Cultural Mash-ups

They don't call America the Great Melting Pot for nothing.  Our culture is a hodgepodge.  Heck, my family seriously hodged the podge.  My dad's family is primarily German; Mom's is Irish.  I've got cousins on both sides who have Japanese ancestry.  Then there's cousins from Costa Rica and cousins who vacationed next to the Kennedys.  Most of my paternal grandfather's neighbors were Amish. Then there's me, a neo-pagan, who's married to a Methodist.  My Luthern uncle performed the ceremony.

So I have a tendency to write characters from all over. In fact, one of my friends accused me of throwing in everything but the kitchen sink after reading the holiday scene in Blood Magick.  Of course, this is the same friend with an Anglo father, a Mexican-American mother, and a Chinese-American husband.

So, readers, I'm curious.  Does mixing cultures in books bother you?  Why or why not?

Turning Scars into Art

I stumbled across this article in The Seattle Times (I think SF writer Jay Lake had the link to it), and nearly a month later I still can't get it out of mind.  Tattoo artist Roni Falgout has made a name for herself by creating art out of mastectomy scars.

Maybe it hits close to home because one of my great-grandmothers lost all of her siblings, including her brother, to breast cancer.  (Yes, folks, guys can get it too!)  Nearly ten years ago, I had my first lumpectomy (which thank the Goddess turned out to be nothing).  A good friend lost her mother to this disease, long before my friend graduated from college, much less walked down the aisle or gave birth to her darling daughter.

We talk about breast cancer, only it's in terms of raising money for research.  We rarely talk about the human cost of the disease.  When my husband went through chemotherapy, we met a woman named Mary who was about the same age.  Mary endured a double mastectomy and chemo in the hopes of seeing her girls grow up.  As Mary remarked one to me one time, she only cried twice: once when she saw her post-surgical scars and once when her eyelashes fell out from the poison the doctor injected into her body once a week.

Sixteen years and several thousand miles later, I'd like to think Mary is attending her youngest daughter's college graduation.  And maybe, underneath her proper cotton blouse, she has some of Roni's flowers.

Fangirl SQUEE

I admit I'm a major geek when it comes to Underworld.  Such a geek, I squealed with glee when I learned Underworld: Awakening is coming out in a few months.

Don't Mess With Christie Craig

Yeehaw!  My friend Christie Craig has another thigh-slapping mystery out!  Don't Mess with Texas has scary thrills, steamy passion, and a coffin-lovin' bulldog named Budweiser.

Blurb

Nikki Hunt thought her night couldn't get worse when her no-good, cheating ex ditched her at dinner, sticking her with the bill. Then she found his body stuffed in the trunk of her car and lost her two-hundred-dollar meal all over his three-thousand-dollar suit. Now not only is Nikki nearly broke, she's a murder suspect.

Former cop turned PI, Dallas O'Connor knows what it's like to be unjustly accused. But one look at the sexy-though skittish-suspect tells him she couldn't hurt anyone. The lead detective, Dallas's own brother, has the wrong woman and Dallas hopes a little late-night "undercover" work will help him prove it . . .

Angry Birds

This last weekend was Tax-Free Weekend here in Texas.  For those outside of the Lone Star state, there's one weekend in August where the state doesn't collect sales tax on clothing and school supplies, officially to help strapped and stressed parents.

For my Day Job, I work at a card and gift shop at one of the local malls.  Tax-Free Weekend usually means Dead-as-a-Doornail Weekend because, well, we're not exactly a kid-focused business.  Not to mention, the last thing frazzled parents are thinking about the weekend before school starts is birthday cards and Precious Moment figurines.

This weekend was the exception. We had received a shipment of plush Angry Birds.

I've never played Angry Birds, so a nineteen-year-old co-worker had to explain the game to me.  Frankly, if someone slingshotted me at pigs, I'd be pissed too.

Anyway, we not only made sales goal on Tax-Free Weekend, we went way beyond goal thanks to parents bribing their kids into good behavior.

So to all the kids, thanks for not giving your parents grief and netting me my bonus for the month.

And to the Angry Birds, I promise never to launch you at pigs.  I've seen the Hitchcock movie.  Your rage ain't pretty.

My Husband Stole My Knidle

A couple of weeks ago, I did a favor for my friend Nina Cordoba.  Apparently, it was such a good favor that she asked, "Do you want a Kindle?  We have an extra one."

Well, duh!

But thinking I'd misunderstood, I asked how much she wanted for it.  Nope, no mistake.  She was giving it to me.  (The reason for having an EXTRA Kindle in the first place involves very long story about her tech-geek, rock-god husband.  I won't bore you with Mr. Cordoba's, um, fetishes.)  A Kindle.  In freakin' mint condition!

Unfortunately, my own DH has similar, um, fetishes in regards to tech toys.  My ownership of the Kindle lasted all of five seconds.  Long enough for me to pull the device out of my bag and said, "Wanna see my new Kindle?"

Twenty seconds later, DH has the Kindle registered in his name.  Then he assures me that I "can use it whenever I want."

Yeah, right.

I gave him twenty bucks for an Amazon card and said, "Consider this your birthday present."

Think I won't get revenge?  I bought a Barbie Collectibles Captain Jack Sparrow doll yesterday.  DH can't say a thing.

Movie Mania Monday

Sorry, folks!  No movie reviews this weekend.

After seeing previews, DH and I thought Rise of the Planet of the Apes would be a little too intense for GK.  And the kid had no interest in seeing Conan. So we ended up watching The Big Bang Theory most of the weekend. (It's Texas and it's a hundred freakin' degrees. Not even the critters want to be outside right now.)

If I can get the book I'm currently formatting done by Wednesday (unfortunately it's freelance project, not my book), I'll head over to the theater by myself for a little ape action.  Besides, I'm a sucker for John Lithgow no matter what movie he's in.