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This week in…: Volume 35

October 9, 2015 by Jana 18 Comments

this week

  • Finished Undermajordomo Minor. Started Dumplin’ and Thirteen Ways of Looking. Picked up a book for the husband and Hate List for me. Show Us Your Books on Tuesday with extra surprises because it’s the one year anniversary.
  • The Martian. It’s been a week since I’ve seen it and guys, it was so, so good. They did give it the Hollywood treatment but for the most part, it was a pretty faithful adaptation of the book. There was still all the math and all the science (you can’t tell the story without it) but it was extremely well done. And manageable and understandable for people like me who can’t math. Matt Damon was perfect casting. Sadly, though, I don’t think it was his butt they showed.
  • Started using the Nike Training app on my phone. I think Nadine and Kathy have mentioned it and another friend of mine, Tonya, who is also crazy fit, recommended it. So my fat ass listened to those without fat asses. So far, so good. My one first world gripe is that it doesn’t sync with my FitBIt. So even though I’m exercising, it’s not registering it and not counting towards my steps.
  • Did a bunch of laundry. Folded none of it.
  • Binge watched all of the first season of How to Get Away with Murder last weekend. Will work through the first few episodes of this season on Saturday night because that’s what old married couples do. Then we’ll watch Amy Schumer on SNL. Which actually isn’t terrible. I mean, the skits are but the cast right now is ridiculously talented.
  • Tore it up in the kitchen. I made lemon and garlic chicken with red potatoes and green beans, mushroom gnocchi (with store bought gnocchi ’cause ain’t nobody got time to make that shit from scratch), and something else I know was delicious but I can’t remember right now what it was.
  • Debated with the child if The Flash or Billy Thunderman would win in a race. It was our equivalent of “could Mighty Mouse beat up Superman”. If you know who Billy Thunderman is, feel free to weigh in. If you don’t, consider yourself lucky.
  • Internet reading. Didn’t really do much. Saved a whole bunch of links but didn’t read through any of them. I apologize to those who use the links to waste pass the time at work on Fridays.
  • Got these funnies from the husband:

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Outdoor cheer competition this weekend. Send me all your warmth. Hope your weekend is great and fun and relaxing and productive. Or filled with naps and books and puppy/kitty hugs.

 

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Filed Under: Life Tagged With: books, Entertainment, favorites, weekly wrap-up

Exciting news!

October 7, 2015 by Jana 31 Comments

GUYS. I wanted to wait until Friday to post this but I’m just too damn excited to wait a few more days. 

This is not the big project I referenced yesterday. I won’t be done with that for many months. But it’s still big.

Yesterday, I was hired to be an Acquisitions Editor. At a publishing company. 

That means I get to read books and manuscripts and work with authors who want to publish their books traditionally. I get to help writers see their books published and put in actual bookstores. And since that’s always been a dream of mine, getting to help others achieve that same dream is extra special and meaningful to me. 

I’m also currently building my client list, accepting proposals and all the other good stuff that an acquisitions editor does. So if you or anyone you know is writing fiction or nonfiction and wants to go the traditional publishing route, please put them in touch with me. If you or anyone you know has self-published a book and might want to revise it and traditionally publish it, please get in touch with me. 

I can’t even tell you how exciting this opportunity is. And I have it because of this little blog. A friend I met through blogging knows the owner of the publishing house I work for and everything snowballed from there. So even though I’m a small blogger (I like it that way, if I’m being honest), big things have happened for my career (which is not even remotely close to the career I went to college and grad school for because what fun would that be?). Why? Because even when I wanted to, I didn’t quit. And rather than obsess over stats and sponsored posts and followers, I made friends. I formed network. OF PEOPLE. 

People are what matter. Not the other shit.

So, what’s my point? Well, I’m not really sure but if I had to make one, it’s this. Don’t get discouraged if things aren’t happening for you right now, especially if you aspire to use your blog to launch your career in a different direction. Don’t compare your blog or your progress to someone who’s a professional blogger or who’s doing what you think you want. Keep going.

Make friends.

Foster relationships

Understand that your success might not come in the package you expect.

Mine didn’t. 

And I’m damn happy about that.

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Filed Under: Life Tagged With: work

This week in…: Volume 34

October 2, 2015 by Jana 24 Comments

this weekAt least I think it’s volume 34. Maybe it’s higher. I’ve lost count. But I don’t really think it matters much since today is THE MARTIAN DAY!!! Or, as it’s known in my house, the day I got my husband to use a vacation day so we can go see a movie while the child is in school because The Martian is the only book we’ve ever agreed on in our 19 year relationship so of course we have to go see the movie at the earliest time possible.

Also, Erin told me that you get to see Matt Damon’s ass in the movie (and even if it’s a body double I’m pretending that it’s not). Alerting you to a sighting of your celebrity crush’s naked butt is the sign of a true friend.

Let’s see what else happened this week.

  • Added Radiant Angel by Nelson DeMille to the DNF pile. Finished Modern Romance and picked up 4 more books. Lots of rain and impending hurricane means hours of reading time. Also, don’t forget that Show Us Your Books is on October 13. It’s the one year anniversary and Steph and I have some presents for you to thank you for a year of support and engagement.
  • Gave a couple of new shows a spin. The Grinder (with Rob Lowe and Kevin Arnold Fred Savage), The Bastard Executioner, and The Muppets (of course). Love the first two. Hopefully The Grinder didn’t use up all its good stuff in the first episode. The Bastard Executioner is violent and disturbing but quite good. The Muppets, though. I don’t want to say anything bad about my beloved Muppets but this show? Not so great.
  • Speaking of TV, does anyone know where I can watch Fargo, Season 1 for free? I really want to watch season 2 but not without watching the first one ahead of time.
  • THE METS WON THE NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 9 YEARS!!! Let the playoffs stress being.
  • Worked on one of my fall projects: organizing all my Pocket links. I have a ridiculous amount of saved links and need an easy way to access them, specifically the recipes and the ones I want to share with you guys. I’ll be publishing the full list of fall projects on Tuesday.
  • Read author profiles on Patrick deWitt and Andy Weir. My #booknerd heart is full.
  • Read these interesting articles: Buzzfeed nailed the differences in the way people treat physical and mental illness. Mashable shared some Easter eggs in The Martian inspired by actual NASA things. This post on envying wealthier parents. Rage Against the Machine’s bassist apologizing for Limp Bizkit. And this infographic with the 69 rules of punctuation.
  • Found this funny around the interwebs: dinosaurs reading

Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend, whatever you choose to do. See you on Tuesday!

 

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Filed Under: Life Tagged With: books, Entertainment, favorites, weekly wrap-up

This week in…: Things from a couch

September 25, 2015 by Jana 21 Comments

Last week I was on Charlotte NC for FinCon15, which is a conference for personal finance bloggers and those in the finance industry to connect and learn and also drink. I mostly did that last one because I am not a finance blogger (obviously). But I did return home with some new friends, great memories, a bag of white chocolate Oreo popcorn (thanks, Tonya!), and a horrible, terrible cold that has been kicking my ass all week.

this week

As a result, I haven’t done much except sit on my couch and so this week, I bring to you all the excitingish things that happened from said couch:

    • finished $2 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America and started Radiant Angel.  I also picked up Did You Ever Have a Family and discovered a new bookish podcast, Overdue. Reading doesn’t take a break because you’re sick.
    • binge watched “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” so you don’t have to (trust me. The movie? Excellent. TV show? Abomination. Hopefully on purpose). I started “Hand of God” and you should get on that one.  And kudos to Netflix for scoring “How to Get Away with Murder” so I can finally catch up on that.
    • ordered a whole bunch of storage containers so I can start prepping my weekday lunches ahead of time. Lunch annoys me and I’d rather just take the headache and decision making out of it. Speaking of which, what’s your favorite make ahead lunch? Let me know in the comments.
    • booked my room for FinCon16 which happens to be in San Diego next year and also I’ll be doing another mentoring session which I love to do so hooray for that!
    • made a list of fall projects I want to work on. They’re easy and not too crafty so I should be able to complete them  (I’m obviously still on a completion high from the Literary Ladies challenge). Would you guys want to know what I’m planning to do?
    • watched a YouTube video on how to do an upside down French braid because #cheerhair.  I *might* have cursed at the child’s coach when she announced this was the style because really, what the fuck? Why is this necessary? They don’t score points for hair.
    • read some internet stuff: How to lose weight in four easy steps (it’s not what you think). 10 ways to stay healthy while working from home (really great tips that I definitely need to employ. Especially the one about getting dressed). This story about a man who embezzled $8.7M and hid for 6 years on the Appalachian Trail (there’s a link to the longform story at the bottom of the post I linked to). Why women love crime (guilty. Also, the woman who wrote the article, Megan Abbott, has written a bunch of book, some of which I’ve read. No real point to that fun fact except it is fun).
    • laughed at this:

I was more productive from my couch than I thought! Who knew? Anyway, have a great weekend! See you on Tuesday (oh, I think I’m done with Monday posts for now. I struggle with Monday appropriate topics).

 

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Filed Under: Life Tagged With: books, Entertainment, favorites, weekly wrap-up

Favorite forgotten hairband songs: A playlist

September 24, 2015 by Jana 29 Comments

This entry is part 2 of 8 in the series Playlists

Jana of JanaSays.com is in her late 30s, and Erin of TexErin-in-SydneyLand is in her early 40s.  #noshame #oldladieswin 

 Aquanet … Spandex … Blue eyeshadow … MTV … BIG HAIR … all of these things were part of our childhood and teen years.  So was the genre of music that gets a lot of teasing (pun intended) and ridicule known as Glam Metal, Hair Bands, Cock Rock….but these bands and songs are beloved by the two of us.  In fact, as we got to know each other, we instantly connected with our mutual love of books and hair bands. This is not the list of songs that are played in sports stadiums or classic rock stations.  C’mon.  Admit it.  You guys know Welcome to the Jungle, Every Rose Has Its Thorn, and Livin’ on a Prayer.  You probably even know Pour Some Sugar on Me, Cherry Pie, and Here I Go Again. (You’re probably singing one of them in your head right now. You’re welcome.)

These are the songs that you have to turn to a specialty station like SiriusXM’s Hair Nation (in the U.S.) for a chance to hear them. Or be an avid fan of this music from days gone by.  This list is a combined effort of our favorite forgotten hair band songs.

1. Wait for You by Bonham – 1989 – Do you recognize this name?  John Bonham, the drummer of a little band called Led Zeppelin, who died in 1980…he had a son named Jason Bonham.  He can play drums too.  He had a band that had a song, and this is it.

2.  Call to Your Heart by Guiffria – 1984 – Honestly don’t remember anything about Guiffria except this song.  And, this is a good song.

3.  Edge of a Broken Heart by Bon Jovi – 1987 – Back in the day, pop radio had djs and you could actually call and request to hear your favorite songs.  The local Houston station (104 KRBE) had a “Top 8 at 8:00” most requested program.  From Erin: “I’d wait for this song to play, so I could record it on my cassette tape each night, so I could have an entire cassette of just this song playing over and over.”  The work and commitment we had to give for our favorites…..

4.  Burning Like a Flame by Dokken – 1987 – To be honest, we could give you a whole list of Dokken songs of fantastic songs from Dokken, but this is a fave.  From Erin: “Is this the time that I tell you about getting my picture taken with Don Dokken when my friend was getting beers or going to the bathroom, and she’s the one that really loved Dokken and she missed the photo opportunity??”

5.  Tell Me by White Lion – 1987 – Don’t know many girls
that didn’t find Mike Tramp (the lead singer) pretty dreamy back in the
day.  The last time I (Erin) saw him was 2008, and he was still pretty dreamy.

6.  Coming of Age by Damn Yankees – 1990 – Once upon a time, a supergroup was formed with a member of Night Ranger, a member of Styx, and Ted Nugent.  Fun fact from Erin: “I saw them open for Poison in Fargo, ND.”

7.  Bang Bang by Danger Danger – 1989 – From Jana: “They were my
favorite and I was obsessed. Meeting Ted Poley and Andy Timmons was the
highlight of 8th grade.” 
No other words are needed.

8.  Love Song by Tesla – 1989 – Serious now.  If you aren’t going to listen to any other of the songs on this list, listen to this one.  It truly is one of the greatest anthemic love songs ever created.  Yes, we are biased about this list, but we speak the truth about this song.

9.  Dirty Love by Thunder – 1990 – This British band has 9 studio albums, 7 live albums, and 22 singles released.  Sure, they’ve had a lot of band members in and out during that time…but that’s more albums produced than Taylor Swift or Rhianna or One Direction or many of the other big sellers of popular music.

10.  Big Talk by Warrant – 1989 – Awww Warrant.  The band known for Cherry Pie.  In fact, that song was part of the demise of lead singer, Jani Lane, who died a few years ago from an alcohol fueled death.  They really were a talented band.  (Feel free to fast forward the first minute of this film clip.)  R.I.P Jani

11.  One in a Million by Trixter – 1991 –  This song hit radio airwaves the same year as Nirvana and Pearl Jam.  Poor Trixter was just a little too late for any serious music people to listen to them.  Wait.  We ain’t about those music snobs anyway.

12.  Mad About You by Slaughter – 1991 – Not sure this song made it to the music charts.  There were actually some songs on this album that got more airplay.  But, we’re rebelling and going with this lesser known gem for our list.

13.  Tainted Angel by Southgang – 1991 – We knew this one was a given.  Erin loves Butch Walker (he’s the hunk of a brunette guitarist in this video clip).  Admittedly, most of the love is for the artist that Butch is now.  (No joke.  He is a hugely talented singer-songwriter-producer-and yes, guitarist.)  Jana saw Southgang in concert New Year’s Eve 1991.  Jana frickin’ wins!

14.  I’ll Never Let You Go by Steelheart – 1990 – This is Jana’s favorite power ballad, and it was going to be left off the list “because his voice may hurt the ears of others” (that’s actually verbatim), but Erin said “Hell no!  I’m totally including Steelheart!”, and here you have it.  (Get to the chorus – the vocals are seriously insane!)

You really have no idea how difficult it was for us to narrow down this list.  It was like selecting our favorite child or something (even though Erin doesn’t have a child, but she does have step-children, and Jana has one, so obviously, that one is the favorite).   So, really, this was more difficult than picking our favorite child.  We’re still questioning how
Ratt, Cinderella, Mr. Big, Skid Row, Firehouse, Whitesnake, and others didn’t make this list.  But, we wanted to  keep it short enough that you may stay with us.

 

If you’re actually still with us, tell us some of your favorite songs from big hair bands.

 

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Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Entertainment, favorites, music

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Jana

I'm Jana ...

A book reading, nail polish wearing, binge watching, music loving, dog owning, reluctant cheer mom.
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