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 2007



Ice Road Truckers

Thursday, 28 June 2007 12:00 A GMT-05
Last week, right before I sync'd my iPod one last time before leaving on our short trip to New England, I noticed that in the free section at iTunes, the first episode of Ice Road Truckers was available for download. After watching a commercial for
Category: Entertainment
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Today in Our Garden

Wednesday, 27 June 2007 11:33 A GMT-05
It was so hot and steamy this morning that the lens on my camera kept fogging up, but below are two pictures that showcase our lovely butterfly as well as two of the caterpillars. All are happily munching on parsley planted just for them to enjoy. I
Category: Personal/Political

Mandolin Rain

Tuesday, 26 June 2007 9:41 P GMT-05
Mandolin Rain -- Bruce Hornsby and the RangeAdd to My Profile | More Videos
Category: Entertainment

Our Butterfly

Tuesday, 26 June 2007 6:34 P GMT-05
Serendipity is a wonderful thing. This morning we watched our cocoon become a butterfly, and from watching it nibble, it's partial to sage. As of this evening, we have three other caterpillars munching on parsley. TTFN, Laurie Likes Books
Category: Personal/Political
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CBS and Fox...for Shame!

Monday, 18 June 2007 8:34 P GMT-05
James Poniewozik, Time's media column, reports the following in his blog today: Trojan, the condom maker, is launching a new ad campaign for its prophylactics this week, but on Fox and CBS, it appears the advertiser is instead going to have to, um, p
Category: Personal/Political
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Our cocoon

Monday, 18 June 2007 4:30 P GMT-05
<p align="center" Here's the cocoon that evolved out of one of the caterpillars I blogged about yesterday.
Category: Personal/Political
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Caterpillarside? I think not! (an update at end)

Sunday, 17 June 2007 5:19 P GMT-05
My husband happened to look at the window this afternoon and noticed that a pot of herbs was strangely bald. Something had tried munching on the basil and decided it was too spicey; instead it latched onto parsley. Not only was there one something.
Category: Personal/Political
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Funny

Saturday, 16 June 2007 9:19 P GMT-05
Okay, so maybe I disagree with the order of the top two funniest women on Oxygen's 50 Funniest Women Alive, but the moment Carol Burnett was announced as number three, I knew they'd show a clip from Went With the Wind. Great Flydini
Category: Entertainment

Shot in the Dark

Friday, 15 June 2007 10:12 A GMT-05
Shot in the Dark Before Adrien Grenier starred in Entourage or appeared in The Devil Wears Prada, he made a documentary about finding his father, whom he hadn't seen since he was a small child eighteen years earlier. I'm no
Category: Entertainment
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An update on this auction

Wednesday, 13 June 2007 12:00 A GMT-05
I just learned that in Brenda Novak's 2007 Juvenile Diabetes Auction, more than $140,000 was raised. AAR has participated in the auction for each of the three years Novak has conducted it, and we couldn't be more pleased by the results. To all of y
Category: AAR Internet

Let's try again...(Sopranos Final Scene)

Tuesday, 12 June 2007 10:58 A GMT-05
This clip of The Sopranos - its final scene - wasn't removed. So if you tried the clip from my blog entry from yesterday and it had already been pulled from YouTube, try again. TTFN, Laurie Likes Books
Category: Entertainment

Waffle House Haters

Monday, 11 June 2007 8:45 P GMT-05
After the season debut of Hell's Kitchen last week, my husband asked me why all the women were hatin' on Julia. Neither of us can understand why the hell Aaron the cry-baby is there (and as the second episode began ten minutes ago, he's crying again!
Category: Entertainment
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WTF? (updated with final scene video)

Monday, 11 June 2007 6:18 P GMT-05
"What the f_ck?". were the words I uttered as the TV screen went black just before the end credits appeared during the final episode of The Sopranos. For a second or two I assumed our satellite had gone out and was ready to call Dish Network and giv
Category: Entertainment
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Blood Drive

Thursday, 7 June 2007 2:31 P GMT-05
<a href='http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0441015093/allaboutromance' target=_'blank'><a href='http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0441015093/allaboutromance' target=_'blank'>Blood DriveJeanne C. SteinGrade: C-Sensuality: SubtleA
Category: Reading

Be a Hero for Babies

Wednesday, 6 June 2007 10:24 P GMT-05
The same folks who involved AAR in True Pirates of the Caribbean and The Starter Wife are working with Farmer's Insurance and the March of Dimes for "Be a Hero for Babies" day tomorrow. Make a donation by midnight, Thursday night through this link (
Category: Internet

Up in Vermont...

Wednesday, 6 June 2007 5:40 P GMT-05
My husband got this from a NYTimes feed...and then from his best friend, who works at ESPN. Given the amount of time we've spent in Vermont in recent months, we think it's funny, even if it's not quite at the level of Andy Sandburg. Still, it's got i
Category: Entertainment

Today's Look at Pottie Humor

Tuesday, 5 June 2007 3:27 P GMT-05
I still don't "get" Stewie, but I am a fan of The FCC Song. TTFN, Laurie Likes Books
Category: Entertainment

And Then There Was One

Monday, 4 June 2007 4:29 P GMT-05
Okay, so let's re-cap, shall we? First, Johnny Sack dies of cancer, leaving Phil Leotardo, who not only doesn't want his Lupertazzi family to continue to work with the two-bit New Jersey Sopranos, he wants to take them out, something that has been se
Category: Entertainment

Separated at Birth?

Saturday, 2 June 2007 10:15 A GMT-05
No disrespect to the singer/songwriter of Sometimes When We Touch (a song I love, btw), but when I saw Dan Hill on VH1's 40 Most Softsational Soft-Rock Sons last night, all I could think of was Geico. Dan Hill Geico Caveman Watching that show last n
Category: Entertainment
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Why, oh, why...? (updated)

Saturday, 2 June 2007 10:14 A GMT-05
Why, oh, why, is it that whenever Dallas is featured in the news or on TV, it's horribly embarrassing? Tonight was the perfect case in point. My husband had an allergic reaction to something, so I gave him some Benedryl and sent him to bed. It wa
Category: Entertainment Personal/Political
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Stewart Copeland

Friday, 1 June 2007 4:35 P GMT-05
Tickets in Dallas for the Police's upcoming gig are being auctioned off for three to four hundred dollars, so we won't be going, but I've been checking in on Stewart Copeland's forum for his posts on how the tour is going. Yesterday he reported that
Category: Entertainment
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Do as I Did

Friday, 1 June 2007 2:20 P GMT-05
Do as I did, and download this Green Day video (or single) from iTunes to benefit Amnesty International's Campaign To Save Darfur. It's hauntingly beautiful, and it's for a cause we should all care about. It's genocide, people, and we need to get of
Category: Entertainment Personal/Political
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Well Trained

Friday, 1 June 2007 10:25 A GMT-05
One of my cats has me very well trained. When he wants me to pet him, he comes to me and meows, and has me follow him to a specific spot in our entry way, where he lays down and rolls over onto his back. And before we were able to wean him from onl
Category: Personal/Political
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