REMEMBER THOSE WHO SERVED

Have you thanked a veteran today?

DAY 3 of the 15-day Photo Challenge

Fab 5 Friday has gone rogue! Chased away by Day 3 of my ferocious 15-day Photo Challenge (see sidebar for feral details!)

DAY 3 - Something you recently bought/received
I am wild about animal print! Sarge had this purse made for me. He's got good taste (or else he follows directions well.) Either way, I got a new purse to add to my collection. Win/Win.

BREAKING NEWS

We interrupt WARPED WEDNESDAY to bring you our late-breaking edition of the 15-day photo challenge (see sidebar "Day 13" for explanation).

DAY TWO - Photo with your pet.
They say if you're together long enough, you start to look like your pet.

10 Things You Don't Know About Me

My BabyGirl did a 15-day photo challenge on her blog, and she had a fascinatingly fun time with it! Each day she shared something personal in the form of a photo. She challenged me to do the same, and you know me and challenges, I run from them. But this time I'm going to take her up on it. So for the next few weeks, I'll intersperse my photo-challenge throughout my regularly scheduled programming. Checkout my sidebar for more details.

DAY ONE - Post a self-portrait along with 10 interesting facts about yourself.

1. I used to be a blonde (For two whole years)

2. I eat less than one cookie per year (Because I love them so much)

3. I don't curse (Sarge does enough for the both of us)

4. My favorite snack is raw bell pepper (I know, right? You, too.)

5. I sneak my own popcorn into the movies (Trader Joe's olive oil popcorn... delish!)

6. Even if I live to be 104, I will still miss my Mama

7. I've never been divorced, but I have been married twice (Riddle me that, Batman)

8. I never went to my high school prom

9. I fear one day I'll be run over with cats (Did you just picture kittens in cars?)

10. I'm a closet freak (I love closets! What did you think I meant????)

(Unfortunately, self-portraits, are by definition taken by one's self, and are therefore too-close-ups.)

Fab 5 Friday

On Fab 5 Fridays, I flash on my five favorite things of the moment. Whew, say that five times real fast!

It's prom season, so this week I'm going to count down my five favorite prom flicks. In no particular order, of course.

1. Pretty in Pink - Who didn't want to be pretty in pink like (Molly Ringwald) at the prom back in the eighties?

2. Prom Night in Mississippi - Starring Morgan Freeman. Ok. I'm cheating; it's actually a documentary about Morgan Freeman footing the bill for the first ever integrated prom in a little town in Mississippi. No, it was not 1950; it was in 2009. Worth a look-see.

3. American Pie - Culminated in a prom scene so racy, I banned my then fifteen-year-old daughter from seeing it until she turned twenty five. She just saw it this year. (That's what she told me, anyway.)

4. Cooley High - The tagline for this 1975 movie was "Where the student Body was a chick named Veronica, the senior prom was a "belly rub," and there was a permanent crap game in the men's room." Sounds like my prom!

5. Carrie - starring Sissy Spacek. You didn't think I'd leave this movie off, did you? Sweetest revenge movie ever! Oh, and there's a prom in it.

What's your favorite prom flick?

WARPED WEDNESDAY

You write the caption
(I can't tell if she's happy, or hatching some diabolical scheme)

HAVE AN AFFAIR for $Free.99

An affair with a book festival, that is. Get your mind out of the gutter and back on the curb.
It was wonderful being around a bunch of book nerds like myself at the LA Times Festival of Bookworms -- I mean Books.

It was held at USC for the first time, after being on the UCLA campus for many, many years. But the crosstown rivalry must have been the clandestine part of this affair, because no one stole the bookfest mascot! Probably because there isn't one. And the organizers? Well, they were organized! Booths were centrally located for such a large campus, and maps and schedules were posted everywhere for your convenience.

They had outdoor stages (with the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis and R. L. Stine) and indoor panel sessions where I got a chance to have Heidi Durrow sign my copy of her debut novel, The Girl Who Fell From The Sky.

I also got to see Walter Mosley, one of the authors I admire most, up close and personal, and he signed my vintage copy of Devil in a Blue Dress. T.C. Boyle of The Women fame was there, and let me tell you, he could beat out Donald Trump's combover anytime, anywhere.
Also on the marquis were Lisa See, Aimee Bender, Janet Fitch, Jennifer Weiner, and my Facebook friend, Tayari Jones whose Silver Sparrow is coming out this month!
(Walter Mosley)
Sadly, my affair lasted only two days, but I got to backspace/delete Number 143 off of my Bucket List.

WARPED WEDNESDAY

...WHERE YOU WRITE THE CAPTION

Murder at the Arclight

Well, not so much a murder as it is research for a story about murder. It takes place at Hollywood's famous Arclight Theater, so to help me on my reconnaissance mission, my son took me there as an early Mother's Day gift. After all, according to Paul Simon, a mother and son reunion is only a notion away . . . or is it an ocean away?

Anyway, The Arclight, Number 136 on my Bucket List, is a state of the art 14-screen multiplex where every seat is advertised as the best in the house, and boasts a chicken sausage baguette on the menu right underneath the Carmel Corn made fresh daily on the premises. It's the movie-goer's cinema of choice that has a cafe, a gift shop, and even a bar. Their popcorn is made with real butter and served in cups instead of a paper bag to keep that annoying rustling sound to a minimum. The owners take their movie-going seriously, folks.

So we got there seriously early, had lunch at the cafe, wine at the bar, and bought novelty books at the gift shop, one of which was titled "The Snark Handbook, Insult Edition."

After that, we sat in cushy-cush director's chairs and enjoyed a screening of Scream 4, which turned out to be not as smarmy as I thought it would be. We killed off another item on my Bucket List.

Thanks, Son! Mommie loves you!

Fab 5 Friday

This is where I flash on my favorite five things of the moment. This week, it's my Top 5 Writing Websites! Grab your pen and paper (iPad, laptop, hammer and chisel) and take note:

1. The Name Generator - Running out of names for characters you've created? This is the site for you. I suggest you generate two or three, though, and maybe mix and match for unique results.

2. Script-o-Rama - If you want to be the best, read the best. Start here.

3. Brainy Quotes - Need a famous quote for your article, website, essay, story, novel, blogpost? Now you know where to go.

4. Women on Writing - The women here are SO smart! They published my short story.

5. J.A. Konrath - A novelist who goes both ways: traditional publishing and self-publishing. This site is a trove of self-publishing treasures.

WARPED WEDNESDAY

Where you write the caption!

AMERICA THE STRONG

The fall of Osama bin Laden may have been on some people's Bucket List, but let's take a moment and remember those who died at his hands.

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(Regularly scheduled programming will resume on Warped Wednesday.)