I can’t remember if I ever shared this one, but it still cracks me up. Warning. Michael Bolton alert.

Okie dokie, ladies. Y’all determined last week that Daniel and Jed were shifters. How about these guys? Are they shifter material, too? Of course, we have Caleb, who is my favorite shifter “flavor” at the moment. Yes, I’m writing his story even as you read this! What about LLCool J? Does he have that werewolf vibe?

David Gandy? Does he look like he might turn furry? Of course, our favorite werewolf has to be Joe, right?!?

What about Gerard Butler? (Who can be an oh-so-sexy beast even with his clothes on!) And my last pick, Jason Statham. I always get a sense there’s a wolf lurking just beneath the surface.

Okay, y’all. Chime in on this week’s picks? Yay, nay, or who would you nominate?

I still haven’t been on Twitter which is my source for interesting links around the world wide web so I thought I’d just toss some random at y’all.

Here. Random…

New TV shows:

The Lost Girl on SyFy. Anybody watching this? She’s a fae with succubus powers but was raised as a human. It’s a dark show where light and dark are really more shades of gray than black and white.

Alcatraz on Fox. LOST as a crime drama. I’m not sure I’ll stick with this one but for now I’ll continue just to see which direction it goes after the first few “world-building” episodes.

New Books:

There’s a new JD Robb coming in February–CELEBRITY IN DEATH. I always look forward to the next Eve Dallas book.

After getting this recommendation from one of my seat mates on the trip (a retired teacher who is a huge fan of Jane Austen) suggested the works of author Jasper Fforde to me. His first book, THE EYRE AFFAIR is described on Amazon as:

In Jasper Fforde’s Great Britain, circa 1985, time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, very seriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection. But when someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature and plucks Jane Eyre from the pages of Brontë’s novel, Thursday is faced with the challenge of her career. Fforde’s ingenious fantasy—enhanced by a Web site that re-creates the world of the novel—unites intrigue with English literature in a delightfully witty mix.

This sounds utterly up my alley but when the ebooks cost more than the paper versions, I’m going to hit up my local library for a copy to test it out. I’ll let y’all know how it reads.

I know there are some other books out there on my radar but I’m too lazy to check my wish list.

Other randomness–

SEASON OF THE WITCH is even better than I remember it, even if I do say so myself. Dear publishers, somebody PLEASE buy this series!!! I can’t wait to dive into Caleb’s story.

Tomorrow is Saturday. Yes, there will be brunch.

Anybody have good stuff that happened this week or are you just glad it’s over? Any fun plans for the weekend? Any TV shows, movies, books that you recommend? Feel free to move about the cabin and talk.

I’m on my new/old laptop now. Justin spent yesterday migrating my files from my old Air to his old Air that I’m inheriting. Same overall size but the processor and memory are an upgrade for me. Yay! I’m having a good time visiting with J & S and their spoiled Siamese, Ming. She’s funny (and frustrated) about wanting my attention. I enjoy irritating her.

So…in catching up with my email, the Universe dropped of this little package. Too bad it doesn’t look like my UPS guy…

Silver, have you ever seen a complete stranger across a room, street, or hallway, and sent them a silent, “I love you,” just for the good it might do?

I have.

But then, to me, they’re not really strangers.

Then again, neither are they to you.

Stranger than fiction,
The Universe

P.S. There are no accidents, Silver, no coincidences, and no strangers.

I was immediately struck with the idea that this is how my writing process begins. I look up and there’s a stranger across the room, eying me with mistrust, or mischief, or sadness, or sometimes, even love. I call the stranger over; we sit and talk and when I’m very lucky, a story worth telling starts to emerge. And then I got to the P.S. God winks. Again with the God winks. I really should do a refresher post on God winks one of these days. In the meantime, however, I’m still on vacation time so I’ll let y’all think deep thoughts. By the way? I love y’all. Just sayin’…

This is short. Yesterday was a long day and as I type this, it is very late last night and I hate trying to think about time shifts and thinking that tonight is tomorrow, even though it is after midnight so technically it is tomorrow.

Brief notes about the trip. Monday night was an absolute charlie foxtrot. Tuesday at the airport went smoothly. On the flight to Kansas City, I shared a row with a retired high school French teacher who loves Jane Austen. We discussed books. The lady in the row ahead of us just received a Kindle from her daughter and the first book she’s going to download is one of mine. How cool is that?!? The flight from Kansas City to Tampa was overbooked. SWA offered a $300 travel voucher plus 1/2 of the current ticket to take a later flight. I was too slow. LOL I would have liked that extra mileage/free flight! The flight was full but I managed to get the wing seat so leg room! And a nice couple to sit with.

J & S took me to Melting Pot for dinner. I’d never been. OMGOMGOMG!!!! Amazing food and Anthony, our waiter, was made of awesome sauce.

Ming, their Siamese is laying at the foot of my bed giving me the evil eye because I still have the light on and I’m typing instead of petting. Cat. Need I say more? Y’all looking forward to anything this weekend? It’s Hump Day. What are you on the downhill side of?

Today/tomorrow/whatever I’m going to sleep in. And then I’ll figure out a proper blog for tomorrow. Thursday. That tomorrow. Wait…today is Wednesday. Right?

I’m in the air. Or sitting in an airport betwixt and between. Tonight, I’ll be in Florida enjoying some wonderful hospitality. I should be around all week to check on comments and to post but if I’m not? Hey, I’m on vacation!

So…what’s up with today’s title, you ask. You’ve heard me talk about God Winks before. Sometimes they happen in small ways, too. I read a science fiction novel years ago. And I mean YEARS! I sort of remembered the title–I knew it had Star and Dance or Dancer in it somewhere–but I couldn’t remember the author. The story was about a dancer who ended up at a space station in zero gravity and she learned to dance in…well…three dimensions, for lack of a better description. That’s all I remembered, but I’d think of that book at odd times. And remember it fondly. But it seems that whenever I’d think about going searching for it, I’d get distracted.

Until Saturday night. I overheard a conversation about librarians and someone asked, “What’s that Spider Robinson quote about librarians?” No one in that party could remember. Well…the iPhone is my Google BFF so I looked it up. Spider Robinson is a Hugo-award winning science fiction author best known for his short stories and novels set in Callahan’s Place, a bar run by Mike Callahan. Events shade toward the strange and truly odd visitors often turn up in the stories. Regulars include a talking dog, extraterrestrials, time travelers, a vampire with ethics, Irish mythological beings, and a parrot prone to four-letter words. Puns run rampant. Drinks run toward Bushmills and other Irish whiskeys. This is all paraphrased from the Wikipedia article on Mr. Robinson. I have not read these books. But I’m going to. Oh…see? Squirrels! And shinies! The quote about librarians:

“Librarians are the secret masters of the world. They control information. Don’t ever piss one off. ”
― Spider Robinson

Truth that! Now, remember I mentioned a God Wink above? Spider Robinson also wrote a book called STAR DANCE. About a woman who goes into space and gives the performance of her life to save the human race. Spider wrote STAR DANCE, along with two more books in the trilogy. And I linked it below in case you are interested. I’m going to get a copy from the library and reread when I get back from my trip. And I’m going to start on Callahan’s series. That bar sounds like my kind of place–not to mention that it was voted as one of the top ten bars in SF literature.

So what book has stuck oddly in the back of your brain, like an occasional itch you scratch and think you should find the cause of someday?

See larger image The Stardance Trilogy omnibus of Stardance, Starseed and Starmind (Hardcover) By (author) Spider Robinson, Jeanne Robinson List Price: $26.00 USD New From: $12.90 In Stock Used from: $9.15 In Stock Release date September 5, 2006.

I have the feeling I’ll need this tomorrow. I head out early in the A.M. for the airport where I’ll be jetting off to Florida for a week to visit Justin and his lovely wife. I’m looking forward to it! Don’t worry, I’ll be around to add posts during the week! Here’s my new “Serenity Prayer”:

And speaking of patience…guess what I did yesterday? I sent off FAERIE FOOL to Ms. Editor 1.0. No. Really. I did. I finished revisions over the weekend, dashed off a synopsis and sent that puppy off. I’ll let you know when I hear something. In the meantime, I’m packing and marking things off my to-do list like a mad woman! What did you do this weekend? Fun? Travel? Adventure? Extra sleep?

I still haven’t made it back to Twitter. Next week. Maybe. In the meantime, I’ve stolen another video from Sarah at Smart Bitches. Check out the books the girl is reading! And…uhm…put away all liquids before the end of the video. You’ll thank me after.

Okie dokie, ladies. Y’all know that Goran Visjinic is my pick as a model for Sinjen, sexy vampire professor with a hint of deadly. Who else would make a good vampire?

Goran=Sinjen. And I still conjour up Daniel Craig when I think of Bones in the Cat and Bones series. Yes, I know. Bones has brown eyes, and Daniels are blue, but…but, the voice! And, if you don’t see him as Bones, do you think he’d be a vampire?

Of course, Alex O’Laughlin played Mick St. John in Moonlighting. Is he a vampire? And what about Ryan Reynolds?

What about these two guys? Do they look like they’d be Nosferatu? (Jed Hill and Tim McGraw in case you don’t recognize them…)

What’s your vote? Vampire or other species? Who is on your vampire model list? Inquiring minds want to know!

Okay. If you are easily offended or consider yourself to be politically correct, stop reading now. Move along, there’s nothing to see here. However, if you have a warped view of the world, like a little tongue-in-cheek humor, and a totally non-PC shaggy dog story, keep reading. I laughed. I couldn’t help it.

*****

A guy goes to the post office to apply for a job.

The interviewer asks him, “Are you allergic to anything?”

He replies, “Yes, caffeine. I can’t drink coffee.”

“Ok, Have you ever been in the military service?”

“Yes,” he says, “I was in Iraq for one tour.”

The interviewer says, “That will give you 5 extra points toward mployment.” Then he asks, “Are you disabled in any way?”

The guy says, “Yes. A bomb exploded near me and I lost both my testicles.”

The interviewer grimaces and then says, “Okay. You’ve got enough points for me to hire you right now. Our normal hours are from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. You can start tomorrow at 10:00 am, and plan on starting at 10:00 am every day.”

The guy is puzzled and asks, “If the work hours are from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, why don’t you want me here until 10:00 am?”

“This is a government job”, the interviewer says. “For the first two hours, we just stand around drinking coffee and scratching our balls. No point in you coming in for that.”
****

Happy Friday. Now pass the damn margaritas, STAT!