There's this man...

Simon Doyle. He’s another quirky male character unique to NR’s style and now another favorite of mine. I’ll add him to the list.

He’s recently relocated to the Pacific NW. He works with wood. Actually, he’s an artist with wood. He has a fabulous house on an island with the beach on one side and woods on the other. He’s just extricated himself from a sticky, high profile relationship with a drama queen and just wants to be left alone. But NR drags him into her story and Fiona’s life, and his mother further complicates his life when she gives him a smart, precocious Labrador puppy for companionship. He doesn’t want a puppy. But mothers tend to do what they think is best.

Simon wants to be left alone in his messy artist’s workshop, Def Leppard screaming and sawdust flying, but Jaws wants to claim his attention by eating everything in sight. In desperation he goes to Fiona for help. He’d rather turn the dog training over to her, but her method is a package deal—train the dog and the human.

I’ve finished reading the book—the first time through. The story line makes you want to check the locks and keep the lights on, but I want to read it again already. The dialogue between Simon and Fiona, even though he’s a man of few words, was cutting edge. Pun intended.

This is a book that may be listed under Romance, but it’s for anyone who likes murder and mystery. Plus I learned a lot about Search and Rescue dogs. It’s definitely worth reading.

Curb Appeal

When we realized we weren't going to win a spot on HGTV's Outdoor Makeover or Curb Appeal and we haven't won the lottery yet, W and I started on our own mini-outdoor makeover. I took out the old azalea bushes out front. It was like "wrassling" alligators, and I have the scars to prove it. I swear those shrubs had teeth! I replaced them with new broad leaf evergreens.

W started on his rock garden by rearranging those mammoth rocks we have in the back yard and liberally dosing weeds with Roundup. Then he started hauling bark. So far: 3 trailer loads! Yesterday and today his project was to yank out 2 overgrown boxwoods. Very interesting because he used a shovel, a piece of pipe, and his truck. Then he hauled more bark. Lots more.

I just spent the last 5 hours on the latest project on my to-do list: washing the front porch. Oh, yeah, it sounds easy enough. Coupla hours oughta do it. Right. Remember, that means the siding, shutters, windows and door, columns, and all those spindles that make up the railing around the porch. Five hours later I'm sitting here writing my last will and testament, because I may not live to do another project.

I'll have to admit, that if I hadn't procrastinated it probably wouldn't have been so bad. While I was in the midst of this "little" project, all I could think was that the "stuff" I was scrubbing off would probably make a killer science project. I can see it now: "The Life and Times of Southern Mold & Algae" or "Proper Temperature & Growing Mediums for Mold & Algae as Found in West Central Alabama" or "Can Southern Mold & Algae Survive Simple Green in a 1:4 Solution?"

Daydreaming helped me survive my project on this overcast but humid July morning in West Central Alabama. Unfortunately, there is more to do. But for today, I can check one thing off the list. Stay tuned.

Independence Day

When you're trying to remember why you love America and why we need to fight to preserve this great nation, think about the sacrifices of our founding fathers as well as those who fought and those who continue to fight to preserve the freedoms we enjoy.

Since I unapologetically love rock and roll, I'll let Lynyrd Skynyrd, my favorite Southern rock band, speak for me. They bleed red, white and blue. The lyrics below are from Red, White and Blue:

My hair’s turning white,
my neck’s always been red,
my collar’s still blue,
we’ve always been here
just trying to sing the truth to you.
Yes you could say
we’ve always been,
Red, White, and Blue

Shopping

I don't like shopping. I can't say that I hate it. I just don't love it. But every now and then, I feel that I must venture out to at least look for items to replace worn and ratty items in my closet. Thank goodness I don't have to dress up for work. God was truly looking out for me when he led me to this job.

I don't like to shop mainly because I don't like to try things on. Every woman understands that, I'm sure. It is an ordeal. A trial. A pain.

My needs are simple. Very simple. When it's hot: shorts, tee shirt, and tennis shoes. When it's cold: warm-up of some sort and, again, tennis shoes. If I'm not going to work: flip-flops.

My needs in shorts are very specific: 5-6" inseam. I certainly don't need anything shorter at my age. Anything longer just looks ridiculous on me. However, it's difficult to find shorts that fit everywhere I need them to fit. Fit one place, gap another.

Let's move on. I prefer short-sleeved cotton knit shirts in bold, solid colors. I know. Boring. No stripes. And most prints out there either are for the very young set or at least one age group above mine. Really I'd just like white. Consider it my uniform. No decisions.

I do not like to be forced to dress up. The mere thought of panty hose, heels, dresses, and lots of jewelry makes me choke. I don't even want to wear dangly earrings in hot weather, because I don't want them to touch my neck.

We're going to a function in a couple of weeks that requires me to think about what to wear. This forces me to consider:
a) What is casual dress ?
b) Who defines casual dress?
c) Do I care?
d) If I care, what will I wear? and
e) Where will I find something to wear?

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

Are you ready for some football?

Alabama Football Stadium Intro for the undefeated National Champs:



At some places they play football. At Alabama we live it.

I get chills.

Best clip from regular season is the field goal attempt by Tennessee. I know where I was at that exact moment. Standing in the southwest portal tied in knots knowing that, if Tennessee scored, our season was over.

Best clip from post-season play is anything from the SEC Championship, especially if it involves Tim Tebow on his back. Beating Florida the way we did was awesome in every way. It was near perfection. Chomp that, Gators!

Best clip from the National Championship game is on the cutting room floor. Colt McCoy and his dad walking back from the locker room. Oops. There I go again. Letting my thoughts get away from me.

Roll Tide. Let the season begin.

My quirky literary musings: Part II

Part I was all about my favorite things. Part II is about my dislikes. We all have them.

My least favorite author of all time: Janet Dailey. I would not read one of her books if you wrapped it up and presented it to me on a silver platter. Her characters are wimpy, AND, she was accused, with good reason as I understand it, of plagiarizing Nora Roberts' work.

One of the most disappointing authors in recent times: John Grisham. Yeah, I know he's a best seller and keeps cranking 'em out. But that's how they read...like they've been cranked out of a "book mill." A Time to Kill, his first, was his absolute best. It was followed by a few good works (and movies): The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, and even The Rainmaker and The Runaway Jury. But after that, his writing and my interest plummeted.

Hardest classic author to read: James Fenimore Cooper. How did we ever get such a great movie, The Last of the Mohicans, out of the dullest read in the last century? Someone in Hollywood had a lot more determination than I along with a super imagination. Kudos.

Least favorite female character in a romantic suspense novel: Reece Gilmore in Angels Fall by Nora Roberts. Way too many phobias for a typical NR female lead character even with the lead male character trying to convince us (and the other characters in the book) that she's really strong because she's fighting through them. Yeah. Move on.

Least favorite male character in a romantic suspense novel: Griff Burkett in Sandra Brown's Play Dirty. Griff is paid $500,000 by an eccentric millionaire paraplegic to impregnate his wife. Of course there's a lot more to the story line, but it's just creepy. SB just doesn't do enough to redeem Griff.

Least favorite new release: Ice by Linda Howard. Don't bother to read it. I'm a HUGE LH fan. Cannot believe this book is hers. Sad, sad.

Least favorite new genres: Ghosts and Vampires. I would say that I'm 'over it,' but I never got 'into it.' I can take a little of the supernatural. I can even take a little time travel. In fact, I have a couple volumes of Diana Gabaldon's on the shelf waiting for the mood to strike. But I cannot seem to join the Twilight revolution.

Feel free to make your own list and leave comments. I'd love to hear them!

My quirky list of literary favorites for summer: Part I

I'm currently residing in that twitchy time period awaiting the arrival of new summer romance novels. Publishers are evil. Nora Roberts even said that she was forced to come up with the pseudonym, J.D. Robb, because she wrote too much and too fast for her publishers. They were stockpiling her manuscripts and miserly doling them out to her readers.

Well, if, in this twilight time of waiting, you have to revisit old favorites, here are a few of mine. Of course, these are subject to change as I read. And I'm unapologetically stuck on a theme: trashy romance. Specifically romantic suspense. What's romance without a little murder/mystery thrown in with hot sweaty sex? (Oops. Did I say that out loud?)

Favorite male character in a trashy romance novel: Ford Sawyer in Tribute by Nora Roberts. He is a talented graphic cartoon artist/novelist. He is totally "geeky" in that he can't handle power tools but completely understands Cilla. Just read it.

Favorite female character in a trashy romance novel: Callie Dunbrook in Birthright by Nora Roberts. A little empathy here, because Callie meets her birth mother.

Favorite novel in a Southern setting: Envy by Sandra Brown. Great plots twists and turns. Great read and also great audiobook if you're travelling. Again, just read it.

Favorite book on audio/Best audiobook narrator: Peter MacNicol narrator of Beach Music by Pat Conroy. Pat Conroy is an icon among Southern authors but is sometimes difficult for me to read. MacNicol does an absolutely masterful job of voice characterization making this audiobook memorable. Peter MacNicol was in Ghostbusters II, Chicago Hope, and, more recently, Numbers, etc.

Feel free to comment...