Try this again

<div id="gr_add_to_books">
<div class="gr_custom_each_container_">
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/isbn_to_id/0439139600" style="border:none" target="_blank"><img alt="Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)" src="http://www.goodreads.com/images/atmb_add_book-70x25.png?1306447144" /></a>
</div>
</div>

<!-- the identifier in the following script tag can be a GR book id or an isbn -->
<script language="javascript" src="http://www.goodreads.com/book/add_to_book_widget_frame/0439139600?atmb_widget%5Bbutton%5D=atmb_widget_1.png"></script>

Giveaway!

I'm doing a giveaway through Goodreads for a week, very exciting stuff!  <div id="goodreadsGiveawayWidget11176"><!-- Show static html as a placeholder in case js is not enabled -->

<div class="goodreadsGiveawayWidget" style="max-width: 350px; margin: 10px auto; padding: 10px 15px; border: 2px solid #EBE8D5; border-radius: 10px;">
  <style>
    .goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 14px;
      font-style: normal; background: white; }
    .goodreadsGiveawayWidget img { padding: 0 !important; margin: 0 !important; }
    .goodreadsGiveawayWidget a { padding: 0 !important; margin: 0; color: #660; text-decoration: none; }
    .goodreadsGiveawayWidget a:visted { color: #660; text-decoration: none; }
    .goodreadsGiveawayWidget a:hover { color: #660; text-decoration: underline !important; }
    .goodreadsGiveawayWidget p { margin: 0 0 .5em !important; padding: 0; }
    .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink { display: block; width: 150px; margin: 10px auto 0 !important; padding: 0px 5px !important;
      text-align: center; line-height: 1.8em; color: #222; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;
      border: 1px solid #6A6454; -moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; font-family:arial,verdana,helvetica,sans-serif;
      background-image:url(http://goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_button4.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-color:#BBB596;
      outline: 0; white-space: nowrap;
    }
    .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink:hover { background-image:url(http://goodreads.com/images/layout/gr_button4_hover.gif);
      color: black; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;
    }
  </style>
  <h2 style="margin: 0 0 10px !important; padding: 0 !important; font-style: italic; font-size: 20px; line-height: 20px; font-weight: normal; text-align: center; color: #555;">
    <a href="http://www.goodreads.com" target="_new">Goodreads</a> Book Giveaway
  </h2>

 
  
    <div style="float: left;">
    
        <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11354719"><img alt="Hotblood by Juliann Whicker" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51cKM5RZOOL.jpg" title="Hotblood by Juliann Whicker" width="100" /></a>
    
    </div>
  
    <div style="margin: 0 0 0 110px !important; padding: 0 0 0 0 !important;">
      <h3 style="margin: 0; padding: 0; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal;">
      
          <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11354719">Hotblood</a>
      
      </h3>
      <h4 style="margin: 0 0 10px; padding: 0; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">
      
          by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4754377" style="text-decoration: none;">Juliann Whicker</a>
      
      </h4>
    
      <div class="giveaway_details">
      
          <p>
            Giveaway ends June 07, 2011.
          </p>
          <p>
            See the <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/11176" style="text-decoration: none;">giveaway details</a>
            at Goodreads.
          </p>
      
      </div>
    </div>
    <div style="clear: both;"></div>
  
  
      <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_choose_address/11176" class="goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink">Enter to win</a>
  
  
  </div>
</div><script src="http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/widget/11176" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script>

Poison

Slips between the cracks in the sidewalks, spreading fingers, green, brown, palely glistening like toxic pearls pooling over pavement. Itch nix and brown soap, soap that doesn't sud, but leaves a yellow hint behind. Today I tangled with the poison ivy in an attempt to hang a kittens sign on our poison tree. Some day I'll find a weapon, a tool that will wilt, wither, destroy and vanquish the dreaded foe. Til then, I have my duct tape, flip flops, and an urgent prayer that I will not slip and plunge headfirst into the foliage.

Life is a picnic

Softball vs. Soccer, House of Bliss vs. House of Slide, Lewis vs. the Nether, who I think should have a name. I am at this part where Lewis melts off Satan's face, and you can see the ligaments and chunks of bone mixed with blood and muscle, very evocative of the kind of thing you should not think about while preparing potluck. Tomatoes? No, nothing red, thanks very much. Carrot sticks? Better, but still, the crunching might sound too bone snapping. My peas are nearly to the snapping point. That's exciting. I cleared some weeds and discovered that deer have been nipping my grape down to the hoary vine. Hoary? Why not.

fury

All right. So. Bad haircuts. We've all had them, we've all wept, screamed, had to go home and get the dog grooming scissors to manage the damage. And yet, we keep trying. I tipped her, oh yes, because she had to take a break from this two hour tortuous debacle to weep. I was strong, I waited until I was out in the car. At least I can find some satisfaction in the fact that she had as miserable a time as I did. Sigh. Scream. Pull my hair out. Oh well. I will be wearing makeup--lots, until this mess grows long enough for me to recruit someone more capable of communication. Seriously. No ability to hear, listen, integrate understanding from her perspective to mine. Like going to a stylist who makes everyone look like them. What is the point!?!? Anger. Yeah. Besides which, it was such an easy haircut that I wanted. Simple. Exactly like the one I had, only trimmed up. Seriously. She had it all sleek and bobbish, like I should wear an executive suit and sunglasses, hop in my BMW and have lunch with some nasty catty women. Not me. At all. So I turn around and look at the woman beside me who is raving about how much she adores her hair. Guess what? Same exact haircut as the one I didn't want. No one accused her of originality. Or artistic sensibilities. Or... exhale. It's all good.

Brown

True love, like cookie dough malts or the caribbean blue of my cupboards is the passion. Brown used to be a color to hate. Who would paint their house brown? I didn't understand. Growing up in the desert where the sun beats down while you drowse, soaking up the color of dirt, it's everywhere. You step into some shade, the color green filtering the beating sun, the cool beneath your feet of prickly drought resistant grass, green was the color of my heart. Now it's brown. Here the green explodes at you from every side, a continual assault that never ever gives your eye rest. My house is brown. When I first moved here I wanted to paint it almost any other color, now, remarkably, I'm satisfied, no, pleased with its dun color.

Hit and Miss

Mostly miss. Somehow I never thought I wouldn't be happy with a love triangle going the way I wanted it to go. I mean, Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, I read, very much liked, and yet, I am dissatisfied with the resolution. It's not that I don't like how it ended, I do, but I'm not satisfied. This makes no sense, even to me. In the Phantom of the Opera I root for the Phantom, mostly because he's more interesting even if he'd make a terrible boyfriend. So her decisions are actually very intelligent real world wise, but not as interesting plot wise. I suppose that's it. It's like if Bella met Mike and they hit it off and Edward was a cute guy that Bella crushed on but didn't actually like. Hmmm. Unless she still got sucked into vampireland, it would be a cute story without anything dynamic. Two people being together who are good for each other is really great, and we want that in real life, but it lacks the torment that sucks me into fiction.