PCD Winner = Asia

Pics - Top = Asia, the winner of The Next PussyCat Doll

Bottom = Chelsea, who I wanted to win

Dear reader, I am writing to inform you about 2 things really. Topics in order of appearance: 1. Review of the Search for the Next Pussycat Doll, as well as the Winner, and 2. Movie Review – The Last King of Scotland

1. Review – Search for the Next Pussycat Doll & the WINNER

So folks, yes I did watch the SEARCH and I must say that I was pretty impressed. I must admit I WAS NOT a follower straight from the beginning but as I watched the commercials and saw the girls practicing their dancing, I was like Hey I want to watch that, may get some dance tips! (I dance like carlton banks from Fresh Prince of Belair, so any help is muchly appreciated!) The choreographer Mikey Minden is very talented and comes up with very sexy and slammin’ moves, makes me want to become a showgirl, NAH just kidding folks. If I had him teaching me dancing for a bit, he would end up very frustrated but a star would be born! Robin Antin, not really sure about her, she’s very mysterious and looks like she is keeping a secret….wonder what it could be! The girl I wanted to win was Chelsea, any Christina Aguilera song, she nailed word for word. Her fault was that she didn’t have any dance training but she made it to the top 3, which showed that she was a fighter and she was going to work to get the dancing down no matter what. The other girl, which I pegged would be winner right from starting to watch it was, Asia. She had the package deal as some would say, she could dance, sing and add some spunk, which is a requirement for a PCD I’m sure. Ron Fair, the guy from Geffen Records, who produced the PCD cd thought that her sing was really raspy and he was always really critical of it. Let’s think of it honestly though, PCD doesn’t need another main singer, they have Nicole Scherzinger, they want another girl behind Nicole to make the group larger and more flavour to the group. That’s ok though I think Asia did really well. It was almost a dead give a way when they were doing the deodorant commercial and Robin and the PR crew said that hers was going to be aired. They wouldn’t air a non-winners commercial….would they? Although Chelsea performed her last song superbly well, and without a backup might I add, so it was harder then the two other girls, she lost the competition but we should keep our eyes peeled for her in the future. Congrats Asia, the baby mama, who had a vision of her baby girl pulling her through to the top of the competition.

2. Movie Review – The Last King of Scotland

The movie has a few big names in it: Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy, Kerry Washington and Gillian Anderson. The movie synopsis on the back of the dvd is as follows:

“As Uganda dictator Idi Amin, Forest Whitaker gives “one of the great performances of modern movie history” (The Wall Street Journal), on that the Associated Press calls “nothing short of Oscar-worthy.” This is Amin’s incredible story as seen through the eyes of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young Scotsman who becomes the volatile leaders personal physician, due in part of Amin’s unexpected passion for Scottish culture- Amin even proclaims himself “The Last King of Scotland”. Seduced by Amin’s charisma and blinded by decadence, Garrigan’s dream life becomes a waking nightmare of betrayal and madness from which there is no escape. Inspired by real people and events, this gripping, suspenseful stunner is filled with performances you will never forget.”

The movie is unbelievably truthful and scary at the same time. Amin at the end of his reign had killed over 300,000 people. He came off in the beginning as wanting to make Uganda a free and better country, but boy did that ever change. It was ok as long as everything was going as he said it should, if not all hell broke loose, and literally. Amin was a very manipulative man, who thought no one could ever be as powerful and great as he thought he was. In his wake, a trail of destruction, death, and decapitation followed. He had 3 wives, and 8 children, the 3 wife had 2 kids but for some reason he did not consider them worthy of his time. He let them live in a paid for house though, so he thought at least they were taken care of. Garrigan was a compassionate character, just out of medical school that wants to make a difference. He chooses where he is going to go by spinning a globe and placing a finger, his first choice was Canada, guess he should have come here, but we don’t have as much drama in our country as the African countries do. Garrigan goes to Uganda and starts off helping in a mission type place which is awesome but he soon gets swept under Amin’s wing and then his world turns faster then he can blink. The movie is based on real events and people which makes it all the more horrifying. It was very good and another eye opener for me, hopefully it will be for you too.

Updates, Get Your Updates!!!!

Dear Reader, this will just be a few reviews and some updates because there hasn’t been a whole lot going on in my life.

SCHOOL

I started back to school on Monday at Seneca College. It’s not a full time course but I do have to go everyday, unless I fall off the earth or something. There are various courses I am taking, just to name a few: Contemporary Studies (about the media and how it affects us), Humanities (arts, science and history rolled into one), Health and Wellness. There are a bunch of other courses, I just chose to name the ones that I think I might really like. I think that Contemporary Studies has gotten off to a good start because the teacher told us to keep an eye or an ear open to media relating to the Virginia Tech Shooting. which I must admit that it is very horrific but it reminds me a lot of 2 incidents in particular. 1) It is very Columbine-esque, the death threats, the letters etc. The guy was a loner like the two guys were, it happened in a school setting and I’m sure if I wanted to I could name a few other similarities. IT IS ALSO VERY CLOSE TO THE DATE COLUMBINE HAPPENED. 2) The shooting at the school in Quebec where several female students were shot by a male assailant. I can’t explain why it reminds me of that, maybe it’s because they said the guy was looking for his girlfriend and then went on a shooting tirade when he couldn’t find her. Well, the guy is dead now, along with 32 other people that were innocent. He is the person to date that has killed the most people in a shooting like this. Columbine was 16 people and this young guy doubled that to make it 32. I truly wonder what was going on with his life and in his mind when he did such actions. It definitely makes me wonder, what about you? See school has gotten to me already by being analytical of such happenings. I think I will really like Humanities because it will be very interesting and the curriculum for the course is very broad so we can study what we like within the particular block (of arts, science or history) that we are studying.

Book Review – True Believer By Nicholas Sparks

I must admit that this book was my least favourite of all the books that I have read by Nicholas Sparks. The characters didn’t really connect till later in the book and I wasn’t really a big fan of the lead characters. They were sort of bland and plain. Usually, as you have read in other posts reviewing his books, the characters make you become one with them and you feel like you are going through the novel through them. The book was also revolving around ghosts and the main character was “a born skeptic and a science journalist who specializes in debunking the supernatural”. Not something that I am really interested in but I thought I would get the book because I have liked everything else I have read by him. There wasn’t even any really touching phrases or lines that I could choose from in this book, unfortunate because I really like things like that. The book says it’s an old fashioned love story, so if that’s your cup of tea then get the kettle boiling that water because you will like it, I on the other hand wasn’t the biggest fan of it. Like I said before, Nicholas Sparks has written books that I found way more touching and interesting then this one, I am still going to be a faithful reader and read his books because one bad one doesn’t make them all bad right!

Movie Review – Notes On A Scandal

This movie was a very interesting and powerful film. Big stars were Cate Blanchett, the dame Judi Dench and Bill Nighy. CB is an art teacher at a new school, she acts like a new student in some ways. JD is a battleaxe of a teacher, that can regain control of the students by just looking at them with a scowl. If she needs to raise her voice you better bet it’s not pleasant. Just FYI BN is CB’s husband, with whom she has two children. The main storyline of the film is that CB ends up falling ‘in love’ with one of her 15 year old students. When she is supposed to be at a play with JD in the audience and is not there, JD goes to try and find her. Lucky JD gets to be a witness to CB giving her young lover a BJ(I’m not going to define what that might be cause I know we are all adults and know exactly what it is). JD gets to know CB”s family very closely, to the point where they find it strange that she is always turning up at their house. CB finally gets a warning from JD that she knows about what is going on and that she better end it so that no one gets hurt. Interestingly enough, JD has it figured out to a T that she is going to use this to make CB become her friend and use the info she has sort of fallen upon to her advantage. Eventually the love story gets dragged out of the bag and CB gets fired from her job and her hubby says that he needs her to leave for a while so that he can sort his feelings out. CB gets whisked off by JD to her house, which JD is going to use to get her to fall in love with her. JD gets roped into the scandal by being the person that let all the info out into the open, when in a snit with CB she tells a teacher co worker that visits her to find out whether CB likes him. CB is very pissed, to say the least, when she finds JD’s diary which contains all this info plus the fact that she is falling in love with her. CB has a fit and ends up digging up JD’s past, which she had a love affair with a teacher companion and it didn’t work so the companion ended up teaching somewhere else and having a restraining order put on JD. The dynamics between the characters are very good and must say that I have never seen JD play such a conniving role, by the end of the film you really did not like her at all. CB played a very good role as a woman who doesn’t act her age and is like a free spirit even though she has a family and children. I really liked how CB interacted with her family, it was almost as if she wanted the best of both worlds. Very good film, almost brings how all these teacher and student affairs happen to the forefront.

Movie Review – Smokin’ Aces

This movie was full of stars, to name a few: Ray Liotta, Ryan Reynolds, Ben Affleck, Alicia Keys, Common, Jeremy Piven, Jason Bateman, Andy Garcia. To sum up the movie for you I will give you the blurb on the back of the DVD. “Slick Las Vegas illusionist Buddy “Aces” Israel isn’t playing nice. Turns out, he’s telling mob secrets to the FBI. After a $1 million contract is put out on him. Aces tries to pull his greatest disappearing act before a rogues’ gallery of ex-cons, hit men and smokin’ hot assassins tries to rub him out in this dark action comedy that takes no prisoners”. I will say that it is a drama/FBI flick, there is definitely a lot of action, gun action that is. There is a lot of blood spurting all over the place, and it’s amazing how bad all the hit men/women really want to get Aces. I must say it was one of Jeremy Piven’s easier roles, all he had to do was act really paranoid and be on drugs a lot. The only thing he did that was really interesting was he was handy with a deck of cards. For Alicia Keys first film role her part was small but she handled it like a pro and ended up with Common, who was gorgeous to boot. Ryan Reynolds was very sexy but he was a bit of a young cop looking up to his superior officer who was Ray Liotta, you could tell the partner bond right from the beginning to the end of the film. Andy Garcia, meh, he was sort of like the loser character he played in the Oceans 11 and 12 movies, which I really didn’t like so he didn’t do anything for me in this movie. I think the best thing about the movie was that Ben Affleck’s character was one of the first characters to die, so you didn’t have to deal with him torturing you throughout the film. (Sorry I’m not a Ben fan.. he’s not that good… I can’t help it). Overall I would say the movie had way too many stars for the type of flick it was meant to be, the action was mediocre compared to other movies but some bits were entertaining. The fact that the company is saying it is a comedy is not a good description but they are trying to market a product …. I guess…not what I would have said that’s for sure. You may like it, the action is what I thought was the best part of the movie, but there are better movies out there with better action… that’s my final words for that one.

I am going to end this blog post with a quote that my friend Erin (from FLAWLESS DRYCLEANERS INC.) has in her msn name, “Fall in love with someone who calls you beautiful, not hot”. I find it very touching in a realistic way. Hope you get the same message that I got out of it.

Movies and Books same as Usual...

Dear reader, I am really glad that you are enjoying my quest to get interviews with celebrities, it’s challenging but also fun on my end, and I can tell you are enjoying it because there are a lot of hits on the blog everyday. If there is anyone in particular that you would like me to try and get an interview with, I am all open to suggestions and I will try my best to get one.

The purpose of this post is to give some movie reviews and then I also am going to give you a book review.

BOOK – Dispatches From The Edge : A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival –
Anderson Cooper

This booked touched me because it really brought me back to reality. It made me more aware of certain issues that were going on in the world that I only knew from the commercialized tv broadcasts or articles in the paper. The book covers the Tsunami, Iraq, Niger, and Hurricane Katrina, all incidents that happened in the same year. The stories that Cooper has been through and witnessed are horrific, but even using that word doesn’t seem to cover some of the travesties he has witnessed. The devastation in each place he talked about had it’s own category of how bad it was because they were all so different. Tsunami – dead bodies floating everywhere and people rummaging through piles of rubble to find lost family members that were dead. Iraq – never knowing whether you were safe from sniper attack, which was constantly going on, never knowing if your building was going to be blown up or not. Niger – people that are starving to death and the rebels are stealing the food to try and make money from the people even though they have no money to give them. Hurricane Katrina – bodies being tied to stop sign posts, many people weren’t evacuated when there was a plan of action in place because somebody (PRESIDENT BUSH) didn’t think it was urgent enough. Cooper doesn’t directly blame Bush for not doing the right thing but I do after reading the facts that he pointed out and showed throughout the book. The book was definitely a reality check for me and brought me up to speed on things I thought I was informed about but really wasn’t. Fabu book definitely recommend it to anyone.

MOVIE – CHILDREN OF MEN

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T WATCH THIS MOVIE. IT WAS TERRIBLE. THE ONLY GOOD THING WAS THAT IN THE BATTLE SCENES BLOOD ACTUALLY SPLASHED ON THE CAMERA AND IT STAYED THERE. THE STORYLINE SUCKED AND THE CHARACTERS SUCKED. REALLY BAD, REALLY LONG AND JUST DON’T WATCHED IT, YOU’VE BEEN WARNED


MOVIE – PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS

This movie was fantastic. It was long and you felt really bad for the main character Chris (will smith) and his son. You watched and you felt so bad for him that you kept thinking, man when is this guy going to get a break, nothing was going well for him. Thandie Newton was in the movie, and I must say it was the first time that she played a nasty person and she did it PERFECTLY. I was really impressed with how well she pulled the role off. The movie was really touching and it showed how even in the hardest of times, the relationship between the son and father got stronger, and they supported each other all the time. Definitely recommend the movie, good for everyone to watch.

Meet the REAL... Linwood Barclay

Dear Reader, it is my pleasure to give you my interview with Linwood Barclay. He is one of my favourite writers. He is quite humourous and tells it the way it is, with a little bit of spunk added. I thought he would be a good interviewee because I love his humour, quite frequently it has me in tears! I would like to say a personal shout out to Linwood Barclay> Thank you so much for the opportunity to do the interview with you. I know that you have a hectic schedule and the fact that you wanted to fit me in is fabulous. I also really appreciate how candid you were with your answers, because myself and the readers get to know you that much more. The question of who you would spend an evening with and your response of your dad, I found really touching. Thank you so much!

If you would like to read more about Linwood Barclay, you can go to his website :
http://www.linwoodbarclay.com/

Linwood Barclay’s Bio

After spending his formative years helping run a cottage resort and trailer park after his father died when Linwood was 16, he got his first newspaper job at the Peterborough Examiner, a small Ontario daily. After spending two years in Peterborough, Linwood went to a small suburban paper outside Toronto for another couple of years, and then joined the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest circulation newspaper, in 1981.
He held such positions as assistant city editor, chief copy editor, news editor, and Life section editor, before becoming a columnist in 1993. It’s a humour column, although Linwood’s hesitant to call it that. If you write a column about baseball, and it stinks, it’s still a sports column. But if you write a humour column and no one finds it funny, what is it, really?
Since 1993, Linwood’s been writing three pieces a week, and become one of the paper’s most popular writers. His most recent columns are available online at thestar.com, and many of them are also offered as podcasts.
His first book, Father Knows Zilch: A Guide for Dumbfounded Dads, was published in 1996, and was followed a year later by a collection of family columns, This House Is Nuts! In 1998, he published his satirical attack on the Ontario premier of the day, Mike Harris Made Me Eat My Dog.
In 2000, his memoir about growing up in cottage country, Last Resort, was published to critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.
In 2004, he launched his mystery series about an anxiety-ridden, know-it-all, pain-in-the-butt father by the name of Zack Walker. Bad Move, the first book, was followed a year later by Bad Guys. And in 2006, the third Zack Walker book, Lone Wolf, will be published.
He’s also very busy on the speaking circuit, using his keen insights to spot what’s funny in our everyday lives, and making sport of the shenanigans of our elected officials.
Linwood was born in the United States but moved to Canada just before turning four years old when his father, a commercial artist whose illustrations of cars appeared in Life, Look and Saturday Evening Post before photography took over, accepted a position with an advertising agency north of the border.
Linwood first became interested in writing around the time he was in Grade 3, and can recall, in Grade 6, when the principal took him aside and suggested that if he spent a little less time dreaming up stories, he might do a little bit better in arithmetic.
He attended Trent University, in Peterborough, Ontario, where he obtained an Honours B.A. in English by reading the Coles Notes (Cliffs Notes for U.S. readers) on some of the greatest literary works ever written.
He was fortunate to have some very fine mentors; in particular, the celebrated Canadian author Margaret Laurence, whom Linwood first met when she served as writer-in-residence at Trent, and Kenneth Millar, who, under the name Ross Macdonald, wrote the acclaimed series of mystery novels featuring detective Lew Archer.
It was at Trent that he met the woman who would become his wife. He and Neetha, who teaches kindergarten, have been married for more than 25 years. They have two children, Spencer and Paige.

Meet the REAL… Linwood Barclay

QUESTIONS

Where do you get your ideas from when you are starting the process of writing a novel?

-- A novel usually grows out of some small, sometimes insignificant, incident. Or a "what if" question. Bad Move, for example, came about after watching my wife leave her purse unattended in the grocery store cart. I thought, what if I took that, to teach her a lesson? Well, I'd never do that. But I created a character who would.

How can you relate to the main character of "Zack Walker" from you books Bad Move and Bad Guys?

-- Zack is basically me unchecked. I've funnelled all my anxieties and obsessions into him, and cranked them up a notch.

What started you on your path to being a writer for the Toronto Star and then being an author of novels?

-- I'd always wanted to write novels. I'd written three of four of them by the time in was in my early twenties, a couple of them in my teens. Thankfully, they were never published. So, since I couldn't get a job at age 20 as a bestselling novelist, I decided to get a job where I could at least get paid to write. That led me to newspapers, first the Peterborough Examiner, then the Oakville Journal Record, and then in 1981, the Toronto Star. Although I was hired not as a reporter, but as a copy editor. My first book came out in 1996, but the first novel was 2004. So really, I was just getting back to what I'd wanted to do in my teens.

Which was your most favourite book to write and why?

-- Probably Last Resort, my memoir published in 2000. The kind of story you can only tell once. It allowed me to tell the story of my family, and I think it explains why I turned out the way I am.

Do you have any new books you are working on, or any projects you would like to tell us about?

-- The fourth Zack Walker book, Stone Rain, comes out very soon, May 1. But I'm particularly looking forward to the end of September, when my first non-Zack, non-funny, standalone thriller comes out in hardcover. It's called No Time For Goodbye, and it's already been sold, in addition to North America, in the U.K., Germany, Russia, Italy, France, Holland and Israel.
At the moment I'm working on a second standalone thriller, to come out in the fall of 2008.


You son and daughter, Spencer and Paige, are both away at school, do you and your wife, Neetha, find the house lonely and that things are really different?

-- They still get home every second or third weekend. And no, we don't find it lonely. A bit more peaceful, perhaps. And there's no one to make fun of us if we decide to go to bed at 9:30.

If you could describe yourself with one word, what would it be and why?

-- Bland. The reasons seem obvious enough.

My mum recently had a colonoscopy and I made sure she read your column about your experience. My mum said the best part of the appointment was the drugs. Would you agree and why/why not?

-- I concur. The drugs almost made it worth having one every couple of weeks. Almost.


In your column you sound like you are a family man. Have you always been that way or did something happen to encourage that behaviour?

-- Well, having kids kind of did it. And not totally growing up myself probably helps. For example, I still love toys.

What is the most interesting aspect about being in the literary industry and why?

-- What's interesting is how totally unglamorous it is. You think, wow, I have a book out! And then, no one gives a rat's ass. Getting published
affords new ways to get humiliated you did not know existed. Like going to book signings where no one shows up. Or the bookstore owner is so thrilled you've come to sign books that he gets you a free coffee, but you still have to pay for the cookie.

Do you suggest any movie(s) or book(s) we read/watch?

-- See the movie "In America." One of the most wonderful movies I have ever seen. And the best book I've read in the last year is Philip Roth's "American Pastoral," followed closely by a non-fiction work by Thomas E. Ricks called "Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq."


Do you have a mentor or inspirational writer that if you are having a hard time writing, you can talk to that person or read their work and it motivates you to get back on track? Who might this person be and why do you find what they say or why their writing is helpful?

-- I had a couple of mentors who are no longer with us. Canadian writer Margaret Laurence was a good friend, and very encouraging. And I was fortunate to know the American mystery writer Ross Macdonald (whose real name was Kenneth Millar), who remains one of my favourite authors. I don't typically turn to specific writers when I'm having a hard time with my own work, but there are many out there I find inspiring.


If you were to spend an evening with any 3 people, who would you choose and why? (You could choose any person from past or present)

-- My father, who passed away when I was 16. The other two don't matter.

Do you have any words of encouragement for those wanting to get into journalism or another area within the literary field?

-- Write. And read. And get a job any place that will print your stuff. It doesn't have to be a big paper. Just start building your file of published material, from anywhere. When it gets thick enough, move on to the next place.

Your columns in the Star, it's like a stand-up comedy routine. Have you ever performed or do you stick to journalism?

-- I perform, sort of. But I'll expand on that with the next question.

Have you ever done any motivational speaking or something within that genre, or do you just stick to talking about your novels and lecturing about writing?

-- I am a professional speaker and have been all over the country giving talks. I'm represented by the David Lavin Agency in Toronto. I'm not really a stand-up comic, but I tell what I think are amusing stories. And I also do events related specifically to my books. For example, I'm doing the Elora Writers Festival on June 3.

Bitter Blog Post

Dear Reader, what are your thoughts on being turned down before even having the chance to showcase ALL your qualities? My thoughts are that it’s not fair because it’s like “throwing the present in the trash before you even open it”. Yeah I know that sounds a little harsh, but that’s how it feels. In Romeo and Juliet there’s the comment “What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet;” I can sort of relate to this but lets switch it around to make it fit my situation, what’s in an age? In my mind nothing. I choose an older dating range for myself because I can relate to older people and there are things that I want that I may not be able to get satisfied by a younger person. To judge someone simply by age is not only unfair but also rude. You don’t really know a person until you have met them a few times. Then to cover it up and say that you want to be friends, when really you don’t ever want to hear from that person again is just plain not nice. Then if anything it leads the person on more then saying the truth “I don’t like you and I don’t want to hear from you”, it’s blunt but at least it’s true. The person on the receiving end (THAT WOULD BE ME) would be a little bit hurt, but it would be understandable and true so there would be no point in arguing. I will admit that I am a bit hurt because I have liked this person for quite sometime but this was like my second chance and I could really showcased myself and hopefully everything would have worked out perfectly. I’m a bit bitter, can’t ya tell!

Another Lovely Lunch with the Ladies

Pic- Sharon, Me and Tracey

Dear Reader, I had a fabulous day yesterday. I met with my ladies and we had a wonderful fun filled lunch. Tracey brought her mum, which was a pleasant surprise. It was Tracey’s birthday, and even though she instructed us not to bring gifts, Sharon and I did anyway. What kind of birthday doesn’t have presents? Lunch was really tasty, although the service was a little bit off, don’t worry my tip reflected that! We laughed, we talked, it was really a lot of fun.

My friend Erin said that her hubby Glen would love a pair of socks knitted for him, so me being the keener knitter that I am, I have looked up patterns and will eventually start them at some point. I think if I give them to him at Christmas or something that will be just fine. Anyone who reads this blog that knows Glenny cannot tell him so just SHHHHHH!

Tunes
I got the new JLo album the Spanish one or whatever language and it is fabu. It is really sensual and passionate, I love it!
I also got the new Timbaland cd, I’m not digging it as much. There’s only one song that he sings by himself and the other 16 songs feature someone famous. I think I will have to get into it.

Book Review + Music PlayList

Dear Reader, so I finished reading Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. I must say that the book is probably one of his most memorable out of his collection. It was almost like I was able to become one with the characters, the descriptions of everything were fabulous. John is a person that is enrolled in the army because the when he went to sign up the marine’s desk was “out to lunch” but the army desk was ready to recruit. He admits that he would have rather been a marine in the beginning in the book but I think later in the book he realizes how the army has affected his life and made him become the person that he is. On one of his leaves home he meets Savannah, a girl that will eventually change his life forever, while she is in his town building homes for humanity for the summer. John has an uncomfortable connection with his father and they don’t really talk much, which you later learn why in the book. The connection between Savannah and John is like love at first sight. As the relationship progresses he comes home on leave many times but it is very straining on the relationship with him being in the army and being in harms way all the time. The strain eventually causes them to break up but it does not make them never re-unite again. On a whim when John’s dad passes away he goes to Savannah’s house for what reason he is unsure but as you read he goes there to find comfort, sympathy and care. I don’t want to give any more of the book away but it was fabu. One of the best Nick Sparks books, aside from The Guardian. The characters are fabulous and very REAL. I was able to pull a quote from the book that really touched my heart and I hope you get the same thing from it that I did:

“I sold the collection because I finally understood what true love really meant. Tim had told me – and shown me – that love meant that you care for another person’s happiness more then your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be.”

Music I am really enjoying right now:
The Garden State Sound Track (pretty much the whole thing but I like the Coldplay song, the Shins songs, Lebanese Blond by the Theivery Corporation and definitely Let Go by Frou Frou)
Anything by JLO, even back to her first album