Get Healthy Blog Hop

Our health is the most important thing and for a voluptuous chica such as myself, who LOVES food period, getting healthy and overcoming the bulge is a constant struggle. Today the awesome and truly caring quartet of Michael Di Gesu, Alex J. Cavanaugh, L. Diane Wolfe and Stephen Tremp are hosting a Get Healthy Blog Hop encouraging all of us to post health tips, recipes, etc. to encourage all of us to get healthy. It's a wonderful way to inspire and I thank them profusely for putting this together.

Yours truly has been fighting weight since birth, really, and when I was at the lowest point in my life, I tipped the scales at 360 pounds. Wow, did I just write that out loud? I've admitted it to friends, but never completely in public before. 360 pounds is 3 people. Three. I used food as a crutch, a comfort. I had been bullied in school and ate alot. Those Twinkies sure made the insults feel better. So did the extra slices of pizza. And  when you spend your 20's and part of your 30's taking care of catastrophically ill family members until they pass, you also need a lot of comfort.

Anyway, over the last 2 and a half years or so, I've managed to lose 110 of that. I did that by forcing myself to move, to change eating habits. At 360 you can't exactly jog, so I would walk. Around my neighborhood, park the car in the back of the Walmart lot and walk, take stairs instead of the escalator or elevator. Anything that made me move. I would eat carrot sticks, blueberries, grape tomatoes instead of chips, pretzels, etc. Small changes that netted some great results. If I can do this by making small diet changes, so can you. Going cold turkey only encourages failure, I think. Big pictures start off small.

Now I need to find something else, dig deeper, as I have hit a plateau. Getting healthy means keeping going and always staying alert. Michael Di Gesu pointed out that I need to push myself no matter how tired, bored, depressed, etc. I may be. And he is right.

Star Trek: Into Darkness A Review

Hey there! Happy Monday and wow, did I have great weekend. I took my mom and fellow Trekkie to see J.J.'s newest installment in the Trek series, Star Trek: Into Darkness. Holy cow, there are no words for what an incredible experience it was. I loved this movie from opening frame to the last and each nanosecond in between. As did the first film, it paid homage to both the series and the films with a deft touch that only a devout Trekkie could have.

Like the original Star Trek II, this is the film that breaks Kirk. It smashes him down and forces him to dig deep, to find just what he is willing to sacrifice in order to prove that he deserves the chair. He takes on an enemy that is more cunning and powerful than he ever thought possible. There is no re-writing the Kobayashi Maru. The script is pure genius, taking elements from the first Trek II and reworking them to fit the altered time line. The dialogue is sensational, never straying into over-emoting or taking the cast out of character.

And speaking of the cast, the entire crew is back plus a cameo by the awesome Leonard Nimoy. The chemistry sparks between the characters, with Pine finding a deeper level with each actor. The scenes with Kirk and each of his fellow actors are alive with tension and amazing fluidity. Particularly with Quinto. The only weakness was the casting of Alice Eve as Carol Marcus. She was the only one who appeared to have no chemistry with Pine, she seemed distant, unsure, like the dialogue was troublesome and she could not project the right emotion.

The action sequences are mindblowingly huge, fast and furious. I was strapped into my seat on a wild rush. The fx overall were incredible and I did not need to see this in 3D to enjoy the brilliance. The other downer is I know that J.J. is going to be tied up doing Star Wars for the next few years, so Star Trek may go on the back burner, which is a shame as I am totally invested in this new crew.

So what did you all do this weekend? See Star Trek? Thoughts?

Best and Worst Remakes Blogfest

Happy Friday!! It's time for the awesome Best and Worst Remakes Blogfest. Hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, Livia Peterson, Dragon Father Al Diaz and Stephen Tremp, we are here to skewer the worst and praise the best.

I like to start off with bad stuff first. So here are my Worst Remakes Ever:

The Women

What were they thinking? The subject matter really isn't that timely anymore unless you're talking the Ladies Who Lunch Tennis Set. And really no chemistry with Annette Benning, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Meg Ryan and Eva Mendes. YAWWWNNN... Norma Shearer and crew were so much better and wittier.

All The Kings Men

Why take a brilliant actor like Sean Penn and stick him in a play by play remake? Completely unnecessary to remake an already amazing film.

King Kong

Peter Jackson, you dumbass! We did not need a lame silly remake of a perfectly good giant ape film. I don't care how great your fx were ,the story stunk to high heaven and so did the acting. Your cast was more boring than Hayden Christiansen's performance in the Star Wars prequels. Like James Cameron with Avatar, you sought to dazzle us with frosting and hoped we would ignore the lack of substance underneath.

The Karate Kid

Will Smith, I love you, but you really did an injustice by bringing us this cross cultural nightmare. Hello! You can't call the him the Karate Kid if he is learning kung fu.

The Ring

Holy hell! This American remake of a brilliant Japanese horror flick was just pure comedy. I spent the entire time laughing at the ridiculousness of it.  Naomi Watts completely sucked and that creepy kid of hers was the only horror-esque part of this movie.

And now for my Best Remakes

The Thing

Best. Remake. Ever. Now I loved the original The Thing From Another World, but Carpenter's flick was off the chain incredible. it is one of my all time favorite performances by Kurt Russell as well as one of my fave movies of all time.

The Wolfman

Go ahead roll your eyes, call me crazy, but I thought this was creepy, atmospheric, stylish, sexy and had some great wolf attack scenes. It did awesome justice to the old Lon Chaney film and the cast was just brilliant. I love the unrated version and watch it whenever I need a pick me up. :)

Dracula

Second best remake ever. Gary Oldman and Francis Ford Coppola did an outstanding job bringing Stoker's novel to life. Far superior to the old Bela Lugosi film, which really could not delve into the sexuality of the Count. The cast was amazing and the script very well written.

3:10 To Yuma

James Mangold really delivered on this remake of the old Delmer Daves directed Glenn Ford vehicle. Intense from start to finish, this one was a worthy heir to the original. I loved all of the performances, especially Bale as Dan Evans.

Ocean's Eleven

George and Brad were just incredible. I loved this movie from start to finish. It was smart, sexy and oh so witty. I love me a great caper flick and this one delivered in spades.

Dawn of the Dead

Are you sensing a theme here? LOL Yes, I love my monster movies. I really dug George Romero's original, but this one made me love zombie movies forever. I watch it whenever I get a chance, even the spliced up versions on Syfy and AMC.

Go ahead and debate, call me insane, call me brilliant. (LOL well that last one is just a wee hope).

Have a super weekend my friends, my family!!

Hump Day Goings On

I know I was supposed to post on Monday and left you all hanging, I am really sorry. I had a wild weekend that just was surreal and I am still recovering. I partied like I was 25 and can't remember some of the things that happened. I crawled home as the sun was creeping over the horizon, then had to go to a Mother's Day cookout. All this after I was only going to drop off a birthday cake. Yeah, trouble will find me. LOL

My Bulls are stinking up the playoffs. I hate losing, but to the Heat makes it worse. They are part of the sports Trifecta of Evil for me. They are the loathed enemy and it is humiliating to get destroyed by them. LeBron James is more evil than the Emperor in Star Wars to me. Needless to say, I am not a happy camper.

I've hit a wall with my writing and am trying to get back on track. I've been trying to do some creative things to help stir my imagination. Minds out of the gutter! LOL

I've been popping round the blogsphere and finding some really intriguing news and posts. Maynard from Horror Movie Diary and Emma from Little Gothic Horrors did a great dual post on Beetlejuice, a classic film and a definite fave of  mine.

Mind of Mine is celebrating five years. Congrats, my friend!!

This Friday is the Best and Worst Movie remake blogfest hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh,  Oh my list is so long. There have been some really horrible, unnecessary remakes out there. Footloose, I'm looking at you. Don't worry Alex, I've still got plenty of ammunition for Friday.

Star Trek is this weekend!! I cannot wait. I'm taking my mom as she is a proud Trekkie, too. I'm also going to try and hit the Great Gatsby as I LOVE Baz  Luhrman and feel that there has not been a really terrific film of this novel. Redford lacked the fierceness  of Jay and played him like a cool courtier. So not Gatsby.

What is up? Let me know the scoop.

Happy Friday & Reflections from A To Z

It's Friday and I am just happy to be alive. Yes, alive. Yours truly was not paying attention when she got off the bus on Monday night and stepped out into oncoming traffic. Thanks to the awesome quickness of my bus driver, Alex King, I am alive and well. He saw me cross in front of him just as he started pull away, but he braked and honked, startling me enough that I did not make it past the bus and out in front of the huge eighteen wheeler barreling along in the next lane. I think I spent the next hour or so with the shakes. I also had nightmares most of the night. So thank you, Alex and my Guardian Angel!

Today is also about reflections of another sort. Those of the Big A To Z last month. I know I'm late on this, but hey, better late than never. This year's hosts and their aides de camp did one absolutely breathtaking job. I admit that I am loath to use the word minion because it makes me think of Frankenstein's Igor. I think adjutant or aide de camp more appropriate because they helped our brilliant team of hosts keep everything organized and running smoothly. In the military there are special honors for these individuals.

As always, I loved meeting new people and finding new blogs. I am eager to continue on with the list and meet even more. I do have to organize myself better than I did this time. Once again, I did not get my posts done early, something I will be working to improve. I also regretted my commenting as I just could not keep up this time. For those of you who came here and I missed you, I am sorry. I appreciate you taking the time to visit  and it meant the world to me. I smiled as I read your comments and they got me through some rather hectic days.

In spite of all my missteps, I will definitely be back for next year. It is tiring, crazy and a heck of a lot of fun.

So what are you all up to this weekend? I want to see Gatsby. I am so excited for this movie. It is about time we had a great version of this story on film. Leonardo Di Caprio is just the actor to capture Jay Gatsby and I sure hope he gets an Oscar nod this time. He is way overdue for another one and yes, he deserves the gold statue. Anyway, shutting up now. Have a great weekend!

Field Trip To A Ninja Hideaway

Happy Monday!  I know, quit being being so perky, but hey, I have reason to be in a great mood. I saw Iron Man 3 yesterday and it totally rocked. It was beyond cool. The story, the dialogue and of course, the awesome action. RDJ just has chemistry with everyone and everything, I swear. My Bulls finally put the Nets in their place, on the bench til next season, and were led by my fave player, Joakim Noah with 24 points. He's such a big, happy guy with the heart and intensity of a tiger.

However, these reasons are not the main reason why I am happy. I am on a field trip today over at Captain Ninja Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog talking my fave topic, badass women in film. So come on over, I'll be waiting.

IWSG Rant Style

I had another ISWG post all planned out, but I am mad as hell right now and need to rant.

I am an erotica writer, I am not a porn writer. I don't get all turned on writing my stuff, thinking about sex all the time. I do not create my stories with the hopes of getting someone off, I create my stories for entertainment and the exploration of the human condition. The same as any one else out there. And yes, they are complete stories, not a string of sex scenes. There's plot, character development and all the other things found in any other novel or short story. They just happen to continue through the bedroom door.

I cannot believe the utter disrespect my genre receives. When people find out I write erotica, I get asked the most offensive questions and I get comments like "Say, how do you do your research?" Wink, wink, insert double entendre. Or worst of all, "erotica is written by women who can't get any of their own."

I see commentary from fellow writers along the lines of, "oh I would never write erotica, you just can't be original." and "I could never write that stuff with a straight face." I have never done that, not ever. I have never trashed someone else's genre or poked fun at the people who do write in a particular genre, but I see that a lot as I visit other blogs. I read these narrow-minded statements and think, wow, I thought we were supposed to support one another as authors. Guess that only happens if you write in an acceptable genre like YA, or sci fi or mystery.

Now, I do have a sense of humor. I can and do laugh at the stuff I write because sex is funny. However, when I constantly see comments and posts like this, it makes me feel like I'm somehow offending everyone. It also makes me sad and angry.  I know people are uncomfortable with sex and that's fine. I'm not asking you to read my stories, just don't scoff and tear down my genre and my work. I don't do that to yours.