G is for Goofy

My name is Raenice and I am a goofaholic.

This is a pic I text my sis. Don't ask me why I took it. I was bored. Crazy, I know.
As you can tell from the pic, goofy would definitely be on the list of my characteristics. Ask anyone who knows me - who REALLY knows me - and they'll tell you. Sometimes, when life gets too hectic or serious, I get goofy. It helps me blow off steam...keeps me from going crazy. Guess that's why I work well with kids. I'm not afraid to go a little cookoo. Hey they appreciate it. That pic of me is the epitome of my goofiness. My goofiness knows no bounds. Oh the text messages I've sent my family members...the pics I've taken of myself (sadly, this is but one in a myriad of others)...the voice mails I've left! Why? Cos I'd be in a goofy mood. I like to see people smile. I bet when you looked at my pic, you smiled; probably laughed til your stomach hurt (you're laughing with me, not at me, right...RIGHT). Either that or you gasped in horror.

I can't stand to be around people who are so doggone serious all the time; people who never smile or who are always griping. It's quite stifling, if you ask me. And nothing saps my energy more than being around negative people. Ugh!

I get it, there's a time and place for goofiness. Sometimes, life calls for seriousness. I can be serious, believe me. But, come on! What's that saying? "All work no play makes someone a very dull person." So yeah. Guess what. This is one addiction I don't plan to get rid of. ALL MY GOOFY-LISCIOUS PEOPLE STAND UP AND BE PROUD! Heehee.

I leave you with the main goof himself, Mr. Goofy.

F is for Food

Today, just cos I've been seriously feigning for some Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra ice cream, I've decided to post my food addictions. I'm trying to be good, but MAN don't I want some. *drool* WARNING! This post may cause serious sugar or junk food overload. Proceed with caution! Don't say I didn't warn you!

E is for Eye Candy

You know I couldn't go a whole month without blogging about cutie pies, right? Ahh! Eye candy...so sweet, tempting, and pleasing to my eyes. O how I heart thee! I guess you can kind of tell I'm a sucker for a gorgeous smile and dimples as all 4 of these cuties have both. Enjoy!

GERARD BUTLER I was introduced to this cutie pie when the awesome movie, 300, came out. Isn't he just gorgeous?! And those eyes...

BENJAMIN BRATT What can I say about this cutie, but WOW! He's always been gorgeous to me.

LAZ ALONSO This man is one of my 2 adult crushes. Simply gorgeous! I can stare at him all day. Seriously. Look at his smile. His dimples. HIM. *sigh*

ADAM RODRIGUEZ Adam Rodriguez is my other adult crush. Another cutie with a beautiful smile and dimples. I started watching CSI Miami because of this cutie. Now, of course, I'm a fan of the show, but oh how I love Eric Delko. And Sandino in Tyler Perry's movie, I Can Do Bad All By Myself? Mmm mmm mmm!*sigh*

D is for Dreams (and Aspirations)

How many of you remember the first thing you wanted to be when you grew up? I do. A Solid Gold dancer.For those of you who don't know what it is, Solid Gold was an 80s music countdown show. The difference between the music countdown shows of today like BET's 106 and Park, or VH1's Top 20 Music Video Countdown is the fact that Solid Gold had dancers. Oh, how I wanted to be one of those dancers. I was so addicted to that show...and I was only 5 years old. Thirty years later, I still have my love for dancing, though my Solid Gold dreams ended with the show.

As I got older, I went from wanting to be a dancer to wanting to be a teacher, writer, actress, singer, lawyer, doctor, nurse, and child psychologist (not at the same time, of course). My wanting to be an actress and singer was quite laughable cos I was painfully shy. I mean, getting in front of my family or even in front of my church was fine, but in front of thousands, maybe millions of people. Nuh uh. Not me. Wanting to be a lawyer was laughable too cos...well, it just was. I could've been a doctor or a nurse, but, thanks to my sister breaking her toe (I was the first one to see it...*shudder*) and my dislike of needles, well, I decided a career in the medical field just wasn't for me. So, I became an educator...and I don't regret the decision. I LOVE working with children and teens, whether I'm in the classroom, tutoring, at church...wherever. Children and teens are AWESOME!

Now, at almost 35, I still have dreams and aspirations that I'm trying to achieve. I have 3 that I'm working on now: author, entrepreneur, and doctoral candidate. I've always wanted to become an author, but I put it to the side to concentrate on school and becoming an educator. about 6 years ago, I came up with an awesome book idea and decided to use my God-given talent to write books for youth. Though I haven't become a published author yet (my time is coming, I believe that), this journey is AMAZING. I heart writing so much...coming up with characters, figuring the plot, everything.

I'm in the process of writing up a business plan for my enrichment center. A few years ago, I knew the classroom wasn't my last stop in the educational field. When I asked God about where to go, He brought to mind the fact that, when I was 14, after watching an episode of The Cosby Show (where Theo worked at a community center), I decided I wanted to have a like of enrichment centers that offered some of the stuff the community center offered and more. So, I'm working to have the dream come to reality. And in a few years, I'll be known in academia as Dr. Raenice B. Weakly, EdD. With this degree, I plan to do more research on both reading education and aliteracy, which is when people can read, but choose not to. There is so much research on illiteracy, but not enough on aliteracy.

So, what were your dreams/aspirations as a kid? Are you living them out? Or do you have new ones?

C is for The Cellar

Author: A.J. Whitten
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Horror
Release: May, 2011
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 3/5

Description: Meredith Willis is suspicious of Adrien, the new guy next door. When she dares to sneak a look into the windows of his house, she sees something in the cellar that makes her believe that Adrien might be more than just a creep—he may be an actual monster.

But her sister, Heather, doesn’t share Meredith’s repulsion. Heather believes Adrien is the only guy who really understands her. In fact, she may be falling in love with him. When Adrien and Heather are cast as the leads in the school production of Romeo and Juliet, to Heather, it feels like fate. To Meredith, it feels like a bad omen. But if she tries to tear the couple apart, she could end up in the last place she’d ever want to be: the cellar. Can Meredith convince her sister that she’s dating the living dead before it’s too late for both of them?

Review: Heather, Meredith, and their mother are mourning the loss of their father, who died in a car accident. Things are no longer the same. Heather, who was in the car that fateful night, has become depressed and no longer interacts with others, including the family. Mom is always away, while Meredith has become the only one who holds it all together. When Adrien and his mother buys the house next door, things seem to look up for Heather. Out of all the girls in the school, Adrien chose her. Meredith is automatically suspicious of him, but doesn't know how to tell Heather. Her suspicions are confirmed one day after she and a friend sneaks next door and looks into the window Adrien's cellar. Adrien and his mother are actually zombies and need Heather to continue living (or as close to living as possible, since they're zombies).

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:

• The description calls it "Romeo and Juliet meet the living dead." There was a lot of "living dead" but very little "Romeo and Juliet."
• It switched points of views often (one chapter would be in third person and the next chapter would be in 1st person - Meredith's voice).

WHAT I LIKED:

• I liked the character of Meredith...her voice. She was very realistic. I loved how, despite the fact that Heather distanced herself away after the accident, Meredith was still protective of her sister. She suspected something was wrong with Adrien and she made up her mind to do something about it. As someone who has a sister, I appreciate that. Very "no one messes with my sister!"

• The blossoming relationship between Meredith and Sam, who happens to be her friend and sister's ex-boyfriend. I personally wouldn't go for any of my sister's ex, but here, it works.

• It was gory at times...often times, maybe too gory...but it held my attenion. I wanted to keep reading to see if Meredith would succeed.

• The ending was a very surprising twist. That's all I'll say about that.

This book is not for the faint of heart. Like I said, at times, it was a bit too descriptive when it came to the zombies and what they did.

B is for BOOKS!

How do I love books! Let me count the ways! My love affair with books began at a very young age...about 3 or 4 years old. Side Note: I started early, thanks to my parents. By the time I was 2, I knew my ABCs and 123s. Anywho, I've been in love with books ever since. Growing up, I always preferred staying in my room, reading and writing, to going outside to play. In fact, the few times I did get in trouble, my punishment was to go outside and play, instead of stay inside. And boy did it hurt! I BEGGED my parents not to make me go outside. LOL! I remember one time, my parents decided to do a family health thing, so we went to the walking trail by our house. My parents walked hand in hand, my little brother and sister did the obstacle courses while walking, and there I was...walking while reading. Seriously. I kept the book in front of my face and walked. I'm surprised I didn't injure myself. In high school, I spent most of my lunches in the library, where I read every book by an African American author (this is where I was introduced to Maya Angelou, one of my fave authors).

My love for books have not diminished. I still prefer reading to going out. I still carry books with me. I, since I actually like working out now, I don't read at the same time. Reading more than one book at a time is normal for me. In fact, I'm reading 4 books, and 4 ARCs at this time. I know, crazy, right? Only someone who's as obsessed with books as I am would understand. I. HEART. books.

This is what I'm reading now...

BOOKS



ARCs

A is for Autotune

I've decided to jump in and join the April A to Z blogging challenge. Basically, the challenge is to blog for 26 days in April (excluding Sundays). Each day is dedicated to a letter of the alphabet. Interested? You can find out more here. I'm joining in late (most bloggers signed up before today). Better late than never, I guess. For this challenge, I'm forgoing my regular blog schedule. This blog challenge is going to be exactly that...a challenge, but hey. I'm up for it. So, here it goes. A is for...

AUTO TUNE

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a Disney fan. Yes, I'm almost 35 and I still like to watch shows like Suite Life on Deck, Wizards of Waverly Place, or Good Luck Charlie. It's the kid in me, what can I say? Plus, I have dreams of one day creating a Disney show. So, yeah. I watch Disney.

One thing I've noticed is all of the songs are now auto tuned. It's like it's a requirement of Disney stars...in order to sing on Disney, you must have your voice auto tuned. It's quite annoying. Some of the songs are pretty good songs, but you can never tell if the singer can actually sing. It would suck if you went to hear them sing live and they end up being bad singers. And it's not just Disney. The music industry is also auto tuning songs now, too. Am I the only one who'd like to hear a song every once in a while without auto tune? Maybe it's just me...