Thanks to my hospital stay, I'm a little late getting this up, but it's time for another Burn It CD swap! The rules are a bit different from last time and there's a new theme, so be sure to read carefully before signing up!

The Theme:
I was thinking of making this an anything goes theme (in other words, just pick whatever songs you want - no overall theme required) and Jenna came up with the perfect title: Free For All Fall. So this editions theme is no theme - just burn whatever you want.

Here's how it works:
After the signup period, people will be put into groups of 4. You will then receive an e-mail from me telling you the names and addresses of the people in your group. You burn 5 identical CDs. Keep one for yourself and send the other three to the other people in your group and one to me. New Rule: Since so many people have been complaining that they haven't gotten CDs from people in their group, I am now requiring that you send one to me so I can keep track of who sent them out and who didn't. I hate to do this, but it seems the best way to keep track. You should then receive three new CDs from the other three people in your group.

The rules:
- You should have a blog. I would like this to be a fun way to connect people in the blogosphere. If you don't, go over to Diaryland or Blogspot and start one for free.
- If you're not going to follow through and make your CDs, please don't bother signing up. It would be a shame if one or two people ruined this for their group. If you signed up last swap and didn't send your CDs out, don't sign up this time.
- You must live in the US or Canada. If there's a intrest in this in other areas, I may do a swap at some point down the road that includes other countries, but since this is the first swap, I'm going to limit it to the areas where I know most of you guys live.
- If you live in the US, you should be willing to ship to Canada. If you live in Canada, you should be willing to ship to the US. The postage is a teeny bit more, but nothing that's going to break the bank.
- Remember that most people can't play mp3s in their car, so make sure they're something that will play in a standard car stereo. I tend to use cda or wav files. I have put together a list of Burn It resources for those not familiar with making CDs.
- Please be sure to put your name, URL, or e-mail on your CD somewhere. I got several last time that I liked, but have no idea who sent them.

Guidlines on creating your CDs:
- Include a track listing. If someone like an artist, they might want to buy more music by them. Let us know who it is.
- Fill up the CD as much as you can. There's 80 minutes on a blank CD. Don't half-ass it and make a 30 minute CD.
- You should definitely use a jewel case when sending your CDs to protect it during mailing. You can get them cheap anywhere.
- I know a lot of people are graphically inclined, so feel free to make your CD a work of art.
- Don't be afraid to put on "cheesy" music. If you like it, others probably will too.
- Don't be afraid to put on music that no one has ever heard before either. Billboard or MTV may never have known this music, but you did, so that's what counts.

If you've gotten this far and you still want to sign up, send an e-mail (change the AT to an @ in my e-mail address) to me and make sure you reference the swap in the subject line. You must include the following information:

- Your name
- Mailing address
- Your blog URL

Sign-ups will continue through Monday, October 27th. By Thursday, October 30th, I will send e-mails to everyone letting you know who is in your group. You should have all of your CDs burned and in the mail NO LATER THAN Monday, November 17th. This gives you at least a full three weeks to create and ship CDs to your three group partners and me.

Please spread the word! More people equals more music! Just be sure to link to this URL, because eventually this entry will cycle off the main page.

If you have any other questions, you can e-mail me or leave a comment.

Special thanks goes out to Alison for both the inspiration and allowing me to use most of her rules and guidelines.

.: 838 words at 06:44 PM in Burn It, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (30) :: All the Voices Say... (10) :.

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I went to go look at my Neurotic Fishbowl Moblog only to get a page not found error. I went to Text America's main page to see if there was any information only to find the entire site gone.

Did something happen to them while I was sick? Did they go under? Man, if so, that sucks! I had some great little pictures on there I would have liked to have kept!

.: 72 words at 04:22 AM in Geeky Things, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (4) :.

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I'm working on a new skin and I have a question for all you knowledgeable people out there: Is there anyway to have a skin use two different ‹p› tags - one for the sidebars and one for the blog entries? I'm sure there is, but I'm at a loss at how to do it.

.: 55 words at 11:23 PM in I'm Looking For...., ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (4) :.

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The Santaroga Barrier by Frank Herbert: a science fiction novel by one of the best in the field that seemed to hold more promise than was ever delivered.

In Santaroga, a valley town in California, everything appears to be normal - until you look closely, that is. No one ever moves away for long, there's no business in the town that aren't local, and outsiders aren't welcome.

Gilbert Dasein is hired by a group of corporate marketers to visit Santaroga and discover its secrets. Since Gil once dated and is still in love with a local girl named Jenny, it's hoped that he'll have more luck than the previous researchers, all of whom died in a series of accidents.

This book had a very strong Twilight Zone feel to it, but I ultimately felt that it never really delivered on its promise of being a scary, intriguing sci-fi novel. It's not that it was bad, but it just wasn't as good as I had hoped. I felt that it lacked a strong resolution of what the mysterious Jaspers was and how it came to be in the town.

Also, the book was first written in 1968 and I felt that it seemed a little dated to me. Nothing huge, but some of the issues of race and the like didn't quite feel right. If you're a sci-fi fan, this one may still be up your alley, but I don't strongly recommended.

(Finished on October 6, 2003 for Zuly’s Reading Room.)

.: 251 words at 10:24 PM in Zuly's Reading Room, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (1) :.

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Wake Up by Tim Pears: surreal novel that never could hold my interest as much as I would have hoped it would.

The novel starts out with John, co-owner of a very successful potato company in England, driving out to see his brother (and business partner) to tell him about two fatalities that occured in an experiment to give people vaccines administered by genetically altered potatoes. John is frightened to what these deaths are going to mean to his company and he can't quite get himself to take the exit he's supposed to. Almost all of this short novel takes place on that Monday in John's car as he thinks to himself about his life and what is going to happen now.

John's thoughts wander all over the place and he frequently changes them ("Did I say (I met my wife this way, etc.) earlier? Oh no, that's not what happened at all; it was like this..."), which kept annoying me.

Listening to John prattle on about his life never quite could get me as interested in him as I wanted to be, so the book's events never really mattered much to me. I will admit, however, that I wasn't expecting the surprise revealed at the end of the book.

Would I recommend this book to others? Probably not. I didn't really like it and ultimately, that's what I read for - enjoyment. No enjoyment out of the book means it wasn't worth my time. Good thing it was short.

(Finished on October 1, 2003 for Zuly’s Reading Room.)

.: 260 words at 08:50 PM in Zuly's Reading Room, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray: a wonderful feel-good type of book that probably most people could easily relate to.

Ruth, a housewife in Minneapolis, loves to bake cakes. Baking a cake is her form of both relaxation and therapy, something that she's going to need a lot of in her near future.

Ruth lives with her husband Sam, her difficult teenage daughter Camille, and her mother Hollis who moved in after her house was robbed. To complicate things even further, Sam loses his job and Ruth's father Guy, whom she hardly even sees and her mother hates, has a serious accident and has to move in. Needless to say, tension in the household increases and Ruth begins baking even more cakes.

In reality, this book was pretty easy to predict what was going to happen next, but I loved reading every word of it. Ray's voice is soothing and funny and very easy to get sucked into. I enjoyed her characters, especially Ruth, Hollis, and Guy, and the interaction among the family was a joy to experience.

Like a piece of cake, Eat Cake was both light and enjoyable - perfect summer reading or to just take a break from every day life.

(Finished on September 24, 2003 for Zuly’s Reading Room.)

.: 213 words at 05:18 PM in Zuly's Reading Room, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (2) :.

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An Ocean in Iowa by Peter Hedges: a quirky novel by the author of What's Eating Gilbert Grape that turned out to be a quick, but wonderful, reading experience.

At the beginning of An Ocean in Iowa Scotty Ocean announces to his mother, Joan, that "Seven is going to be my year." Turning seven does bring about many changes for Scotty, including his alcoholic mother's decision to leave her family and try to live on her own.

The novel is set in the late sixties when the war in Vietnam raged and when man had yet to walk on the moon. Scotty experiences most of these things on the periphery since his main focus in life is his mother and how to get her to come back home.

While I enjoyed the book very much, after finishing it, I thought about how really it was quite a melancholy novel - most of the book is just life and picking up the pieces after major changes. However, Scotty's character was so engaging (it was interesting to see a book take place through the eyes of a young child) and I wanted things to work out for him that I was compelled to read it in just a day or so.

All in all, not a very cheery book, but one that I would still suggest reading.

(Finished on September 23, 2003 for Zuly’s Reading Room.)

.: 235 words at 04:23 PM in Zuly's Reading Room, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (0) :.

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Slowly but surely, I've managed to become a bit more human this week. I've made it out of the house (with make-up and decent clothes on - a first in weeks!) to run a few errands, get bloodwork done, and I even made it into work for an hour or two today to see where all the projects stand. I'm going to work from home the next couple of days and start back partial days next week. Everyone at work was so understanding of my situation and I could tell that they were genuinely glad to see me doing well. Makes a girl feel good, you know?

Really, except for feeling really tired when I'm out even just for a few hours and getting short of breath if I have to walk too far, I feel pretty good. Like I told Steven today, today was a good day because I didn't die from a blood clot or suffer permanent damage. When I really think of what might have happened, it gives me pause and makes me realize how lucky I was.

I still haven't posted about my hospital stay, but I'm not sure there's much to say about it. I hated being there, disliked my doctor (guy was a major jackass with no bedside manner at all), and my poor arms look like I have a serious drug habit from all the IVs and blood that was taken while I was in there. The bruises are now a lovely yellow color and I wonder if people think junkie when they glance at my arms.

Also, while I was at work, I picked up a few packages that had arrived for me. Kim and Scott sent me Michelle Branch's The Spirit Room and Erin sent me Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married by Marian Keyes. Nothing like getting gifts to help your recovery, right?

Speaking of gifts, as soon as Christine gets me a list of all the people that participated in the Pamper Kymberlie in the Hospital Project (that's how I refer to it), I'll be sending thank yous your way as well. I cannot stress enough how wonderful it felt knowing so many people were pulling for me, thinking about me, and wishing me well. You never know how many people love you until something like this happens.

Speaking of people that love you, I just want to thank my mom for staying with me every day and every night while I was in the hospital. She only left for a few hours at a time to shower and get us food when the meals inside were way too nasty to eat. She slept every night in my room and was always there if I work up scared or if the 3:30 blood letting became too much to bear. I wish everyone had a mother like her in there life. I love you, Mom. Thank you so much for being there, even if I did get snippy and bitchy by the end of my stay.

Anyway, hopefully once I get a bit more rested and caught up on all the shit that's piled up while I was gone, blogging will be a bit more frequent here. At least now you know I haven't relapsed.

.: 545 words at 01:50 AM in Daily Ramblings, ";print substr($entry_cats, 0, -2); ?> :: Link :: Pings (0) :: All the Voices Say... (8) :.

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