Farewell, Davy Jones

Words cannot begin to express my saddness.

I was at work when I found out that Davy Jones, the cute little British boy of The Monkees, had passed away of a heart attack.

This is nothing that I was expecting.

Davy was 66 and we thought in good health.

Apparently not.

Sneaky clogged arteries.

The world lost a great entertainer today.

Tis a shame he won't get the send off Whitney or Michael did, but his music had quite an impact.

Love you Davy...


I send Davy off with his solo song...that I adored.



I'll Love You Forever.....Davy....

I Want Mika!!

It feels like forever since The Boy Who Knew Too Much was released. I am going through some serious Mika withdrawal.

I have all but given up on pop music. Most of my favorite artists are disappointing me. I need a guaranteed good album, and Mika is one of the only artists I still like that can do that.

I have heard that there might be a new album coming, but so far, I have seen nothing.

I want new music and I want it now.

Actually at this point I might even be happy with something new by Sliimy, the Mika wannabe.

I'm A Library Junkie

There is one thing I can say about rising gas prices, it keeps me out of Barnes and Noble. (My dad's poor health does that too).

So in order to get my book fix, I've become a good friend of my local library.

It's pretty small, but there's a decent enough selection, plus I can get in on the ebook library lending program. Plus I don't have to leave my own town!

So I save money on books and I save money on gas.

Not a bad thing.

Plus our library is really quite cute.

What things have you done to conserve money while still getting your reading fix on?

The Worst Valentine's Day News Ever

Matt Bomer is gay.

Damn and blast.

This is so wrong.

My heart is shattered.

However, he is a damn fine actor.

But seriously...he was one of my favorite tv boyfriends. Now I have to find another one to replace him.

Thoughts About Amazon Reviews

I hate posting reviews to Amazon. That's why I have blogs. That's why I have an account with goodreads. Amazon is so full of drama. Right of the bat you can tell that most people posting reviews there aren't doing it for the love of the product, be it a CD, book, movie...etc. They are doing it for attention.

Reviews aren't meant to be directed at other reviews.

I hate when I see the first line as, I don't know what all the other 5 star reviewers saw in this...etc.

Uh. No. That isn't how a review should be done.

That's called picking fights with other users on the site, and that's a crappy thing to do.

Amazon is not a social network, it is a store. Reviews are supposed to help people decide what to buy, not start fights.

Get This Song Out Of My Head

Today's earworm brought to you by some reminiscence of the US version of Life On Mars



This song is so catchy it is just wrong!

Stuffed Pepper Casserole

I was hunting down a recipes again. I love stuffed peppers but when I get home from work I don't have the time, or the stamina to make them. I have a bad case of the lazies.

Kraft's website has an awesome and totally delish recipe for Stuffed Pepper Casserole that you have to try!!

What You Need
1lb. lean ground beef
2 green peppers, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cooked long-grain white rice
1jar (24 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1-1/2 cups KRAFT Shredded Italian* Five Cheese with a TOUCH OF PHILADELPHIA, divided
Make It

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

BROWN meat with peppers and garlic in large skillet; drain. Stir in rice, spaghetti sauce and 3/4 cup cheese.

SPOON into 2-qt. casserole; top with remaining cheese.

BAKE 25 min. or until heated through.

I did this a little differently. I used mozzarella in with the meat and colby jack on top, because we always use colby on our stuffed peppers. Instead of minced garlic, I bought Ragu's Tomato, Onion, Garlic spaghetti sauce and it worked wonderful.

This was super easy to make and it was loved by my whole family, which is a hard thing to do.

Too Much Of A Good Thing

The publishing industry is getting lazy. All they seem to want are series novels. Now I'm not knocking series, but it does seem to make authors a little lazy.

Let's face it when you right 10 + stories about the same characters things are going to suffer at some point. Have you heard anyone rave about the new Stephanie Plum, Temperance Brennan or Hannah Swenson novel?

Probably not.

Why?

All these books are well past their saturation points. Joanne Fluke's Swenson mysteries are
around book 14. Evanovich has hit book 18, and I've lost count one Kathy Reich's Brennan books. (BTW I'd rather watch Bones, the show is more entertaining)

You just can't keep things interesting that long. At some point the characters start becoming like family members that are just too darn predictable. That's not to say we don't love them, but we know them too well.

If you look at the reviews for the newer books, you'll see more and more 1 and 2 star ratings when the first books in the series at more 5 stars.

Its sad, but I think writing long term series novels sap the creativity of the authors. They really only know one set of characters and when they stay in their comfort zone for many many years, well the stories suffer.

Do any of you know any long running series that have stayed excellent?