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.

June 2006



Out with the Old

Tuesday, 27 June 2006 1:17 P GMT-05
Every summer when our daughter is away, I try and clean up my study, which becomes progressively more disgusting as each month passes...books are simply not as easy to "handle" as papers, particularly when you need to go to them for referen
Category: Reading Personal/Political
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The PPP Contest May Be Dying!

Sunday, 25 June 2006 9:56 A GMT-05
If you stick a fork in AAR's tenth annual Purple Prose Parody Contest, you'd see it was nearly dead.  We've received only six entries so far - with the deadline only a week and a half away - and I'm really wondering whether or not I should have
Category: AAR

Wordplay

Sunday, 25 June 2006 7:20 A GMT-05
Last evening we saw the most joyous documentary - Wordplay, which features several cerebral famous folk as well as those who are not famous.  What do they all share?  A love of crossword puzzles, specifically the NYT crossword puzzle. 
Category: Entertainment
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The Donning of Black Crepe

Thursday, 22 June 2006 3:25 P GMT-05
We've been in mourning at our house since Tuesday night when the Dallas Mavericks threw away the NBA finals.  Given the Miami style of play that focuses on a single player, it's especially sad because now even more teams are going to go that rou
Category: Entertainment
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The Search for the Perfect Nail Polish

Tuesday, 20 June 2006 3:36 P GMT-05
Nail polish for me is like lipstick for other women...I have never spent any time searching for the "perfect red." But I have such fond memories of Revlon's Misty Lilac that I've spent years trying to duplicate it, although it seems i
Category: Personal/Political
Comments/Trackback (4-0)

Mutton

Tuesday, 20 June 2006 8:11 A GMT-05
I know I've seen this episode before, but...Just another reason why the English version of What Not To Wear is superior to the American version.  Can you imagine  Clint or Stacy coming up with a line as clever as this? "She looks like
Category: Entertainment
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Summer Plans

Thursday, 15 June 2006 6:04 P GMT-05
Last summer our daughter attended Firespark, a summer arts camp in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains not far from Atlanta. Her focus last summer was fine art, but this summer she's starting her tech theater learning that she plans to co
Category: AAR Personal/Political
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Nervous Nellie

Wednesday, 14 June 2006 5:17 P GMT-05
It's been a full week now since last Wednesday when we opened our tenth annual Purple Prose Parody Contest, and after receiving one very clever entry the very next day (which I posted on Friday), nothing else has come in. I'm nervous - hell, I'm beyo
Category: AAR
Comments/Trackback (1-0)

Beat the Heat!

Monday, 12 June 2006 10:45 A GMT-05
Long-time readers of this blog know that I am an NBA fan, and adore my home team, the Dallas Mavericks.  Through my husband's office this year we extended our quarter season to a half season, and also were able to move our seats from the second
Category: Personal/Political

Screwed by Time

Friday, 9 June 2006 2:41 P GMT-05
My copy of Time magazine this week included a front-cover subscription notice.  They would continue my long-standing subscription for $72.20 a year, but when I looked at page five of the June 12th issue, I read that the basic subscription for on
Category: Personal/Political
Comments/Trackback (2-0)

A DIK for me!

Thursday, 8 June 2006 4:09 P GMT-05
Although one of Mary Alice Monroe's books sits on my keeper shelf, it's been a few years since I picked up one of her books. Last week I bought the paperback release of Sweetgrass and yesterday I read it in one, tear-filled sitting. If, like me
Category: Reading
Comments/Trackback (5-1)

I'm actually going to talk about reading!

Wednesday, 7 June 2006 5:05 P GMT-05
It's been a very hectic time. First was needing to move the site, then all the trouble getting the banner ad rotation program up and running, and just when we thought it was all working, it stopped, requiring another full day last week for me t
Category: Reading