Just finished the YA book Lips Touch Three Times by Laini Taylor. If you haven't read it, do! It's darkish and delicious.

I also highly recommend the author's first two books: Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer and its sequel Dreamdark: Silksinger. Not as darkish, but just as delish! :-)

This woman can write - and she has a fabulous imagination.

Enjoy! And any librarians on my flist - please check these out and consider getting them if you're able. (No, I don't know the author - I just think she's deserving.)

I won't be able to come to WriterCon. :-(

As some of you know, my mom is 'failing' and is under hospice care. She is having a minor procedure Saturday morning and, as her health care POA, I need to be close at hand. I gave a lot of thought to whether availability on a cell phone counted as 'close at hand' and had to admit it didn't.

Of course, I am beyond disappointed. I'm looking forward to reading all the con reports and seeing pics, but even that won't make up for not being able to see everyone and be a part of the fun.

I hope all of you who are going have a terrific weekend!

How looooong has it been??

Loved this pic of SMG - had to do something with it.

See full size here.

Contemplating Spike

Four times in my life I've shed tears upon learning of the death of a celebrity. I cried for Walt Disney, for Jim Hensen, for Princess Diana and tonight, for Michael Jackson. Michael's music provided some of the soundtrack of my life. We were of an age and, for the most part, his music made me happy; made me want to move and dance and sing along. His life, I thought, was in so many, many ways sad and tragic, but his talent was simply immense.

And yeah, it might sound cliche, but I'm going to say it anyway; Rest in Peace, Michael. Thank you for the songs and the dancing that gave me so much joy. Your talent impacted the worlds of music and dance and will not be forgotten.

I've been asked if there's interest in holding a Spuffy get together at WriterCon 2009 in Minneapolis.

Is there?

Just read that Sarah Michelle Gellar & some hubby are expecting a baby in the fall. Congrats to them.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate it!

:-)

Hope you all haven't see this a million times already. It was new to me this morning and I had to share. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6b9bMBXpg

After eight years of deliberation (didn't want to rush into anything, you know) I've made Trace, a Bernese Mountain Dog pup, a part of my family. He's 13 weeks old, I am completely smitten and we are bonding wonderfully.

There's a lot of stress in other parts of my life right now - changing database systems and web design at work, but most significantly, the admitance of my mother into hospice in early October.

Trace is proving a great stress reliever and I'm so glad to have him with me. You can a couple of other pics here: http://pics.livejournal.com/mary5958/gallery/0004rth5

I know I've been a terrible LJ'er lately, but i'd love to hear how everyone is doing. I hope you're all well.

Yeah, woo-hoo and other assorted expressions of happiness and excitement. It's WriterCon 2009!!!

WRITERCON 2009
July 30 – August 2, 2009
Radisson Plaza Hotel
Minneapolis, Minnesota

The first two WriterCon's were unforgettable and I'm looking forward to adding new memories to those I gathered at each of them.

PLEASE come!

It's been quite a while since I've posted. Shortly after my last post, my modem was knocked out by one of the devastating storms we experienced here in early June and it was a couple of weeks before I replaced it.

In the meantime, however, I wracked up my back and am still having a lot of trouble with it. Though I'm in therapy and doing regular exercizes to strengthen it, sitting in front of my computer - especially after a day at work - is just not do-able. It is getting better and is not nearly as painful as it was a month ago, but I'm guessing my computer time will continue to be severly limited.

I apologize for being unable to keep up with everyone and I hope everyone on my flist is doing well. I still have comments and invitations issued before all this happened to respond to and I hope to take care of those over the next few days. Thank you so much to those of you who emailed to check up on me!

And look - I actually have a manip to share! My first in quite some time. As usual, the full size is kinda big! :-) Main texture by uglybusiness. Hope you enjoy.

Untitled Buffy Manip – Full Size.

I didn't take these pictures - they were posted on MSNBC. We had tremendous storms over the weekend and are now experiencing severe and dangerous flooding. Dams are overflowing and a number are in danger of failing.

The resort town of Wisconsin Dells - about an hour from me, and where I know many, many of the resort owners because they so generously support the charity I work for - lost a lake today. (Yes, a lake, and it took several large houses with it.)

I know other parts of the midwest have been hit even harder than we have. I'm keeping you all in my thoughts.

	Sunday Storm
	A part of the Wisconsin Dells Resort area, Lake Delton emptied after a dam failed.
	One of the Lake Delton homes swept away with the water.
	Nearby farmland

Pictures from my sister's small but lovely garden taken in late May, 2008. The garden relies primarily on shape, form and foliage color rather than flowers. The first five pictues are of her front garden (and you can see that her next door neighbor employs a similar style in her front garden), while the others show her main garden behind her house. The photos are in order, following the curve of the garden around a small central lawn area.

See them all here.

I just got back from Montana a few days ago and have been dedicating my free time to my gardens since then. They're almost done - yeah!! I can't wait to spend some time catching up on LJ over the next few days - I owe a lot of comments and need to reply to many. It will get done. :-) I hope everyone is well.

I saw this gorgeous base last night and couldn't resist manipping it today during breaks taken from gardening to rest my back. The very talented artist is Jia Ruan, who was new to me. Hope you like!



Watchful Eyes – Full Size.

I had Granddaughter #1 (age 3) over the weekend. I don't usually turn on my computer when she's here, but I grabbed some time to finish a piece of fanart while she was still sleeping Sunday morning, posted it and was just about to power off when she got up. She came over to check out what I was doing and saw the Spike manip on my LJ home page.

"Oooooh, Grandma! He's handsome!" she said, tracing his face on the screen.

I think this proves she has superior genes. And is, of course, bloody brilliant.

:-)

Using one of my favorite Buffy/Spike suitable quotes.

As always, I hope you enjoy!


The Bridge – Full Size.