Finally Meeting Junior High Crush??

CPC 2006 – Anaheim – Day One of First of Three CPC’s! Here are some miscellaneous pics and info for friends and family, ending with the story I headlined with: meeting Lisa Whelchel. Here is the best Uncle and Aunt I have. (except for the others!) My Uncle Wilson is as smart as a rocket scientist… oh wait, he IS a rocket scientist for Boeing after years and years at McDonald Douglas before Boeing bought them. While most famous for her brownies, my Aunt Linda is one of the sources of my creativity and inspiration since I was in HER children’s church as a kid… and showed me how to love and teach kids! And she’s still at it, teaching first grade in the inner city of LA for 11 years now! We stayed at their house for two nights before CPC to enjoy Disneyland in the Rain! No trip to California is complete without a trip to IN-N-OUT burger. A popular restaurant with a very short menu, but lots of favorites not on the menu. (My sister worked at this very location in high school.. before a Mac truck hit her and ended her career… she survived, but quit…

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2nd Annual Disneyland in the Rain Event!

Yes, it was back to Disneyland in the rain. (again) Last year we stayed a day after CPC to visit Disneyland and went in the pouring rain with some friends, so this year we decided to go a day before CPC…. but it poured again! Klinkers, Tanners and Bastians… last year…. (since I wasn’t bloggin’ yet then) This is 2006… Steve Tanner and my cousin Andy Blackwell joined us. Kinda looks like 2005 pic, huh? But, hey…. it’s all about the memories…. even WET ones! Here’s “me and Andy”* – my best friend as a kid growin’ up in southern California. “Snoop” of “Sneak n Snoop” in our secret detective agency we formed. (I was “Sneak”) Here’s me with my best friend now… (she’s cuter than Andy) and Andy never washed my socks or cooked for me. :) Sorry Andy, but I highly recommend a wife. :-D Though I did catch her kissin’ another man at Disneyland…. and a FROG at that! Disneyland is celebrating it’s 50th Birthday, and there was a lot of fun and cool stuff around the park, but rather than bore you with all that…. (go see for yourself)…. I MUST say the fireworks show was…

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A Christmas ADVENTure!

If like Christmas music, you will enjoy Steve Tanner’s 25 Days of Christmas music! Now in it’s 5th year, this DAILY FREE MUSIC feature of Kidology’s Director of Web Operations personal website, is a fun and educational way to get some new and sometimes unusual Christmas Music! We thought we had a decent Christmas music collection with nearly 250 songs, but have learned that Steve Tanner can boast over 2000 songs and 6 non-stop days of Christmas music! If you didn’t get a chance to go downtown and see the State Street Windows, Steve has also finished his third annual STATE STREET SHOWDOWN where he photographs – evaluates – and chooses a winner each year. His reviews have actual drawn the attention of the window creators… who an unrealiable source tells me they reportedly offer bribes now to get Steve to pick their window as the best! ENJOY THE MUSIC!

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KING KONG: TOO LONG, TOO LAME, TOO GROSS

KING KONG turned out to be the KING of DISAPPOINTMENTS for me. I was REALLY looking forward to this movie, but it seems Narnia will be the King this season. While there were some pretty intense scenes, overall I was very disappointed, and I don’t think it is worth your seven bucks: 1) TOO LONG – they wasted waaaaaaaaay too much time developing characters that weren’t central and that would just be eaten or otherwise killed. I guess they tried to make you care, or tried to build attachment, but it fell short. They would have been better off starting when they got to the island, everything before it is irrelevant and trite. 2) TOO LAME – ok, I like a strong woman who can hold her own, and she definately keeps her wits about her and is able to save her life that way… but fallling in love with the big ape? Paleeeeze. The loving looks were just too much. (Bleh!) She should have been glad when she was out of there, not wanting to go back. What did she want to do? Grow old with him and raise a family? She seemed to care more about Kong than…

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1469 Days Later….

YES! It is one thousand four hundred and sixty-nine days since I got the idea for my novel! Here I am – driving to meet our printer with the first shipment of the books!We met in an undisclosed parking lot. I pulled up next to him, looked both ways, and whispered, “You got the stuff?” He said, “It’s all in my truck.” He assured me it was good stuff. After examining a sample, I agreed. After one more glance around, we began the transfer. No one seemed to notice even though we were on a busy street. How to fit them all in a PK Cruiser? Hmmmm… The rest had to go in the building. But now I can have a mobile bookstore and can open shop in parking lots everywhere! Here is the happy author excited to hold the FIRST OFFICIAL COPY in his hands! WARNING: Shameless Promotion Ahead! The PRE-ORDER SALE ends midnight Friday, so this will be your last chance to get 11 copies for only $9 each, plus a signed copy. AND FREE SHIPING! There will never be a sale like this, this is to help with the initial printing cost. (every order is greatly appreciated…

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