Forget Walking on the Grass!

Found this sign, supposedly posted at an erotic art museum.

Isn't that hilarious?

How to Hypnotize a Man

So, I saw this on my friend Gaucho's blog. I'm sure this is intended for men, but I found myself playing with it for a few minutes.

The winner of the dragon charm bracelet will be announced later today (after I get off work.)

SECRETS OF JIN HAKKU Thursday 3: Three to Tango

There's a popular meme called Thursday 13 in which every Thursday you make a list of thirteen things. I did this for a few months, but I don't have time for thirteen! So, I whittled it down to Thursday 3.

Whenever I have a new release, I traditionally celebrate by dedicating a week's worth of blogging to that book. This post marks the first of five about SECRETS OF THE JIN-HAKKU, which comes out on November 26!

JIN-HAKKU is a menage story. So to start things off I thought I'd post three menage images.

This is probably from a Greek piece of pottery. My friend, Evie Byrne, would be able to tell you much more about this. Maybe she'll pop in and comment. I chose this image because in JIN-HAKKU, Hana gets to enjoy this position with her conjugal pair, Kai and Joran, however, in my book the heftiness of the figures is reversed. This Greek woman is Amazonian compared to Hana!

Here's another menage image. This one made me chuckle. Cats gang-banging. Who knew?

Lastly is a Photoshopped image of me a friend made as a joke. Check out that rack! My chest has never looked that...prominent. Those things look like they could break a window.

Today's Question: Who do you like better? Pitt or Damon?

Any comments made between now and the end of the month enter you to win this Italian charm bracelet with a special dragon charm to commemorate JIN-HAKKU's release. :) Winner to be announced Dec. 1. (Sorry about the crappy picture.)

Two Choices (Tag Game)

Saw this on another blog. You post two choices of your choosing. Coke or Pepsi. Cats or Dogs. Marble or granite. Whatever. Then, you post your choice and tag someone to post their two choices on their blog.

So I ask you...Paris or Rome?

I'd choose Rome in a heartbeat. I haven't met an Italian food I didn't like. The language makes me want to melt. The people are so so friendly.

I tag Robin B. (And that reminds me she tagged me to do something a while ago...)

Thursday 3: Crackers Are Okay

There's a popular meme called Thursday 13 in which every Thursday you make a list of thirteen things. I did this for a few months, but I don't have time for thirteen! So, I whittled it down to Thursday 3.

I would not kick this guy out of bed for eating crackers, no sirree.

I'm currently writing the third book in my Be-Wished series, tentatively titled ASKING FOR IT. The hero is a soldier, but I haven't decided which branch of the military yet. This hunk obviously swims, so I'm thinking maybe Navy.

I'm also thinking...

1) ...maybe this guy uses that knife to take out the bad guy who has captured me, but the bad guy is no match for my good guy. Afterward he cuts the ropes that bound my wrists together. Because I'm way to shaky from my experience to walk, he carries me to safety, barechested, of course. (Him, not me. LOL)

2) ...or maybe I'm a Lara Croft type gal and we're just completed a mission together. We've been fighting the attraction to each other for a long time, but I can see in his eyes, he can't take it anymore...

3) ...or, I was being held on a boat of some kind, and there's a helicopter dropping a harness down to me. Looking into my eyes, he straps me in with words of encouragement. Promises to see me in the helo. And of course, he's a man of his word.

Heh heh. Thank you God for giving me my imagination. It's my favorite toy.

Feeling Lazy

Friday is usually the day I feature art, but it's already one in the afternoon and I'm just kinda tired.

So, here's a little pic that brought a smile to my face. Hope it brings one to yours, too.

Have a fun weekend.

Forget Cookies. Give Me Coffee!

Someone gave me this as an avatar on Romance Divas, an online romance writing group I belong to, and I crack up every time I see it. It's particularly appropriate for me because I work at Starbucks. And everyone knows that Starbucks coffee IS a little on the dark side!

Free Association

I say ... and you think ... ?

Gossipping ::
Misplaced ::
Spaceship ::
Ignore ::
Bodily ::
Tweezers ::
Goodnight ::
Curls ::
Faucet ::
Right? ::

Respond in the comment section. Mine are there already!

I'm It

I've been tagged. :) I kinda like being tagged. It makes me feel like I'm in the In-Crowd, but it's more likely that my crowd just likes memes.

Anyway this meme is called the 1-2-3 tag:

Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment to the person who tagged you once you’ve posted your three sentences.

I picked up The Lady and the Unicorn, by Tracy Chevalier. She wrote Girl with a Pearl Earring, which I really enjoyed. Both books are fictional books that revolve around a work of art. This time it's about six unicorn tapestries. Here's a picture of one of them.






And here are the sentences:

"Christine and I need to discuss it," Georges said. "I'll give you my answer tomorrow."

"Good," Jacques said. He picked up the knife and cut himself a large wedge. "You give me the girl and you'll get your blue. And don't try to go to other woad dyers--they know me better than they know you."
Jacques is a woad dyer in Brussels who wants to marry Georges' daughter, Alienor. Alienor can't really hope for much better than the dyer who smells like sheep's pee because she's blind. I really worried about Alienor. She is a wonderful character. I really enjoyed this book.

Oh, I forgot to tag more victi--er, bloggers. I tag: Evie Byrne, Loribelle, TJ Bennett, Chloe Devlin, and Keira Ramsay

Low Humor

In my family we have this silly game we play once in a while, usually in the car. (I have two sons, so forgive me my lapse into potty humor. The only females in my house other than me are the two hamsters.) The game is to take the title of a book, movie, or TV show and substitute one of the words with "fart." The trick is you have to choose a title that is still recognizable, even with one of the words replaced with "fart". For instance, you can't take "Heroes," and say, "Farts." That isn't funny. Neither is "Fart Movie," for "Bee Movie."

Here are some of our favorites:

Harry Potter and the Fart of the Phoenix

Fart Silent, Fart Deep

The Postman Always Farts Twice

Horton Hears a Fart

Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Farts

Can you think of some funny ones?

Phone Art!

Oh, man, I think I may have to get this. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has this thing where you can download wallpaper to your cell phone. You can choose just one work of art or subscribe and get a bunch every month.

Here's one in particular that I like. Cupid and Psyche, by Adolphe Braun.

I also like Collection du Chat Noir (Collection of the Chat Noir)
by Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (right).

There are plenty of other works available. Just thought I'd share! Have a great weekend.

Dana Tagged Me

1. You’re feeling: Tired. Went to work at 4:30 this morning, on my feet for 8 hours.

2. To your left: is a TV tray table with a mug full of pens, a container with gum, dental floss, a calculator, post-its, a baby name booklet, paper clips, an iPod cord, and the remote for the fan.

3. On your mind: Requesting a transfer to another Starbucks location. I need to work at a place that has a set-up more conducive to my height, but am really loathe to leave the crew I like so much. But I don't want end up filing another worker's comp claim and going through physical therapy for my left arm--and shoulder this time!

4. Last meal included: salad and leftover pork ribs.

5. You sometimes find it hard to: not get seconds.

6. The weather: Gorgeous.

7. Something you have a collection of: State quarters.

8. A smell that cheers you up: Citrus

9. A smell that can ruin your mood: Sour milk

10. How long since you last shaved: a few weeks ago. I'm Asian and my leg hair is extremely fine.

11. The current state of your hair: A mess and most likely smelling like coffee.

12. The largest item on your desk/workspace (not computer): The mousepad

13. Your skills with chopsticks: Expert. Been using them since I was a child.

14. Which section you head for first in a bookstore: Bargain books.

15. Something you’re craving: Tommy's chili fries

16. Your general thoughts on the presidential race: Not happy with my party's candidate, but downright terrified of the other's.

17. How many times have you been hospitalized this year: Zero

18. Favorite place to go for a quiet moment: The bathtub

19. You’ve always secretly thought you’d be a good: Editor. Or, if I had been Caucasian, a Brady Bunch cast member. LMAO

20. Something you’ve eaten too much of lately: You name it.

21. You have never: Smoked anything.

22. You never want to: outlive my children.

23. People I’m tagging: Chloe Devlin, TL Schaefer, Dawn Halliday

How'd They Do That?

My son sent this to me and it totally freaks me out. It's an Internet magic trick and, for the life of me, I can't figure out how they do it.

I had to turn the sound down because it was already creepy and the sound effects just put me into "Have mercy! I'm only an ignorant human who doesn't want to know about stuff like this" mode.

April Fool's

Last year we were in Lake Tahoe for a ski trip. We arrived on April first. After dinner, my youngest son, B, and I returned to the hotel early. My hubby and elder son wanted to do a little shopping. When they returned, I told my husband that B had sprained his ankle while crossing the street and probably wouldn't be able to snowboard that trip. My husband just about freaked out thinking about the money he'd paid to rent the equipment, for lift tickets, etc. We let him believe it for about two minutes. It was hilarious.

This year I wasn't feeling so creative, so I spent a little time searching for some good pranks and I'm going to do the following to my family:

1. Insert a raisin in their toothpaste tube.
2. Stuff their shoes with cotton balls.
3. Color the milk with food coloring.
4. Sew their underwear together so when they pull out one pair, all of them come out of the drawer.

Got any pranks planned?

Artist: Rama Hughes

This is a Very Cool Blog called The Portrait Party. This artist, Rama Hughes (left), has been drawing portraits all his life. His family gets together and has portrait parties, where they all sit around and draw each other. He now maintains a blog on which he posts people's portraits. To participate, you find a partner and draw each other.

Now, I have always maintained that I can't draw people worth squat, but I am a very harsh judge of my own work. However, I could certainly do something as good as this one.

If anyone wants to participate with me, email me! We'll swap photos. :D C'mon, it'll be fun! When you're eighty, you can look back at your life's accomplishments and say, "I swapped portraits back in 2008 with Kate Willoughby." LOL

Gee, It's My Genome!

Interesting artwork, eh?

Guess what! It's someone's DNA. Isn't that fascinating?

You, too,can hang your genes on the wall. DNA 11 is a company that specializes in making art out of YOU, your dna, fingerprint, or lip print. The DNA portraits ain't cheap--they run almost $400, but it will be one of a kind artwork that's sure to spark conversation.

My decor doesn't support this type of artwork, but I still think it's pretty neato.

Single In More Ways Than One

My friend, Dana Belfry, turned me on (no pun intended) to the personals at Craig's List. They were very amusing, but this one in particular grabbed my attention.

Girly Girl Site

I don't wear that much make-up, but when I saw this Beauty Addict blog featured in Real Simple magazine, I had to check it out. I ended up browsing its various pages for a good twenty minutes.

Okay, correction. I just went back and cruised for another ten and now I want to go shop for nail polish. LOL

Check this blog out for all things beauty.

Crack Spiders

It's Monday. I have the day off, which doesn't happen often. I usually have to open the store bright and early at 4:30 a.m. Hooray for sleeping in. Here's a great video you should watch.

Rice for Words

Here is an addictive "game," that has a dual function. One, it helps you in your quest to procrastinate, a never-ending (subconscious) goal of mine. Two, it can help feed the hungry.

Free Rice