So I was just editing a picture with Picasa from Google. Amy introduced me to this software, but I’m still pretty new at it. I do find it comes in handy to make pictures smaller, especially when my website only allows certain size pics.
Anyway, a box popped up asking me if I wanted to update it. And my options were “Yes, update now” and “Later, please.” And it occured to me that maybe my Picasa box was kinder and more courteous today than I was. I had to stop and ask myself if I took the time to say “please” today. Did I say “thank you” at every opportunity? Was I kind and loving to everyone I interacted with?
I know that Bible says that if we don’t worship God, the rocks will cry out to praise His name. But I don’t remember reading anything about if we don’t treat others with love, Picasa pop-up boxes will.
Either way, I don’t want rocks or pop-up boxes doing my job.
So … thanks for stopping by. Praying that you’re enjoying God’s glory today. -LJ
Okay, so like many of you, I have enormous numbers of old books laying around. Books that I bought and read and enjoyed (or didn’t enjoy) but don’t need to keep around the house anymore. After all, my bookshelves are nearly crumbling under the massive weight of the books that I do want to keep.
In the past I’ve tried to sell some older books to used bookstores, but that never seems to net much profit. In fact one time it cost me $5. I drove to downtown Colorado Springs and parked at a meter in front of a used bookstore there. I popped my quarter into the meter, figuring 15 minutes would be plenty of time. I dropped my box of books at the front to be considered. Then began strolling the aisles. Being very fond of books, I somehow got lost among the tomes and ended up returning to the front of the store about 30 minutes later. They bought 5 of my books for $5 total. I figured it wasn’t a complete waste. Until I got back to my car and saw the $10 parking ticket. The long-sense expired meter had done me wrong! And I ended up owing $5 more than I made on my books. Bummer.
So this week, I decided to see if I could figure out a good way to pass my plethora of used books along to other readers, who might also want to read them, without the threat of another parking ticket.
Enter the PaperBack Swap–or PBS. Turns out this handy little website allows you to swap your old books with other people looking to clear off a little space on their shelves. You pay to ship your book when someone requests it. But you don’t have to pay for shipping when you request a book. Shipping one book = 1 credit. And each paperback or hardback book you order will cost just 1 credit. (Audio books are 2.)
It’s easy, it’s simple, and if you’re anything like me, you may find it saving you a bit of money. 🙂
Now, there are a couple tips that I feel I should share:
This is not a great place to look when you’re in a hurry to get a new release. Likely there are 40 other people looking for the same new release and only a couple readers who are offering it.
Patience is key to using this site not only in the afore-mentioned situation, but also in waiting for your books to arrive. It can take almost 4 weeks for books to arrive at your home. It can also take a long time for someone to order one of your books, which means you’ll be waiting a while before you can order the next book you want.
Look for books other than novels–PBS has a great selection of nonfiction and textbooks.
This is a great place to look for out of print or older titles that bookstores may not be carrying.
Please! Don’t abandon your favorite local bookstore. Whether you’re a Barnes and Noble, Borders, Family Christian, or even an Amazon fan, these stores offer a certain guarantee of selection and prompt service that PBS just can’t.
Happy swapping! Clearing off new space on my overflowing shelves until next time … -LJ
Woohoo! The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn is now available for preorder on Amazon! I won’t have final cover art for a while yet, but this is the first that it’s be offered for sale. At the low-low price of $5.50, this book will make the perfect gift for all of your friends! 🙂
Can’t wait for the actual book to be on shelves! Until the finished copies are collecting dust on bookshelves … -LJ
In deference to Superbowl XLIII, I’ve decided to not cover a movie in this Monday Movie segment. (The one I saw in the theater and the one I rented both aren’t worth the mention.) Instead, I thought I’d offer a couple of thoughts that I have about the big game and the Cardinals and Steelers.
Let me begin by saying that I’ve never been much of a Cardinals fan. I know I’m from Arizona and everything, but I’d pick the Giants, Colts, and Broncos over the Cards anyday. But this season I did finally started paying a little bit of attention to Kurt Warner. Turns out he’s a pretty amazing Christian man. For maybe the first time, I was proud to root for the Cards.
On to my actual thoughts about the game. I think it can be summed up in two words: Emotionally heartbreaking.
I was so discouraged after the first half: the Cards were down 7-17. It looked like the Steelers were going to run away with the game. And when the Steelers scored a Field Goal early in the second half, things seemed pretty certain. But then Warner and his offense came back with 14 unanswered point to take the lead with just over 2 minutes left in the game. Amy and I were litterally jumping off the couch and screaming. It seemed like a repeat of the Giants’ win last year.
And then the Steelers came back and scored a TD with 35 seconds.
And Kurt just couldn’t come back and score again.
Wow! Highs and lows and totally unexpectedly emotional. It was a great game, except for a serious number of penalties. I would have loved for the Cards to win, but the Steelers played well.
Hoping to see a Manning brother in next year’s big game … -LJ
I figured that today I’d offer you two Friday Favorites for the price of one. I was first introduced to Scottish actor James McAvoy playing Tom Lefroy, Jane Austen’s love interest in Becoming Jane. I rather enjoyed the film, even though it has quite the sad ending, but the truth was that I couldn’t take my eyes off the very handsome James.
He’s a ridiculously wonderful actor, so I started searching out his other movies, and soon realized that I had actually already seen him as Mr. Tumnus in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I was suitibly surprised by this realization, but I went back and watched it again and promptly decided I might have a small crush on a fawn. Mom says I’m strange.
Anyway, shortly thereafter I discovered he was going to be in another movie Penelope–my second Friday Favorite of the day. It came out the end of February 2008, and I knew that I was heading out of town for a business trip, so I talked my friends into joining me for a Friday night showing–which is pretty strange for me, as I never pay full-price for a flick. It was better than I hoped it might be. An adorable, modern-day fairy tale about learning to love yourself before you can ever love someone else. James plays opposite Christina Ricci, and they have fantastic on-screen chemistry. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t miss out!
James McAvoy as Mr. Tumnus
James has been in a wide variety of flicks including The Last King of Scotland, playing opposite Forest Whitaker’s Oscar Award-winning performance and Idi Amin. He plays Robbie Turner in Atonement with Keira Knightley. He’s also done a slew of TV and movies from the UK.
While I have seen some of his movies that I didn’t like, I’ve never thought he did a poor job in any of them.
And strangely enough, I was talking with my newest roommate Leslie one day, and she mentioned that her fiance Rob loves this actor … James McAvoy. Turns out Rob and I have a lot in common in the favorite actor category, and I knew he was a quality guy on the spot. 🙂 Good pick, Leslie.
So Jess B. happens to be another James McAvoy fan. One day we were both having hard days at work, so we were hanging out in my office over our lunch hour. Somehow we stumbled onto the funniest interview with James and Craig Ferguson. It’s really one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, and it began the battle cry, “I need horse pants!” Watch on, good reader, watch on. (Sorry, I can’t embed this video for some reason, but just follow the link. It’s a hoot!)
Confession: I’ve been trying to make one of my book heroes look like James, but he’s just not big enough to “play” a hero in a romance book. Hmmm … I’ll noodle on it until I come up with a good idea.
Noodling on the idea of James on the pages of my book until next time. -LJ
Amy and Stephanie think that Katie and I are crazy! See Katie and I both like to read or skim or in some way figure out a taste of what’s happening at the end of a book to make sure it ends well. Amy thinks I’m insane for doing it, but I have a theory.
I invest a lot of time in a book. At least one night’s worth of sleep, usually. 🙂 And there are a lot of other worthy books that I could be reading. So why would I want to waste several perfectly good hours on a book that doesn’t end how I want it to? Hence, I generally employ– sometimes even before I buy the book–the patented “last page skim.”
This process actually begins with a thorough reading of the back cover, acknowledgements, and any other potentially useful pages before the story actually begins. I lay the groundwork for the characters in my mind, and then I carefully flip to the last page. I give it a good once over, checking for relevant names and overall tone of the situation and asking several important questions.
* Is our heroine lonely and sad? Probably not worth my evening.
* Is she kissing anyone? Generally equals a happy ending, which makes me happy. Extra points if the hero isn’t noted by name so he’s still a surprise.
* Is she alone but generally happy? Just might be a good lesson in the story.
Of course, there are several scenarios where these questions don’t work. Like if our book doesn’t have a heroine. I recently read a YA about a high school football player told from said boy’s perspective, thus, no heroine. But I still enjoyed the book.
Another exception–anything generally referred to as “literary.” Jess B. and my friend Kelly B. are fans of recommending really deep and thought-provoking books, which rarely have happy endings. But that’s not why you read them. You read them because they’re beautifully written and well … thought-provoking. Take for example Atonement by Ian McEwan (which I can’t freely recommend on the basis of the pretty pervasive foul language and somewhat graphic scenes). But I did read it because Jess lent it to me, and the movie, starring one of my favorite actors James McAvoy (maybe he deserves a Friday Favorite … hmmm), was about to release. That book more than any other mainstream book I’ve ever read kept me up night after night thinking through the plot and the story and the message. It made me think about truth in a new way. About the lies that so easily slip past our lips. About forgiveness and how it frees us and how lack of forgiveness enslaves us. Worth my read, but would never have passed the “last page skim.”
Mysteries, of course, don’t apply.
Any book by a tried and true author doesn’t require the technique either. Take Meg Cabot for example. Of all the YA I’ve read from her, I’ve only been disappointed by one of them. Or Tamara Leigh. I can count on loving her stuff.
All that is to say, I don’t think that I’m overly crazy. I just happen to over-analyze the way that I choose to read a book. But I find that I’m very rarely disappointed. Amy might be right about me, but I’m okay with that.
So this week I’ve decided to feature a fantastic movie that I didn’t see this weekend. Instead I’m featuring a movie that will be available on dvd tomorrow.
FIREPROOF
From Sherwood Baptist Church, the creators of Facing the Giants and Flywheel, comes a story of a marriage on the rocks, a man who doesn’t know what it is to love, and a woman who’s given up hope. And encompassing it all is a story of God’s restoring love.
Kirk Cameron stars as Caleb Holt, a fire captain, whose motto is “never leave your partner behind.” He receives the respect of the men at his station and everyone in town, except his wife Catherine. Their home is a battlefield over money, jobs, and housework, and Catherine wonders when she stopped being “good enough” for her husband.
And then Caleb’s dad challenges him to take the Love Dare, a 40-day daily choice to act in love toward Catherine. At first Caleb is hesitant, only doing the bare minimum and barely biting his tongue when angry words jump to mind. And when he’s met by Catherine’s skepticism and cold shoulder, he longs to give up on the Love Dare and on his marriage. But the more frustrated he becomes, the more his father prays for him and encourages Caleb to keep to keep at.
This movie is a beautiful illustration of God’s continuing love for us, even when we turn our backs on Him and refuse to receive His love.
As a big fan of Facing the Giants, I was thrilled to go see this movie in the theater during its opening weekend, and I wasn’t disappointed. The production, acting, and story quality from the Kendrick brothers’ films just continue getting better and better.
I saw this twice in the theater and will definitely get it on dvd. It’s a fantastic film, and I highly recommend it. I eagerly await the next movie from Sherwood Baptist. Until next time. -LJ
Where does one begin to explain her addiction to Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing? I think I can start this post and answer that question in one word: Amy.
The Cast of The West Wing
My extraordinary initiation into this TV show began with Amy’s badgering. It was a lovely Thanksgiving weekend, and I was quite full from lots of turkey, cranberry compote, and yes, even Amy’s frog eye salad. I was in a helpless coma from the day, and Amy twisted my arm and threatened never to pay rent again if I didn’t watch WW with her. I was already a fan of Aaron Sorkin’s other shows SportsNight and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip–both very smartly written dramedies (drama/comedies, not to be confused with camels), so I decided that being forced to watch WW couldn’t be any worse than Amy not paying rent.
In a matter of three days we watched the first season and half of the second on the greatest invention known to man–TV on dvd. And my inauguration into this witty, behind-the-scenes look at life in the White House was completed. I was hooked.
Here we are nearly two months later, and I’m chugging my way through season 5. Turns out maybe Amy was on to something. Hmmm … Maybe she knew that I’d love the show and she wasn’t really threatening me. Hey! Amy, it’s uncool to trick your roommate.
Anyway, I love-love-love this show! It’s brilliantly written (especially the first 4 seasons, after which creator Aaron Sorkin moved on to other projects and stopped writing for it). And the casting is genius.
Sam Seaborn from the The West Wing
– Rob Lowe, as the brilliant deputy communications director Sam Seaborn, is stunning–both very handsome and a fantastic actor. (Amy says he’s pretty good in Brothers and Sisters, which I also haven’t seen. Maybe that’ll be the next show she gets me hooked on.)
The West Wing's Josh and Donna
– Bradley Whitford, as the subtle-yet-still-makes-me-laugh-out-loud deputy chief of staff, Josh Lyman, is superb. His humor is absolutely spot-on, and his teasing/sarcastic relationship with his assistant Donna Moss (played by Janel Moloney) is pitch-perfect and a delight to watch. His politcal and social faux paus make him probably one of my favorite characters.
– Dule Hill plays Charlie Young, personal assistant to the President, played by Martin Sheen. I love Dule in the current show Psych, but his relationship with the President is so funny and completely unexpected.
– Richard Schiff, as the brooding communications director Toby Ziegler, starts off a little too serious for me, but by the end of the 4th season, he becomes a dad and his personality shifts. He’s got a great line about his newborn kids, “I’ve only known them for 45 minutes, and I’d drop napalm on Yellowstone for them.”
I could go on about the amazing cast including Allison Janney, Stockard Channing, Joshua Molina, and John Spencer, but suffice it to say, this is a top-notch show. Every piece fits into place. I can’t wait to get to the 7th and final season … but Amy says we can’t finish 2 and a half seasons this weekend.
As Hannah (and now her 1-year-old) would say: Booooooo!
If you haven’t seen The West Wing, you’re missing out. 🙂 It’s well-worth your time, and since it’s available on dvd, it’s super-convenient. Happy West Wing-ing until next time. -LJ
Everytime I start reading a new book, I tell myself that sleep is overrated. As I crawl into bed with a new book and before I start reading, I give myself a little pep-talk.
I don’t need sleep tonight.
Then a little voice pipes up, “But you have work in the morning.”
I’ll be fine.
“You can’t stay up until after 1a.m.”
I’ll be fine. I don’t need more than 6 hours of sleep. It’s no big deal. This book is totally worth it.
Every night that I start a new book, I have that same conversation with myself. Recently I was reading a YA by one of my favorite authors Tina Ferraro, and I knew that I should put the book down. It was starting to get late, and my eyes were starting to droop. But I only had 50 pages to go, and I wasn’t sure that our heroine would end up with the right guy. I couldn’t put the book down yet.
So I kept going. Kept reading. Kept my eyes open.
And then it was done, and the last page ended. I closed the book, turned to flick of my bedside lamp, and glance a my clock.
It was 1:30am!
I had to be at work in 6 and a half hours. “Oy! What have you done?” says that little voice. “Why must you always end up reading one book in one night? You’ve got to learn how to put a book down.”
Or I should start at a more reasonable hour so I can finish a book by 11 and still get a good night of sleep.
It occurs to me that I have a rather common name. Of course, this occurred to me when I was deciding how my name would read on my book cover, but today it really hit home for me, so I decided to google myself. I even went a step further, and decided to google liz johnson books–in a vain attempt to see if my website would appear. It did not.
But what I did discover is that there are a plethora of other Elizabeth Johnsons out there. I mean, I should know this since my brother married another Elizabeth and within our family we have 2 of the world’s many Elizabeth Johnsons. We even share a middle initial.
And many of them are, in fact, authors.
All that is simply to say, thanks for finding my website. You could have been lost somewhere in cyber-space looking for another Elizabeth or Liz Johnson, but somehow you found me. Thanks! Glad you’re here. -LJ
I figured that today I’d offer you two Friday Favorites for the price of one. I was first introduced to Scottish actor James McAvoy playing Tom Lefroy, Jane Austen’s love interest in Becoming Jane. I rather enjoyed the film, even though it has quite the sad ending, but the truth was that I couldn’t take my eyes off the very handsome James.
