When I take my older nephew to Wal-mart or Target or Toys-R-Us, we always go to the toy section. And we go up and down every aisle – except for the pink ones. “Those are the girl rows,” he always tells me. And you know, I don’t go down the girl rows, either. I never have. And I write romance novels for a living. Go figure.

I didn’t have a doll when I was little. I had a stuffed dog named Krypto, after Superboy’s dog. I didn’t like to play house or school. I liked to play cowboys and Indians or Land of the Lost (my youngest sister was forced to be Chaka). The movies I have the clearest memory of seeing as a kid are Rio Bravo, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and the Japanese Godzilla and Gargantua movies (even though I had to hide behind middle sis when the evil green Gargantua ate somebody).

I never took ballet or dance, though I did enjoy the guitar lessons I took for several years. I like watching baseball, LOVE watching curling, and yes, I have been known to watch WWE wrestling. Oh, and I collect action figures. On the other hand, my four-year-old nephew has a trio of dolls, all naked, and all named Baby. They get treated kind of rough, but he likes to carry at least one of them around (usually by the foot).

So. Is the girl/boy toy thing outdated? Or rather, should we care if a kid favors one section of the toy store over another? Were you an “outside of the box” kid? What was your favorite toy when you were little?

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Now that the Olympics and especially curling are over, and many of us are snowed or rained in for another few weeks at least, it’s the perfect time to read a good book.

I’m reading eight paranormal romances for the Romance Writers of America best book contest, known as the RITAs. I can’t talk about them, because, well, I’m judging them. I can say that I have Angel’s Blood by Nalini Singh sitting on my coffee table waiting for me to have a free moment or two. I keep hearing good things about it, so I decided to give it a try.

And I’m going through some of my still-in-their-original-package action figures and deciding which ones I want to get rid of. There comes a time, my fellow goddesses, when a lady needs to make a choice between selling off a few duplicate R2-D2’s or having to start parking her car on the driveway instead of inside the garage.

So what are you reading right now? Or if you haven’t had time to pick up a good book lately, what’s your latest project?

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My top favorite Olympic sport, Winter and Summer games included, is Curling. I must watch the Curling, the men and women sliding their rocks and sweeping with their brooms. I don’t have all the lingo, but I’m getting better at it. I find it mesmerizing and cool.

I can’t explain why I like Curling so much. There’s just a weird….something that connects with the inner me.

I also like those guys on the aircraft carriers who make the hand signals to order the jets to take off. I like the hand signals, and I like the way they crouch down. I don’t know why. I just do.

I like men in jeans and work boots, especially if they have things tied around their waists. That’s one of the reasons I love The Tap Dogs and Stomp. They wear jeans and work boots and have material tied around their hips.

I like firefighters with dogs. Not policemen or astronauts or firefighters out of uniform with dogs. Just firefighters – in uniform – with dogs.

My favorite color is dark gray. A charcoaly brownish gray. All the other colors are fine, except maybe orange, but there’s something about dark gray, especially if it’s a shirt or eyes, that makes me feel good.

Do you have weird somethings that just resonate with you for some completely inexplicable reason? Please tell me it’s not just me.

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As most of you know by now, I’m a big movie buff. That doesn’t mean I see every movie, however. Frequently and for some very odd reason the ones I haven’t seen are the ones that get the Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Some of them seem so pretentious – and don’t get me started about No Country for Old Men, the Emperor’s New Clothes of movies. Everybody said it was magnificent because nobody could be the first to admit that they didn’t get it. Well, I didn’t get it. Because it was STUPID.

Anyway, the nominations this year were expanded to ten movies. Of those ten, I’ve seen four, own another one (my mom wanted to see it, so I let her borrow it), and want to see an additional two. This is very rare for me. Last year I’d seen NONE of the nominated movies. I still haven’t seen any of them, in fact, though I own Frost/Nixon (which didn’t win).

So this year’s nominees are:
Avatar – awesome looking and sounding. Plot…well, it looks awesome.
The Blind Side – want to go
District 9 – fascinating character study, and unfortunately probably what would really happen if an alien ship ran out of gas over a major city
An Education – eww, don’t want to see it despite Colin Firth (added later: oops. Colin Firth is in A Single Man, not this one. An Education still gets an ewww vote, though.)
The Hurt Locker – Mom, I need my movie back so I can see it
Inglourious Basterds – violent, clever, and equal parts funny and horrifying
Precious – too depressing for me to go see
A Serious Man – It hasn’t been long enough for me to forgive the Coen brothers for that other movie
Up – sad and funny and uplifting and just amazing
Up in the Air – I’ll get there, George Clooney! Just give me time to finish my revisions!

I have no idea which movie will win. Of the ones I’ve seen, my Oscar vote goes to Inglourious Basterds. Or Up. Probably.

How many of the nominated movies have you seen? Which movie gets your vote? Is there a movie that should have been nominated that wasn’t? Oh, and in honor of The Goddess Blogs anniversary next week, I’m giving away an advanced reader copy of my May 11th book, A Lady’s Guide to Improper Behavior, to a lucky poster!
Congratulations to LauraR! My nephew drew her name for the ARC!

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Okay, “Sunny Southern California” is a cliche. We do get clouds and those pesky Santa Ana winds and even somewhere between 8-12″ of rain per year. And when it gets hot, it gets HOT.

What we do not get is torrential rain, lightning, tornadoes, hail, or snow anywhere but on the slopes. Except for this week.

Yes, I sat through my very first official tornado warning on Tuesday. Sirens went off, the news became very serious, telling everyone to stay indoors and not go outside to look at the sky. Those of you who are accustomed to tornadoes might think the not-going-outside part was just understood – but not here. We don’t know what the hell to do during a tornado. Earthquakes? You sit under or beside a big, heavy piece of furniture, or you run outside. That’s easy. Nobody out here has a cellar, and if you have a two-story house, the bathtub is upstairs. Not good for crawling into.

In addition to the tornado warning, we had hail and lightning and a grand deluge of rain – so much coming down all in a half-hour period that my full trash can washed away down to the corner. When it eased up I had to go down and haul it back to my house. And then I had to sweep three inches of water off the rear of my patio and into the drain. And my mail was all wet. I hate that.

What kind of weather are you comfortable with? What is strange for your area? And what natural phenomena freaks you out?

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This morning I watched Sense and Sensibility again. The one with Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant. It’s such a romantic movie, and yet do you realize that the hero and heroine never kiss? Well, he kisses her hand right at the end, but there’s no lip-lock. Even the wild Willoughby and emotional Marianne, while they dance and drive about in a high-perch phaeton and he cuts off a lock of her hair as a keepsake, never kiss.

The A&E classic version of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth? No kissing until the last scene, after the marriage. The new version of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley? No lip kissing until the last scene, after the marriage. I believe she kisses his hand during the scene when Darcy and Lizzy realize they will have their happily ever after, but I’m always so mesmerized by the sight of Mr. Darcy walking up through the early morning mist that I can’t recall.

As for Emma, she and Mr. Knightly kiss, but not until the second to last scene when he declares himself. Of course Emma’s been in denial about Mr. Knightly for the entire tale, but then so was Elizabeth Bennett about Mr. Darcy.

I love a first kiss. It’s all about tension and wanting, and the inability to resist the person to whom you are attracted for one second longer. Of course a kiss can also awake a princess from a magical sleep, as happened with both Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, but I think it’s part of the same thing, that acknowledgment of desire and coming alive.

What’s your favorite book or movie kiss? Do you have a first kiss story of your own?

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Yesterday my mom and I took my nephews to the mall to see Santa so the boys’ mom could stay home and finally wrap some presents. We waited in line for a little over an hour, and then it was time. The seven-year-old plunked himself down beside Santa and began chatting about school and his hopes for the holiday, and that bicycle he’d really like. The four-year-old, who is autistic, caught sight of the huge Santa’s sack of lollipops and insisted on having one in each hand before he would go near the big guy. As is tradition, the photo is of the older boy smiling and the younger boy trying to escape and being patiently held back by Santa’s large mittened hand.

And then the seven-year-old whispered to Santa that his little brother doesn’t talk very much, but he would like either a bouncy ball or a tricycle. As they finished and we walked over to pick up the cd containing the Christmas photo, big brother motioned for me to bend down, and he informed me in a hushed voice that that was the real Santa. He could see it in the twinkle in his eyes.

I am not about to dispute his theory, because I have the sneaking suspicion that the seven-year-old is correct. At any rate, I saw a little bit of Christmas magic in the air yesterday, and that is why I love Christmas. I think I may even leave out a cookie this Christmas Eve, just in case.

Do you still have kids around who believe in Santa Claus? Or do you wish they still did? And does Santa still deliver presents to your house, regardless?

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