Where is The Wolf's Heart?

According to Deshanna, it's in Kansas City! And she took this photo despite the great danger to herself. *snickers* Oh shut up, I'm sure there was danger of some kind, she could have sprained her finger pushing the button on the camera or something! Work with me, people!

Our supah spy wasn't scared though, this is why her code name is No Fear Fox.. she sends out massive amounts of survey questions in a single email. And um.. and she's a major fox. Yes, anyway, moving on from weird stalker author suckuppage to the real stuff.

Thanks so much to Des, for both the picture, and the fact that there's one less copy of The Wolf's Heart in that Borders because of her. While she does offer me great distractions in the form of the aforementioned surveys when I can't write (or just need a reason to procrastinate), I do learn lots about all my friends, and it's a great way to keep in touch. But most of all she's always encouraged me to keep writing by being a friend who is also a fan.

Now it's my turn. I look forward to reading her work one of these days and will be honored to be a fellow LOS'er alumni with her. Hope to see you in the funny papers; and on the shelves very soon, Des. Please don't make me stalk you for real. You know I can.

Love,

Jennzilla

Say what? Bitter Bayou Babe Rant

This Bitchfest is brought to you by The Bitter Bayou Babe. Yes, that's me, haven't yall been payin' attention?

I went into the Hellmart with JMo--the Bargain Bin DVD Diving Champion of the Universe. I swear, it's like he goes in there for soap, and cannot resist the lure of five dollar DVD's. It's an addiction, mind you, a bad habit, almost as bad as dumpster digging, only you don't get quite as nasty. Although, some of the movies in there would surely make a person have to wash their brains out if they watched them.

I've even been his enabler a time or two, by helping him find cinematic gems like Joe Dirt. *winces* Of course, I'm not that much help since I'm not tall enough to get to the bottom where the good stuff is hidden. See, I told you it's like dumpster diggin'.

However, I usually let him DVD dive solo while I go look at the important stuff, like socks and undies. I'm always having to replenish the former because my evil teenager steals my socks. Mozilla, the teenaged sock stealing demon, aka the Sock-i-bus, (oh shut up, you laughed) has larger feet than mine and wears black shoes, so when (ha!) I do get them back their stretched and stained beyond repair. Thankfully, our undie preferences don't mesh--I bet she has some made of this material too, ew--or I'd be going commando as often as I go Crockett. *blatant 80's TV Cop show reference*

This weekend, I had a much more northerly goal in mind so I ran off as I JMo muttered, "Ooh, Airheads is only five dollars? I have a copy, but what if I need a back up? Jenn, gimme five dollars!"

That's right, I needed a new bra. Oh, the horror, the humanity.. ..hey, they were on sale! I snatched a few likely suspects off the shelf, but wasn't sure of the size since I've lost some weight. I even took some jeans with me to see what size I could fit into. As I walked, a small person sidled up beside me. And I mean way into my personal space. I tried to ignore her, but she suddenly.. GROPED ME! OMG OMGGGGGG! EEEK! I want my mommy! *pauses* Wait...for the love of.. it IS my mommy. She laughs evilly, then runs off into the depths of the huge store talking about getting my aunt some paint. I didn't even hear the Jaws Theme music that time, my mama-dar must be broken.

With my fist fulla bras I scurry to the dressing rooms before I see any more of my kin, but the lady stops me and tells me that Hellmart no longer allows bras to be tried on. The hell? My boobs do not conform to the factory specs for bust or cup size, nor do most women. Then there's the difference in each brand of bra, each kind of bra etc. And get this when I asked if I could bring it back if it didn't fit, the lady said she didn't know. I tell you what, if I can't try it on in the store, and I can't bring it back, I ain't buying it. I calmly put the bras back and left the department, then had to wait for the DVD Diver to finish his treasure hunt to the bottom of the bin.

Hellmart just upped the stakes, but I have not begun to fight.

Jenn

Promo for the JMo!

Yippee Skippy and Send in the Clowns!!

The Fam-a-razzi Strikes Again!!

It's here again, ladies and gents. That magical time of legend and lore that happens but once a year. When everything sparkles, glitters and shines with the promise of what could be the best night of a teenager's life.

Yeah, I'm talkin' bout da prom.PROM PROM PROM!!!

You know, when the girls get all gussied up and put on 'poofy' dresses that cost way too much damned money for the number of times they actually wear them(ONCE! DO YALL HEAR ME? ONCE!) and boys rent tuxes. So unfair.

I will say this, my daughter's bf came formal gown shopping with us so even though he didn't have to actually buy the dress, he suffered through four and a half hours of retail hell with me. May the Java Goddess bless us and keep us, sane, well, semi-sane anyway. "Yes, we love that dress. That one too *slurp* Ooh! And that one!! *slurp* Omigawd! That one's the best everrrr!" When my picky child chose her dress, me and the bf did the snoopy dance of delight, lemme tell ya. Okay, not so she could see us, because I don't call her the Amazon Queen of Mean for nothin'.

So, the dress was bought, as were the shoes. She and I even went to do the mommy daughter pedi/mani thing, which was great. If I ever get rid of JMo, my next hubby will be one of those damn back massaging pedicure chairs. For real. Anyway. We were set for prom. Except for a little pre-prom rite of passage our dynamic duo has to go through every year. THE ATTACK OF THE FAM-A-RAZZI, in other words, yo nana says it's picture taking time! *groans*

Whenever Mother, Aunt and the Clone get together, the chatter is louder than a murder of crows. Added to that is they think up all these poses and make me run around the ground of our local museum. So, six million five hundred twenty one thousand eight hundred and twelve pictures later, the children finally escaped to the prom. I was even happy to go to the Hellmart can you believe it? My GOD! Now I know why celebrities go ballistic. But not why starlets go sans undies in miniskirts. IMO, that's just begging for some camera guy to take a gyno/eye's view of the forbidden bits.

If your kid is promming it tonight, I hope they have fun and stay safe. JMo and I are trying to ignore the drag of time until our chicklet gets home. I'm just glad she is wearing a) undies and b) a long 'poofy' skirt. But I am a bit worried about the whole strapless thing goin on up top. Seriously, this is Louisiana it ain't been that long since Mardi Gras was over. Beads could be thrown, and then, well yall know what could happen!


Tryin not to think about Prom Night the movie,

Jenna Leigh

The Wolf’s Heart Available in Print!

The Wolf’s Heart is howling around on the shelves in Florida!! I received the report of this sighting today from a respected member of the FBH! This person is very wise in the ways of book hording.(meaning she got herself a copy) For those who are scratching your heads in confusion, the FBH is the Federation of Book Hoarders. By the way, I’m a certified (and yeah, certifiable) member of this venerable agency myself.

How do you know you’re a member of this super secret and as far as I know fictional organization? My card floated down and landed on my head the day when I realized that my house isn’t much more than four walls and a roof to keep all my books dry. The card read.. SEEK HELP NOW OR BE CERTIFIED AS A HOARDER!! Honestly, what the heck else is a house good for if not to hoard books in, hmm?

If it also houses my collection of old Cosmo mags which I keep in the event that one day I’ll be limber enough to do that freak on a leash --The Half Gainer With a Twist Upside Down Then Reverse She’s an Indian Outlaw and a Cowgirl-- sex move from the April 2002 issue. Heck, I sprained my wrist just flipping the book round and round trying to figure it out. A sex move should NOT read like a damned complex math problem. That would explain where that whole ’be fruitful and multiply’ phrase came from, huh? *snickers* Even more unlikely is that I’ll have lost enough weight to wear those fabu jeans from the October 1994 issue. Okay, perhaps by 2050, when my grandchildren dig me up 10 years after I’m dead to shoehorn me into them as I have specified in my will. Oh, shut up, it’s not morbid, it’s called planning ahead!

Where was I? Oh yes. Thanks so much to Debbie--a Head Hoarder if ever there was--for letting me know she found The Wolf’s Heart on the shelf in Florida! (and if she is reading this she’s probably really glad she lives far away from me) And double thanks to her for buying a copy!!
If --like me--you live in your own version of BFE, then you can still make your hoard a bit heavier and get your own copy at Amazon and Barns and Noble.

Jenna Leigh

A Light Goes Out

I know I'm a little behind the times, but I just read that Phyllis Whitney died at age 104 and had been writing up until the time of her death. The first part makes me sad, the second part makes me admire her all the more. She's one of those authors that made me want to read and one of those authors that made me want to write as well.

She was one of my first 'must reads'. The first book I ever read of hers was Vermillion, which I picked up because of that weird looking cane on the cover (yes, even then I was a cover loving little cow) Her books seems innocuous enough, so my high school library had almost all of them. What they didn't know was that they were filled with suspense, intrigue, mystery and *gasps!* romance. That's right, girls and boys, romance novels sat on those shelves just waiting for the innocent *snorts* teen to pick them up and read them. But she was sneaky because within the pages of those same romance novels, she showed me a lot more, and not about the birds and bees either. She always gave great 'locale'. After reading her books I felt as if I'd been to the places featured within the pages. She was simply, one of the best.

Ms. Whitney told a great story and not just about people, but about places, and things. My love of words and my knowledge of my own country was much improved because of her. She would take a heroine and place her(along with me) into a place and then simply tell me about it, while telling me the story. This way I learned about the Smokey Mountains, Arizona, West Virginia and many other places without caring that I did. Which is something not many can do. I despised geography and social studies in school, yet she made it entertaining and interesting.

But what she did best, at least to me was, to take a cold lifeless object and make it the centerpiece of the plot, almost like another character. This inanimate object, whether it be a jewel, a stone, a statue, or a cane would be described so well by her that it would come alive for me. In some stories these pieces would lie in wait for the heroine to touch or see them to reveal a secret from her past. Or it could be even more sinister in Ms Whitney's darker, almost paranormal stories, and be a living, breathing entity filled with menace. By the way, I loved the latter the best.



I'm sorry to hear of her passing, sorry to know that she's no longer with us. Now that she's gone, we've got one less navigator in that dark and complex place that is the imagination. She'll be missed.

Rest In Peace Ms. Whitney.

Jenna Leigh

Gone Crazy

I'm not a big fan of reality tv because it reminds me of an auto accident and I'm not the type to rubberneck. However, Gone Country with its cast of hasbeens/country megastar wannabees is an exception to that rule for a few reasons.

1. Rich actually knows his business, and it is a business despite what many people (some of the cast included) think. Nashville has been an epicenter drawing songwriters and singers for almost a century. A lot of rockers list country singers as some of their biggest influences.

2. These folks ain't your typical wide-eyed newbies coming in to be shot down by the likes of some old Snarky Simon whom I despise because not only is he mean, but he works hard at it, and it shows. No, these are veterens and they know the score. And though Jim Rich is scary, he's also nice, and he's hot!(oh yes he is, dammit, Carnie thinks so too!)

3. The cast, including Maureen McCormick--yes, Marsha Marsha Marsha--Carnie Wilson, Bobby Brown, Dee Snyder, Sisco, Julio Inglesias Jr. and Diana Digarmo all impressed me with their willingess to go country. Their personalities run the gamut from strange to silly to surreal too.. well, let's face it, Marsha Brady is too damned saccharine for words. I'm hoping Dee or maybe Carnie pop her in the head. One of those two has to be the Jan in the Big Bad Bunch, because surprisingingly Bobby has turned out to be a freakin' CINDY! Maybe it was all the crack, I dunno.

4 . I love and I mean seriously LOVE Dee Snyder. I think he totally rocks! He's one of my heroes from way back when he stood up to that censorship crap started by Tipper Gore that bored housewife whose hubby happened to have some damned power. (Wow, that soapbox is old, but it still holds me up, whodathunkit?) Anyway, Twisted Sister was one of my favorite bands when I was in high school. I'll watch him sing the ingredients off the cereal box. But I tell yall what, I'm waiting for the point where he has to actually sing a real honest to goodness country song. I'm not saying he can't do it, but I think if he tries, his head will explode. And that my friends would be some great television right there. Maybe I can get HD before then.


Been Country

Jenna Leigh

Top 5 things you should know about LSU Tiger Fans

1. If you wake up from surgery and your first words are GEAUX TIGERS!! Instead of Can I have some pain meds please? You might be a LSU Tiger Fan

2. If your surgeon and the rest of the hospital staff are wearing a purple and gold LSU scrubs. (acutally this can happen pretty much every day down here) You might be a LSU Tiger Fan

3. If all of the purple and/or gold dog sweaters have been sold out for months in your local Hellmart.. You might be a LSU Tiger Fan.

Hey, Louisiana dawgs are Tiger fans too! But, not cats. *blinks* Have you ever tried to put a sweater on a cat? Sheah, if you had, you'd be making a visit to the folks in purple and gold scrubs.

4. If you're not a Tiger fan, you will likely will be outed on days like today, so try and fake it or be ready to run fast. Because you might meet some LSU Tiger Fans and even our Mamaws tackle pretty darned hard.

5. The Tigers have been gearing up for this game for a while. Yall know what this means, right? Yep, the meat's well marinated and so are the LSU Tiger fans.

Tumbling down the rabbit hole or beware of plot bunnies

Editing is a fact of an author's life, but usually we leave that horrible task to the experts. And let's face it someone who doesn't give a damn how much this and that adverb is loved. How much time was spent on that special phrase. The editor is THE EXECUTIONER! Their job is to go through and kill the stuff that doesn't work. Like downsizing a company, or making a chubby kid go on a diet when their fave food groups are FATS AND CARBS. Come on, it's their job. They're specially trained not to notice the screams of all those words going to their doom. *sniffles*

However, there are times when we must face facts, pull up our bootstraps and do the dreaded self edit. *insert screams of horror here* When something isn't working, when it's just not right. The story is too long or the pacing is off. I'm not expert by any means, but I've read enough books to know that if it takes too long for stuff to happen that I'll put it down. If I the A.D.D. Queen will do that, so will the average reader, and that's who I write for.

I'll say this, thank God--or at least Microsoft for the word processing program. Without it, this process would take much longer than it did for authors of the past. My respect for authors of the past is great, some wrote longhand, others took the typewriter route. While I've written down passages to put on the computer for later, but I'm not sure if I could write an entire book by hand. And from my high school days, I know very well that typewriters and myself don't get along at all.

So, back to the the drawing board yet again, or rather back to the cut and paste. But, it's all clicking together nicely now, finally after a breather and a bout of introspection that I had to do when life threw me one of it's little curve balls. However, with a little therapy from my cybersisters I'm getting into the swing of things again. Maybe I just needed a rest and refill. Let's hope so.

May All Your Holidays Be Bright!

Love Jenna

For all you Tiger Fans

Since my brother-in-law is stuck off in Ohio and has no friends and family to share his Tiger-Fandom with, I thought I'd share this pic so he wouldn't feel quite so lonely. That and it's just so darn cute.

What's Paco saying? Well, of course it's..

Dog Day Some Day

But not today.

Happy Thanksgiving from me and my family (Paco the Wonderdawg too!) to yours.

What's in a name?

Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Not sure, but I hope they had lots of roses and other flowering bushes around during Love in the Time of Cholera. Every time I hear about or see the title, I snicker and/or despite the fact that it's being touted as this HUGE sweeping romantic saga and one of the greatest love stories ever. Why? Well, due to my work in the medical field, I can't thinking about the definition of cholera.

Cholera: is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.

Oh yeah uh huh, diarrhea is just so damn.. sexy.

I realize this is the title of the book and therefore must be the title of the movie because .. it's an Oprah Book Club book. That's right, we can all blame the talk show queen for a medical word for shit being in a movie title. I can hear people thinking now, "Love and shit.. does that mean the relationship is in the toilet.. what?"

However, people are going to see this awkwardly named movie because by golly, if she recommends something they all have to flock to it like mindless sheep to heading for slaughter, or perhaps lemmings jumping off the cliffs of despair to their dooms on the jagged rocks below.

I've looked at her clique-y little list, you know and there aren't any fun books. There's no Harry Potter or Cujo, or even any romances, unless the hero or heroine dies in the end. Oh yeah, I realize that the HEA ain't on her must-reads. Believe me babe, I know a passive pooh-pooh when I see one, I'm a southern woman after all, she don't like romance readers or writers for that matter. Alice Hoffman is the closest she's got, with Here on Earth. Please be advised, while good, your nose will become intimately acquainted with a box of Kleenex during this book.

Now, I'm not knocking the woman (much) I'm scared to, she's got connections, not to mention more money than God. Nor am I downing all those books those authors worked so hard on, most of which are about spiritual growth or overcoming huge obstacles but some of them are just.. fricking boring. Not to mention depressing as hell. A lot of the books on the OBC list should come with a Prozac taped to a book mark as a promo item.

Back to Love in the Time of Cholera.... when the J. Geils Band sang Love Stinks, I really don't think this is what they were talking about.

What happens in DunVegas is happening now and it's free!!

Welcome to Dunvegas 2007, the brainchild of the paranormal authors of the Beyond the Veil blog. Offered as a free Samhain gift to our readers, we hope this anthology will be the first of many return visits to Dunvegas, an out-of-the-ordinary Las Vegas casino/resort modeled after an ancient Scottish castle.

Dunvegas is unlike any other casino on The Strip. It caters to a decidedly preternatural crowd and plays host to the annual ParaPleasures Expo, the largest trade show on Earth dedicated solely to the pampering and pleasuring of vampires, weres, dragons, Fae, mages, wizards, and everything in between.

So pack light (Dunvegas has everything you could ever need) and confirm your reservation. The concierge desk is just beyond the fangs and hellhounds that guard the portcullis. Just keep your arms and legs inside as you cross the moat—the mermaids and the Kracken aren’t just for show. They’re real.

And it’s feeding time.

Enjoy your stay!

To get a free download of this wonderful story head on over to Beyond the Veil

A wyvern, a succubus and a witch walk into a bar

It could happen in Vegas.. or in one of my books.


Lacey at Romance Junkies had this to say about The Last Legacy.

THE LAST LEGACY is a wonderful fantasy tale. This is my second review for Ms. Leigh and I must say her stories only get better. Ms. Leigh combines romance, adventure and humor beautifully in every story she creates, and always keeps the reader guessing what will happen next. Lilly is an intelligent character who didn’t necessarily ask for the life she’d been dealt, but she makes the best of it. I enjoyed the character Faelen as well, and his fervid attempts to get Lilly to notice him. I recommend THE LAST LEGACY to readers looking for a great fantasy.

To read the rest CLICK HERE!


Also, in other news. Tomorrow is the first installment of I Dream of Desi, which is my part of What Happens in DunVegas on Beyond The Veil

And also tomrrow night please,join me and JMorgan at Coffee Time's Exotic Loop for The Witching Hour where we'll share some ghost stories and talk a bit about our books at 6:30 Central.

I think that's all. For now anyway.

Whew!

Jenna

October News-Happy Halloween!

Saturday, October 13th, JMorgan, Helen Ravell and I, among others, are going to be chatting at Love Romances Cafe.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LoveRomancesCafe/

On Sunday October 21st I'll be loopy yet again, this time joining the other Champagne Books authors at Fallen Angels.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FallenAngelReviewChatters/

Wednesday October 24th, JMorgan and I'll be together once more.. I swear we're together on loops more than we are in reality. *snickers* This time it's on Coffee Time Romance's loop where we'll do our scary swamp Witching Hour.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karenfindoutaboutnewbooks/


On Halloween, something truly spooky will happen. Through the magic--and some would say evil--of the internet, I shall be two places at once.

A Very Spooky Chat with the rest of Champagne's authors in Fallen Angel Review's Chatroom
http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/

And

Samhain Publishing is taking over the Coffee Time Loops for a Halloween Bash!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karenfindoutaboutnewbooks/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/karendevinkaren/

As you can see, I'll be haunting the loops this month, so if you see me, drop me a line. And don't forget to enter my contest. The details can be found at Coffee Time Romance and on my website.


I vant to drink your chocy!!

Jenna Leigh

Panthers and Cougars and now Bears? Oh My! Wait.. Oh, Crap!

I may have mentioned that I've got a Sucky Day Job. Let me say that I love the people I work with. When you spend 8 hours a day with folks for years on end and they become your family. My boss is the big brother whose more heinous than me. Scary thought, no? Well, maybe not that mean.. okay, yeah he is. This is the man who calls me Luci, stating it's short for Lucifer. *pfth* Evil gets the job done. More on him in a bit.

Anyway, my hubby comes into my day job often because he and my coworker share books. She's the sweet one. You know the one in every bunch whose always positive, upbeat and nice, until that scary frickin moment that she's not. Then, Omigawd, take cover because like the song goes, Betty's Bein' Bad, and she's probably got a shotgun aimed at your ass. Her name ain't Betty, but I'm not goin to say it. Take not the scary sweet woman's name in vain is my motto, because she could be sneakin up on you unawares.

Well, I thought hubby was visiting Sweetie and discussing just what books to by and not to buy because she's a bad 'rebuyer'. If they change the cover, she'll grab it up, thinking she's got the newest book by one of her fave authors. I firmly believe publishers should put the word REPRINT in big letters on the cover for women such as her. Not that she'd believe it, because even when I tell her this and that she's read it she doesn't believe me. She makes me bring the book to work. Only after reading three or four chapters does she bring it to me with a look of disgust on her face so I can take it home and sneak it back on hubby's no touchit shelf. The lengths I go for this woman. Gaah!

However, hubby wasn't in with Sweetie, nooo, it was much worse, he was in with my boss aka THE CORRUPTER. The Corrupter gives him subversive testosterone laden ideas like; thinking for himself, doing what he wants, buying movies with lotsa bewbies in, going fishin', buying a truck with 4-wheel drive, etc. He'd never come up with these on his own, being more like Sweetie than The Corrupter, so I'd rather he didn't visit with him, as I always hear giggling coming from that office. Yet when I go in, it suddenly stops and they look guilty. Boys are such doofuses.

This time though, The Corrupter was showing him a PSA in the form of the picture shown. I thought this was from someone's deer feeder from Arkansas or Mississippi, so imagine my surprise when Corrupter claimed it was from his own deer feeder. I still wasn't too worried because he's got a camp at the Hooker Hole *pauses* Hush, that's the name of the place. No, I'm not makin it up, I'm from there. No, I'm not from the Hooker Hole! I'm from the general area..oh never mind! Anyway, this picture was taken about ten miles from my house! This is a black bear! While the Corrupter may be Grizzly Adams *snickers* I'm so not.

Intellectually I know we've got panthers and cougars in our area, but they don't let you see them because cats are smart enough to know that out of sight means out of mind. But Bears? Bears? All those dumbass rednecks were supposed to have hunted them to extinction years ago. Can't I depend on them for anything? Jeez Louisiana! I watched enough Discovery Channel to know they're gonna be in my trashcans soon, and once that happens it's onto my porch. Just, eeek! Hubby's response? He smiled and said, "See! I told you we needed to buy a bigger gun!" Dammit, I knew the Corrupter was up to something!

Contest for the Month of October!

Six Degrees of Southern Separation

Connectivity isn't just about the internet, believe it or not. You can get it anywhere, especially in the South. Of course in my hometown you can't drive down the road without practically running over one of my kinfolks, but that's not really fair, as you're in my hometown. My mother is one of 4, her mother is one of 12, my father is one of 8, his mother was one of 6 and his father was one of 7, at least, I think he was. You don't know? I can feel your disbelief, well, dammit, I have a lot of kinfolk, it gets confusing after about 200 or more. So, yeah I think so, but don't quote me on it. Let's just say that when there's a funeral on either side of my family, it can turn into standing room only event.

I mentioned an old and dear friend passing away and going to the viewing. Now for those that don't know; a viewing is a Southernism. It's sort of like a Wake. However, since most of the folks down here in this part of the South are Baptists or Protestant, there's no drinking. Depending on the family and/or the deceased's wishes the casket may or may not be opened there might not be any viewing done either. What you are essientially there for is to visit the deceased's kin.


That's what The Poor Sainted Hubby and I did and the capital letters are needed in this case, because the Poor Sainted Hubby deserves mondo brownie points.

First he drove to West Funroe, which he hates to do and did it at night BP#1. Secondly he was taking me to my ex-bf's funeral where he didn't know anyone BP#2. It doesn't matter that we'd not been involved for over 20 years, some men would have still balked at it, but he didn't. We get there and I immediately am engulfed in the past relativity of yakkity yak and he melts into the background so easily that I actually forgot he was there BP#3. I was good friends with his sisters, Tish and Sussan and, and Tish's husband Joey too you see as well as Susan's ex husband Scotty as well as their parents. In fact for a time in high school we were almost inseparable. Yes, we were evil children, but we never got caught. Almost never.

We're all talking (endlessly) and it was wonderful to see my old friends despite the tragic circumstances. It was also awful to judge how old we're all getting by the fact that our children are all grown up, but that's life, it passes and the alternative to growing older is worse and also final. Remembering our friend was what we did, by sharing our memories, which is what a viewing is for.

However, towards the end of the night Joey (a yakker to rival even me and dayam, that's saying something!) made a remark about coveting my cousin's car and my husband smugly replied that his cousin's gold Trans-am was much more heinously righteous. I laughingly pushed back his bangs and said that Jackie had put the lightening bolt shaped scar on Saint Hubby's head making him into the grown up version of Harry Potter (who he looks somewhat like). Once the name was said the Six Degrees of Southern Separation Game began.

Joey laughed and shook his head, "My sister was married to him."
St Hubby frowned and said the most important thing. "She's crazy! She made him get rid of that car!"
Joey throws up his hands, "I know, what can you do? Relatives."
St Hubby, who has been known to hold a grudge for quite a while. "Eh, he took my toys when I was two. He deserved it."

Thus, peace and redneck harmony was restored as they talked about Cameros, Mustangs and T-tops until Tina Turner arrived. Oh don't get excited.. it's the redneck version. Lemme tell you if Ike ever put his hand on this one, he'd have drawn back a nub the first time. I can't tell any secrets about her though, cuz she knows my nickname.

Off to Make Some Brownies

Jenn

Path Not Taken, Road Not Traveled, Heart Still Broken

Different decisions sent me down different paths than my friends and lovers. Some of them were right, some wrong, and some weren't even my decisions at all. It's only when I look back and can see the way the paths overlap, looping back and forth, connecting and weaving that I understand how Fate has a hand in things, and that I have no control over it. It still hurts like hell.

The past has a way of coming back to haunt me when I least expect it. A breath-stealing slap in the in the face to show me things thought I'd put away. I only thought I'd forgot but no, it's been waiting for just this perfect moment to come roaring back with the vengence of a lover scorned.

Events, people, places, things once beloved, were shoved into the back of my mind busy with the present, a heart full to the brim with the new. Mental keepsakes were safely pressed and folded and filed, but they lingered, like a cancer I thought were in remission. In reality, it was just waiting, for that one word, or name, or thought, or smell, or dear God, a song and just exploded into life. These cells, these visions regenerated with vivid clarity and I was simply....there again, like I'd never left at all.

The past is a scary thing, because I can't change it. Instead, it just lingers in the darkness like a chain tightening around the heart showing what could have been. However, when the past dies, ends, becomes a closed avenue, something strange happens. I freeze and wonder in that selfish, center of the universe way humans have, could I have done something to change it? Here is where the F-word comes in again, Fate. If I could go back, knowing what I know now, would I change any of my decisions, sure, should I? No, but I do know that a dear friend is gone, and this world a much dimmer place without him in it. I'll miss you, Perry.

Love always,

Jenn

Remember

It's hard to believe it's been six years since the skyline of NYC was changed forever. I just remember thinking how awful it was that a plane accidently hit the tower. Talk about innocence lost, huh? When the Pentagon was targeted too, it was still awful, but by then, I was ready for it and knew what was going on, so I was more mad than anything.
Many died, others were heroes. All should be remembered today as well as the soldiers that are still fighting. Whether you think the war's justified, a senseless bid for vengeance, a waste of taxpayer's money or a combination of all three, I still say we have to remember the tragedy that happened today. Then, there's the old saying about learning our history, let's do that, because this is something I don't ever want to see happen again.

Through it all though, I'm still proud to be an American.

Jenna Leigh