Pop! Goes the zombie

There's been a rash of Popcap gaming going on here at the house of mystery. First there was Bejeweled 2, then Peggle and Zuma... and so...

This made someone in our house curious (who shall remain nameless but I'll just say that his name rhymes with Shmee Shmaych). This led him to check out the Popcap website himself, where he found info on their next game: Plants vs. Zombies!!!

He even found a music video promoting the game. Yes, you read that right. A music video

I tried to embed it to no avail, but you can see it here.

So we now have a video with a dancing sunflower singing about the zombie apocalypse with a bouncing ball (I mean brain) on the words. And what is a Shmee Shmaych to do? Why, he calls his red head with the quirky sense of humor to see the video, of course.

She laughs. She says it's hilarious. She can't wait for the game.

Night falls.

Long time blog readers may remember her little issue with zombies last winter. She slept with a cardboard tube that her mother (me) insisted would neutralize the zombie threat. Her teacher would tell me she looked too tired in class - yes, it's hard to be alert in the morning when you've been up all night standing vigil against zombies with your paper tube.

Guess where, or should I say, with whom, I slept with all night.

If we had a dog, you'd know where Shmee Shmaych slept, too.

Never stop with their first answer

DH and I are sitting on the sofa perusing the Tivo Now Playing menu. He has his laptop open.

ME: What are you working on over there.
DH: A little Bejeweled action
ME: How's your score?
DH: I don't keep score. I play for the existential benefit of relaxing and other such things.
ME: So you haven't beat the current score of 98,000?
DH: *smirk playing at the corner of his mouth* If I had, you'd have heard about it!

Example #2

Betty Boop let out a wail of distress when she found out that my sister, otherwise known as The Fun Aunt had gone home while she was in bed. Please read this conversation imagining an intense emotional pitch, near panic, and rising with each answer.


BB: But I wuv my aunt, I miss her so much, I MISS HER SO MUCH!
ME: Oh, why do you love your aunt so much?
BB: Because she brings FURBALL with her! (Furball is the name given to my sister's cat, changed to protect his identity from, yanno, cat thieves and such...)
ME: But you have Norah. (our tortie cat)
BB: But I like Furball better!
ME: Why?
BB: Because Furball is all white!
ME: And you like white?
BB: White reminds me of chocolate and I like white chocolate best of all!

And there you go. So perhaps I can buy her a block of white chocolate and she'll be totally over her aunt leaving while she was in bed and taking the furball with her. Also, I do feel a little sad for Norah. It wasn't all that long ago that Boop was rolling a soup can around pretending it was her pet... because she didn't have any pets. Except poor Norah, of cours.

book meme

I grabbed this from Savvy Verse and Wit because it looked like fun. If it looks like fun for you, too, grab it and leave me a comment so I can go read yours!

1. Hardback, trade paperback or mass market paperback?
Absolutely trade paperback! They are the perfect size and feel in my hands.

2. Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Barnes and Noble - they just plain have more books. Borders is too tall and airy where I live, and have less choices. And I like the kids' section better at B&N. And the 10% off. ;)

3. Bookmark or dog-ear?
Dog-ear - I have little ones who would steal a bookmark in a heartbeat.

4. Amazon or brick and mortar?
Both. I go to Barnes and Noble almost at least 2 or 3 times a week. It's a great outing with the kids. I may or may not buy a book at that time, but I always buy coffee.

However, they don't have nearly all the books I'm looking for. I read a lot of scholarly theology books, and they sometimes have one or two, but it's really inconsistent. Also, I've been burned on books that just look good. I like to go to Amazon and read the reviews and maybe he first page. And I'm from Seattle, so it's supporting my local economy. ;)

5. Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
Or throw in a wicker basket next to my bed...

6. Keep, throw away, or sell?
Who throws away books?! I keep only a select few because I have severe space issues. So I either give away or sell or exchange on paperback swap or frugal reader.

7. Keep dust jacket or toss it?
I hate them, but I wouldn't throw them out, hence my love of trade paperbacks.

8. Read with dust jacket or remove it?
I usually leave them on and use the flap as a bookmark. Unless they get unwieldly.

9. Short story or novel?
I will let you in on a little secret. I hate short stories. I like the IDEA of short stories, but they are so often depressing or just weird, that I almost never read them. Exceptions made for the greats like Poe or Fitzgerald.

10. Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
Harry Potter!!!

11. Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
I stop when a little person jumps on me or when my brain stops working.

12. "It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?
"It was a dark and stormy night" - both because I love atmospheric mysteries and because it opens one of my favorite books - A Wrinkle In Time.

13. Buy or borrow?
Buy. Borrowing is great in theory, but there's that pesky thing where you have to keep track of them and then return them to the library or they get really upset with you. Plus, I like to support my fellow authors.

14. New or used?
Depends on the book and how much I want the author to get sales.

15. Buying choice: book reviews, recommendations, or browse?
I like reviews and recommendations from bloggers - next I browse.

16. Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
Tidy, please!

17. Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?
Right before bed, unless it totally captivates me and then I read constantly!

18. Stand-alone or series?
Either, but I do love a good series.

19. Favorite series?
Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody mystery series.

20. Favorite children's book?
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Also, there is a beautiful children's book about Christmas called An Angel Remembers.

21. Favorite YA book?
Ooo, tough. I really liked A Northern Light.

22. Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Five Smooth Stones, by Ann Fairbairn.

23. Favorite books read last year?
St. Agnes Stand, The Diplomat's Wife, The Winter Queen,

24. Favorite books of all time? (not mentioned earlier)
The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, The Age of Innocence, The Little Drummer Girl, The Harry Potter Books, The Historian, Possession, the Chronicles of Narnia and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

25. What are you reading right now?
The Cosgrove Report

26. What are you reading next?
The Collaborator of Betheleham

27. Favorite book to recommend to an eleven-year-old?
Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time trilogy.

28. Favorite book to reread?
Pride & Prejudice

29. Do you ever smell books?
I do occasionally.

30. Do you ever read Primary source documents?
Yes, I do. I love research.

How to get off to not such a great start in the morning

1. Go to bed too late

2. Go to bed too late because you were watching American Idol and The Biggest Loser, but your favorite singers were just eh, and neither Helen, Sione, nor Felipe got sent home.

3. Wake up feeling like you were run over by a truck, or more precisely that you are coming down with the colds that your kids have had for 3 weeks that up till now you've successfully avoided.

4. Think to self, at least you remembered to order orange juice from Safeway, only to pour out orange juice and see sludge. Pour back into container. Shake. Pour back out. Still sludge.

5. Realize you do not have "pulp free" orange juice, but "pulp full" - Who buys pulp full? I still think the Safeway.com guys just threw the wrong one in the bag.

6. Look out window and see the rain turn to sleet, and then snow.

7. Discuss dieting with your husband.

I'm ready for tomorrow.

I won!

I love winning things. :) I especially love winning things not yet released to the general public. Bwa ha ha!!!

I've won Crimes of Paris from the lovely Samantha at Sam's Book Blog. She has fantastic reviews over there and giveaways, clearly, so go check it out. ;)

The book is a true crime story about the theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. Check out this description:

Turn-of-the-century Paris was the beating heart of a rapidly changing world. Painters, scientists, revolutionaries, poets--all were there. But so, too, were the shadows: Paris was a violent, criminal place, its sinister alleyways the haunts of Apache gangsters and its cafes the gathering places of murderous anarchists. In 1911, it fell victim to perhaps the greatest theft of all time--the taking of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. Immediately, Alphonse Bertillon, a detective world-renowned for pioneering crime-scene investigation techniques, was called upon to solve the crime. And quickly the Paris police had a suspect: a young Spanish artist named Pablo Picasso....

Should be good times. If I can bring myself to part with it, I'll hold my own giveaway for it here when I'm all done.

And now... off to whip chapter 8 of Lamplight into shape. It's this looming black hole in the middle of my manuscript. I've written way past it, but just can't connect the dots in this one area. I hate that. And I'm not a note carder or story boarder. The oh so wise Kimber An was just talking about how she thinks in pictures and I've wondered if that's an easier way to hold a novel in your head. I think in words (which I suppose makes some sense for a writer) - and emotions. I can feel a scene, I can hear the words, but I sometimes have no idea what anyone looks like and any sort of graphical means of organizing scenes just drives me crazy.

And so I plod on.

No, no, no, no

Betty Boop, listening to Black Horse and the Cherry Tree (Megan's version, not KT's of course)...

"I like this song cause you get to say 'no, no, no, no him not the one for me!' I like dat. Dat's better than the Wiggles."

Hmmm...

She''s safe!

WHEW!!!!!

Not even in the bottom three. That's the power of shlove... I mean love.

Also, you should all be happy to know that Huey has his power cord back so I've got more blogging, writing, and Amazon.comming ability. The world has returned to it's axis. You know if the power cord hadn't broken Sione and Filipe would not have escaped my scathing wrath as I sat here on the sofa watching their hissy fits on The Biggest Loser. (Seriously, he yelled at Jillian. Jillian! I love Jillian!)


And you'd be hearing all about my new Heroes addiction (I'm so behind the times - even with Greg Grunberg. I feel my tv crush on Greg Grunberg isn't nearly well documented enough). So, maybe you're not so sad the cord was down and out.

Now I've got to reread 85 pages or so of manuscript and get back in the groove. Between kids coughing fits and stumbling out of bed because they dreamt about a giant man-eating worm. Wish me luck!

And Megan - pick a good song next week, hon! The Mystery Man cannot stand this kind of stress. He starts doing crazy stuff like putting his pacifier in his mouth backwards and playing Don't Break The Ice obsessively. He couldn't even eat his goldfish crackers tonight! It should be an easy week with the theme, which I hear is "Top 100 iTunes Downloads" - I have some suggestions if you want to give me a call. Mystery Man thinks the theme song for Handy Manny would do nicely. It's gotta be in the top 100, right?!

Love vs. Shlove

My 11th grade English teacher told us once to think about what the theme of a particular book might be, saying, "people don't write books just to write them, they have something to say."

I'm not 100% sure that is always the case, but I know one theme that is close to my heart is the sacrificial, enduring quality of love. And I don't mean taking a bullet for someone. That's the easy stuff. I mean the day in, day out, negotiating the remote, the chores, who's gonna carry the crying baby to the bathroom tonight and get thrown up on in the hall. That kind of stuff!

I love happily ever after, and I don't like to write about angst, but I do believe that without committment, love is nothing. It's not even really love. It's something else -- let's call it shlove. And shlove is talked about everywhere. It's ubiquitious. It's worse than Google.

I try to write characters that count the cost and do the work, because the best stories are ones that inspire and encourage, not make you wonder if you picked the right person because your happily ever after isn't looking so shiny today - When Harry Met Sally, Pride and Prejudice, The Philadelphia Story, Luke and Lorelai (on the good seasons).

So, yeah, it wasn't her best song, but The Mystery Man and I voted for Megan about a hundred times, because that's what you do. My texting bill is gonna hate me.

Almost...

Betty Boop, watching The Mystery Man watch Megan, "Does him love her? Is him her boyfriend?"

MM took a super long nap right before dinner so he can wait up to watch Megan tonight.

T - 67 minutes and counting...

Please, Megan, please!

Tomorrow, American Idol is on. I'm trying to not be snarky about The President booting Idol to Wednesday. I'm sure he had important things to say. I'm sure he did. But does he realize HOW MANY TIMES I've had to listen to "Walkin' After Midnight"???? To say I've played it 100 times would be a conservative number. Mystery Man comes to me, remote in hand, pointing at the tv and going "Gah!"

"Gah" means "Mystery Mom, would you please put on the new love of my life, Megan Joy? Thank you, dearly." and "GAH!" means, "I might DIE if I don't hear Megan again!"

He always sits transfixed while she's on. He claps like a proud boyfiend at the end of the song, just as she's winding down, actually, and then grabs the Tivo, goes "bloop, bloop, bloop" and she's on again.

Now, I could end the madness and stop playing her, but he's sick. And when he's standing there looking pathetic and crying because I won't vacuum, again, I can just flip on Megan and he quiets down. I'd say I've possibly abused this tendency.

I've downloaded all of her songs to my iTunes, but I can't get them on the big screen and that's really where I need options.

Mr. Obama, I've born with great patience this one extra night of Walkin' After Midnight, but really, I had to dig deep. It probably cost me another 20 viewings. I know every vocal lick, every half smile, every hand motion, and it plays in my head constantly. Any time my thoughts go still, cue the soundtrack... "out in the moonlight, just like we used to do.." I used to think she had kind of a quirky voice. Now I'm not sure there IS another voice. Anywhere.

So please, Megan, please sing a great song tomorrow. You have no idea how much I'll be listening to it. And if the rest of you could throw her some extra votes, the House of Mystery would really appreciate it.