Boredom Busters and Other Ways To Waste Time

WOW!!! Everyone wanted a copy of A Man of His Word. So cool. Amish fiction is hot! But the winner is…Amber Mullis. Amber, email me (use contact page for the sake of being easy) and gimme your home address! We'll get that advanced reader copy to you. And you'll need to guard your mailbox because there are some ladies after that book. And I do not trust them when they are in this frenzied state of “I Want Book With Hot Amish Man On Cover” mode. I do not.

If you have a blog and do contests, do you know about the random number generators? They are so cool. I use THIS ONE. I like them because you get a fair drawing. And you would be amazed at how I used to do it. I've done everything from drawing names out of a hat to closing my eyes to spinning around and around, then pointing my pencil at my list of names on the computer. Then barfing. A random number generator is soooo much easier. And probably more accurate. And doesn't require me to take Dramamine.

The rest of this blog is a public service to those of you who are bored and need some time wasters. Fear not. I have found you some. I searched long and hard. I was supposed to be cleaning my house before FEMA tried to perform a search and rescue, but instead I decided to find nifty ways to pass the minutes. Or afternoon.

So guess what's coming to the big screen? Apparently Hollywood has used up every possible idea in existence…except one.

That's right. The Smurfs. Coming in winter of 2010. Unless Armageddon hits first. Watching that clip, I never noticed as a kid how husky Smurfette's voice was. Somebody had herself a few smurfy Marlboros, I do believe. Smurfette would be about 40 by now…and no doubt in the early stages of emphysema.

I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating. I LOVE this blog. Sarah, the Green Bean Teen Queen, has such an awesome YA review blog. YA lit is one of my favorite things to talk about, and this snazzy lady, a newlywed AND an ultra cool YA librarian, stays on top of what's hot in teen lit.  Highly recommended.

Another YA review blog I recommend is Literary Coldcuts on Toasty Buns. I've lived enough years now to know anything on toasty buns has to be good. And this blog is no exception.

I also have recently discovered the Read This Book! blog, where Kate reads and slaves over the reviews each week. What a big job she has! She even reviewed So Not Happening, which pretty much made my day.

You can also visit the Finding Hope Through Fiction blog, where Nora reviews Christian fiction–even CF young adult books. Like So Not Happening. Nora's running a contest to win a copy of SNH. Time's ticking, but you can still get in there and get your name in the drawing. Check it out HERE.

Here's another site to stop by and visit. David C. Cook, a publisher, is taking input on a Christian nonfiction book aimed at teens who might have picked up the Twilight series. You can see that HERE. I'm guessing from the subtitle that it's about how God is the only eternal dude. But who knows. The important part is you get to weigh in on their cover choices!!!!  I LOVE looking at covers (though my taste isn't always too accurate), and I definitely chimed in!

Christian Fiction Online Magazine is one year old this month, and you can read their fabulous July issue HERE.

I'm a huge fan of Susie magazine, and you can read one of my short stories, “Time of My Life,” which appeared in a previous issue HERE.

If you're bored, you could also drink some Evian. Like these guys.

Okay, so I think Sasha Cohen is just an idiot. He NEVER interviews out of character (such as Borat), but in searching for a clip of non-idiot Joel McHale, I found this interview of Cohen with Letterman. He was himself and was not an idiot! Kinda charming, but definitely funny. I hope it's appropriate. I don't remember anything bad… You can watch it HERE.

So I'm shopping for a new lamp for my living room. At one small period in time WalMart.com was actually a place to get cool, funky lamps. Cheap. But now? Now I find THIS. And WHY do I want a lamp that looks like I could roast marshmallows over it? There's even accompanying accessory lamps to match. Chic.  Caveman chic.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend. If you find any fun websites or YouTube clips to add to our “I Should Be Scrubbing A Toilet” repertoire, please send it my way. Until then. . .I'll be checking Facebook and Twitter vacuuming and dusting baseboards.

JEN