I'm late to the games

The Hunger Games, that is. While the rest of the world has been talking about this book (and the movie, which opens on Friday) since its publication in 2008, I just read it. I have to say my interest in the book was piqued by the movie trailers and the fact much of the movie was filmed in my home state of North Carolina. Some scenes were even filmed in my hometown of Concord.



For those who might be like I was a couple weeks ago and totally in the dark about this book and film, I give you a short blurb.






Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen lives with her mother and little sister Primrose in what is left of North America. They reside in District 12, which is the Appalachaian region of the former United States. All twelve districts are run by the Capitol, which is located in the Rocky Mountains (NORAD anyone?). Katniss and Prim's father was killed in a coal mine explosion, and it is Katniss's hunting and foraging skills that keep the family from starving.

To remind the Districts who's in charge, the Capitol holds the Hunger Games each year. The names of all boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 18 are put in large bowls and one boy and one girl are selected at random from each District to compete in the ultimate reality game. These twenty-four children fight to the finish, and the last one standing wins a life of luxury.


The selection process is called the "reaping" and the children selected are called "tributes." After assuring her little sister her odds of being picked are slim because it's her first time in the reaping, Primrose's name is drawn anyway. To spare her sister, Katniss steps up to take her place in the deadly competition.





Dictrict 12's other tribute is a boy named Peeta Mellark whose father is the town baker.

Katniss and Peeta are transported to the Capitol, accompanied by Effie Banks (the pink-haired lady who selected the tributes) and Haymitch Abernathy (their mentor and District 12's only Hunger Games victor). There they are groomed and trained and paraded before not only the Capitol but the Districts as well (the games are televised live and watching is compulsory -- the only time television broadcasts are predictable) before being set out to compete in the games.






This former Phillip Morris cigarette plant in my hometown was used for scenes of the Capitol.


So have you read the book? And the two other books in the trilogy (Catching Fire and Mockingjay)?

And are you going to see the movie? As compelling as the book was, I'm still undecided about seeing the film. If I do decide to go, I'll probably wait for the initial hubbub to wane and the crowds to thin.

PS. Smarty Pants kicks off her blog tour today. Check out her facebook fan page for the schedule and links.

Summer Blockbusters

This weekend is Memorial Day, which kicks off the official Summer Blockbuster movie season, although several big films like Thor and Pirates of the Carribbean 4 are already out. A couple weekends ago, I went to see Bridesmaids with Angel and PM. The advertisements for summer films made me realize I have no real clue what's coming out. So I did a little research and thought I'd share what I found.

Seems like a summer of sequels. Thor & Captain America are both follows on to Iron Man and precursors to The Avengers coming out next summer. Pirates 4, Kung Fu Panda 2, The Hangover 2, Harry Potter 7.2, X-Men First Class, Cars 2, Transformers 3... They're even doing a prequel to Planet of the Apes. Seems like we might need some fresh ideas in Hollywood. But here's the five that caught my eye and just might catch my ticket revenue.

#1. Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part II (Release July 15th)

School is out for good; the time for preparation is over. Harry Potter and his steadfast friends Ron and Hermione have reached the end of their journey, and all roads lead to a confrontation between Harry and that reptilian cheater of death, Lord Voldemort. The final installment begins with a journey back to Hogwarts to locate the last pieces of Voldemort's soul, and quickly escalates into a careening, non-stop, action-packed, headlong rush toward destiny.

I know I will see this movie, but there's a part of me that doesn't want to. I haven't even watched part 1, but I will before I go to the theater. I don't want the magic to end, but I also don't want some of my favorite characters to die. Unfortunately, me not going won't change that.


#2. Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides (Released May 20)

Captain Jack Sparrow finds himself thrown for a loop when he runs into Angelica, a mysterious woman from his past. Before he can sort out her motives, she outmaneuvers him and forces him to accompany her on an expedition to find the Fountain of Youth. The ship that will take them is none other than the "Queen Anne's Revenge," captained by the most infamous of pirates: Blackbeard. The crew will encounter dangers both from within and without as they sail the high seas in search of immortality.

I love me some Captain Jack. I'll miss the Elizabeth Swann / Will Turner storyline, but let's be honest... I watch it for Jack. And Geoffrey Rush is great, too.



#3. X-Men First Class (Release June 3rd)

Long before Charles Xavier is known as "Professor X," he's just a troubled young man who can read minds. His best friend Eric understands what it means to be a mutant and an outsider. Together, Charles and Eric try to organize fellow mutants and foil the plans of the Hellfire Club, an elite society bent on dominating the world. But the two young men's different worldviews drive them farther and farther apart, pushing them toward their respective destinies as archenemies Professor X and Magneto.

Little known fact: I have always been a fan of X-Men. Way before the movies came out, I collected the trading cards and watched the cartoons that came on Saturday mornings. I've enjoyed the other X-Men movies, they were well done, and I'm looking forward to more mutant excitement. If nothing else, I've always found it to be an interesting dialogue about civil rights. No really, it was written in the sixties as a metaphor for civil rights struggles. Deep for a comic book, eh?

#4. Cowboys Vs. Aliens (Release July 29th)

Picture a gritty, bleak Arizona town named Absolution, in 1870. An unwelcome stranger with a mysterious past wanders into a saloon, and immediately sparks a rivalry with the hard-bitten Colonel who runs the town. Then... spaceships attack. Yes, you heard right. This stranger, Jake Lonergan, has no memory of his past, but he possesses a weapon which is the town's only hope against these demons from the sky who seem intent on wiping out humanity.

I know. But it has Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig. It can't be all bad. Seriously, how can you see that title and not want to know what the heck is going on.




#5. Bad Teacher (Release June 24th)

If you think you've had a bad teacher, you've never had Elizabeth Halsey. Foul-mouthed, drunk, and disorderly, she skates through her day job and waits for her sugar daddy to pop the question. When he dumps her instead, Elizabeth decides to save up for some "enhancements" to attract the eye of a new rich substitute. To get the dough she needs, she is forced to turn her class around so that she can earn a hefty bonus. The trouble is, her goody-two-shoes rival is competing hard for the bonus and for the boy!

The preview sold me on this one. It looks hysterical. Crude, but funny. Definitely a departure from a summer filled with super 3D alien effects.

What are you excited to see at the theater this summer?
SP

MOANday: Halloween Edition

I know it’s a day late, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pay homage to some of the hottest guys from horror films. Often these films are ensemble casts and rarely have the traditional Hollywood hottie, but there are a few that provide welcome respite from all the blood and gore. I hope you enjoy, even if you aren’t a horror movie fan.

I’m very excited by last night’s premiere of The Walking Dead on AMC. This is a mini-series based on, you guessed it, Zombie Invasion!!!! But at the center of the story is a policeman played by Andrew Lincoln. You got to love a hottie in uniform, especially when his dearest wish is to find and protect his family.




The Saw movies were never my favorites. I’m a bigger fan of true mystery than gore, but Cary Elwes was a pleasant surprise when I finally gave in to watching the first one. I remember him from funnier movies like the Princess Bride and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and though he spends most of this movie shackled to a wall, he plays the serious roles just as well.




I’m a huge fan of numerous Stephen King made-for-television mini-series and movies, as my next two choices will avow. The first is a remake of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, starring Rob Lowe, who attempts to save a small town from the evil vampire that has made his home in the mansion where Rob Lowe’s character was frightened as a child.





The other is Rose Red (my all-time favorite!) with actor Julian Sands playing a telepath with mind-bending abilities. I cried the first time I watched it, because I didn’t want him to die. :)




And last, but not least, actor Taye Diggs, for his role as a (former) baseball player who ends up at a mysterious birthday party and gets locked up in a possessed house. Lucky for him, he is adopted, or else the house would have eaten him. I have to confess that there are parts of this movie where I still have to close my eyes. And Geoffrey Rush revising Vincent Price's character as the murderous husband? Creepy!!!




I know I’m one of the few horror fan buffs around here, but I hope viewing these hunky heroes helped you overlook my Halloween indulgence. Until next month…

Angel

Movie Night

For the past month, our family has been having a movie night each week. We usually do it on Saturday nights when my husband is home early, but sometimes its on Friday nights. I spread a sheet in the living room and let the kids eat dinner (usually fast food) picnic-style by the light of the big screen. My daughter insists that the other lights be off, or else it isn’t truly a movie.

The choosing of the movie hasn’t been as difficult as I expected, considering our children are 6 and 10. We try to alternate between animated and non-animated movies, so the younger one doesn’t get too bored. After seeing the newest version of the Karate Kid, our daughter was fascinated to learn there were previous versions that she could watch on Netflix. So for movie night we found Karate Kid (original with Ralph Macchio). The youngest found the karate parts cool, at least.

But watching that movie brought back a lot of memories, as did Karate Kid 2 when we watched it. (I think I’ll watch the one with the girl with my daughter for a girl’s night.) I can remember watching these movies over and over as a teenager, because we lived out in the boonies and only got 3 channels on the tv. Most of the times, not very well. So we watched a lot of VHS. J I loved movies like Karate Kid, Iron Eagle, The Young Sherlock Holmes, Star Wars (3 original), Disney movies, Goonies, and many, many more.

Goonies happens to be one of my favorite, with hilarious stereotypes and younger versions of well-known actors. Watching it for the first time with my daughter was like seeing it again for the first time. I laughed with her, caught some of the innuendos I didn’t understand as a kid, and explained some of the inside jokes to my daughter that she didn’t understand.

It was great. So tell me, what are some of your “old favorites”? Movies from your pre-teen and teen years that you enjoyed introducing your children to. Ones that you watch every time you catch them on cable?

Angel

Coming Soon!
Join us on Thursday as we welcome author Molly O'Keefe!

Theater Thursday

It's sort of a tradition in our family to go to the movies during Christmas break. I think it began when my mother had 4 kids home from school for 3 weeks and needed a couple of hours to catch up on her sleep...in the dark theater. However, I've carried on the tradition, loosely though it might be.

This year I managed to fit 2 shows into the week I took off of work - one with Zilla and one with the girls, my sister, BIL and their 2 boys. I bet you can't guess which one I preferred. :-)

Zilla and I took a date night and went to see Sherlock Holmes. This is an unusual occurrence. Not the date night, but that we could both agree on which movie we actually wanted to see. Usually one of us just ends up saying, "I'll go see it but only because you want to." This is how he drags me to shoot 'em up films and I finagle my way into chick flicks. However, this one has something for everyone. Action, adventure, gun shots, a mystery, a bad guy, a beautiful woman and a romantic history that threw a monkey wrench into everything. Overall, I'd have to say it was good. Not my absolutely favorite but well worth the money we spent to go see it. And if you can find a movie theater near you that has a 21 and over only section, a bar and allows you to take an appletini in to watch...I say definitely go see it. Besides, Robert Downey Jr. is half naked at one point...need I say more?

The second movie I caught was Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squekuel. It was...cute. The girls certainly liked it, although I wasn't surprised since they've practically worn out the DVD of the first one. The music was current so at least I liked the songs that they were singing. My five year old nephew was spell bound. I'll admit that I didn't go into this movie expecting an advanced script and intellectually stimulating dialogue. For what it is, it was...cute. Would I see it again? Only if the girls guilt tripped me into it. Would I want to scratch my eyeballs out while we were there? No.

I'm not sure I'm going to be making it to any more movies in the next month. As much as I'd love to see the Blindside - and, yes, I still haven't made it to that one - I expect to be snowed under...possibly literally.

Did you see any movies over the holidays? Are there any coming up that you're looking forward to?

Instigator

It's The Great Halloween Blog, Charlie Brown!

Tomorrow is my favorite holiday. I've resisted the urge to have a costume contest on the blog this year because you all are ninnies and wouldn't send in any pictures last time. Not even with prizes! So sad.

Anyway, so I love Halloween. Well, parts of it. I like the fun, costume, pumpkin and candy apple side. I like seeing teeny-tiny fairies and storm troopers at my front door with wide eyes and parent's urging them to say 'trick or treat.' I like making ridiculous little treats (yes, PC) like cupcakes that look like spiderwebs, deviled egg eyeballs, and Frankenstein cakes that bleed strawberry pancake syrup. I like caramel apples and popcorn balls and watching It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on TV. I like carving pumpkins that make people look twice with surprise.

Unfortunately, with Halloween always comes the parts I don't care much for. Number one is the attitude-ridden teenagers that show up at my door for candy with a sense of entitlement. When I went out as a teenager, it was because I was dragging little kids around. Yes, I dressed up and yes, I collected candy, but there was a reason and I was certainly never rude. If one of them even looks at my pumpkins with thoughts of smashing them... anyhow...

Number two is haunted houses. The commercials are on the radio all the time and its just creepy. Aside from the one at Disney, I made it approximately 2 minutes in a Haunted House when I was 8. Out here they even have haunted corn mazes. As interested as I would be in walking a corn maze, I do not want men in masks with chainsaws chasing me around.

Last is the movies. Nearly every TV station has been playing bad horror movies nonstop. Is it too much to ask that Steel Magnolias be slipped in there between Saw IV and The Hills Have Eyes? Don't get me wrong - I'm all for the thrillers - Rosemary's Baby, Psycho, even the Exorcist, and I can appreciate some of the funny ones, but I have no interest in seeing half-naked teenaged girls getting impaled on meat hooks. Bleh. Give me Charlie Brown any day.

So, what's your favorite part of Halloween? Do you get into the scary stuff? What's your all time favorite scary movie?
SP

P.S. Don't forget that today is the very last day to enter the Not-So-Scary Halloween Contest!

The Launch of Theater Thursdays

I was really excited when I got Theater Thursdays for our theme week each month. Not only do I have an innate love of the theater (having been involved with a local theater group when I was younger) but it gives me the opportunity to talk about movies, tv and even concerts. So if there's something that you want to see discussed here please let me know! I'm very open to suggestions.

Since I haven't had a chance to attend a play recently, I'm going to focus on movies this month. This weekend I dragged SP out to see Fame with me. She wasn't overly enthusiastic about the prospect - she wanted to see Zombieland - but she's a great friend and went to the movie I wanted to see. Besides, I don't do blood and gore which includes flesh eating undead even if the dialogue is supposed to be funny.

I have to say I was disappointed. I mean, Fame was a cute, feel good kinda movie but in my mind it didn't compare to the original. Perhaps that's because I'm remembering the original through my adolescent (and ballet crazed) mind. I'll admit that when I was younger I wanted to be a dancer (unfortunately, my body just wasn't cut out for that career) and therefore could really identify with the teenagers struggling for their dream...my dream. This time maybe I was watching them through adult eyes. The eyes of a person who's achieved a dream of her own now and realizes that the struggles just don't end there.

To me the individual story lines just weren't developed enough. While I loved the dance numbers I would have liked more character development. It almost felt like they'd shoved in some dialogue because they had to have something between the soul belting songs and flashy dance numbers. Not to mention that several of those dance numbers seemed pointless to the entire plot of what little storyline was there. It was good. I think it could have been better. But maybe I was just expecting too much.

The girls also went to see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs with my mom over the weekend. They absolutely loved the movie. They thought it was cute and talked to me for an hour, giving me the rundown of the entire thing.

I asked my mom for her take on the movie. She said it was cute but that she had a hard time staying awake through it. That might just be her exhaustion from trying to keep up with my rambunctious kids though. She did say that there was an overall message to the story...about overeating I believe. And while in theory I think it's probably a good message I'm not sure how I feel about an entire movie devoted to it. She did say that the message went completely over my girls' heads. I'm okay with that.

I think in the next month or so I'm going to be taking the girls to see Where the Wild Things Are. As much as I'm not sure how they can sustain a 2 hour movie from that short book it was always one of my favorites and I really want to see it on screen. I was also intrigued by a movie called The Men Who Stare at Goats that's coming out in November.

Have you seen either of the movies? What did you think of them? Any others you'd recommend? Any you'd tell us to stay away from? Anything that you want to see me review in the future? One commenter will win a signed copy of Afterburn so be sure and tell me your opinion!

Instigator

P.S. I'm talking about my shoe catastrophe on the Blaze Author blog today. Come over and tell me about your shoe addiction. http://blazeauthors.com/blog/

It Gets Better Every Time

I'm a big movie fan. You'd think I would like romances, but in fact, a hazard of being a romance writer is never being satisfied with chick flicks. There are a few exceptions - You've Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, While You Were Sleeping - but for the most part, I stick with funny movies. The dumber the better, although my uncle insists its a more sophisticated level of stupid. I'm not too big on physical comedy or bathroom humor, so Jim Carey movies are out. Ben Stiller makes me nervous. There has to be more to it, a reflection of my own weird sense of humor.

I have a decent sized collection of DVDs, but I'm pretty particular about movies I buy. It has to be something I will watch over and over. Something worth memorizing. Something worth reciting at inappropriate times. (One day I will share the unfortunate Castle Anthrax Incident of '97.) Of course, Monty Python and Rocky Horror are in my collection, along with the romances above, movies by Mel Brooks, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Carribbean, etc. I have a similar rule about CDs - it has to have at least 3 songs I like before I can buy it. I guess iTunes has made my life easier there.

The funny thing, though, is that usually once I've bought it, I don't watch it again. I have several that still have the wrapper on them. Maybe its because they're dedicated to memory and I don't have to watch them anymore, but I must possess them. At the same time, there are movies that aren't necessarily in my top ten, but that I have a compulsion to watch over and over, no matter what I'm doing when I see they're on. Even if I've just watched it. Some channels play movies a couple times in a day and I've been known to watch them twice. Even back to back. Its a sickness. I just can't turn them off.

This weekend, perusing the guide on the tv, I ran across a few of my favorites. Don't get me wrong - I'm not talking Academy Award winners here. They're probably ones most people would skip right by. But for some silly reason, they are movies I watch every time I see them.

Among the ones that get me every time are: Empire Records, Down Periscope, Ocean's 11, Hot Shots, and Miss Congeniality. Like I said, mostly stupid although they all have details in them I love or turns of dialogue I wish I'd written. Some of my favorite quotes come from these movies. I've wasted quite a bit of time watching them again and again.

Do you have any movies you can watch a million times and never get tired of seeing them?

SP

Bon Appetit!

On Sunday afternoon, my sister and I went to see the new movie Julie & Julia. The movie is based on two books, and the screenplay was done by Nora Ephron of Sleepless in Seattle fame. So I settled into my seat expecting a great movie about French cooking.

Boy was I ever wrong!

This was a great movie about writing. It's a study in comparisons and contrasts about Julia Child in post-war Paris, struggling to figure out her identity and what she wanted to do with her life, and Julie Powell, a temp employee in post- 9/11 New York City, struggling to figure out her identity and what she wanted to do with her life.

Julia attended the Cordon Bleu cooking school and then taught French cooking to American women. Later she joined forces with two other women to write a French cookbook for Americans. In the movie we see her struggle to complete the book and then get it published. In the scene where she boxes up her manuscript to send it off to a New York publisher, I felt every emotion she felt too.

Julie graduated from Amherst with a degree in theater and creative writing. Her one attempt at a novel was rejected and in the movie she declared you weren't a writer if no one published your book. The Julie/Julia Project was a blog where she chronicled her effort to cook all 524 recipes in Child's cookbook in 325 days.

The movie's dialogue is brilliant and filled with innuendo that makes the task of boning a duck both a culinary coup and a dirty joke. Some of you will remember Dan Ackroyd's famous Julia Child skit on SNL, and that skit appears in the film.

Mostly, it's a movie about persistence. When Julia Child receives a letter telling her a prospective publisher is declining to go ahead with her book, she reacts with, "Eight years of my life. It just turned out to be something to do, so I wouldn't have nothing to do. Oh, well. Boo-hoo. Now what?"

She was obviously heartbroken but she was also part of the Depression and World War II era and simply met bad times straight on. And like the writers we all know, she took her book seriously and was hurt when passed over for publication and then later for awards.

When Julie Powell learned that Julia didn't like her blog and thought she wasn't being serious in her cooking attempt, she had a meltdown too. But she picked herself up, dusted herself off and cooked the rest of the recipes by her one-year deadline.

In case you aren't familiar with Julia Child, here's a short clip of her explaining about chickens. The voice is for real and she was as imposing a figure in real life as she appears on screen -- six feet, two inches tall.

Have you seen the movie yet? Do you share my enthusiasm? What's your dream and are you working toward it?

Friday the Thirteenth, Again

We had one last month, then again this month...another Friday the 13th. If you're the superstitious kind, you're probably completely freaked out. Myself, I've never had much trouble with the day. I actually court trouble by choosing 13 as my favorite number. Can't really pin blame for anything bad on it. I think its funny that hotels skip the 13th floor and such, as though the people on the "14th" floor aren't really on the 13th anyway. Found an interesting article on it here, if you'd care to read up. Apparently, the fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia. That's a mouthful.

Instead of talking about superstitions today, I'm actually going to go in another direction and talk about movie remakes. Apparently they've released a remake of Friday the 13th that came out in theaters on February 13th. (I know, I'm a month behind, but I don't really do horror flicks.) But it's not a 27th sequel, but a remake of the 1980 original.

This seems to be the trend anymore. They're remaking Nightmare on Elm Street. Footloose. The Birds. Clash of the Titans. They're even remaking Rocky Horror Picture Show (which I must say gives me cold chills at the mere thought of the cast of the Hills equivalent adulterating my favorite film.) Horror flicks tend to be the most popular choices for remakes - Prom Night, The Hills Have Eyes, The Haunting of Hill House, The House on Haunted Hill, etc., but even more mainstream movies are being redone. Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Longest Yard.

I don't get it. It always seems like they choose either movies where the original was just fine, thankyouverymuch, or where the original was so terrible, it really didn't warrant a second attempt. There are so many remakes, you might not even know the movie is a remake. They change the name and if you don't pay attention, you don't realize "I Am Legend" is a remake of "The Omega Man" from 1971, which is a remake of "The Last Man on Earth" from 1964.

Some say its because every story has already been told. As a writer, I know that's crap. Of course, there are basic hooks that most stories contain (secret babies, woman in peril, etc.) but given 10 authors that same three hooks and you'll get 10 wildly different books. I think it has more to do with movie executives wanting to put their money behind a proven product. Who needs to pay a screenwriter to come up with something new when some studio flunky can tweak an old script and make it new?

I'm indignant on behalf of the screenwriters of the world. I wouldn't mind writing a screenplay one day. Have you seen a remake that you really loved? I think The Thomas Crown Affair with Pierce Brosnan was better than the original. How about one that was just dreadful? Any films that shouldn't be remade under any circumstances? Curious minds want to know. One commenter today will pick up a DVD of the original Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli. The best, in my opinion.

SP

Losing My Virginity

Now there's a blog title I never anticipated writing. I'm sure the hits on our blog will shoot up with all the perverts Googling for it. Let me just say right now to clear up any confusion that I'm talking about my Rocky Horror Picture Show virginity. You pervs can shuffle out the door to the left. Thanks.

Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of my favorite movies. Right up there with Monty Python and the Playfriends know how giddy that makes me. And I don't like it because its a good movie. Its terrible, really. But it has that cult staying power, which is what I really enjoy. Funny lines you can repeat, silly songs, dances, costumes! Love it all. I've seen it at least thirty times, so I didn't feel like a virgin. I'd just only ever seen it in the relative safety of my own home. No place ever did it in the theater when I could go. If they had, like PC, I would've been out there in my Magenta costume having elbow sex every weekend.

And yet, they never did. So here I was... almost 30. And still a virgin. Sigh...

Before the movie starts, there's typically a costume contest and other activities including... The Sacrifice. All the virgins are turned in by their former friends and marched to the front of the theater to be initiated. What happens next is a closely guarded secret. Closely guarded enough that I worked very hard to get drunk in advance. I'd heard rumors from various virgins. No way I was going through that sober.

So, I overimbibed and my sacrifice was relatively painless. At that point, brain surgery without anesthesia would've been pretty painless, too. I really need to buy one of those pony and jigger things. Just pouring tequila into my little drink container was a bad idea. I started drinking about 45 minutes before the movie started and by the time rice started flying... and that was 5 minutes into it... I was high as a kite.

I figured, well, I'll be sober in 2 hours when this is over. Usually works that way. Not this time. I had gone beyond my normal intake. I remember watching the movie. Throwing cards and toast. Snapping gloves. Ringing bells. But its a surreal blur otherwise. I'm glad PC said I wasn't annoying because I wouldn't know if I was. Actually had no idea my flashlight was out for too long. Everyone just yells and sings and I had no clue what was going on. I was hiding under my newspaper shooting people with my watergun.

Then, it was all over. Riff Raff and Magenta blasted the house off to Transylvania and it was time for me to stand up. Whoa. Let's try that again. Hmm... still drunk. Way drunk. Can't find my shoe drunk. PC got to drive my car home. We considered a late night run to Denny's, but I was too far gone. There was no amount of waffles going to save me at this point. I was just a late night restaurant scene waiting to happen (and crazy drunks always end up at the Denny's) and needed to just pass out somewhere and sleep it off. Besides, even drunk, I was concerned about using too many WW points - my tequila was even mixed with sugar free Hawaiian punch. Sick, I know.

So we just went back to her place. PC gave me water, fed me toast and (apparently) took a picture of me, which I did not seem to mind at the time. Then the ultimate shame - sleeping on her couch. I just know DG got up early for church that morning and caught me passed out, mouth wide open in tequila induced snoring. (Hopefully he will be polite enough not to comment either way.)



Oh, the horror! Oh, the racoon-eyed shame of it all! When my eyes pried open, AC was watching me, a grin on her face and a (*gasp*) microphone in her hand from her Hannah Montana karaoke game. Thank the heavens PC took it from her and shooed her away. I wasn't outright hung over, but I didn't want to find out the hard way if I was. I quickly gathered my things and shuffled home as though I'd woken up in some guy's apartment after a one night stand I didn't remember.

So that's it... the story of losing my RHPS virginity. If it ever pops up in town again, I'm there, sans tequila, ready to sacrifice other virgins with ghoulish glee. Now, for suffering through my story, there is a reward! Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! In celebration, I'm giving away a copy of Blazing Bedtime Stories autographed by Rhonda Nelson. To enter, comment! Wish us a Happy Valentine's Day, share a RHPS experience, a too-much-tequila experience... It's all good. :)

SP