A Thousand Splendid Suns

It really is splendid. Indeed it is.

Okay - seriously. I just finished listening to this audio book - and while it has a really good story line and all...

The book drags!

And please - sorrow after sorrow after sorrow... There is only so much I can deal with, give me a little bit of hope, some kind of light, in between. Did my heart ache? Yes. Could I imagine myself living as those women had to? No, never. Did it make me feel selfish? Completely.

After we read "The Kite Runner" last year, we wondered how Khaled Hosseini would be able to top it. But the book club girls and I had heard that some people liked "A Thousand Splendid Suns" even better than "The Kite Runner!"

Not me. No Laila jo, I'm sorry. Not me.

I don't regret reading it - it's not a bad book at all. It just didn't meet my expectations, unfair expectations, nonetheless - comparing it to Kite Runner and all....

But now that I've finally finished it, I think I'm going to step away from novels for a bit so I can dive into a world with Anita Blake... Now THERE'S a page-turner!!

Casting Jane in New Moon

I just heard that Dakota Fanning is in negotiations for the part of Jane in New Moon.

No auditions, nothing. Just outright offered it to her!

I, for one, would be ecstatic to see Dakota as Jane - she is one serious actor, and puts soooo much into all of her work. Plus, I think it'd be neat to see her in the dark role of the "witch twin..."

What do you think? Any other ideas on who could play Jane?

Images courtesy of eonline.com; Jason Merritt/Getty Images; Peter Sorel / Summit Entertainment

Just 5 more minutes. Please?

I felt the cool air breeze up against me and let the rays of this rare sunshine spray my face.

I'm normally indoors all the time. ALL the time. I can hardly get myself to walk around the block to pick up my mail.

But today... I had the peace of quiet on my side. The boys were in school. All of them - and now that I'd gotten over the first day of pre-school for my youngest lil' monster, I was thinking I might actually enjoy this new found freedom of mine.

I needed a minute to myself... more, actually. The week has been kinda rough on me, and Hubz and I still haven't patched out our last... conflict, from a few days ago.

I hate it when we have tension between us.

Sitting down at the patio table, I tried to escape into a book for a little while... but I could hear my office phone ringing, and the knowledge that I'd be on a conference call in 15 minutes kept me from reading more than the second chapter of Guilty Pleasures.

I took a breath and stood up, grounding out my cigarette on the rocks (surely no one would notice that) before going to the garage to fetch the ashtray. I need to get it together... wasn't it 10 years ago when I quit smoking?

My five minutes wasn't nearly enough, but life calls. Maybe I can sneak in another break for myself before the first round of playing taxi driver...

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Who's Ready for More Vamps?

As if I don't already have enough vamps in my life with the Cullen Men. ;)

Hooked up with some friends Saturday and had an Underworld movie night - watched both Underworld and The Evolution. Rise of the Lycans will be out January 23rd!

So... can someone tell me why Selene's eyes are sometimes dark, and sometimes ice blue?! Noticed it was usually during a fight - but it never really explains it...

Now if there's ever someone coooool that I'd love to be - it'd have to be Selene. That girl just kicks. Ass. :D (Alice Cullen ~ I still love ya!)

How 'bout you?

Looking for Blog Contest Tips

Did I mention that my birthday's coming up next month?

Which I would LOVE to celebrate with a contest!! But WOW - talk about overwhelming! I've soon so many great contests, with tons of sponsors and organized drawings... what's your secret?

Pinay Jade and Toni have already given me a head start with some tips - thank you ladies!! But if anyone else has any other tips to share - I'd love to hear from you. Specifically, I'm wondering:

• What are the best ways to find sponsors and where?
• What's the best way to organize all the entries?
• What's the best way to advertise the contest?

I'm planning on hosting the contest at my main blog, MammaDawg.com - and to get it kicked off sooner than later. That brings up another question... what's a good length of time to run a contest? A week or two, a month?

Alright guys - MDawg is ready to get schooled. =)

Moving from the Crib

How 'bout a new change to go with the new year?

I've decided to move my sistah blog here to On the Rocks... and will be closing up the Crib shortly. Why, you ask?

Oh, drama.

lol - and you know how I am with drama... I just slowly inch myself away from it. Goodness, I have enough going on that I don't need any more. Besides - it's SO much easier keeping everything under one account instead of having different logins. That's another thing of mine - I like to keep it as simple as possible. :)

So here is where you'll find all my fun, silly stuff like tags, behind the scenes stuff, personality quizzes and OH YEAH - my minor obsession with Twilight. ;)

Did you hear that Taylor will be playing Jacob in New Moon after all?! Good for him!!

Hope you all had a great New Years holiday!! Sipping a margarita on the rocks... with salt!

P.S. It would've been neat to have kept the comments from the Crib... but I'll live. I absolutely love Disqus!