Feeling Guilty?

So...I'm wondering. What are some of your guilty pleasures?

Why this is on my mind...I have no idea. Maybe it's the general go nowhere of my writing day.

In any case, there it is: guilty pleasures.

I'll go first and confess to a few of mine.

One Life to Live. I follow a whole bunch of soaps, but right now OLTL is my fave. Edgy stories (ie high school teacher and student) and interesting characters. Except for the stupid story they're doing now about a crass stripper with no heart of gold blackmailing her sister to give up her soulmate in exchange for the stripper's bone marrow which would save her leukemia-ridden nephew's life. Sheesh. Give me a very large break...

But I can fast forward through that disaster.

Here's one of the reasons that show is so compelling.

Who can resist those baby blues?

And he writes poetry. Poetry!

Another guilty pleasure? Okay, I admit it, I'm a girl: shopping.

Love to shop.Here's where I go when I don't feel like getting in the car: myshape.com.

Yes, you have to do a WHOLE lot of measuring, but once the numbers are in, they only recommend clothes that fit your shape, AND they tell you what size to get. Plus they have really cool clothes. I bought the dress for my daughter's wedding there.

So, OLTL, shopping, and...gee, there are so many, its hard to choose. How about...potato chips?

Yup, that is a REAL guilty pleasure because once I start I can't stop and by the time I've gone through half a bag I feel soooo guilty about all the reasons why I shouldn't have (fat, calories, salt, etc.) that I almost can't enjoy them.

Almost.

Here's the brand I grew up with, the one that seems the most delicious in my memory. They don't carry this brand in Nashville, so when I do indulge I have to make do with Lays. Not the rippled kind either. And no cheese or vinegar or sour cream or other chemical additives to make the chips taste like something else. Just plain, clean, salty, fried goodness.

Or, depending on how you look at it..badness.

So, there you have it. Three of my guilty pleasures.

I didn't realize it until now, but there is a kind of synchronicity to the 3 I've picked today. Eating potato chips while watching OLTL means I'll have to widen my measurements on myshape.com...

But enough about me. Anyone out there want to confess to some of your guilty pleasures?

Vacation in Paradise

Just spent the last weekend on the beach in Florida.

Fantastic.

Can't come up with enough words to describe. So here's a picture. It looked exactly like this...

I could have stayed forever.

I wonder--do people who live there take it all for granted? Do you stop seeing how beautiful it is? Stop experiencing the wonder of it?

Now, if only there weren't those damn hurricanes....

Cross-Blog Inspiration

Well, no one seems to be interested in BYOT (Bring Your Own Tote) so I'm moving on.

Today, I got an interesting comment on an old post I made to the Grand Central Publishing blog, Grand Central Cafe. This gals over at the cafe were drooling over some of their hunkiest boy toy fantasies, complete with drool-worthy pictures, and, of course, no droolicious contest will ever take place without my boy, Ben. So I posted a few pics (see them all at my Dec 10 Cafe post) and some very smart, wise person with excellent taste, named Danielle, came across it and ID'd herself as a fellow 'scaper.

That's Farscaper to you uninitiated. Which means a fan of Farscape. Which is just about the best damn scifi TV show ever, including Battlestar Gallactica, which I do watch (in small, grim doses...).

Danielle's post got me to sigh and dream and remember the wonderful, fabulous, heartbreakingly painful adventure romance of John Crichton and Aeryn Sun.

So, after working on my next book, which I did this morning, I'm going to take the rest of the afternoon and moon over all the heartbreakingly painful adventures John and Aeryn still have left to experience--inside my head.
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To Tote or Not To Tote

So I was in my favorite store the other day. Not Neiman's. Not even Bloomies. As everyone who knows me knows, my favorite store is...Target.

So I was making a lightning run--not easy in Target where everything is so, well, appealingly affordable--and I was at the checkout and I remembered after the cashier had put everything in a plastic bag, that I had brought my own bag. Feeling very righteous and green, I put everything in the bag I have squished in my purse, (mine is the green one at right, but no pun intended), put the plastic one back in its holder for the next shopper, when I heard her say, "I don't need a bag, either." I turned around and there was the next woman in line, taking out the bag squished in HER purse.

Which got me thinking.

I never used to see people shopping with their own bags. Now it's not that ususual. I've got bags on the floor of the car for grocery shopping. So does my husband. How about you? Do you tote your own bags?

Last summer I went up to Canada and did a grocery run at the local store. They don't even have plastic bags. Well, they do have them, but if you use them you have to PAY for them. A penny a bag. Most people bring their own bags.

I thought that was a great way to encourage people to use less plastic.

So what I wondered at Target was whether the plastic bag companies are seeing their orders falling off? Does my decision to tote my own mean some factory somewhere is going to close and so many people will be out of a job?

Why does everything have to have all these unintended consequences?

Did you see Wall-E?

Our world reduced to the mountains of junk we leave behind.

I guess I'll continue to tote. And hope that the plastic bag factories can convert their process into something else.

What about you? Tote or no tote?

Alas, no pics from the retreat have been forthcoming. One of these days I'll remember to take my camera.

I'm working on a masthead for my website, so you should be looking for that. Once again, it involves a decision and, as I've said, I'm decision-averse. On the same proverbial day I remember to take my camera, I'll also take the plunge and pick a look for my site.

Meanwhile, the ARCs for One Deadly Sin are out, the book can be preordered at all the usual places (Amazon, B&N), and I'm starting to get excited about it. I'll be doing some stuff for the Romantic Times conference--an online promotion by my publisher, Grand Central, putting some cool background info about the genesis of the book on my website, and, of, course, giving a copy away.

In fact, if you're in a hurry to read it, the March prize on my web contest is an ARC of the book.

So--what do you think of the cover? In the words of Ed Grimley, I must say I enjoy the blue and black coloration. And I love, love, love those cemetery gates. Not so certain about those two up top. They sure look like they're getting it on, though, don't they?

Retreating

Just got back from a great weekend with my fellow Music City Romance Writers. We played "Who Am I?" and had to figure out which half of a famous couple we had stuck to our backs, did a lot of writing exercises, did some crafty things with beads, played Perquacky, laughed a lot, and--of-course--ate more than we should. I didn't think to bring my camera, as usual, so I'm hoping to snatch some shots off someone else. If and when I do, I'll post them.

Just wanted to leave you with the thought that you can't write alone. I love being part of a great group of women who do what I do and are willing to share their struggles and their triumphs, not to mention their cake recipes....