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.

February 2008


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You choose

Friday, 29 February 2008 8:17 P GMT-05
Which would you rather have...the tiffin or the bento box? After watching an episode of Gordon Ramseys' newest BBCA show, I'm voting for the tiffin, which is used in India much as the bento box is used in Japan. TTFN, Laurie Likes Books
Category: Personal/Political
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BE at Target?

Thursday, 28 February 2008 5:25 P GMT-05
I'm no Target snob; you can find me in our Supertarget at least once a week (they have great deli turkey, if you're interested). Today I was there to buy socks, cami/short sets, and two of the tasty (and low fat, low cal) Indian "Ethnic Gourmet" froz
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Cat or Dog Quick Poll

Tuesday, 26 February 2008 3:24 P GMT-05
It looks like more of us may end up like that guy in Harriet the Spy with 25 cats than the owner of 101 Dalmations, but almost a third of us are both cat and dog people. Only 5% aren't into cats or dogs. Me? I'm an equal opportunity pet lover. TTFN,
Category: Quick Polls
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Two Reasons Why I'm an Entertainment Weekly Fangirl

Monday, 25 February 2008 3:14 P GMT-05
1. "I am not a lesbian. I am not even a lesbian trapped in a man's body. When my wife dresses me, I may have incidental metrosexual tendencies, but clearly I am not The L Word's target demographic. And yet, for four and a half seasons I've been watch
Category: Entertainment

Photos added

Sunday, 24 February 2008 10:26 P GMT-05
When I posted LLB's Amazing Day on February 11th, I indicated that I'd add some of the behind-the-scenes photos my husband took. He's had some trouble with his digital camera, so a few were unusable, and we think there may be some on another memory c
Category: AAR Personal/Political
Comments/Trackback (6-0)

Damn...Double Damn...Aw, F_uck it!

Sunday, 24 February 2008 9:06 P GMT-05
This afternoon I was supposed to have spent working on taxes in preparation for our meeting with the CPA on Thursday. Instead it was spent trying to figure out what happened to fifteen reviews I'd finalized since the 16th that this morning disappeare
Category: AAR

Loyalty in Death

Saturday, 23 February 2008 12:00 A GMT-05
Loyalty in Death J.D. Robb Grade: B- Sensuality: Warm I thought the relationship portrayals in Loyalty in Death - between Eve and Roarke, Eve and Peabody, and Peabody and McNab, were sublime. And as a lover of Greek mythology, I was intrigued by the
Category: Reading

The Red Heart of Jade

Friday, 22 February 2008 12:00 A GMT-05
The Red Heart of Jade Marjorie Liu Grade: B- Sensuality: Warm With my finishing The Red Heart of Jade, I've now read all of the Dirk and Steele novels. None has earned lower than a B level grade from me, and each has been a terrific combination of ac
Category: Reading
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Those three books...

Thursday, 21 February 2008 12:50 P GMT-05
Yesterday I mentioned that I'd blog briefly today about three books I'd recently read. It occurs to me that since all three won't be released until spring, that it would be better to hold off on that. I've written my thumbnails of the books, but cale
Category: Reading Blogging

You Don't Know Jack

Thursday, 21 February 2008 12:00 A GMT-05
You Don't Know Jack Erin McCarthy Grade: B- Sensuality: Hot When I last blogged about Erin McCarthy, I mentioned that as far as I had made it into You Don't Know Jack, too much of the page count was devoted to sexual activities for a straight contemp
Category: Reading

So Many Books...

Wednesday, 20 February 2008 3:21 P GMT-05
Well, I've finished four of my original nine (You Don't Know Jack, Beyond the Dark, A Dangerous Love, and Conspiracy in Death), but after having finished Conspiracy, I couldn't help myself, and right after diving into and finishing Thinking Straight
Category: Reading
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Astute Businesswoman...or Product Whore?

Wednesday, 20 February 2008 1:51 P GMT-05
I've always thought Martha Stewart got a raw deal. First with Jerry Oppenheimer's scathing, and IIRC, one-sided biography, Just Desserts, and then with her prison sentence. As is clear to me from watching the beating Hillary Clinton has taken in the
Category: Personal/Political
Comments/Trackback (2-0)

Reading Right Now Quick Poll

Tuesday, 19 February 2008 3:25 P GMT-05
Not long ago I blogged about a new personal record, albeit nothing to write home about: I was in various stages of reading of nine books. According to a quick poll, just over a quarter of you are currently reading just one book, while more than half
Category: Reading Quick Polls
Comments/Trackback (4-0)

Conspiracy in Death

Monday, 18 February 2008 6:26 P GMT-05
Conspiracy in Death J.D. Robb Grade: B Sensuality: Warm I haven't read J.D. Robb since November, 2006, when I read Midnight in Death, the short story between Holiday in Death and Conspiracy in Death. For some reason I got stuck when confronted with C
Category: Reading
Comments/Trackback (3-0)

The Billionaire Next Door

Sunday, 17 February 2008 6:16 P GMT-05
The Billionaire Next Door Jessica Bird Grade: B+ Sensuality: Warm Like many of you who participate in our annual reader poll, I read some of the titles that show up in the interim results in the hope that I'll find something terrific I missed during
Category: Reading

Sarah Silverman...Matt Damon

Sunday, 17 February 2008 10:04 A GMT-05
"I'm F*$cking Matt Damon!" by Sarah Silverman on FunnyOrDie.com
Category: Entertainment
Comments/Trackback (5-0)

2007: Books Read Quick Poll

Saturday, 16 February 2008 3:26 P GMT-05
Although I read fewer books in 2007 - 51 - than I have since 1994, that wasn't the case for most of those who took part in this quick poll. Fewer than 25% of you read 75 or fewer books while a full 25% read between 101 and 150 books. And a whopping 3
Category: Reading Quick Polls

Meme

Saturday, 16 February 2008 2:22 P GMT-05
Megan tagged me for a meme while I was out of town this week (New Hampshire and Vermont on Tuesday, Boston, San Francisco, and Salt Lake on Wednesday, and Albuquerque on Thursday). This is my first meme, so I hope I do it right! Six Unimportant Facts
Comments/Trackback (6-0)

My Amazing Day!

Monday, 11 February 2008 12:11 P GMT-05
Yesterday was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. Hop on over to AAR and check it out. TTFN, Laurie Likes Books
Category: Reading AAR Personal/Political
Comments/Trackback (2-0)

The Rest of Beyond the Dark

Saturday, 9 February 2008 11:26 P GMT-05
In an attempt to remove one book from the embarrasingly large number of books I'm currently reading, I decided to finish Beyond the Dark. On the one hand, I got it off the table, but on the other hand, neither of the two remaining stories were worth
Category: Reading
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Books I'm Reading

Saturday, 9 February 2008 6:15 P GMT-05
I may be setting a new personal record in terms of the number of books I have going at once, in various stages of "read-ness." Here they are: 25% complete 95% complete 50% complete 75% complete 66% complete 80% complete 75% complete 95% complete
Category: Reading
Comments/Trackback (4-0)

I Am the Devil

Saturday, 9 February 2008 4:14 P GMT-05
Jo Leigh's blog entry from yesterday intrigued me enough to take the test myself. Gues what? We're both devils! What about you? You are The Devil Materiality. Material Force. Material temptation; sometimes obsession The Devil is often a great card
Category: Personal/Political
Comments/Trackback (8-0)

In a Wolf's Embrace/Dragon Dance

Friday, 8 February 2008 6:32 P GMT-05
In a Wolf's Embrace & Dragon Dance Beyond the Dark anthology Lora Leigh and Angela Knight (other two stories by Emma Holly and Diane Whiteside)
Category: Reading
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Valerie Plame

Thursday, 7 February 2008 12:29 P GMT-05
According to Publishers Weekly today, the Association of American Publishers is one of twelve interest groups to have filed a "friend of the court" brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals requesting that Valerie Plame be allowed to disclose the dates sh
Category: Personal/Political

Trick My Truck, But Don't Mess with My Heart

Thursday, 7 February 2008 12:00 A GMT-05
Trick My Truck, But Don't Mess with My Heart Luann McLane Grade: B- Sensuality: Subtle A change in policy at the magazine I review for means that I can no longer review books here that I review for them. So pretty much, all I can do is share my grade
Category: Reading

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