Friday, February 27, 2009

I heart Tina Fey

30 Rock never disappoints -- 30 minutes (okay, 22) of pure fun with at least one big laugh a night... but when Liz started singing "99 Red Balloons" as a proxy for her fake dead grandmother's lullaby... I lost it.

And Elisa's line:
"I don't want to get all all Mark Anthony on you"
was pretty funny, too.

Not to mention Jack, coming into Liz's office for advice:
"You're a woman."
Liz, responding all in one breath:
"Of-course-I-am-that-doctor-was-a-quack-I-don't-even-know-why-my-parents-listened-to-him."

And Jack:
But she keeps confusing me with this notion that love and sex are somehow connected.

I love me some 30 Rock.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Warning. Do not play this at work

Or around your kids...
Or around your elderly parents or grandparents...
Or around the parents of your kids' friends (if you don't know them well)...
Or if your minister or priest is over for tea...
Or if you're otherwise offended by copious amounts of swearing...

But I laughed so hard when my brother sent this to me, I had to share.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Tagged

Kristen Painter tagged me to play a game called 6 by 6.

"The mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find the sixth image in your sixth image folder, and then tag another six people to do the same."



I have to admit I cheated... I have a lot of family photos on my computer and don't believe in a) posting people's pictures in public without their permission, or b) posting people's pictures in public without their permission. (I was sure I had 2 things when I started that sentence... It's late.)

But I'm sure Jasper would give his permission... He is such a ham and a total celebrity in his own mind... So there is my image :-)

As for tagging others.... Hmmmm...

Why doesn't anyone who takes up the challenge post here to let me know they've done it. (Kind of a cop out, I know...)

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Mike White's on the Amazing Race!

How fun is that? I'm a big fan. He may be goofy looking. He may be gay (and therefore never my future husband). But great writers are sexy and cool in my mind.

And the dude who wrote both School of Rock and The Good Girl (and many other varied things) is on the Amazing Race! That rocks. I'm even willing to forgive him for Nacho Libre because the other stuff he's done is so fabulous. (Plus, I've been led to believe that perhaps I simply wasn't in the right mood (not drunk enough?) when I saw Nacho Libre. Perhaps I should give it another chance....)

Anyway, back to the Amazing Race. Hoping he and his Dad last for a while.

Meanwhile the hill-billy pair seem doomed and I just want to hug her and tell her to leave her scary-looking mean-as-hell husband. I'm only a third of the way through the episode, but have a strong feeling their first venture outside the USA is not going to last long...

Friday, February 13, 2009

Friday Nights In

When did Friday become the best night on TV? Have my tastes changed or has TV changed.

Used to be that there was absolutely NOTHING worth watching on Friday nights.

Now, between Friday Night Lights, Battlestar Galactica, Flashpoint, and now Dollhouse... who needs to go out?

And there are new episodes of the Sarah Connor Chronicles starting tonight, too... But sadly, I think I've missed an entire season right now, so want to wait until I can fill in the gaps.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

I so don't do book reviews, but I'm willing to try

Hey, kids! Guess what? I joined a new club!
The Book Review Club, organized by the wonderful Barrie Summy.

Now, full disclosure: I'm not much of a book reviewer. Sure, I sometimes babble on this blog or on Drunk Writer Talk about books I've liked, and I do have critical discussions about books with my writer buddies and friends, but a full-on-official-type book review? Ummm... Not so much. I don't think I've done one since grade school.
However, regular readers of my blog will know how often I babble about movies -- and some people are generous enough to refer to those movie-babbles as reviews. This must be why Barrie thought I could pull off a book review. Won't she be surprised when some months I review movies instead of books for this club. 'Cause I'm a rebel. ;-)

But for this inaugural month, I figured I should do an actual book. Once I thought through the books I've read in the past few months, the choice was obvious: Barrie Summy's wonderful debut, I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES, released in hardcover, by Delacorte Press in December 2008. Buy it here. (Okay, buy it anywhere, just buy it.)

I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES is aimed at the middle grade reader but I think teenaged girls looking for a fun read would enjoy it, too. (Not to mention adults...) While I think many boys would love this book, given the female protagonist, and more significantly, the adorable graphics on the dustcover (and the bubble-gum pink cover under that) I think this book is mostly for girls. (or boys willing to pick up a book with a pink cover.) I also think it will be enjoyed by reluctant and avid readers alike. The fun, mystery plot and bright, bubbly, first-person voice are a delight to read. Granted I'm a little older than middle-grade (try middle-aged?) but I zipped through this book in one sitting. Fun. Fun. Fun. And my 10-year-old niece gave it her thumbs up, too.

Sherry Holmes Baldwin is a innovative and brave detective in the great tradition of her namesake Sherlock Holmes and probably more on point -- Nancy Drew. But while I loved the Nancy Drew books when I was young, I wish I'd had a series of Sherry Holmes Baldwin books to read instead. Sure, both Nancy and Sherry are bright, resourceful girls who get into and out of dangerous situations as they sift through clues to find the bad guy, but Sherry has something Nancy Drew never had -- Sherry is hilarious.

I laughed out loud so many times while reading this book it was slightly embarrassing. (Note to self: don't read Barrie's next book in public.)

Another difference between this and most mystery novels is the addition of a paranormal element. Sherry, her BFF Junie, and major crush Josh, are helped along the way by Sherry's late mother -- now a ghost -- who was a cop while alive, and also a detective in the afterlife. Sherry's also helped by her late grandfather, who has taken the form of a wren.

I loved this little touch of magic in the story, but what I most loved was that Summy didn't rely on magic or any supernatural ghost powers to solve the mystery. In fact, the ghost and bird had so many limits on what the could do, that Sherry was helping them, more than the other way around. Sure, her mother and grandfather play their parts, but solving the mystery and capturing the bad guy is all Sherry.

Along the way, Sherry and her mother get to discuss some of the issues they never had a chance to resolve before her mother's tragic death. But while these moments were emotional and touching, Summy never let them get too heavy or change the light tone of the story. (And I have to say the idea of her mother's ghost both smelling like and being attracted to coffee made me a little misty... as that's the scent I most associate with my own mother. )

Oh, and did I mention there are rhinoceroses, movie stars and an evil French Chef?
Um... Was I supposed to start with a summary? (I told you I wasn't a very good book reviewer...)

B'ah. You can read the summary on Amazon.
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