Meme'd!

C2 tagged me and I was hoping someone would while I have this odd book I bought laying beside me. I saw it on a table at Chapters and being the intrigued monkey I am I bought it.

Here are the instructions:

Grab the nearest book. Open the book to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your journal/blog along with these instructions.

Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the closest. Tag five other people to do the same.


Crap. The pages aren't numbered! I'll just guestimate:

"But it occurred to me that before I commit a felony, get arrested or have to spend the better half of a day in jail for defacing public property outside Working Class, I should at least take you out to dinner, 'a last meal' if you will."

- Other People's Love Letters 150 Letters You Were Never Meant To See
Edited by Bill Shapiro.

I've only read snippets and how some of these are love letters I'll never know.

Silly monkey.

Monkey tags Megan and Renee - I think everyone else has already done it, if not, you are IT!!

Meme

Megan tagged me for the “6 unimportant facts about me” meme.

The rules are:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your blog entry.
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.


1. I've never found my 'passion'.

2. As a young girl and woman I was very self-conscious about my nose. It has a bump and then a bulb at the bottom and a few people mentioned how large it was. Now I kinda like it.

3. I watch true crime shows with real crime scene photos yet I won't watch horror movies.

4. I like to think witches are real and I'm a descendant. Can't do anything fun but if I hex something in anger things go nutty.

5. I like my toes.

6. I don't collect anything. (Except books but even then I'm not looking for rare books)


Hmm, six people.

C2
Dev
Mollie
Chantal
JMC
Suisan

And Happy Valentine's Day to those of you who enjoy it.

Bob came home with the sniffles last night. Just as I get better poor Bob falls ill.

Double Ugh.

Stolen Meme

I stole this from Marg. I saw it and I wanted it so I took it. I'm trying to feel some remorse.

Still a sickie so maybe I can be forgiven.

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?

Let's see, this would be a long list.

Outlander and the rest. Scares the beejeepers out of me.

Dorthy Dunnet series although I own the first book - can't remember why I'm afraid of it.

Ah, Bujold books with Miles but I think that has to do with most of them not being romance.

Any thing by Judith Ivory because her prose is lush. Sounds like a tropical disease to me. Ugh.

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?

Uh, gonna have to go with Jesus cause I got me some questions. Oh, wait. Characters. Never mind!

Geez, I don't do well with these questions. *thinking*

Han Solo cause I've loved him since I was seven. But it would have to be on my terms in that he would find me the most beautiful fascinating woman in the world. Yeah. Lots of flirting. And Bob has allowed a pass for him - cause he's not real but hey, I can dream.

Seriously, bring me Han Solo and I don't need anyone else cause we'll be busy.

I'm sitting here saying to myself 'but what if you had to behave yourself? Who would it be?' And you know what? I don't have a clue!!!

Any of Anne Stuart's men but c'mon, I'm sick and refuse to make my hubby sick also so only pecks on the cheek so I'm not kidding myself with this sex on the brain.

Crap. I'm nothing but a shallow woman. I got nothing. Now I gotta try and redeem myself in a later post.

(Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can't die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality Longevity-Industry Dec-07 is great for awhile, eventually you realise it's past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave?

Good grief. Literature. All the crap I was forced to read in school where people died after leading some of the most boring lives ever - I know boring people! Anything by Margaret Laurence I'm sure would send me off and even though I loved The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood I'm sure anything else would make me crazy. Maybe it wasn't the books so much as the ramblings of teachers on symbols and stuff I can't remember. Symbols. Dude, when is a knife just a knife?

And in case you are wondering I didn't die as a teen reading these books because death would have been too easy. I'm just saying.

Explains the 'shallow' though don't it.

Come on, we've all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you've read, when in fact you've been nowhere near it?

Please. Gonna have to go back to school days on this one. My fav. though was Frankenstein in university - didn't read word one of this book but I wrote my mid-term essay on it and got the highest grade in the class. Yeah. And pretty much every other book ever assigned to me throughout high school. Dull, boring, dull.

As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realise when you read a review about it/go to 'reread' it that you haven't? Which book?

I'm thinking I haven't read a Linda Howard book which I think is called Heart of the West. For some reason I thought this was a historical where the heroine uses a whip on some bad guys. I didn't like that one but I read it years ago so maybe on re-read I'll like it better. HOTW is a contemporary and I'm now saving it for a rainy day cause Howard isn't bringing it anymore.

And then there are authors I get mixed up - Susan Grant and Patti O'Shea - one author I like and the other I don't. Can't remember which but right now I would say I like O'Shea.

You've been appointed Book Advisor to a VIP (who's not a big reader). What's the first book you'd recommend and why? (if you feel like you'd have to know the person, go ahead of personalise the VIP)

I would always suggest Dream Man by Linda Howard. I think it has enough crime stuff for a man but I haven't tested that. I can't say I really bother with people who don't read and I don't mean in a bad way cause hubby doesn't read as a hobby. Don't ask me for a recommendation unless you've seen my bookshelves cause it's all romance. After that, ask away.

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?

Marg said Latin and I would have to say the same. Or maybe a language that the historians are still trying to decipher. Ohhh, that might be fun and financially rewarding.

I'd be rich and shallow.

I hear that's the best combination.

A mischievous fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?

Lord of Danger by Anne Stuart. No hardship at all.

I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What's one bookish thing you 'discovered' from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)?

I've tried Chick lit when I was sure I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. I have bought YA books although I haven't really been able to pick them up.

Derek Craven and North and South. Wonder who influenced me with those?

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she's granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead-let your imagination run free.

My hubby built my dream library so I can't really complain. But if I could have one more thing it would be all of Anne Stuart's backlist in leather bound volumes. And possibly some of my other favourite books. You know. If I could get a few more things.

And the final portion of the assignment is to tag four others.

Kristie(J), Ames, Nath, Rosie and anyone else - c'mon, you know you wanna

7 Things Meme

I was tagged some time ago and haven't been blogging so yeah, now is as good a time as any. I'm pretty sure it's 7 things you don't know about me. Or are weird about me (shooting fish in a barrel), so we'll start and see where I land.

Edited: Damn long winded is where we landed! Enter at own risk.

1. Over the last few years I have become a tad bit obsessive about cleanliness. I carry small hand sanitizer (has to be Purell) bottles in my coat pockets so if I eat while I'm out I can wash up my hands. Also, if I use a computer at a store like, oh Chapters, I can clean up fast. I swear that the year I had pneumonia and then a sinus infection and was sick for 3 months that I got the infection from the keyboard at Chapters.

Okay, here's where maybe I go beyond 'tad' and hit obsessive. My best friend, although a clean woman, uses the same sponge to wash her floors, tables, counter tops etc. So whenever I go there and wash my hands I'm afraid to use her dish towel to dry them because Lord Tunder'n Geez B'y I have no clue where it's been!

My other friend holds her hands up in the sign of the cross whenever I bring out the hand sanitizer.

2. I hate the smell of bananas, and I wouldn't eat one to save my life. I love banana bread though.

3. I don't like the smell of any kind of cleaners. Wait, I did find one I liked years ago but it's gone now. Anyway, pine sol makes me think of veterinarian offices or hospitals, bleach actually smells like dirt to me, and anything else smells too fake. So for the most part I clean with bleach (but I have to have the windows open) because I know it kills germs and then I leave the windows open until I can't smell it anymore.

Last week I was sick of our shower and the soap scum problem so I bought some acidic cleaner. It worked like gangbusters but OMG, the smell was atrocious. Not only that, I couldn't get a breeze through the bathroom to get the odour out. So for a week I kept the door closed to our master bath (chemical smells with cause mucous build up for me - yeah, now we're sharing) with the window open thinking the smell would eventually have to leave. Nope. I finally opened all the windows on the top floor and let the whole house air out for a couple hours.

4. Seriously, do I get much crazier?

Wait.

Okay, not crazy but probably a head scratcher for some. I carry a drink every where I go. Every where. I will bring my plastic red cup (right now we can only find the clear ones) to the fanciest of dinner parties cause I got my ice and my water or coke. I figure if I'm going to blow points (Weight Watcher talk) on a pop, I'll bloody well get the kind I want. Coke from a can with tons of ice. Also, because I can taste the difference in water I can also taste differences in ice. So I take my own ice also.

5. If I say that I like something - say a couch or lamp, and Bob says 'Me too! Let's get it.' I automatically start liking it less. Part of this is because I know Bob has the 'tacky' gene and part of it is if I only 'like' something then I'm not sold. Bob is easily sold.

Bob and I found a couch about 3 weeks ago that Bob was ready to buy. Me, I was getting tired of hearing 'what's wrong with this one' and was starting to bend. Then we found a steal of a deal at an upscale store (where we only ever window shop) on a sofa that I thought I really liked. Bob liked it also and was all 'well, let's buy it'. We actually went back to the store a few days later and were going to buy it but the lady that told us the deal price wasn't in so we told them to put a sold sign on it. That night I couldn't get the damn thing out of my head and in the morning I told Bob that although the quality was great I didn't think the love seat was for us.

So, last night we're out at one of our favourite haunts (Homesense) and there is a love seat that blows my mind. It's burgundy but I can live with that because the lines are classic and it was a Bernhardt (apparently a name to know - I'm clueless). I didn't want to push Bob into anything so I tell him I really like the couch - we sit and hmm and haw but I'm loving it. There are people hovering all around because this couch is HOT and I know if Bob and I don't get the couch it'll be gone before the store closes in half an hour. Finally Bob says to me, 'you have to be sure' and I finally say, I love this couch!! and so we buy it. 449 bucks. A love seat made on this continent for 450 bucks. I'll take a picture when we pick it up. Turns out about two couples were waiting to see if we would get our asses off it. Too slow Joe! (Woohoo, a picture of the love seat in a different fabric - apparently we can get an ottoman to match!!)

6. This is getting long! I don't eat fruit as a rule because I hate getting the juice on my hands. Oranges make me cringe. I can eat an apple but I have to be able to wash my hands and face immediately afterwards.

Oh and Bob has ruined grapes for me by reminding me that spiders live in them and you can't wash them off.

7. I will not eat near a bathroom (or even an area that is near a bathroom in a restaurant) because I now there are by laws about them and still, restaurants screw it up. I just watched a Mike Holmes episode where he moved a wall back to make a kitchen bigger. So there is the wall pantry and the gorgeous fridge and right beside it is the door to the bathroom. No. Uh, uh. Bad Mike.

I'm the same with garbage receptacles. I won't eat near them and I don't have one in our house. I bag up our garbage as I go and then put it on the door handle to the garage because I won't touch the garbage pail outside.

I've made peace with my crazy.

Any one of these things might be what Bob kills me for in 30 years but I'm okay with it.

Christmas Meme from the Book Binge Ladies!

Holy great prize alert peeps!

The generous ladies at Book Binge have a great contest where their readers share their Christmas customs and could win an E-Book Reader.

Take a moment.

You with me now? I KNOW!!

I may not know what to do with one - but I WANT!

Thus, my Christmas 10:

1. What is your favorite Christmas romance to re-read each year?

If you don't know the answer to this you are new to this blog.

Welcome!

I'm not one for themed romances so a week of straight Anne Stuart re-reads would be a wonderful way to enjoy Christmas.

2. What is your favorite Christmas movie/show?

Huh. If I knew my crazy slip was going to be showing throughout this questionnaire I might have re-thought my decision.

Meh.

It's not Christmas until a beaten up, bloody Bruce Willis lands on our TV screen.

The good news is I married a man who understands that's it's just not Christmas until Die Hard is in the DVD player. Yes. We watch it every year.

3. What is your favorite Christmas cookie?

Mine is actually a bar that I blogged about last Christmas. I call them Maid Marians which has my second mother laughing all the times. She calls them Maid of Honours while I met others who call them Millennium bars.

Recipe for them can be found in this post

4. When do you start Christmas shopping?

We shop all year for Christmas because we buy for many people - Bob's family alone is huge but we're getting to the point where gift certificates seem like the best answer.

I have been finished my shopping in November the past few years but this year we just didn't get our act together so we're still shopping.

5. Do you re-gift?

Ab-so-friggin-lutely!! I figure if my mother can return every gift I have ever bought her than I can take that candle I have a few too many of and pass it along to a home that might appreciate it. And chocolates. We've had the discussion about giving fat people chocolate, right? The damn things come into the house and I take them right back out.

6. What is your favorite Christmas song?

Megan, stop reading now.

The Little Drummer Boy. I've never heard I version I didn't love.

7. When do you get your Christmas tree?

Normally the first weekend in December unless it's raining instead of snowing. We have an artificial tree that has fake snow on it. When we host Christmas we put up a real tree but when we aren't we put of the snow tree. Right now the tree is up and has lights. The ornaments haven't quite found their way onto the tree.

8. Wrapping presents: Love it or hate it?

Hate it. My back aches and my shoulders cramp and it's like the pile that needs to be wrapped gets bigger and bigger!

9. Who is the hardest person to buy for?

I find it hard for most people nowadays. I normally figure out something unique and fun but this year it's been like pulling teeth. Slowly but surely I'm getting there. My mom is the one giving me fits this year. My aunt also because she doesn't have a 'thing'.

I have many 'things'. Basically I go nuts for monkeys so I get funny monkeys, cute monkeys, evil monkeys and talking monkeys. Last year the family asked if I was over monkeys. Uh, NO!! I love my monkeys.

Also, my hubby and I went to St. Jacobs up here and we found a store that sold everything Angel. I've never been much for angels but I found one in the store and fell in love - I love them all. Okay, I'll add a picture - gorgeous to my eyes and not too hard on the wallet. Perfect!

10. Christmas tree: Real or artificial?

Depends on the year and what mood we're in. I would have never bought an artificial tree and I was shocked when Bob decided he wanted one. He found one that looks like a blue spruce covered heavily in snow. I was tired of fighting him so he bought it and I have to say, the years that we don't have to put a real tree into a stand are extremely gentle on my poor ears. Bob is not easily frustrated or quick to anger but 5 minutes on his belly trying to get a real tree to stand proper and the air is frigid with the bah-hum-bug spirit.

Woohoo, done!!

Slap some technology on me baby!

Geez, Bob just yelled down from upstairs. Die Hard is on. Gotta run.