We drank champagne, cooked all day (I made the cornbread dressing!), watched Die Hard, and played in the hot tub. Out lovely Palm Springs Christmas is almost at an end, and I'm looking forward to a day of fasting and abstention from alcohol tomorrow.
Oh, who am I kidding? We're having raspberry trifle and leftover dressing with fried eggs for breakfast! And probably mimosas or bloody mary's.
If you can name the following ten hot eyeliner-sporting actors and musicians, you will win a prize! Maybe a cookie. Or my undying admiration. I don't know yet, but something good.
I credited Jensen Ackles with my recent upswing of interest in boys wearing eyeliner, but that's not 100% accurate. The actual genesis was Lee Pace in The Fall, a seriously strange, visually stunning, utterly charming movie by Tarsem Singh. The movie also stars quite possibly the cutest, most real child actress I've ever seen, but that's another post. This one is all about Lee Pace.
Lee first came to my attention playing the brother of the main character in one of the Great Shows that No One Watches, Wonderfalls. He was an atheist studying for his PhD in Religion, and he totally cracked me up. And also kind of gave me the hots. Since then, he went on to star in another Great Show No One Watched, Pushing Daisies, and had a couple of movie roles. Including The Fall, where he plays an injured stuntman who bribes a little girl into getting him extra pain pills by weaving a fantastical story. The pictures below are of his story-within-a-story persona, The Blue Bandit.
I know, hot, right? He's the one who got me thinking, remembering all the times I've seen a guy in makeup, for whatever reason, and gone "Mmmmm." More to come later this week...
That's okay, it's good weather for hunkering down and writing. Which I MUST do if I'm to turn in my proposal and synopsis on schedule! I didn't get as much done over the weekend as I'd hoped.
In the meantime, amuse yourselves with this scene from an upcoming movie I'm now super psyched to see.
Jensen Ackles + mohawk + kilt + eyeliner = HOT.
In fact, this clip is inspiring me to start a whole Boys In Makeup series. Why do I find that so goshdarned sexy? Check it out:
New technologies. Okay, I love the smell and feel of a real book. I love turning the pages and getting lost in an unfolding story. I love fun, sexy, clever cover art and intriguing back cover copy. The whole experience works for me, in a big way.
A lot of those things may be missing from e-reads, but they make up for it with convenience and instant gratification. Never underestimate the pleasure of sitting in your own cozy house, browing through online titles, deciding what you want and getting it immediately. I don't have a Kindle or anything, although I'm hovering on the precipice--currently most of my story downloads are handled through Adobe Acrobat. And I download plenty! All those stories you hear about how well the m/m fiction is doing at Ellora's Cave and Samhain? Yeah, that's all me.
Even more exciting, however, is the chance to download a brand new Bullet Catcher novella by bestselling author Roxanne St. Claire! One click of a button and you can be engrossed in a fast-paced story of heart-pounding suspense and sizzling passion. Just go to Roxanne's website and hit the link in the upper right hand corner. One note of caution: E-reads are dangerously addictive!
What holiday would be complete (or bearable) without alcohol? New Year's means champagne; Christmas means punch (and bourbon balls, and whiskey cake, and more champagne--is it any wonder Christmas is my favorite holiday?) but for me, Thanksgiving is all about the wine. Specifically Beajolais Nouveau, a light, fruity red that comes out in the fall and is only good to drink for a few months. This is not the wine to buy a case of and stick in your cellar and wait for it to mature. It's ready to drink NOW. And come Thanksgiving? I'm usually ready, too. I've tried three so far this year, but my favorite is, for once, the most readily available.
Chill it a little, pop the cork, and enjoy. It's perfect with turkey (and turkey leftovers), chicken, meatier fish like salmon and sea bass, duck, and lamb. With anything, really. And it's usually pretty reasonably priced, too. I think my wine shop had the Duboeuf at around $12. Maybe I'll head back over there today and stock up...
I'm a big believer in mindless entertainment. There's very little more soothing to the savaged psyche than dumb television. Which is probably why, after a week spent with the in-laws, I came home yesterday and gorged on DVRed episodes of General Hospital.
I've been watching GH off and on since high school, and until recently, was in a looong off phase. It had been years. I'm not even sure what prompted me to go back to it, other than the fact that I'm clearly an addict and can't help myself. But I'm not sorry I did--the show is pretty good at the moment! Sure, there are new characters I want to kill and old characters who are still thrashing out the same, tired plotlines they were when I last watched, but that's soap opera. And there are some surprises, too. Maxie Jones finally came into her own as a fun, funny vixen--even better, they seem to be pairing her with the much-discussed character of Spinelli, quintessential underdog geek extraordinaire, who is actually entertaining and affecting; a new character, Olivia Falconari, has tons of potential and sparks equally in flirty/confrontational scenes with men as she does in friendship scenes with women; Emily Quartermaine, possibly the most annoying character of recent years, is dead! Not that she's liable to stay that way, but it's a nice break for the moment.
Anyone else watch GH, or have other shameful television addictions to confess? I, for one, was thankful to turn off my brain yesterday and rot it with Sonny and Jason.
I missed blogging on Thanksgiving; I was too busy stuffing myself with turkey and cranberries and fending off in-laws right and left. So I thought I'd spend this week in solemn contemplation of the many things in my life and the world at large that make me glad to be alive.
Up first: a commercial featuring superstar chef and infamous a$$hole Gordon Ramsay as an eight-year-old boy. That's right. I'm thankful for Gordon, TV, and laughter. If you like those things, too, watch the video.
I grew up in Virginia, went to school in Philadelphia, spent five years in Manhattan, then moved to a teeny town in Ohio. Now I live in fabulous, funky, fun Austin, Texas, which is very inspiring...
Once an editor of romance novels, now I'm writing my own. My Recipe for Love series combines contemporary romance with my love of food, restaurants, and smokin' hot chefs!
