I like the Shuffle feature on my iPod Nano, but realize it’s not much of a shuffler when you’ve got multiple albums by the same artist.

I hear a lot of:

Live
Gavin DeGraw
Linkin Park
Creed
Scott Stapp
Glee Soundtrack
Dishwalla
High School Musical (all 3)

I find myself shuffling past these artists–well, not Linkin Park–in hopes of getting a onesie-twosie-threesie song I downloaded.

Technorati Tags: iPod Nano, Live, Gavin DeGraw, Linkin Park, Creed, Scott Stapp, Glee Soundtrack, Dishwalla, High School Musical

I missed this one weeks ago, so I’m doing it today. Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: “When Pigs Fly

I will marry again when pigs fly. Dating was so hard. After nearly 3 yrs of marriage, not to mention the 5 yrs before that, Mr. Maul and I are still trying to feel our through this thing called Relationship. By the time I’d met him, I was fed up with the whole dating scene and resigned myself to the fact that I was going to spend the rest of my life alone.

And I was okay with that.

Seriously.

I told him that if anything ever happened to him, that was it. Put a fork in me. I’m done.

No more men, no more relationships, no marriage.

I’ll live out the rest of my days writing, reading and taking care of my cat.

Technorati Tags: Sunday Scribblings

I missed this one a few weeks ago, so I’m doing it today. Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Big Dreams

I’ve got three big dreams:

1) Opening a nonprofit writing center for teens. For all those aspiring young authors who want to learn the art of writing…in all its formats.

2) Write full-time. Of course, I’ll need to win the lottery in order to do that. Or make enough money from Dream #1.

3) Write an adult romance book. If you read the Sunday Scribblings #205 post, then you know where I’m coming from on this.

Technorati Tags: Sunday Scribblings

Today’s word of the day is brought to you by Sunday Scribblings: Fluent

I’m fluent in adult romance books. LOL.

Seriously.

Bookshelf in my office taken a few years ago

I’ve been reading them since about my sophomore year in high school, starting with the Loveswept imprint. Wow. That was so long ago and that line is now defunct.

Then I switched to Silhouette Special Edition, Silhouette Desire, Harlequin Superromance, and Harlequin Temptation. By this point, I was reading 2 books a day, sometimes 3 if I stayed up late. I was at the library nearly every weekend. I barely graduated from high school I read so much.

Then I discovered Harlequin Blaze and never looked back. I’ve since ditched all the other lines and have stuck with this one. I use my Barnes and Noble Preferred Reader card once a month to read these.

Then I discovered other authors like Alison Kent, Jill Shalvis, Donna Kauffman, Susan Mallery, Lori Foster, Sandra Hill, and Carly Phillips. I’ve also taken to reading some erotica, too. Although I probably shouldn’t admit that seeing as how I write YA.

Some people are addicted to drugs, alcohol, caffeine or even chocolate.

Reading adult romance books is my addiction. Yes, I even go through withdrawals when I have nothing to read. No, I don’t plan on getting help for it.

EVER.

I think that I’m so fluent in adult romance that I could write one.

I plan to. Someday.

Technorati Tags: Sunday Scribblings, Loveswept, Silhouette Special Edition, Silhouette Desire, Harlequin Superromance, Harlequin Temptation, Harlequin Blaze, Alison Kent, Jill Shalvis, Donna Kauffman, Susan Mallery, Lori Foster, Sandra Hill, Carly Phillips

Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival”, where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it in on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

You’re more than welcome to participate! Just answer the question on your own blog, and leave a link to it in their comments.

Topic #20: List your favorite reading/writing blogs and/or resources

Before I started school, I was reading everything in my Blogroll on a weekly, if not daily, basis. And commenting. Now, I’m barely reading them and have dropped to lurker status on all of them. These are just the highlights.

Crystal Green – Because we’re both Team CHUCK and Team WINCHESTER (Supernatural).

Bria Quinlan – Love reading the monthly Excerpt Monday, her great posts about the writing life and am anxiously awaiting her Edit Cards.

YA Highway - Road Trip Wednesdays. Need I say more?

Wendy Prior - Fab beta reader. And her stories about Riley are, well, hi-larious. When I need a laugh, I go to her blog.

Debbie Ridpath Ohi - Love the comic strip.

The Intern – It’s not every day you read someone who refers to themselves in the third person.

Resources –

Shrinking Violets – Marketing for Introverts. That is all.

Writing on the Wall – All things writing. And if you’re brave enough, you can send the first page of WIP and get publicly critiqued on Monday Mania.

Book Marketing Buzz – Because lord knows I need all the help I can get in this department.

Future Perfect Publishing – Exploring new trends and possibilities in book publishing

Writer Unboxed - “the craft and business of writing genre fiction”….from the POV of 12 different people! Awesome!

Sunday Scribblings – I’ve never been one for writing prompts but I like to participate in this one.

The Creative Penn – I just discovered Joanna Penn recently after reading a post about self-publishing. Finally got around to listening to one of her podcasts and I love, love, love her accent.

Technorati Tags: Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway, Crystal Green, CHUCK, Supernatural, Bria Quinlan, Wendy Prior, Debbie Ridpath Ohi, The Intern, Shrinking Violets, Writing on the Wall, Book Marketing Buzz, Future Perfect Publishing, Writer Unboxed, Sunday Scribblings, The Creative Penn, Joanna Penn

There’s still time to inspire an at-risk teen to write. Donate a journal

Friday evening, I went to see VALENTINE’S DAY. This reminded me of the movie CRASH, in the way that all the characters in the movie were connected somehow. The best part was that I had the whole theater to myself. Yes. The whole theater. I could’ve run up and down the aisles, screaming my head off. And no one would’ve known. Or heard me. Pretty cool. So, I was impressed by the whole interconnectivity of it all, but they should’ve replaced Taylor Swift with Miley Cyrus.

Seriously. She already has the blonde wig.

Or maybe she should’ve received a few pointers from Miley’s acting coach. I was wholly unimpressed with her acting. It’s like she was trying too hard to be a ditzy, empty-headed blonde because we all know she’s not like that in real life. As the gang from High School Musical 2 sang, “stick to the status quo.” Singing is your “thang”, honeybabydoll. Don’t stray until you’ve got a few more lessons under your belt.

Moving on…..the rest of my weekend was pretty uneventful. Mr. Maul was sick all weekend, though we managed to eat at Ron’s Place on Saturday and do a little shopping afterwards. It was cold and rainy on Sunday and that called for staying in.

Still trying to upload pics from our Orlando vacation. I was going to do a daily breakdown and realized that it was going to take too long. If I had written it ahead of time, I would’ve done it. Now all you’re going to get is a link to my flickr account. So sorry. I’ll let you know when it’s all been uploaded.

So, how was your weekend? Did you watch the Oscars? Who won?

Technorati Tags: VALENTINE’S DAY, CRASH, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, High School Musical 2

The last time I wrote a Random Thought was 12-30-2009. LOL. I thought it had been longer than that, but I guess not. I got this one from a friend a few days ago:

Children Write About the Ocean…

1 ) – This is a picture of an octopus. It has eight testicles. Kelly, age 6

2) – Oysters’ balls are called pearls. Jerry, age 6

3) – If you are surrounded by ocean, you are an island. If you don’t
have ocean all round you, you are incontinent. Alex, age 7

4) – Sharks are ugly and mean, and have big teeth, just like Emily
Richardson . She’s not my friend any more. Kylie, age 6

5) – A dolphin breaths through an asshole on the top of its head. Billy, age 8

6) – My uncle goes out in his boat with 2 other men and a woman and
pots and comes back with crabs. Millie, age 6

7) – When ships had sails, they used to use the trade winds to cross
the ocean. Sometimes when the wind didn’t blow the sailors would
whistle to make the wind come. My brother said they would have been
better off eating beans. William, age 7

– Mermaids live in the ocean. I like mermaids. They are beautiful
and I like their shiny tails, but how on earth do mermaids get
pregnant? Like, really? Helen, age 6

9) – I’m not going to write about the ocean. My baby brother is always
crying, my Dad keeps yelling at my Mom, and my big sister has just got
pregnant, so I can’t think what to write. Amy, age 6

10) – Some fish are dangerous. Jelly fish can sting. Electric eels can
give you a shock. They have to live in caves under the sea where I
think they have to plug themselves into chargers. Christopher, age 7

11) – When you go swimming in the ocean, it is very cold, and it makes
my willy small. Kevin, age 6

12) – Divers have to be safe when they go under the water. Divers
can’t go down alone, so they have to go down on each other.
Becky, age 8

13) – On vacation my Mom went water skiing. She fell off when she was going very fast. She says she won’t do it again because water fired right up her big fat ass. Julie, age 7

14) – The ocean is made up of water and fish. Why the fish don’t drown I don’t know. Bobby, age 6

15) – My dad was a sailor on the ocean. He knows all about the ocean.. What he doesn’t know is why he quit being a sailor and married my mom. James, age 7

Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival”, where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it in on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

You’re more than welcome to participate! Just answer the question on your own blog, and leave a link to it in their comments.

Topic #19: What are your tools when it comes to procrastination?

This is an easy question seeing as how I can sum it up with one word: reading. Now, some may not see this as procrastination.

But I do.

I write YA.

But I read adult romance books.

When I was in high school, I read more than I did my homework. I read so much the librarians knew me by face because I was at my library nearly every weekend.

When I was single and living on my own, I would come home, slip into something more comfortable, slip under the covers of my bed (it’s where I love to read) and read. Until dinner. Then I would make dinner and read while I was eating. Then I’d go back to “bed” and read until it was really time for me to go to bed.

I was reading 2 books a day at that rate, sometimes 3 on the weekends.

Now that I’m married, it’s more like 1-2 books a week. And, now that I’m up to my hairline in school, it’s been more like 1 book every few weeks. Needless to say, I’m rockin’ a really nice TBR pile right now:

Slow Heat – Jill Shalvis
Tempt Me Again – Wendy Etherington
Naked Dragon – Annette Blair
Here Comes Trouble – Donna Kauffman
On the bright side, I’m now the girlfriend of a sex god – Louise Rennison
Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City – Kristin Miller
Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb – Kristin Miller
Dani Noir – Nova Ren Suma
Nauti Deceptions – Lora Leigh

The procrastination doesn’t stop at reading books. Oh no. It extends to the internet as well. Particularly to the blogs in my blogroll. It’s been a while since I’ve done that, but I try to at least ready YAHighway on the regular. Well, at least once a week. *grin*.

Technorati Tags: Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway, Slow Heat, Jill Shalvis, Tempt Me Again, Wendy Etherington, Naked Dragon, Annette Blair, Here Comes Trouble, Donna Kauffman, On the bright side, I’m now the girlfriend of a sex god, Louise Rennison, Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City, Kristin Miller, Kiki Strike: The Empress’s Tomb, Dani Noir, Nova Ren Suma, Nauti Deceptions, Lora Leigh

Mr. Maul and I got home yesterday after spending a week in Orlando last week. My parents have a timeshare and they had a “use it or lose it” situation with their points, so they had to plan a trip before March, I think. Therefore, they paid for airfare for 5 people (Me, Mr. Maul, my parents, and my niece), lodging for a week, and SUV rental. My older sister and her husband moved to Orlando around July-August of last year so we spent some time with them.

The weather was cold (high 50’s to high 70’s during the day..but only on one day) and rained 3 out of the 7 days we were there. My Dad was able to get us 4-day Base Passes (he’s retired military) to the theme parks (visit one park each day, no same-day park hopping) and Mr. Maul and I paid extra for Universal Studios tickets. We stayed at Summer Bay Resort and needless to say, I wasn’t impressed with the place. Compared to the place we stayed at in Kauai, it was sadly lacking:

~ On the one day we decided to sleep in (Tuesday), we were awakened early by the sound of drilling and hammering. Apparently, they were replacing tile in the condo above us. Thanks for the warning, people.

~ We had to deal with an absurdly loud garbage disposal. Now, I know garbage disposals are loud, but this thing sounded like it was grinding glass every time it was turned on. According to Sonny, resident handyman, that sound is normal. Alll-righty then.

~ Wi-Fi was not free in the rooms. It cost $10 a day to have that privilege. However, it was free 24/7 in the clubhouse. So much for “like-home” accommodations.

~ The pool and the jacuzzi were heated and was not only enjoyed by people, but by ducks as well. We saw the pool guy scooping out duck shit one morning, but received no notification that the pool was being sanitized. Maybe we missed that phone call or people were given a verbal warning before they got out there. I dunno.

~ Housekeeping cleaned your condo only after check-out (in Kauai, they came on Tuesdays). If you wanted the room to be cleaned before then, it was extra. We might’ve had to pay extra for clean sheets and towels, too, I don’t remember. Either way, my parents requested clean sheets and pillowcases (we washed the towels ourselves). When they were dropped off, my parents gave them the dirty sheets and pillowcases. “Oh, you want us to take them?” was the response. Uh, yeah. What the hell are we supposed to do with dirty sheets? Really? C’mon people.

The only good thing about this place was the view. We were on the third floor and our balcony faced the jacuzzi/pool area and the lake beyond. I will be posting a daily travelogue of our trip this week.

School Daze – My community project for my LAS course has been a success. The goal of 200 journals donated has been reached, but the drive will continue until Mar 15th. If you’d like to donate, check out the details here

Technorati Tags: Universal Studios, Summer Bay Resort

Borders-Sky Harbor Airport is sponsoring a journal drive for my Write it Out Journal Drive project. If you’re flying into or out of the Phoenix area FEB 21-MAR 13, 2010, be sure to stop by the Borders in Terminal 4 and support our cause.

Not visiting Phoenix, but still want to donate? No problem, for details on the project and how to donate, check out the Write it Out Journal Drive website.

Technorati Tags: Borders-Sky Harbor Airport, Write it Out Journal Drive