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.

May 2008


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Review of In Plain Sight

Friday, 30 May 2008 1:38 P GMT-05
USA Network's In Plain Sight debuts Sunday night, and while it's not quite up there with last summer's oh-so-fabulous Burn Notice, it's some the same vibe: instead of gorgeous, sardonic spy uses unorthodox methods to solve cases with the help of an e
Category: Entertainment
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More Later, But...

Friday, 30 May 2008 10:45 A GMT-05
More later, but, LOST, wow! John Locke and Jeremy Bentham...will Jack turn out to be René Descartes? TTFN, Laurie Likes Books
Category: Entertainment
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Review of The Next Food Network Star

Wednesday, 28 May 2008 3:30 P GMT-05
Season one of The Next Food Network Star didn't really work for me, so I didn't watch the second season. I did, however, watch season three, and looked forward to the fourth, upcoming season after hearing it announced this spring. I'm enjoying th
Category: Entertainment
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Facebook Flameout

Tuesday, 27 May 2008 3:46 P GMT-05
Well, the fat's in the fire now. At least, that's how I feel. I'm attempting to make major changes in my life, and part of that means trying get the most out of social networking networks as I can. Which means using it not to give a shout out to ever
Category: Personal/Political Internet
Comments/Trackback (10-0)

Outta Control on Facebook

Saturday, 24 May 2008 3:46 P GMT-05
Before discovering the joys of Shelfari, I was, off-and-on "totally" into Facebook. At first any member of AAR on Facebook was somebody I wanted as a "friend," and anyone who sent me a "friend request" other than mashers was somebody I automatically
Category: Internet
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Why?

Saturday, 24 May 2008 12:00 A GMT-05
Yesterday I picked up a prescription at CVS and noticed something as I walked out that I'd never noticed before. It pissed me off, as I could think of no legitimate reason other than intimidation for its existence. Not only were the pregnancy tests a
Category: Personal/Political

My Top Ten British Isle Historicals/Straight Contemporaries

Friday, 23 May 2008 12:29 P GMT-05
I've been trying to make an effort to share my ballots for the various mini-polls we do at AAR. I only had one title for the Top Ten Eurasian Historical (Music of the Night by Lydia Joyce), but here are my completed ballots for the other two categori
Category: Reading AAR
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Line of the Day

Thursday, 22 May 2008 3:29 P GMT-05
It's like baby vomit with wood chips." The brilliantly acerbic Anthony Bourdain, guest head judge, last night's Top Chef,about the mango and sticky rice dessert offered by Mai Buddha Episode preview for those who haven't yet seen it
Category: Entertainment
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Okay...So I Lied

Wednesday, 21 May 2008 11:33 A GMT-05
Okay...so I lied. I wasn't finished adding books to my Shelfari bookshelf. Last night it occurred to me that some of the books I've kept around for years and years are ones I should include, and so I did. I'm up to just about 1,300 books right now, a
Category: Reading

All Done!

Tuesday, 20 May 2008 8:40 P GMT-05
My Shelfari shelf is now complete!! Because I've read a lot of short stories and didn't complete the anthologies they came in, my actual list of stories and books read is bigger than my shelf. In a few instances, I included an anthology just for one
Category: Reading AAR Internet

Charles Keating

Monday, 19 May 2008 4:53 P GMT-05
Last week I TiVo'd VH1's Sex: The Revolution. I just started to watch it this afternoon...before we lost power (thank goodness for laptops with batteries!). In it an anti-pornography crusader named Charles Keating is featured as one of those 1950s ex
Comments/Trackback (5-0)

Shelfari Update

Sunday, 18 May 2008 8:36 P GMT-05
I've written about Shelfari a couple of times now, and as of this evening, I've entered close to 1,100 of the books I've read since the early-middle 1990s. I look forward to finishing the data entry work, but find that it's really far less of a hass
Category: Reading AAR Internet

Stephan Pyles

Sunday, 18 May 2008 4:39 P GMT-05
Yesterday was my husband's birthday, and because a client had given him a gift card, we decided to splurge. We dined late last night at <a href='http://www.stephanpyles.com/index.asp' target=-blank'>Stephan Pyles. You may not be familiar with
Category: Personal/Political
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AAR/Food Network Sweepstakes

Saturday, 17 May 2008 12:00 A GMT-05
How would you like to win a prize package from The Food Network? Click the animated image to your right to enter. All you need to do is submit an original recipe, and why the winner of The Next Food Network Star should use it on his/her show, and you
Category: AAR Entertainment

More About My Secret

Friday, 16 May 2008 11:00 A GMT-05
Okay, so yesterday I revealed that for the past 11 years I've been a reviewer for Publishers Weekly. I gave thanks for the many terrific editors I've had - and continue to have - and listed the books I've reviewed. What I didn't share was how it felt
Category: Reading

Bidding Ends Soon...

Friday, 16 May 2008 12:00 A GMT-05
Brenda Novak's annual Juvenile Diabetes Auction offers your last chance - unless previously contracted - for authors to advertise on All About Romance. I committed to providing design services and ad space, as I have for the past few years, to this i
Category: AAR Internet

A Long-Time Secret Revealed

Thursday, 15 May 2008 3:08 P GMT-05
Word has come from up on high that Publishers Weekly reviewers are allowed to announce to the world their affilation with the magazine. The decision to allow reviewers to share this information was accompanied by some less good news for PW reviewers,
Category: Reading Personal/Political
Comments/Trackback (1-0)

Your Scandalous Ways and The Art of Keeping Secrets

Thursday, 15 May 2008 1:35 P GMT-05
Your Scandalous Ways Loretta Chase Grade: B Sensuality: Hot End of May Release The Art of Keeping Secrets Patti Callahan Henry Grade: D Sensuality: Kisses June Release The romance between a div
Category: Reading

Origin in Death

Tuesday, 6 May 2008 5:47 P GMT-05
Origin in Death J.D. Robb Grade: B+ Sensuality: Warm As somebody who doesn't generally read romantic suspense (the exception to the rule being Anne Stuart and now, J.D. Robb), it'll probably sound strange for me to say that the suspense component of
Category: Reading
Comments/Trackback (1-0)

Carrier

Monday, 5 May 2008 10:45 A GMT-05
Last night we finally got around to watching the first episode of PBS's ten-part documentary, Carrier. Film crews spent six months aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz as it deployed to the Persian Gulf. Some 5,000 crew live on the carrier, and thi
Category: Entertainment

May Books, Shelfari, Packrat, & Kindle

Saturday, 3 May 2008 3:24 P GMT-05
This morning I received an email from Amazon; not only are Kindle's in stock, and they will be sent two-day mail - for free! - AAR will receive a 10% commission from anyone who orders the device from one of the banner ads/book-sized ads we have runn
Category: Reading AAR Internet
Comments/Trackback (2-0)

.rb Converter

Friday, 2 May 2008 4:09 P GMT-05
Yesterday I saw where Amazon's Kindle is now in stock and ready for purchase, but for me it's still a little pricey. I'm waiting for version two myself. I continue to love my e-Bookwise, albeit somewhat less at this point, and since I use my laptop a
Category: Reading
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Fizzy Quick Poll

Friday, 2 May 2008 11:13 A GMT-05
More than four in ten of us call it "soda," another 25% or so call it "pop." For just about two in ten of us, it's "coke," and I'm one of the 10% for whom it the stuff is considered a "soft drink." And two percent each call it "soda pop" or something
Category: Quick Polls
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Anal Retentive

Thursday, 1 May 2008 12:05 P GMT-05
The Anal Retentive Chef | Funny Jokes at JibJab Okay, so my anal retentive qualities are not as pronounced - or as funny - as Phil Hartman as the Anal Retentive Chef (or Anal Retentive Handyman, or Anal Retentive...), but I've got my moments. It all
Category: Reading Personal/Political
Comments/Trackback (3-0)

All Together Dead

Thursday, 1 May 2008 12:00 A GMT-05
All Together Dead Charlaine Harris Grade: C+ Sensuality: Subtle Every May for the past seven years, another installment of Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire books is released, and I buy it...in hardcover. I may not get to it right away, but I try to
Category: Reading

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