tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39970511307037594762024-03-06T01:25:31.591-08:00Alicia's Blah Blah BlahMe me me me me me meAliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-45708366774116049222012-05-18T12:02:00.001-07:002012-05-18T12:02:20.291-07:00Bread Loaf<p>No, not the one in Middlebury, VT but a better one! Crustier, more tender and infinitely addictive. I dusted off my ancient bread machine, added a little flour, water, yeast, salt, sugar and butter, some NF dry milk, a recipe for heaven.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfEd4Bq_EcZwAmWYTM2gDweDMYsFCIPifT7cl7skE9XGx8r0_dxoNBjTnTwzdzZTGMP4cu36riW8jKhYfrhTTQMFS6DvTEbXPmlBpL01GEBoi5WR2pLzj8nG1zV-mhlWOw89Jqf2HpXWXi/s1600-h/Bread%252520Loaf%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Bread Loaf" border="0" alt="Bread Loaf" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm56tiuidvcQ5L0x1DEaVOHRdTTZBArDwXXtg7t3WhBs0hxKtFXDlYjgYzylgNQdc1gXePAgHALPwMKQ9xYnYFZOeTSWTMH4j5FejnEXIySppk2IXw0qy0VgzjtWq9CLKT8LYDqDDy2RVD/?imgmax=800" width="184" height="244" /></a></p> Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-39440062031378274342012-02-11T11:51:00.000-08:002012-02-11T11:51:47.505-08:00California Proposition 8 same-sex-marriage ban ruled unconstitutional - The Washington Post<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/calif-same-sex-marriage-ban-ruled-unconstitutional/2012/02/07/gIQAMNwkwQ_story.html?wpisrc=al_comboNP_p">California Proposition 8 same-sex-marriage ban ruled unconstitutional - The Washington Post</a>: <br><br><a style="font-size:13px" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk">'via Blog this'</a>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-12672315369254217662010-07-05T12:01:00.001-07:002010-07-06T14:33:32.400-07:00In Cars<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDJB-6Zsj-jTfakyoZlHSG1AH3IBnIq9MkmfafLl7NVglw2_dqzvNjj2495NkVGRixM6RyIAkaKoWL4u1xDCzX1wB_zG5pHpIZQ9_xl-E_ig8qc7_fpZYQlUHLi90BSvsMCL6fFcj4-9j/s1600/RENAULT+CARAVELLE.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 128px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDJB-6Zsj-jTfakyoZlHSG1AH3IBnIq9MkmfafLl7NVglw2_dqzvNjj2495NkVGRixM6RyIAkaKoWL4u1xDCzX1wB_zG5pHpIZQ9_xl-E_ig8qc7_fpZYQlUHLi90BSvsMCL6fFcj4-9j/s200/RENAULT+CARAVELLE.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490592989150444722" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Wow. A whole year since I last posted here. Tempis fugit, yo.</span></div> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">So. </span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Courier New';"></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Courier New';"><p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia;">I'm driving around the other day and I see this car stalled and a guy pushing it while another guy sits in the driver's seat, and people whirring around it all impatient and stuff, and it occurs to me how I don't see people pushing cars much anymore. Is it because cars are just better now, more reliable? It seems I used to see cars being pushed a lot, back in the day.</span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">So then I start thinking about my first car, a used '62 Renault Caravelle that my mother bought for $525 when I was 17 and starting college. It was just like this one pictured, a red convertible with 2 tops, but I imbued mine with Flower Power by sticking huge, plastic flowers all over it. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">The Red Bullet.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">For a while the Red Bullet had no reverse but it was small and light and I could easily push it backwards out of parking spots, but no parallel parking. The points in the voltage regulator would stick. I'd see the needle on the ammeter in the red zone and I’d get out of the car, open the trunk where the engine was, and bang the voltage regulator box with my fist to unstick the points so the battery would charge. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">I had generator problems, too, resulting in lots of dead battery issues. I learned how to jump start a car. Solo, no small feat. You had to look for a parking spot that was sort of downhill. I got cozy with Speedy, the AAA guy who looked just like Sonny Bono. He came to jump start me and my car for lots of dead batteries, and sometimes I’d ride around with him on calls. Then I found out he was married. Oh, and a heroin addict.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">My well-meaning but dumb friend, Harry, kindly offered to put water in the radiator for me (the Bullet overheated a lot and always needed water), but he filled up the oil tank instead. Not much happened. The Red Bullet was resilient in odd ways.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">So I had to add water to it all the time and the radiator cap was on an extension hose-thing from the radiator, directly suspended above the distributor. If you got sloppy with the water, it would drip on the distributor and the car wouldn’t start or it would miss like crazy. I’d have to take the distributor cap off and take the air hose to blow all the spark plugs and connections dry. I learned a lot about cars. <i>That</i> car, anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">It was a nightmare of a car most of the time but man, it had traction. That thing hugged the road like a motherfucker; whipped down curvy canyons like a race car. "Hold true, Red Bullet." I actually would say that. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">I borrowed my mom's Chevy Nova to take my brother and some of his buddies to the beach to surf. We piled the boards on the car and I tried to hurl through Topanga Canyon like I could in the Bullet, and the Nova wallowed wildly all over the road. We nearly crashed. The Nova was no Bullet.</span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">It didn't do too well going uphill. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can ...<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">There was a time when the only way to stop the Bullet was to yank up the emergency brake as hard and fast as possible while pumping the foot brake to the floor, and downshifting to second gear. Somehow I avoided a catastrophe until the brakes were fixed.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Driving home from frat parties, stopping, opening the door, vomiting (I’m not proud of this). The Bullet never judged me.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Summer nights, in the wee hours of the morning, my GF, Kathy Poole and I would cruise in the Bullet over to the original <i>Tommy's</i> on Rampart, way before it became a chain burger place. Top down and no reverse. If you don't know L.A., Rampart is and was some bad-ass scary high-crime neighborhood, but we were 18 by then, and therefore, immortal. We smoked weed, a felony in those days, even one seed could put your ass in the Big House, and we’d head over to Tommy's for chili burgers with thick slices of beefsteak tomato and those hot little peppers, all served by ex-cons. We’d sit there bloody eyed, wolfing down our burgers amongst the bad asses. They'd offer to help, though, some of them, when they saw us pushing the Bullet. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">I took the Bullet to San Francisco once, with my GF Sandy S. It didn't make it back that trip; there was LSD and a dropped clutch in Sausalito, sleeping on Stinson Beach except not sleeping because of being so high on acid. Sandy and I hitchhiked home to Burbank; it took us a couple of days because we went back through Big Sur. We met some good people along the way that gave us a ride all the way to our homes. Then I took my sister's big white Impala back up to Sausalito and jerry-rigged some kind of tow thing. and towed the Bullet home to drive another day. Only one headlight worked on my sister’s car, and I had cracked a contact lens while camping on the beach on the return trip, so the Impala and I had this one-eyed symmetry going on.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">I had the Bullet for about 2 years. I got a job at Blue Cross on Sunset and bought a brand new Mazda 626 via the credit union. I traded the Bullet in but I forgot for how much. I want to say $90. It still had the flowers.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">So those guys push the car, I think it was a Toyota, into the Chevron across the street. They were probably out of gas.</span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoPlainText"><span style="Courier New"font-family:";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p></span><p></p><div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-Times New Roman";font-family:";color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p></div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-65283858652782502782009-07-04T11:29:00.000-07:002009-07-04T12:02:34.408-07:00Everything Matters! by Ron Currie Jr.!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://content-8.powells.com/cgi-bin/imageDB.cgi?isbn=9780670020928"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 120px; height: 181px;" src="http://content-8.powells.com/cgi-bin/imageDB.cgi?isbn=9780670020928" alt="" border="0" /></a>I finished <a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/2-9780670020928-0"><span style="font-weight: bold;">EVERYTHING MATTERS!</span></a> in two besotted days, and I'm in that stunned afterglow full-feeling, teary-eyed reverie of having read something so wickedly funny; so crazy ass absurd yet so profoundly moving/heartbreaking and so oddly but overwhelmingly uplifting. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ron Currie Jr.</span> just blows it out of the park (baseball being a major player here) in oh so many ways.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"You wish they understood as you do, that there is no escape and never was, that from the moment two cells combined to become one they were doomed."</span><br /><br />What a ride. Everything matters, kids.<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-41467486454041887072009-07-04T10:52:00.000-07:002009-07-04T11:24:17.586-07:00'S Been A While . . .<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://teachingwithcontests.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/heinz-large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 155px; height: 207px;" src="http://teachingwithcontests.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/heinz-large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This is the '<span style="font-weight: bold;">ketchup edition</span>' because a lot has happened and I've missed it all.<br /><ul><li>So first, because this blog is about ME, my story <a href="http://narrativemagazine.com/issues/stories-week-2008-2009/afterlife">"Afterlife" </a>was a <a href="http://narrativemagazine.com/issues/stories-week-2008-2009">Story of the Week </a>over at <a href="http://narrativemagazine.com/">Narrative Magazine</a>, and what a joy ride that was! Lots of great comments and I felt like a proper writer. For a week. And now to carry on with my big bad self.</li></ul><ul><li>Farewell to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Farah Fawcett</span>. Charlie's Angels notwithstanding, she was brave and ballsy and my heart goes out to her and her family and mostly to Redmond, her kid. </li></ul><ul><li>And <span style="font-weight: bold;">Michael Jackson</span>, holy shit! Nothing I can add here to the media voyeur monster machine, but his music was sure a part of my life and my kid's life and his weirdness was always something to marvel at. </li></ul>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-13155406749076634042009-06-11T14:49:00.000-07:002009-06-11T15:38:40.850-07:00Ununbium (112)****<span style="font-style: italic;">BERLIN (Reuters) – A new, superheavy </span><span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer; font-style: italic;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1244739022_0">chemical element</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> numbered 112 will soon be officially included in the periodic table, German researchers said.</span> <p><span style="font-style: italic;"> A team in the southwest German city of Darmstadt </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">first produced</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> 112 in 1996 </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">by firing charged zinc atoms through a 120-meter-long </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1244739022_1">particle accelerator</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> to hit a lead target.</span> </span><span>(Is it just me, or is that kind of hot?)<br /></span></p> <p> <span style="font-style: italic;">"The new element is approximately 277 times heavier than hydrogen, making it the heaviest element in the periodic table," the scientists at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research said in a statement late on Wednesday.</span></p> <p style="font-style: italic;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">The zinc and lead nuclei were fused to form the nucleus of the new element, also known as Ununbium, Latin for 112.</span></p>(blah blah blah, here's the whole <a target="_blank" href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090611/lf_nm_life/us_germany_element">Reuters article</a>)<br /><p> <span style="font-style: italic;">The </span><span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer; font-style: italic;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1244739022_4">atomic number</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> 112 refers to the sum of the </span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1244739022_5">atomic numbers</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> of zinc, which has 30, and lead, which has 82. Atomic numbers denote how many protons are found in the atom's nucleus.</span> (I love this.)<br /></p> <p> <span style="font-style: italic;">I</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">n 1925, scientists discovered the last naturally occurring element on the periodic table </span><span>(FYI: Uranium</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">).</span><span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Since then researchers have sought to create new, heavier elements.</span></span></p> <p><span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Proving the existence of atoms with such a high mass, the so-called superheavy elements, is a complex procedure because </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">they exist for only tiny fractions of a second and then decay radioactively into other elements</span>.</span></span>*****</p><p>Creating new elements, that's so God Particle. And something about atomic nuclei forcibly fusing to produce something brand new that only exists for fractions of seconds is so <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2007-05-10-naughty-las-vegas_N.htm">Las Vegas</a>, baby.<br /></p><p><br /></p>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-49818843603349974012009-06-09T23:56:00.000-07:002009-06-10T00:07:06.856-07:00Freight Stories, No. 5!The new issue of <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://freightstories.com/">Freight Stories</a> is up, with a story by yours truly, <a href="http://freightstories.com/Gifford.html">"Wreckers"</a>, and lots of great reading by some <a href="http://freightstories.com/Number5.html">awesome writers</a>. And it's gorgeous! <a href="http://andrewsbookclub.wordpress.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Andrew Scott</span></a> and <a href="http://web.mac.com/victoriabarrett/Site/Victoria_Barrett.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Victoria Barrett</span></a>, the editors, have done a beautiful presentation and I'm all verklempt and shit to be amongst such illustrious company!Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-37567598628341047492009-06-09T11:26:00.000-07:002009-06-10T00:13:32.736-07:00Adam is Gay! Duh!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i.realone.com/assets/rn/img/0/2/6/5/28565620-28565621-large.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 253px; height: 344px;" src="http://i.realone.com/assets/rn/img/0/2/6/5/28565620-28565621-large.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;">He comes out in this week's issue of <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/06/09/the-new-issue-of-rolling-stone-the-liberation-of-adam-lambert/">Rolling Stone.</a> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Adam Lambert</span> makes me wish I were a young boy.<br />Or a green snake . . .</div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-14450116152603784802009-06-08T20:26:00.000-07:002009-06-08T20:43:04.617-07:00Gatekeeping and Vetting for Self-Published BooksSo, expecting a rise in self-published books as a fallout from the publishing recession, <a target="_blank" href="http://indiereader.com/faq.php">IndieReader.com</a> is a new business that promises to vet self-published books for the discerning reader (for a fee of course, that the author puts up).<br />From the site: <blockquote>"Books will be chosen for inclusion on the IndieReader site by a panel of editors, literary agents, and marketing professionals, and all categories of books (except for porn) will be represented. There will be a charge for membership; in exchange, authors will get a sales venue and a web page with its own URL. Authors will set their book's retail price and receive 75% of the sales (the buyer will pay for shipping). Authors will have complete control over the editorial content of their sites with no general restrictions on reviews, interviews, video, and audio."</blockquote><br />It's a brave new world for entrepreneurship, yo. Via <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/trends/the_new_gatekeepers_118370.asp">GalleyCat.<br /></a><br /><blockquote></blockquote>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-36082193085414125162009-06-08T19:51:00.000-07:002009-06-09T13:55:39.482-07:00Two Journalists Sentenced to 12 Years Hard Labor in No Ko<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2009/06/08/PH2009060801117.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 167px;" src="http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2009/06/08/PH2009060801117.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Euna Lee</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Laura Ling</span>, journalists investigating North Korean refugees, were arrested by North Korean guards on March 17 near the Chinese/North Korean border. They've been tried, convicted, and now sentenced to <span style="font-weight: bold;">12 years of hard labor</span> No Ko style, in a secret high court. No one thinks they're going to serve the time, rather, they'll be used as pawns for political leverage. It's a steaming hot situation, what with sanctions being considered by the U.S. the U.N. and Japan for No Ko's recent forays into nuclear foreplay, and North Korea threatening severe repercussions if that happens.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">But here's what gets me:</span> Euna Lee has a 4 year old daughter. What possessed her to go to North Korea? For what, exactly, fame? Glory? Self-actualization? I don't get it. And I hardly have pity when the baby card is pulled for sympathy, because no one twisted her arm to go. I remember having a 4 year old. Nothing could've convinced me to leave him. The way I see it, the duties of motherhood trump everything. EVERYTHING. I guess they thought they'd be safe (in North Korea???)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Color me self-righteously indignant on this one.</span> I hope they're freed and returned home safely. And I hope Euna thinks twice before she takes on another risky job. Wait until the kid is grown some, it happens fast. <span style="font-weight: bold;">4 year olds need their mommies more than we need the scoop on North Korean refugees.</span> Seriously.Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-38223610510621247352009-05-20T23:41:00.000-07:002009-05-20T23:56:08.803-07:00What I One-Clicked TodayThree books, one-click.<br /><br /><a href="http://pashamalla.wordpress.com/">Pasha Malla's</a> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Withdrawal-Method-Pasha-Malla/dp/1593762380"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Withdrawal Method</span></a>, which just won <a href="http://www.writersunion.ca/cn_danutagleed.asp">Canada's DANUTA GLEED Literary Award</a> for best first collection of short fiction, and may I mention how adorable and funny <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pasha Malla</span> is? He scored <span style="font-weight: bold;">$10,000</span> for this one, drinks on Pasha!<br /><br />Also one-clicked <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dennis Lehane's</span> <a href="http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?isbn=9780061374197&atch=h&ymal=pp"><span style="font-style: italic;">Gone Baby Gone</span></a> for particular inspiration, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jhumpa Lahiri's</span> collection <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Unaccustomed-Earth-Jhumpa-Lahiri/dp/0676979343"><span style="font-style: italic;">Unaccustomed Earth</span></a>, whose stories, I hear, are so good they make you slit your wrists and gouge out your eyes.<br /><br />As always, I encourage supporting independent bookstores (but Amazon is so fucking cheap, whaddareya gonna do?)Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-6989239850097636142009-05-20T22:56:00.000-07:002009-05-20T23:57:16.616-07:00Giant Gobsmacking American Idol WTF???<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://eptadros.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/dude-wtf.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 178px;" src="http://eptadros.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/dude-wtf.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Adam Lambert</span>, <span style="font-weight: bold;">American Idol</span> first runner-up? <span style="font-style: italic;">Wha?</span> There's never been a more talented contestant than Adam Lambert, and gimme a boy with eyeliner, nail polish and glitter any day. I think <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kris Allen</span> is adorable, or, as the French say, <span style="font-style: italic;">adorable</span>, and talented, yada yada, but Lambert is in a league of his own.<br /><br />Eh, he's already a supah star and will be just fine. But knock me ovah with a puff of smoke, yo.Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-77551075610343436562009-05-15T01:01:00.000-07:002009-05-15T01:16:40.673-07:00Speaking of Hummingbirds<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.rubythroat.org/images/RTHUSkeleton01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 389px; height: 337px;" src="http://www.rubythroat.org/images/RTHUSkeleton01.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hummingbird Skeleton</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />I'm super fascinated by the hummingbirds drawn to the feeder at my window. Boss Man is wearing himself out keeping other birds away, but they do get in to sneak a few sucks. Apparently, a dominant territorial man-bird will allow a female at his feeder <span style="font-style: italic;">after he's mated with her.</span><br /><br />Girl gotta put out to get fed.<br /><br />Look at the hummingbird's skeleton. Its forked tongue does a long wrap-around the skull and attaches to its forehead. Look at those wing bones, like filigree, and that way-cool neck, like beads. Wow. That little coccyx. I love this creature.<br /></div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-67745738134948142302009-05-14T09:15:00.000-07:002009-05-14T09:47:49.958-07:00American Idol ReduxDefinitely, the best season ever. <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.americanidol.com/contestants/season_8/danny_gokey/">Danny Gokey</a> got eliminated last night, but his version of <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.americanidol.com/videos/season_8/performances/danny_gokey_you_are_so_beautiful">"You Are So Beautiful"</a> made me cry and still haunts me. <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.americanidol.com/contestants/season_8/kris_allen/">Kris Allen</a> sang <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.americanidol.com/videos/season_8/performances/kris_allen_heartless">"Heartless"</a> on Tuesday night, and it's one of my favorite Idol performance ever. Kris <span style="font-style: italic;">killed</span>.<br /><br />And then there's <span style="font-weight: bold;">Adam Lambert</span>, all talent and glam angelic goth. They're all shining super stars.<br /><br />And hey, didn't <span style="font-weight: bold;">Jordin Sparks</span> look <span style="font-style: italic;">hot</span> in all her voluptuousness? You go, girl.<br /><br />And while I'm on the <span style="font-weight: bold;">TV</span> subject, this year's <span style="font-weight: bold;">Celebrity Apprentice</span> was pure entertainment, despite the nepotistic, ever more weirdly-coiffed pompous and bloviating <span style="font-weight: bold;">Donald Trump</span>. I was glad <span style="font-weight: bold;">Joan Rivers</span> won, <span style="font-weight: bold;">let's hear it for old people!</span> We'll all be there someday (if we're lucky).Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-80693601853331719312009-05-13T16:25:00.000-07:002009-05-14T09:48:52.748-07:00Territories<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQFz9twImr8SwbyxTv7BZ0_paYuqQpLoeR5My1Q08KNjyv1CCAyTY2OEY76zJXt0Q6rQHo80ZmN-E7IsmWicnoLjQujGN7FB_ZkeB89Bll7hWLo9q9MGZ1EquiXB-AysAIeoR3tu_pVMn/s1600-h/Hummingbird.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQFz9twImr8SwbyxTv7BZ0_paYuqQpLoeR5My1Q08KNjyv1CCAyTY2OEY76zJXt0Q6rQHo80ZmN-E7IsmWicnoLjQujGN7FB_ZkeB89Bll7hWLo9q9MGZ1EquiXB-AysAIeoR3tu_pVMn/s200/Hummingbird.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5335455846949809922" border="0" /></a><br />We have tons of hummingbirds nesting in the pines and silk trees outside my bedroom, so I hied myself to OSH and bought a hummingbird feeder and boiled up some syrup (1 C. sugar in 1 C. water, my mother's tried and true bird recipe) and waited. What I didn't know about hummingbirds is that they're <a target="_blank" href="http://www.rubythroat.org/RTHUTerritorialityMain.html">fiercely territorial</a>, but all I had to do was watch to observe it.<br /><br />If any other hummers come buzzing by to poke into the sugar, one fierce Ruby Throated tsk-tsking fellow who's roundly claimed this feeder as HIS comes darting out of the pine (also his) to bombard the intruder. He will not allow any other bird to partake of the ample supply I've put out for them.<br /><br />I get it though. I so get it. When my son decided to start cooking I had a hard time letting him into my territory. I get a bit too enraged hunting down the pots and pans that have their own territories the past 30 years that I've lived here. Emptying the dishwasher is another issue, chez moi. I have the matching Oneida Michelangelo silverware, and the stuff I ripped off from the Blue Cross employees' cafeteria (industrial silverware that will outlast the sun) when I was a student nurse supporting myself as a claims examiner part-time. THEY GO IN SEPARATE DRAWERS. At least, they do when I put the dishes away, and being that emptying the dishwasher is one of my least favorite chores . . .<br /><br />The BF moved in 4 years ago, and there's this thing called "compromise" that's been a little tough for me. You don't wash towels with sheets, for instance, or underwear. YOU WASH THE FUCKING TOWELS WITH TOWELS. So he washes HIS towels with whatever he wants. Compromise. We all do our own laundry.<br /><br />Meanwhile, this bird's gonna drive himself nuts, and I'm trying to have that mean something to me. It's constant, the shooing away of the invaders. It's gotta be exhausting. I'm getting exhausted just watching him.<br /><br />One stealthy little bugger just logged a quick suck at the feeder that the boss-man didn't catch. Methinks it must've tasted even sweeter.Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-8484408829609207542009-05-06T22:05:00.000-07:002009-05-06T22:21:58.541-07:00Wigleaf Top 50!<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://wigleaf.com/">The Wigleaf Top 50</a><br /><br />(very) short fictions <span style="font-style: italic;">2009</span>.<br /></div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-14357231343594820882009-05-03T12:44:00.000-07:002009-05-03T12:53:29.410-07:00Night Train 9.1<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.nighttrainmagazine.com/images/smileyface.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 140px; height: 141px;" src="http://www.nighttrainmagazine.com/images/smileyface.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Is out NOW! <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nighttrainmagazine.com/contents.php">Night Train 9.1</a><br />Good shit, yo, pull yourself a beer or a cuppa joe and settle in.Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-9772488779256693302009-04-20T11:16:00.001-07:002009-04-20T11:34:34.783-07:00It's 4/20 Kids!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.fawnridge.com/ricky/natch.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 182px; height: 204px;" src="http://www.fawnridge.com/ricky/natch.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Yes, it's the Columbine anniversary, yes, it's Hitler's birthday, but <span style="font-weight: bold;">4/20</span> is also a <a style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://misshightimes.com/">High Holiday</a> for lots of <a style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/20/what-420-means-the-true-s_n_188320.html">stoner</a> types. It's <a target="_blank" style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anthony-papa/420-national-pot-smokers_b_187905.html">National Pot Smoking Day</a>, "an unofficial counterculture holiday that is based on the simple concept of <span style="font-weight: bold;">smoking some cannabis and being happy.</span> "<br /><br />Spark one up for freedom, yo.Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-75067612584021728652009-04-20T08:44:00.000-07:002009-04-20T10:32:51.719-07:00Writing News!<div style="text-align: left;">The <span style="font-weight: bold;">storySouth Million Writers Award</span> <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.storysouth.com/millionwriters/millionwritersnotable2008.html">Notable Stories of 2008</a> have been posted, and <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://narrativemagazine.com/">Narrative Magazine</a> takes the top spot for <span style="font-weight: bold;">best online publication </span>with <span style="font-weight: bold;">8</span> notable stories.<br /><br />Yours truly and humbly got a nod for <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.smokelong.com/flash/8050.asp">"Lobster Girl"</a> in <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.smokelong.com/">SmokeLong Quarterly</a>, and dearly beloved <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.nighttrainmagazine.com/"><span>Night Train</span> </a>got two nods for <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.nighttrainmagazine.com/contents/vitucci_fb.php">"The Tree That Girdles Itself"</a> by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Donna D. Vitucci</span>, and <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.nighttrainmagazine.com/contents/chau_fb.php">"Dating 101"</a> by <span style="font-weight: bold;">Angie Chau</span>. Kudos, yo!<br /><br />More shout outs to my darling pal <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://myfanwy.blogspot.com/">Myfanwy Collins </a>for her wonderful story <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.pankmagazine.com/read/collins.html">"Liar"</a> in <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.pankmagazine.com/">Pank</a>, to <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://fivestarliterarystories.blogspot.com/">T.J. Forrester </a>for his story <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.storyglossia.com/29/tf_bone.html">"To the Bone"</a> in <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.storyglossia.com/">Storyglossia</a>, which also gets kudos for <span style="font-weight: bold;">5 notable stories</span> this year. A shout out to <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.friggmagazine.com/">FRiGG</a> for <span style="font-weight: bold;">2 starred stories</span>, and have you seen <span style="font-weight: bold;">FRiGG</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">'s</span> <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.friggmagazine.com/issuetwentyfour/contents24.htm">new microfiction issue</a>? Sweet fancy MOSES it's good. Be sure to read the hilarious <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.friggmagazine.com/issuetwentyfour/poemsstories/fiction/whatismicro/whatismicro.htm">microfiction debate</a>.<br /><br />And in other writing news, <span style="font-weight: bold;">3 recent acceptances</span> for yours truly and humbly.<br /><ol><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Wreckers"</span> will be in the next issue of <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.freightstories.com/"><span>Freight Stories</span></a></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Fallen"</span> (from my novel-in-stories-work-in-progress) will be in the annual (3rd) annual issue of <a href="http://www.pankmagazine.com/"><span>Pank</span></a>, along with <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.mdbell.com/">Matt Bell,</a> <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.whizbyfiction.blogspot.com/">David Erlewine</a> and the irrepressible <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.hobartpulp.com/website/april/silverman.html">Aaron Burch</a>.<a href="http://www.pankmagazine.com/"><br /></a></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Birds, Bees"</span> will be in the next issue of <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.redhen.org/losangelesreview/">The Los Angeles Review</a>.</li></ol>If I got all this linking right I owe myself a beer.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-61963679537273115782009-04-17T23:29:00.001-07:002009-04-18T09:52:49.260-07:00Spring Fever<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff235/aliciapie_photos/Spring.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 640px; height: 425px;" src="http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff235/aliciapie_photos/Spring.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Tip-toeing through<br />the tulips<br />Today in <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a target-"_blank" href="http://www.descansogardens.org/site/">Descanso Gardens</a><br /></span><span style="visibility: visible;" id="main">La Cañada, California<br /></span></div><br /><img src="http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff235/aliciapie_photos/Lilacs.jpg" /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Olfactory Orgy</b><br /></div>Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-38473302769319623362009-04-16T17:09:00.000-07:002009-04-17T15:14:01.094-07:00Putanesca, Baby.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.citizenarcane.com/files/2005/April/24/puttanesca.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 232px; height: 267px;" src="http://www.citizenarcane.com/files/2005/April/24/puttanesca.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Whipped up a sexy pasta puttanesca tonight.<br /><br />Here's how:<br /><br />All ingredients from Trader Joe's.<br /><br />Olive oil<br />Tin of anchovies<br />jar of capers, drained<br />jar of pitted kalamata olives, driained<br />red pepper flakes (some like it hot)<br />large can of diced tomatoes<br />jar of Trader Joe's Arrabiata sauce<br />about 12 large cloves of garlic, chopped<br />a fistful of Italian parsley, chopped<br />bread crumbs, toasted, about a cup<br />a pound of whole wheat linguine cooked al dente<br />Parmesan cheese<br /><br />In a large, cold pan, mix the olive oil and anchovies, turn on the heat low and poke and mash at the anchovies until they start disintegrating. Throw in the garlic and continue cooking with very low heat. When the garlic softens and the anchovies are pretty shredded, add the parsley, and some red pepper flakes, keeping the heat low until the parsley is cooked a little. Turn up the heat to medium or so, not letting the garlic brown, and dump in the canned tomatoes with its juice, more pepper flakes to taste (plenty!), the Arrabiata sauce (or another can of tomatoes in puree), some black pepper, the olives and the capers. Bring it to a good simmer at medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, then dump in the cooked al dente pasta. Lower the heat and toss it together , then add the toasted bread crumbs, and mix it all up some more. Serve with good parmesan cheese or a parmesan/reggiano mix, and a glass or three of red wine. You can also add some red wine to the sauce in the simmering stage.<br /><br />Weep for the whores of the world.Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-23717325991267849832009-04-11T21:43:00.000-07:002009-04-11T22:35:57.282-07:00WordHustler Redux<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images.wordhustler.com/Site-Logo-Final.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 280px; height: 60px;" src="http://images.wordhustler.com/Site-Logo-Final.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a>So I sent myself a submission of a 4 page story via <a href="http://wordhustler.com/">WordHustler</a> to check it out. WordHustler sends submissions of 4 pages or less in a 6X9 manila clasp envelope, so the submission is folded in half. They charge $.99 to send it, including an SASE. Anything over 4 pages is sent in a 9X12 or 10X13 manila envelope.<br /><br />It was sent out yesterday and arrived today.<br /><br />I'm not CRAZY about a folded submission, but, in this economy, if an editor of a journal that still clings to the old ways (snail mail) gets upset about a folded submission, then it's probably not a magazine I want to be in (okay, that's a lie. Or a rationalization).<br /><br />The envelope came with a thermal printed postage/mailing label, very professional. The return address is to WordHustler's P.O. Box in Los Angeles. At the bottom of the mailing label in very small print: <span style="font-style: italic;">Prepared with care by WordHustler.com - One Click to Destiny.</span><br />Very small print. It doesn't bother me.<br /><br />Zero complaints about the printed submission: very white, 20 lb stock, cover letter is professional and lovely, no signature, of course. They do have an option of adding a photographed signature. The pages are loose, clipped together with a large, high quality butterfly paper clip, again, very professional. The SASE is printed with my name and address, stamped, and has the WH tracking number printed on there as well. My address in the return address, but it would be the literary magazine's return address in a regular submission.<br /><br />I communicated via email with WH about the possibility of opting for a full sized manila envelope for a 4 page submission, paying a bit extra for the larger envelope. They aren't set up to do that now.<br /><br />For submissions over 4 pages, they do use a full-sized manila clasp envelope, and I'm now confident that it's more professional than anything I do on my own at home, being that I address my manilas and SASE's in my big loopy longhand, and plaster on stamps all akimbo.<br /><br />Two thumbs straight up.Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-73541374483901904582009-04-10T21:58:00.000-07:002009-04-10T22:26:06.754-07:00Vonnegut!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2007/04/12/vonnegut-cp-003608.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 315px;" src="http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2007/04/12/vonnegut-cp-003608.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Delacorte Press, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Kurt Vonnegut's</span> long-time publisher, announced that <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Look at the Birdie</span>, </span>a collection of 14 never -before published stories will be coming out in November of this year! <span style="font-weight: bold;">14 never-before published Vonnegut stories!</span><br /><br />And more! Read about it <a target="_blank" href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6650767.html">here</a>.Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-71585830975302163392009-04-09T22:15:00.000-07:002009-04-09T22:29:28.448-07:00American Idol: Au Revoir ScottIt was time.Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3997051130703759476.post-42187611588149977872009-04-08T14:39:00.000-07:002009-04-08T17:58:03.660-07:00WordHustlerSo I'm checking out <a href="http://wordhustler.com/">WordHustler</a>, a submissions service for writers. As more and more and <span style="font-style: italic;">more</span> lit journals have gone to online submissions (!), I've snail-mailed less and less, with the result of ceasing to submit to the places I covet that still only take snail-mail subs. I used to keep a mini post-office at home (because I abhor physically going to the PO) but then USPS kept jacking their rates around making my stamps obsolete, which then made for crazy hodge podges of postage additions, and rows and rows of 1 cent stamps, a giant mess on the manila.<br /><br />So now with WordHustler, you upload your story (they now take Word.docs and convert them to PDF files for you), you choose a market from their market list, compose a cover letter (which they address to chosen market), they print it all up, stuff it into a manila envelope with thermal printed labels (I do my envelopes in longhand) along with a standard #10 SASE also <span>printed</span> with your address and the return address of the market, and they mail it for you. For a manuscript up to 20 pages it's $5.99. Here's their price list:<br /><blockquote><table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr bgcolor="#f6e4b8"><td bgcolor="#f6e4b8"><div align="left">Under 4 pages (Query Letters, poetry submissions)</div></td> <td bgcolor="#f6e4b8"><div align="center"><strong>$.99</strong></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td><div align="left">10 pages (Articles, essays)</div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>$3.99</strong></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td><div align="left">20 pages (short stories, partial mss, articles, essays)</div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>$5.99</strong></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td><div align="left">30 pages (short stories, partial mss, articles, short screenplays):</div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>$6.99</strong></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td><div align="left">50 pages (short stories, partial mss, articles, short screenplays):</div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>$8.99</strong></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td><div align="left">Over 50 pages (Screenplays, Manuscripts, Novels, Non-Fiction Books)</div></td> <td><div align="center"><strong>$0.10/page</strong></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 14px;" bgcolor="#f6e4b8"><br /></td> <td style="font-size: 14px;" bgcolor="#f6e4b8"><br /></td> </tr> </tbody></table> All of our prices <b><i>include tracking, postage, and free SASEs!</i></b></blockquote><br />If you want to include a receipt/reply postcard, it's an additional $1.29 (or so). If you're traveling the world you can use their Virtual Office and have the SASE's returned to them, and they'll update your profile online so you can see you've been rejected by <span style="font-style: italic;">AQR</span> while sipping chai in Mumbai.<br /><br />You get a free submission when you sign up. I did it. I sent a story to <span style="font-style: italic;">Black Warrior Review</span>. Pretty cool. And since it was free, I included a receipt postcard, postage paid and self-addressed. If it works like it's supposed to a black warrior will drop that postcard into a postal out-box, and I will know <span style="font-style: italic;">BW </span>got my story.<br /><br />As an aside, snail-mail/SASE submissions give that mailman-anticipation-buzz. Now that I mainly submit online and have no outstanding SASEs, I have lackluster interest in what comes in the snailmail box. It's kind of fun to anticipate mail, even if the presence of one of your SASEs is rarely anything good.<br /><br />Anyhoo, now all I have to do is hurry up and wait. I'll update the experience.Aliciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01897876685747175604noreply@blogger.com10