Okay…jellybean update. After all the talk on the blog the other day, I just couldn’t help myself. So I tried vomit. I think they were just trying to psyche out all the poor unsuspecting kids, because it just tasted fruity to me. Or there’s always the possibility that Jelly Belly actually thinks vomit tastes like fruit-flavored candy. Either way, it was totally palatable. I also tried bacon. DIS-GUSTING!! Ick, ick, ick, ick, ick. Can’t say enough. Flavors still untried: Dirt, Earthworm, Rotten Egg, Sardine.

I mentioned in my Thursday Thirteen that I had a story about 9 1/2 weeks. So here it is. I think it’s hilarious, but it could be one of those ‘had to be there’ kind of jokes. Bear with me.

In college I had this guy friend whom I didn’t know all that well but who hung out with guys I knew really well. Let’s just say he was a character (and pretty crude–I didn’t understand half his comments, and I assume that’s the reason). Well, he found out I hadn’t seen 9 1/2 weeks. Couldn’t believe it, thought that was a travesty.

Well, a week or so later, he borrowed a tape of a movie I’d recorded (can’t remember which one). When he gave it back, I watched it (either again or for the first time–can’t remember). When fast-forwarding through all the commericals, I noticed there were ads for 9 1/2 weeks. Thinking that a pretty funny coincidence (that we’d been talking about it and suddenly it was on), I mentioned it to my friend. Come to find out, he’d spent HOURS with my tape, recording the racy sections of the movie into the commercial breaks. And I’d fast forwarded through the whole thing without even knowing! It was the perfect revenge.

Hope everyone’s writing or reading something good!

Okay, first things first…Disgusting jellybean update: my sons have now tried both Earwax and Booger and have pronounced them ‘tasty’. My younger decided to chant ‘I like boogers’ after his taste. It was tastefully done. No takers yet on the Vomit. I’m sort of bribing them to try new flavors…they can have a tasty jellybean if they try a gross one. I’ll keep ya’ll posted.

Next, I’m including links to this and this. I recommend viewing both.

I’m thirty pages away from finishing The Spellman Files–the book I put on hold at the library after reading that it was ‘hilarious’ on Publisher’s Weekly. Well, I wouldn’t say it’s hilarious–I laughed out loud only once, but I would say that it’s clever, witty, amusing, spunky, intriguing–a really great read. I had to fly through this one as it’s due tomorrow and I couldn’t renew. (Someone else read Pub. Weekly and put it on hold right behind me). Another book coming highly recommended–it’s about a family of quirky private eyes, and the cover flap says it’s going to be a series.

One specific little thing that appealed to me about this book was how the author, Lisa Lutz, used little lines or quirks to link different scenes and various parts of the book. For instance, Izzy, the protagonist would say that her sister Rae kept silent for five minutes, ‘beating her old record by a minute and a half’*. These were scattered throughout the book, and it was great for continuity and character arc, etc. I think I’m going to try to weave something like this into my WIP. I think it’s sort of feels like an inside joke between the character and the reader. And how great is that?

Oh, and I got my hair cut/styled today. I asked my husband to take a picture and it came out looking pretty grim, so I turned around, told him to count down, and I’d turn and smile like a supermodel. I think that plan was a little optimistic. He got the back of my head and this Freaky Girl photo. Just look at the hair, not my psycho eyes and zany smile.

*This is not a direct quote from the book