Goodreads: When Beauty Tamed the Beast

When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is another great re-telling of Beauty and the Beast, this one with an added pop culture twist. I was in need of something fluffy and romantic, and "When Beauty Tamed the Beast" hit the spot.


Linnet is a beauty who's reputation is tarnished by a rumor and who's family is tarnished by an adulterous mother. When society believes her to be pregnant, she is taken by a Duke to marry is son, a not-so-pleasant "Beast" of a doctor who walks with a cane and can't forgive his father for his past addiction.


I think we know where this one is headed.


What author Eloisa James did well was to take the story and add some great dialogue and stunning scenes to turn it into a great romance novel. The pop culture twist...if you didn't catch on...is that the Beast is stylized after Dr. House from the show "House M.D." If you didn't catch that, don't feel bad. Admittedly, I didn't realize it until I read the author's notes. Then again, I don't watch the show, so maybe that's okay.


I really enjoyed this book, but it did have a minor annoyance for me and that was that some of the scenes seemed to drag on forever. For the most part the story as a whole didn't drag. But there were several scenes I thought lasted a little too long and gave information that wasn't really needed, especially because it wasn't important at any point in the rest of the story.


If you're looking to satisfy the sweet spot that only a good romance can touch...and/or you like fairy tale retellings...I highly recommend this one.


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The Freedom in Saying “Nevermind”

I recently posted on being rejected. At the time, it didn’t occur to me that there could be a chance of me ever being the rejecter. That opportunity came a few days later.


When I say I was the rejecter, I wasn’t really rejecting anything. What I was actually doing was changing my mind about something I thought I wanted to do.

I found an opportunity on a writing forum. It sounded like fun and something I could easily fit into my writing schedule, so I applied. I applied for two different topic positions, thinking I had a good chance at one and a not so great chance at the other. A few days later, I got the rejection email for the one I thought I had a chance at. No big deal. I’d just wrapped up the rejection post and figured I wouldn’t get the other one either.

Turns out, the people doing the accepting had a different idea because I got my welcome letter the next day. I went to the page to read the training tools and the welcome information and was quickly hit with the nasty feeling of dread. It wasn’t that the rules were hard to follow, nor was it anything different than what I’m already doing. It was partially the fact that even though I applied for it, I really had no idea what to write on the topics they were giving me. It was mostly that they wanted me to commit to 10 to 20 articles a month.

I’m somewhat of a writing commitment-phobe. I like to do it in my own time with no pressure (unless I’m putting it on myself). Short term commitment is fine. I’m okay with claiming assignments as long as I know that I can release them back into the wild if I need to. But considering I’m writing for two other platforms, trying to maintain at least 2 blogs, and working 40 hours a week, there was no way I was going to be able to kick out that many articles for this site, not if I still wanted some downtime now and again.

So I did what I probably wouldn’t have done in the past: I declined the position. It feels weird to decline a position I applied for in the first place, but it shouldn’t, right? People do that in the job world all the time if something doesn’t feel right them. Writing shouldn’t be any different.

Plus, I have a feeling they would have told me to take a hike after the first month when I fell way short of their expectations.

The feeling of relief I had after sending that email was huge, and I realized that most of what stresses me out is stuff that I take on when I really could have just said “no” and not worried about it. In this case, I can continue to write for the platforms I enjoy writing for, I can keep my blogs, and I can still have time to watch Doctor Who and knit a scarf every now and again.

“No” is a good word. “Nevermind” works just as well.

A Word on “Regretsy”

A Word on “Regretsy”


Right next to the hot button topics of politics and religion sits the topic of Regretsy. If you’re not already familiar, Regretsy posts the less desirable items found on Etsy. They also call out people who blatantly steal from others and Etsy itself for turning a blind eye to this sort of practice.

Regretsy tends to be mean spirited. It’s also hilarious, snarky, and blunt. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that it sucks to have something you’ve done or said made fun of by hundreds of people. But there are a few points I’d like to make about Regretsy and the internet in general.

1. We’ve had the internet long enough to know what goes on there. Identities get stolen. People get trolled. Rickrolls come and go. If you put something on the internet, you are automatically opening yourself up to ridicule and meanness. Some of the things I’ve written have gotten nasty comments, not just about the writing but about me as an individual. It stung, but I hitched up my big girl pants and got over it. If you don’t want people to be mean to you, lurk quietly in the cyberspace shadows.

2. I understand that art is subjective, but sometimes bad crafting is just bad crafting. Sure, you made something, you put your “heart and soul” into it, blah blah blah. I remember a time when just putting time into something wasn’t good enough. You had to actually produce something that was aesthetically pleasing, functional, or high quality. Now it seems that as long as you do something, anything, you expect someone to tell you how great you are. I call shenanigans and Regretsy does too (they just do it louder). Not everyone is a special snowflake just because they exist.

3. Hideous or not, stuff that appears on Regretsy sells. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve clicked the link (because they do link to the original sellers work…yay page hits!) only to find that the item sold. One person actually wrote to Regretsy and complained that they suddenly had more buyers. Really! So yeah, someone called your stuff ‘crap’, but obviously someone else thought it was great because they paid you money for it. I’m not sure what the problem here is, other than someone got their feelings hurt (re: big girl pants…pull ‘em up). I opened an Etsy store for some of my knitted items and actually thought about putting one of my really bad projects up there on the off chance Regretsy would give me some air time.

4. What about the good things Regretsy does? They have a section called “April’s Army” which helps people who are having a hard time. They’ve auctioned things for charity. They’ve also developed rapport with people who were good sports about being featured and helped them sell even more stuff. Just because I enjoy following Regretsy doesn’t mean I always agree with their assessment. There have been a couple things that they’ve completely ripped on that I thought were adorable, and I was happy to see they sold before I even got a chance to go to the page.


Regretsy isn’t for everyone. People have the right to defend their work, but I think there’s also something to be said for a good sense of humor. So roll with it, people. Or don’t follow the blog. But getting angry and crazy about the stuff they post isn’t really going to help anyone, and it’s just going to make you a bigger target.

And please, please, please…just ignore the comments.

Minimizing

In several areas of my life, I’ve been purging all sorts of extraneous things.


My apartment has recently undergone a huge purge. We’ve gotten rid of pieces of furniture that were just taking up space. After one of our snakes went to that big snake pit in the sky, we found someone to buy the massive extra tank we had sitting around. We boxed up books and clothes and knick knacks and all sorts of things and sold them at a garage sale.

I go between two extremes. Sometimes I really like being surrounded by stuff. I like the coziness of it. Other times, I hate stuff. I want only the bare necessities: Nothing on the walls, only one or two pieces of furniture - nothing extra that I have to maintain.

Right now I’m somewhere in between. Now that we’ve gotten rid of so much, there’s room to move in our house. I don’t mind having people over again, and I’m looking forward to Christmas because I have room for a tree and places I can decorate. It’s easier to pick things up and keep them clean and I feel more organized on a regular basis.

I’ve even hung some things on the wall, a fact that thrilled my mom when I told her (she hates bare walls).

This need to purge clutter has moved into other areas of my life. I’ve pared down my Google Reader to make it more manageable. You’d think that this wouldn’t be something I would worry about, but it was driving me nuts. After pulling out most of the things I was following, I felt so much better. Sure, I got rid of some of the funnier sites I enjoyed, but I obviously wasn’t enjoying them that much if there 150 unread posts for them. I also parted ways with a couple celebrities I was following and even gave up on some recipe and knitting pattern blogs.

I’m also slowly but surely getting rid of extra things on my computer. I have a ton of old files that are just taking up space, including music I really don’t like, eBooks I probably won’t read (I got a little crazy with the “free” options), and programs that I thought would be cool and then never used. Some stuff is being moved to the external hard drive. Others are just getting booted, especially because at some point, I want to purge extra stuff from the external as well.

Clearing out clutter is therapeutic once you actually do it. It took me forever to just break down and start moving. To tell the truth, the only thing that made me really do it was 1) the garage sale prospect and 2) the impending re-inspection of our apartment. Now that it’s done, I feel so much better. We still have things to do, closets to clean out, and some organization still pending, but minimizing the stuff we had was definitely a good first step to feeling less stressed at home.

Goodreads: Grundish and Askew

NOTE: I was asked by the author of this book to do a review and was happy to do it. It always makes me feel more important than I really am when I get these sort of opportunities. I say it all in the review below, but this book was AWESOME! If you want to check it out for yourself, go buy it here on Amazon. I can't wait to read more by this author!


Grundish and Askew by Lance Carbuncle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


If George and Lenny lived in a trailer park, drank beer, had few ambitions and a violent streak, they’d be Grundish and Askew. This is the second book by the good Dr. Reverend Lance Carbuncle, but the first one I’ve had the pleasure of reading. I’m looking forward to satiating myself on more raunchy, cult inspiring awesomeness.



Grundish and Askew are soul mates and hetero life partners who haven’t been dealt the best hand but are determined to make the most of what they have. Askew is determined to break the generational cycle of prison bound men in his family while Grundish, after serving his time, just wants to stay out of jail. But when a frozen hot dog prank in their trailer park goes awry, the two men have to flee, taking their one-lunged senior citizen aunt with them.



The characters in “Grundish and Askew” are great. The two main characters are raw and disgusting, yet I found myself rooting for them. Turleen, the one-lunged aunt, is well developed as a secondary character and one of my favorites, especially during her interactions with two dogs that show up in her hallucinatory dreams. Minor characters add spice and plot and Carbuncle weaves them into the story with either great skill or lots of luck (I’m going to say the former).



“Grundish and Askew” isn’t for the faint of heart or virgin-minded. There’s sex, violence, gore, bodily functions and some disturbing scenery along the way. But it’s a fun, wild ride that’s well written and one I highly recommend.





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Gym Commitment

For what feels like the millionth time, I've once again joined a gym.

A new 24 hour fitness center recently opened here in Manhattan, KS, and the company I work for made a corporate agreement with them to offer employees a discount. Even with current financial issues, I did a quick check of our budget and found a little wiggle room to join, mostly based on my extra writing income.

I don't do well with self motivation. I know I could walk or dance around my house or do any number of things to get in shape, but if I'm not paying for it, I won't do it. For me, home represents relaxation, and as much as I would like to walk (and will start doing more of it), at the moment I can't make it very far. A gym offers options that will help get me in shape without killing me in the first ten minutes.

Plus, I can exercise without feeling like an idiot, which is generally how I feel if I try to workout in my apartment. Even if no one is watching, I feel self conscious.

This isn't my first gym membership, and I'm sure it won't be my last. I've had an on and off again relationship with gyms since college, when I used the little exercise room in the lower half of the Walker Cisler Center.

The most recent gym was the one owned by the hospital system. They sold it, and so I find myself where I am now. I'd like to say I'm going to stick with it, and I probably will for awhile. I may even stick with it for good this time.  Realistically, there's a good chance I'll get lazy again, but it seems like I manage to go longer each time with less down time between commitments.

While my long term gym use seems less than enthusiastic, I'm actually really excited about this. It's another start, another chance to get in shape, and another chance to start feeling good again.

This time, I'm in it to feel better. I'm in it to build my endurance so I can spend a day walking around without wanting to collapse. I'm in it to have confidence, to ease anxiety, and just to feel better.

Everything else can happen in its own time.

iTunes Musical Journey: Starting Line

I've been listening to a lot of music lately. Unlike my multi-tasking husband, I can't write and watch TV at the same time, but I hate complete silence. My iTunes has really been getting a workout lately.  I usually shuffle. Sometimes I pick a good song and then "Genius" it, a method which has yielded some amazing results and shown me gems I didn't even know I had in my 7007 song collection.

I decided to take a little journey through my iTunes list. Instead of ordering it, I did an album sort (A-Z) and am listening to everything in order. There have been a few so far I've been able to purge, random songs that found their way in without my original okay. I'm not very far, hence the "Starting Line" of the title. I have almost 20 days worth of music and that's assuming I was to listen to music 24/7.

My hope in doing this? I'd like to have all my music rated. I'd like to get rid of things I really don't like. With the exception of a few artists, I'm less interested in keeping full albums and more interested in making sure my iTunes is loaded with things I enjoy.

In conjunction with this journey, I'm using the albums I listen to as article fodder for AC. Because who can't use some extra topics to write about?

The rules: Listen to music in order and let every song play all the way through. Even the sad ones. Even if they make me cry.

This is going to be a long trip.