My Favorite Topic

Mizz Roxy Ann!

Yesterday was our Advance Obedience class at Petsmart--Here she is doing a fabu job at the down stay at 20':

AND, I was Twittering at the time--how cool is that? Her homework is very complicated though. In addition to working on coming when called. We are to do the "Return to Heel" maneuver:

1. Start with dog facing you

2. Hold leash in right hand/treat in left

3. Keep right leg planted

4. Move left leg backward while luring dog with left hand

5. Your dog should now be behind you

6. Bring left leg forward, equal to right

7. Bring left hand forward with you left leg, luring your dog

8. Your dog should turn to follow the treat

Got it? Yeah.. me too...

Heathers the Musical!

On Twitter this morning Meg Cabot announced that there was a musical version of Heathers in the works--can you say awesome? So a quick research and I have this to pass along:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i8fb6ec824ccd92fe674ee9e5a1b1b1eb

"The readings saw "Veronica Mars" star Kristen Bell playing the lead and Christian Campbell as J.D., with Jenna Leigh Green ("Wicked"), BrokeDown Cadillac lead singer Corri English and Christine Lakin (the CW's "Valentine") as the three Heathers."

Funny side note--when I was in college we had a pop culture-ish sociology class (love college classes) and in was a hearing impaired student who sat in the front row with their sign language person translating everything. Not such a big deal until we watched Heathers... I don't think I've ever seen anything more hilarious than a someone trying to sign language all the dialog in Heathers. And yes, I now know how to sign--f* me gently with a chainsaw. LOL.

To read this blog in English, press or say 1

This is me--trying to get a new DVR sent to my house:




Handy bit of advice--I learned that if you are cuaght in the menu maze--just start using foul language--the fake lady will send you to a real person. It's like the secret golden key that everyone in the fantasy novels quests for!

For Authors

Okay--desclaimer here--I LOVE LOVE LOVE my editor, but still can appreciate the humor of this t-shirt from Buzzwhack (http://www.cafepress.com/buzzwhack/6516485) :

Vampire Excavation

Medieval Vampire Skull Found!

"The remains of a medieval "vampire" have been discovered among the corpses of 16th century plague victims in Venice, according to an Italian archaeologist who led the dig.

The body of the woman was found in a mass grave on the Venetian island of Lazzaretto Nuovo. Suspecting that she might be a vampire, a common folk belief at the time, gravediggers shoved a rock into her skull to prevent her from chewing through her shroud and infecting others with the plague, said anthropologist Matteo Borrini of the University of Florence. "

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090311/sc_livescience/medievalvampireskullfound

Oh wait--this was from another weird story:

"Colonel Sanders statue which was found in a river is pictured in Osaka, western Japan Tuesday night, March 10, 2009. The statue was pulled from the river, 24 years after being tossed in by crazed baseball fans.(AP Photo/Kyodo News) "

Twicks or Tweets

By designer-wg.de on Flickr

I'm on Twitter now. I imagine this will be the downfall of my productivity--not that my productivity was through the roof or anything. But even so, if you're on Twitter let me know--follow me and I'll follow you :-)

So far it has been a bit surreal. I feel like I've been hanging with Ashton Kutcher all day (he's a bit addicted) and then I found out that Dave Navarro is considering donating his body to medical research--can you imagine being the med student who gets his body? LOL. (http://web.utk.edu/~fac/donation.shtml)

Seriously--Twitter is my brand of heroin.

Here's my page: http://twitter.com/brooketaylorboo

My name got cut off--and in hindsight I should've done something like brooketaylorwtr or something that actually made sense--but I kind of like boo, so I'm keeping it.

My worst Fears Realized

Warning: the following blog post contains a shocking and disturbing account of events that occurred in my home last night. The following blog is no recommended for viewers who have DVR's.

I'm a busy gal--I've got a full time job, I write my books, I take care of many more pets than the law allows... but I always find a way to make time for television. In recent years a little invention known as the DVR came into my life and made things amazingly easier. I can watch two hour long shows in the time it took to watch one. I can pause live shows and go stare into the fridge and wonder why I still haven't thrown out that...that...what is that? I can schedule tons of shows that I'd never have a chance to watch and never have work ethic to remember when they were on. My scheduled shows is always maxed out, each week I have to make sure I clear off enough space for the next week's shows. In short--I use my DVR to its fullest. I can not imagine life without it. It has revolutionized my world. And it has failed me.

Last night while on technical support--I was asked to do the unthinkable--a total and complete reset. Everything I'd recorded gone--my lift of shows to be recorded gone. It was horrible. And sadly, I don't think it even worked. I'll know more tonight, but I think it will have to be replaced. sigh.

I did get to watch Melissa Rycroft's appearance on Dancing with the Stars--YAY!!! She looked and danced amazing--and she only had two days to practice--unbelievable. Eat your heart out Jason!!!


And I caught the end of a show I wasn't that interested in at first, but as soon as my DVR is working again, it will be going on the roster:

Doggy High School

She will always be my little puppy, but yesterday Miss Roxy Ann started High School. Yep. She's a teenager. She'll be officially 1 year old on Saturday--Princess Party !!! And she has a spa day (er--groomer) scheduled for Tuesday! (LOL-I also convinced her that it was a tradition for doggies to get baths on Christmas morning before they got to unwrap their toys--shhh!)

Anyway, she's completed all of her training classes and is now in Advanced Obedience.

Yesterday was our first class and let me tell you, it was already serious business--we started off with sit stays and down stays at 20 feet. Graduation is going to be an official AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluation. And it is going to be hard. Some things she'll have to do:

Ignore a tray of food on the floor. (um--okay--but it better not be cat food)

Stay at 20 feet. (she rocks the stay!)

Recall (come) from 10 feet. (But with no treats--eek!)

Be alone with a stranger for 3 minutes. (That's like 30 years in dog time).

She'll have to ignore the evaluator's dog as we approach and shake hands. (Ignore a potential snuggle? Seriously?)

She'll have to go through a crowd of people. (Crowd of snugglers!)

Here's the whole test--but this sounds easier than when our instructor was describing it, using real examples that the evaluator has used. http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/training_testing.cfm

I'm feeling pretty positive about her chances, but anything can happen. Our class is at Petsmart on Sunday evenings--so lots of dogs coming and going, big time distractions. I'll keep you posted on her progress and get some updated photos--her back is almost level with the couch's back! She last weighed in at 75 lbs. It's unbelievable how quickly they grow up!

Book Meet Wall

*** Okay--just warning this is a rant--a small one--but one nonetheless. ***

My agent once did a rant about bodily functions here: http://pubrants.blogspot.com/search?q=bodily

At the time I thought she was just being sensitive, and maybe I'm now being sensitive too--but there is something about reading certain words that makes them much more visual than when they are spoken. Snot is one of them.

Awhile back I was reading a romance and on several occasions while the MC was crying, the hero would pull out his handkerchief and instruct her to "blow"--Talk about ruining a sweet moment as well as making the MC seem about five years old.

So just for the official record: If I see snot mentioned in any book when it is not meant to be 2nd grade humor--I'm chucking it across the room.

What words or phrases or bodily functions have you read that really grossed you out when they weren't supposed to?

drawing: www.tomfroese.com

"Don't wake me cause I'm dreaming, of angels on the moon

Where everyone you know, never leaves too soon"

Thriving Ivory-Angels On The Moon

Beware of the Nice Guys

If having to watch out for the bad guys wasn't hard enough, enter Bachelor Jason... Don't fall for the sweet smile and goofy ears.

Sorry, I try not to embarrass myself by pulling out my reality TV geek, but I can't help it... This season's The Bachelor should have been called The Biggest Loser.

Has anyone else been watching this? I have and I can't believe how much I hate this show and this guy and TV producers... why do I watch it??? Each time it makes me hate it even more.

You know how they're always saying this is the most dramatic rose ceremony yet...and how Chris Harrison is always stepping in to let us know that "Ladies, this is the final rose tonight" as if they aren't painfully aware of that fact? Well apparently the final rose is not so final.

Jason proposes to sweet/cute/utterly perfect Melissa and then later because he can't get sassy/fun Molly off his mind, decides he can have his cake and then dump it too--in front of millions of viewers. Last night's After the Final Rose was painful. It wasn't dramatic, it was pathetic and sad. Obviously this wasn't a complete blindside for Melissa, but still... dude have some class--sucking face with the other woman two seconds after you break off your ENGAGEMENT is considered poor form no matter what the producers tell you. All season long, all we've heard from you is whining and crying over how the women in your life committed to you when they didn't know what they wanted. Wow. Playing the Devil's Psychologist here, maybe what you saw in them was really what you see in yourself.

But what all of this really begs is the question: Will Jillian have to revise her hot dog theory?

Winner Winner

VioletCrush!!!

Whoo Hoo! You've won the Swag Bag, Signed Copy of Undone and a copy of Evermore!!

YAY!

Please email me with your details--and yes all my contests are World Wide!

brooke (at) brooketaylorbooks (dot) com

More contests coming soon!