Miss TV?

Are we suffering? I'm not sure the writers' strike is affecting my TV viewing that much. Sure I miss getting new episodes of Supernatural (gotta love that Dean!), but I've got both seasons on DVD. I read more, rent more videos, and have "more time" to write. PBS is airing new Jane Austen telecasts on Masterpiece Theater. (This week starts the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice.) The writers may have valid complaints, but I hope they're not waiting for me to add my voice to the outcry. I'm doing fine.

How about you? Missing TV?

3 Dreaded Words

What are 3 words you never want to hear? You’re getting fat. Whoa! That one works. But no, that’s not it. Lately mine have been “It’s not working.” So far this year has been a rebellion of household goods, cars, technie stuff – you name it and around our house “It’s not working.” That phrase is always accompanied by a pithy expletive and a heart felt wail. It’s amazing how dependent I am on 21^st century technology. When the microwave went out I almost went into spasms. What? I can’t put the kettle on? Ditto for cars. When the car broke down it was like losing an appendage. And don’t get me started on the TV and the internet. Our internet tanked yesterday and when (company name deleted so I don’t get sued) came out to fix that problem the technician messed up the TV. All we get now is a picture that looks like a smeared 1^st grade watercolor. Don’t they realize that American Idol is back on!! So it’s back to waiting for the magic 1-5 PM appointment and trying to get my cyber Genie back up on long enough to post this to Blogspot. Wish me luck. I'm beginning to think the Luddites had it right.

Ann

Goin’ Down to Georgia, Harlequin American Romance, March 2008

A little slice of heaven

Here in Seattle, cupcakes are all the rage. There at least two cupcake stores (one with three locations) in the area. And man, these little babies are excellent quality at both stores. Cleverly, the stores offer multiple flavors and frostings to choose from, (naturally these change with holidays and seasons), and the cupcakes are made fresh once or twice a day. You can get yours to go or sit down at one of the comfy tables and enjoy your treat with great coffee, tea or cocoa. The stores even offer wireless internet. And the wait staff! Cute, young and friendly men and women. It’s not hard to figure out why every one of the stores is generally crowded.

For the second year in a row, the store with three locations has made a special chocolate confection just for Valentine’s Day. The ingredients are the highest-quality, including organic chocolate made at Theo, a local chocolate factory recently featured in O! Magazine. I have toured this factory twice. Fascinating, and they offer lots of free samples of their delectable product. (Are you salivating yet? I am!)

But I digress... Back to the Valentine’s Day cupcake. After reading an article about the aptly named Deathcake Royale, offered only from February1-14, I had to try the stuff now. I bought two, one for me and one for my hubby. At $6 each for a smallish cupcake (actually it looks like a tiny rectangular cake covered in rich ganache), this is quite the pricey treat. The woman behind the counter assured me that one Deathcake was enough for two people. But as a true chocoholic, I wanted a whole one just for me.

I hurried home, gave my hubby his, and eagerly opened mine. Mouth watering, I put it on a plate, grabbed a fork, and sat down. Let me tell you, it was a little slice of pure heaven. Without a doubt the best chocolate cupcake I have ever eaten. I ate it slowly, groaning each time I forked a new bite. About 2/3 of the way through, I was sated. But I simply could not stop until every bite was gone. Amazingly, I didn’t even feel sick when I finished. (Actually, I felt terrific.) Maybe there’s something to be said for the petite portion.

The big question of the day is, how many times will I go back between now and February 14? Or, not wanting to burst out of my jeans, will I rein in my cravings and wait until next year? Time will tell. ☺

Anyone out there with a chocolate story to share? I’m already licking my lips, waiting to hear it.


Until later,
Ann
www.annroth.net
The Pilot's Wife, March 2008, a Romantic Times top pick!

January winner

The winner of our January drawing is... drum roll, please... TAWNY!!!!

Tawny, you win free books from Roxann Delaney and Kara Lennox!

Please contact them through their websites.

Icy Obsessions

I have a sports obsession. But it isn’t the Super Bowl. It’s ice skating.

I once tried to stand up on ice skates. Talk about muscle memory! My muscles remember very well the sensation of plopping onto my derriere on a very hard, cold surface.

But watching the competitions and performances on TV fascinates me, even though I have a smallish set and those twirling, leaping figures are the size of ants. Somehow, even during the warmup sessions, I can recognize the styles and identify my favorites.

Oh, what a year this is! How can so many of my friends and relatives fail to recognize how everything depends on the way skaters perform at the World Championships? Don’t people realize that the skaters’ placements this year will determine the size of their national representation (one, two or three skaters in each of the four disciplines) in 2009, and that having fewer skaters next year might adversely affect the size of the nation’s team at the 2010 Winter Olympics?

Nobody seems to care except Dick Button and me. I’ve never met Dick Button, but the sportscaster/multiple Olympic gold medal-winner has personally attended 55 U.S. Championships. I’ve personally attended exactly zero.

But I’ve been watching on TV since 1980, when I was three years old (NOT).

Perhaps I’m a little overly emotionally involved. When 14-year-old skating whiz and former World Junior Champion Caroline Zhang moved from my hometown of Brea, Calif. to nearby Irvine, it broke my heart. When Kimmie Meissner flubbed her jumps at the U.S. Nationals, I wanted to cry for her. But my spirits leaped when I heard she’d been named to the U.S. world team anyway. A second chance!

Not that I’m blind to the brilliant talent from other nations. I swoon over hunky Swiss former World Champion Stephane Lambiel and Canada’s Jeffrey Buttle. I love the German pairs team of Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, and thoroughly enjoy the talent and grace of Korea’s Yu-Na Kim and Japan’s Mao Asada. I want them all to win.

Okay. Splash a little ice water on my face and I’ll come down to earth. By April, the season will be over, anyway.

Just in time to get ready for this year’s Summer Olympics in China and those absolutely fabulous gymnasts from around the world! (Did I mention that I have two obsessions?)