Book Reviews and a Book Discussion Coming Your Way

So, where have I been while I've been a bad blogger and neglected this one? I've been reading books and reviewing them over at Bewitched Bookworms. I have several reviews posted, just click below to be redirected to the site.

The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
The Vampire Diaries: The Return Volume 2 - Shadow Souls by LJ Smith
Some Girls Bite and Friday Night Bites: Chicagoland Vampires Series by Chloe Neill
First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost

Charlaine Harris' new Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead in the Family, comes out on May 4, 2010. I'll be holding a book discussion on this blog. If you'd like to participate, let me know in the comments below. We'll be discussing this book a few weeks after the book comes out.

New Twilight Saga Novella Announced for Release in June

Stephenie Meyer has thrown us loyal fans a Twilight-sized bone. According to her website, a new novella, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, will be published on June 5, 2010. This release is the first new material from Stephenie in two years and is timed perfectly to prepare all of us for the theatrical release of Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

This novella promises to give us an insiders viewpoint of the newborns and Victoria/Riley during Eclipse. Read Stephenie's entire statement and press release on her personal website.

Preorder information is forthcoming and this post will be updated when the information is available. The book has another breathtaking cover, as seen below. Also, one dollar from each book sold out of the first printing will go to the American Red Cross.

What is the best part of this announcement? The book will be available online for free from June 7 through July 5, as a thank you to Stephenie Meyer's fans. You can access the novella at http://www.breetanner.com/.

After your collective sqeeing has died down, what are you looking forward to learning about the newborns? Are you going to preorder a copy or just read it for free online? Or do you say "Who cares about Bree? Where's Midnight Sun already?!?" Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

UPDATE: The novella is available for preorder from Amazon and Barnes and Noble. This price is around $9. I preordered mine!!!

(First posted to the Bewitched Bookworms blog on 3-30-2010 by myself. I'm a lazy if not efficient blogger, lol)

Here's my opinion on the matter. I'm excited that we will be getting some new material out of Stephenie Meyer that is from the Twilight Saga. I am really surprised that this was kept so secret. Everything seems to be leaked on the internet these days. On Stephenie Meyer's website, there is a picture of one of the Eclipse actress' burned and soaked copy of the manuscript. I'm sure Stephenie has learned her lesson with Midnight Sun and had a thick document they had to sign before getting their hot little hands on it.

This gives me hope that Stephenie Meyer has been secretly working on Midnight Sun and it will be sprung on us just like this novella was. Her camp has proven they can keep things quiet and we won't even see it coming. I predict the internet and twitter will simultaneously fail if that press release comes out!

Happy 1st Birthday Baby C!

Happy birthday to my little man, who is one year old today! I can't believe it's been that long, but it has been the best year of my life! Now bring on the cute pics and the Spongebob.



My sister in law made the cakes. The Spongebob face was for Colin to eat by himself.

My SIL made a giant Spongebob cake for the rest of us, complete with Krabby Patty!

Who doesn't love chocolate cake and wishes they could eat it like this? He had no problem digging right in!

A Little Monday Funny For Everyone

I came across a few funny Venn Diagrams for all of you. Check out Fuck Yeah Venn Diagrams for more nerdy fun. Enjoy!

The One Where I Meet OnePushyFox and Two Authors

Alternate Title of This Post: Hi Heather, I'm Heather (sounds like I'm talking crazily to myself doesn't it?)

Those of you that know me in real life, even on Twitter, know that I rarely seem excited. I’m one of those people that always keeps cool as a cucumber and laid back even under extreme stress. When Heather (OnePushyFox) tweeted me to let me know that the authors of Beautiful Creatures, Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia, would be in the area for a book signing, I didn’t hesitate to accept her invitation. Celebrities and authors don’t faze me after working at an outdoor concert venue in the south suburbs for four years as the assistant box office manager while I was in college. After dealing with the jerks that are their management team and walking through a crowd of 20,000 people with 100 grand in cash stuffed in my pants, I don’t think of them as anything than ordinary people with an extraordinary job. But even I did get a little nervous right before I met Heather, Margaret, and Kami.

I left work an hour early, hopped a different train (almost freak free except for the youngin’ that decided he needed to sit one seat away, even though the entire top of the train was empty) and headed for home. I got to eat a rushed dinner with my son, husband, mom, and nephews before I left my house 10 minutes late.

I was worried I wasn’t going to get there by 6 o’clock, the time that we agreed to get to Anderson’s Bookshop in Downers Grove. I didn’t quite drive like I was in Days of Thunder, but the speed limit on Chicagoland interstates is 55 mph and you get ran over if you actually drive 55 (And yes that was a nod to my husband who got pulled over for speeding after watching that movie as a teenager). I was only 10 minutes away when Heather called to say she had arrived. I’m so glad I didn’t make her wait long, my real life peeps know that I haven’t been on time for anything since I had baby C last March (Holy crap, he’s going to be one next month! Time flies. Too bad the baby weight didn’t fly off, lol).

I was really excited to meet Heather, we live about 45 minutes from each other so it wasn’t that big of a deal to meet up. I recognized her instantly from the picture on The Lemon Sister’s blog post where Heather and Kristen (uhyesplease) met in person (It helped that hardly anyone was there that early). All it took was a smile and a hug for us to feel like old friends (and I’m always uncomfortable around new people). I bought my untainted book to be signed and sat down to get to know one another better while we waited for the authors to arrive. Since this week was my time to host the discussion of the Beautiful Creatures chapters I was assigned over at Fragile’s blog, my original copy is full of large post-it notes and the Edward Cullen book mark that HoudinisBox sent me in The Lemon Sister’s Secret Santa swap. That would be an awesome scenario: Hey sign my book that’s full of crap and a book mark for a series by a hugely successful young adult author. BTW, isn’t he hot?) I didn’t lug that battered copy to the store and just bought a crisp, new copy that also bought me a numbered place in line to get it signed.

After chatting and battering Heather with my verbal vomit for over a half hour, the authors arrived. By this time the small area in the shop where the discussion would take place was very full, I was thankful that she wanted to meet an hour early and we had claimed seats. Kami and Margi just jumped right in, with Kami reading some of chapter 1 from the book. After the reading, they asked each other their own set of FAQs. Kami is very much the straight laced one and attempts to keep Margi reined in, but Margi is very energetic and has a very quirky, big personality. You can really tell that these two women are good friends, and that shows in the way they interact with each other. The whole ordeal it just seemed like a discussion amongst good friends.

When the authors finished with questions from the audience, it was time to get our books signed. Heather and I were chatting so much that neither one of us heard our numbers being called. Heather went first and told them her bloggy/twitter name, Margi recognized her right away. After hugging, Margi asked “Where’s your friend?” meaning me. She even knew my Twitter name! It is really sweet that they interact with us on Twitter, even remembering who says they are going to show up to what signing. I was thrilled to be remembered! The authors genuinely appreciate their fans and give us the same support right back. They retweet every week about our Beautiful Creatures discussion.

Heather had 3 copies of the book to get signed and a print out of the week she and Kristen recapped their chapters of the book on Fragile’s blog. Both Kami and Margi said they loved the blog and they keep a copy of every post. Heather really did a good job making a screen capture look great on photo paper with Fragile’s dark colored blog layout. The four of us took a picture together that should be appearing on the Beautiful Creatures website under the blog section. Look for it soon! (Who am I kidding, you know Heather and I will post the crap out of that shiz). I got my book signed and it was time to leave.

Left to Right: Margaret Stohl, Me, Kami Garcia

As soon as we hit the front door, we couldn’t believe it had snowed while we were inside. That’s lovely lake effect snow for you. And by the way, downtown Downers Grove does not get plowed in a timely fashion. I about did a donut turning the corner and I drive an all-wheel drive Explorer, WTF? (And yeah, I know, bad for the environment, blah blah blah. You try being 5’11’’ and getting in and out of a car that’s practically scraping the ground)

In summary since I not only have verbal diarrhea in person, I have it in written form as well, the authors are kick ass cool women. Make sure you check out their blogs and buy all of their books. Heather is super sweet and didn’t seem all fan girl in my opinion, she was cool just like me! Thanks to her husband for remembering that this blog chick lives close by! And come June, I’m going to try and drag her to the Printer’s Row Book Fair in the loop if there are any authors we want to hear talk. (*cough*you really need to read all four of Jen Lancaster’s autobiographies, I can lend them to you. She’s hilarious in person and is at the fair every year since she lives in Chicago!*cough*)

News Galore!!!!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I've been MIA. Work, family, etc. you all know the drill. But there are quite a few new things in the works here folks!

Beautiful Creatures Book Discussion hosted by Fragile Little Human





Beautiful Creatures is a great book written in the POV of a teenage boy about his life in a small Southern town. We've been discussing four chapters a week over at Fragile's blog. This is week five and it is my week to discuss some chapters. Hop on over and catch some of the discussion. There are still about 300 pages left, so there is plenty of time to pick up the book and join the discussion. I promise you won't be disappointed with this book!

Beautiful Creatures inspired bracelet giveaway hosted by Mrs. Vanquish of Let's Ride the Vanquish






Mrs. Vanquish along with Mary Tippett Designs are giving away a Beautiful Creatures inspired bracelet. You can earn entries by posting about the giveaway on your blog, tweeting about it, etc. See Mrs. V's post on her blog for the full contest rules.

Bewitched Bookworms is live!



I'm very excited to announce that we (i.e. me, One Pushy Fox, UhYesPlease, Fragile Little Human, Mrs. Vanquish, Annie Christina, Fire Crotch, and Cutie) have started a blog where we can review the books that we read. This site will be full of book reviews and recommendations on what to read next! We have a forum where you can go to discuss the books we've reviewed in further depth including spoilers. This site has sprung up from our love for books and reading and it's a lot of fun to share our passion with everyone.

Dead in the Family Book Discussion hosted in this blog - coming soon!
I'm hosting a book discussion similar to the Beautiful Creatures book discussion hosted by Fragile for the tenth Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead in the Family. The book hits stores on May
4, 2010. We'll be discussing this book leading up to our meetup for the Twilight Saga: Eclipse premiere in Chicago on June 30, 2010.



I'm sure there are a few other things in the works, but leave it to me to forget!

2009 Year in Review

This past year was a life changing year for me. I started out the year until March like this....
Baby C finally decided to make his appearance a week late towards the end of March. Here he is 1 day old, all wrinkly and dry from getting cooked an extra week. Here Baby C is enjoying his bath time as a 3 month old. And finally at 9 months old and at his first Christmas.

Time has flown by, first seeming like the baby would never come out, then growing like a weed throughout the year. He started out at 7 lbs 7 oz and 19.5 inches and is now 28 inches at 18 lbs 13 oz as of December 30.

During my 3 month maternity leave, I finally read the Twilight Saga books that I had gotten for Christmas in 2008 from my sister. I read the first 3 books very quickly but the fourth book tweeked my post-partum mind out and took about a month to finish. Once I was done, I started looking at Twilight related blogs. Eventually through commenting and Twitter, I've made many wonderful online friends. I can't wait to meet so many of you in Chicago in 6 short months for the Eclipse premiere.

Here's to a wonderful 2010, full of laughter, fun, and prosperity.

My NaNoWriMo Experience

I’ve had a story swimming through my head since I was on maternity leave. Wanting to put pen to paper, or more appropriately fingers to keyboard, I tried to steal snippets of time here and there. Months go by, I return to work, and the notes I’ve accumulated for this little idea of mine keep building.

November fast approached and I decided to try my hand at National Novel Writing Month. I signed up, hoping to keep pace with the 1667 words I would need to type everyday to reach 50,000 words by the end of November. My story is a melding of Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta in terms of science and Charlaine Harris, MaryJanice Davidson in terms of vampires, humor, snark, and a strong heroine.

Everyone should know that I am a novice at fiction. Apart from the assignments I had to do in high school English, I’ve never taken a creative writing class. I read constantly, going through 2 books a week on my commute to and from work. I’m a chemist by training and have written several technical projects, mainly a PhD thesis, a MS dissertation, and several scientific journal articles about my research. All of these works were very specific, outlining my procedures, results, and conclusions. There isn’t much room for interpretation when it comes to the kind of research I’ve done. My degrees are in analytical chemistry and my focus has always been on instrumentation and data collection. My PhD research involved acousto-optic deflectors for background correction with Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy. My MS research involved making carbon fiber microelectrodes and Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy to image neurons. Two very large mouthfuls of words, aren’t they?

Several of you were my NaNoWriMo buddies: OnePushyFox, FragileLittleHuman, TrueBloodTwilight, EyesofAmber, and UhYesPlease. Congratulations to Foxy, TrueBloodTwilight, and EyesofAmber for hitting 50,000 words in one month. I finished 14,108 words and FragileLittleHuman probably wrote 50,000 words. She just spread them out amongst Breathe Me and several other stories she’s working on.

While I didn’t get to 50,000 words, I did set a pace that I am happy with. I am gone from home for work 12 hours each weekday. I also have an 8 month old son at home who doesn’t get to see Mommy for very long during the week. Writing at home was out in my book; my job at home is to play, snuggle, bathe, and have fun with my sweet little boy. This left the time I am on a train to and from work for writing. Since I’m pretty dead in the morning from tending to said son, I usually go back to sleep on the way to work. I did encounter Foxy every morning, which got up at 5 am to write her NaNoWriMo novel. She is always super supportive and understands what my life is like, having kids of her own.

I’ve found that I can write 1000 words on a trip home, as long as I’m not distracted by Twitter or the smelly weirdo’s on the train. Some days I did well, other days I just didn’t write. One thing that was detrimental to my progress was my lack of a clear outline. I’m a procrastinator by nature and didn’t plan out my dissertation or thesis too clearly. They were both written in about one month, with several nights of only 3 hours of sleep before returning to school to teach. I'm currently going back and editing the chapters I have written. After I've done this I'm going to construct a clear outline which should help me finish more easily. I won't sit on the train and think "Hmm, what should I write about today?"

I kept my commuting activities a secret. The only people that knew I was participating in NaNoWriMo were the one's I know online. Not one member of my family knew about this, until now. I don't really know why I didn't share that I was doing this. One reason was my fear of failure. Another reason is my tolerance for being asked the same questions repeatedly. If no one knows about it, I won't have to keep asking the same questions over and over again. Therefore I won't want to get stabby.

NaNoWriMo was a good experience. I could have been much more successful. I’m not willing to sacrifice the time I have with my son and family, or my sanity. So I leave you with the synopsis for "The Immortal Drug." I’m still working on it and hope to make significant progress, one commute home at a time. Thank you to everyone for your support. A big thanks to MrsVanquish for reading a little of what I have and thinking I need to continue the story.

"Aubrey Kelly is a senior forensic scientist who analyzes drug evidence for the Federal Drug Agency. Due to a large backlog of evidence she’s forced to take on new responsibilities and additional lab workers whom she is now in charge of. In the current state of economic distress of the United States, drug crimes are exploding. Methamphetamine laboratories are on the rise and a deadly new heroin is appearing on the streets. Is the drug deadly only to the local junkies who then disappear from the morgue? Are the scientists tasked with decoding the pale pink powder’s deadly secret in danger? Little does Aubrey know that secretive and handsome new coworker Conor holds the key to decoding the secrets of the new drug. Will knowing what the powders contain put Aubrey and her best friend in harm’s way?"

Psst...the fabulous lady whose name I got in the Lemon Sister's Secret Santa swap is going to have a big surprise. My main character's best friend is going to be named after her!

Like the Lolcatz for NaNoWriMo? Click this link to see even more.

My New Blog Design By Twispired Designs!

If you've been a somewhat frequent visitor to this blog, you've seen only two stock Blogger layouts used here since June. Both of them were boring and super blah. I've always wanted a much fancier design and Mrs Vanquish from Let's Ride The Vanquish made my dream come true! She has started a blog layout service called Twispired Blog Design. Check out her site if you're thinking about getting a custom blog design.



Thank you so much Mrs Vanquish, you gave me the blog I had envisioned when I daydreamed about a fancy page to bitch and moan on. Hugs all the way from America!

So seriously, check out the other blogs she has worked on and get in line! I have a feeling the line is about to get really long! She's the best.

On a more personal note, now that I have a fancy new design, I'll finally post about my NaNoWriMo experience later this week. How did it go? Here's a hint - look to the left. I didn't make it to 50,000 and I'm okay with that.

No Baby During New Moon

My sister and I saw New Moon on Friday afternoon. I convinced my about-to-give-birth sister to pick me up in downtown Chicago for lunch and a ride home, since the train takes forever during the day and goes through the ghetto (In the ghetto! end Cartman's falsetto voice).
On the fly I purchased tickets for the 2 pm showing, which turned out to be a smart move. I think the youngest person we saw was about 20 years old. The theater was really quiet except for my movie Tourettes and inappropriate laughing at various spots.

I'll post a review once I've seen the movie again. I loved the movie of course, didn't miss Edward while he was gone, and KStew actually didn't bother me so much. Except for her chiclet front teeth. Only braces will fix those bad boys.

In the meantime, my sister did give birth to an 8 lb 10 oz, 21 inches long baby boy overnight. I'm an auntie again and my poor mother now has 3 boy grandchildren. Sorry mom, chances of having a granddaughter are slim to none!

It's Damn You/I Hate You Friday Time, Kitty Style

What do you love this week, like those fluffy-wuffy kitties above?

I wish my cats would yell this at my douchebag neighbor's kids who are always on our lawn, leaving toys and garbage all over.

Tell me what's pissing you off and don't forget to include what has been awesome this week! Just trying to balance the positive with the negative before we all fall over to the negative side forever. Which is where I currently reside btw.

Super cute kitty images from lolcats.com

And the countdowns begins

I can't believe it's already November. Before we know it, the year will be over and 2010 will start. There are some events of note that I'm counting down, for better or for worse.

T minus 7 days until the new Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 comes out and the hubs disappears. Amazon promises to have it delivered to our door on November 10. This gives my husband 7 days to finish the drywall for his game room in the basement. Is it going to happen? My husband would have to answer that but I'm gonna say the basement has a snow ball's chance in hell of being finished!


T minus 16 days until The Twilight Saga: New Moon opens in the US. I really can't wait to see this but have no idea when I will get to see it due to...

T minus 18 days until my sister's due date for baby #2. I have a feeling we're going to be watching New Moon and she's gonna go in labor. I'll just call for the ambulance and finish watching the movie. The theater's only 10 minutes away from the hospital.

T minus 26 days until NaNoWriMo is over. Current word count: 4791. I totally slacked off with twitter on the train ride home today. If anyone wants to see a summary of my work, just comment below and I will post it. (I'm hmmille on NaNoWriMo.org if you want to be buddies) FireCr0tch over at WeBitePrettyHard has deamed November BlogoWriMo and she's going to post everyday. I've promised to comment every day, even if the comments are off topic and make absolutely no sense.

T minus 51 days until Christmas. I really have no idea what to get anyone. I'm betting it's going to be a gift card Christmas this year. (And for anyone reading this blog that buys me presents: I want gift cards to Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble, thank you) Plus this means 50 days until I get a much needed week and a half long vacation.

My Twitarded Meme Finally

Everyone knows the drill by now so I won't waste space reiterating the details. The girls at Twitarded started a meme and I was tagged by the fantastic OnePushyFox. I'm pretty sure everyone else has been tagged by now so I won't tag anyone. Here are my answers:

1) What is the craziest/most stupid thing you've ever done (that you would be willing to share!)?
Trying to get into a rock club with my high school bff when we weren't even close to 21. FYI: dressing slutty does not make you look any less 16 years old. I'm sure there have been other crazy moments but all of my edumacation has written over those memories. Seriously, a high school friend asked me if I remembered something and I had to lie and say yes I did. I had no clue what the hell she was talking about! Sad thing is I don't have the excuse of drinking or doing drugs back then to use for forgetting all of this stuff.

2) One of my personal favorite games: Fuck, Marry, Kill. With the Twilight cast.
Fuck: I'm gonna have to declare a slight fascination with Emmett on this one. He loves grizzly bears so maybe he'd be wild like that in the sack?
Marry: Easy, Edward hands down. He's a little stalkerish, but you'd never have to worry about him leaving you ever!
Kill: Most of the wolves. They are mostly whiney cry-baby bitches. And Rosalie just because.

3) What is your favorite band/type of music?
Hard rock/alternative. I graduated from high school in 1993 at the height of grunge. I still vividly remember seeing Pearl Jam open up for Red Hot Chili Peppers right before Alive broke big. Alice In Chains is my all time favorite band. Layne Staley had such a haunting voice that you can still feel his pain. I've seen them live 6 times now. Soundgarden, Peal Jam, Alter Bridge, Staind, Evanescence, Breaking Benjamin, Faith No More, Chevelle, Taproot, etc. I will admit I love Irish rock music (and I'm not talking U2). The Tossers, The Elders, Dropkick Murphys, Carbon Leaf, and Flogging Molly are my faves.

4) What is your favorite movie besides Twilight?
I'm a comedy kind of gal, so anything Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, Broken Lizard are my faves. If I have to pick a few movies, I'd pick Super Troopers, Beer Fest, The Hangover, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Step Brothers to name a few. I do like the girlie movies as well, my faves being The Holiday, PS I Love You (although that one makes me blubber like a baby and the book was 100 times better than the movie),

5) Do you RL life family/friends know you’re addicted to Twilight? A blogger?
I don't think I'm as fully addicted to Twilight as some of my bloggy friends are, I've only read the books one time through, my copy of the Precious II that I won from WeBitePrettyHard is still hidden away in it's mailing envelope, and my New Moon movie companion has yet to be perused too thoroughly. Since I went back to work I don't have as much time to peruse the blogs for spoilers. I don't avoid spoilers though. My husband knows I have a blog and twitter. He follows both. My sister and sister in law know about the blog and twitter as well, but my mother doesn't. I have a couple of work friends that I can talk Twilight with so I'm not totally alone. I think my sister is more addicted.

6) How many hours a week do you spend doing Twi related things? You know, blogging, looking at pictures of the cast, reading fan fiction, etc.
I really only spend about 10 hours a week between blogs and the majority of the time on twitter. I try to steal little snippets of time at work. I only follow 5 or 6 stories of fanfic so that doesn't take up much time.

7) Any random fact you might want to share. Big or small, it doesn't matter.
Um, I can touch my tongue to my nose? What else, I can sing. I haven't sang publicly since my sister in law’s wedding and did I surprise my husband's family. Everyone thinks I'm just a scary tall chemist and no one knew I could sing. I got so many compliments that day with everyone saying they had no clue I could sing.

I'm a serious procrastinator. I waited so long to start on my PhD thesis that I had one month to write the entire thing. I was up all night for the last week just to get it done, all 300 something pages of it. I really do my best work under pressure, so it just works for me even though I want to kick my own ass everytime I do it.

I'm really allergic to perfume. I had to go to the hospital when my sister sprayed me with Exclamation! perfume back in the day. If people wear too much perfume around me I get really itchy. Lesson here: please don't wear perfume when we go to the Eclipse premiere next June. Okay? Thanks Bye.

Damn You/I Love You Friday

Everyone knows what to do....comment below.


Here's mine for the week:

Damn you husband's new work for making him work on Halloween and missing our son's first time trick or treating. And for changing his schedule so we never see each other. Also damn you to my work for being so busy I don't have time to post me Twitarded meme yet. Hopefully tonight!

I Love You New Moon video leaks. I'm really looking forward to this movie!


PS. I love how the Edward Cullen costume here is called "Night Time Romeo."

And Baby C says "Happy Halloween Everybody! Give me all of your candies!)

Return Of Damn You Friday, with additional I Love you Friday

Happy Friday everyone! Since I have more followers and bloggy friends, I thought I would bring back "Damn You Friday" to the blog. Since I've been told that I need to be more positive (I'm a glass is almost empty since someone drank all of my shit kind of girl). So to bring myself some good karma, I've added "I <3 You Friday." How does this all work? Just add what is pissing you off this week for the damn you part. Don't forget to tell me what you are loving this week too for the love you part.

Here's mine for the week:

Damn you to the migraines that are starting to plague me with increasing regularity again. I really, really don't want to go back on topamax.

I <3 the sneak peaks of New Moon scenes that are coming out. I really can't wait for November 20 now.

Have a good weekend everyone and see you on Twitter (when we actually have time LOL).

OMG-What we looked like back in the day

Thanks everyone for being brave enough to share a few pictures of yourselves from high school. Sending in real life pics was just a crazy idea that I and Tasha had. This has been fun gathering these pics and emailing you back and forth, getting to know you a little bit better. It will be nice seeing what everyone looks like in real life. If you didn't send in your pics, you still can. I'll just add the pics to the bottom.

So, without further ado, I give you our bloggy and twitter friends (in random order of how they were in my photobucket account). The comments in italics by the pics are straight from the subjects mouth, not mine. (Well, except for my pics!)

Bex (website: Today I Feel Infinite, twitter: Becky_Boodles)

I turned 16 in the April and this was taken in the back of the limo on our way to Prom in the July 2000. My date got the crop treatment! ;)

Bitches (website: We Bite Pretty Hard, twitter: WPBHBitches)

I was probably about 16, and as you can see, had some bad bangage going on.

Call of Duty Widow (Website: Call Of Duty Widow, twitter: hmmille )


My fave pic is the one from the musical I was in. I remember that dress was super tight, it was hard to sing with it on! I had a blond phase my Sophomore/Junior year, but dyed it back right before senior pics. And I was rockin some high bangs there for a while! Man I miss that body!






Erikasbuddy (twitter: Erikasbuddy)
1991 -7th Grade Intermediate Middle School Band - I was a Clarinet player. I played for 2 years. Art Class 10th Grade = was taken in the winter of 1993 in my Art Class during my sophomore year. I am holding a SPIN MAGAZINE with NIRVANA showing through the pages. Can you guess the downward spiral that I took in April? Copy of 1996 Senior Talent Show - Erikasbuddy = was taken in 1996 at my senior talent show. I am singing DISARM by Smashing Pumpkins with my bff Erika. She signed us up to do this one day when I was skipping school. She was a sneaky little bugger lol!! I agreed to do it only if she did it with me. Copy of Art and Drama Banquet - Junior Year - 1994 = was taken in 1994 during the fall of my Junior Year. That was one of my favorite high school memories. I had a blast. I even had my first dance there. It was with a boy who had just broken his leg. He couldn't stand dance so we sat indian style on the floor and swayed to Cotton Eye Joe. I loved it!! Copy of Spring Fling 3-l3gged race 1996 = was taken during the last week of school in 1996 of my senior year. My bff ERIKA is who is attached to me. WE WON!! I think... at least that's how I remember it ;)

FireCrotch (Website: We Bite Pretty Hard, twitter: FireCr0tch)

Me at graduation. Check out those gross looking shoes. What the heck was I thinking?
Me and my senior prom date…my mom made my dress and cut my hair like 20 minutes before my date showed up. Previous to this pic my hair was down past my shoulder blades.
Ahh…more summer camp memories. I am the fatty in the pic (third from the right). I like how the mud nicely outlined my boobs. We had even more fun in the showers afterward…
My girlfriends and I were pretty geeky and so we stayed in on Friday nights and played games. And no, this was not strip poker. But check out the flannel shirt…I was rockin’ it before RPattz. Plus I totally love that green watch.
Doing the age old fun chicken dance at the senior prom. Who the heck had full length gloves on next to me?

OnePushyFox (twitter: onepushyfox)


OK, so I'm feeling brave (or stupid from the lack of sleep) and I've decided to send in some pics of me from HS. One's from my graduation in '93 (I'm with my baby sister) the other is from the early freshman year ('89) turnabout dance. I honestly can't tell which is more embarrassing: the wicked 80's perm from freshman year or the crazy Tracy Gold glasses from senior year. Sheesh! Why didn't someone slap me??

SmuttierThanYou (Website: Jackassery In The House, twitter: SmuttierThanYou)

Here is the one from my senior year (1999), Homecoming Princess, I was hammered and grinning like a Cheshire Cat! Taken the summer before my senior year. This was my first 4X4 and my step dad helped me completely rebuild it. Lots of good memories *sigh*

Tasha (Website: Something Less Productive, twitter: um_natalie)

UhYesPlease (twitter: uhyesplease)

Ok - the show choir pic - obvious! I was also a band nerd. (Drum major) And a theatre nerd (I'm Glinda!) And then my senior prom pic. Just cause I loved the dress! All are from 1995! When I graduated from HS......

Bierbeck (twitter: bierbeck)

I always get lots of laughs with this picture. It is from my freshman year I think which is circa 1989.













Mrs_Robward (website: Peace Love Twilight, twitter: Mrs_Robward)

1st pic is me & my mom, Jr year, I was going to the ROTC *gag* dance.

2nd pic is me & my DH b4 senior Prom. Ooo, if only I was that skinny again!










Betti (website: Betti Music Twilight, twitter: Bettigefecht)


I know I'm late, but I finally found a pic from 1978. I was in the schoolband. Best I can do...

Getting to know your bloggy friends

Last night was an interesting night on twitter. @Bettigefecht was getting irritated with @fragilehuman and @FireCr0tch 's Glee discussion while @um_natalie and I (@hmmille) were trying to not be force fed the Glee kool aid. (You know you tried to make her drink it @WPBHBitches lol). I commented that I'd had enough of the glee club stuff in high school to Natalie and she insisted on seeing pictures. I missed a new South Park to hunt down the elusive high school year books, then fought with my $20 scanner from 2001 to get some pics on the computer.

After further discussion, we decided that we want all of our bloggy friends to be embarrassed with us and for us. Now taking your high school photos at callofdutywidow@gmail.com. We want to see you "The Way You Were", any photo from high school is fine. Please include a short explanation of the picture and you're website/twitter name by 5 pm CST Sunday, October 18. I'll post all of them here Sunday night hopefully. It will be nice to put a name with a face, even if it was from so many years ago.

Since Tasha requested a pic from my poms/dance team days, here's a gem from my freshman year in 1989. We're all lined up for the National Anthem at a basketball game and of course, the 80s hair is in full effect. Plus my skirt is shorter than everyone else's since I was so tall and skinny back then. I think I actually had a perm (oh the horror) back then. {{{shudder}}}

Come on, you know you want to see all of us, email away! I promise an actually photo from my Show Choir days and my basketball days! Please include your twitter screenname and/or blog/website so we can all follow each other. This is a good way to expand all of our follower lists and make some new bloggy/twitter friends ;) .

How Twilight and other vampire novels ruined regular novels for me

Let's start this up with a dream I had last week that I've been meaning to share. I was in a grocery store with Sam and Dean from Supernatural. The guy in line immediately before us bought porno mags and some shamwows. That last episode of Supernatural gave me weird dreams. I would throw those shamwows out after that guy's done if he knows what's good for him. Anyway, on to today's topic.

Last night I tried to read John Updike’s Widows of Eastwicke. I lasted through exactly 3 pages before I gave up. I haven’t read any of his other works, but this was just paragraph after paragraph of run on sentences. What’s happened to me? Have all these years of chick lit, vampire books, and chemistry texts/journals killed my ability to read regular literature and enjoy it?

I started my love affair with vampire novels a little over a year ago. I started with Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Series after watching a few episodes of True Blood. I was hooked instantly. Once I finished all available books in two weeks, I immediately started over. Rereading these books at a much more leisurely pace allowed me to catch some things I missed the first time around. I read several more non-paranormal books before Christmas before I stopped reading novels all together. My pregnancy addled mind couldn’t focus on novels, so I read magazines and surfed the net on my crackberry to keep me from maiming the freaks on the train. Thinking ahead, I told my sister to buy Twilight as my Christmas gift since I had heard good things about the series. She bought me Twilight and New Moon. These two books were shelved away for the future when I could focus on a novel.

After Baby C was born in March, I found myself with three months of maternity leave ahead of me (Well, 10 weeks actually since Baby C was stubborn and came out a week late). On a baby supply run to Target, I bought Eclipse and Breaking Dawn. I hate to start a novel series and not be able to read them all in a row. I once spent two months reading through 13 of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta series. I don’t like having to think about what the hell happened in the last book that I read months ago (I never said I wasn’t OCD about anything!). The next books that I was due to read out of the authors I follow weren’t going to be released until the beginning of May (Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Series Book Nine – Dead and Gone and Jennifer Lancaster’s fourth memoir Pretty in Plaid). I was recovering from an emergency c-section so what better way to rest than to sit stiffly with a good book and the cutest baby in the world in your lap? Then the wheels were put into motion for my fascination. Hey, I needed something to occupy my time while the hubs was playing Call of Duty nonstop.

I started Twilight and was done in two days. There is something about Stephenie Meyer’s writing that just sucks you in. I still maintain that there are subliminal messages in the text. How else could so many people of all ages love these books? I continued on to New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. Breaking Dawn nearly broke my psyche, but I finished it after taking a break to read the books I had been waiting for above. I did watch the Twilight movie on DVD with my sister. She was totally in love with it and I made fun of it the first time I watched it. Now I don’t have much of an excuse, I’ve watched it about 10 times now. It gets less hokey upon repeat viewings. There are still some scenes that make me cringe, which I’m sure will come up in MrsVanquish and Betti’s movie vs. book discussion on their blogs. Bottom line, I read these books quickly and probably missed some key points. I plan on rereading these before New Moon comes out in the theater to refresh my memory.

Through various True Blood websites like sookiestackhouse.com and Twilight websites, I found out about other vampire series. The first set I read was the Queen Betsey series by MaryJanice Davidson. These books follow the life of the Queen of the Vampires whose main hobbies are shoes and cussing. These are very comedic but also contain some lovely lemons. Seven books are available in this series. The next set I finished was the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost. There are four books currently available, featuring a half-human half-vampire woman named Cat who fights bad vampires with her vampire husband Bones. This series is also funny but more serious than the Queen Betsey series and also contains serious lemony goodness. I can’t wait for a new release in this series to come out in 2010.

In between some of these books I’ve attempted to read non-vampire books without much success. I read Stephenie Meyer’s The Host with difficulty. The book was pretty unbearable from about 100 pages in until around page 450. Several of my friends have read this and it’s a pretty even split among those who loved it and those who loathed it. I’ve never forced myself to finish reading a book like I had to do with this one. I had borrowed it from a friend and didn’t want to buy it for myself. I finished it, gave it back, and am now on the fence about reading any future non-Twilight Saga books from this author. I read the seventh book in the Andy Carpenter Lawyer series by David Rosenfelt I had been waiting for (New Tricks). David Rosenfelt's books feature a reluctant lawyer and always have dogs in the story. In real life, his foundation has rescued over 4000 dogs from shelters and death. Then I read a book featuring a woman prophet and demons called Every Demon Has Its Day by Cara Lockwood. That book also took a little getting into even though it was supernatural. I never had a problem getting right into books before like I do now. If the subject is vampires, I’m right into it. If the subject is something else, blah. All of these vampire series has ruined me on regular fiction.

So what’s a girl to do that has free time on her commute to help her ignore the mutants that ride the train? I think I’m going to start the Vampire Diaries series by L.J. Smith. Next I’ll reread Twilight and New Moon. Maybe a little Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. I still haven’t gotten around to reading the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton or the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward. The covers of those book seriously embarrass me, but who cares? I don’t ride on the train with anyone I know anyway.

I guess I might as well continue my vampire book obsession. I do have the new Patricia Cornwell book, The Scarpetta Factor, coming out in a few weeks. That will be my only non vampire book to read in the near future. Any suggestions to what I should read? I need to start compiling my Christmas wish lists...

How To Irritate Your Fellow Commuters

You can gather from my previous post that riding Metra into Chicago every work day is a challenge. The older I get the less tolerant I’ve become, so it’s very easy to annoy the crap out of me. The following is a list of train sins that one can commit with real life examples I’ve observed in my six and a half years of commuting via train.

The first sin and most common one that people make is talking loudly. Whether you’re talking on your cell phone or to someone next to you doesn’t matter. I don’t care to hear how your daughter’s day care check bounced and now no one will watch her. There are two construction workers who ride my train home at night once every couple of weeks. They are obviously drunk and feel the need to yell when they talk to each other. Apparently they don’t care that there is only 6 inches separating their heads and they don’t need to yell. If I can hear you over my iPod, you should just STFU and heed those daggers I’m staring at you.

Next up, seat misuse. The common seat misuse instances are putting your feet on the seats, jammed knees into the back of the seat in front of you, and taking up a free seat with your bags. I’ve witnessed King Douche Bag move people’s items without asking. People will touch your stuff whether you want them to or not. On a disgusting note, I have seen people with their bare feet or even socked feet on seats. That totally grosses me out every time I see it. Why would you even want your bare feet to touch those seats let alone leave you foot funk behind?

Commuters can eat and drink on Metra trains. Not only does this create a garbage problem sometimes, but gives people ample opportunity to eat and drink strange things while they ride the train. I saw someone eat cereal with milk on the way in to Chicago last month. They actually lugged all the cereal fixings with them. Seriously, just eat at home. I’ve seen someone eat an entire pizza by themselves. Eating pizza on a crowded train is just rude. You know damn well the rest of us want to eat it too. There are quite a few people who will drink a six pack of beer, leave the empties in the aisle of the train, and proceed to hop in their cars at the train station and drive home. I really don’t think this is very responsible. The stench of beer in a confined space really makes you sick if you’re scent sensitive like I am. I really couldn’t stand the smell of beer when I was pregnant, so the ride home was really challenging some days.

This leads us to inappropriate odors. You don’t know how many train rides I’ve been stuck next to someone who has a bad case of gas the whole ride. The stench just gets recirculated until it finally goes away. People who wear too much perfume are also a problem. I’m allergic to most perfumes and colognes so I have spent many rides itching like crazy and praying my throat doesn’t close up. Twice in the past I’ve seen someone taking their fingernail polish off with remover (which is acetone) and applying new polish. Hello, chemical sensitive here! This behavior is really more appropriate for the home, right?

Where do most people groom themselves? At home you say? I can prove you wrong. Women put on makeup on the train; I don’t know how they don’t poke their eye out with the mascara wand when we hit a bump. I’ve seen people clipping their fingernails on the train. I cringe every time I hear the distinctive high pitched “clip clip” through my iPod. I wonder if these are the same people polishing their fingernails?

Touching other people is a big no no in my book. Eyebrow Lady routinely has a female friend that sits with her on the commute home. The female friend will sit sideways in her seat so she doesn’t have to turn her head when she talks. I’ve seen her ass on someone else’s thigh several times while the person she is sitting on tries to hold it together. If she sits next to me she’ll be taking a page from Spread Eagle Man and getting the elbow. Overweight people need to make sure they will fit in the seat before they sit there. I had some dude sit on me before and I didn’t even get an “Excuse me for putting my ass on your lap.” He got the elbow too. If I don’t know you, don’t touch me. Even if I know you, still don’t touch me. That goes for your bags too. Please don’t side swipe me with your huge ass purse that is holding your entire life. It’s not nice to wake up because someone whipped you with their belongings.

Hang in there, we’re almost to the end. What’s the next annoying thing someone can do? Please don’t look over my shoulder to read my computer, book, magazine, or newspaper. If you do, I’m going to ask you for some money since I had to pay for this myself. Nobody likes nosy pricks who can’t quit trying to see what you’re watching on your iPod either. Odds are I’m watching Twilight or True Blood so don’t make me be embarrassed on the train by staring at it.

The second most disgusting thing I’ve witnessed on the train arises from the no smoking policy of the train. Five times I’ve sat next to someone who chews tobacco and spits into a clear colorless bottle. One time the guy left the bottle there for someone else to pick up. You seriously can’t wait an hour at most before you can smoke again. Better buy some nicorette gum or some nicotine patches buddy.

The ultimate sin in my opinion is leaving part of yourself behind when your commute is over. If you have a tendency to be greasy even though you just showered, do not touch the window next to you. In my previous post you will see a greasy face print on the window of my morning train. I took this picture last week and the spot is still there. Now I’m stuck sitting in a seat with less leg room since I refuse to sit next to anyone’s skanky body leftovers. Wash already!

Why can’t I have an Edward Cullen drive me to work in a Volvo? Oh right, my Edward drives me to the train station in an Explorer and tells me to “Be safe, stay away from the crackheads!” Gotta love the husband and his worries. Got to go, King Douche Bag is trying to block my way off the train…again. FML!

Update: They finally cleaned the giant greasy face print, I got my seat back! This will hopefully last for a couple of days (or not).

Fellow Commuters Annoy Me

I’ve been commuting to my work in downtown Chicago from the south suburbs for six and a half years. To get to the Loop I take Metra, a commuter train system. After riding the same trains for years I’ve developed a routine for my commute. I always have my iPod, Blackberry, and a sweatshirt (lately my super cute Hurley hoodie) since you’ll freeze to death without it. The trains have two temperatures: boiling hot in winter and sub arctic in summer. When I get on the train, I look for my favorite seats that have extra leg room and scope out the window for greasy face prints. Yes, you read that right, GREASY FACE PRINTS. I can’t bring myself to sit next to one of those and the Metra cleaning crew isn’t so fastidious about cleaning the windows every night. I saw the same greasy face print for a whole month last year. Seriously, get some Windex already.

Yes, that giant smudge is from someone's face and hair. See that in person and not want to puke.

Once I’ve sat down, I immediately put my Bose in ear headphones (they sound way better than the crappy ones that come with your iPod) in and start the iPod playlist entitled “No Iron Maiden” on shuffle. My husband likes Iron Maiden and since we share the same iPod library I have to block them out. Sometimes I say hello to people that say hi to me, but I’m usually mute and slightly angry looking. That’s the only way to get anyone to leave you alone. In the morning I take a nap for an hour and in the afternoon I read a book or magazine, or I catch up on Twitter. Some days are worry free. Other days I see some things that make you go “WTF.” Last week I saw a guy talking on his cell phone. Common occurrence right? His cell phone was encased in a zip lock bag and he didn’t take it off to talk on his phone. I really don’t want to know what was on that phone that he was afraid of. Did it fall in the toilet, a pile of manure?

Some of you have heard me complain on Twitter and Facebook about the annoying people on the train. The following people annoy the crap out of me on a routine basis. I’ve included the nicknames I’ve given them and photographic evidence of their sins (if I was brave enough to catch a pic). The list is in order of increasing annoyance level, from mildly irritating to “I want to kick their face in everyday” anger.

1. Fat Armband Guy: I actually have photographic evidence of this guy. His arms are so big he wears an iPod armband on his forearm since it won’t fit anywhere else. He also talks on his cell phone really loud about his trashy life. I’ve heard way too many conversations over my iPod about someone trying to beat him up. This is the only guy who actually lets you walk out ahead of him. Chivalry is alive and well in this larger and louder than life commuter.

2. Weird Eyebrow Lady: I’ve never been able to snap a picture of this chick due to her staring off into space in my general direction, so a description will have to do. I’ve never seen the arch of anyone’s eyebrows fall so far towards the sides of their face. Instead of the arch being towards the nose, it's almost to the outsides of her eyes. They look like evil cartoon eyebrows. I will admit to being mesmerized by them. She’s always in formal business wear so I do feel sorry for her while I get to look like a bum and wear t-shirts and jeans everyday.

3. Spread Eagle Man: As you can see from the picture below, he must air his junk out at all times. Plus he wears the same dirty, beat up White Sox World Series hat everyday. Wash that thing! He used to sit by me and instantly his thigh would be touching mine. After many elbows being stuck out by me into his ribs, he finally got the hint and won’t sit anywhere near me. He still sits spread eagle wherever he does park his ass, but at least it isn’t next to me anymore.That's actually a smaller angle of leg spread than usual if you can believe it.

4. King Douche bag: This guy is the ultimate douche of the commute. He moves your bag without asking if he wants to sit next to you. He will get up and block the aisle so you can’t get off the train before he does. He won’t pull his foot in since he insists on sitting cross legged with one of his feet in the aisle. I’ve pushed his foot away with my body so many times I’ve lost count. Nothing fazes this guy. Do you want to know what the ultimate assbag behavior out of this guy is? He picks at his head and eats it. I don’t know what he’s picking off of there, but I can’t even look in his general direction without wanting to vomit.

Most of the commuters on my train route are like me, just trying to get to and from work with as little frustration and annoyance as possible. The four little gems above are really in the minority of train riders thankfully. Hey, my work actually pays for my entire train ticket. I guess I shouldn’t bitch since I’m not out $150 each month. When you hear some girl yell into her phone “Who you yelling at Bitch?” 5 minutes into the trip home, I bet you’d bitch about everything too. And wish that you sat in another train car instead of your usual one. Coming up on this blog, “Widow’s top things that piss me off on the train” or “Get some train etiquette A-holes” tomorrow.