Teaser Tuesday- The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour

Teaser Tuesdays are hosted by Should Be Reading. It asks us to:

(1) Grab our current reads.

(2) Let the book fall open to a random page.

(3) Share two (or three) teaser sentences from that page somewhere between lines 7 and 12 (avoiding spoilers).

We're also supposed to share the book title and author so others can find the book themselves.

Here's my teaser for today:

"Where will they take him?"

"It is a bad place, a place of fear. It is an old place, a place that was there before we entered into the Fourth World, your world."

This is from The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour. The main character is Mike Raglan, a man who specializes in disproving suspected hauntings and other reported paranormal phenomenon. When his friend, Erik Hokart, disappears in the American Southwest, Mike investigates and becomes more and more concerned that he may have found some real paranormal activity this time.

This book was recommended to me by my husband. He says it doesn't really count as a Western because it has a science fiction flavor. I think that anything by famed Western writer Louis L'Amour counts and am using this as my first book in the Themed Reading Challenge by caribousmom. I have a ways to go if I'm going to make it through these Westerns during the 6-month challenge period!

Back from NOLA

Thanks for your patience last week and the beginning of this week. I've been a little quieter than usual. It's been kind of a crazy Spring Break. Good crazy...but a little crazy.

Tater and I had both our sets of parents visiting last week. In addition to showing them the highlights of our small town, we put them to work in the garden. (I'll post the garden pics as soon as I get the non-digital photos developed.)

At the end of last week, we left for a trip to New Orleans. I was in one friend's wedding, met up with another friend, and celebrated my very first wedding anniversary with Tater. Busy weekend, huh?

Hope yours was just as good.

Sisterhood Award!

I've met such great people in my few months of book blogging! You guys are awesome!

Last week both Smash and DeSeRt RoSe sent me the Sisterhood Award!

Like Smash, this makes me think of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I love it! Thank you, ladies!

Here are the rules to spread the sisterhood spirit:

(1) Put the logo on your blog or post.
(2) Nominate up to 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude!
(3) Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
(4) Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
(5) Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

My sisters that I nominate this award to are...

• Melonie at Wandering Quail Road
• Daryl at On the M104
  
• Melanie at This Ain't New York
• Shonda at The Cowboy Chronicles
• Janie at Sounding Forth
  

Zig-Zagging Blog Tour

Welcome to my very first Blog Tour!

I was invited by TLC Book Tours to be one of the hosts for the online book tour for Zig-Zagging: Loving Madly, Losing Badly, How Ziggy Saved My Life by Tom Wilson.

Plot: In this memoir, Tom Wilson tells us the story of his father starting the "Ziggy" cartoon in the 1960s and his own path of development as a cartoonist.

Tom started with his own characters and made it to the cover of People magazine with his father, Ziggy and Ug (the younger Tom's most famous character). He took over the Ziggy cartoon series in the mid-1980s as his father's health deteriorated.

Tom also tells us of his family's struggles after his wife, Susan, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Susan lost her battle after 7 years of treatment, leaving Tom and their two young teenage sons.

My Reaction: I don't read lots of non-fiction, but I loved this book. Tom did a great job of tying together his story with a superhero theme -- first his vision of his father as a superhero and then trying to be a superhero for his own family. As he describes growing up in the cartoonist profession and, especially, his struggles with grief and depression after Susan's death, he weaves throughout his story the concept of what it really means to be a superhero.

I grew up with the Ziggy cartoons and so, of course, I loved the cartoons interspersed throughout the book that illustrated Tom's struggle or mindset during the time periods he described. So often, Tom described Ziggy as a younger brother who had become successful through perseverance. The thoughts and comments of the Ziggy character became a counter-point to some of the depression Tom was facing.

Most especially, though, I liked Tom's theme that life is made up of detours. The book is written as a flash-back and the only present-day "action" is Tom's drive from Cleveland to Cincinnati to go home to his sons. Tom uses the turns and detours in the physical highway to illustrate the detours his life took which led him to be the primary artist of Ziggy and a single parent.

I recently participated in a continuing education course and the speaker spent about an hour talking about life plans. He expressed sympathy for people who just wind up in certain careers or paths because of outside influences. Alternatively, he indicated that we should all be making 5-year plans, and then breaking those plans down in to 1-year schedules and 3-month schedules. Especially in light of the current economy, I saw this planning idea as helpful, but hardly carved in stone. It seemed incredibly unreasonable to me to think that writing a plan on paper could control the direction of one's life.

Tom Wilson's story seems much more realistic to me -- that the detours become an integral part of life's journey, not something that can or should be avoided. Some detours lead us in directions we could only dream of finding. Others lead us to places we would never want to go. Either way, they become a key part of who we are and who we will become.

Five years ago, I would never have imagined that I would be married and living in West Texas in a small town. What about you? What detours have you seen in your life?

Wordless Wednesday - Spruce Pine

About this time a couple of years ago, we were vacationing in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Now our parents are vacationing here in West Texas. We hope we can give them as nice a time as what we had.

For more Wordless Wednesday, click here.

Teaser Tuesday - Zig Zagging by Tom Wilson (2)

Teaser Tuesdays are hosted by Should Be Reading. It asks us to:

(1) Grab our current reads.

(2) Let the book fall open to a random page.

(3) Share two (or three) teaser sentences from that page somewhere between lines 7 and 12 (avoiding spoilers).

We're also supposed to share the book title and author so others can find the book themselves.

Here's my teaser for today:

"I remember back to those days long ago at Big Boy" when a little boy and his larger-than-life father spent their mornings playing SAVE ZIGGY! And there I was, decades later, fully grasping the lesson my father had taught me: the first and easiest solution to any dire crisis situation may not necessarily be the best."

This is from Zig-Zagging, a Memoir by Tom Wilson. Tom's father (Tom Wilson, Sr.) created the Ziggy cartoon character in the 1960s. Tom, the author of our book, has drawn Ziggy since the mid-1980s. This book is the story of Tom's life and the unexpected "detours" that have led him through his journey.

Stay tuned, I'm hosting part of the Zig-Zagging book tour here on March 26.

(Thank you to TLC Book Tours for this book!)

Monday Meme -- More Than You Want To Know

I picked up this meme from Amy over at Amelia Bedelia. It's full of lots more getting-to-know-you questions.

(1) What are you wearing right now? I'm still getting used to working from home, so I've been trying to be consistent about wearing semi-work clothes during the day. Today I'm in my new "uniform" of a somewhat-dressed-up-T-shirt and jeans.

(2) What is your biggest fear? Wasting my life -- which, depending on the day, means not accomplishing anything I'll be remembered for or not affecting the world around me in a positive way.

(3) Do you nap alot? I used to, but now I'm afraid I won't wake myself up if I let myself nap.

(4) Who is the last person you hugged? My husband on his way out to work this morning.

(5) What websites do you visit when you go online? Facebook. Yahoo mail. Blogger. The Hunger Site.

(6) What was the last item you bought? This past weekend we hit Target and I loaded up on new shirts and "school supplies." Very happy shopping trip for me! (Also picked up another Yes 2 Carrots find.)

(7) What was the last thing you ate? Dinner last night. So much for breakfast as the most important meal of the day. Now that I'm thinking about it, though, maybe I'll make some oatmeal -- or eat some cold pizza.

(8) If you woke up in the morning and were a boy, what would be the first thing you'd do? I'm continuing Amy's theme here, but I'd have to spell my name out while peeing.

(9) Has a celebrity hairstyle ever influenced your hairstyle? Not so much. I have curly, independent hair and it refuses to behave like any celebrities. I have had pigtails like Pipi Longstocking, though.

(10) What is your most embarrassing moment? Geezz... there have been so many. Um... all of junior high?

(11) What was the last movie you watched? The Watchmen

(12) If you had the whole day with now commitments, interruptions, or work, what would you do? Read. Take a bubble bath. Enjoy a great glass of wine. Probably all at the same time.

(13) What is one indulgence you cannot live without? Books. I may budget out all other things, but if I'm not buying them, I'm raiding the library (and making my husband go pay my fines).


If you'd like to play along, please answer the same questions and leave a comment with a link to your list! I'd love to learn about you.

Last Mango in Texas by Ray Blackston

This last week, I finished Last Mango in Texas by Ray Blackston. I've got it classified here as "chick lit," although that's not a perfect fit.

Plot: This book tells the story of Kyle Mango from about the age of 16. It describes some of his childhood heroes, including his wild Uncle Benny, who leaves him a taste for adventure and ownership of several oil wells in West Texas.

Kyle heads to Texas Tech, in Lubbock, for college, where he meets Gretchen. Gretchen is unlike any other girls Kyle has met and he's immediately smitten. For one thing, Gretchen is focused on rescuing animals from oil spills and the ecological fall-out from the oil industry.

Does he have to choose between Gretchen and his new career as a small-time oilman? What about the other people depending on his decisions?

What I Thought: I really enjoyed this book. It was different from most chick lit I read in several ways. For one thing, it is written from Kyle's point of view, not Gretchen's.

This story also takes a broader scope than most romances I've read. I'm used to these books taking place over several months, not years, as Last Mango did. It gives us more information about Kyle's background and motivations than your average romance novel.

This book also goes deeper into what growing up means. This is especially true in the time period during and after college when so much of the "what do I want to be when I grow up" questions come up.

Last Mango is also a Christian novel. I was a little afraid, when I picked it up, that this would mean it was like the romances my grandmother read. Those books took the standard romance novel plot line and replaced the sex scene with a series of bible verses about how to become a Christian. Yeah, it was just as jarring as it sounds. Last Mango, though, just had some talk about people wondering what God wanted them to do with their lives. I didn't find it disturbing at all.

The only part of the book I found difficult was the anti-oil discussion. Most of these sentiments were voiced by Gretchen's friends and co-volunteers, who were portrayed as extreme. As someone who lives in West Texas, though, I found it difficult to handle some of the "oil = evil" messages. (Also, I found it funny that the far far west town of Abilene that Kyle mentions is still 2 hours east of where I live.) For a good counterpoint, check out Janie's post at Sounding Forth.

All in all, very glad I read this & I will be looking for more Ray Blackston books.

(Thank you to Miriam Parker at Hachette Book Group for this book!)

Online Book Club - The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Our February / March book pick was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Lots of you talked about reading this book with your kids or when you were young.

Did you re-read the book? Read it for the first time? Do you remember it from previous readings?

What did you think?

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I have to say, I LOVED this book. I loved the Hallmark movie version that we watched over and over as kids. That movie stayed pretty true to the book, but also had some extra stuff where the kids were grown up and dealing with WW1.

Just like when I was a kid, I love the interactions between Mary, Colin and Dickon -- the three children in the book. I like it that the book shows their struggles to deal with adult issues, like death of parents, poverty, chronic illness, etc. in their own ways.

What stood out to you about the story? Did it motivate you to garden? To take other actions?

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Francess Hodgson Burnet was a famous author in her day. She supported her family from the age of 18 with her writing, which included The Secret Garden, A Little Princess and Little Lord Fauntleroy. During her lifetime, it was Little Lord Fauntleroy that made her famous. It sold more than half a million copies after it was published in 1886 and started a fashion craze of mothers dressing their little boys like the main character (velvet & curls -- I bet they loved that).

The Secret Garden seems to have held up better over time than LLF. This may be because it was published later in Burnet's life. It drew on her own discovery of a secret garden at the house she lived in while in England and the tragedies of her own life, including early deaths of her parents, troubled marriages, and the death of her son from consumption.

Do you feel like an author's life experiences help readers enjoy their work?

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The only part that made me uncomfortable, reading as a 21st Century reader, was the way the English maid described her expectations about Mary and the native Indian people she grew up with.

What about you? Did you find the book dated? Relevant to kids today?

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What else stood out to you about this book?

Wordless Wednesday - Forever

You thought this was going to be another sappy pre-anniversary post, right? (Don't worry, there'll be plenty of those coming up.) Instead, today I'm showing you another FOREVER commitment I've made:

I've had it for almost 10 years now. Contrary to predictions (Mom), I have not yet lived to regret it. Maybe after another decade... Nah!

For more Wordless Wednesday, click here.

Monday Meme - Photos

I saw this meme over at Jo-Jo Loves to Read and thought it would be fun to play along.

I'm supposed to find my 5th photo file folder, then the 5th photo in that file. Then I just post that picture and tag 5 others to do the same.

Here's the 5th photo for me:

It's Darth Tater.

What? You don't know Darth Tater? Well, it seems that after the success of the Toy Story movies, the Mr. Potato Head toy had all kinds of new popularity. In addition to the basic facial expressions that can be added to the potato body, there were new characters, like a Mr. Potato Head version of Darth Vader.

During the summer of 2005, a couple of guys decided that the Darth Tater should be part of a wedding up in Minnesota. Of course, to do that, he would need a female counterpart. So, they got to work building one:

Here's the finished product:

These are also the first pictures I saw of the man who would be come my husband. My friend, the bride-to-be, sent out these pictures to some of her friends who were headed up to the wedding over the weekend. I had no idea that this time last year I would be in the final stages of planning a wedding to the guy in the blue shirt above. (And he had no idea that he was in the process of earning the nick-name "Tater.")

For this meme, I'm tagging:

• Shan at Memories with Meg
  
• Kristin at Embrace the Circus
• Amy at My Friend Amy
  
• Jill Jill at Jill Jill Bo Bill
• Victoria at VDog and Little Man
  

What are your 5th photos?

13: The Story of the World's Most Popular Superstition by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer

I've never been a big believer in Friday the 13th being a bad day. Then again, I never watched any of the movies because I'm a freakin scardey-cat (I know -- my brother's given me a hard time about it for years).

I heard about Friday the 13th every time it rolls around, but didn't really know anything about it until I found 13: The Story of the World's Most Popular Superstition by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer.

This book did two things I'd never seen anywhere else. The first was to describe theories and history of why 13 is seen as such an unlucky number. I had no idea that there were connections to Jesus's last supper and the day the Knights Templar were killed.

The other information I found interesting were all the ways this superstition plays out in modern life. I've never seen a building without a 13th floor, or an airplane without a 13th row of seats, but Lachenmeyer has.

So, what about you? Are you worried yet? Do you believe in any Friday the 13th superstitions?

For a small taste of information about Friday the 13th, you can also check out Wikipedia.

Proximade Award

You guys are making my birthday week fabulous! Thank you so much! (I promise -- no more birthday talk next week.) Jo-Jo from Jo-Jo Loves to Read and DeSeRt RoSe BoOkLoGuE have given me the Proximade Award.



Here's what this award is all about:

"This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement!

Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!

Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this clever-written text into the body of their award."

Here are my eight picks for this award:

• Room 704
• James at The Sky's the Limit
• Mariah at Take a Walk With Me
• Steph Infection at No One Can Own Your Soul
• Sammanthia at My A-Cups Runneth Over
• LJ at My Fabulous Baker Boys
• Smash at Great Books and Fresh Coffee
• Carie at Love, Live, and Everything In Between
  

Please go check out these great sites!

I'm Famous!

Kat at Sassy Irish Lassie just did her "Traveling Tuesday" about my blog. I'm so honored!!

Please stop by and show her some love, too!

Wordless Wednesday - Birthdays Past

I had a fantastic birthday, yesterday. Spa day. Little bit of work. Great dinner and cake.

A few years ago, though, the whole city turned out to celebrate my birthday like this:

That's because, at the time, I lived here (where they dye the river green for St. Patrick's Day):

For more (mostly) wordless wednesday, click here.

My Birthday Means Spa Day

Hee... it's my birthday and I'm off to the spa. I'll check back with you all later. Have a good day!

(This isn't this year's cake, but came from a previous year.)

The Crooked Lawyer by James E. "Pat" Patterson

This week -- tomorrow actually -- is my birthday (and no, I'm not telling you what age)! Don't worry about sending flowers or presents. In fact, I'm going to give out presents to y'all, instead. I have 9 copies of The Crooked Lawyer by James E. "Pat" Patterson to give away to the first 9 people who ask for a copy and tell me their worst lawyer joke!

These copies are courtesy of my grandmother-in-law, who lives in the town in California where the author retired (Thanks, Granny!). Before retiring, Pat was an investigator for the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, a Deputy Prosecutor, a criminal defense attorney and a municipal court judge. In other words, this guy knows his way around a courtroom.

Pat uses his experience to tell the story of Kate Donnellan, a Deputy District Attorney in Los Angeles. Kate is investigating the death of a young woman, known only as Bunny Love, whose body washed up on the beach near Marina del Rey. It doesn't seem like much of a mystery at first -- on page 1 the District Attorney is announcing that they have a suspect in custody who is linked to the victim by DNA evidence.

Everything is rolling along on what looks like an open-and-shut case, but there are too many things that don't add up for Kate to be comfortable. For starters, what is a homeless man doing with such a high-powered defense attorney and why was that attorney so quick to turn over his client to the police? When her own office is uninterested in investigating further, Kate starts looking into some of these inconsistencies with the help of her father and his friend, both retired L.A.P.D., and a journalist who becomes more than just a friend.

The further Kate looks, the deeper the corruption seems to go, but "the crooked lawyer" referenced in the title is not the D.A. or the defense attorney. It's Kate, who has Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (AMC). When Ben Lazarus, the journalist, asks her about the plaque on her desk that says "Crooked Lawyer" she replies:

"Oh? You saw that, did you. Well, when I was a little kid...I guess about four years old... it finally dawned on me that I was different from the other kids. So, I asked my parents, 'Why did God make me all crooked?' My mother just cried and hugged me but my father told me that I was special in th sight of God and that satisfied me. Well, anyway, we used to joke about being a crooked kid and when I passed the bar exam, my dad had that plate made:'Crooked Lawyer'."

This is another area where Pat is writing from his experience. One of his grandaughters has AMC. Pat has described AMC as "a crippling and much misunderstood birth disorder which causes multiple contractures of the joints (Arthro=joint, gryp=curved, osis=pathologic condition, i.e. curved joint condition). It results in clubbed feet, dislocated hips, elbows, and wrists and sometimes neurological damage." The proceeds from the sale of The Crooked Lawyer go to the 501(c)(3) charitable organization Pat set up to fund research and treatment of AMC, Grandfather's Wish.

I enjoyed the rich descriptions of landmarks and local hang-outs in the Los Angeles area given to us by a Los Angeles native. The thing I enjoyed most about this book, though, was the interaction among the characters. I loved how spunky Kate was and how her AMC affected her relationship with her father and with Ben, but didn't stop her from reaching out to people or from doing a very difficult job.

So, for the first 9 who are intrigued by this book, please leave a comment below with a bad lawyer joke. (I'll get your contact info by e-mail, later.) The rest of you can order directly from Grandfather's Wish at their website orderform.

UPDATE: Here are the winners:
(1) Embrace the Circus
(2) Jennifer
(3) Meg's Mommy
(4) PeachyTO
(5) Margot
(6) Debs Desk

Pledge to End Hunger

I heard about this drive from A Cowboy's Wife. Tyson is pledging to contribute 35 pounds of food (which is the equivalent of 140 servings) for each person who makes the pledge online to give, volunteer, or share information about the Pledge to End Hunger. The goal is to have 1,000 people make the pledge, at which point Tyson will send a truck full of 140,000 meals to the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas in Austin during the SCSW '09 Interactive Festival.

They're getting closer to the goal every day. Check the counter below for current stats.

Interesting idea, huh? Ok, now head over to the website to make your own pledge.

Pay It Forward -- Handmade

Yay! I'm a winner! What? You doubt me and think I'm just shamelessly self-promoting? Not a chance!

Melonie, over at The Prepared Family (see I'm OTHER-promoting) picked me as a winner of her second "Pay It Forward" give-away. Melonie runs a blog focusing on encouraging families to be prepared and self-sufficient for emergencies, such as the Winter Ice Storm of '09. She's also encouraging handmade goods.

She's said her handmade gifts will be homesteady and/or preparedness related. This being a book blog and with the questions I've had about the quilted icon, I'm making mini-quilts into book covers for the winners over here (standard paperback size, larger paperback size, and hardback size). Here's the rules for the "Pay It Forward" posts:

(1) Be one of the first 3 bloggers to leave a comment on this post asking for a handmade book cover. You can also specify the size you'd prefer, although I've already started working on them and you may get what you get (like you only read one size of book...please).

(2) Winners must post this challenge on your own blog, meaning you'll need to create a handmade gift for YOUR first three commenters at your page.

(3) The handmade gifts you make can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make and ship your items. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your quilted book cover and mail out your own gifts.

(4) When you receive your gift, please blog about it and share the love with links.

Remember, its the thought that counts with these gifts. If you are not one of the first 3 commenters on this post, you can still play along. Just take the button above and post it on your blog, starting your own "Pay It Forward" chain and encouraging your blogging friends to do the same.

Wordless Wednesday - Dress&Boots

This time last year, I was finishing packing up in Virginia so I could focus on our wedding in Kansas City and the move to West Texas. I can't believe it's almost been a year since I wore this dress. I wear these boots all the time (although I admit I just posed with them on my wedding day).

For more Wordless Wednesday, click here.

Teaser Tuesday - The Crooked Lawyer by James E. "Pat" Patterson

Teaser Tuesdays are hosted by Should Be Reading. It asks us to:

(1) Grab our current reads.

(2) Let the book fall open to a random page.

(3) Share two teaser sentences from that page somewhere between lines 7 and 12 (avoiding spoilers).

We're also supposed to share the book title and author so others can find the book themselves.

Here's my teaser for today:

"So, you seem to know your French wines; is that a hobby," Kate asked.

Lazarus looked embarrassed, "I was just trying got impress you. I usually just let the waiter make the selection. The truth is, I stopped at the corner liquor store and asked the owner what French wine he would recommend to go with a steak."

This is one of the first discussions between Kate Donnellan, a Deputy District Attorney, and Ben Lazarus, a reporter with an interest in one of her cases. Kate's boss is using her physical disability to garner favorable publicity for his office and seems to think she won't ask too many questions when he closes down a murder case without any real investigation.

This quote is from The Crooked Lawyer by James "Pat" Patterson. Profits from the sale of this book will be contributed to research and treatment of Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita, which is the diability affecting both the fictional character of Kate Donnellan and one of Patterson's grandchildren.

I'm hurrying to finish reading this book now, so that I can give out copies to you all during the Book Giveaway Carnival week (which started yesterday...oops).

Room 704 Personalized Stamper Give-Away

The Three Designing Women Customizable Personalized Stamp I would LOVE to win from the Room 704 and Good for the Kids contest is the square address stamper (like CS3220SQ) because we've been married for almost a year, but still don't have any address labels with my new name and our new address.

What do you think ladies, will you consider me for the give-away?

Monday Meme - TV Meme!

I saw this meme over at My Friend Amy's page:

(1) Name a TV show series in which you have seen every episode at least twice: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and (soon -- at least for Season 1) Young Riders

(2) Name a show you can't miss: Grey's Anatomy, Leverage, Burn Notice, Bones and (maybe) Dollhouse

(3) Name an actor that would make you more inclined to watch a show: David Boreanaz -- I love me some Buffy alum, plus there's always the chance he'll take off his shirt...

(4) Name an actor who would make you less likely to watch a show: Cameron Diaz. I have an irrational dislike of her. No real idea why.

(5) Name a show you can, and do, quote from: Doctor Who, Star Trek, Buffy

(6) Name a show you like that no one else enjoys: At my house, I'm the only one who likes The Daily Show. I have to watch it in the mornings after my husband leaves for work.

(7) Name a TV show which you've been known to sing the theme song: Veronica Mars. Not really what the meme is asking, but the song for our first dance at the wedding was the theme song from Start Trek - Enterprise. We still dance around the living room to it when an episode comes on TV.

(8) Name a show you would recommend everyone to watch: Enjoying an Australian series called McLeod's Daughters.

(9) Name a TV series you own: I seem to keep getting more.

(10) Name an actor who launched his/her entertainment career in another medium, but has surprised you with his/her acting choices in television: I'm always surprised when I see movie stars or singers on TV shows. It's like seeing your teacher at the grocery store. The change in context is just a little jarring.

(11) What is your favorite episode of your favorite series: Either the musical episode of Buffy or the puppet episode of Angel.

(12) Name a show you keep meaning to watch, but you just haven't gotten around to yet: Dead Like Me

(13) Ever quit watching a show because it was so bad? Recently, Private Practice

(14) Name a show that's made you cry multiple times: Buffy (Hmm.... I'm seeing a theme here.)

(15) What do you eat when you watch TV? Lunch and dinner, most days

(16) How often do you watch TV? Lots -- I'm an addict, but the DVR has helped me choose when I sit down and become a zombie. Plus, I can justify by doing hand-quilting in front of the TV.

(17) What's the last TV show you watched? Burn Notice

(18) What's your favorite /preferred genre of TV? Science Fiction (especially if it combines drama and comedy)

(19) What was the first TV show you were obsessed with? I don't remember which came first -- Dukes of Hazard or Knight Rider

(20) What TV show do you wish you never watched? Kath and Kim. I was not a fan of the dialog, the akwardness, or the shallowness of the characters.

(21) What's the weirdest show you enjoyed? Dirty Jobs -- I don't watch anything else like it.

(22) What TV show scared you the most? Medium -- I couldn't watch it when I lived alone

(23) What's the funniest TV show you have ever watched? Buffy

(24) What show was canceled too early? Veronica Mars (recently) and before that, I was disappointed by the end of Dark Angel (although Seasons 3 and 4 have been written as fan fic on the web)

Want to play along? Just answer the same questions and leave me a comment so I can check out your responses!