I, along with millions of fans have been for years for a new release from Breaking Benjamin. After health issues and a lawsuit and new band members, Breaking Benjamin, is back. They’re touring, they’ve got a new single that released this morning, and they’ve got a new album, Dark Before Dawn, set to release in June.
Links were supposed to go live at 9am EST this morning, but so far, the links aren’t live. I’ll be checking throughout the day though… For now, I’ll keep with the ecstatic feeling when I hear Benjamin Burnley sing…
It’s a busy day. A very busy day and I haven’t even started writing yet, which is something I need to do before the day is over. In a little bit I’ll be headed out to the post office, the gas station, and the grocery store. Last minute errands before I leave tomorrow morning.
For those of you who don’t know, I’ll be headed to Cincinnati, Ohio for the annual Lori Foster Reader/Author Get Together. I always look forward to this trip. It’s fun, relaxed, and Cincinnati is one of my favorite cities. If you’re going to be in attendance, please say hi! I’d love to see you, or meet you if I haven’t before.
I drive to the event because I love road trips. I love to drive, even though it’s mentally exhausting and I’m stiff and achy when I get out of the car after being in the seat for 3-4 hours, I love to drive and take road trips. I don’t do it as often as I’d like, what with gas prices and the up-keep repairs on vehicles and the idiots on the road, but, I do love them. And if I can take a road that is not a major highway or an Interstate, I’m even happier.
I haven’t been to many places in my life, not as many as I’d like to, and definitely not as many as I intend to, but of those that I have, I have loved them. Driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains. Driving through the low-country in Georgia and South Carolina. Driving through the farm lands of Kentucky and Ohio. Driving through the hills of West Virginia and Virginia. Driving through the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennesee and North Carolina. Yes, I am a Southern girl. This is very well established…lol.
But the other thing about road trips is snacks. I’ll be gathering those today on my outing to the store. Some of my favorite snacks are:
1. Coke and peanuts. Yes, I’m talking peanuts IN the coke. Yum.
2. Water. I always buy a flat of water to take with me.
3. Grapes, cheese sticks, beef jerky, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, baby carrots, dried fruit. Have to have the healthy snacks because…
4. Moonpies or Little Debbie Snack Cakes or Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, or even something homemade like Fruity Pebbles Marshmallow Treats. …There’s always the junk food!
5. Gum. Variety of flavors.
What about you? What are your favorite on the road snacks?
I have a lot of favorites and they change daily. Sometimes, they change hourly depending on what I’m doing at any given moment.
This morning, as I was making my weekly batch of cold brewed coffee, I had my tablet out and was going through the RSS feeds for the food blogs I like and making a list of others to check out and drool over. This is a favorite thing of mine. I read more food blogs than I do writing blogs and author blogs.
I actually read very few author blogs. I tweet authors, share information on Facebook about author releases and other news they have, but I don’t read many author blogs, especially ones that go on and on about book pirating. (I’m tired of hearing about it honestly. I know it happens. You know it happens. We both know it’s wrong and there are even some pirates out there who know it’s wrong. But I am really sick and tired of hearing about it.)
I do read author blogs from favorite authors (Ava March, for instance) or new to me authors (Molly Harper, for another instance). I’ll look for Twitter names or Facebook profiles/pages of authors and try to get to know them that way. There are those I read though who write about their writing process, site designs, or other information that may not have anything to do with books or writing. But if it’s mostly promotion, pirates, what they don’t like, reviews, etc… I’ll pass.
I also read blogs on writing craft, social media, promotion, how-to, creativity… I love to learn things. I love to see what else I can be doing or maybe should be doing or likely shouldn’t be doing.
But honestly, y’alll… My favorite blogs are food blogs. I spend hours reading through them, searching out new ones, seeing awesome recipes or kitchens or appliances. There are times I don’t want to cook, but for the most part, cooking is my salvation. It keeps me sane to bake. I am as in love with cooking as I am with writing. They are my two biggest and most favorite passions. I am self taught in both. What I’ve learned, I’ve learned on my own. I didn’t finish college and I didn’t go to culinary school. Editors have helped a lot, showing me and guiding me… Books on the craft of writing have helped as well. Books on grammar, story, plot, voice, organization, etc… I love them.
In the kitchen? I’ve been cooking since I was a kid. My first job was in a pizza place and I fell in love with creating with food, making things, seeing people smile when that slice of pizza was exactly what they’d been wanting. There was something intoxicating about seeing people enjoying something I made and I was hooked. I’m still hooked. There’s a lot of negatives about food. In one camp, we should only eat it to fuel our bodies. In another camp, we should savor it and enjoy it. I think we should do both!
I’m as in love with cooking stores as I am with bookstores and well, yes, coffee shops. And I’m as in love with bookstores as I am with cooking stores and coffee shops. LOL!
These are passions. These are favorites and so, when time permits, I’m going to do a post about favorites. There will be music, crafts, recipes, blogs, movies, books, people, etc… And yes, I’ll be asking for your input, your favorite things, too. I always like your ideas, my dear readers…
Today, I’ll give you the first of the favorites… (this topic is on my mind because I’m watching Law and Order: Criminal Intent, right now)
Television Shows:
Law and Order (the original)
Law and Order Criminal Intent
Boston Legal/Harry’s Law (same creator)
the Big Bang Theory
Will and Grace
Burn Notice
In Plain Sight
Criminal Minds
Leverage
NCIS
I enjoy many shows, but the above are by far my top favorites. I could watch any of them, at any time, and get lost…
What are you watching? What are your favorite shows, either recent or past?
It’s a busy day. A very busy day and I haven’t even started writing yet, which is something I need to do before the day is over. In a little bit I’ll be headed out to the post office, the gas station, and the grocery store. Last minute errands before I leave tomorrow morning.
