Don't Forget to Support Mr. Incredible!

Click here to support Mr. Incredible.

Read his story here.

Gabriel Aubrey is on the Market?

Clearly Halle Berry has lost her ever lovin' mind!

As we well know, I think Gabriel would be the perfect Rhage.

Here's a little inspiration to get your weekend started right.

Musings on Facebook

I come from a relatively politically aware family. We're all registered voters, some of us are quite active in local/state/national politics, others of us just show up to vote. I'm generally a "show up and vote girl" so the result of being in my family for me is that political discussions make me very uncomfortable. I tend to not discuss politics at all, or if I'm forced to, to extricate myself from the conversation as quickly as possible.

I have very close friends on both sides of the political aisle. In fact, my roomie, H. and I have an almost perfect arrangement, as we are firmly seated on opposite aisles: we don't talk about it. At all. Ever. No good ever comes of it, one or both of us ends up frustrated. And unsurprisingly, that's not good for household accord. So we just don't.

But I find that Facebook is an interesting place. There are groups for every possibility under the sun, from "I'll bet this slug can get more votes than -insert Famous Person's Name" to becoming a fan of "sleep" (of which, I'll readily admit that I'm a fan).

I find though that it is difficult for me to stomach some of the groups on Facebook and not become offended by them. I believe in the voting process. I believe that every American has a right to speak their own mind, to lobby passionately on behalf of causes they believe in.

And yet...

occassionally I find myself surprised when someone becomes a fan of something that by my definition is politically extreme. The most recent one was some sort of a fan page in Facebook that said something along the lines of "Lord, you took my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, and my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, please know that Barack Obama is my favorite President." Now, I get that this is a joke. I really do. And the page has something along the lines of a million and a half fans, including a variety of my facebook friends.

I'm not making a value judgement about those who have joined this group. Heck, I joined the Petition to get it removed from Facebook. What I'm saying is, if you're like me, you've got friends on Facebook who you don't really "know." People who you're acquainted with. That guy you met at your sister's barbecue. Someone who you know from an online forum. To me, it's questionable to put political inclinations up on Facebook. I guess I'm wondering what others think.

YOUR TURN: Are you comfortable putting your political leanings on Facebook? Or elsewhere online?

CJ Does The Jackal

One of my favorite moments ever from The West Wing. CJ does The Jackal.

Why doesn't Allison Janney have her own show on TV? She is made of awesome.

Enjoy.

I'm A Sucker for a Good Fairy Tale

This is the trailer for Beastly which is out in July.
Fairy Tale + Teen Angst = Big fun for Kati

ETA: Christine says Beastly is a book! Yay! Pretty cover. I'm going to be picking this one up for sure!

Tuesdays with Taylor

*LICK* Mine, mine ALL MINE.
My goodness he's a gorgeous specimen, isn't he?
(and before you accuse me of being a cougar, Taylor Kitsch is 29!)

The very best show on TV (in my opinion) premieres on NBC on May 7th.
I seriously can't wait!

Christina Hendricks Talks to Men

I'm on the record as saying I think that Christina Hendricks is among the very sexiest women on the planet. I'm now saying, along with that foxy red hair and seriously BANGING bod', the girl's got brains! She's on the cover of the Women edition of Esquire magazine.

In it, she pens an open letter to men, telling them things like: "women hate shorts that go below the knee" (so true!), and women love good manners and brag about it to their friends, and that women remember everything that men say about other women's bodies (not in a judgmental way, but in the way that we index what our man finds sexy) AND what our men say about our bodies, and that we love our men's bodies and the way they smell (SOOO true for me. I could pick Scott out of a lineup blindfolded - I love the way my guy smells). But my favorite thing she says is that "Marriage changes very little."

Intelligence and humor (and your smell) are what get you laid. That's what got you laid when you were single. That's what gets you laid when you're married. Everything still works in marriage: especially intelligence and humor. Because the sexiest thing is to know you.

I think this is an AWESOME start, but what are some other things that our men should know about women??

Read the whole thing here.

Mr. Incredible Fights the Good Fight

Last June 24th was a big day in Mr. Incredible's life. He went from being your average, mostly healthy 3 year old, to being a child with Type 1 diabetes.

When Amy called me the preceding weekend to tell me that a recent visit to the pediatrician had indicated that Jack had a cold (he was complaining about a sore throat), I didn't think much of it. But on Monday, when he was still a little limp noodle, and drinking water like it was going out of style, Amy and her husband Trip decided that time for a return trip to the doctor. When they got there, the doctor drew blood and found that Jack's blood sugar was over 500. A normal 3 year old's sugar should be in the 80-100 range. Jack was whisked to Fairfax Hospital, and admitted to the Pediatric ICU.

To say that it was a terrifying time would be an understatement. Jack was an absolute champ throughout it, from tolerating as best he could nurses coming each hour to wake him and take his blood. To having to wear air casts on both arms so that he wouldn't jostle the many tubes coming out of his little arms. He was as sweet and patient as ever throughout the entire ordeal.

For Amy and Trip, this was an absolute course change. Their lives had been turned upside down. Both began to absorb as much as they could about juvenile diabetes, meeting with endocrinologists, pediatricians, nutritionists and other experts who could help them figure out how best to care for Jack's diabetes. It was an emotional and terrifying time for their entire family. Soon Jack was able to come home, but everything had changed. They had to learn all about counting carbs to be sure Jack was receiving a balanced diet. They had to check his blood four times a day, including a 2AM check. Jack was starving all the time, his little body working hard to deal with this new assault.

But slowly, surely, Jack and his mom and dad are figuring this new life out. Amy still worries constantly about Jack's numbers. They still get up in the night when his sugars are too high, wake Jack up, get some juice into him, and hope for the best. Each day, she and Trip work together, making Jack's life as normal as they possibly can. While Jack has learned to say "I can't have that" when someone offers him something sweet, it's a heartbreaking lesson for any little kid to learn.

He's a rock star though. He literally doesn't even flinch anymore when he gets his fingers pricked to test his blood. And he takes his insulin shots like they're nothing at all. He's a tough, amazing, reslient little kid.

But Jack's journey through the last year has made me more aware than ever that this horrible disease CAN be cured. Each day, scientists are working hard to develop new and exciting possible cures for this disease.

Amy and Trip and some of their close friends and family will be participating this May 2 in the Juvenile Diabetes Walk here in DC. I'd ask that any of you who are able to please consider donating to this amazing cause. Even if Mr. Incredible has lived up to his moniker, no kid and their family should have to go through what my friends are enduring every day.

Click here to support Team Boovie, Jack's team for the JDRF walk.

Thanks!

After the Happily Ever After

I've just started reading Duty & Devotion by Tere Michaels, it's a sequel to her fantastic first book in the series, Faith & Fidelity. The story revisits Evan and Matt, two men who had never had a homosexual encounter before they became involved with each other. Their close friendship evolved into a romantic one almost organically. And despite a lot of doubts (on Evan's part) and angst(mostly insitgated by Evan) in the first book, but then end, as a reader, I believe in their HEA.

Duty & Devotion's prologue begins literally at the moment that Faith & Fidelity ends. It shows Evan still having doubts, still feeling unsure about the whole "gay"couple thing. A few months later, Matt is now staying how with three of Evan's four kids (his oldest is at college). And Matt is, thus far, pretty much super-Dad. He runs the house, manages the kids' schedules, talks them off the ledge when they're losing it, and is home and supporting Evan when he works late (he's a Detective, so he works long hours), and is a loving all-you-can-be partner. But here's the thing, we can already see that Evan is falling into the pattern he had with his wife, Sherri (who died at the beginning of F&F), and we can see Matt already thinking "Damn, could I get a little thanks? A little acknowledgment of the work I'm doing?"

Picture me already thinking "Ugh, this might be too much 'After the Happily Ever After' for me." And it got me to thinking - do I really want the After the HEA part of a book? I love to revisit past couples in series books. I adore Nora Roberts' Chesapeake Blue because we get to see all of the Quinn brothers with their wives and families and so happy, even 10 years after the first trilogy was set. But, do I really want to experience their domestic ups and downs?

It's almost too real for me.

YOUR TURN: Do you like revisiting couples from past books? Do you like the After the Happily Ever After? What series does the AHEA well?

The Art of the Glom

I'll admit it. I'm a glommer. When I read a book I like, I almost always immediately go to the author's website or some other place to find the title and description of every book she's ever written. My latest glom was Joey W. Hill's Nature of Desire series. I downloaded and read them all in giant, gulping bites in about two weeks. I can tell you that I'm in the middle of reading Faith and Fidelity by Tere Michaels, and I'll be buying every book by her when I'm done. I glommed the Adrien English series by Josh Lanyon.

But my biggest, favoritest glom ever was my In Death glom. I read Nora Roberts' books for YEARS without ever picking up the JD Robb series. Part of it was because the series was shelved in the mystery section. And other than audiobooks for long trips, I don't "do" mystery. I read romance. Exclusively. Imagine my shock when I picked up Naked in Death and found myself captivated not just by the mystery (which was a good one), and the technology, but by my all time favorite romance hero ever, Roarke. Then, imagine my delight when I realized that there were 18 more books out there for me to read. In less than six weeks, I 'd bought every one of them. I bought them in five book chunks at Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million. I found myself stymied by why the publisher would list the books in alphabetical order, rather than in series order. I found myself frantically checking pub dates to be sure I wasn't reading out of order. I found myself reading to the exclusion of almost everything else. And when I was all caught up, all I could do was wait frantically (thank god Nora writes fast!) for the next one.

Anyway, I love to glom.

YOUR TURN: What's your most recent glom? Do you have any suggestions for me on can't be missed series or authors who I need to be glomming?

A Shot From the Launch

Space Shuttle Discovery races into the sky past Cinderella's castle
during its launch on April 5, 2010.

(c) Disney 2010

Farewell to Dixie

Dixie Carter has died at the age of 70. I consider Designing Women to be one of the most important and formative television experiences of my life. Prescient and timely, even now, the show is smart, insightful and all about girl power. As Julia Sugarbaker, Dixie Carter embodied the idea that a woman can be outspoken, opinionated, beautiful and successful. What a role model.

Farewell, Dixie. You were adored by fans everywhere.

Yes, you can give him a message. You do take shorthand, don't you? Good, we take it in the South too. Anyway, just tell him that I have been a Southerner all my life, and I can vouch for the fact the we do eat a lot of things down here... and we've certainly all had our share of grits and biscuits and gravy, and I myself have probably eaten enough fried chicken to feed a third world country - not to mention barbecue, cornbread, watermelon, fried pies, okra, and... yes... if I were being perfectly candid, I would have to admit we have also eaten our share of crow, and for all I know - during the darkest, leanest years of the Civil War, some of us may have had a Yankee or two for breakfast. But... speaking for myself and hundreds of thousands of my Southern ancestors who have evolved through many decades of poverty, strife, and turmoil, I would like for Mr. Weaks to know that we have surely eaten many things in the past, and we will surely eat many things in the future, but - God as my witness - we have never, I repeat, [shouts] never eaten dirt!

The Baby Will Tire Eventually...

Hey Kati...

Where've you been? I've been at the launch. See the pretty picture? NASA made history again by sending three women to space. Why is it historic? Because another female astronaut went to the International Space Station last week aboard the Soyez (Russian rocket). That makes four women in space at the same time. And that's history folks. Girl Power for the Win!

Whatcha been reading? I finished Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr. I'll be reviewing it for Mandi, but I'll tell you this, this remains among the most compelling series, YA or other, that I've ever read. The books, geared to be young adult are written in such a smart, compelling voice that the narrative is just seamless. And in the world building arena, Marr is practically peerless (with the exception of Anne Bishop, who is a world building goddess). This is another truly stellar installment in the Faery Court series. Now I'm reading Silver Bourne by Patricia Briggs. And OMG, is it awesome too. For once, Mercy and Adam's relationship is at the core of this story, and Briggs doesn't skim at all on romance. Hurray, Romance! It's a fabulous entry. Next up is Bonds of Justice by Nalini Singh for Book Binge. I adore Nalini, but I really prefer the Psy/Changeling series when one of the characters is Changeling. This is a second book in a row where neither main character is a shapeshifter. And well, it's going to take a lot for her to be able to truly convince me that the lack of changeling romance in the last two installments is worth it. That being said, Nalini is in my top three favorite authors of all time, so it's likely I'll end up being sold on the book.

Whatcha been watching? Let's see, not much. I did join Netflix a couple of weeks ago, and I watched State of Play last week. It is a really well done thriller. Right up until the end. I mean, I bought the ending, I just wish that there had been more. But Russell Crowe is fabulous as a journalist caught up in the machinations of his college roommate (Ben Affleck) who is a Congressman. An Education with Carey Mulligan is on its way to me now. It was the movie that she was nominated for an Academy Award for. So I'm looking forward to seeing it. No idea whether I'll like it or not.

What else is new? I'm off on Thursday and Friday, and will be heading to Richmond for the weekend to vegetate at Scott's. We're going to Maggiano's with two other couples for dinner on Thursday night, and I'd imagine we'll be watching quite a bit of The Masters, especially if Tiger does well. Other than that, I'll be spending most of the weekend vegetating. I'm exhausted from yet another early morning launch.

What's new with you??