Saturday, February 09, 2008
Rant
Sorry about this rant, but I must get it off my chest. I don't know about you, but I for one am sick and tired of all the Britney Spears 'expose' across every rag magazine. And first, let me say, I am neither team Spears nor hatin' on her.
What is with all the magazines? Is Britney the only hot item right now? Don't tabloids have anything else to write about? Give the poor girl a break. She needs professional help to better herself. She just went through a divorce and losing her kids. Not that that makes everything all right. But, with the paparazzi following her every move and magazines smearing her, it's no wonder she is where she is at this point in her life. With headings across covers such as, "Britney's psycho" or 'she's delusional' or that 'her children were mistakes,' or that 'Britney's mom slept with Britney's husband,' "she's on drugs" 'shops naked" or all the other headings over the past twelve months, it's time to say to those tabloids: Who gives a tiny rat's ass!!!
It's no wonder she is not getting better. One week the tabloids call her fat. The next they say she has lost an astonishing 30 pounds and is wasting away. She locks herself in bathroom. Shaved her head at a salon. Doesn't show up for court.
Yeah, we get it.
We get that she needs help and that the media and paparazzi need to leave her the f alone. Good god, respect her privacy!! Move on to another person to stalk.
Two years ago the tabloids loved her. Now they make her into a three ring circus.
This is why I stopped buying those magazines last summer. Now that they don't have Anna Nicole to rip apart, that honor has gone to Britney. The paparazzi should be ashamed of themselves. If their sister or daughter were going through what she is, how would they like it if photogs were right there for everything? Britney can't even leave a hospital without someone tipping them off. That's sad that hospitals do that. What ever happened to a little thing called privacy and respect for patients?
It's amazing how tabloids once billed her has 'pop tart' and now she's a pop dart, where they're throwing labels at her left and right.
Move on to something else. It's beyond old.
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Friday, February 08, 2008
Puddles of Fun in Seattle
Last weekend was the Puddle of Mudd concert, and boy did Mike and I have one hellava good time. We were right by the stage, baby!!! Having missed the first two bands due to us trying to find the club in downtown Seattle, we got there when the third band was playing. A little too emo for me. I'm not into that stuff. I'm a total rocker girl. (It's funny how people who don't know me in person also assume I like country music. I can't stand country music. No offense, anyone.) Puddle of Mudd was awesome! They played all my fave songs and gave the fans a sample of new stuff coming up on their future cd.
The next day, we started off with coffee at Starbucks and then lunch and cocktails along the Waterfront. Then onward to Pike Place Market, where we strolled about and shopped at some cute stores. Okay, so Mike probably wouldn't describe them as 'cute', but to a girl they are. I bought a really cool poster with celebrity yearbook pics (which I now have framed
), a book on the vanishing Seattle and businesses that are no longer, goodies for the kiddies, and other fun things. Inside the market venders had their notorious displays of artwork, yummy seafood, produce, fruit and gorgeous dried flowers, and I course had to buy a bouquet. The one I got has colorful red and purple flowers and
dried silver dollars. Another treasure I got
was a cute cosmetic case from 'Heavens to
Betsie." If you haven't seen her bags,
visit her web-site. I truly lucked out,
because she is there on weekdays and
occasionally on Sundays. That's the bag I
got. Isn't it the cutest? I love fun, funky stuff.
And as always, I took pictures. Check 'em out!
On another note. Forgot to drop my dvd movies off at Hollywood Video, so I kept them 5 more days. Life is crazy right now with work, the kiddies and their sports and such, Mike and me now having colds, etc. When I did return them I'd miscalculated date by one day and...Bam! my late fees were $29.00. Yikes!!! That'll teach me, huh? LOL
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Friday, February 08, 2008
Waiting is hard to do
I'm still waiting to hear back about my book proposal I sent from back in December. I'm really no good at waiting. But in the writing business, hurry up and wait is the norm. You send a query and wait. If the editor is interested, she will ask to see a partial or the full manuscript. When you send it in, you wait again. The time frame varies: days, weeks or months. With the New Year there must be tons of proposals and queries out there. I just hope mine is not sitting at the bottom of the pile.
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Thursday, February 07, 2008
SCATTERGORIES
It's harder than it looks! Copy and paste into a new email/blog. When you are done, send it on, including to the person who sent it to you. *Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following… *they have to be real places, names, things…nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. (WHICH BY THE WAY IS HARD IF YOU ALREADY READ THEIRS. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl.
1. What is your name? Lissa
2. 4 letter word: Love
3. Vehicle: Lexus
4. City: Las Vegas
5. Boy Name: Lance
6. Girl Name: Laynie
7. Alcoholic drink: Lemon Drop
8. Occupation: Lawyer
9. Something you wear: Little black dress
10. Celebrity: Lindsey Lohan
11: Food: Lasagne
12. Something found in a bathroom: Body Lotion
13. Reason for being late: Locked car keys in house
14: Cartoon Character: Linus from Peanuts
15. Something you shout: "Look out!"
16. Animal: Lion
17: Body Part: Legs
18. Word to describe you: Loves to laugh
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Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Polishing & Revising
Page by page. Cover to cover. With a fine tooth comb. Now that my ms is out to my cp/final reader (Wendy, the eagle-eyed girl) she helps me flesh out the final draft.
Here is the rundown:
Plot.
Tighten paragraphs to make it stronger.
Emotional conflict.
Flesh out any contradictions.
Storyline ties together.
I wanna pull my hair out, as it's a bit nerve wracking. Or sleep on it and dream the pages will magically change themselves.
When final draft is done:
Re-read.
Any last minute edits to make story stronger and better (Eminem song plays in head: "You only got one shot...so don't blow it..." )
Let sit for a couple days.
Re-read with fresh eyes.
Now, I need sleep...
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Monday, January 21, 2008
Girls just wanna have fun!
And that we will come this weekend with GNO. A bunch of us girls from work are heading up to the casino in Rochester for the weekend. With time off for good behavior (hahahaha) and on one condition from management: that we don't come back tarnished. hahaha. Yeah, well, with Harlot going, she didn't get her name for nothin'..< gggg > Just kidding! (I can hear her now: "Ohh, Lissssa...")
Countdown to Puddle of Mudd concert in Seattle: 10 days & a wake up
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Sunday, January 13, 2008
Never a dull moment...
Hello girls, I'm your Fruityvegafacial girl. Are you tired, dull-skinned, showing lack of sleep? Pulled an all-nighter working on that assignment? Or perhaps the martini fairy forgot to bonk you on the head last night with her magic wand. The answer to all your problems just may be in your fridge...
( * The above, of course, is a play on words from "I Love Lucy" Episode: Lucy Does a TV Commercial.)
Recently, a customer at work said to me: "You look tired."
Snap! Now ladies, you with on this, that is something we do not like to hear. Period. It's basically like saying, "Good god, You look like hell warmed over."
My feathers ruffled, because I wasn't tired in the least, and thought I looked pretty cute that day, replied, "So, you're saying I look bad?"
Customer: "No. You don't look bad."
Me: "Well then, how do you know I don't look like this all the time?"
Customer: "Because you don't. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. Really. But you still look tired."
If this hadn't been one of my regular customers, yep, I'd had been offended! Considering I'd stuck to my New Years resolutin of eating healthy, doing pilates, taking vitamins, etc.
Yadda, yadda, yadda....
Alright then. So upstairs, there I was, checking in the mirror for signs of tiredness, puffiness. Okay, I admit I am vain to a point. I asked the other ladies, "Do I look tired?" Dropped Visine in my peepers, swiped on a bit of blush, eyeshadow...you get the picture.
Tonight, I will be soaking in a bubble bath, and applying the below facial. I've always done it at least once a week. Truth be told, with the holidays and all, I haven't made time for it...but tonight I am! It's one of the BEST I have ever used. Not only does it wake up skin, it's a skin brightener...so you look all freshened, with a healthy glow.
Trust me! This is the potion, baby!
Tomorrow, I'll be back to my goddess self. *wink*
Lemon and Cucumber Facial:
2 -inch chunk fresh cucumber, seeded and pureed
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Witch Hazel
1 egg white
2 tablespoons cream or plain yogurt (optional; for dry skin)
2 teaspoons nonfat powdered milk (optional; for normal skin)
Briefly puree all ingredients in a blender. Apply to the face, avoiding the area around your eyes, and let sit until nearly dry, about 20 - 30 minutes. Rinse well with warm water.
Eye fresheners: Apply slices of cucumber. Or take 2 chamomile teabags, warm in bath water, then apply to eyelids for 5 - 10 minutes.
If you like this recipe, I have more on my remedies page.
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Saturday, January 12, 2008
It's a guy thang...
"Woooooo-hooooo!! Yeaaah, the Packers are stomping all over those Seagulls. Again! Woooooo!"
That is among the many things Mike yelled out today, as I did edits in the other room during the Packers/Seahawks football game.
As I walk to the kitchen I see:
Down on the couch. Up on your feet: "Yeaaah!" Down. Up: "Wooo-hoo, yeaaah, he's going for it." Down: "Gooo- go! Up, chips flying: "It's gonna be a.........Touch dowwwn!!!!"
Comical how when a game is on, they become "one of those guys" who become totally animated.
Guys are funny!
And so adorable!
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Friday, January 11, 2008
Tornado hits my town of Vancouver, Wa
Tornados are too rare here. Who would have thought an F3 would hit Vancouver. Just before 12:30pm Thursday 1/10/08, I was getting into the shower when I heard what sounded like my neighbor's house exploding. Then my house shaking. I thought someone was breaking into our house, or something. I was freaking!! When I got out of the shower--I just happened to leave the TV on in the living room--and the news was on with "tornado warning in effect." For the first time in my life, I heard on the TV and radio "the Emergency Broadcast System" going off. Scary, scary words to hear. The tornado was in Hazel Dell. 6 miles away from us.
My children were at school. Worried, as all mothers are, I called my daughter's cell phone. She and her classmates were all fine. Same as my son. Thank goodness!
Rolling east at Vancouver Lake with a 1/4 mile width and 110 wind speed, it leveled a crew club and 50 boats. In residential areas, it tore the roofs off of dozens of houses, snapped power lines, toppled over 200 trees and tipped a semi-truck onto its side.
Amazingly, nobody was hurt!! I got to thinking... had our house been in the line, I'd have been taking a shower outside!
Later while at work, some of my customers remembered a tornado from 1972. It had ripped the roof off an elementary school, and 90 students were hurt (this I'd learned about while growing up. And another tornado here: The Columbus Day storm of '62.) Several blocks over, the '72 tornado had killed six people, when the funnel cloud hit a building. (I had not heard about the tragedies.) The '62 storm had hit my grandparents land, where my mom grew up...1/2 mile away from yesterday's tornado.
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Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Countdown to Seattle
23 days and a wake up. I can't wait to re-experience Pike Place Market, see the Space Needle again and do lots of sight-seeing. The 'Puddle of Mudd' concert is on a Saturday night, so this this will give Mike and me Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday to play.
I love Seattle, all its history and the underground city. For you coffee nuts (me too) the original Starbucks is in Seattle. I'll be going there to get my vanilla latte grande! And, as you know, Seattle is also the original grunge scene. Nirvana, baby!
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Monday, January 7, 2008
A dog's life...
Okay, I've seen some strange things that
people do with their dogs. And mind you,
I love dogs. All kinds. I'm used to seeing
people carry their tiny dogs in their arms
or in a purse while at stores, the mall,
etc. Or dress them in sweaters, boas,
tutus and hats. But this simply beats all.
A pet stroller for the pooch to ride around in while its human strolls it all about in public. I can see if the dog is disabled, has arthritis, just had surgery or its human lives somewhere like Beverly Hills where everyone matches their 'accessory dog' to their outfits. But to put your 3 pound dog in one just so it can be with you, or it can get its 'exercise'...? Now that's just showing everyone you're crazy!
Silly women, strollers are for human babies and toddlers.
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Wednesday, January 2, 2008
...Oohh yeah! It's a Beautiful day!
So, today I took my 11-year-old son to the mall to get tennis shoes. One of the Christmas gifts I'd given him was a $100.00 Visa gift card for him pick out his choice of Nike Airs. Here is how our trip to the mall went:
Brandon: "Okay. Champs is upstairs, so maybe park next to Macy's.
Okey Dokey. Off we go. (Glad he's got the agenda...)
Inside at Champs:
Brandon stands in front of shoe wall, takes a shoe down from display, looks it over, puts it back. Takes another down, put it back, and so forth. This goes on for like 15 minutes.
"I like this one" he finally points to one that is all black with a little silver, " and that one," pointing to another.
Me: "Okay. Wanna try them on?'
Brandon: "Nah."
Another couple minutes goes by.
Me: 'Are you sure, sweetie? I'll ask the the salesguy over there..."
Brandon: "Let's go to Foot Locker."
Off we go on the seemingly 2-mile trek, heading past Wet Seal, Victoria's Secret and toward Nordstrom."
Me: "C'mon, let's go into Nordstrom real quick."
Brandon (Looks up at me with 2 question marks in his pupils) "Why?"
Me: "I just wanna look at something."
Brandon, does a couple turns on his Healys and then says, "I don't want to. Why do we have to go in there?"
Me: (Taken aback) "Because I said so. C'mon. Now stop doing those turns, you're gonna get hurt on this hard floor."
Brandon: (Loooong sighhh)
Inside Nordstrom we walk past ladies apparel and toward escalator. The longer we walk, him still sighing, the longer it seems to have no ending.
Brandon: "This store is soooo dumb. I bet you're gonna look at dresses and skirts saying, oohhh, isn't this cute. I wanna go. C'mon. You said we were gonna get my tennis shoes."
Ohhh, praise the Lord, there it is! The escalator. We climb aboard. As we descend downward, Brandon sighs like eighteen more times. I don't know how we did it, but we finally make it to glass counters with all the perfume and makeup. I'm looking around, sniffing different scents, and...well, doing what girls do.
Brandon: "Mom! You said we were only gonna be in here for a minute. What are you gonna do, look at everything? I'm booored."
Me: "One more minute." (Oooo, this perfume smells good)
Brandon: "Momm! You said we were going to Foot Locker."
Me: (thinking: They really need to have a Guiter Hero booth here to drop your kids off at.) "We will. I'm almost done."
Brandon: "Mom, there's nothing but girl stuff here!!"
Me: "Fine." (Thinking: I'll just come back tomorrow. Alone. Sheesh!)
Off we go toward Foot Locker. Brandon stops to look at cell phone gear. Then another 'island' store with calendars.
Brandon: "Hey, this is the calendar I got my teacher for Christmas." (Holds up Harley Davison calendar. Looks at more calendars.)
Me: (chuckling at 'Silly Celebrity Quotes' calendar) musing aloud: "I wonder how much this is?"
Brandon: "Foot Locker is over theeere!!"
Right! Must be my cue!
Once inside Foot Locker, Brandon looks at the wall of tennis shoes. Finally decides on a pair, tries 'em on. Asks to try on another, but his size is not is stock.
Brandon: "Let's go back to Champs."
Me: "What? All right. But make sure they don't have what you want here!"
Brandon: "They don't."
Back to Champs we go. 20 minutes inside there, and Brandon eyeballing every basketball tennis shoe, checking everysingle one out, he finds the one he wants and has saleslady get him his size.
Brandon: (Happy as a lark) "I'm, gonna wear these out." (Then he pays $100.00 with his Visa gift card, I pay the remaining $5.00. And these shoes were on sale!)
Such a simple 30 minute venture! Later, on our way out through Macy's, with me carrying Healys in Champs plastic sack, I stop off at glass counters to get some perfume.
Brandon: "Mom!"
Me: "You just hold on, bucko! You looked at your stuff, I'm looking at mine."
Brandon: "You already did...at Nordstrom. What are you looking for?"
Me: (Getting frustrated!!!) "Just perfume." Sheesh.
Brandon: "What kind?"
Me: ( By this time I'm lucky I remember my name. Thank God, I'm standing at Elizabeth Arden. One of my fave perfumes is at this counter.) "Why? Are you taking notes?" (Nosey parker!)
Brandon: (Rolling eyes ) "You said we were leaving."
Salelady: "May I help you find something?"
Me: ( 5....yes...5....I'd wanted Chanel no. 5...thank goodness my faves have 5's) "Just get me the....I'd like a bottle of... 5th Avenue, please."
Nice saleslady: "5th Avenue will be with a promotion January 16. Unless it is vital, do you want to purchase the perfume today?"
Brandon: "Mom, look at that guy over there. He's putting on makeup. Eeeewww!"
I walk around counter. I'd also wanted Dermablend and....
Brandon: "Mom, how looong does it take to buy perfume?"
Me: "I'll take it now, please!"
Later this evening, Mike is helping Brandon look for his Razor bike charger that Brandon had misplaced in garage and been wanting fiercely, and, since he also gotten a new bike tire for Christmas, he'd wanted to use it again. ASAP. As both of them are in garage, Mike finds charger. Within seconds later, Brandon finds old computer disk games I had stored in shoebox in garage and was planning to give to Goodwill.
Brandon: "Oohh, yeah! It's a beautiful day. I found all the old games." Off he happily goes inside house, box in hand, forgetting all about about his charger for the time being. He's got business at the computer, ya know.
Moral of the story: 11-year-old boys have the attention span of a flea. And they certainly don't like shopping at glass counters with their mom...
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Tuesday, January 1, 2008:
Happy New Year, Baby!
Christmas here was fabulous. The lil elves were so excited, and Christmas Eve we could barely get them to sleep. After they did go to bed, and us up to our ears in wrapping paper, ribbons and tape, etc., we could hear three of them down the hall, up and out of their beds. So Mike says loud enough for them to hear, "Ahhh, what the heck. Go wake up the other one and we'll celebrate Christmas right now!." We hear a chorus of 'YAAAAY!!!' and the sounds of one or more skipping off to wake up sleeping elf # 4. Now mind you, this is sometime after 12:30am. Then Mike says, "Just kidding. We're waiting until morning." "Ahhhhh!" we hear. < gggg > But it was worth it!!!! I love Christmas day. The lil elves got way too much stuff, but seeing their excitement and squeals is just the BEST!!!
I can't believe it's 2008. Another new year with a fresh, clean slate!! And ackk. I know this sounds silly, but I hate the way I write the number '8'. Now a whole year of that. Blaaah!! I liked writing '7'. Ohhhh well. Did any of you make New Year's Resolutions? Me? Just one. Keep the same ones as last year. I just scrunch them all together. JK...hahaha
Busy year ahead. I have a proposal out to my publisher, and am working on two other novels. I also have 3 trips planned in the space of 2 months. So that will be super fun. Woo-hoo!!
The cute lil elves: Standing Brandon. L-R: Blake, Cassidy, Gina
Over the Fence
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Lissa Larer
Historical Romance Author
Sassy, Spunky & Romantic
