If it's Monday, it must be...

...yes, that's right, Manlove! Back by popular demand. A day to talk about all things related to the men lovin' the men. Of course, you will have already checked out the fabulous blog of dear lisabea for hijinks and hot man pics. And if you haven't checked it out, then hurry up and do so!

For myself, I have a bit of a confession to make. I was all set to do some pondering and deep thinking and had planned to write about my introduction to m/m love in books. And then I got side-tracked. Basically, my whole day got eaten up by obsessively watching Season 1 of Doctor Who. Did you know that Netflix does this thing where you can stream video over the web and watch movies instead of waiting for them to come through the mail? Yeah. Pretty cool stuff! Um yeah, so that's why this entry will be short and probably a lot less intelligent-sounding than first intended.

But let's go back to the beginning. I have been trying to think back and recall the very first time that I read a book that included some m/m action. I don't want to count the bits from some of Robin Schone's books (I'm vaguely remembering something from The Lady's Tutor?) where m/m is a kind of shorthand for 'evol and depraved' cuz honestly, where's the love? No, I think the first time I ever stumbled across manlove would have to be when I picked up the last installment in Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty erotic novels. Holey wow! For a nice little Christian missionary girl like me, this was an eye-opening experience. (*cue music to "A Whole New World"*)

From there I moved on to some good ol' Emma Holly. First up was Menage which I got because I thought it sounded kinda spicy. And it was. Only the spiciest bits were not so much the threesomes, they were the intense and passionate exchanges between Joe and Sean. That whole ending where Joe comes back all alpha male and "marries" Kate? Rubbish. I don't buy it for a moment. Those guys have to be together. Whether or not they add Kate to the mix is immaterial. Point being, it was the first time that I was emotionally rooting for the other guy (something like cheering the notorious "other woman" perhaps?) to get the guy.

More Emma Holly followed. Cooking Up a Storm featured a hot Quebecois chef who was very, shall we say, comfortable with his sexuality? And another Holly book, Fairyville, again was all about the connection between the two men that made the book worth reading. All that crap about Magnus and his magical wee wasn't nearly as compelling as Bryan and Alex. (Although I will say that the best scene in the book, for my money, is when Magnus goes down on Bryan...hothothot!)

Which leads me to my first REAL m/m romance novel. Yes, you knew I had to mention it. My Fair Captain by the incomparable JL Langley. I already blogged about this one, so I won't rehash it here. But since then, I'm both eager to jump into more m/m books and also terrified to do so for fear that none of them will live up to my very high expectations after Langley. Now that I've typed that, the solution occurs to me that I should probably start by...um...reading more Langley? righto, sula, you're a real bright one.

Anyways, to finish this rather rambling entry, I figured I'd take a page from my dear buddy lisabea and offer a copy of My Fair Captain to one lucky reader out there. Yeah, ok, perhaps it's just a scheme to get you to comment on my blog, but consider...you could win one of the best reads of 2007! So join in the fun of the day and share your thoughts, recommendations, cheers, jeers, or whatever.

Happy Manlove Monday!

Doctor...Who?

Well I'm now officially addicted to another TV series. Ever since I realized belatedly that I've had BBC America all this time on my cable line-up (I thought it had gone away when we cancelled the extra set of channels but stupidly never bothered to check), I have been revelling in the ability to satiate my Richard Armitage fetish by DVRing Robin Hood. Now, thanks to a hot tip from Carrie Lofty, I've added another show to my 'record all episodes' DVR list. Thanks a lot, Carrie...now I'll be sure to waste hours and hours in front of the tube! lol.

Do I dare to even try give a summary as to what the show's about? I've only watched five episodes so far - the last three of season 2 and the first two installments of season 3. I don't even have all of the characters or plot lines remotely straight. There's this quirky guy who doesn't have a name other than "The Doctor" who travels around space and time in a police box and sorts out problems dealing with various alien forces and manifestations. In the episodes I saw, he was accompanied by a side-kick or assistant named Rose. Now it appears that she won't be in the next season and another gal is being set up as the side-kick. I'm sure that fans have their opinions as to the relative merits of this development. Me, I don't have an opinion. Other than that what I saw made me want to go back and see how the relationship between the Doctor and Rose developed because it was quite obvious in the season finale that there was a something very real and deep between them.

What I quite liked about what I've seen so far is that this show is not strictly sci-fi. It also has strong elements of drama, comedy, adventure, and even little hints of romance. And while I found myself laughing at the almost Peter-Pan like whimsy of the Doctor on than one occasion, the "bad guys" and their nefarious intentions are very real and quite dark. Who would have thought that a tin can that looks like a squared-off version of R2-D2 could actually be scary. When it's gliding around screeching "Exterminate!" in maniacal-robot tones and then shooting people into dust bits, it starts looking a lot less cute. And then there was this super-creepy part in which the humans are being conquered by these machine-like beings and having their brains sucked out and installed into metal bodies. eep!

What makes it all watchable is the human element. The Doctor is a multi-faceted character who is alteratively really funny, incredibly smart, deadly serious, and deeply intuitive. You get the impression that beneath his cheerful and often flippant mannerisisms he is an old soul. From what little I saw of Rose, she impressed me as having her head screwed on straight and not just being a TSTL female side-kick installed for the purpose of making the male lead look stronger and smarter. She's in touch with her emotions, but she's also strong and resourceful. I quite liked her and look forward to seeing the previous seasons.

Now I'm off to netflix to see if I can't find the aforementioned previous episodes. Yay for more entertainment to fill my already busy schedule.

another week gone

Well at least it is Friday. Haven't really felt like blogging much this week. I did finish Chesapeake Blue by Nora Roberts and Vixen by Jane Feather and may try to write up some very brief comments on them this weekend. But to be quite honest, I'm still feeling a little blue about the previous entry's subject. I know, that's crazy. I didn't know the guy. But there you go. Makes me think about mortality and life and all that serious stuff.

Anyways, I'm also back to having my Tuesday and Thursday nights taken up with MBA classes. I'm studying Operations and Supply Chain Management as well as Financial Management. As boring as it sounds, there are moments of coolness, the times when I'm reading a textbook or sitting in class and I get an "aha" moment. What I'm really hoping for is to be able to take some of the ideas and apply them to my own job. I have a fair amount of flexibility and say-so in how my area is run, but I get so busy in the day to day tasks that I don't often take the time to step back and make a master plan for the year. This is something that I really have to do. I don't want to stay a worker bee, I want to move up in the world. Probably would be a good idea to develop some more organizational skills.

Oh, it looks like lisabea and I (and others?) will be resurrecting Man Love Monday, so stay tuned. I'm contemplating my contribution but still haven't settled on an exact topic. Most likely Emma Holly will figure into it though, since I'm a relative newbie to m/m anything. I'm almost worried that My Fair Captain will have spoiled me. Can they all be that good? Inquiring minds want to know.

K, time to go to work and be productive. See you on the other side!

(I'm posting white shirt just to cheer me up and make me smile. Nothing new to see here, but sometimes you just need comfort eye candy. le sigh)

Can't believe the news today

I remember seeing Heath Ledger for the first time as the young upstart in The Patriot. As overblown as the film was, his passion and youthful energy really jumped off the screen and made me sit up and take notice. Of course, his rugged good looks didn't hurt either, but you got the impression that there was more to him than just a pretty face. And who could forget the rollicking fun of A Knight's Tale? Cheesy and anachronistic? Sure, but what an entertaining movie, and Heath played that role to perfection. The poor boy peeking out from behind the swaggering mask of the arrogant young "knight", longing for the respect of his peers and the love of a good woman. I'll admit, in the intervening years, my travels having taken me away from following films, I had only kept tabs on his career by reading headlines and reviews. I was happy to see that he took the road less traveled by choosing roles that one wouldn't expect of a Hollywood heartthrob. I know that he'll always be remembered for his role in Brokeback Mountain, but I haven't yet seen the film. I'm a sissy at heart and don't want to be sad, and I know that the movie has to be a tearjerker. And now I know that when I do finally watch it, it will be an even sadder experience.

We were the same age. 28 years seems too short. I suppose we'll always wonder what might have been. He left behind an impressive body of work for one so young. And a little girl named Matilda will never know her daddy.

Bleak Weather, Bleak House

It snowed today. Quite a lot actually for this area. So we all got to go home at noon and my night class was cancelled. Hooray for snow days! I took the opportunity to curl up with my latest period mini-series and appropriately enough on a bleak winter day, I watched the entire set of episodes to Bleak House, all 15 of them. Just finished a few minutes ago.

How was it, you ask? Very entertaining, very good. Why the hell can't we clone the BBC and have a few of them over here making movies on a constant basis? In any event, I'm too tired to write a review. I did, however, find a very comprehensive write-up elsewhere on the web and you can find it by clicking here if you're interested.

High points include Anna Maxwell Martin as the central female character. She's got quite a unique face and very serene yet strong presence. I liked her a lot in North and South and it was nice to see her in a larger role here.

Oh and there is some little known actress named Gillian Anderson that shows up now and again...you might have heard of her? Yeah, actually I never did watch an entire episode of the X-files but it was still a bit weird to see her in period dress and speaking with a British accent. Not bad, just weird. I think she did quite a nice job. Very cold and aloof and stuffy. Lovely, dahling...

Alright, off to bed. Too bad the snow has stopped and I will have to go back to work tomorrow but at least we've been told the office opens an hour later than usual. One more hour to sleep in! Or to get up and read some more of Chesapeake Blue. I do love those Quinn boys!

More Richard-ey goodness

Oh la la, I have fallen behind in blogging. What's there to report?

Well, I started MBA classes again for the spring semester. Which means that I'll be back to agonizing about how I "should" be doing homework whilst I'm surfing blogland or reading romance novels.

I watched the first part of Bleak House which looks to be excellent (thanks again, GailK!). I think I'm going to save it for the weekend when I can sit down and watch a ton of it in one go.

I finished my re-read of Devil's Bride after really going at a leisurely pace. It seemed longer than I remember. I still like Honoria because she's a pretty tough cookie and she really never does "submit" to Devil and his high-handedness. Devil I really like because he doesn't see Honoria as inferior or flighty or somehow "less" because she's a woman. Yeah, he's an alpha male, yadda yadda, but I don't think he's an arse. He's protective of his family and those he loves and interestingly enough, he never does actually verbalize his feelings to Honoria in this book (I think he says the big L word later on in one of the other Cynster books). This actually seems in character though and almost refreshing. Oh yeah, and can I just say? Richard Armitage as Devil? Definitely workin' for me. I'm thinking the longer hair ala Guy of Gisbourne but with the sexy white cravat ala John Thornton. ooh baby! Which leads to the next point...

At the moment, I'm enjoying more of dear Richard in his HILARIOUS and adorable guest role in the British sitcom The Vicar of Dibley. He plays the love interest of the woman vicar who is (let's be honest) rather well-endowed and full-figured. How cool is it to see THE hottest guy in town falling crazy in love with a woman who doesn't fit the stereotypical heroine profile? And did I mention that the whole episode is freakin' funny? And that Richard is hotter than hot? Ok, so I did.

Heads up, all you RA fans...if you haven't put the Vicar of Dibley: A Holy Wholly Happy Ending on your netflix queue, you're missing out!

A little teaser...



And you should really check out this clip and skip ahead to 8:00 for Richard as a sexy accountant bargaining over kisses "with tongues"! *g*

Period mini-series watch-a-thon

And you thought I was going to talk about that neat Jane Austen fest that's going down over at PBS starting tomorrow....

Nope. (Although I do have my DVR set up to record and all). I've been ensconced in a veritable plethora of BBC dramas thanks to my friend GailK. Yesterday and today I watched an adaptation of Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers (whose cast included a very young Mira Sorvino) and this evening I have gotten 1/3 of the way through George Eliot's Middlemarch. tumperkin, I have spotted dear Rufus and he is a doll. Here's hoping he gets the girl in the end. I still have Bleak House and Elizabeth the Virgin Queen to get through as well. Good times.

In other news I did a bit of shopping today and managed to snag some post-holiday clean-out-the-store sales. I love a good bargain, and I REALLY love shopping for clothes in my new size(s). Speaking of sizes, what is up with standard sizing? It seems that every single label has their own chart because I never know what I should try on and end up grabbing 4, 6 and 8 and it's a crap-shoot as to which will be my size. pfft. Anyways, cute clothes inspire one to keep up the healthy habits and whatnot. I even did pilates in front of the TV whilst watching my period dramas. *g*

On the reading front, I finished DoY (le sigh) and let me just say that Richard Armitage plays a fantastic Derek. At least in my head he does. Now I'm a chapter or so into Devil's Bride. And wouldn't you know it, but the hero is dark and handsome and I might just have to slot poor Richard into playing that role as well. One can never have too much Richard, imho. Nor too much of this picture.