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Beautiful Cocksucker Anybody?

Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Posted in: Homophobia in Romance?

Apparently Barbara Sheridan wrote a book called Beautiful Cocksucker, which has managed to piss off a few people.

I must admit, I didn’t automatically equate the title with abuse generally hurled at gay men, but that could be because I’ve never been called a cocksucker, by people trying to denigrate my sexuality.

Not being a gay man, my point of view may be slightly skewered, but I have to say, I didn’t particularly find the title offensive. It was suggested that it would be like calling a book, Beautiful Nigger or Beautiful Faggot, but I don’t really buy that argument. I personally think that cocksucker is much more generic, whilst nigger and faggot are definitely more specific to black people and gay people. (Yes, I get the whole cock-sucking angle, but I’m much more likely to be called a cock-sucker if I’m being a dick, than a faggot, know what I mean?)

I wonder if there would have been as much offence taken if the writer had been a gay man, rather than a straight (I assume) woman?
For instance, I’m pretty sure that if a white person had written a book called, The Black Tax, there would be more of an outcry, than if the writer had been black. You see what I mean?

For me, the title seems to be more of a question of taste. I mean come on, it ranks right up there with that EC book called A Rock and A Hard-on. Pure bad taste, if you ask me.

I guess one of the reasons why I find it hard to be offended by the title is because the book is by a woman who’s passion seems to be writing M/M books. I think there are times when you have to look at things in context, without the obligatory knee-jerk “You’re a racist/homophobic/sexist!!” reaction.

It was also suggested that it would be similarly offensive to have used the term, Beautiful Pussy, or Beautiful Jugs, but I just don’t see it. I’m sure many women might be offended by such titles, but that’s because some people mostly make a career out of being offended by everything. It seems to me that it’s sometimes not even those directly affected who get the most offended. For example, Ann S seems to think that an inter-racial M/M book entitled Dark Chocolate is offensive and objectifying.
No it’s not. Not to me at least, if any other black people are offended by such a title, then speak up by all means.

Anyhow, without any of the usual PC bullshit, do you guys feel that title of the book is an affront to gay men, or an affront to general taste and decency?

You can follow the mini lovefest, here, here, and here.


(click on pic for bigger image)

Of course I got lots of other great gifts, including a fabulous Ted Baker vanity case from my brother and SIL, and lots of fabulous new-to-me perfumes, but the European version of the Sony Reader was definitely a highlight. The Reader also came with 100 free classic books, including Great Expectations, Wuthering Heights, Aesops Fables (which I’m loving reading by the way), Pride and Prejudice, etc, etc.

What was the best present you received this Christmas?

Jane at Dear Author posted about some sort of harebrained idea by some novelists to expand the reach of copyright law to the sale of used print books.

NINC on the sale of used books:

Used book sales, particularly sales of used books through the Internet, have a significant negative effect on the income of publishers and, therefore, authors, as there is no remuneration to them for any sales of used books.

Ninc recommends that commercial used-book sellers be required to pay to publishers a “Secondary Sale” fee upon the reselling of any book within two years of its original publication date. A percentage of these fees would then transfer to authors in accordance with contractual agreements between authors and publishers, thereby reinforcing the Founders’ intent, as stated in Article I of the Constitution, to protect authors’ exclusive right to benefit from their work.

Oh really?

Many of the comments over there expressed my bewilderment over such a preposterous idea, but then there was this gem by Misi:

Well, one day there will only be e-books and all you’ll get is a license to read, not ownership, just a lot of software is now. You can’t even resell the disc (legally) under those terms. Well, you can sell the discs, but only if you delete the content.

The current copyright law is outdated. Again, used bookstores aren’t the problem. It’s the online places that have changed the situation. The law should be changed to.

I’m almost speechless here.

I mean, my mind is just a jumble of extrapolations. I guess we could say that at some point only the person who actually paid for the book should be able to read it, and that any other person reading the same physical book should pay royalties to the author for the privilege.

I ask again, what the fuck?

Too soon? Ahh f*ck it, he says some good shit.

I particularly favour this first quote:

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

B. Obama

This next quote spoke to me. (g)

Money is not the only answer, but it makes a difference.

B. Obama

Aint that the truth.

This quote goes out to all the tree huggers out there:

This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands.

B. Obama

He does have a way with words doesn’t he?

And as an ode to Andy Warhol:

The fact that my 15 minutes of fame has extended a little longer than 15 minutes is somewhat surprising to me and completely baffling to my wife.

B. Obama

And may it last for at least another eight years, dahhhhling.

Moral Dilemma Friday: Do You Tell?

Friday, December 26, 2008
Posted in: Moral dilemma Friday

I trust you all had a lovely Christmas Day? Jolly good.

Now here’s the simple scenario for this week’s moral dilemma, since it’s Christmas and all:

You’re walking along one day, when you spot your best friend’s boyfriend in a clinch with a woman who isn’t your best friend. Your best friend is madly in love with this guy, and thinks that he walks on water, so much so, that it’s put a bit of a strain on your own relationship with her. You’re afraid that she may think that you’re just jealous, if you accuse him of cheating on her, because as far as she’s concerned, he’s the perfect boyfriend.

So, what do you do? Do you tell her about it or not?

Eat, drink, get fat, throw up, and be merry. Then get up, and start all over again on Boxing Day. *g*

Love, AztecLady and Karen xx

13snowmanmerrychristmas

Christmas is at our house again this year, which is just the way I like it. I’ll be doing the cooking, which I really don’t mind, because it gives me a chance to show off my culinary skills. I actually do have them, I just don’t get to use them that often. I’ve just managed to finish the Big Christmas Shop today, and when I go and collect TTG from the airport tomorrow, his job will be to choose the alcohol.

This is my menu this year:

    Starters

Pork and Apricot Pate (I can never remember how to get the French accent on my keyboard), served with melted applewood-smoked cheese on French toast, accompanied by mixed salad and tangy orange sauce.

Or:

Tomato and basil soup served with crusty white cobs

    Main Course

Stuffed roasted chicken, seasoned with lemon pepper, accompanied by creamed button sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower, honey-glazed roasted potatoes, my special cheesy mashed potatoes and swede, sausage wrapped in Applewood smoked bacon, and pork, cranberry and apple stuffing.

    Desserts

Baked nutmeg and cinnamon creamed rice pudding, Christmas pudding and custard (a shout out to TTG’s mum for making the Xmas pudding) freshly made raspberry trifle, or lemon cheesecake.

This year’s Xmas entertainment will include a Nintendo Wii tournament, Pictionary challenge, and a Trivial Pursuits competition.

As always, I’m looking forward to spending time with my family. We are all incredibly close, and I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be on Christmas Day, than spending time with the ones I love the most.

What will you guys be doing?

And We’re Back…

Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Posted in: Uncategorized

Apologies for all the outages, but apparently the blog is being spammed to death. Anyway, hopefully there will be no more blogging shenanigans, but if there is, I keep a back-up blog: karenscott.wordpress.com.

If you can’t find us, head over there, in the future.

Thanks for your patience.

I didn’t find the guy who threw the shoe at President Bush amusing in the slightest. I’m sure there will be Democrats all over the US, who think he got his just desserts, but I thought the so-called journalist who threw the shoes, was utterly pathetic. Fortunately for him, he was able to make his protest, without fear of torture and death hanging over his head.

I’m not a George Bush fan, far from it, but I don’t believe he’s an evil man. I think he fucked up royally, but I do believe he thought he was doing the best thing for his country, when he took you guys into war, just as I believe that Tony Blair thought he was doing the right thing also.

Dubya deserves to be verbally pilloried for his catastrophically bad political choices, but throwing shoes at him, says more about the dickhead journalist, than George Bush in my opinion. Besides, I suspect that the man just wanted to make a name for himself.

OK, who thinks he deserved to get the shoes thrown at him?

OK, And The Commenting Is Back On!

Sunday, December 21, 2008
Posted in: Uncategorized

Thanks muchly to Jane.

Jesus Effing Christ Buggery Bollocks!

Sunday, December 21, 2008
Posted in: Uncategorized

OK, so the blog is currently broken, thus no one is able to comment, so until further notice, you can find us at Karenscott.wordpress.com.

Thanks for your patience.

Here’s the scenario:

You’re walking along and you see a figure lying on the ground, all beat up, and bleeding profusely.
You recognise the guy as a well-known paedophile. He was sent to prison for sexually molesting and raping four young children. He’s served his time, and now he’s out and trying to live a normal life in your neighbourhood.

You can see he’s in bad shape, and needs urgent medical attention.

What do you do? Do you help him, and call for assistance, or do you simply walk by, feeling justified in doing so, because he’s a damn paedo who deserves what he gets?

What would you do?

Second-Chance Family, by Karina Bliss

As a long time divorcée who shares custody with her ex (and trust me, he may be a jerk to me, but he loves his kids), and the daughter of people whose divorce was just slightly less ominous than the Cuban missile crisis, I usually find the basic premise in Second-Chance Family very hard to believe. The fact that not only did I believe it this time, but that I devoured the book in one sitting, will perhaps give you an idea of just how good Ms Bliss’ writing is.

Still, if you’ve experienced custody fights *raising hand* keep in mind that there is a guaranteed happy ending to this particular battle, and that while some of the very real ugliness of such situations is shown, it is mostly glossed over quickly.

Here’s the back cover blurb (which neglects to mention that the story is set in New Zealand, a fact quite relevant to the story in several ways):

He’s inherited an entire family…

Just when he has accepted that he’ll never be a father, Jack Galloway inherits not one, but three kids. Then he gets the knockout punch:

He’s supposed to raise this family with his ex!

And his ex-wife, Rosalind, has her own ideas about parenting. She’s already doling out domestic duties, as if he had all the time away from his office. She’s also got some crazy notion that, thanks to their unexpected “family”, the two of them have been handed a second chance. As if he’ll let his heart get broken again.

But the real knockout punch? That part of him that thinks he and Rosalind could fall back in love.

Suddenly a Parent – Life will never be the same.

After a crash kills their parents while on vacation, fifteen year old Sam, six year old Liam and three year old Cassie, are left in a precarious position. Since their parents’ guardianship wishes were written, their paternal grandmother, the first named guardian, is long dead, and their paternal uncle has lost his own baby and divorced his wife. The next option is their maternal aunt and her family—in England! To make matters even more complicated, Sam is not actually related to Jack by blood, and his biological father’s family, really bad news in any light, is luring him away from his younger half-siblings.

What I like about this story is that it doesn’t shy away from the dark places in any of the characters’ past—from Jack and Rosalind, who are still trying to come to terms with the death of their baby six years prior, to Fiona, who not only feels responsible for her sister and her husband’s accident, but is struggling to find fulfillment in her own life.

Yes, there is an underlying optimism—this is after all a romance novel and we readers expect our happy ending—but the conflictive emotions and the struggles each one of these people go through are very very real.

An otherwise healthy child, Jack and Roz’s baby’s death is ruled SID—aka crib death. Since he was alone with Thomas at the time, Jack has struggled with guilt ever since, to the point of pushing Roz out of his life to punish himself for “killing” her baby. For her part, Roz sought therapy and had a rebound marriage to a genuinely nice man who still cares for her, which ended in a second divorce merely eighteen months later.

Being named guardians of these children forces both Jack and Roz to face their feelings for each other as well as to assess how much—if any—they have healed since they lost their own son, in order to truly put the orphans’ wellbeing before their own.

After a slightly… well, unrealistic is the word that comes to mind, first couple of chapters, the raw emotion behind both Roz’s and Jack’s reactions to the children and each other take over, grabbing the reader by the throat pretty much to the end.

As for the children themselves… I am one of those readers who find it difficult to read fictional children. Too often they are simply plot devices with little to no resemblance to any child I’ve ever met. You can imagine my relief in finding these characters realistic most of the time (the exception being Cassie—but then, I haven’t been around a three year old in over a dozen years, thank you so much 😉 ) Ms Bliss allows these children to show us the situation from their own perspective.

Sam is a typical adolescent who is trying to cope with such a grievous loss as well as with hormones, peer influence, and his age. He is acutely aware that he has no blood relationship with Jack, let alone Roz, and as a result he is angry, lonely, scared and desperately sad. Liam is aware that his life has changed forever, but he is still too young to truly understand how or why. He is also the most sympathetic of the three, because his thought processes, his emotions and his actions, truly reflect those of an intelligent child of that age. He is neither too precious nor a miniature adult—he’s a child, dependent on the adults around him to protect him and love him.

There are a couple of short secondary plot threads dealing with Jack’s and Roz’s careers, as well as with Sam’s school problems, but there is nothing truly extraneous or unnecessary to the story.

My only quibble: the obligatory happy family epilogue. Have I mentioned before how much I hate those? True, this one is set as the last chapter of the book with a “twelve months later” tag, plus it is mercifully brief and definitely not confectionary style syrupy, but still…

Second-Chance Family gets 7.75 out of 10

This book is also available at amazon.com here and at amazon uk here

I was a little appalled to hear that an infants teacher told her young pupils that Father Christmas doesn’t really exist (What was she thinking, these were seven year olds for cripes’ sake), but did she really deserve to get fired over it?

A supply teacher who told pupils Santa Claus did not exist has been sacked.

Year Three children at Blackshaw Lane Primary School in Oldham, Greater Manchester, were left devastated by the news.

One parent said: “My son came home and said that his substitute teacher had told the class that Santa doesn’t exist and it’s your mum and dad that put out presents for them.

“Apparently, they were all talking about Christmas and being a bit rowdy. She just came straight out with it.

“He was nearly in tears – and so close to Christmas. I thought it was wrong.

“He was distraught about it. He’s only seven years old and it’s part of the magic of Christmas to him.”

A spokeswoman for Oldham Council said headteacher Angela McCormick is preparing a letter of apology to parents.

The parents have a right to be annoyed, but sacking the teacher just seems a tad overboard to me.

What say you?

To Karen’s moral dilemma question here, Emmy replied:

Where’s the moral dilemma here? Give the wallet back, then have 20 of your closest friends hold an auction on ebay for you so you can pay your mortgage, your spouse’s medical bills, get a new sewer line, etc. That seems to be the popular method of paying delinquent bills lately.

I found the comment disturbing on many levels (for starters, where the hell did it come from? how on earth did it relate to the question posed? and, thanks for spewing the bitterness all over the innocent bystanders–there’s never enough bitterness to go around) and planned to post about it, but wanted to take some time to think about how to frame my reaction and thoughts, since a) I’ve had run-ins with Emmy and frankly didn’t want to make it about her, and b) it opened a larger avenue of rambling thoughts in my head. However, Julie Leto beat me to it by commenting:

As for the eBay auctions, these are extreme circumstances and Emmy, I find your comment really cruel. I’ve participated in several and never were the situations worthy of such scorn, IMO.

Granted, there are documented cases of scammers inventing desperate cases, either as pranks, as a way to get attention, or for profit (just check snopes.com for full accounts). But those cases are not the majority, and given the context of the original comment in that thread, it was a pointed reference to current and recent efforts by the romance community to help some of its less fortunate members. The people in question are personally known to a good number of the community, so the scam aspect does not apply.

So, without making it about Emmy, here’s my pondering: why is it that some people get angry or derisive when communities (friends, relatives, school mates, work colleagues) unite to help one of their own in need?

Is it envy, that these people are “getting off easy”, while the angry observer has to struggle on his/her own?

Is it anger out of fear that the person making the snide comment wouldn’t get the same response if it were them in need?

Or is it self-righteousness, because the person commenting has never been in such an extreme position as to need help from friends and strangers?

What say you, o esteemed readers?

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Update: since it seems it’s needed, allow me to clarify. I was aware of Emmy’s generosity from the tsunami relief action at Shiloh’s blog–which is one of the reasons I didn’t want to make it about her.

(Two Hunting Love stories, novella length erotic romance stories, released by Samhain on April 15th, 2008 — four down and two to go! *waving at Angela James and the WriteMinded ladies)

The Wallflower, by Dana Marie Bell

This novella is the first in Ms Bell’s Halle Puma trilogy, short and fast paced paranormal romances, and also my introduction to her work. The Wallflower grabbed me from the first page, it’s just so much fun! The dialogue is so brisk and Emma such as smart aleck, I was laughing pretty much all the way through.

From Samhain, the usual warning: this title contains explicit sex, graphic language, loads of giggles and a hot, blond Alpha male. (I just adore their warnings, don’t you?)

Is Emma ready for a bite?

Emma Carter has been in love with Max Cannon since high school, but he barely knew she existed. Now she runs her own unique curio shop, and she’s finally come out her shell and into her own.

When Max returns to his small home town to take up his duties as the Halle Pride’s Alpha, he finds that shy little Emma has grown up. That small spark of something he’d always felt around the teenager has blossomed into something more—his mate!

Taking her “out for a bite” ensures that the luscious Emma will be permanently his.

But Max’s ex has plans of her own. Plans that don’t include Emma being around to interfere. To keep her Alpha, Emma must prove to the Pride that she has what it takes to be Max’s mate.

I love Emma unreservedly—she’s smart mouthed and independent and while perhaps a bit hard on herself on the looks part, she still made me laugh every time she opened her mouth. The dynamic between Emma and her friend Becky vis a vis Livia and Belinda, self appointed queen bees during high school and whose animosity towards the two friends is just as intense these many years later, was perfectly portrayed. There are people who don’t quite grow up, after all.

Max, on the other hand, is slightly less interesting on his own. The Alpha of the Halle Pumas, as well as one of the town’s doctors (and may I say how much I love that he’s an optometrist? originality, it be good), he plays straight man to Emma’s comedienne during most of the story, keeping the reader in stitches. For example…

Max is trying to find out who (and when) hurt Emma, and getting pretty much nowhere. After a particularly angry demand for an answer:

“Wow,” Emma breathed. “I’ve heard of that, but never actually seen it.”
He looked at her quizzically out of the corner of his eye. “Seen what?”
“You actually talked through clenched teeth. I didn’t think anyone really did that, you know?” (p39)

The world building is done with broad strokes; the Pumas coexist with the humans, who remain completely oblivious to the paranormal goings-on, and while they rarely indulge, they can turn humans through their bite. Males mark their mates also through a bite, but it does have a *ahem* different connotation and context. Interestingly, both Max and Simon, his best friend and Beta (aka second in command) were turned by the previous Alpha.

There is, of course, a final confrontation between Emma and the Wicked Witch of the West… erm… Livia 😀 which confirms to the entire Pride that Max’s choice was a wise one—and sets the stage for the next title, Sweet Dreams, Simon and Becky’s story.

The Wallflower gets a 7.5 out of 10

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Treasure Hunting, by J.B. McDonald

If memory serves**, this story is my introduction to Ms McDonald’s writing, and I have to say, what a fun, fun story! Or rather, what an absolutely delightful character! Meg Westfield is one of the most honest characters I’ve come across. Yes, she’s also just a tad insane, but really, considering what she’s just about to take on, insanity is pretty much the minimum requirement. Besides, it’s not lunacy, is… quirkiness. Yeah, that sounds better.

So, without further ado, here’s the always delightful warning from Samhain: this work contains graphic m/f sex, bad language, and terrible humor. (I disagree on the humor, obviously, as I laughed consistently through the story)

Can love tame a jaguar god?

A good tromp through the jungle fending off giant bugs and hunting for long-lost ruins in South America is exactly Meg’s idea of a great vacation. She takes the sudden appearance of a wounded jaguar in stride, thinking it’ll make an interesting story. But when she wakes up to find a man in place of a cat, she wonders who’s going to believe it!

Santiago has learned the hard way that he and human women just don’t mix. When you can change into an animal at will, it tends to upset people. But despite his best intentions, he finds himself falling hard for the little blonde who saved his life.

It’ll take a leap of faith-and of love. Or this treasure will slip through his fingers.

Meg Westfield is a sociology professor who happens to be… well, not quite what most people in her life would want her to be. She’s not staid, sensible or placid. Instead, she spends her teaching time counting the days off until she can go haring off, looking for ruins in the jungles of South America**** So when a wounded jaguar turns out to be a wounded shifter, she takes it pretty much in stride.

Until, on the way to finding help for his injury, some men with guns rob them and threaten to take her, and after a mad dash on the back (or front?) of a half turned man jaguar, she indulges in a fit of hysterics. After that and some sleep, things look up in the morning. *ahem* Indeed.

Anyway, I loved the dialogue, particularly when Meg talks to herself—in her head or otherwise. For example:

She’d just had sex with a man in a tree. And while that was alarming enough, she’d done it without a condom, and without even asking about disease. Now she was going to go home and have an HIV baby. And her parents would never let her hear the end of it. Not, at least, until she died a slow horrible death of tuberculosis and AIDs. Of all the stupid…

A glass completely empty kind of gal, isn’t she? 😀

The world building is sketchy, which works very well because it allows the story to be about the characters and their reactions to each other, instead of long exposition about things that are, at best, peripheral to the story. Of course, it also leaves some huge, gaping questions for me to ponder, but Meg and Santiago’s story is complete in itself, tied prettily with a bow.

Seriously, this is really neat little story, with my main complaint being that’s it’s so short******, and I’m looking forward to reading more of Ms McDonald’s work.

Treasure Hunting gets 8 out of 10

** (big if, obviously, ask Ms Marie Harte *head desk*)

**** (large pet peeve: the Aztecs were in Central Mexico—North America, geographically speaking; the Olmecs and Mayans were in the Gulf/Yucatán Peninsula area and south through Central America)

****** (other than my humongous pet peeve above, of course)

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Both of these stories are available from Samhain

Thanks for the rec Kristie. I liked this one a lot.

I’ve got to the point where writing reviews are a pain in the arse, so I’m afraid this review will seem a bit like a total stream of consciousness, with little structure, and even less cohesiveness.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

So, what was the book about?

Our hero, Gabriel is abandoned as a child, and raised in a brothel. Having been starved of affection and friendship, all his life, the only thing he’s good at is having sex, with those who can afford him.

That is, until he befriends a young boy who was stolen from his family. Gabriel then spends the next five years shielding his young friend from the brutalities of life in a brothel.

The boy’s family finally find him (how many fs?), and are so grateful to our hero for looking after their precious brother, that they offer Gabriel sanctuary, in their home.

Gabriel goes to live with the heroine and her brothers, and eventually falls in love with Sarah (our heroine), although he feels unworthy of her, given his shameful past.

My favourite thing? Gabriel, all the way. Dark, emotional, fractured, fragile, tortured, passionate, honourable. All good words to describe him.

I really appreciated the care it obviously took to create such a hero, he really was the highlight of the book for me.

The heroine wasn’t so bad either, although her character wasn’t quite as richly drawn as Gabriel’s. But, she didn’t piss me off in any way, which is the main thing really.

Good plot and good secondary characters. I especially liked Sarah’s older brother. It was nice to read a historical that didn’t feature an evil brother. What is it with historicals and card-board-cut-out, evil siblings/fathers anyway?

Sheesh.

When I picked up this book, I’d only intended to read a few pages, but I found that I couldn’t actually put it down. So I didn’t. And I read, and read, and read, until the book was done.

It was super, smashing, great.

I didn’t get the urge to stab myself in the eye. Not even once. Always a good sign methinks.

For those readers who like a good emotional read with their morning coffee, I heartily recommend Broken Wing By Judith James.

You can buy from Amazon.com here, read an excerpt here, and learn more about Judith James here.

Seriously?

I can’t see how the judge wasn’t influenced by OJ’s first major brush with the law.

I for one am glad he got a harsh sentence. He got away with murder all those years ago, and didn’t have the sense to stay out of trouble.

You’d think that he’d know that brandishing a gun at somebody, whilst threatening them with violence would be frowned upon.

Dumbass.

Alexandra Wins The X Factor 2008, Yay!!!

Sunday, December 14, 2008
Posted in: X Factor 2008

She totally deserved to win it. It’s an amazing story, three years ago, she auditioned, and didn’t even get into the final twelve. Now she’s won the whole thing. Simply amazing.

I can’t imagine how awesome it felt for her to actually perform with a massive a superstar like Beyonce. Watching them together gave me goosebumps.

Good luck Alexandra, and let’s hope Simon Cowell gets you some decent song-writers, so that you can go global!

I will be buying the winner’s single when it comes out on Monday, because I love the song!

And can I just say, I loved Beyonce anyway, but I just loved how gracious and giving she was here. Unlike a certain over-rated, hair-shaving, pop drama diva, who couldn’t even be bothered to meet the contestants, or mime properly when she appeared on the show last week. Blech.

Anyway, here’s a few of my favourite Alexandra performances from the past few weeks.


Singing Christina Aguilera’s Candyman


Singing Tony Braxton’s Unbreak My Heart


Performing Rihanna’s Don’t Stop The Music


Her original audition to get into Bootcamp.

UPDATE! Driving Equality's Phelp-A-Thon was a huge success!

Remember last week’s post about Fred batshitcrazy Phelps’ people’s planned protest in Boston? (yikes, look at the alliteration!)

Well, we have news! Chris Mason from DrivingEquality writes:

The Phelps-A-Thon was a huge success! We raised over $4,500 for Driving Equality! We collected $755 of that during the 45 minutes we were on the street counter-protesting the Phelps clan. Seventy-five people showed up to support the Phelps-A-Thon and to say no to hate. Everyone cheered as we updated the sign every five minutes, tallying the amount raised by the Phelps-A-Thon. People walking by handed us $5, $10, $20 bills. Someone wrote a check for $250 on the spot. It was incredible!

Congrats to Chris and Driving Equality, and a huge thank you! to everyone who has donated so far.

This is just one way to do something constructive and positive to counter the negative stuff happening every where around us.

Remember that it’s not over, though, and you can still donate–check this out:

It is not too late to make a contribution to the Phelps-A-Thon. I am sending Fred “God Hates Fags” Phelps a card, telling him how much he raised for LGBT equality. Make a donation today and your amount will be included on that card.

Sweet!!!!

Go on, donate. You know you wanna! 😀