Food For Thought...

"Maturity begins when we're content to feel we're right about something, without feeling the necessity to prove someone else is wrong."

Sydney J. Harris
1917-1986, Syndicated Columnist

I wish everyone in my family (myself included) would mature in this regard!! I might print this out and put it on a 4' X 4' poster on the wall!! LOL

Peace and love,
Alannah

Standing the Test of Time

When I first got my iPod, I was most excited about being able to download songs I'd loved "way back." The morning radio show that I listen to did a segment like this, and it was a lot of fun to listen to callers reporting on the songs that they'd loved "back then," only to now wonder why they'd ever liked them in the first place.

So far, I haven't found any that I dislike. Mostly what's happened, I play them over and over and over for about the first week, then I'm done. LOL

I love everything .38 Special - even got to see them in concert at a bar here in my hometown about 10 years ago. That was cool!


Kidlet watches "Uncle Ted" on the outdoor channel. I swear I get a hangover just seeing the man. But I still love this song and rarely skip over it.


The summer between my junior and senior year (July 6th, to be exact), my house burned down. The only thing that remained in tact was my bedroom (although everything disintegrated when you touched it, so really, there wasn't anything salvageable). When the firefighters left and I could sneak into the gutted frame, the first thing I did was go to my record player to see if this album had surved. It had a plastic cover over it so I had hope. *snort* I have to say, I still love this song as much today as I did back then too. Sorry for the video, it's the only one I could find that had the song.


This one is okay, but I actually really like Seether's remake of it just as much, if not better.


And one final oldie but still, definitely goodie!!


What about you? Any songs you couldn't wait to download only to listen to it and think, "WTF? This isn't as awesome as I remember it being?"

Have a great day and be sure and stop by tomorrow for a special announcement and party!!!

Peace and love,
Alannah

Food For Thought...

"Set a goal to achieve something that is so big, so exhilarating that it excites you and scares you at the same time. It must be a goal that is so appealing, so much in line with your spiritual core that you can't get it out of your mind. If you do not get chills when you set a goal, you're not setting big enough goals."

Bob Proctor
Author and Speaker


Well, I've got the "scared" part down pat!! LOL

Silver - are you okay?

Have a great day, everyone!
Peace and love,
Alannah

Please Welcome Luis Rodriguez

I'm thrilled to have Luis Rodriguez joining us today. Luis is the hero of Vivi Andrews' new book, THE SEXORCIST.

*leans in and whispers* He seems to be a little impatient so I'm going to get right to it.

Welcome to the blog, Mr. Rodriguez. How are you?

I’m ready to do this. Let’s skip the pleasantries and get down to business.

*clears throat* Alrighty then. What have you been up to lately?

The usual. Exorcising demons, dodging propositions. Same old, same old.

I hear that the author Vivi Andrews wrote a book featuring you and Brittany Hylton-VanDeere. Have you read it yet? If so, how accurate was it?

You mean that massive invasion of our privacy, The Sexorcist? Yeah. I’ve read it. And accurate? Please. I didn’t think Brittany was an addled twit when we first met. Not even when she rear-ended my car. I never really believed she was nuts or trying to use me or any of that other crap. It all got blown out of proportion. Artistic license.

Some people might be bothered to have their life shared with the world, how do you feel about your story being told?

How would you feel if the entire world held up a magnifying glass to your sex life? Exhibitionism has never really been my thing.

I can see where that might be a little bothersome. Can you tell us more about yourself?

My family emigrated here from Michoacan – legally. I grew up Catholic and even entered the seminary to become a priest, but the celibacy thing didn’t really stick. So I became an exorcist and started working for Karmic Consultants instead. All the righteous demon-banishing, none of the needy parishioners. Though my boss still has a god complex.

Can you tell us a bit more about Karmic Consultants?

If you’ve got a paranormal disaster, Karmic Consultants has your solution. For demon exorcism, I’m your man, but we also handle ghost infestations, curses, and psychic location of lost items. No problem too weird for KC.

Wow, that sounds fascinating. What about Brittany…can you tell us about her?

Brittany… she’s special. Unique. She sees the good in everything and makes the world around her better just by believing it will be. And she’s hot as hell. Es increible.

Can you describe yourself in three words?

Is this one of those touchy feely self-help things? Fine, I’ll play along. I’m all about family, integrity and faith. Now you wanna analyze me?

Ummm...No, I don't think so. What three words would you use to describe Brittany?

Brave, optimistic, and…heart. Brittany’s all heart.

What do you like to do for fun?

Anything with Brittany. No, Madre de Dios, I sound like a sap. Delete that. Real answer - Salsa dancing, watching Elvis movies, riding my motorcycle–Brittany makes this noise when she’s hanging on the back… ay, me encanta.

Well, Luis, thanks for being here. I know you are busy, but before you leave, do you have anything you'd like to ask my blog readers?

Since the book about Brittany and I, The Sexorcist, shows all the messed-up stuff that demon put us through at Lucy’s wedding, I want to know what’s the craziest thing that’s ever gone wrong at a wedding you’ve been to.

Oh boy. I can already imagine some of the answers your going to get to that question.

If you would like to find out more about Vivi Andrews, the author who brought Luis and Brittany's story to the page, or read the cover blurb of THE SEXORCIST, please visit her website . If you'd like to buy the book and read all those wonderful little details for yourself, click here and go to Samhains My Bookstore and More.

Thanks, again, Luis for joining us and I can't wait to hear some of the responses!

Everyone, have a fabulous Mother's Day weekend!!
Peace and love,
Alannah

Let's Get Mellow

Along with my headbanger music - Ted Nugent, GNR, Judas Priest...the list is long - I have a bunch of New Age Music. I don't think I'm going to be able to attach any of it, as I doubt they have videos, but I'm going to try to attach the album covers.


There's one particular CD that I listen to when I'm writing. It's CREATIVE MIND SYSTEM by Dr. Jeffrey Thompson. It's a 2 CD set and there are 2 tracks on each CD. Each track is around 25-30 minutes long. I like that they're so long because the switching of tracks is sometimes a distraction to me. LOL But I'm easily distracted!


I did find a link where you can listen to a sample of the music.


Another favorite artist is John Huling. My great-great grandmother was Cherokee. And while that part of me is pretty watered down, it's the strongest gene in my gene pool. All of his songs have a Native American feel to them and I love to close my eyes and get lost in the rhythms.

Here's the blurb from the back of the MESA SUNRISE CD:

Inspired by the natural beauty of the mesas and canyons of the Southwest, this compilation of songs from John Huling's best-selling recordings captures the spirit of the ancient Anasazi civilization. Native American flute, Indian drums and digitally recorded sounds of nature truly illuminate his "Musical Visions of the Southwest."















I was able to find this video on Youtube. It's a video of grizzly bears, but his music is playing in the background. In fact, it's one of my favorite songs.


In addition to more well-known artists like John Tesh and Yanni, I also really, really like Dean Evenson. His website also has links to music samples.



I know a lot of writers use soundtracks for their books, and while I've done that in the past, I've found I work much better and faster using music that doesn't have words. My brain can't seperate the words in the song and the words on the page.

Be sure and stop by tomorrow to visit with a very special guest blogger. Luis Rodriguez, the hero in Samhain author Vivi Andrews book, The Sexorcist, will be visiting with us. One word: Yuuummmm!


Have a great Thursday!!
Peace and love,
Alannah

Hump Day Humor....

TWENTY NINE LINES TO MAKE YOU SMILE

1. My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn't.
2. I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
3. Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.
4. I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
5. Don't take life too seriously; No one gets out alive.
6. You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me
7. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
8. Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
9. I'm not a complete idiot -- Some parts are just missing.
10. Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.
11. NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.
12. God must love stupid people; He made so many.
13. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
14. Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.
15. Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
16. Being 'over the hill' is much better than being under it!
17. Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew up.
18. Procrastinate Now!
19. I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts; Do You Want Fries With That?
20. A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
21. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance.
22. Stupidity is not a handicap. Park elsewhere!
23. They call it PMS because Mad Cow Disease was already taken.
24. He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless DEAD.
25. A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three thousand times the memory.
26. Ham and eggs...A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.
27. The trouble with life is there's no background music.
28. The original point and click interface was a Smith & Wesson.
29. I smile because I don't know what the hell is going on.

I've seen some of these before, but a lot were new to me. Hope they made you smile!

Happy Cinco de Mayo - use it as an excuse to drink a margarita!

Alannah

Food for Thought...

"Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road."

Dag Hammarskjold
1905-1961, Statesman and Secretary-General of U.N.

Boy, that's a biggie. I constantly find myself testing the ground, pushing at it with my toe, checking to make sure it's solid and safe before I put my whole weight down.

I need (and want) to stop doing that!!!

Wishing you peace and love,
Alannah