Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for TV Show] 

Jack Black, the stars of "Kung Fu Panda 2, and megastar mom Angelina Jolie, speaks in a U.S. TV show "Extra" at the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival about the film, tattoos and having more children. 

The other tattoos you see all logged the longitude and latitude of where her adopted kids were born – and when she had another set of mysterious tattoos; people immediately assumed it was because she was about to adopt again.

But now Angie has set the record straight, in her latest Extra interview, about the inking saying that the latest coordinates simply log Brad Pitt’s place of birth.

VIA Angelina Jolie talked about her mysterious tattoo in her latest interview in US TV Show "Extra"

VIA An Evening with Amon Amarth in Times Square

I always read the books my parents gave me for Christmas and my birthday. Some of it was because I was genuinely interested in the book and really wanted to read it. Other times it was because I didn't want to hurt their feelings. And still other times it was because I was so bored and so without books to read that I was willing to read whatever was sitting on my shelf.

I used to watch the Winnie-the-Pooh TV show when I was up and it was on, partly because I liked it, but also because it was on. Tigger was my absolute, hands down favorite. I liked some of the other characters, and really didn't like others, but Tigger was my favorite. Because I really liked Tigger, my parents decided that this meant I love all things Tigger...

Because I enjoyed the show, my parents decided to get me The Complete Tales of Winnie the Pooh. I was thrilled! (A book! A big book!) And then, I saw the illustrations. I was so confused! I told my mom they had done it wrong. So I had my first conversation about changes being made to an original work to draw in new audiences and attract new reader (or watcher) ship. I was disappointed. As you can see from the cover, each of the animals in the story look different from what most of us (at least those around my age are used to). While disappointed at first, I did get used to it and now I love them just as much.

And I loved the book! I read the whole thing and would use it to read stories to my little brothers at night. Because of this, my parents decided that Tigger should be a theme. And for the next several years, every Christmas and most birthdays had some sort of Tigger themed... something. Sometimes it wasn't too bad, or weird — I got stuffed animals and The Tigger Movie . But other gifts were strange. Like the hook rug kit with Tigger's face on it. Nothing about me has ever suggested that I would enjoy making a hook and eye — latch/hoop square, even if it had Tigger's face on it. Or the completely impractical backpack with an interior about the size of my fist (but it's TIGGER!!)

It lasted for a long time too, long after I had outgrown Winnie the Pooh.

But even with that, I still love Tigger, and I still loved reading stories to my little brothers from the complete tales. It makes me want to go dig out my copy of the book from storage so that I can start reading it to my nephews too.

I know this Memory Monday ended up being more about the aftermath than about the book itself, and I'm being a little silly with it, but that doesn't change how much I really, genuinely, did love this story. Winnie the Pooh is one of those timeless, classic stories that never gets old, that should never be forgotten, and should always be loved. (Although, I am fully willing to forget the existence of some of those terrible new TV versions. *shudder*)

The twelve Greek gods are still alive...and are residing in a run-down townhouse in London. Their lives are quite pathetic. Artemis, the goddess of hunting is a dog walker. Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, is a phone sex operator. And Apollo, god of the sun, is a TV psychic. The gods, in their boredom, are in constant battle with one another. Aphrodite decides to pull a trick on Apollo. Using the powers of Eros, the god of love and sexual desire, she makes Apollo fall in love with an audience member during his TV show. The unknowing victim is Alice, a quiet and meek janitor for the television station. The battle between the gods escalates when Alice doesn't reciprocate Apollo's love. The future of humankind is in question, and it's up to two lowly mortals to save it.

GODS BEHAVING BADLY is a hysterical take on the Greek gods. It starts out quite humorous, but takes on a serious spin when love and the fate of the fate of the world comes in to play. A very quick read; you definitely won't want to put this one down! Highly recommended.

It's a mystery!

1."Do you love a little suspense in your life? Have you ever read a book that keeps you twisting and turning until the last page? Tell us about it (but not too much , we want to be left hanging ourselves). Or maybe there is a series of mysteries that you adore. Why do you keep reading about the same detectives?"***

2. To expand on that a little: the new TV series Castle revolves around a popular mystery writer. There's even talk that a novel will be published supposedly written by Castle himself. TV and books will muddy the entertainment waters once again. I think we all know of the Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes series on PBS and BBC as well. Not to mention the new movie Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law will open December 25, 2009. Looks pretty exciting!

If you were to be given special TV or movie producing powers, which mystery novel character(s) would you create a TV series or movie for? Who would you cast in the major roles?

You can:

Get creative and post photos of the cast, even the locations you'd love to see them in. If you're really feeling artsy, create a fake imbd page on your blog or make a trailer for your fantasy show.

Have fun!

*** This week's idea came from Kristen: Bookworm Kristen. Thanks! Remember anyone can send Weekly Geek ideas to us through the Contact Us page.

I don't know about you, but I always thought the whole lawn care thing was stupid. My dad spent his whole weekend mowing the yard when I was a kid and it looked so boring. It didn't help that when he taught me how to mow the lawn I ran into the clothesline. I never mowed again.

But seriously-- why do we care so much about lush green yards? It's supposed to be a sign of dedication, hard work, neighborliness, and pride. Unfortunately lawns across America are poisoning the people living on them and their neighbors. See, the green grass in all these yards is not native grass which means it requires a lot of upkeep, including a pesticide called 2,4-D. 2,4-D causes lots of nasty problems, the most terrifying is a type of blood cancer. It's easily absorbed through the skin and lungs and causes other problems besides cancer, like nausea, vomiting, and birth defects.

I'm a huge fan of the This American Life radio show and recently I watched the TV show on Netflix. In season two episode two there is a story about a Bulgarian man living with his wife in the United States. He loves his home, neighborhood, and wife, but he refuses to mow the lawn. This is seemingly the only argument he and his wife have, and his wife is terrified of what will happen if he doesn't start mowing the lawn. I mean, terrified. Rightly so. Slow Death by Rubber Duck mentions three cases where people were taken to court for not keeping up their lawn. In all these cases the lawn owners won, but I'm sure there are cases where they have not.

Interestingly the writers of this book didn't really do any experiment related to 2,4-D. The reason they didn't is cosmetic pesticides are illegal in Ontario. And Quebec. And Alberta. Rightly so, as "[i]n farming families in North America, for instance, there is a higher incidence of miscarriages and birth defects than in the general population. Farmers in Ontario who use pesticides also have lower sperm counts and poorer-quality sperm than non-farmers" (202). The effects of pesticides aren't just limited to farms and those who apply pesticides to lawns though, they effect everyone. Unfortunately cosmetic pesticide bans are extremely rare in the U.S. because it is such a huge industry and people continually buy into the green lawn dream, whether they really believe in it or are just following the crowd.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

This week's Top Ten Tuesday at the Broke and Bookish is hilarious book titles. I searched for most of these on Amazon's Self Help section and Harlequin romance's website. They're in no particular order.

1. The Happiness Project: Or, Why I sepnt a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin This actually sounds like something I would try to pull off, which makes it more hilarious.
2. Accidentally the Sheik's Wife by Barbara McMahon I'm not really sure how you accidentally become anyone's wife, and I'm very curious as to why they chose a sheikh. Mixing things up a bit?
3. Cattle Rancher, Convenient Wife by Margaret Way Why anyone would want to read a romance about a convenient wife is beyond me.
4. Falling for Mr. Dark and Dangerous by Donna Alward I find this funny because in general most romance novels are about falling for someone dark and dangerous.
5. Memo: Marry Me? by Jennie Adams
6. Finn's Pregnant Bride and the Paternity Claim by Sharon Kendrick Sounds like a subtitle on a daytime TV show.
7. The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Laura Schlessinger You might think this is a romance novel, but it's actually a self-help book. Apparently there are a lot of starving dirty husbands out there.
8. Why Men Marry Bitches: A Woman's Guide to Winning Her Man's Heart by Sherry Argov Well, from the title I assume the answer is to act like a bitch. Hope that works out for you.
9. Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy If the key to stop procrastinating is eating frogs then I think I'll just keep procrastinating.
10. Will I Ever Be Good Enough?: Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers by Karyl McBride I don't know why exactly I find this funny other than I think every daughter feels this way about her mother sometimes.

I'm not trying to put down any of these self-help books, I'm sure they're all very helpful!

VIA Miss Universe Canada 2011 Contestant - Rana Khaled's Photo & Profile/Biography

It is finally finally summer! I didn't think this weekend would ever come, but it's here. No more going to class (although I'm taking two online classes), no more dorms, no more front desk, no more tutoring. Just relaxing and working a little here and there and studying a little here and there. And I finally have time to read. It's been three days now that I've been out of school, and you know what? I already miss it. A lot.

Okay, maybe I don't miss school that much. But I miss Iowa City. I'm finding home to be a little bit depressing right now, with all the people I went to high school with. It's a totally different living situation and I am trying to make the best of it. But I'm going back to Iowa City for a few days now to take an Intro to Archives class before I start my archives internship this summer. I am excited about that!

Yesterday I finally finished Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick. It was a really good book and I wanted to finish it a long time ago, but finals got in my way. For the next couple of days I'm going to read Dead End Gene Pool by Wendy Burden and I still need to finish Scrolling Forward by David M. Levy. Other than that, I don't know exactly what is coming up for me to read... but my boyfriend and I went to Barnes and Noble last night and he bought a book that I [sadly] just could not resist.

The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell. I am a huge fan of Sex and the City (the TV show) and I've always kind of thought of myself as a Carrie. When my boyfriend pointed this out to me I knew I had to have it. "Before Sex and the City, Carrie Bradshaw was a small-town girl who knew she wanted more. She's ready for real life to start, but first she must navigate her senior year of high school. Up until now, Carrie and her friends have been inseparable. Then Sebastian Kydd comes into the picture, and a friend's betrayal makes her question everything." Okay so the story doesn't sound that good, but I think I deserve a little indulgence after this hellish semester. Just to be fair to the book world I also got a copy of No one belongs here more than you. Stories by Miranda July. I'll probably be ready both of this coming up, but I also want to read Just Kids by Patti Smith soon, because I've been obsessed with reading it ever since I bought it.

I wasn't so great at updating this week (this is all about to change, I swear!) but I did manage to review The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. I also did a meme about my Reading Habits. I'm still looking for suggestions on what I should do as a regular Thursday post since I don't plan on continuing Children's Book Thursday. One suggestion I've gotten is literary criticism post, specifically feminist criticism (this was possibly sparked by my new blog, Woops Feminism, shameless plug there). I'm interested in any ideas of what you might want to see here. Leave me a comment, tweet me, visit my Facebook fan page! I want to hear your ideas!

I officially declared my history major this week and so far I have received fairly negative reactions to it. I'm not surprised really, because I never thought I would become a history major until I started getting interested in history through my English classes. The reason I never though I would become a history major is because I hated history in elementary school. I remember my mom trying to help me study for tests and I just could not figure it out. I was excellent at understanding concepts, but I wasn't good a memorizing dates and I have never been good at multiple choice tests. That was pretty much what history was like all through high school. I did enjoy my history classes in high school though, I was a big fan of Government even though most people hated it.

It old my mom I declared my history major this week and she said "You didn't get that from me!" It's true, my mom is not a fan of history because it is boring. She says she doesn't care about what has happened already, but instead she's more concerned with what is going on now. I kind of wish I was more like that sometimes, because I think my interest in history is related to my obsession with reanalyzing my own past. I told a guy I work with about my history paper as well and he asked what class it was for. When I said American history he said, "Eh, I hate American history." I just laughed but... how could you hate American history! It's like the best reality tv show ever!

My favorite thing about the history classes I've taken so far is the many mediums my professors use to convey information. I've read comic books, novels, autobiographies, short stories, and textbooks and also listened to music, watched movies, and looked at propaganda posters and artwork form the time period. This has given me a greater interest in learning on my own through different mediums. I've actually purchased nonfiction books about historical movements, something I'd never considered before, and bought documentaries and movies to watch in my spare time. I mean, what is up with that?

So why do we hate history? I think it all goes back to what I said at the beginning of this post. It's a preconceived idea that history is boring, when really history is anything but. I'm not very interested in war itself, but the movements that surround wars are fascinating and usual more interesting than the war itself. So do you hate history? Or do you love it? Why do you think you feel the way you do about history?

VIA Steven Moffat Is Pissed!

This week’s Weekly Geek was very mysterious. Kristen and Chris challenged us to talk about favorite mysteries and detectives, or to even create a TV show or movie from a favorite mystery story or character. Here are a few of this week’s Geeks:

Gautami tripathy talked about all the mysteries she has loved.

Kerrie created a beautiful Wordle.

CoversGirl traces her love of mysteries back to Nancy Drew.

Rikki focused on Lord Peter Wimsey.

As usual, a big thank you to all of our participants!

Also, if you haven’t already heard, there are two upcoming events in the world of book bloggers:

Book Blogger Appreciation Week will be September 14-18.

The autumn 2009 Read-a Thon will be October 24-25.

Check out their websites for details on both of these fabulous events!

Angelina Jolie and her mysterious tattoo

Jack Black, the stars of "Kung Fu Panda 2, and megastar mom Angelina Jolie, speaks in a U.S. TV show "Extra" at the 64th Annual Cannes Film Festival about the film, tattoos and having more children. 

The other tattoos you see all logged the longitude and latitude of where her adopted kids were born – and when she had another set of mysterious tattoos; people immediately assumed it was because she was about to adopt again.

But now Angie has set the record straight, in her latest Extra interview, about the inking saying that the latest coordinates simply log Brad Pitt’s place of birth.

VIA Angelina Jolie Unfolded the Mystery of Her Latest Tattoo (Must See Video)

Today's Fairy Tale Fortnight interview totally makes my day. Because it is with the author of my number one most anticipated release of 2012 and will be followed by a review of the book! I cannot even begin to describe how happy I am that Alethea, author of the soon to be released Enchanted agreed to be part of Fairy Tale Fortnight! So check out her awesome interview and then enter the giveaway of WIN that she is donating!

What do you make of the resurgence in popularity for fairy tales? (Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsmen, all within a very short time)? Do you see it as a trend that will sort of peter out, or is it just getting started?

J. R. R. Tolkien once said (and fairy tale scholar Jack Zipes agrees) that fairy tales were 100% guaranteed moneymakers. In these times of extreme economic crisis, doesn't it make sense to bet on a Sure Thing? Even Mama wouldn't disagree with that.

I believe this is a trend that started once upon a time in sixteenth-century Italy. We're definitely on the crest of a fairy tale tidal wave right now. I hope that wave continues for a very, very long time... or until we all live happily ever after. Whichever comes first.

What impact do you think fairy tales have on society (especially with the same tales popping up in various forms in every society)?

Over the years, fairy tales as a whole have been both teaching tools and "urban" legends at the same time. They are typically pro-cleverness, anti-laziness, and sometimes even end more realistically than happily. I think the more unadulterated fairy tales that children are read as part of their growing-up process, the more traditional values they will have, and the better off our society would be.

But we live in a world now where children are protected from such terribly, bloody things. Fairy tales are neutered and spoon-fed by Disney, and our children are reading Facebook news links before bedtime. Because THAT seems like the best way to mold our future society. *rolls eyes*

Book in a Tweet: Your fairy tale in 140 characters or less?

Every beloved fairy tale originated with the Woodcutter family. Enchanted is Sunday Woodcutter's story.

Favorite fairy tales: "The Goose Girl" and "Snow White & Rose Red."

Most underrated fairy tale? Every one that hasn't been made into a Disney film: "The Foundling," "Master Maid," "The Seven Swans," "The Little Match Girl," "Tom Thumb"...

Most overrated fairy tale? "Snow White." Every retelling of this tale concentrates so much on the evilness of the queen and not really Snow White herself. (The jury's still out on OUaT, but it's decidedly Regina-centric.) At the end of the Grimm tale, Snow White invites the queen to her wedding and makes her dance in red-hot iron shoes. Doesn't exactly fit the Lily White Mary Sue Princess she's always portrayed as, does it?

Last year we asked everyone’s fairy tale hero/heroine name; this year, we want to know your fairy tale villain name:

According to the online Fairy Tale Name Generator, I am EVIL STEPMOTHER. Ha! Is that even possible?

Using that name, give us a line from your villainous fairy tale:

"Once Upon a Time, a fairy godmother married a widowed prince with two lovely daughters. While the sun shone she was loving and kind, but when the sun set, she locked herself in the tower room and became THE EVIL STEPMOTHER."

If a genie granted you 3 wishes, what would they be?
1. That the Enchanted series continue on long enough for me to tell the stories of all seven Woodcutter sisters
2. That we all be doomed to a happy life
3. The genie's freedom (I am no fairy tale dummy!)

Best way to read fairy tales?

In bed, to a child. Fairy tales are all the more magical when told.

If one of your books was being turned into a movie and you could cast 1 character, which character would you cast and who would play them?

It's funny you should ask! I am a huge movie buff and a fan of many actors, not the least of which is Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. I was writing the last half of Enchanted right about the same time they killed the character of Mr. Eko on the TV show Lost. I was furious! So furious, in fact, that I immediately resurrected him in my book... and thus, Jolicoeur was born. I would be tickled pink if someday a production company 1.) turned Enchanted into a film and 2.) cast Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Jolicoeur.
P.S.- — I kind of come off like I hate Disney in this, but I really don't. Well, okay..I sort of don't.
PPS — I didn't really get to mention THE WONDERLAND ALPHABET — it would be cool if perhaps you could find a way to sneak it in somehow. Stories like Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan are very much fairy tales to today's generation, I think.
What a fabulous interview! Seriously! LOVE! And would that I were a genie that I could grant your first wish! I would love to read more of the Woodcutter sister's stories! I absolutely loved the allusions to the various fairy tales! ____________________________________________

Alright! GIVEAWAY TIME!!

Because Alethea is MADE OF WIN she has donated an awesome gift basket full of Enchanted goodness and Fairy Tale win.

She has donated a finished, signed copy of Enchanted to one lucky winner along with other fun swag and surprise gifts.

TO ENTER: Use the Rafflecopter form below. There are extra entries available for commenting on Enchanted related posts on Ashley's blog — Basically Amazing Books, Misty's blog — The Book Rat and Bonnie's blog — A Backward's Story. The Rafflecopter widget is the same on all three blogs. You can enter through any of our blogs, but you must visit and comment on each individual post for the extra entries.

Giveaway is US only. Ends May 7th.

Visit:
Ashley's Blog Misty's Blog Bonnie's Blog

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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VIA Hugh Grant Was Set For "Two And A Half Men" Reboot!

At a writers conference ten years ago, four aspiring writers met and became close friends. A decade later they are still friends, and very much a part of one another's lives.

Kendell Aim's writing career is in danger. Her editor goes on maternity leave, and her new editor shows no interest in her work.

Mallory St. James is an obsessed workaholic. She's constantly working on yet another best seller.

Tanya Mason is a single mom who supports her two kids and difficult mother by working two jobs.

Faye Truett is married to a televangelist and writes inspirational romances. She has a secret that no one would dare to believe.

Kendell has a quickly approaching book deadline that she needs to meet, but when she learns her husband has been cheating, she flees to her vacation home. Rather than focus on her writing, she works at fixing up her mountain hideaway. Her friends won't allow her to bear this burden alone and come together in a sort of intervention. They collaborate on a novel based on their own lives. Each of them writes a segment of the book, all under Kendell's name.

But they would have never guessed that the book would reach the NY Times Bestseller's list. When the truth is revealed on a day time talk show, they are each forced to reveal a secret they'd kept from one another. Their friendship has survived the years, but will it survive this?

THE ACCIDENTAL BESTSELLER is an intriguing glimpse into the world of publishing and the difficulties that authors must face. It was interesting to learn about how many hands manuscripts pass through on the way to publication. Each of the characters suffer realistic insecurites about their writing and personal lives. I learned a great deal about the publishing process in my reading of THE ACCIDENTAL BESTSELLER. It makes me appreciate and value writers even more!

About the Author:

A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, Wendy has come a long way since her days at Sunshine Elementary School. As a child she read voraciously, was a regular at her local library, and became fast friends with Nancy Drew and Anne of Green Gables. Her love affairs with language and storytelling paid off beginning with her first shift at the campus radio station while studying journalism at the University of Georgia.

After returning to her home state and graduating from the University of South Florida she worked for the Tampa PBS affiliate, WEDU-TV, behind and in front of the camera. Her resume includes on air work, voiceovers and production of a variety of commercial projects and several feature films. She may be best known in the Tampa Bay area as the host of Desperate & Dateless, a radio matchmaking program that aired on WDAE radio, and nationally as host of The Home Front, a magazine format show that aired on PBS affiliates across the country.

The mother of a toddler and an infant when she decided to change careers, she admits it was not the best timing in terms of productivity. “I’m still not certain why I felt so compelled to write my first novel at that particular time,” she says, “but that first book took forever.” Since then she’s written six more books, including Single in Suburbia and THE ACCIDENTAL BESTSELLER. Her work has been sold to publishers in ten countries and to the Rhapsody Book Club. Her novel, Hostile Makeover, was excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine.

Wendy lives with her husband John and her baseball-crazy teenage sons in the Atlanta suburbs where she spends most of her non-writing time on baseball fields or driving to them. She continues to devour books and is busy producing Accidental Radio, a new feature on her web site.
You can visit her website at www.authorwendywax.com.

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Contest will end Friday, June 12. Winner will be announced Saturday, June 13. Good luck!

This week's task was sent in by Maree of Just Add Books, who's been thinking about those things that we do when we're not reading or blogging. Here's what Maree has to say:

The comments on this post of mine got me thinking about guilty pleasures. Non-reading guilty pleasures.

Mine at the time the post was written was American Idol. Particularly one contestant, as you can see. By now, the show is over, and the results are in, one way or another. But my inappropriate addiction to Idol got me thinking about the things we do that we love but that we don't like to admit to--our guilty pleasures. Mine is reality TV, which scratches that small, dark place that we all have.

So. Weekly Geeks, we're going into the confessional this week.

What's your non-reading guilty pleasure?
Trashy TV?
Trashier movies?
Junk food?

Share with the group. :)

Please post your link in the comments to this post, as Mr. Linky is out of commission at the moment (and if you've ever added Linkies to your blog, be sure to check in at Mr. Linky for info on how one simple step can help bring him back!).

And then, of course, visit the other Weekly Geeks to learn their deep, dark secrets--maybe you've got something in common with another Geek that you never dreamed of! Don't feel obligated to visit every single post, but when you do visit, remember to leave your "calling card" in the form of a comment. Comments build community!

Would you like to guest-host a Weekly Geeks post? Or do you have topic suggestions? Email us!

Weekly Geeks 2009-20 was contributed by guest Geek Maree of Just Add Books, and she asked us to come to Confession and reveal our non-reading-related guilty pleasures. This was a fun topic, and a pretty popular one too - even with the incapacitation of Mr.Linky (get well soon, Mr. Linky!), 34 Geeks left links to their responses in comments.

It seems that quite a few Geeks feel that TV watching is a less worthwhile use of our time than reading - television-related guilty pleasures were definitely the most common confessions, and reality TV especially stirs up the guilt. Louise from Lou_s Pages owned up to this one, and Chris of Book-a-rama singled out her favorite guilt-inducing show, Wipeout.

Food and drink are necessities of life, but sometimes they're guilty pleasures too - ask any of the Geeks who confessed to their chocolate addictions! In addition, Frances from Nonsuch Book told us that she is fond of wine, and Kristina at Kristina's Favorites has a weakness for fast food.

And sometimes we crave junk food for our brains, too. Wendy of Caribousmom couldn't completely tear herself away from reading - she admits she enjoys vegging out with People magazine.

We do have a lot of women among the Geeks, so would you guess that clothes and shoes would be popular guilty pleasures? You'd be right. Just ask Softdrink of Fizzy Thoughts and Gautami of Everything distils into reading.

Interestingly, almost no one owned up to finding anything related to blogging a source of guilty pleasure - except for Becky at Becky's Book Reviews, who admits that she does like tweaking her blog designs.

Thanks to everyone who participated this week! I suspect that some of us found kindred spirits and partners in crime as we shared guilty pleasures - I know I did.

I thought you all might want to know how things are going with Merry. She seems to be doing well, for the most part. She still has meltdowns once in a while but she really enjoys having so many other kids around. She sees her cousins all the time and there is also a little girl next door who comes over to visit a lot. She still talks mostly in English but the Spanish words are starting to come out. It is usually a noun here or there, mixed in with the English. For example she'll say "I want a 'galleta' (cookie)" or "I want a 'manzana' (apple). The other day she used two Spanish words together: "We have 'dos manzanas' (two apples)". Today she was playing with the little girl next door and I heard her say "come" (eat). It is really interesting to see how she is starting to pick up Spanish words. It must be frustrating for her at times because the other kids don't always understand what she is saying. Often I'll try to help her by translating or telling her what to say in Spanish. But I'm not always there so she is on her own a lot. Despite the language barrier she has made a lot of friends at school, and as I mentioned before she loves playing with her cousins.

Surprisingly she hasn't been sick much. Last week she had a slight fever and we kept her home from school one day but besides that things have been pretty good. When we were here visiting two years ago she had a cough the whole time and on top of that she got sick and she got an ear infection. But so far things have been going well. I'm making sure that she gets lots of rest and I give her vitamins every day. Lucho, on the other hand, is sick in bed with a fever today. I've been giving him teas and medicine all day.

For those of you who have been wondering…. yes, our stuff arrived safely in Loja about a week and a half ago. Lucho was able to get everything through customs without any problems. The only snag came at the end of the first day. The truck was on the way out the door and the last step was to weigh the container. For some reason the weight was about 1,000 pounds less than what was stated on the document. We don’t know exactly what happened but we think that it wasn’t weighed correctly in the States, or they estimated it wrong. At any rate, the truck was almost out the door but was turned around at the last minute, very frustrating. The next day everything was re-inspected (we were charged an additional $70 for that) and it was allowed to go. It was such a relief to call Lucho and find out that our stuff was out of the port and on its way to his uncle’s warehouse.

The next step was to get our things from Guayaquil, which is located on the coast, to Loja, which is in the mountains. Lucho’s uncle lent him one of his trucks (we never would have been able to do all this without his help) and we paid the driver and another guy to help Lucho pack up the truck and drive to Loja. The trip usually takes about 8 hours, but it was slow going because of the loaded truck and because the roads were bad due to the recent rains, so the trip ended up taking about 12 hours total. They left Guayaquil at 7 a.m. on Saturday and arrived in Loja around 9 pm that night. We had rented a storage unit around the corner from Lucho’s mom’s house so the whole family was waiting there for him to show up. We were all there to greet him when they rounded the corner, horn blaring. I took some pictures (see below) of the unloading.

Since then we have been slowly going through our stuff and bringing selected things to our place. Some of our things will remain in storage until we build our apartment. Unpacking is hard work, and we are both exhausted. On top of that we live on the 4th floor so everything has to be hauled up 4 flights of stairs (luckily we have the help of Lucho’s family for this). It’s been good exercise. To date we’ve unpacked our beds, our TV and DVD, some kitchen supplies, most of Merry’s toys, some of our clothes, and, today, the computer. We were happy to find out that our computer and printer made the trip intact and are working perfectly. We also brought a bunch of things for the restaurant that Lucho is slowly putting to use. One of the things is an espresso machine and I’m looking forward to relaxing in Siembra with a hot cappuccino sometime in the near future.

I’ll have to say that it is nice to walk around the apartment and see so many familiar things like our bed, the TV, even my knives in the kitchen! When we sent everything off in Sacramento I decided that I wasn’t going to worry about if everything would arrive safely or not. I just put everything out of my mind and told myself that if they arrived, great, if not, well, we did the best we could. So it is very satisfying to have everything arrive safely.

Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott was a complete surprise to me. I don't normally read a lot of romance (in any sub genre... contemporary, paranormal etc.) and my previous experience with an Elizabeth Scott book (Living Dead Girl) left me rather disappointed. But a bunch of my Twitter buddies were talking about Elizabeth Scott week, and I thought it would be fun to participate. So, I grabbed two of her books and on Ginger's (from GReads) recommendation, started with Something, Maybe. I expected to like the book, although I didn't expect much more than a lukewarm enjoyment. But I was wrong! So wrong! I just inhaled this book and when I finished, I went back and reread some of my favorite parts.

Hannah has had a rather unorthodox childhood. Her dad is a much older reality TV star (think Hugh Hefner) and her mom used to be one of his 'special girls' and now makes a living performing live web-cam chats in lingerie. She hates the spotlight and does everything she can to avoid it. She doesn't try to dress up or attract attention and she just wants people to ignore her parents and what they do, even if that means ignoring her too. It's better than the alternative. Things start to change though when her long-time crush, Josh, starts paying attention to her, her dad starts to call and ask to see her again (the ratings on his show must be down again) and Finn, the co-worker who never shuts up starts drawing more of Hannah's attention.

Hannah is such a great character. She's full of life and love and doesn't really know what to do with all the emotion she has stored up inside. It's easier for her to fade into the background because she's afraid of what people will think or say about her parents and she's also a little bit afraid of herself. I loved Hannah's character. She wants so much out of life, but past experiences have taught her to be wary and she's taken that message to heart. She doesn't put herself out there and is suspicious of just about anyone who tries to get too close.

Josh is another interesting character. We see him initially through Hannah's rose-colored glasses, and he seems pretty great, but then, even through the glasses, we start to see some inconsistencies and subtle hints that all is not as perfect as Prince Charming would have us believe. And then there is Finn. Oh Finn. The cover flap makes it pretty obvious (IMO) that Finn is a better match for Hannah than Josh and Oh. My. Goodness. Yes! I loved Finn. Like, a lot. He was just so awesome. He's not perfect but he gets Hannah. He understands a lot more about her than even she realizes and he likes what he sees. He's there for her in subtle ways all the time, just being steady and dependable and a little bit intriguing.

There were never really any moments in this book that I found myself disbelieving the actions of a character. Scott created characters for us, gave them personalities, strengths and weaknesses and then let them play out their story. I was so impressed by the development of the characters and their relationships with each other. As Hannah learns more about herself, she also starts to learn more about others, and she opens herself up for more from them. Watching her grow as a character, watching her allow herself to be a little bolder made my heart happy.

If you aren't sure whether or not to pick up a Scott novel, I suggest you stop waffling and grab a copy of this one. There is definitely going to be more Scott in my future.