Random Thoughts on My Current TV Viewing Habits

Survivor is having its BEST SEASON EVER. Russell and Parvati have executed maneuvers you'd have to see to believe.

I can watch a marathon of America's Next Top Model even though I've seen the whole damn season six times before.

Two And A Half Men and The New Adventures of Old Christine make good sleeping pills. (Don't know why, cuz I actually enjoy both shows.)

DVR is everything people kept telling me it was.

Chelsea Lately (aka Chelsea Handler) gets away with saying stuff NO ONE else says on TV. (P.S. For some reason, her relationship with Chuy kinda gives me the creeps.)

The Housewives of (fill in the city here) are ample proof that money doesn't buy happiness...or class (I'm looking at YOU, Countess)...and that age and maturity don't necessarily go hand-in-hand.

Dancing With The Stars has a pacing problem. Can't watch.

American Idol still grabs me, although it's lacking the wow factor this year.

Desperate Housewives gets better and better.

Sad but true. I need Tiger in my televised golf tournaments.

TMZ's Harry Levin hit gold with his creation, but for some reason I wouldn't be surprised to see him show up as the unwitting participant on To Catch A Predator.

I could watch Bravo 24/7, reruns and all. (Does this make me gay??)

Project Runway was better before it went to Lifetime.

HBO has given up its "original series" dominance to Showtime.

Must. Get. Showtime. (So I can watch the Altered States of Tara more often.)

Of all the reality shows, I think I'd do best on Big Brother but Amazing Race looks like a lot more fun.

Those Jersey people should be put out of OUR misery.

Another Life Goes On Post

Hard to believe some people still check my blog every day, especially since I've been less-than-prolific of late. Once in awhile, I even get a call or an email asking how I'm doing because the blog had always been a source of info up until last summer.

Anyway, so yeah. Here it is. I'm alive and well, and...oh, wow...just checked the calendar, and tomorrow it will have been EIGHT WEEKS since my surgery. Seems like only yesterday...

When last checked, my right lung still wasn't 100%. Maybe that's why I don't feel any different from the way I felt pre-surgery. No more energy, no less. Well, sometimes less but I suppose that's just because they cut me open, put me on the heart-lung bypass machine, and...y'know...did all manner of unkind things to my body. Still...I'm jealous of the people on the valve forum who report they "haven't felt this good in years." Or, maybe I'm being greedy? Today I had an echocardiogram. Hopefully, the results will show lots of good stuff.

This past weekend, I went to Vegas (yay!) and was shocked when a minimal jaunt between the Flamingo and Harrah's resulted in aching thighs and calves. And, NO--I wasn't in my customary 4-inch heels--this was in FLATS. {Shudder} I'm TOTALLY out-of-shape, it appears.

So a new commitment to my ever-lovin' treadmill--which, by the way--now resides in my extra bedroom where there's no TV. I'm forced to listen to music on my computer. Yesterday, I walked for five songs worth.

It's still difficult to schedule things since I try to spend as much time with Annie as possible. I hate to think of her being alone, yet I'm not willing to give up my independence entirely.

Meanwhile, life goes on. I've booked a trip to Nashville for the annual romance writers' conference even though I'm not writing at all. Maybe it'll get me fired up again, who knows? In any event, it's always a good excuse to see a part of the US I've never been to. Plus, I get to pal around with old friends Brooke and Elizabeth, so I'm looking forward to it.

There's still so much in my head that I could go on and on about--plenty of fodder for the blog, you might say--but it feels too personal. Hell, I don't confide most of my thoughts aloud to my friends and family, so why would I do it here?

Yet, despite how this entry is probably coming off, be assured I've held on to my positive attitude. I mean, what else can I do, really?

Life didn't make any promises...and I learned at a young age...ya gotta roll with the punches.

Ow.

In Writing News...

Yes, faithful blog readers...remember when I used to fancy myself a writer...??

Well, the last thing I wrote before my whole world went to hell was a story for True Romance. In fact, I submitted it on April 29, 2009 --which I happen to know because I checked my "sent" file.

After that, nada.

Not even on my book-length project which, when last mentioned, was the recipient of a 3-chapter critique from Jessica Faust at Bookends Literary.

Flash forward. And I mean FORWARD...Crap, almost a year!

This week I received both a contract for the True Romance story AND Jessica's critique. Uh, I guess you can chalk this up to the good news/bad news category. Yay about the contract, but Ms. Faust's critique was less-than-stellar. She said that overall my writing was good but that she didn't think I was executing things in the way I should (I'm paraphrasing.) And she TOTALLY misinterpreted my little "women's joke" that starts off the story. Sigh.

In health news, I'm doing fine...feeling more normal every day although most of the time my right boob aches like a sonuvabitch. S'okay. I'll take that ANY DAY over an aching sternum.

One of these days--when I get a breather, HA--I'll write more about the experience. Oh, and post pictures.

I know.

You can hardly wait, huh?