Pink for October

If you haven't noticed things have gotten a little... pink around here. That's because October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So for the month of October my personal accounts (blog, Twitter, and MySpace) as well as The Gilded Pen, have all gone pink! I've left everything the way it was (background, layout, etc) and just tinted everything pink to give it a bigger impact. It takes a bit of getting used to, but I like it.

Each year it is estimated that 200,000 woman will be diagnosed with breast cancer. If that wasn't bad enough, it is also estimated that 40,000 women will die. Many people believe that breast cancer is only associated with woman, but they would be wrong. Approximately 1,700 men are diagnosed each year and 450 will die. Wow. An approximate 40,450 people will DIE this year from breast cancer alone. That means one out of every 1,513 people will get breast cancer, while 1 out of every 7,547 people will die from it in the US alone. IN ONE YEAR!

But don't be afraid! Studies have shown that as little as 4 hours a week of physical activity (which pumps up the immune system and lowers estrogen levels) can lower your risk. Don't for get to eat a nutritious, low-fat diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables as well, which can also lower your risk of breast cancer! And the best tool for early detection for both men and women is the monthly self exam. Self examination accounts for nearly 70% of early detection which in turn accounts for a 5 year survival rate of 96%.

Read more about breast cancer awareness and join Pink for October to help spread the word! You can also download the following images and background to help spread the word.

Goals for the Week

Taking a page from Meroko and posting my goals for the week. Since I plan on keeping track of them I'm posting them here instead of to Twitter. I'm also posting them here because my list is much too long for Twitter's 140 character allowance.

So here it is, my to-do list for the week of Sep. 29th to Oct 4th (with Sunday as my back-up/catch-up day ^^)

- Drop 2 lbs.
- Write 5,000+ words for DW
- Walk 30+ mins every morning (with this cold, I doubt I'll do this one)
- Walk the river at least twice (not associated with the above goal)
- Finish Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland and The Devil Wears Tartan by Karen Ranney
- Write reviews for both of them as well as 4 others.
- Work on book covers to add to my portfolio.

A Whole Bag of Back Reading

To say my reading habits have been blown to dust would be an understatement. In the past two months I have started--and not finished--8 books. That makes this years total jump up to 13. It's getting to be very annoying. So my plan for the next month or so is to read those 13 books. There is no reason why I stopped reading them. Most of them where--are--very good books that I rather liked. But I stopped.

So expect mini reviews for the following books. So if you don't see them withing the next couple of months feel free to pressure me just a little bit.

Books I WILL read

Temptation of the Warrior by Margo Maquire {WIR Post}
Mr. Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn {WIR Post}
Before I wake by Kathryn Smith {WIR Post}
Seduced by Sin by Kimberly Logan
Hidden by Eve Kenin
Eternal Pleasure by Nina Bangs
Weddings Can Be Murder by Christie Craig
Let the Night Begin by Kathryn Smith
The Edge of Desire by Stephanie Laurens
The Matchmaker of Perigord by Julia Stuart {WIR Post}
This Year's Model by Carol Alt
Seduction of a Proper Gentleman by Victoria Alexander
The Devil Wears Tartan by Karen Ranney {WIR Post}

This post will be edited in the future only to show which books I have finished

Lessons by the River

I went walking along the river today with mom and the dog and realized 3 things. First: I'm really not that great with a camera. I took quite a bit of shots and only came up with 4 for this blog. Blah. Maybe it's not me so much as the camera it's self.. Second: It really isn't that easy to get a dog into the water when she really doesn't want to. We tried this last time and she would have none of it. This time we had treats and after I got in—treat in hand, of course—it still took quite a bit of time and urging for her to get her feet wet. No pun intended. And lastly, third: The sun burns. Oh, sure, I know this one already—learned it at a young age, I bet—but when the sun is beating down on your already fried scalp and your lips are so chapped it hurts to smile, I believe you learn your lesson a little bit more. That or it gets pounded into your thick skull until you do.

It wasn't a horrible day. Quite the opposite, really. Walking on top of all those river rocks—not a single one solid ground, mind you—for an hour or two causes you to use muscles you would normally not use unless you had a regular gym membership. It was all quite a sight, though. The watter level had dropped a few weeks earlier due to the closing of the dam so there where a number of things to see even if we didn't want to see them, and the fishy smell was gone, so it was really quite pleasant.

We only have about two months left before the rainy season starts, so we're planning on coming down every other day or so. I'm sure my thighs will be nice and strong by Thanksgiving. How the heck am I going to keep them that way through the winter?!

That log in the upper-most picture, BTW, is normally completely covered by watter in the summer. I need to go down again to take a picture of the hallow inside. Really freaky!

TSS - Last Minute Post

So, technically, it's still Sunday on my end of the globe. 11:35. Nearly so, anyways.

I just wanted to make a quick post and let you guys know I am reading. Despite my lack of posting, I am reading. This Sunday I've been reading The Edge of Desire by Stephanie Laurens. I'm not far enough into it yet to give my opinion, though. Well, I guess I can give my opinion any darn time I wish, but at this point it wouldn't be all that... informed, I guess.

I've really been working on The Gilded Pen this past week. I have a number or reviews I need to rewrite and upload as well as some kinks in the design to iron out. Once all that's done I'm thinking of redesigning the site into something with a bit more white space. It all looks a bit cluttered to me, but what do I know, I've been staring at the darn thing for the past two months.

11:42. Ok, I'm done. Time for bed before I pass out and have keyboard-face in the morning.

Nick and Nora

I'm staying up late tonight working on the blog again (like my new layout?) and watching Saturday Night Live. That is between commercials, that is.I'm watching those, too, especially when previews like the one for Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist comes on. It's been so long I forgot all about this one but it's just too hilarious to not pass on. I still haven't read the book, yet, even though it's been out for a while (I think it came out a year or two ago) so I need to get my hands on that. {You can visit the book's homepage here}

I plan on seeing the movie. It's just too funny for words. How bout you? Looks good, hu?

Clock Tower Lives Again!

The mother, sister, and I all went for a long walk today. It's been a while, really, since we all went for a walk like this but with the puppy around we finally had an excuse other than our health. I've wanted to walk around down-town for a while now to complete my collection of pictures of the replica Zuckweiler clock tower. The original tower (as pictured here) burned down in 1984. It was a town landmark who's image is used on everything even the town emblem so it had to be rebuilt. And I managed to get some shots, though I'm a bit bummed that I didn't think about it before they started building it.

The area is now known as the Cone & Kimball Plaza Clocktower and Park. The tower looks a little tilted because of the way the road tilts. When I was taking the pictures I tried to stand as straight as possible, but I was going along with the curve of the road. The tower was completed in 2008.

The tower is rather interesting to see in person. It's 75ft tall (the original was 100ft) and rather modern. I think it would have been neat to see the tower made into some sort of informational monument with the base enclosed with little windows looking in on town and county historic information. And the digital chime is just annoying. Instead of playing the traditional clock chime, it midi-style renditions of songs. So very corny.

No More Midnight Sun

It looks like some dumb as- er, jerk, uploaded and distributed a draft copy of Stephanie Meyer's MIDNIGHT SUN (the final book in her TWILIGHT series). Pissed off, as she has a right to be, Meyer has refused to publish the book and is instead offering the partial online free on her website. This is both really cool of her and a bummer for book fans as it looks like the book will no longer be published. Ever (though I'm sure with fans clambering for their own personal copy of the book, it will be published sooner or latter).

BREAKING DAWN was released this last August and concludes the story of Bella and Edward. MIDNIGHT SUN is the final book in the seires, re-telling the series through Edward's eyes.

And just so people know, this is a SERIES not a SAGA. A saga fallows a family through several stories mostly from historic times to present (grandmother, mother, daughter, etc). The TWILIGHT series follows Bella and Edward (for the most part) through high school. I wish people would get this one right...