If you work with a group of people, chances are pretty good you’ve bought a ticket for SOMETHING. Lottery. Raffle. Church ‘giveaways’. Kid’s school crap. People are insidious about this sort of thing, and even when it’s for a good cause I usually wind up feeling pretty cynical about it.
It’s like the Publisher’s Clearing House stuff. I know, you hear RUMORS about people winning, and they always show Average Jane on tv, fresh from scrubbing her toilet, squeeing at the door when they tell her she’s won a million dollars.
(And honestly—we all know there are neighborhoods where than van wouldn’t DARE cruise through, let alone stop…the van would be gone by the time they got back…).

So guess what?

I WON!! SQUEEEEE!!!!

No, no, not Publisher’s Clearing House (which reminds me, I need to get on that toilet bowl…).

It was a small raffle ticket, sold to me by someone in my office. And I won a DIGITAL CAMERA!! YAYYY!!!

If I sound silly, it’s because, other than finaling in a couple of writing contests, I’ve never won anything in my LIFE. So this is kinda nice.

And since photography used to be a minor hobby, chances are it may mean the posting of some pretty peculiar photos here.

YAAYYY!!!

I hadn’t planned to blog here today, but I couldn’t resist Oscar, who’s become an overnight celebrity.

Oscar, who is the subject of a New England Journal of Medicine article.

Oscar, who’s received an award commending his “compassionate hospice care.”

Oscar, who seems to have an impressive talent…for fingering patients who will die within hours.

I kit—er, kid you not. You can read the story here.

I’m blogging at the CHICAS today.
And I won’t be sleeping with the cats tonight… :nonono:

Recently I was fortunate enough to receive the ARC for Sasha White’s upcoming book for Berkley. TROUBLE is scheduled to release in August of 2007, so I was pretty honored to get an advance peek.

Sasha and I go back a few years, to a time when several of us ‘wannabees’ hung out on the message boards of Harlequin (lots of talented authors have emerged from those message boards, whether they pubbed with H/S or not). So it’s a pleasure for me to see first-hand how far she’s come (yes, I still do a little squee when I see the names of people I know in bookstores).

The very first thing I’d have to say is that this book is H-O-T.

The heroine, Samair Jones, has reached a point in her life where she’s tired of living by rules, and simply wants what she wants. The hero, Valentine Ward, is a sexy nightclub owner with ex-wife issues, but who’s eager and ready to give Samair exactly that. Both of them spell trouble for each other when their fantasy-laden sex becomes something much more complicated and unexpected.

The characterizations are strong, and the book moves at a fast, erotic pace. It was fun watching Samair come into her own, and following Val as he came to terms with what was really important to him, realizing his true feelings. I particularly liked the supporting character of Joey, who was so wonderfully imperfect she won me over immediately.

And did I mention that this book was H-O-T??

Releasing next month.
Read it with something cold to drink or someone who sizzles under the covers. :razz:

(A little sumpthin’ to help you celebrate…have a great one, Jaq!)

I was fascinated to learn that the Iraqi parliament intends to take a two-month vacation this summer.
They say they need a break from the heat.

Lemme repeat that once more, for emphasis:
The Iraqi parliament intends to take a two-month vacation this summer.

When confronted by U.S. criticism of their plan, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said “Iraqi leaders will do things their way and don’t ‘take kindly of (U.S. officials) telling us when to recess.’”

I think I’ll just leave that one lying there, just as it is. ‘Nuff said.