I was going to write another book review, but...(rant)

First things first.

Yesterday, I started Lucky number 3. Five pages! I went to bed happy.

Last night, I had a dream I got an agent. Then I woke up pissed off.

Anyway, I read a book when I got home from my dad's house around 3. I finished it a little while ago. I'm going to put it on my list, but I'm not going to review it. Reason being, I think it was poorly written.

I will tell you it was Harlequin Blaze book (I stole from mom#2), and figured it would be a nice fun read for the afternoon. The story premise was a good idea, but I couldn't help how crappy the plot was set up.

This came from an author with 30+ Harlequin novels!

I tried to read "Romance" books when I was a teenager. That's ALL Mom#2 used to read. She belonged to the club, got wine glasses--the whole nine. I remember reading one, about a Scottish Highlander time travel. It was decent, but eh. Too much old school "Romance" writing. Her slick petals, his rigid manhood...ugh, gag me. So I went the Suspense route and stayed there for the most part.

I've picked up a few Romance books over time, nothing ever caught my fancy. Then Chic Lit came around. I read Jane Green and Jennifer Weiner's first few books, then eh.

When my sister started getting heavy into Romance novels, I tried a few others. A Paranormal, a Historical, and eventually a Vampire one. The Vampire one stuck, probably because the writer captured the way I've always wanted (Good) Vampires to be. Rugged, Kick ass, no holds barred. Hot. Yum.

So I tried the Erotica one the other day, fell flat, then I get to this one and now that I’m done with it, I'm like WTF.

I know there are typical formulas for romance, boy meets girl, attraction but complications, teasing, sex but not really committed sex--more out of desperation, need, or fear, then the threat, climax, relief sex, second unneeded climax, SUPER surprise that usually ties hero and heroine together! (Which I spotted a mile away.), tie up loose ends, and either an “almost happy” or “happy ever” after.

18 pages in, I almost decided to give up. I can't say why, it might give away the book. Let's just say, I put it down to a minor detail being over looked and moved on...

In this one, it was a girl in trouble, she meets the boy who, of course, is the only one who can help her. Attraction is instant. Personal internal voices are the same tired thing over and over again. "Yes, she was beautiful, but he had a job to do." "Oh, he was hot, but she had to focus on her problems." Blah blah. Attraction grows. Threats get bigger. She turns to him, he "helps” her but winds up "giving her" the wrong idea, despite the fact they can't keep away from one another. Miscommunication and anger makes them turn away from each other instead of toward each other and the threat keeps getting bigger. They fall back into the comfort of each other for a moment, then the big bad wolf shows. He's taken down, after a fight, and all seems well. They have, oh-ah sex in the aftermath of the danger. Then the surprise second climax hits. There's other bad guys! Oh no! Then! The big OMG!!! surprise that's supposed to leave us jaw-dropped. It left me rolling my eyes. After the second climax, things settle, the rest of the loose ends tied, others left open for a sequel. This one had an almost happy ever after which was the only refreshing thing in the book.

The writing wasn't bad. It wasn't great. The character's "headed" somewhere just about every time they moved. The attraction was handled well, but the situations the author put the characters in didn't seem believable. The dialogue was fine. The relationship’s between secondary characters was good. I saw a few little head hopping scenes, but I think that may have been a format problem or a missed break in the paragraphs. (I hope)

I really have a problem when I read a book like this. Good story idea, not particularly well written, and I think of Play Nice, my first book. That was...five years ago and I KNOW I'm 1000% better now than I was then. So my question is, how do these authors write 30+ books for the biggest Romance publisher in the business and turn out crap over and over again. I can't see any of this person's other 30 books being better if this is her latest. WTF?

Seriously? What is it?

Is it luck? I don't have any of that, never had. So if that's it, I'm fucked.

Persistence? I've been at it seven years, do I need seven more? If so, that's all right, I’ll keep plugging away.

Is it more reading? They say you should read more to write better. I read more and get aggravated because I feel so passionate about my writing I can't believe it's not as good as some of this other...stuff.

I take out every instance of passive voice that haunts me. My dialogue (I'm told over and over again), is a strength and believable. I show and show as much as humanly possible. My characters are always complex and multi-dimensional, with full back story and whatnot even if the reader never sees it. I know my characters, maybe not everything about them, but enough to make them as real as possible. My plots are cohesive, well researched, and follow through the whole story. I don't throw in stupid sub plots just to pad the book. (Though, I have been accused of it in the past.) I don't always tie up EVERY loose end, because you know what, you can't really do that in life, so why do it in a book?

I even attempted to write something specifically for Harlequin last year. They turned me down. Humph! Okay, I admit, the novel wasn't very good and the plot was kinda thin, but that seems to be the trend for these little 70k word books. Thin plots, OK characters, eh dialogue and happy endings. So that's what I tried to give them. Nope.

I. Just. Don't. Get. It.

It's frustrating. It's annoying. It's actually kinda insulting. No, I am not the greatest writer and never will be. But I will always try to get better. I will always want to learn how to write the best way that I can be. I just have to believe, somewhere deep inside my cynical little heart, that someone will believe in me too, one day. I love my family and friends so much for telling me how much they enjoy my writing. I love it when people I only know online or don't even know tell me that they enjoy my writing.

I only want to write. That's all I want to do. Writing saved my life more times that I'd care to admit. Without writing, I know I wouldn't be the person I am today. I never would have sorted out my wacked out head as a teenager. I never would have realized my mistakes as a young adult. I would have made the same stupid mistakes over and over again. Writing helped me learn how to deal with people. Writing helped me learn how to listen. Writing helped me vent when I had no one to talk to and still does. (Like right now! LOL)

I want to put a smile on someone's face. I want to draw them into a dangerous and exciting world. I want to make chills run up their spine. I want them to fall in love all over again. I want them to see themselves in the same situation and relate. I want them to want to be my main characters because they're so kick ass. I want them to read something I wrote and feel touched, inspired, happy, maybe sad, or healed, but mostly entertained.

I don't want to be rich and famous. I'd be perfectly happy with "writing for a living" and semi-well known. I know there are MANY authors out there, some I know personally, who make a good living writing without having to be on the NY Times or USA Today bestsellers list. I would be fine with that.

I guess my biggest problem is two fold. #1. If a good 30% (made up number) of the books out there are crap and I'm a better writer, why aren't I getting book deals? And #2. If 30% of the books out there are crap, and mine is crap, why can't I be one of that 30% of crap gosh damn it? LOL

I know. I know. Never give up. Never surrender. I won't, at least until the last shred of my sanity hangs loosely by a thread. I just wish it wasn't so hard and mocking at times...

Update and book review.

Queries sent: 60
Rejections: 23
Partials requested: 5
Partials rejected: 4

I got a partial request yesterday. The agent responded today saying she liked the work, "I think they're quality but not really the kind of thing I'm good at." Then she gave me another agent in the office to send to! Woot! That felt nice. I've got my fingers crossed.




I read Decadent by Shayla Black today.

Blurb from book: Kimber Edgington is a virgin with a crush-on a pop star with a penchant for threesomes. Determined to prove that she's woman enough for singer Jesse McCall, Kimber turns to bodyguard Deke Trenton for sexual education...lessons that include his super-sexy friend Luc. Though she's saved herself for Jesse, Kimber soon learns that he's not the man adept at stoking her aching, endless need. That's Deke, and he can't resist when Kimber begs for more-and more.

I did read this book in one sitting. Initially, I bought the book 1. because I liked the idea of a virgin and threesome. (Yeah, I'm demented like that) and 2. I'm still "branching out" when it comes to reading and I haven't read an erotica novel before.

The first thing that gave me pause was Kimber. For some odd reason, and maybe because of the uncommon name, I couldn't for the life of me get the picture of stupid Kimber from Jem and the Holograms out of my mind.

You know, this one:

Anyway, once I got over the Red-Headed Kimber weird thing, we meet Luc and Deke. They're cousins. Hot cousins. One night, the other day in every contrasting sense. Kimber tells Deke what she wants. He's not sure she knows what she's asking. Luc seems ripe and ready to go, but Deke freaks poor Kimber out and she high tails it out. Eventually, Deke gets her to come back, agrees to her conditions--mainly that she wants to stay a Virgin for Jesse, and takes her home.

The instruction begins and Kimber can't help but face the building feelings she's having for Deke. Angsty love-hate plays a big part in the one on one relationship between them but the secrets Luc and Deke are keeping from her ultimately ruins the agreement before it really heats up. Kimber leaves, goes to meet with Jesse. For some reason, she thinks she loves this guy. He's a tool, but at least she's woman enough to see it and gets the hell out. Only problem, this is where the book begins to falter for me. This subplot carries over into a subplot about Kimber's father's and she finds herself possibly targeted by a man furious with her father. That subplot carries over into the relationships between Kimber and her brother's and everyone's preconceived notions about Luc and Deke.

Some of the conversations she had with her father and brothers was creepy. While I myself happen to be very open talking about sex with my parents, I don't think any father would say "He's had a hard on for you..." to his daughter no matter how macho he might be. I digress. Something bad happens to Dad. Kimber finds herself under lock and key and in the bed with Luc and Deke. Jesse continues to hound Kimber, telling how much he needs her to change. Kimber confesses to Luc that she's in love with Deke. They scheme together to get Deke to take her virginity, knowing he'll never get over the past unless he does.

After Kimber tells Deke she's pregnant, all the secrets start to come out. Luc has a secret. Deke has a secret. Their reasons for always sleeping with the same woman comes to light. Neither reason is quite good. Only after a third life-and-death situation, do Kimber and Deke get together....

I had a big problem with the subplots. They seemed like they were thrown in there just to make the book more exciting. I don't think it was needed. The relationship between Luc, Deke, and Kimber worked well on their own. The sex was good and believable. The emotions were raw and powerful when they were all together. I was kinda hoping the three of them would end up together. I enjoyed the first half of the book much more than the latter. While I understand erotica books are supposed to be hot and steamy (which it was), I think having real world subplots with little meat draws away from the great characters Black created. Tension does help to build great sex scenes, but sometimes they just get in the way and that's kinda how I felt while reading.

All in all, I enjoyed most of the book and think I might try another erotica book in the future. Maybe.

Another book review.

Sometimes, when I'm on a roll, I'm on a roll.

I just finished reading The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly. This is my second book written by this guy and I'm equally impressed with this as I was with The Poet.

Connelly brings you deep into the cat and mouse, quick switching hands of the US criminal justice system and lets you see just how messed up it is.

Mickey Haller has an office, a Lincoln town car, which he uses or abuses, depending on how you look at it, in his daily lawyer routine. He talks with clients, makes deals, finds new clients, and gets updates on others while traveling to and fro LA County defending his many shady clients. In his eyes, everyone is guilty of something and in truth, he's right. However, guilt or innocence really doesn't matter. Haller just wants those clients he knows he can get off by pointing out shoddy police or prosecutorial work. He's doesn't care about guilt or innocence, not anymore.

Having recently taken a CJ course and knowing many of the facts about overcrowding and deal making, makes for compelling drama when Haller meets some of his less fortunate clients. Most of them he gets off with ease, snitching up, or cutting a deal. There are bikers, drug dealers, and prostitutes on his client list, but none of them are truly evil.

Until he meets Roulet. A seemingly straight laced rich white boy from the nice side of town is accused of attempted rape and murder. His version of the incident makes for a great case. The evidence seems to be on his side. Haller has a gold mine client, one he's sure will go all the way to trial. As he and his team start digging into Roulet's life, things take a turn for the worse and Haller believes an innocent man and a former client is still in prison. Worse yet, his current client turns out to be the killer.

Now stuck, Haller tries to make heads or tails of his predicament only to learn his friend helping with the investigation is murdered. Piece by piece, Haller sets his plan in motion. He has no other choice but to get Roulet off scott-free or he'll be implicated in his friend's murder. He easily tears up the prosecutor's case and uses his knowledge of the entire situation to manipulate Roulet's current trial into an acquittal while at the same time serving evidence to convict him with the other murder.

I knew where a lot of Haller's ideas were going and had enough legal knowledge to know what he was planning long before it started to happen. I think the reason I enjoyed it so much was how real and honest it was. It let you see how flawed our system can be at times, from BOTH sides of the fence. Sometimes I don't understand why there are SO many lawyer books out there because people always say they hate lawyers, so why are they always reading about fake ones?

Me, I've always found it fascinating. It wasn't until I really started paying attention to real life cases that I noticed how messed up things can get, but with all the laws, loop holes, human mistakes, and such, it's one job I wouldn't want no matter which side I were on. *cough* OJ.

While this book will give you a raw and fucked up look into the criminal justice system, it also gives you a raw and fucked up look at some of the people who are manipulated by and manipulate the system. Most of the time, in self serving ways.

I'm not sure Connelly had intended for his novel to be a platform for CJ reform, but it should. No holds barred here he gives it to you straight. And anyone wanting to be a lawyer should probably read this book too….

Love and loss of a character. (and a book review)

I’ve said before my love of reading and writing started with Nancy Drew. While it’s technically true, I hadn’t realized until recently that I already had a love of mystery books way before I met Nancy.

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned my childhood fascination with Encyclopedia Brown. I remember going to the library and getting new books every week and it was always an Encyclopedia Brown book. At first, I couldn’t figure out who the culprit was. Eventually, I got to the point where I would go back and read parts to see if I remembered a clue correctly, and tried harder to solve the mystery. Soon, I was figuring it out pages before being told. I read however many of them I got my hands on back in the early 80’s. I think I must have stopped reading them when they were too easy but I honestly don’t remember.




I was twelve when Nancy hooked me back into mysteries. I read and actually kept every Nancy Drew book at the time. I had my own bookshelf; all the books were in number order. White, pretty little pillars of my accomplishments. I was reading real novels! These mysteries got a little too easy after reading about twenty or so of them.




One day, I learned of the book trader. Bring your paperback books in for credit and get other used books in return. Excellent! I brought my stack to there. (I think they might still have a few copies of them left over…) I found my next author. Mary Higgins Clark. (I also started reading Star Trek books, but that’s a different story.)

At sixteen, her books can be pretty scary. I started with Where are the Children? and devoured everything after that up until her latest was coming out at the time, Loves Music, Loves to Dance.

These weren’t the same types of mysteries, rather moved toward the suspense genre. Still, I was able to figure out some of the bad guys before they were revealed the more I read. I stopped reading her in the mid 90’s as I had discovered other authors like Stephen King, John Grisham, Iris Johansen, Catherine Coulter. Aside from King, I noticed a trend. I liked death, violence, suspense, and mystery in my novels.

After those authors grew stale for me, or I lost interest in their characters, I searched for something new. A friend of mine gave me Eyes of Prey, by John Sandford. Once more, I was hooked.

I went through all available books straight through, once more, until I was caught up with the series, then subsequently waited for all the new releases.

I just finished Invisible Prey. Woot. I just read it…all…day…long. Okay, I read a chapter yesterday, then picked it up this morning. Finished it in between commercials during American Dad…anyway, I digress.

Sandford’s novels are called Lucas Davenport Mysteries. Well, because Lucas has to solve them. After reading the first book, I was utterly confused. Sandford, after teasing for a while, tells you who the bad guys are. Maybe not ALL the bad guys, but the ones Lucas is chasing.

Sometimes, I still get aggravated when he doesn’t put it together faster, even though I love the way he does it. I know that’s selfish of me because I know more than he does, but still…I can’t help myself. It took me a while to stop trying to figure out the whodunit part and focus on the howwhydunit part.

So, usually when I do something like watch a movie, or TV show or read a book, I like to reminisce if you will. As I write this, I’ve come to realize that Sandford keeps my attention because I don’t have to try and solve the mystery, I just have to watch someone else do it. With all those other writers, it became too easy. The red herrings were so obvious they slapped me in the fast the instant I met them. Perhaps this is because I read most of their books one after the other and honed in on the writing. Maybe they just got lazy. Maybe I was just dating those books until I found something better.

I admit, I am fickle and narrow in my reading selection for the most part. I have expanded my genre range, and have "read" outside the box. However, I only have five authors on my must-buy-as-soon-as-the-fricken-book-com

es-out list. And, it’s only one specific character(s) driven series. I have an overflowing shelf of books, some by those five authors, another character series or stand alone, and a plethora of other authors I’ve never read before waiting for me. I just haven’t gotten through any of them yet.

I was honestly surprised that I picked up Sandford’s book and couldn’t put it down. I shouldn’t have been, but I was. I tried reading one of his new books outside the series, but never finished it. I didn’t care about that character. The writing was still awesome, it just didn’t take hold. So, I was worried going into to Invisible Prey. Whew.

Of course now, I’m reading with a keener eye. Before, it was all about entertainment and though I do try to just read for reading’s sake, sometimes I notices things. With other authors it was the same plot, different character. Other authors it was crappy dialogue or too much telling me the plot instead of unfolding it. Sandford hasn’t gotten sloppy. Sure, at this point, he’s doing a bit more telling than he has in the past, but I guess it makes sense. The majority of the people picking up the book already know Lucas, his life, his history. For the sake of those who might not, though, he fills you in with a bit of telling, not a problem for me. Keeps the pace fast and moving. And after reading the Kouga Ninja Scrolls, I don’t hate “telling” so much despite what the experts keep trying to tell us writers.

Seriously, doesn’t it get exhausting trying to come up of ways to “show the audience” what someone looks like with action? “Samantha, fidgeted with her bra, her abundant D-cup breasts jiggled and her blue eyes sparkled mischievously.” What’s wrong with “Samantha was a blue-eyed Barbie clone.” You get my drift…

So, I still love Lucas. Oh, the review…sorry.

Two old ladies are killed in a big dark mansion, not far from Lucas’ house. Though he’s busy with another case involving a politician and an under aged girl, he’s got his eye on the murder-robbery, his gut, telling him something is off.

As Lucas and the gang get more involved in the murder, and trying to work on the politician without pissing off a bunch of people in high places, more strange things start to pop up. A woman named Gabriella comes to him claiming her grandmother was murdered and robbed in the similar fashion as the other two ladies. He gets help in unlikely places, his wife Weather, a sharp teenager, and a over achieving intern.

The trail leads Lucas into the world of…antiquing, quilting, and money laundering. No, seriously. Anyway, Lucas and Smith get closer to uncovering the mystery, there’s an attack on the young girl, Jesse, associated with the Lucas’ political case. He connects more old-people-murder-robbery cases together starts finding the missing pieces he needs. Gabriella goes missing. He’s gets on the trail of his red herring. The Jesse’s house is firebombed. Lucas thinks the two cases are somehow connected now but it’s driving him crazy how…Then one of the suspects turns up dead and two women are accusing the other of foul play. A sting goes bad, but in the end, the good guys come out on top.

I found myself laughing a bit more than normal. This was one of the best Lucas books in the whole series. It had the right amounts of everything and was…just a great book. Some of the political and writing humor struck a cord. The supporting cast was on point, and we even got snippets of old friends and a character from his other series. (Never read Kidd, but I have a book on the shelf…) He introduced a few new characters that I hope will stick around for his next book, because I’m already looking forward to it.

Valentine's Already? (and a book review)

Ugh. Okay. Happy Valentine's Day. There I said it.

I ain't got a sweetheart, so I ain't getting booty. But my brother bought me chocolate yesterday. Whee!

Onto more important things...

Queries sent: 46
Rejections: 19
Partials requested: 4
Partials rejected: 3

I'm not stopping. Thank you all for your wonderful comments and suggestions. I figure, maybe when I hit 40-50 rejections I'll try something new.

BOOK REVIEW!


The Kouga Ninja Scolls by Yamada Fūtaro (or Fūtaro Yamada if you'd prefer)

First, I want to point out this book was written in 1959. Second, it has become an anime: Basilisk and a movie: Shinobi.

I watched the movie and really liked it. I wanted to read something that was truly Japanese, sans the hard kanji reading, so I ordered the book and started reading....

Iga and Kouga are ninja clans who have hated each other for four hundred years. Their master, much to his dismay, allows ten ninja from the two clans to fight to the death so they may chose the next ruler of Japan.

Oboro is the granddaughter of Ogen the Iga leader. Gennosuke is the grandson of Danjou leader of the Kouga. They are Romeo and Juliet in the greatest sense of the word. Oh, they do love each other and plan to marry to unite the clan.

Only problem, the rest of the ninja want to fight. They love spilling blood and will do anything and everything to destroy and kill their enemy.

I rather enjoyed this novel, but I will say, as a "western" reader, it was much different from the type of novels I am used to. Reading the book was like watching an anime. Honest. If you're a fan of anime, then you know about long internal monologues, endless recaps of information after events, and repeated information just because. Well this book has it all! Toward the end of the book I didn't think the recaps and repeat information were needed, but there were many characters in the book and it was easier to remember who was who the way he wrote the book. He did tell a bit more than show, but I always thought that rule was stupid if it was TOLD in a great way.

One thing really loved was the way he explained the ninja powers. He didn't use supernatural explanation , no he used nature! I won't say more in case you happen to read the book, but everything made perfect sense!

Something surprised me though. He mentioned stem cells when describing someone's ability. Now I don't know if it was the translator who did this, because I didn't think people actually KNEW about stem cells in 1959. According to the great Wiki in the net, they weren't discovered until the 1960's. So, maybe the author described something else and the translator used current information to plug in? Weird...

Anyway. I enjoyed the book more than the movie, of course. The movie changed things around a lot and made for a much happier ending than the book. I also suggest the movie if you liked Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Promise, or House of a Thousand Flowers.

The Kouga Ninja Scrolls or as I now like to call it Romeo and Juliette: Ninja Style gets a big thumbs up from me.

Next on the list: Invisible Prey by one of my favorite authors, John Sandford.

I'm excited for LOST tonight!

Have an Happy <3 Day!

Updates and Pop Culture Talk

Queries sent: 36
Rejections: 16
Partials requested: 3
Partials rejected: 2

Well, I’m making progress. I got a partial request in fifteen minutes from sending an email! That was pretty damn cool. But then today I got the rejection:

Jenn: Thanks for sharing these pages with me. I read these pages with interest and see writing talent, but I wasn't as drawn into the story as I hoped and will pass on the opportunity. Sorry, {Agent name}.

Dang it! I know the first three chapters are good. I’ve worked on them for months. Bleh.

Keep trying, right?

It’s so hard not to get depressed. I am focusing on the fact that I’ve been asked for three partials already. That’s more than I could say for other things I’ve queried in the past.

I have some outstanding queries from early January. I’ll have to look up each one individually. I do remember some agencies saying “If we’re not interested, we won’t respond.” Kinda lame, but I know agents are busy people. Form letters are fine, they take two seconds. It’s really not that hard.

I guess I’m still having those “am I good enough” issues. I mean, I’ve read excerpts from Bestselling authors and I couldn’t believe there was head hopping in such a small section. Not to mention half the “Hot Reads” I see in Cosmo do the same damn thing.

Why is it the rules don’t seem to apply to writers who’ve made it? Why can they head hop? Why do they even head hop? It’s so annoying to read one character’s take on the situation in one paragraph then the next it’s someone else. Okay, fine, maybe they’re writing in omniscient point of view but I was told it’s not something a good writer should do. Was the advice wrong? Not from what I see on the internet.

Okay, enough complaining…

My former roommate came up for his birthday. We went to lunch with friends, played Rock Band and Call of Duty 4…Well, I tried to play it, but first person shooter games make me dizzy…

By the way, if any of you have PLAYSTATION 3, my user name is Tiva_Boon. Heheh, my brother thought it would be a good way to promote the books. I have a little bubble over the username that says “Coming soon…” LOL

We watched NFL highlights from the Superbowl too. Man, what a great game that was. I predict both Manning bros will make it to next year’s game. Heh, that would be fun. Since they each have a ring, they can really duke it out!

I hope the writer's strike is solved this week. Damn it, I want my 24 back!

JERICHO comes back this week! *Squee* Yes, I’m one of those people who signed the protest. I didn’t send nuts into CBS, but I would have if they didn’t bring the show back. The reviews in Entertainment Weekly aren’t great, and I have a feeling the show won’t be as good as it was without Gerald McRainey, but the idea of the show still intrigues me, thus I will watch. I love it when fans bring shows back. Can you imagine how different Katherine Hiegl's career might have been if Roswell didn't come back for another season? I almost started watching Grey's Anatomy because she was on the show, but I'm still over medical drama's right now.

LOST is doing well in my opinion. Funny thing, my dad called me up during the commercials and was asking all these questions he should have known the answer too. Then he tells me he didn't watch last season! >.< He said it was boring. Well, granted some did feel that way, I thought it was a great season and answered many things the fans were bitching about. Of course, now there are more questions, which makes it even better. hehehe.

I’m still watching the Sarah Connor Chronicles. I love girls who kick ass. Survivor came back on last week. Frickin Johnny Fairplay. He’s gone, good. I don’t know why they even allowed him to come on again.

Should be fun to see Ozzy and that other kid go at it in the swim challenges. Ozzy is a dolphin!

I’ve given up on Bionic Woman (think it was canceled anyway), and Chuck. I hear Journeyman was canceled too. Bleh. At least Pushing Daisies is staying on the air, though, I’m not sure I care about Net and Chuck anymore. The relationship isn’t going to go anywhere, so I have no idea what they’re going to do. Chi McBride is awesome. I watched an old episode of Boston Public the other day with Mathew Lawrence. I got teary eyed.

I got teary eyes watching Across the Universe this weekend too. I love the Beatles. I love musicals. This one was decent. It was a bit confusing in parts. I wasn’t exactly sure what year was which, but I knew enough history to kinda figure it out. I think the movie didn’t do well because of this type of confusion. Not to mention the way they told the main character’s stories then mashed them all together. All in all, I liked it. The singing was great and Bono was funny.

I’m reading the Kouga Ninja Scrolls. It’s a Japanese novel that inspired the anime series Basilisk (which I haven’t seen yet) and the movie Shinobi: Heart Under Blade. I watched the movie late night a few weeks ago. It was different, I’ll give you that, but I enjoyed it enough to get the book, so that says something. I like the supernatural elements of the Ninja’s fighting style, so I’ll be sure to post a review when I’m done.

Back to the internet now. I still need a real job.