Care of Wooden Floors

Our unnamed narrator in an unnamed Eastern European city has agreed to take on what should be a simple task: house-sit an apartment and two cats while his friend Oskar is away in L.A. taking care of his divorce settlement. Easy, right? Unfortunately, Oskar is anything but easygoing. He has left a frenzy of ultra-specific notes all around the apartment, detailing how to care for everything in sight (right down to the CD player) and giving stern warnings (the piano says "Do Not Play"), particularly about his beloved wooden floors. Well, predictably, things do not go well. What starts as a simple wine stain on the floor (oh no!) soon threatens to take over our hero's mental health.

The novel's dry wit is charming and engaging. I particularly liked how Oskar, who is absent from the apartment, is actually more present than our narrator who is living there. His presence is everywhere, from the notes, to the obsessive orderliness,  to his favourite music. His apartment reflects his personality so much that it starts to overtake the narrator's own personality (it's no accident that we never learn the narrator's name, or even the name of the city. All there is Oskar...well, and his cats). It's like Oskar says, First you make your room and then the room makes you.

hey... not always a world-class top model!

Vampire Love Story

I was browsing around trying to find a fun new vampire story. I came across H.T. Night's vampire novel and thought I'd give it a chance. I never have given a review before but for this book I just had to. H.T. Night creates an awesome brand new world of vampires. It was thoughtful, intense, and ground breaking for the vampire genre. I can't wait for the sequel. It was too much fun!

Shooting #13

Lucky number. Shooting #13 by Manolo, great friend and artist from SF. I love the light on me, and of course, my new look for this cool and pro occasion.

Happy Valentine my love

It's my gift for you, Jess, it's not your girlfriend Kiera, but for that romantic night, it's just you Kiera doll, and you can play with her for hours, remember, it's your Kiera doll that night. Be romantic with her, be rude and savage, no matter, Kiera doll like all that you do with her!

Gotham City Sirens Vol. 1: Union HC

Being a Batman geek, it doesn't take long to love Harley Quinn. One thing I love about this comic is that you can hear Arleen Sorkin's voice coming out of every one of Harley's speech bubbles. Not that Ivy and Catwoman aren't lovable and dangerous) too. This gives you some nice up-close-and-personal relationships with all three women, along with a section focusing on a Batman (Nightwing)/Riddler team-up. With everyone else in the Batverse going to hell with their lives, it's nice to see the, by comparison, relaxed lives of the ladies as they make their own headquarters.

Paul Dini's writing is great, of course, and nobody understands Harley like her creator. And some of the lines, like Harley's "A lot of crazy thoughts go through your head just as you're about to be stabbed to death by an angry dwarf." and the "Joker"'s "Shh! Be vewy, vewy quiet. I'm hunting wascawwy wenches.", are just precious. Not to mention the fact that we finally get to see Harley's family. The "Gaggy" storyline seemed a bit odd at first, but I looked it up, and the guy really did exist way back in the early comics age, so I guess it works.

I wasn't quite sure about Guillem March's art at first, being used to Jim Lee's work on Hush, but I'm adjusting to it. You gotta love a lot of his expressions, especially. Ivy's innocent expression when admitting that she gave away thirty million dollars to charity, and Harley's ecstasy upon seeing her neice and nephew ("HI, MONKEYS!") are fantastic.

If you find that Batman's villains actually more interesting than the caped crusader himself, I'd call this a must-buy.

Hey Jess... Infidelity... LOL

Batwoman: Elegy

From the classy introduction by Rachel Maddow to the voluminous bonus features that end this book, it never ceases to amaze. I collected the Detective Comics issues as they came out, and I never could decide which I liked more - Rucka's story, pitting a more realistic and tragically complex Batwoman against a villian who is so twisted and dark - or is it Williams's psychadelic, uber-detailed, gorgeous artwork? The answer is actually simple: we're so lucky that they worked on this project together.

This collection will take you through Batwoman meeting a major villian in the form of Alice, the new High Priestess for the Religion of Crime, an organization Batwoman seeks to destroy since their previous leader tried to kill her (see52, Vol. 4). She discovers that maybe Alice is a little less crazy that she'd originally thought.

and, of course, Batwoman's "origin" story - what made her want to fight crime, vigilante-style? We learn Kate Kane's chilhood tragedy, personal drive, and unimpeachible integrity. And most of all, we learn that she is most certainly not simply a "female Batman." She definitely has her own style.

Included as bonus material are five beautifully drawn alternate covers, showing us other artists takes on Batwoman. The one by Alex Ross is amazing. Also we get to see a few story boards for important scenes, and early character sheets for Kate that show us her personal style, and a very informative rough of the batwoman costume, with handwritten notes on changes made to it since her debut in 52.

Overall, this book is so worth owning, even if you collected the monthly issues. If I could have made only one entertainment purchase for myself all year, it would have been this book.

natural = ugly... Not now, because I'm in love, I have true and deep friends, and I speak with dad.

Ferocious Romance: What My Encounters with the Right Taught Me About Sex, God, and Fury

Whew, Minkowitz really bit off a huge chunk here. From infiltrating the Promise Keepers (and oh what a controlling bunch that is!), to interviewing the right wing "Focus" staff, she leaves no stone unturned and no sacred cow undefiled. As a lesbian and a writer, she sought to expose the right wing ultraconservative religious factions, but ended up identifying with them on many levels.

I got this book because I wanted to read her explorations and hopefully, her exposing of their frailties .... but was disappointed that she did little exposing. The christian groups she visited seemed more pitiful than volcanic.

I wanted more in the way of bashing, I guess. As a survivor of sexual abuse at the hand of an evangelical minister, I wanted her to say more about the hypocrasy that exists in right wing christian churches, not to identify with them. I wanted more of a down and dirty expose' of their manipulation and scare tactics. I wanted her to validate what I had experienced in the guise of religion. I wanted her to stand up in the "glamour" workshop and get that makeover, and proclaim that she is lesbian.... and she didn't.

Her juxiposition of an S/M lifestyle with the ultraconservative religious right seemed out of place, but gave the reader an insight as to where she is as an individual.

Modeling with Jess, my girlfriend and big part of my soul, for month now.

The Queen of Whale Cay: The Eccentric Story of 'Joe' Carstairs, Fastest Woman on Water

While I find the story of Joe Carstairs fascinating, I find Summerscale's attempt at explaining this enigma falls short of the mark. I believe there must be many others with far greater experience as writers/biographers, and even some who knew Carstairs personally, who would have been better qualified to tell this story. Summerscale's naivete and general lack of knowledge about the period during which Carstairs made her mark is glaringly obvious throughout much of the book. Her attempt to write this story became an education for herself, worthwhile, but of no service to her readers. I would have appreciated more insight and less supposition. I also find her attempts to turn everything Carstairs did or made into a metaphor for self-imposed exile a bit hard to swallow. Carstairs was no recluse--she was quite the opposite; an exhibitionist extraordinaire.

Modeling with AK3, strange little man with great ideas for me and my twisted mind.

Gay Bar: The Fabulous, True Story of a Daring Woman and Her Boys in the 1950s

More than a decade before the uprising at the Stonewall Inn, gay bars existed in most major cities, but were often poorly-run establishments targeted by homophobes, mobsters and police entrapment. Helen's bar was different, a 1950's oasis located in a crime-riddled area of Los Angeles, where quiet, closeted gay men could meet, drink and socialize with their peers. With her intuition and experience working in other bars, Helen screened new customers, tipping off her regulars through various methods when she was unsure whether they were legit. She became their protector, friend, occasional advisor and confessor, and they were very loyal to her in return.

The late Helen P. Branson released her memoir "Gay Bar" in 1957, and it became one of the first books by a heterosexual to portray gay men with empathy, love and respect. In this re-issue, Will Fellows takes Branson's original chapters and interleaves updates, subsequent research and commentary to put them in perspective. While Branson's observations occasionally mimic the stereotypes about gay men at the time, it's clear that she had only admiration for "her boys" and was thankful for the chance she had to be with them. The book is really a "time capsule" of gay history, not a scholarly work, but a look at a time and place one would otherwise not discover. It is both enchanting and enlightening reading for open-minded people of any age or sexual orientation, and I give it a full five stars out of five.

Modeling with Loren, great friend of mine, playing with lights and shades... Modeling like I love.

At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream: Misadventures in Search of the Simple Life

"there's a raccoon on my head. and i don't particularly look good in hats. especially when they're still moving." and that is how wade rouse got me started on his memoir, laughing my you know what off. this is what it is all about. you can either feel sorry for the 40 year old gay men who is freaking out about life, or you can laugh about all the funny things we encounter in life that he so eloquently puts on the page. if you live in new york or los angeles, you might wonder what in god's name a guy in a midwestern city feels all that pressured about? but a gay man in any city is still a gay man! and as you follow his ten "life lessons," all written down on napkins while high on caffeine, you will realize that whether we live in a city of 300K or 30 million, a city is a city is a city. you still have to give up LOGO, and kenneth cole, and, yes, the boys. ok, so the last one is not part of the ten. the point is, by reading about his frustrations one rediscovers what is essential. at the end of the day, do we really need cable? maybe not. but for some us, a neighbor to hear our scream is nice.

I'm your slave, sexualy I'm your slave, you show me the best, the nastier of my deep erotic thougts, with you, I'm happy, I feel pretty, hot and provocating. You're my first true love, and you know that; I'm enslaved by your fantastic will, and I'm happy like that...

mode model

This is my third shooting session for modeling non-nude, and it's good! not so easy because my photographer want some "special" lights, but refreshing and cool. I like this job, and meet some of my next employers (maybe maybe!!!).

Like Dita...

Trying to modeling... It was a very interesting session, glamorous one, dita-like afficionado. I hope some editors like my work, it's a great passion for me, and I want to be well-paid for that shooting sessions.

Hey... I'm Kiera.