I remember one time at a barbecue, I lost a filling in one of my teeth, and now that hurt. It really hurt, and it happened at the worst time. Dinner was on the barbecue, and things were just starting to get going good. I had to leave though. I missed out on all the fun. There always seems to be new things coming out though. You see the mouth aides in the store. I should probably have stock in at least one or two of them. While I was at the store yesterday, I saw something new that might have saved me a few years ago when I lost my filling, Dentemp OS. Today, I curious, so I checked out its website.
Apply this temporary dental repair and within sixty minutes, you're set until you can make it to the dentist to replace that lost filling or crown. You can eat and drink with no problems. That doesn't sound all that bad to me when it comes right down to it. Right now, I'm thinking about this because I know I really need to go the dentist soon, but I've been avoiding it like the plague. Soon. I keep telling myself soon.
Blogging Your Blessing Sunday 11/11
Another week has passed, and here is Sunday upon us already. Where does the week go really? This week, I've been talking a lot about my father. He is a blessing in my life. He is old, cranky and set in his ways, but I know I am very lucky to have him in my life. I know if it wasn't for him, I might not be here today. Him and my mother adopted me when I was only three months old. If they hadn't opened their home to me, I would have become a ward of the state after an incident with my birth parents. Instead, my grandparents took me in.
My mother, or in reality was my grandmother, couldn't stomach another family raising me. So she talked her husband into taking me in. I don't see them as my grandparents. I never have. They were always just mom and dad. Today is Veteran's Day here in the States, and my father fought in WWII as a marine. I often wonder if a lot of his behaviors are attributed to this. He's a great man though, and I consider myself very blessed to have him in my life to this day.
Have a great week everyone.
Another Way To Save Money
It seems I'm shopping more and more online these days. I jumped into Amazon a couple of years ago when I could find deals there. The last month or so, I've jumped onto e-bay and half.com. I've only had one negative experience shopping online, and that was with the stereo I bought from Walmart.com. Took it back to the store, and they even refunded my shipping costs.
Buying online is quick and easy which makes it dangerous too. As with anything you buy you want to find the best deal. You can find sales and coupons, even for online retailers. Just today I found another online coupons site with a lot of great deals. I'll have to check them out for some of the stores I like to shop at. I did find a page for Amazon through them.
They also have pages for Target coupons and deals for Overstock.com, which is another site I've been wanting to look at for stuff. The thing I like about sites like these is they have all the codes you need right there. You don't need to go searching for them. That saves me time.
Feeling Good
I may not be feeling the best physically the last couple of days, but I'm feeling mentally good. That's important. I suffer from depression and agoraphobia, and while in the shower today I had this sudden urge to go for a walk. When I have those little urges, I follow through on them because as an agoraphobic person they don't come often. When I go out, I usually work on some kind of reward system. Even something as small as picking up something to eat on the way home.
The first week of NaBloPoMo is over, and I'm glad to say I've posted something everyday. Sometimes more than once a day. It helped me get back into gear with things here.Today I walked the half mile up to the discount store near my house, and I picked up a bunch of things that caught my eye. New shiny pens and pencils. Some other items. Came home, and two of my shipments from Half.com came in. A nice book, and another DVD I picked up. Both in good condition. The book in already broken in a little, and it is all ready for me to read.
I've also rejoined up as a Blogcritic. I used to write with that site back when I started this blog, and I decided to give it another go. I have a few review items coming to me, so keep an eye on this blog for when I post reviews on that site! I need to write something up this week sometime. I have a few new things I've picked up, so I'll pick one of those. Just need to decide on what!
Thinking ahead
A couple of nights ago, I mentioned my grandmother. She and I were never all that close, but my father loved her more than anything. He was the oldest boy in the family, and he was definitely mama's boy. She died a few years ago at almost 103. That just amazes me to this day. The last ten years of her life she lived in a nursing home. Up until then, she lived with my aunt in a small house in Echo Park. The only reason why she moved to a home is because my aunt died, and no one else could care for my grandmother. She was of sound mind, but she couldn't move around on her own all that well being in nineties.
Caring for the elderly is important. People are staying alive longer, and making sure they have good care is important. The elderly have lived long productive lives. Men like my father still work and contribute to society well into their eighties. My father one day may go into a nursing home himself, and I dread that day really. I know I won't be able to care for my dad forever, and it is good to know that when the time comes I'll have help. There are organizations and doctors that will be there. Online I found this one site on nursing homes with information on choosing the best one for your loved one. They also have other helpful information.
I'm hoping the time I will need this information is a long way off, but it is always good to plan ahead. You never know what could happen. Hard to think about, but it is the reality.
Oh My God I Hate This Part
I just sent one of my short stories off into submission. I haven't done that in so long. I've been focusing on my nonfiction, but I know I need to jump back into fiction again. Now, I just need to do the hard part. The waiting. This publisher said it could take up to four weeks. The torture begins. Wish me luck!
Something For Star Wars Geeks
I just found this over at Cinematical, and I thought I would share. Someone has designed a poster featuring all six Star Wars movies. As a Star Wars fan, it immediately caught my eye. This poster isn't available for purchase anywhere, and that makes me sad. I'd buy one! It sure does look great though. Click the above image to make it larger.
In other movie news, I just received my copy of Black Hawk Down in the mail! I know what I'm watching this weekend.
Reality TV Goes On
The strike isn't going to stop American Idol it looks like. The series is already filming its Hollywood week, or it just did. The series will return January 15th, and the search for the seventh American Idol will go on. I always wonder about the people that go to try out for these things. When I was younger, I had dreams of becoming a dancer. I knew I wouldn't do it, but one can always dream. There are people out there that make it their job in life to get that big break. They want to act, sing, dance or even model. You see people go and audition for American Idol hoping to get seen and make it somehow. Just yesterday, I saw there was a casting call for the new Star Trek movie. They are looking for fresh faces to play the cadets at Starfleet.
I just really can't imagine trying to find a job like that. Writing is hard enough. There are jobs out there. If you want to be the next big thing there are agents that want you. The trick is getting their attention. They see people every day that say they are the next big thing, but they fall short. You need to stand out. Just doing a quick search online I found Talent Rock. There are agents always looking for new talent. They don't give up. I'm sure there are many sites out there. Just like there are many sites for writers like myself to get noticed. If you want to get anywhere in any business, you need to stand out though. You can't let people come to you. You need to go the people. Get known. That's the only way it will work.
More On The Strike
Stephanie over at the Divas Forum posted some snippets from a Canadian article about television and which shows are affected and how. It is quite an extensive list, so I'll link to the article here.
The ones that stood out to me are below:
Cane (Global, CBS) - All 13 episodes are expected to be ready, although filming was disrupted briefly Monday and the production moved to a different location. No more episodes have been ordered.
Grey's Anatomy (CTV, ABC - 10 episodes are expected to be ready, though production on a two-part episode scheduled for Dec. 6 and Dec. 13 may be suspended ahead of time.
Heroes (Global, NBC) - 11 episodes are ready, with the final new episode to air Dec. 3.
Lost (CTV, ABC) - Nine of 16 episodes are expected to be ready. Scheduled for midseason; no debut date as yet.
Moonlight (CTV, CBS) - 12 of an initial 13 episodes will be ready. No more episodes have been ordered.
Update for Lost fans:
ABC said that as of now, it is sticking with its plan to air the eight episodes it has of "Lost" -- this coming on the day that Fox announced that it will bench its own serialized midseason thriller, "24".
"Lost" executive producer Damon Lindelof said Wednesday that the final episode that has been written ends in a cliffhanger that will not be resolved for viewers until after the strike. But Fox decided not to run a partial season of "24", instead benching the Monday-night drama pending the outcome of the strike.
From: here.
The Mobile Generation
You go out these days and you see everyone with a cell phone. We have one here in the house, and I honestly think we use it more than we use our house phone. We even shut off long distance on our house line because we get free long distance on our cell. If we need to make a call long distance to send a fax, we can still do that by using one of those call around numbers available.
Twenty years ago, this technology wasn't readily available to us. Today, cell phones are so high tech. You can watch television shows and videos. You can download music mp3's to them. You can even surf the internet. I know of at least one acquaintance of mine that practically lives on their cell phone. My brother is always on is texting or making calls. I just grab his phone when I want to make calls long distance. It really is a life saver. Mobile billing gives us all we need with our cell. We don't have to worry about paying high per minute charges with our long distance. He also has texting, and soon I know he will be adding email and Internet to his phone. All covered by one bill.
I know in time cell phone technology will only advance further. Do you remember the cell phones we had out ten or fifteen years ago? They were big and bulky. Now they are pocket sized, and they just keep getting smaller. Today, I found one article on mobile phone technology, and how it is used in marketing. More and more companies are making mobile products. A few years ago, sms marketing wasn't even something I would think about it, but with the technology and how it has progressed it is now an option. You have to wonder what they will come up with next. Seriously. Things just keep changing. My dad even knows how to work a cell phone. Trust me, that is a sight to see! At least, he hasn't asked to use my computer yet.
Grooving Tunes 11/8
Last night was the Country Music Awards. I didn't watch, but I do like some country music. One of my favorite groups is the duo Sugarland. I was just able to catch their performance from last night's show, and it was amazing. Jennifer Nettles has a wonderful voice. They performed Stay, their latest single. It is one of my favorite songs of theirs.
Thursday Thirteen #1
I've decided to pick Thursday Thirteen up again. I used to participate back when I was blogging a year ago, and it was something fun. I noticed some of the Divas over at Romance Divas were taking part in it too, so that gave me the little extra push I needed to jump back in.
1. Eric Bana
2. Jon Bon Jovi
3. Hugh Jackman
4. Peter Facinelli
5. Adrian Pasdar
6. Sean Penn
7. Paul Walker
8. Sean Connery
9. Jason Behr
10. Leonardo DiCaprio
11. Tom Cruise
12. Nicolas Cage
13. Scott Foley
I could really go on and add a few more. Robert Redford and Richard Gere come to mind immediately after I finished this list. I don't like these men only for their looks, even though they do have those as well, but their talent as actors. Yes, I know Jon Bon Jovi is mostly a singer, but I enjoy him as an actor as well, and no list of my favorite men would be complete without him in it. Now who are some of your favorite actors? Don't be shy. Share!
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
Tell Me Something I Don't Know ...
News has it that Jennifer Lopez finally announced she is currently pregnant with husband Marc Anthony's child. The two were touring together, and she finally broke her silence on the subject in front of ten thousand fans. I love La Lopez. I've been a fan of hers since she was a fly girl on In Living Colour. I even remember her in the Janet Jackson That's the way love goes video. It was just obvious she was pregnant for weeks now. She kept silent though so her fans wouldn't worry about her. Isn't she nice? Now with the tour done, she can focus on bringing a new family into the world. Congrats Jennifer.
Speaking of celebrity babies, has anyone else seen the pictures of Suri Cruise lately? She's absolutely adorable. Almost makes me feel sad for all the Alien Baby Cruise jokes that went around after she was born.
Alzheimer's Awareness Month
As I mentioned earlier, my father is in his eighties. In fact, next month he will be turning eighty-two years old. He was born back in 1925 during the depression. He was a marine and he fought during WWII in the Pacific campaign. He signed up right after Pearl Harbor was hit. He wasn't even eighteen yet. My grandmother had to sign for him to be allowed to go into the military at the age of seventeen. He is in good health, and he does work forty hours a week as a security guard. He wakes up every morning at 3:15 and works from 5am to 1pm. I don't know how he manages to do it, but I know if he wasn't working, he'd go insane sitting around the house all day.
I know though that even with him being in good health, he isn't as sharp as he used to be. He's more tired. He gets more easily stressed, and he even forgets things. The month of November is Alzheimer's Awareness Month. It is important as one gets older to have regular memory screenings. November 13th is National Screening Day, and it would be a good idea to take your elderly loved ones in for a screening. You can check the site above for some tips on successfully aging as well. Alzeimer's can be caught early, but as of now there is no cure. That can change in the future. Every time I see my own father falter and forget something, I worry about him. My grandmother lived well into her hundreds with a good clear mind. I'm hoping the same happens with my dad.
Hopefully someday we can find a cure for this disease. Research is being done, and there is support out there for those suffering from this disease and their families. This support is important because it may be years before a cure is found. If you want to help those in need, you can make a simple holiday gift. I just look at my own dad, and I see how important it is to cherish every moment. As much as I hate to think about it, someday my own father might suffer from this horrible disease, and it is good to know that there is help for him and us if that happens. My mother passed on over twelve years ago, and I still think about her often. I know I'm quite fortunate to have my father alive and in the health he is in today. We might not have the perfect relationship, but at the end of the day he is my dad and I love him. That is what counts.
Signs Of A Productive Mind
I'm exhausted tonight, but it is the good type of exhausted. As you can see by this blog, I'm writing a lot more, and that's a good thing. I just need to start writing fiction again. One thing at a time. My mind is working again though. I actually want to write things. I find myself holding back from coming here to write about things, but I know that is counter productive. If I have the urge to say something I should. So for now, that is what I'm going to do.
Tonight, I watched two hours of Ghost Hunters. One of them containing the findings from last week's six hour Halloween special. I missed stuff in the last couple of hours by going to bed early. The place they went to was creepy. The show is probably majorly fake, but I enjoy it. I know I'm not the only one either.
As far as strike news goes, it looks like Grey's Anatomy will stop production next week sometime. The majority of the cast headed out to support the picketing writers during their lunch break today. I'd heard of just Sandra Oh going out, but others did to. Here is a picture of Katherine Heigl. She plays Izzie Stevens on the series, and she is one of the main reasons why I watch the show.
Coming Soon: The Mist
When it comes to horror, no one does it better than the master of horror himself, Stephen King. I've been reading his books since I was just a teenager, and I've loved every single one I've read. In the last couple of weeks, I've seen the trailers hit my television for his next horror film, The Mist. Before then, I hadn't realized he had anything new coming out. Last I heard, he had retired from writing novels, but this isn't a novel. The Mist is actually taken from one of his earlier releases, a novella in 1985's Skeleton Crew. The Mist by Stephen King comes out on November 21st, a day before Thanksgiving. There is a lot of good things coming out that day, but this is the one I'm most excited for.
King always has a way of pulling you in and keeping you on the edge of your seat. A lot of his longer works are one thousand plus pages, so he has to be able to keep you entertained throughout. One of my favorite books by him is The Stand. I have read this one more than once, and it was made into a television movie back in the 1990s. It is an apocalyptic tale about what happens to the world when a virus hits. It has a group of survivors that branch off into two with a good side and a bad side. The movie is great, but as with most movies, the book was better. I wouldn't mind reading it again someday. Right now, I'm trying to hold off and buying a copy of The Mist. I don't think I have a copy of Skeleton Crew lying around anywhere here.
As for The Mist, it reminds me a bit of The Fog. A strange mist blankets a town, and there is something evil lurking within it. The trailer looks amazing, and you can check it out for yourself by clicking the link above. I know I'm hoping to go and see it opening weekend, but there is just so much coming out that weekend it is going to make it hard for me to choose.
Catching Up
You know what I've noticed with the strike? It is letting me catch up with my television. I think I have episodes of Supernatural, a couple of Cane and last week's Moonlight and Ugly Betty to watch before I'm all caught up. Earlier, I watched this week's The Unit. I normally don't like watching military type programs or movies, but The Unit grabs me. This week, the final moments where Williams dies practically killed me because I didn't see him dying at all. I love when television shows or movies can come at you with something you didn't see coming.
I ordered Black Hawk Down the other day, and it has been shipped. I went and found a deal on the special 3 disc edition on E-bay. I can't wait for that to arrive. I have some other things coming in the mail too. I've had some extra money the last few days, so I'm spoiling myself a little. It feels good to do. I love books and DVD's, and I know how to find the best deals online now. You just need to look for them.
Credit? What Credit?
Whenever the phone rings in our house, it seems it is another advertising call. On any given day, our house phone can ring up to ten to fifteen times. Yes, that much. It gets annoying. We've actually started taking our phone off the hook because we have a cell phone in the house anyway. Today, for some reason the phone was on the hook, and in the past two hours we've had it ring five times. Two of them I could tell were creditors calling for my dad. He never talks to them, and yes that means he doesn't have the best of credit. At over eighty years of age, money is tight. He makes barely enough to live on with his pension and social security. He also works forty hours a week, and he has been for the last ten years. I honestly think the day my dad quits working is the day he will die. He can't stay inside and do nothing all day. Never has been that type at all.
His credit is lousy though. Where he works there are layoffs, and this means no overtime hours either. Of course, most of his credit problems could have been avoided with better budgeting and cutting costs here and there, but you tell that to a man in his eighties. My credit isn't picture perfect either, but it is nowhere near as bad as is. As with anything, there is always people out there to help you out. When it comes to credit, it is no different. You have bad credit? Well, you can get bad credit loans. Might not sound like the best idea. Getting money to pay money is always something I've hated to do, but sometimes you have to. That is just one site I found for people with bad credit. It helps you find the best offer for you to hopefully improve things.
I help my dad as much as I can, loaning him money here and there, but just isn't enough. He's already done credit counseling once, and if these calls keep coming in like they are, we might need to look into it again. We get those calls too. I swear some days the phone doesn't stop ringing. Just while writing this post, the phone rang four times. I'm tempted to go shut the ringer off now. The ringing is giving me a headache!
The Strike Goes On
I know I've been talking a lot about the writer's strike lately, but as a writer, an entertainment writer and as a viewer, the topic interests me. This is day three of the strike, and it isn't looking good. Stories keep coming out about some of our favorites shows. This is what I know right now.
→ Sandra Oh from Grey's Anatomy reportedly joined the picketers today. The cast has three or four shows ready to air, but if the strike goes on past that, we might not have any new Grey's in the new year.
→ The end of the current story arc for Heroes in December might also mean the end of this season of Heroes.
→ If the strike continues, Lost fans might not see any new Lost until Fall 2008, or the very latest Winter 2009. I really hope it doesn't come to that. I've been going throught Lost withdrawals.
I've lost count on how many shows have stopped production. Big Brother is reportedly coming back with a special Winter edition to help fill in. We might see more reality series in our future. We just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best.
Sometimes its nice to dream
As I've mentioned before, I live in an apartment building that has recently come under new ownership. My father hasn't been happy here for the longest time, but we haven't moved. He wants to, but I don't see the point of moving from one apartment to another. If I'm going to go through the hassle of moving, I want to move into a house. A nice big house with a great big yard. I'd want a dog, and a few more cats. I can finally have a real office, and not a desk just a couple of feet from where I sleep at night.
Sometimes you can find a site online that can help you visualize your dreams. That's what I did tonight. I found a site that shows you plans for various types of houses. They have log cabin house plans, English cottage house plans and even small ranch house plans. Sometimes its nice just to look around and dream about what can be somewhere down the line.
As for television night, Dancing With The Stars made my heart stop. I so thought they were sending Jennie home. I am Team Garth all the way. I've been a fan of hers for years, and I think she and her husband, Peter Facinelli, make an adorable couple. We'll have to see what happens next week. As for that email that has been repeatedly being sent to my inbox? I've lost count. I don't even want to think about how many I'll have in my inbox in the morning.
Just one of those days!
First the shower goes cold, then I keep getting this same email from one of the sites I signed up at a couple of weeks ago, and then I spilled a drink all over myself. Definitely one of those days you wonder if you broke a mirror some place and you just don't realize it. Oh well. The day goes on. I've been getting back to my old routine as far as blogging goes. It keeps me focused. I hopped around a bit, checked out some news sites.
Tonight is Dancing With The Stars, and we will see who is sent home this week. Sabrina was sent home last week, and everyone was shocked. Last night, those left showed their support with small cheetah paw print tattoos. The kind that wash off of course. Word has been released that since she was eliminated last week, she she begun to see her partner in a romantic sense. This has happened in the past with the show. I am pretty Mario Lopez and his partner had some kind of relationship. I don't follow up on things like that, but they looked pretty cozy during their season. Just in the last hour, I heard that Marie Osmond's father passed away. I am pretty sure this news will hit her hard, and there is no telling if she will appear on tonight's episode. Jane Seymour lost her mother during this season as well. My thoughts are with Marie and her family. I think Donny was in the audience last night to. Either last night or last week. I know I saw him there in support of Marie recently.
Another interesting little tidbit out of the news that caught my eye is about Radiohead's latest release, In Rainbows. The group offered their CD online last night via their own website saying fans could pay what they think they should for the digital release of the CD. Over sixty percent paid nothing for the download. Ouch! The remaining number paid six dollars or lower. I haven't heard the CD for myself, but that is just amazing to me. Goes to show you that maybe new media isn't all it is cracked up to be. The WGA is on strike looking for revenue from these online ventures, and people won't even pay for a CD. The strike is on day two as of now, and I know of three more shows that have stopped filming altogether until the strike ends. Two of those shows being Fox's 'Til Death and CBS' Rules of Engagement. Just heard that production has halted on Desperate Housewives as well. Hopefully things are resolved soon.
Live long and prosper?
Nothing like starting off your day with a cold shower! Yes, that is sarcasm. The thing is the shower didn't start that way. The shower started off nice and hot, perfect temperature actually. Just as I put the shampoo in my hair, the hot water went off in my apartment. Third time that has happened this month! Try standing under a cold spray trying to get all the shampoo out of long hair. Not fun. My day has been on the go for a couple of hours now though. I've been doing my daily run around online. I have a routine in place, and while running around this morning I found this site called Spock. It caught my eye because it automatically made me think of Star Trek, and there has been a lot of buzz about that lately with the new movie soon to be in production and out in time by the next time the holidays come around. This site has nothing to do with Star Trek though. You won't be taken into the great unknown, but you might be able to find people. Using this site, you can find people using a variety of search terms. You can find either that person you lost contact with years ago, or you can find people in the same city as you. Want to find someone that has a similar interest as you? You can do that too. The site is easy to navigate, and once I decided to play around with it a bit, it only took me a few seconds to register. After checking my spam filter for the sign-up email I was good to go. I've lost touch with so many people over the years, it might be nice to actually find some of them again. It might also be nice to use the site to make new friends to talk over things with. People that watch the same shows or listen to the same music that I do.
To try out the site this morning, I pulled up a quick search on Australian Actors. I've mentioned that I enjoy actors from Australia before on this blog. When I searched this morning, I was expecting the usual suspects to come up, and they did as you can see below. I see myself using this site more in the future. Might even find an old friend or two!
Now I'm off to warm up some of that left over pizza I have in the fridge. Such a nutritional breakfast I know!
On Strike: WGA
I am sure most have heard about this already, but the writer's involved with our television shows and movies headed out on strike this morning at 12:01am. We had picketers outside studios in both New York and Los Angeles, including celebrities such as Tina Fey and Jay Leno. At least, I saw him speaking in one of the interviews I saw on Fox News a bit ago. What does this mean for the television viewer like myself and others? Television can possibly end up getting quite interesting.
The Heroes spin-off has already been canned because of the strike, the final six episodes of Scrubs are in jeopardy. One behind the scenes person at Heroes has already left after he was asked to cut story lines and make major script changes this weekend before the strike went into effect. Late night television shows are on repeats as of tonight. For now, prime time television is safe because series have prepared in advance, but if the strike continues on this could be a problem. Soap operas might be the next to be effected in the next week or two.
One article on this I read this morning said that the winter television market can end up looking like summer if the strike goes on too long. We could be in for a lot of reality television. The last strike lasted six months. Hollywood itself won't be affected soon. Movies will continue to be filmed, but there will be no on the spot re-writes if they are needed. Scripts will be shot as is. This could lead to poorer movie content hitting the big screen next year. We just have to cross our fingers it doesn't last too long.
Why are they going on strike? One word, money. They want their share of new media. New media? What is that? Internet for one. In the last couple of years, television shows and movies have become available for purchase online. The writers see none of that revenue. They want that to change, and until it does they will walk the picket lines. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. I know I'll miss my television if shows start to slowly go into repeat because of no new material.
Picture perfect
I like playing with graphics on occasion. I'm really no artist. I can't draw worth a dime, but I like playing around with pictures. I like to try to make them look different, and sometimes even better than they did before I take one of my trusty computer programs and do stuff. A little bit of brightening, contrasting, and sometimes even a pretty frame can make an okay picture look great. Not everyone knows what they are doing when it comes to pictures though, and I don't even know everything you can do. For me, it is a little bit of a hobby. Playing around with a few graphics is also a bit of a form of stress relief for me too.
For the everyday user wanting to play around their own pictures, there are ways to do this quickly and easily. In no time at all using the Framing Station on this one site you can have your own custom photo gifts. I've done similar using other programs, but this site has everything you need right there using their software. Takes the guess work out of it for someone new to it that wants to make a nice little gift for someone. Take a look at just this one example with a nice happy family.
Now I'm tempted to go play around with some stuff on my own. Have a great Monday everyone!
Blogging My Blessings 11/4
If this was a couple of months ago, I probably wouldn't have never even thought of doing a post like this. I didn't think my life was very blessed at all. I have written about things not going well here the past month, and life has taken a turn. I think its good to always recognize the good in life, and it is that good in life, no matter how small it may be that keeps me going. This week I'm blessed because I've overcome the negative in my life that last few months, and I'm still here. Stronger for it. Let's see what is in store for me this week.
There is no woman ....
Like a woman scored. We've all heard it a thousand times. A woman scorned and in the right frame of mind for revenge will do anything in her power to get her justice. Some won't do much, but some might go to some extreme. Some have even killed. Not that I condone killing, but we all know the stories of women getting their revenge. The more outrageous stories get noticed, but I'm sure the smaller acts of revenge happen daily and go unnoticed. Right now, I'm reading a book by Jude Deveraux called The Summerhouse.
The book tells the story of three women that meet one day in their early twenties, and then meet again some twenty years later for one weekend. They each have stories to tell. One woman, a writer named Ellie, tells the story of her husband and how badly he screwed her over in the divorce. In the book, the women are given a chance to go back to a moment in time to change what happened. Ellie goes back to just before her divorce, hoping to fix things. That is where I am now.Of course in real life, there is no magical time machine as much as we would like there to be. Here is one instance of where beware of a woman scorned applies I discovered while surfing the internet. She is getting her husband where it hurts, with his car. She has destroyed his car and is now selling it online. She caught him cheating, and he was dumb enough to have the car in her name. Just look at what she did to the car. Reminds me of that one Carrie Underwood song, Before He Cheats.
Of course the site doesn't only have that going for it. They also sell new cars and used cars. It was that ad that caught my eye though. What lengths would you go to if someone wronged you? I don't know if I'd go as far as ruining the man's car or murder, but I have been known to not let people slide in the past. Sometimes a little revenge is sweet.
Falling Back?
I was just talking to a friend of mine right now, and she told me we had to change our clocks back for Daylight savings time. However, here in Arizona we don't do that. We stay the same time all year around. Wrecks a bit of havoc with my television viewing when this time of year hits. I'll need to make sure some of my cable television shows still record. There is talk of it changing eventually, but for now we remain the same.
Speaking of television, I'm playing catch up, and I just watched two weeks worth of Heroes. I love that show more than anything that right now. I also saw Grey's Anatomy for this week, and I'm not sure about what they are thinking with Lexie and Alex. That is wrong on so many levels. Of course, I'm the one that has though George and Izzie was wrong since last season.
Finding Work
The past few weeks I've been getting back into things with my writing. For almost a year, I wasn't happy with much I did in regard to my writing, but I've had a new outlook on that lately. I actually love writing again, and I love doing it. Not all writing is fun. Sometimes you need to do some of the boring stuff for money. The trick is finding freelance opportunities. I use a variety of sources. Everything from classifieds online to jobs boards and newsletters that I get in my email once or sometimes more a week. One freelance site I've found useful in my searches for work online has been this one. The site is fairly simple to navigate, and you can post your profile for people to find you for work. More work means more money in my bank account to pay my bills, and I definitely see that as a good thing. I know I'm not the only one!