Every Wednesday, YA Highway asks their readership a simple question for you to answer on your blog. Once you answer, you leave your link in the comments for other readers to hop on board. This is Road Trip Wednesday. Today's question : What's the best book you read in June? According to Goodreads, I finished 6 books this month, which is amazing given how I'm in revision hell. Out of these 6, two stand out as the best: Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life by Steve Almond and The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. Rock N Roll Will Save Your Life What I Liked About It : I'm kinda a Steve Almond fangirl. He has a great sense of humor and his writing workshops are fun. This book contains the same nonfic writing style he has in the other books of his I've read and he starts off with a story about a Springsteen. And has a chapter about Dave Grohl. The Golden Compass What I Liked About It: It was a fast read with some memorable characters. I was so glad that I had t

Or is it nerdacity? I never can keep the definitions of 'nerd' and 'geek' straight. If someone could clear that up, I'd be grateful. While you're working on that, I'll be working out some details on my new job. Still at the same company, but working on moving laterally to a department they aren't liquidating. But, you should also check out the Dr. Who theme song with the 11th Doctor on the synthesizer. I found this through the nice folks at Nerd Approved . This is just one of the million reasons I love you crazy Brits. ______ Last.fm hit of the day : Until the Day You Die by Abney Park

Saturday I went shopping with a friend. I ordered lobster mac and cheese because it just sounded awesome. A while later, we split an ice cream injected cupcake. At the time, I just went with it because in true Fat Kid Logic fashion, lunch with a bestie reduces your calorie count and the shared dessert had no calories at all. Later, I thought "I'm trying to fit in a dress. I should've eaten better. What the hell was I thinking?" Writer's have a different version of food remorse called this-is-utter-shit-why-the-hell-did-I-write- THAT . This happens to me whenever I complete a draft. While I'm in the frenzy of creation, every idea is brilliant and each turn of phrase is Pulitzer material. I am the best thing in the unpublished world and all should bow to my awesomeness. That's before. After. After, I go through all stages of grief and understand why so many writers need AA. My brilliant idea isn't as original as I hoped, my turn of phrase I st

Thanks to the girls at YA Highway yesterday , I got a five minute time waster. Alicia's Result: Triple Grande Vanilla Lattes and . . . other drinks on quiz: What Kind of Writerly Snack Are You? Who: Night Owls and Daredevils When: Morning, noon and night. It’s a writers’ life, yo. Why: Because all the greats were alcoholics. Because seven am comes way too early when you’ve been up writing until 4. Because you want to be one of those people who claims they just spit their coffee all over their keyboard cuz it was so funny! *passes baby wipes* Quiz School Take this quiz & get your result What Kind of Writerly Snack Are You? » ProProfs Quizzes Even though I joke about doing a drunken free-write, I'm not one for drinking while writing.* Caffeine-fueled is the way to go for creativity - mass quantities of Diet Coke, Rockstar Low Carb, and coffee get consumed. I do go through phases of Vanilla Latte Love. Out of all the fancy-pants drinks at Starbucks and Sea

Zombie Thur sdays is a weekly feature with guest blogger, Miranda. You can read more about her here . Most of you have been reading and following Zombie Thursdays from the beginning when I started up back in November. However, since then this blog has gained a lot of new followers who may be saying, "what is with the zombies? What are zombies? Why should I care about zombies?" All great questions! If you come to this blog every Thursday in the hopes of finding information on the writing process, funny cat stories, or emails about phantom children, you may be befuddled to instead see posts about normal people having sex with zombies and the best weapons to have on hand. Fear not! We welcome your confused minds anyway. I'm going to break down zombies for all you newcomers. Today, I present-- Zombies in Plain English . The following video was created by a company called Common Craft whose simple three minute videos help teach bigger complex lessons and ideas. Most of the

Every Wednesday, YA Highway asks their readership a simple question for you to answer on your blog. Once you answer, you leave your link in the comments for other readers to hop on board. This is Road Trip Wednesday. Today's question : If your favorite fictional characters submitted to FMyLife , what would they write? It's been a while since I've read anything that involves my favorite characters, so this is expanded out to characters in my favorite books would post on FMyLife. "The roses are supposed to be red ? FML" - Ace, Two, and Three of Clubs "Cabin fever is 2500 years alone with a cat. FML" - Althalus (Redemption of Althalus) "I unknowingly boned my sister. FML." - Arthur Pendragon "Of all the plague survivors, I'm stuck with the one who can only read 'M-O-O-N.' FML" - Nick Andros (The Stand) Hubby's even got in on this week's RTW with the final two: "My name is Edward Cullen. FML"

One of my goals to achieve by the solstice was to drop a pants size. This didn't happen in part to Fat Kid Logic. Fat Kid Logic is when you justify eating things that aren't healthy, like ice cream for breakfast. D introduced me to this concept several years ago when we both lost a lot of weight. It was summertime and I wanted ice cream. D had rationalized that since ice cream is dairy, it's good for you. The key element of FKL is to ignore the downsides of the food. Think of it as food optimism. Common Rationales Found in Fat Kid Logic After turkey pie has no calories. (Applicable only on holidays.) Splitting desserts = zero calories = zero guilt. Banana bread is good for you because bananas are fruit. On your birthday, calories don't count. When you walk to ice cream/milkshake/etc, you've worked off the calories. If I have a wicked healthy lunch, ice cream is an acceptable dinner.* Dining with friends = calorie-free fiesta! As great as FKL is in reg

And she has mad photo taking skills. Luther, Franklin Park's white tiger This picture is one she took at the Franklin Park Zoo on Saturday. I'm super jealous of her ability to take shots like these. (She took another 315 or so before her battery died.) My pictures will never look so awesome. ____ Last.fm hit of the day : Victory by Mankind Is Obsolete

Editing is still happening and I'm in the final push towards the end. This means nothing to my late-in-life development of self-diagnosed ADD. Nor does this mean anything to all the shiny television I'm overdue to watch. This also means shit to my furry children who clamor for attention the instant there is a pen in hand. Fortunate for me, Stripey just likes to cute it up and stare. It's like a furry reminder to buckle down. The White One, as always, is a different story. He likes to march stalk across the table, bed, or whatever surface is currently acting as my desk and give a vicious headbutt. Then he likes to stretch out across my papers. With his butt directly on my workspace. For an example of this behavior, see left. For an additional roadblock, he likes to steal the pen out of my hand. (Yes, I still longhand.) No matter how focused I am though, The White One loves to stop my process. Click the play button below to see him wrestle with my notebook containing

Zombie Thur sdays is a weekly feature with guest blogger, Miranda. You can read more about her here . **Today's entry contains very adult subject matter** A couple of nights ago I went out with some friends to eat dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery and then we headed over to a really nice champagne bar for after dinner drinks. I'm not much of a drinker, but decided to partake in several that night. Needless to say, I did end up pretty drunk. I don't think being drunk is a badge of honor, nor do I think it actually increases your level of fun. But I became drunk anyway. I don't become stupid or sloppy. I don't get mean or yell at people. I don't forget everything I said the night before when I wake up the morning after. I'm pretty much the same Miranda, only more outgoing, and more Twitter happy. So, on Tuesday night, at the height of my drunkeness, what do you suppose I started to talk about at length and in detail? My thesis! Yes, even when trashed on t

Every Wednesday, YA Highway asks their readership a simple question for you to answer on your blog. Once you answer, you leave your link in the comments for other readers to hop on board. This is Road Trip Wednesday. Today's question: When/why did you start writing? For the record, my 9-5 job needs to stop sucking. The suckage isn't coming from workload, but the fact that due to corporate streamlining, people I like keep losing their jobs. This doesn't make for a conducive work environment where thinking is required. So this week's RTW is timely. I've always been a creative person and I was one of those kids who, when she shared a dream she had in the night, it was always some 20 hour epic. When I played Barbies, each doll was a specific character and each one had their own backstory etc. I was hard-coded for storytelling. My first written story was in first or second grade and was co-authored with my friend Julie. It was about three friends (or it might h

In case you haven't noticed, I'm a cat person. It's been this way since I was five and I played with the Maine Coon across the street from my house. This is how long I've wanted a cat, something my mom wouldn't allow because she claimed allergies. * When I moved out on my own at 25, I figured this would be a perfect time for a cat. Of course, the only cheap apartment we found didn't allow pets. This still didn't stop me. To mark my one year of dating now-Hubby, he told me he would get me a cat. While, the cat would stay with him, I'd get to sneak it in every so often. The Search Stripey Then, 3 Months Old For six months, we looked for a cat. I stalked petfinder.com, looking for the perfect cat. (Perfect cat = orange marmalade kitten. This goes back to some picture book I read as a child that had said cat.) The number of kittens matching description was zero. Pet stores didn't carry cats, and at the time, I didn't know that places like Pe

Because of life, I got behind reading communications from Beth, something I should never not do. If I had kept up, I wouldn't have been surprised when Tasma came home with a terrarium complete with a pair of anoles . (For those who didn't bother to click the link, anoles are little green lizards. If you're going for a lizard, they're a great one to start with. I'm guessing because they're small and don't require a lot of room. And they like terrariums.) Phantasma came home with them Friday. Throughout the weekend, she'd open the container and let them run around her room. Her "eek" carried through out the apartment. Hubby and I weren't aware that the persmission slip came home, which meant that one of our signatures were forged. This I take full ownership of, as I used to forge my fathers' signature on my high school permission slips whenever I forgot them at school. Did you say "live toy?" So, she forgot the slip a

I'm still digging out from my two shortened weeks where work drama and air travel threatened to destroy my sanity. Hopefully with the dawn of a new week and a fresh perspective, my blogging schedule will resume. Call me "Charlie." In the mall where you can find Speed Boat Tigger, you can also find this Technicolor carousel. At first glance, it seems harmless. In fact, it tell you that it's FUN. Newsflash: it's not. Once you hear the eerie call of this world's Charlie the Choo-Choo , you totally understand why Claudia y Inez Bachman/Beryl Evans made the locomotive so entirely creepy*. The carousel is located in the middle of the mall, but when there's no other mall noise (including Muzak), you can hear the robotic voice pretty close to the entrance saying "Welcome to Arsenal Mall" or playing it's organ grinder music. Look at the face in the center, doesn't it look sadistic? I haven't seen a child scream in fear yet, but ther

Zombie Thur sdays is a weekly feature with guest blogger, Miranda. You can read more about her here . Two weeks ago I finally saw and reported on George Romero's movie Diary of the Dead . I loved Diary! I found it to be thought provoking, scary, and a great zombie film. So, I was pretty excited to go see his newest film that is currently showing in select theatres, Survival of the Dead . The latest film takes place a few weeks after the events of Diary , and follows a rogue National Guard team that the audience briefly meets in Diary . Like the rest of the world, they are trying to survive, to find a safe place. After viewing a video online, they think they have found such a place on a small island off the coast of Delaware. The island is home to two warring Irish families-- the O'Flynns and the Muldoons. One family believes that eventually a cure will be found for the undead phenomenon, and think that the dead should be kept chained up repeating tasks stuck deep in the

Every Wednesday, YA Highway asks their readership a simple question for you to answer on your blog. Once you answer, you leave your link in the comments for other readers to hop on board. This is Road Trip Wednesday. Today's question: How do you know when a project will work and when it won't? Disclaimer: I'm still digging myself out of the craziness that is called my 9-5 life, so today's entry will be short. I don't have many writing projects under my belt. In fact, I might have four. I'd like to think that I have so little because I'm thoroughly committed to each project and don't want to sully them with too many. I have tons of ideas, but I don't follow through with all of them. Like with any project, the first step is an idea. It'll get about a paragraph of work - enough to let me know the story - and then sit. If the idea invades all waking thought, then I know it will work.  Unless my gut lurches - then chances are it won't. Bu

... So little time. In the comment section of the shoe love entry , d talked about how many shoes she had and I requested she send a photo. She complied. In her email, she says: "As promised, here's my wall of shoes. Two pairs are missing from the pic: my black clogs are under my desk at work and my winter boots are on the front porch." Do you know someone with more shoes? Is it you? Confess below! _____ Last.fm hit of the day : Epitaph by L'Ame Immortelle

Zombie Thur sdays is a weekly feature with guest blogger, Miranda. You can read more about her here . Do you like sex? Do you like zombies? Do you like sex with zombies? Yes? Me too! One bit of zombie culture that seems to have a large corner of the market is the sexualization of the undead. Much like I am actively trying to pinpoint exactly "Why Zombies?" I am also trying to figure out "Why Zombie Sex?" On a very basic and rational level, it makes no sense. But there's clearly something to it, or it wouldn't exist in such abundant levels. I'm working to explore this particular topic in more detail and hope to bring you the best (and the weirdest) in zombie sex! However, much like my sponsor and 'Zombie Thursday' blog host, I agree that this short week has kicked the shit out of me. Therefore, I am putting aside my review/blog on George Romero's Survival of the Dead (which I did in fact see on Tuesday), and instead I am giving you another

So, today will be a picture day. This is some Cantibridgian's yard. Yes, yard. ______________ Last.fm hit of the day : The Great Divide by VNV Nation

This weekend, a bouncy house tried to kill me. This weekend I went to my goddaughter's 3rd birthday party where the main attraction was a Shrek bouncy house. I knew this was coming and Steph ( one crazy hat participant ) kept saying I would have to go into the bouncy house. I said I'd break the damn thing. Of course, when my goddaughter pointed for me to go in, I had no choice but comply. Somehow all the other children at the party had disappeared from the bouncy house fun, which left only the two of us in there. My goddaughter bounced up a storm and threw her weight around like nobody's business. The impact still moved the entire thing and I would in turn bounce as well. I managed to keep the bouncing to a minimum. Bouncy houses are as fun as I remember. The downside is that they are made with children in mind. There should be a disclaimer not to go too close to the netting. As my goddaughter bounced to her heart's content, I ended up moving across the leng