After Feces And Insect Invasion Week 2004, I was really looking forward to Friday. That's right, I finally got around to spending that spa gift certificate my boyfriend got me for my birthday!



It was heaven on Earth.



Here was what I had done over the course of the entire day (10AM - 6PM to be exact).

1. An oil wrap
2. A full body massage
3. A facial
4. A pedicure
5. A manicure

I have to say the highlights were the oil wrap, massage, pedicure and manicure. I was marginally disappointed in the facial - only because I expected there to be more to it. If you have the means, I cannot recommend the oil wrap and massage enough. Both were done back to back, in a 2 hour period. I swear I was walking around like a drugged woman for a good hour afterwards.



I also highly enjoyed the pedicure and manicure. I'm a nail biter by trade, and somehow the manicurist (who was from Michigan - like how cool is that?) made my nails look great. Hell, even my feet look cute - and who thought that was possible? Both toe and fingernails are painted this pearly shade of pink. I feel so darn girly.



For those of you that have been keeping an eye on Hurricane Chuckles - my younger sister managed to survive the onslaught from her newly purchased Winter Park/Orlando home. Luckily her home saw little damage (a small downed tree in her front yard was it), although she says most of the area looks like something out of a war zone. She told her fiance (who is working on his PhD down there) that she wants out of "the swamp" ASAP. She can't handle the storms or the cockroaches. I can't say I blame her.



In other news - the Buffalo Bills play their first preseason game tonight against the Denver Broncos. I wasn't terribly impressed with what Buffalo did in the draft this year, but it's always interesting to take a look at the rookies every year. After the debacle of last season, I'm hoping for better things - mainly an offense that isn't a one trick pony.

Have you hugged a librarian today?



I had the day from hell yesterday, and since a good number of folks seem to think that librarians don't do anything other than read at work all day, I thought this story would help to enlighten, as well as educate.



It all started out when I discovered a big pile of feces in our parking lot. I'm assuming it was human, given the size of the dump - unless there are suddenly grizzly bears roaming the cities of Southern California. So I got to call the city, and they were kind enough to send someone out to clean it up. We still have used condoms turning up in the parking lot - I hope fecal matter isn't going to be a new trend.



Then I discovered a cockroach in a cardboard box sitting in my office. Yuck! So I carefully carried the box to the dumpster.



But that isn't the worst of it. How can it get worse after feces and a cockroach you ask? I was sitting here at my computer, typing up an e-mail when all the sudden the biggest, blackest spider I have ever seen drops from the ceiling directly in front of my face! I hate spiders anyway - but this sucker was huge! I screamed and ran out of office. Let's just say everyone in the library snapped to attention after they heard that. My intrepid library clerk then came into my office and beat the hell out of Mr. Spider with a magazine.



It was a traumatic day. Since there isn't a restaurant close by that serves Jack Daniels for lunch - I opted for a turkey pot pie and slice of cheesecake from Marie Callander's. The cheesecake did help, but I'm still recovering from my brush with death.

This is why I listen to audio books - I cannot stand morning radio! Just shut up and play some damn music already?!



Here's an excellent example: I'm listening to one of the local oldie's stations on my way to work today and they are griping that The Sporting News placed Inland Empire towns (Riverside County, CA) at the bottom of their new poll on great sports towns/cities. One of the idiot djs explained this away by saying TSN was based out of Chicago and Midwesterners hate all things California - and well pooh Chicago is like "1000 miles from a beach."



Hey dumb ass - if Chicago was any closer to Lake Michigan it'd be a friggin' island! It's been a while since I've been to Lake Michigan, but I'm pretty darn sure there are beaches there. Idiots.



There, I think I got that out of my system.



Big shout outs to romance authors Victoria Bylin and Kate Rothwell - both of whom are excellent Googlers and stumbled across my blog. And yes, Vicki - I ended up enjoying West Of Heaven very much.



Big news yesterday was that I got my new ALA graphics catalog. ALA must be reading my web site (::snort:: probably not) because they have designed a new Batgirl poster! I kid you not! Take a look at the poster at the Alter Ego page of my web site.

RIP Rick James. I have to say I wasn't terribly surprised to read of his passing. I figure the only guy who has done more drugs than James is Keith Richards. I actually have a theory that Richards is already dead and is technically a zombie - but that's neither here nor there.



Back to James, here's a man who brought us some very funky riffs - but also committed the ultimate sin of helping Eddie Murphy make an album. ::shudder:: "My girl wants to party all the time, party all the time, party all the time." ::double shudder::



I suddenly feel so dirty.

Who says that libraries don't totally kick ass? Today's summer time program for the kids is the very cool Brother Yusef - a local blues musician. It's not every day I can dance my fanny off at work - and man can this guy play guitar! He ain't a bad singer either.

I've been away for a few days - so let's get back on track by talking books!



I was able to wrap up another smutty read by Emma Holly earlier in the week - In The Flesh. An erotica novel first published in 2000, I just now got my hands on it thanks to the joys of reprinting. It's a serious contender for my "favorite Emma Holly," as while it lacks the total smuttiness of say, Cooking Up A Storm, it has a more mainstream feel to it.



In The Flesh features a heroine who is a master manipulator, a Japanese-American business man, and his bisexual, former sumo wrestler bodyguard. The conflict is strictly character driven, with all the characters involved not always being "nice" people. I liked that the heroine used sex to manipulate, the hero wrestled with his desire for her to "change," and that the bodyguard had secret unresolved romantic feelings. I also enjoyed all the Japanese stuff that Holly throws in - it gave the novel a more exotic feel, and added to the hero's conflict. All in all, a highly recommended read for those of you who enjoy smut.



I've also been remiss in not mentioning a new author discovery - for me at least - Tess Gerritsen. Why am I just now discovering this woman?! I picked up The Surgeon on audio and devoured it. It featured a great suspense thread, a creepy serial killer, interesting "good guys" and plenty of gore. I swing wildly with my mystery reading, and every now and then I just need some blood and guts. Gerritsen is probably the bloodiest writer I've read since Patricia Cornwell - and I'm currently listening to the sequel, The Apprentice. Fantastic stuff.



I should be able to finish up my latest read on my day off tomorrow - West Of Heaven by Victoria Bylin. This is the second western romance from Bylin and so far it's pretty good. The hero is a disagreeable hermit thanks to a past tragedy; but the arrival of a newly widowed woman, whose husband had plenty of secrets, shatters his quiet solitude.

Last night, August 1 at 11:40PM, my older sister gave birth to my handsome new nephew, Elijah Lennon. Mom and baby are doing fine, and so far my niece hasn't succumbed to insane bouts of jealousy.