My favorite music:

Music is the soul of life if you ask me. There is nothing in this world that can touch you and actually affect how you live and feel like music. Whether you like a specific style of music or are like me and are eclectic in your musical leanings, music is what makes the world go round. Here's a brief list of some of my favorite singers and composers.

1: Loreena McKennit. This woman has a voice that just radiates. I love everything she has done. She does mostly Celtic music with a mix of a few other cultures. She has a Christmas album out too filled with medeivil christmas songs called "To Drive The Cold Winter Away".

2: Enya. Another Celtic singer with a to die for voice. She also does the theme song for the first Lord Of The Rings movie, The Fellowship Of The Ring.

3: Faith Hill. She is an awesome country singer who is popular mainstream as well. My most favorite of her songs is "Cry". She has such a dynamite voice.

4: Tim McGraw. This is Faith Hill's husband and he is an awesome country singer in his own right. His hit song "Live Like You Were Dying" was all about his father, Tug McGraw who died of brain cancer. It's a very powerful song.

5: The Dixie Chicks. This country group has taken a lot of flack because of their opinions of the war in Iraq in the early days when most people supported the war. Personally I thought it was unfair. They had just as much right to air their opinions as anyone else. That's what free speech is supposed to be about. But aside from all that they are an amazing group and their music is fantastic.

6: Norah Jones. This singer has an amazing voice. Her music can literally make you cry. She is definately one of the best talents to come into the music world in recent years.

7: Edvard Grieg. I love the music this man composed. His classical music is so powerful. If you have never heard classical music, I highly suggest starting with any of his compositions. They are all amazing.

8: Enigma. This group puts out the most beautiful and amazing songs. I first heard their music when figure skater Oksana Baiul choreagraphed a routine to a song of theirs and I have loved them ever since.

9: Les Miserables. The music from this musical is by far the BEST I have ever heard. And if you have never heard the song "Home" performed by the original Jean Valjean, Colm Wilkinson, you haven't heard anything. His rendition of the song gave me shivers it was so good.

10: Celine Dion. This woman has such an amazing voice. Her voice can literally reach into your soul and wrap itself around. Her talent is just plain spectacular.

Well, that's my top ten favorites. I have plenty more that I love but these ten are definately top of the heap.

Charity Fatigue: Oh My!


What can I say? We all have it. One disaster after another. The tsunami, hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, the earthquake in Pakistan and India. One way or another this year has been a very busy and nasty year weather-wise. Most of us have given so much that we are either fatigued or just plain broke. And of course with the holidays coming once again the trumpets are sounding to give generously.

If you are like me, you're broke. My mom's birthday as well as Christmas are this coming month. The most I'm gonna be able to do for her birthday is get her a card. And Christmas? Well one gift is my financial limit. I know it is for her too.

However, there is a great way to help out and it won't cost you any money. I was watching MSNBC last night and they talked about this great site. It's a search engine, you know like Yahoo or Google. It's called Goodsearch. In fact Goodsearch is powered by Yahoo. You go to Goodsearch and you choose any charity you want. Then everytime you search the net using the Goodsearch search engine, they donate money to that charity.

I love this search engine. I chose the Philadelphia Skate Club and Humane Society of Ardmore, Pennsylvania. I know it sounds like two charities but it's only one. And of course, as you know from my blog I am a huge animal lover so the charity I chose was definately a no-brainer.:-)

So if you are broke like me or just plain tired from all the disasters of this year, this is a good way to help out and all you have to do is your normal online stuff. If you'd like to use the search engine go to www.goodsearch.com and pick the charity you'd like to support. You can help without having to open the purse strings yet again.

My favorite movies.

I have a lot of favorite movies. And I don't just like adult movies. A lot of the so-called kiddie movies are actually really great and well done too. So here's a list of some of my favorite movies.

1: The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. These 3 movies personify movie making as far as I am concerned. The movies are based on the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. Now I have read the books as well as seen the movies and although I know a lot of you will probably disagree with me, the movies are way better. The books actually gave me a headache from trying to follow the storyline. Peter Jackson did way better with the movies, but credit does have to be given to Tolkien because he created the story to begin with.

2: Titanic. James Cameron's movie about the ill-fated ship was awesome. You can't get a more realistic view of the sinking in any other movie because Cameron actually built a smaller version of the Titanic and really sunk it. It was awesome.

3: Shrek 1 and 2. Both the original and the sequel were spectacular. These movies take fairytales and turn them on their ear. And the computer graphics are amazing. It shows you just how far computer animation has come.

4: Robots. This is another great computer animation movie. The graphics are superb but what makes this movie even better is Robin Williams who does the voice for one of the characters. I mean you just can't go wrong with Robin Williams.

5: Twister. This movie is a great disaster movie. The effects are not perfect. Computer animation still had a lot of evolving to do but the story was awesome. I love this movie.

6: Garfield The Movie. This movie has been given a bad rap as far as I am concerned. I loved the movie and thought it was hilarious. Bill Murray did an awesome job as the voice of Garfield and he had big shoes to fill. He had to do right by the voice made famous by Lorenzo Music who died of cancer. I am a huge Garfield fan and as far as I am concerned this movie rocked.

7: The Day After Tomorrow: This is a wonderful disaster movie and the graphics are much improved over the Twister days. This movie deals with the subject of global warming and what could happen if extreme changes take place. Anyone up for a second ice age?

8: The Poseidon Adventure: This classic movie deals with a Titanic-like disaster. A small group of people survive their ship flipping over after it's hit by a massive wave. Now they need to work their way to what was once the bottom of the ship and is now the top in hopes of being rescued. There is going to be a remake of this airing on Sunday with Steve Guttenberg. We'll see if the television remake is as good.

9: Arsenic And Old Lace: This classic movie starring Cary Grant is absolutely hilarious. Mortimer, played by Grant has just gotten married. But he can't plan his honeymoon until he deals with his two old aunts who have a habit of helping out old lonely men by giving them arsenic. This movie is a laugh-riot.

10: X-Men 1 & 2. I have loved the X-Men comics since I was a kid and the live-action movies were awesome. They were so well done it was amazing. I am looking forward to X-Men 3 which starts production in 2006 and is as of right now slated for release in 2007. But that could change so don't hold me to it.:-)

These are my top ten favorite movies. I have many more but I think these are enough for now.

My favorite books.

Oh where to start. I am an avid reader. Have been ever since I was kid. My mom got me hooked on books. I love romance, fantasy, sci-fi, and murder mysteries. I am so not into horror though. I don't watch horror movies and don't read horror novels. Besides, real-life is often far more frightening than any form of fiction could ever be.

Anyways, I have so many favorites that it would be impossible to cover everything I love. So I'll just go over some of my alltime favorite authors and what I believe to be their best work. Oh and this will be in no particular order.

1: Lynsay Sands. She does an awesome vampire series that has a unique twist on the genre. The Argeneau series. It's hilarious. For those of you who have read the series you know that because of her publisher at the time it was printed out of order. She has just recently released the first actual book in the series even though three that come after it are out. If you'd like to check out her stuff visit www.lynsaysands.net and take a look. She's awesome.

2: Nora Roberts: This author has done so many wonderful stories over the years that she is definately my writing hero. However, my alltime favorites of her work are her Key trilogy. Key Of Light, Key Of Knowledge and Key Of Valor. Her Three Sisters Trilogy is awesome too. If you'd like to check out her stuff go to www.noraroberts.com for a visit.

3: P.C. Cast: What can I say, she has yet to write something I didn't completely enjoy. Her Goddess summoning series is awesome and she is also now writing for Luna books. Luna books is an offshoot of Harlequin and deals with romantic fantasy. If you'd like to see what she's written and what she has coming out soon go to www.pccast.net and check her out.

4: Mary Janice Davidson: This woman's Undead series is da bomb. Betsy is an unlikely vampire queen and Mary Janice tells her story with great humor. All of Mary Janice Davidson's series are hilarious in fact. If you'd like to see her stuff go to www.maryjanicedavidson.net and take a look.

5: Christine Feehan: This woman has so many awesome series. My two favorites are her Seven Sisters series and Ghostwalker series. Her website is also filled with a bunch of extra goodies and fun things. If you want to know more about Christine's work go to www.christinefeehan.com and have fun.

6: Katie MacAlister: This woman also has a lot of series going and each and every one is chock full of humor. She also has some stand alone novels. In fact i just got Blow Me Down but it just came so I haven't read it. Hard Day's Knight and Men In Kilts were fantastic. She has a great vampire series and just started a really neat dragon series. If you want to see what she has going go to www.katiemacalister.com and pay her a visit.

7: Linnea Sinclair: This woman rocks. She originally wrote under the name Megan Sybil Baker but now writes as Linnea Sinclair. Under her Baker name she wrote "Accidental Goddess" but it is going to be re-released in December under her Linnea name with a new cover design. Accidental Goddess is a great funny story that also is very unique. It combines fantasy with sci-fi. I loved it. And her book "Finder's Keepers" is awesome. A great read. If you want to know what she has written go to www.linneasinclair.com and check it out.

Well I think that's more than enough for now. I do believe I have rambled on long enough so I am gonna end thins for now.

I love kitties. Nothing in this world is as wonderful to me as my kitties. Well except for my Mom who's my best friend. Anyways, I have two absolutely adorable kitties. Both female. The oldest is Pudge and I call her that because she's a cute little pudge. She sleeps with me at night between my legs. It's so sweet.

The youngest cat is Spatz. I call her that because she's black with pink spots all over. She's a tortie. But she looks like a someone picked up a paintbrush and just went thwap with it. Spatz is aslo the more adventurous of the two cats. Oh the mischief she gets into. She's caused me to go gray early. But she is so sweet and lovable that she never gets into trouble.

I live in an apartment so cats are the best pets to have. Dogs don't really do well in apartments. Plus both my mother and I are disabled so it's best not to have pets who have to be walked. I also have a dread fear of dogs. I was bitten as a child in the eye and have feared dogs ever since. But I love love love my kitties. The each have their own cute but slightly twisted personality quirks.

Pudge for some unknown reason likes to sit on the toilet after you flush it and watch the water go down the hole. Spatz on the other hand likes to drink my water. I'll get a full glass of water and she will come trotting up and stick her face in and start slurping away. She drinks about a quarter of the cup. Now I know what you're thinking but cat's mouths are cleaner than ours and I never drink first. I let her have at it and when she's done I'll drink.

Those two kitties are what keeps me young and helps me deal with the many physical problems that both my mom and I have. If you want to smile a lot I highly suggest getting a kitty cat.:-)