I guess I need to make a point of posting at least one "real" entry a day. I'm losing readers. I guess they are jumping off a sinking ship.

I promise to start writing and commenting again. As soon as I get my elbow issues cleared up.

*swears*

*clings to the remaining friends list*

I'm always amazed when "the World" demonstrates it's uncanny ability to shrink. I find the phenomena interesting as well as mind boggling. How is it possible for a person to be miles away from their home and still find someone they know or have people in common with? Six degrees of separation does exist.

I remember one time, long ago back in Victoria, Texas. I was a young woman in my 20's, recently separated from my abusive husband. I was working at McDonald's and I met a man who was traveling. He was a hunting buddy with my old general doc from my tiny hometown in Arkansas. I was amazed to learn we both knew some of the same people.

Last night, this happened to me again.

I discovered a connection with a man who recently moved to my department at work. He is an arrogant man who thinks he is an expert in every field and he sits in my chair on a regular basis. I try not to be in the office when he is present because he annoys me. He began questioning me last night about my past, asking if I have ever lived outside of Arkansas. As I answered his questions, it became apparent we had lived in several of the same places at nearly the same time.

Delving further, I discovered he was in the Navy and assigned to the same ship as my ex-husband. He was the person assigned to take over when my ex went AWOL. He worked with the men my ex worked with, people I knew. I was blown away. Our lives are on two separate tracks yet at one time our paths nearly crossed.

What divine force set in motion the events that would place us both at the same work place and now the same department?

The world is incredibly small and shrinking through the power of the internet.

I'm getting super duper excited about Conestoga! (even more so since it looks like I won't be able to make it to Atlanta for Dragon Con. :( )

I plan on making the most out of my weekend and soaking up all the writerly knowledge my poor addled brain can handle.

But even with all the building excitement, I'm a bit nervous about meeting people I "know" online face-to-face. I worry that my in person self is not as cool as Online Shay. (oh and I'm also terribly shy)

I'll try to blog when I have time and will probably Twitter like a Mother f-ker!

Viigo's Project Tango is my favorite Blackberry application. For those not in the know, it's a RSS feed reader. I spend a good hour or so reading feeds from different blogs and news sources. I might be behind on what is happening with my LJ friends, but I'm up to date about what is going on at E3. :P

This sweet beta app. gets two thumbs up!!!

P.S. My channels are a mix of foodie and techie blogs.

As some of you may have noticed, I've been spending a copious amount of time in the "real world" as opposed to the internet. Why have I been MIA?

My elbow.

Isn't it funny how one little inconspicuous joint can cause so much pain and upheaval? My right elbow's bursa is swollen and inflamed. The pain keeps me from typing and surfing the internet. (plus, I've been instructed to rest it as much as possible) I'm being sent to a specialist for possible draining of accumulated fluid and/or steroid shots.

Things Shay Has Learned While in the Real World

1. Vampire Buttsecks grosses me out.

I finished One Foot in the Grave this week. Overall, I loved it! Cat is a great character, though I did get pissed at her sometimes for fawning over Bones. The only issue I had with the book was I thought the anal sex was a bit much. The sex scene was dripping hot without it. Keep in mind I'm not big on romance, paranormal or straight. This book does earn Shay's stamp of approval as being a good read.

2. Months of missing "Trash Day" leads to mega amounts of garbage.

Nicholas always seems to forget to put the trash by the curb on "Trash Day." It adds up after awhile. I have bought a grand total of 13 garbage cans over the past year to contain the excess. (my waste management people will only pick up 3 cans a week) Saturday was Shay's Yard Beautification. Sean took the trash to the dump, cutting out the middle man, while Court and Jeff cut the grass. My yard no longer has that "white trash" look about it.

3. I dig DDR as a fun way to exercise.

I stimulated the economy and bought DDR for Wii. I love it! It's tons of fun, though I totally suck. Brittany says I look like I'm having fun and I'm burning calories, so all is good. I'll improve with practice.

4. I have a crush on Jason Segel.



I finally made it to Freaks and Geeks on my Netflix queue. I feel head over heels in love. I adore him on How I Met Your Mother too. Yup, Jason Segel is my current wet dream fodder.

5. I love my Yetis more than ever!

I never dreamed back in November when I first met my Yeti brethren, we'd still be together come July. It amazes me on a daily basis. I feel wonderfully blessed to be surrounded by so much talent and creativity. Tuesdays are the highlight of my week. Emily tagged along with me this week and she thinks Yetis rock! She wants to come again and join in the writing. The Yetis are my extended family and I hope we're still growing strong this time next year.

Promising the people of my home state cheap beer and hot chicks will fill an auditorium.

I heard the radio spots advertising yet another "tough man" competition. These type of events are an everyday occurrence in my neck of the woods. There's nothing the shotgun toting red necks love more than good fight. Imagine their surprise when they discovered they'd been duped.

The $1.00 beer swilling crowd of unsuspecting cage match spectators nearly rioted when they were treated to an impromptu man-on-man make out session instead of the promised Blue Collar Brawl. The homophobic Arkansans threw whatever they could get there hands on at the ring, even their plastic cup fulls of thrifty suds. Police officers struggled to maintain crowd control when the angry men attempted to rush the ring to purge the state of the blasphemou sinners.

I guess men don't kiss men in Arkansas.

Read more about it HERE

The article cracked me up. Especially, the police officer quotes. Moral code indeed!

I can't wait to see the movie and I'm upset I missed out on the chance to be on the big screen. I wonder how many faces I'll recognize? :p

My right elbow has suffered an injury. The lovely nurse practioner I went to see about my painful elbow forbade me from using it for 48 hours, in order to determine if it was an over use injury.

No typing, writing, or BlackBerrying for 48 hours! I thought I would die. :p

The result: My elbow still hurts! Maybe it's just part of my normal pain, who knows? I do know my blood pressure was high, which is unusual for me. I think it was the pain or the swelling.

I hope everyone is well and I'm going to try to get back in the groove next week. I miss reading my about your adventures.

I finally finished reading The Host. I think the only reason I kept reading it was because of the amount of money I plunked down for it. (I should have read One Foot in the Grave instead)

The premise of The Host interested me. An alien parasite sharing a body with a human woman are both in love with the same man. This story idea had the promise of being filled with lust, tension, and intrigue. In the hands of the "right" writer it could've been amazing.

This my first brush with Stephanie Meyer. I have never read her YA books and only know who Edward Cullen is because of my daughters. They love her books. The Host is Meyer's first attempt at adult fiction. Personally, I think she should stick with YA.

It took me several days to pin point what turned me off. After much thought, I concluded I didn't "buy" the story. She didn't sell it to me. The antagonists are peace loving alien parasites who have decided the humans don't "deserve" their planet, so they take over. Meyer didn't really explain how. She does go into a bit of detail during the course of the story, but the initial landing wasn't explained. I couldn't believe an alien race of parasites could take over our planet so easily. The process Meyer does explain seemed a bit silly to me, as well as the other planets the "worms" have over run.

Wanda/Melanie, the main character, made me want to beat my head on the wall. Melanie is all tough girl cliche, while Wanda is a wide eyed Mary Sue. By the end of the book Melanie softens and Wanda grows a set, an over done concept in my opinion, but then I am a snobby reader.

My favorite character was The Seeker who is "seeking" Wanda/Melanie. She is the one who invoked emotion for me. I didn't care if Wanda/Melanie survived, but I was interested to see if The Seeker would prevail. If Meyer had cut down a bit on info dumps and added more seeker scenes, the book would've worked better for me.

The middle drags with detailed description and tall tales of other ridiculous planets. I found myself skipping whole sections just so I could get to the end of the book. I felt she went along too long before adding tension. It reminded me of reading someone's diary; "And today we farmed underground and played games." Boring.

The ending was predictable. I only stuck around to see if my predictions were correct. Overall I give Stephanie Meyer's first adult novel a 2 out of 5, and I think I'm being nice.

Please remember all book reviews are subjective. Not all readers will have the same experience or views as one another.

I woke myself up screaming, "Stop! Drug dealer!" today. My dream was an involved affair starring a girl friend murdering drug dealer as well as assorted friends of the dead girl. She was my friend, but I was also helping the police with their investigation. I was the one who figured out how he slipped her the poison. (through the skin of her palm. He spread a lethal dose of toxin on a staircase banister. He knew she would run her hand along it as she walked up the stairs. Is this even possible?)

A friend pointed out I should've been screaming "Stop! Murderer!" instead. He's right. But Dream Me is blond and bit on the slow side at times.

P.S. I also recently had a dream that will make a great story. Here's what I wrote in my journal upon walking: Boy shape shifts into monsters when angry or in distress. Uses a device he invented to help himself change back. Trio of boys and girls looking for him. He lives off the grid with a computer, the device, and a gun. They are paranormal researchers.

I could do so much with that premise.

Coming Soon! a review of The Host

P.S.S. Yes Kelley, I am reading OSC now. I promise. *chants to self "I will finish Ender's Game" over and over*

#1

His amazing ability to master prose and create memorable characters.

#2

He is willing to spend 5 and 1/2 hours signing books and meeting people.

Very cool!

and like Frankie said...

*looks around blushing*

Oh hi! I didn't notice you there. I don't usually sing out loud in public.

*blush deepens*

Where have I been?

Well....Busy for one thing. My youngest son is spending a week with my mom and sis visiting relatives. I spent part of the time prodding him to clean his room and the rest preparing him for the trip, shopping and packing. It was a relief to get him out the door. Not that I won't miss him, I already do, but I'm glad the prep is over.

I also spent time recovering from a massive flare that had me bed-ridden. It was the worst pain I've been in for awhile now. I was doing so good too. I'm almost back to myself, but I'm still having a bit of problems with my right elbow and walking. I'm still going slow due to my hips and knees. It sucks to be getting older!

Work has been eating up the remainder of my time. It's hard to be online and work. I'm trying to break the BlackBerry habit before the new supervisor takes over. He might not be as tolerant of my addiction as was my previous one. I've been MIA from Twitter as well.

Before Nick took off on his vacation, we went to see Wall-E together. I loved it! It was fun, educational, and sappy. I teared up a couple of times and Nick teased me. I owed him a movie since I left him behind when the girls and I went to see Sex and the City.

What has everyone else been up to? Leave me info in the comments. I doubt I'll have time to play LJ catch up.

(I'm counting down the days to Conestoga 12. I can't wait)

P.S. Hey V. I heard a piece about the Tour de France on NPR and thought of you. Are you following it this year?

*snugs* for everyone, even the one who departed. I still love you dearly and wish we weren't both too stubborn to kiss and make up. *sigh*