What was begun as an online journal of the books I read evolved...or maybe it devolved...to also feature behind the scenes goings-on at All About Romance from my perspective (mostly based on my personal feelings - okay, it's a personal pity party); topics I've gone over ad nauseum in commentary at AAR, including the nature of reviews and online behavior; and my non-cyber life (including family and items in pop culture that capture my interest, which is just about everything).

Please do not violate my trust. I restricted certain AAR-related and personal entries for a reason...to keep them as private as possible. Now that my blog is read-only, to access restricted entries you must already have a password; if you do, hold onto it so that you can continue to read restricted entries.

This blog is not part of All About Romance. I ask that you keep comments or questions regarding restricted blog content off of AAR.

Below you'll find the blogs I visit, broken out in my own odd little system of categories.

October 2005



Funniest Damn Show on TV!

Saturday, 29 October 2005 11:13 A GMT-05
I've raved about Jon Stewart and The Daily Show for years now.  Move over, Jon, your former "reporter," Steven Colbert, may be even funnier on The Colbert Report than he was doing "This Week in God" on your show!  What makes Col
Category: Entertainment
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Rosa Parks

Tuesday, 25 October 2005 8:17 A GMT-05
"I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear." - Rosa ParksRosa Parks, the black seamstress whose refusal to give her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus
Category: Personal/Political
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Reviews Database Progress Report

Sunday, 23 October 2005 7:22 P GMT-05
With just over two months to go before our self-imposed deadline for transferring all archived reviews into our reviews database, today, after realizing how very close we are to reaching the 75% mark after stepping up our efforts and streamlining the
Category: AAR

Trying to Catch Up, and A Small Project!

Tuesday, 18 October 2005 10:27 P GMT-05
I've talked many times over the years, both on this blog and at AAR, about my book-reading database.  I'm an incessant record keeper and have kept a book database since beginning to read romance in the early 1990s.  And  because at the end of ever
Category: Reading Blogging

ATBF Publishing Schedule Survey

Sunday, 16 October 2005 12:26 P GMT-05
Currently the ATBF column is published on the 1st and 15th of every month. We know that fewer people visit AAR on the weekends and further, that our biggest day of the week is Monday. How would
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Long Week, But Good Book

Saturday, 15 October 2005 10:43 A GMT-05
It's been a very long week.  Once I had the idea to focus the Octoberr 15th ATBF on the marketing of "African American Romance," I then had to go out and get people to write segments.  I'm fairly certain many of those who surf Romance blo
Category: AAR
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I'm Pleased to Report...

Wednesday, 12 October 2005 11:04 A GMT-05
I'm pleased to report that the prospective web ring member I wrote about earlier this month made the necessary changes in her webrings page so the "18-year-old" disclaimer/warning now appears on that page.  Unsuspecting or underaged ring
Category: AAR

Words

Wednesday, 12 October 2005 8:46 A GMT-05
Are there any sillier words than "slacks" and "brassiere?" TTFN, Laurie Likes Books
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It Worked!

Monday, 10 October 2005 3:30 P GMT-05
Tech help at Amber sent me (to another email address) the updated software download and reg key I hadn't received yesterday when I bought their PDF Converter.  I hadn't realized that the key required updating my registry, which I'm very leery of doi
Category: Reading
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PDF and Lit Converters

Sunday, 9 October 2005 1:24 P GMT-05
When I made the decision to buy the eBookwise dedicated e-book reader, I shared here that one of my concerns regarded format. The eBookwise can translate several formats, but not PDF or LIT, which are two of the most common formats available. Tod
Category: Reading

Call for input on an ATBF segment

Sunday, 9 October 2005 12:05 P GMT-05
Harlequin's purchase of Arabesque from BET is quite interesting to me.  Arabesque was an imprint begun by Kensington, then sold to BET in 1998.  Since that time thirteen BET movies have been made from Arabesque releases.  This year 86 Arabesque ti
Category: AAR

Another Question

Saturday, 8 October 2005 11:22 A GMT-05
How many of you have bought Kanye West's new CD yet?  He's a f_cking genius!  What kills me, though, is how snotty DJ's and music critics are because he collaborates with Adam Levine and seems to like Maroon 5's music.  Just because you do pop mus
Category: Entertainment
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Question

Saturday, 8 October 2005 11:16 A GMT-05
When did it become acceptable - and why - for teens and even adult women to wear a jacket shorter than the shirt/top/blouse underneath?  I noticed that this summer when my daughter and I were clothes shopping, and it wasn't "okay" just for
Category: Personal/Political
Comments/Trackback (6-0)

Changes

Friday, 7 October 2005 5:51 P GMT-05
Ever since this morning I've been working on the issue of historical designations at AAR.  Until Cheryl Sneed came up with a f_cking brilliant solution around two this afternoon, my little synapses were crackling like mad.  And then, after her solu
Category: AAR Entertainment
Comments/Trackback (11-2)

The Old Prodigy...Lost Too

Thursday, 6 October 2005 8:43 A GMT-05
When we first went online on the Internet, we tried out AOL.  I hated it...still do...and went with the old Prodigy online service.  It was there where I met Blythe Barnhill, Alina Laurie (a 14-year-old girl at the time who in college began to revi
Category: Personal/Political
Comments/Trackback (2-1)

AAR Aid - The Final Results

Tuesday, 4 October 2005 9:18 A GMT-05
The final results are in...AAR Aid raised $10,918 for the victims of Hurricane Katrina! I was in extreme nail-biting mode on Friday when I realized that the third round of auctions had not kept the pace we'd anticipiated. So Saturday when I posted t
Category: AAR
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Stewie

Saturday, 1 October 2005 7:31 P GMT-05
I don't get Stewie, but wonder...is he responsible for the talking baby in the new ad campaign for those  disgusting new sandwiches at Quiznos?TTFN, Laurie Likes Books
Category: Entertainment
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