Net Crimes & Misdemeanors

I walked down to the meeting place at Jackson Brewery for the ghost tour at 5:30. It turns out the group was of about 25 folks or so. The woman who was the tour guide said we were the biggest group they'd had since August. She was dressed normally, not in a hood and cape or anything weird, but was in all black. I'm glad I brought water with me! For the next hour and a half we walked through the French Quarter , stopping off at spots that are supposed to be haunted. What was different about this tour was that the guide had friends who had actually experienced the hauntings, not just stories that have been floating around (pun intended). Plus she threw in historial bits as needed. I liked this much better than wandering around by myself. I learned quite a bit, enjoyed the sites and took photos, which I will upload when I get home. I don't have my graphics software on this laptop, or I'd be putting photos up now. On the walk back to the hotel, there was a commotion in th...

Went to Odyssey's Shipwreck & Treasure Adventure museum. It's about the finding of the wreck SS Republic and things that were found, including loads of gold coins, bottles and other artifacts. I did the tour with a group of about 50 little kids. My ears hurt. After a short and well-done documentary, we were ushered into the first exhibit area. And guess what? A giant ship model of the SS Republic was there. . .built by Chris and his dad. I couldn't believe it! I called both Chris and his dad to tell them one of the two models they'd built was on display here. I took loads of photos, of which I will put up when I get home. I talked with the manager and some of the employees and they were pretty impressed. The son of one of the men who found the wreck was there and he was excited. How odd, but fun to see little kids looking at the model in awe. Afterwards, I had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. I've found that when I'm alone, eating at the bar means faster servic...

I love JetBlue ! If you get the chance to fly them, do it! You need to check their web site for flights and cities they fly to, because Expedia, Travelocity, other travel sites do not include them in their results yet. Not only is everyone at JetBlue friendly, funny and helpful, but boarding is painless, they offer free wireless Internet at most of the airports they fly out of and you get your very own TV screen on the back of the seat in front of you. This means no more dragging out my laptop to watch a DVD. Very, very cool! Plus, they give you snacks and full size beverages. And you can ask for seconds if you want them. The best part is that their ticket prices are lower than most of the other airlines. When I found out they flew to New Orleans, I told the travel agent who booked me for the Dept. of Justice conference I wanted to fly JetBlue. She got a bit miffed because they weren't on her list of available airlines. I wonder if that means she doesn't get a cut of the airfar...

I'm in love with another. He is short, sweet, cuddly, a little nuts, and doesn't talk too much. We met in the backyard one day. An unspoken bond was created. Every morning when I wake up, he is waiting for me patiently out back. I sneak out of the house to meet with him. My husband is very jealous. So are the dogs. My new love is named Chippy. I don't know why he loves me, but he does. I do a little "chip chip chip" sound and he comes running. Chris didn't believe me until I dragged his sleep butt out of bed one morning. He took the photos to prove I'm now the crazy chipmunk lady. I've made a promise that Chippy will be eating out of my hand by the end of the summer. And no cracks about the name. I like it. My mom turned 80 on June 24th. We had her for lunch. She tastes like chicken. I'm off to New Orleans tomorrow. I told Chris I planned on going on one of the ghost tours. I also told other people. I am so sick of hearing, "Well, there are a ...

Soooo, my first book signing was on Saturday. The day before Father's Day. There were a bunch of authors at tables located next to the cafe at the Barnes & Noble in Manchester, NH. Outside it was beautiful, but there were a lot of people in the store. I got there and was assigned a spot and set up my books and the oversized poster my publisher had sent me. I sneaked some looks at the books and authors near me. Most were self-published through a place called Author House and other vanity publishers. The guy next to me, Mark Okrant was the only one that was professionally done. His publisher, John Greene was actually there to help promote his books. The woman next to me had her sci-fi books (done by Author House). They were about a female race car driver who has a rock star boyfriend and time travels. Seriously. Then there was the fairy lady who sprinkled us all with glitter. Yes, I am so serious. It turned out the store didn't promote the event at all, not even on their we...

So I put in a bid for a domain name and won it from SnapNames because there was a very good possibility someone else was after it. I won the domain and got an email from SnapNames that Network Solutions would send me the login information within 48 hours. Three days later, still no email. So I email Network Solutions support and got a standard "we got your email and will be in touch soon" email. And I waited. Still no email with the login info. But I did get a survey from them asking how their service was. I was honest. It sucked. I got a prompt reply and a voicemail message from their corporate office apologizing and saying that the email had been sent out and was being sent out again. I still didn't receive it. Now this was earlier this week when that horrendous worm hit the net, so I thought that was why. I waited another day and called Network Solutions and got a very nice woman, Jennifer to help me. We went through everything and it dawned on me. I bet they had a sp...

Okay, it's sick humor. Tongue in cheek - don't forget that: Bonsai Kittens How to Hunt Feral Cats in Wisconsin with a 12 pound Coehorn Mortar Cannon

I used to admire Ann Coulter. She used to make some sense. But her latest book (which I refuse to name here, as it would just promote it further) and her recent interviews have me seriously questioning her sanity. She used to try to be the "voice of the people," saying things many of us wanted to say out loud. Now she is just plain mean. She is attacking four 9/11 widows, jumping down their throats for "making money" off of their husband's deaths. Hello? These four women lost their husbands, their soul mates, the fathers of their children. They were left without that income that was coming in. Yes, they got some money as compensation, but now these women have to fend for themselves, raise their children on their own and turned to each other for help. So what if they sell books, do interviews, etc? They are not letting what their husbands die for go away. Besides, Ann Coulter is just as guilty as what she is accusing these women of. She is making money off of 9/1...

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First, book news: For some reason, the 2nd edition of Net Crimes has problems. If you don't know about these, read my previous post about my trip to D.C. I began calling local bookstores to schedule a book signing. Well, Barnes & Noble and Borders are interested, but are having trouble getting the book. According to their distributors, the book came out in November 2005. Huh? I had to explain the book just came out and they could contact my publisher to verify. So, for the first few book signings, I have to bring copies of the book myself. To me that's unprofessional and makes it look like I self-published the book, which I did not. I am not a happy camper about this. My publisher is trying to fix it. Now for my trip news: I told my mom she could come with me on my trip down to Smithfield, RI to speak at the Rhode Island Library Association annual conference. After I made the offer, I was wondering if I'd regret it. I love my mom, but she's my mom and she likes to...