First off, thanks to Carolyn for filling in at the last minute. I rather enjoy having an M meme named after me!

Next off, it’s not like life is any less busy; if anything, it’s moreso. So no writing, but plenty of reading and some watching.

So I’ll be yakking on a random* assortment of topics:

–A very close relative was just diagnosed with some lumps in her breast. Thankfully, due primarily to the power of Twitter, I just had a mammogram, so I know I’m safe until the next check-up. My relative was also vigilant, and it’s very early for her, so we are all hoping for the best. But–since I have you here–have you had a recent mammogram?

–I have known for some time, and likely have mentioned it here, but I love pushed-in teeth. I found another fine example of same, namely Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, who was Le Chiffre in Casino Royale, and who made a name for himself first in the Danish film Pusher, directed by Nicholas Wilding Reyn, which I just saw. Sadly, googling Mikkelsen’s name only reveals pictures where his mouth is closed. But just remember David Bowie prior to getting his teeth fixed, and you’ll know what I mean. Ricky Gervais has them a bit, too. Pusher was a fantastic film, too, if you like gritty everything’sgoingwrong noir. I happen to love it.

–Nicholas Wilding Reyn is currently directing Drive, a film based on the book by James Sallis. It stars Ryan Gosling, and the book is noir lyric poetry at its finest. I’m halfway done reading it, and it is just flat-out brilliant from the first page on. Warning: NOT a romance!

–I’ve discussed this with my Reading Twin™, @tuphlos on Twitter, and she and I are both fed up with the Sniff Test–in a paranormal, when a paranormal entity just has to SMELL his beloved, and he knows right away She Is The One For Him. Um–whatever happened to courtship? That said, we are both still addicted to J.R. Ward. It’s a burden, people.

–In a week, my son will have winter break. You know what that means, right? MEGAN GETS SOME TIME OFF FROM MOMDOM! Unlike usual, though, I’ll still have Jobdom, so I can’t laze about and eat bonbons (like, really, who eats bonbons? Not sure I’ve had a legitimate bonbon in over twenty years. What the heck is a bonbon, anyway? Jean Harlow ate them in Dinner At Eight, I think). But I will get to work later, go shopping without glancing at the time constantly and not have to hear about Yu-Gi-Oh. It’s the little things.

–Oh! I should write during that time, huh? Okay. Will do.

–So–what commonly-used trope in romance novels is irking you (see: Sniff Test)? Do you have any odd obsessions (see: pushed-in teeth)? And what is your favorite comfort old film (see: Dinner At Eight, any Bogart and Bacall, Notorious with Cary Grant and Ingmar Bergman)?

Megan

*I actually cringe when I use the word random, because so many folks use it. But it suits the sitch, so there you go.

Hey, don’t freak out and think it’s later than you thought (not that that makes sense); Janet is doing her best imitation of a poultry-type without a braincase, so I am posting today, not Friday, as is my usual wont.

And . . . we’re off!

I still haven’t found time to write. The day job is a lot of fun, but requires attention and time, and then there’s all the other stuff.

But the commute. The train commute! Ah, how I love thee.

Last week I read the first of Karen Marie Moning‘s Fever series. The final book in the series, Shadowfever, came out this week, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about (okay, ‘fess up: Who here just imagined some grouchy lady in an apron waving a rolling pin while she said that? JUST WHAT I LOOK LIKE RIGHT NOW, BY THE WAY).

It was a lot different than what I’d expected. I never actually expected, given the beginning of the book, to like the heroine, but by the end of the book, I admired her and wished I had more of her spunk. I am still doubtful if we’d be friends if we met in real life, but I bet if we had a few cocktails we’d be hanging out in no time.

In fact, I’m surprised by how much I am thinking about the book after finishing it. That speaks well to its ability to survive as a series, not to mention the multitude of people in my Twitter stream who stayed up all night/stalked the UPS guy/called in sick at work to read Shadowfever. I’m just psyched I have more books to look forward to.

I finished the first Tasha Alexander book I was reading last week, And Only To Deceive, which I enjoyed–it has a romantic element to it, but it’s mostly about a Victorian woman discovering her own interests and expressing her own opinion in a time when most women did not.

And now I am currently reading the Regency-set historical Provocative In Pearls by Madeline Hunter. It is delicious, and I am in awe of Hunter’s ability to weave a complex series of conflicts on a very simple premise. I am two-thirds of the way through, and don’t quite see what might happen yet, which is fun.

Thanks in no small part to listening to Amanda McCabe (aka Laurel McKee), I started watching the Vampire Diaries, which has been so much fun. She and I have emailed a few times with me speculating what might happen and her probably biting her tongue not to tell me.

We both agree, however, as to how beautiful the eyes of Ian Somerhalder, who plays Alpha Vamp Damon, are.

Yeah, so, no writing, but lots of reading, and lots of looking nice almost every single day, which is a change from usual, and lots of interacting with pleasant co-workers, which I haven’t had in a long time.

What is engrossing your leisure time lately?

First off: I have not yet found time to write, but I have found time to open my work-in-progress and look at it to remind myself of my characters and where I last left them. Hopefully that writing time will come soon.

Second, commuting into and out of a job means I have time to read (as though I didn’t find time on my own anyway!). Reading on the subway is its own special pleasure, since there is, literally, nothing else you can possibly do besides be on the subway. No dishes, no laundry, no clamoring spouse/child/etc.–nothing but being on the subway going to your destination.

So while I wouldn’t hope for a subway slow-down, it’s not the worst thing ever if it happens.

This week, I began reading the first book in Tasha Alexander‘s historical mystery series, And Only To Deceive (recommended to me by Cara Elliott), featuring Emily, Lady Ashton. Emily is an inquisitive woman, but has not been accorded an education in anything beyond needlework, languages and indifferent piano playing.

Within the first few pages, Emily is told the story of Paris and that damn golden apple and the three goddesses he has to choose to give it to. That startled me, since that story–and myths in general–were part of my upbringing, as integral to my knowledge base as the math tables and that there were fifty United States.

I pride myself on not taking anything for granted, but in terms of what I’ve been exposed to, I definitely have. What if I hadn’t been allowed access to books and knowledge? What if I were Lady Emily, bred to be a pretty ornament to a man’s home? No wonder our heroines are regarded as so unusual within their own society–they think and speak for themselves, chafe at their restrictions, and devour knowledge as greedily as Venus took that apple.

So while I have not found time to write (see how I brought that back around? I am all about the callback), I have found time to be grateful to be given the tools to enable me to write. And, eventually, I will utilize those tools.

Meanwhile, pity poor Paris, who had to make the hardest decision ever: Which vain, gorgeous goddess was the most gorgeous (and therefore would be the most vain)? Poor guy.

Megan