Friday Favorite – Live Concerts

Posted on May 8, 2009May 7, 2009 by lizjohnson

I LOVE going to concerts. Especially when I love the groups performing. Enter Revive, Brandon Heath, and Third Day!

So last Thursday my mom and I took off for Phoenix to see these guys perform at the Celebrity Theater, one of the coolest venues ever. The stage is in the middle of the room and the seats go all the way around. And the stage spins. Check it out in this clip.

So as if the venue isn’t cool enough, we were sitting in the 3rd row. Literally 10 feet from the groups as they performed. The theater tauts itself as the most intimate theater experience in the valley (Phoenix), and it totally is! I got some great pictures and loved being so close even when we were looking at the “back” of the stage.

So I have to tell you a funny story … my mom isn’t what you’d call a big concert goer. She’s more of a praise and worship kind of gal than a rockin’ Christian music chica. But she agreed to go to the concert with me so we could get some quality bonding time together. When I first bought the tickets, she was talking to a younger guy in her Bible study and said we were going to see Three Days in concert. At first he didn’t understand, then he made the connection. We were going to see Third Day, and he was totally jealous. That made my mom smile. 🙂

I warned mom that she might want to get some ear plugs. But she didn’t bring any. The show was LOUD, but amazingly wonderful. Here’s a snippet from the actual show that we were at.

And of course, my main reason for going was actually Brandon Heath. Nothing surprising there. Except that he was more wonderful than I even hoped he’d be! And I know Amy is going to ask about Joe. He was fantastic too! 🙂 Here’s a clip from the show of Brandon.

Brandon closed out his set with a song called Soldier. I’d never heard it before, and it was really great! Here’s a clip of him singing it several years back. I’m pretty sure it was on one of his first independent albums. I’m hoping I can find it on iTunes or something because I need it on my iPod.

So I really love concerts. I love the noise and the excitement in the air. The freedom to dance like a crazy woman and have no one think any the less of me. The fun of hooting and hollering after my favorite songs and at my favorite performers. But most of all, I love how God always unexpectedly gets a hold of me.

Take for example this show. There a was a young man with Down’s syndrome just a few seats over from me who quite verbally expressed his disinterest in Brandon. He was there to see Third Day and just wanted them to perform. I on the other hand really wanted to see and enjoy Brandon. I found myself getting irked that he was stealing a bit of my enjoyment of the show and irked at his dad who was with him for not quieting him. And then Brandon began “Give Me Your Eyes” and my heart squeezed. I’d been doing a terrible job of seeing this young man through God’s eyes. I needed to have love and concern for my neighbors. My heart softened and I found myself enjoying the show even more.

I love it when God does stuff like that.

Anyway, here are a few more pics that I took at the meet and greet and during the show. Hope you enjoy.

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I'm quite possibly the worst photographer ever!

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Still hoping to meet Brandon until next time. -LJ

Friday Favorite – Firefly

Posted on May 1, 2009April 26, 2009 by lizjohnson

firefly

I blame Jess Barnes. My current obsession with Joss Whedon’s Firefly is all her fault. Oh, and it might be the incredible stories, actors, and the fact that it’s a western set in space.

That’s right. I said it’s A WESTERN SET IN SPACE!!!

I know what you’re thinking. How could that be? For your consideration, I present the opening credits of this fabulous show.

This cult favorite aired on Fox back in 2002 and was on air for only 11 episodes (or something like that–the dvd set has several unaired episodes). Set in the future as earth can no longer hold the number of humans, people have begun settling the planets and moons of a new solar system. But just like the old west, settling these new territories is savage and uncertain.

Enter Captain Malcom Reynolds (played by a delightful Nathan Fillion) and the crew of his ship Serenity, a Firefly transport ship. These smugglers fight the rules of the Alliance, which they fought in the war years before. His crew includes Jayne (played by Chuck’s Adam Baldwin), a gun-loving guy with a penchant for getting in trouble and wearing terrible hats. Kaylee is the wide-eyed mechanic. Zoe, the first mate and an old friend of Mal’s from the war, and her husband Wash, the pilot, add both humor and depth. And of course, there’s Inara, a registered companion, who brings respectibility to the ship. Oh. Right. A companion is in fact a high end escort.

It’s such a strange world that Joss Whedon has created, but it’s thrilling and unique and oh-so entertaining. They get around swearing by speaking in Chinese and have some of the best one-liners in any TV series. Smart and funny and filled with characters you can’t help but love. Mal is worth watching the entire show. Wash, his Hawaiian shirts, and the rest are just the icing on the cake.

When the show was cancelled half way through its first season, Joss sought to wrap up the story lines in Serenity, a widely released feature film that was much more violent and lacked so much of the heart that I loved in Firefly. But it still had to be watched because you have to find out what happens. Right?

Jess, this is all your fault. Yours and Joss’s. So maybe you’re both in good company.

Wishing I was in Mal’s company until next time. -LJ

Friday Favorite – Twitter

Posted on April 24, 2009April 23, 2009 by lizjohnson

Do you tweet? As you’ve likely noticed in the far right column, I tweet pretty regularly.

Don’t know what tweeting is? Haven’t heard of twitter?

It’s a social networking site–of sorts. It allows you to, in no more than 140 characters, answer the question: What are you doing? It’s a snippet of insight into daily life on potentially a minute by minute basis. While it’s been accused of being a rather self-centered invention, I love it, not because I get to talk about myself, but because I get to follow some of my favorites. It’s amazing what you can learn about people just by the way that they twitter.

For example, I follow Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church in Washington, DC, and an author that I had the privilege of working with on his last book Wild Goose Chase. So what have I learned about Mark in 140 character incriments? The man is a twitter maniac. He tweets more than anyone else I follow. He loves good food, and oh, he has some amazing spiritual insights.

I also follow Jess Barnes and Rachel, who are both quite funny. I love hearing a bit more about their day to day lives, not to mention whatever new fandom they’ve discovered. They are wonderful to follow!

Then there’s Nathan Fillion (of last week’s favorite: Castle). I just started following him, and I’m learning all sorts of cool things about him. Like how he supports the Kids Need To Read campaign (I’m a fan of kids reading), and how he was at a book launch party in Oceanside, CA last week. Wish I’d been in Oceanside last week. (Yes, twitter could be a first step to stalking someone–but I like to think of it as legal stalking.)

Speaking of legal stalking, I absolutely follow Brandon Heath. How could I not? He’s not s super-regular tweeter, but it cracks me up everytime he says something about being somewhere cool or meeting cool people like Bob Barker then says “Is this my life?” Yes, Brandon, in 140 characters this is your life.

Now I love tweeting, and I love following new and old friends. But I really love seeing who ends up following me. For example, after I tweeted about watching Brandon Heath on CBN’s 700 Club, the CBNProducers started following me. Then I tweeted about the lost library book saga, and who started following me? The PPLD (Pikes Peak Library District)! They even congratulated me on finding my lost book when I returned it. It kind of cracks me up!

If you’re not tweeting, then maybe you should be. When you start, give me a shout out, and I’ll follow you too!

Tweeting like a mad woman until next time. -LJ

Friday Favorite – Castle

Posted on April 17, 2009April 17, 2009 by lizjohnson

While I am a fan of castles in general, this is not a blog all about old-school housing structures. Nope this is about one of my other favorites: Castle, the TV show starring Nathan Fillion.

I think ABC is trying to redeem itself in my eyes after cancelling Pushing Daisies. Of course, nothing really compares to the Pie Maker, Chuck, and Olive on PD, and Castle isn’t exactly a similar show. But it is quite amazing!

Castle, which first aired in March of this year, follows Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion, who is one handsome man, if I do say so), a best-selling mystery author who has just killed off his main character. In the pilot he is called in by the police chief to investigate two murders that copycat killings in his books. He’s paired up with Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), who quite obviously can’t stand having him around. But by the end of the pilot, Castle has sweet-talked the chief into letting him tag along with Beckett, who he is basing his next character on.

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While the relationship between Castle and Beckett is amusing and so obviously going to turn romantic at some point, the really amazing part of the show is Castle’s relationship with his mother–an immature partier, who spanned the globe looking for a bad review of her son’s book just to make sure he stayed humble–and his daughter Alexis–a non-angsty teenager, who really has her life together, despite a weathly father, absent mother, and crazy grandmother. Castle and Alexis together are the most fun to watch. I loved the episode about nannies in which Alexis asks her dad why he never hired a nanny for her. He tells her he was her nanny and the episode ends with him looking at a picture of them at the park when she was young. But they’re not always sentimental moments. There’s laugh out loud ones like the laser tag game they shared in episode 5.

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Jess B. asked me if I wanted to watch this with her when the first episode aired. After all, we already get together every Monday night to write. Now we write from 8-9 and watch Castle from 9-10. It’s become a tradition rather quickly. One I don’t want to end, even for the summer hiatus.

If you haven’t given this show a watch, I recommend you do! ABC on Monday nights. If you miss it now, don’t worry. It’s scheduled to arrive on dvd in September.

Of course, as a mystery writer, I have to love watching a show about another writer. But even if I didn’t have to love it, I probably would anyway.

Thinking that there will probably be more Friday Favorites about Nathan Fillion until next time. -LJ

Friday Favorite – My Boys

Posted on April 3, 2009April 2, 2009 by lizjohnson

First off, my apologies for being very unfaithful in posting this week. I will blame it on my writing retreat to Estes Park this last weekend. As previously confessed, I usually write my posts on the weekends, and I didn’t do that this weekend. So I missed my Monday Movie and a lot of really fun stuff that happened this week. But I’ll try to catch you up over the next several days.

Anyway, on to my Friday Favorite – My Boys!

If you think I’m talking about some guys friends, you obviously don’t know me very well. I haven’t had good guy friends since college. Man I miss having dudes around …

Anyway, My Boys is a sitcom on TBS, which just started its third season on Tuesday. It’s all about P.J. Franklin, a sports columnist in Chicago and her boys. There’s Mike, the guy who has no furniture in his home and strikes out with women at every turn. And, of course, Bobby, the adorable and very down to earth millionaire who happens to cover the Cubs for another Chicago paper. Brendan, who went to college with P.J. and is a recently fired DJ trying to open his own club. P.J.’s brother Andy, who is the only married one in the group finally fessed up in season 1 that his wife isn’t a domineering jerk–he just likes going home at 9 to spend time with his family and get to bed early. Last there’s Kenny, who we want to succeed so much, but he too has no luck with women or most things in life.

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What could be just another show about sports and just hanging out is instead the story of friendship at every level and the love between those friends. When they’re on a high, they celebrate together. They help each other out. And at the weekly poker game, they begin to take chances by opening up.

The third season opener started with a bang and probably one of the funniest contests yet (even better than when the boys decided they would make their own shirts). While standing around at Bobby’s wedding, Mike and Kenny and Brendan decide to have a mustache growing contest. When Andy learns that they’re each going to grow a ‘stache, he says, “Interesting … So even if you win, you lose.”

Amy and I started laughing so hard we had to pause it because we were missing some really great parts. Anyway, don’t miss this show! It’s great and so deserves a strong fan following. It has at least one. Me!

Until next time. -LJ

Friday Favorite – The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Posted on March 27, 2009March 23, 2009 by lizjohnson

Since my Teaser Tuesday this week featured this years Newbery Medal winner, I thought I’d continue the trend with my favorite of the week. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare was the1959 winner of the Newbery Medal and is without a doubt my favorite book of all time.

I was probably 8 when I read this book for the first time. My mom assigned it to me for a school project, and I fell in witch-of-blackbird-pond1 love with the story of Kit Tyler, a young woman forced to move from Barbados to a Puritan colony in Connecticut when her grandfather dies and she must live with her aunt and uncle in New England.

Kit, with her silk gowns and awkward ways, can’t figure out how she fits in with her cousins Judith and Mercy. Instead she befriends Hannah, a lonely Quaker widow, who lives on the shores of Blackbird Pond. Kit also befriends a young girl, teaching her to read despite the wishes of her parents.

Through a failed courtship and ultimately a trial as a witch, Kit’s mind goes back to Nat Eaton, a seaman on the ship that took Kit to New England. Nat appears and rescues her at his own risk at every turn.

Next to Gilbert Blythe, Nat was one of my first literary crushes, and so I’ve read this book over and over again. In fact I borrowed–of course, I mean that I stole, as I have no intention of giving it back–my mom’s copy of the book. It has this orange cover, and pages are bent and wrinkled and it’s seen many years of love on my shelf.

Then, a couple years ago, my mom bought a new copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond. She tried to trade me for my–obviously, I mean her–old copy, but I just couldn’t part with it. How could I ever get used to a new book? I’d have to memorize the pages of favorite passages all over again. I’d have to find the scene where Nat and Kit thatch Hannah’s roof and the one where Nat sails down the river and appears out of the mist to rescue Hannah and the one … Well, you get the point.

If you haven’t read it yet, don’t wait. It’s a quick read and worth every minute. Remembering why she loves Nat until next time. -LJ

Friday Favorite: New Ring Tones

Posted on March 20, 2009March 19, 2009 by lizjohnson

It was 11:40p.m. on Monday night of this week. I had turned off my light, closed my book, and pulled my quilt up to my chin just ten minutes earlier. My eyes were closed, and I was in that wonderful state between sleep and wake.

And then my cell phone let out a horridly pathetic beep, telling me that it was dying and desperately needed a charge. I knew it would keep going all night if I didn’t get up and plug it in, but I still grumbled to myself as I turned my light back on and scavanged for my glasses. I had barely jammed them on my face , when my phone beeped again. But this one was stronger. An alert to the text message I had just received.

Who was sending me a text message at 11:40 at night?

My sister-in-law Beth. That’s who. I was irked for second, then I thought maybe it was a cute picture of my niece or nephew. It was not. But then I remembered that Arizona does’nt observe daylight savings time, so she probably forgot that Colorado is now an hour a head of them. No problem. I’d get back to her in the morning, but I decided to check the messages to make sure it wasn’t really important. But the moment I opened it up the instense organ strains of The Pantom of the Opera pelted out of my little pink phone.

A Phantom ring tone, just for me! Is my family cool, or what?

The next day came more funny ring tones, and I had to call Beth, at which point, she told me that she’s set her phone so that when I call, it plays Phantom. Awesome! Then she told me about this very cool website where you can create and text ring tones from any song. Feel free to check out here. And the cool thing, is it’s all free. (Don’t be fooled by the ads on the site that ask you pay.) For example:

Create free ringtones at Phonezoo

As for me, I’m just stoked with Phantom. I’m sure there’ll need to be a Brandon Heath ring tone soon. Probably even a Third Day and Chris Tomlin too. But it’s all thanks to my coolest sister-in-law, who is he only girl in the world I’d want to share a name with! A big shout out to Beth (and Micah too, just by proximity). Miss you guys! See you in April.

Now, if only someone would call me. 🙂 -LJ

Friday Favorite – Harry Potter

Posted on March 13, 2009March 11, 2009 by lizjohnson

The year was 2001. I was a junior in college, and my brother happened to be one of my best friends. We hung out a lot that year, both just trying to finish up with our degrees. This was long before Micah married Beth, before they had 2 kids. Micah and I had a friend named Julia, and one day they went to see a movie together. They came back and told me that I just had to see this new movie–Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone.

I was hesitant, reluctant to spend my less-than-moderate college income on a movie that I wasn’t sure I’d like. At the time, I was mostly only into chick flicks. (I’m happy to report that my tastes have expanded over the years: historicals, classics, comedies, action, etc.) But after a week, they had worn me down, and so I went with Micah and Julia to see the movie.

That began my … hmmm … what’s the word? It’s more than just an appreciation but less than an obsession. Anyway, I loved the fairy tale quality, the hope, the themes of good vs. evil. All of it! And that 11-year-old Daniel Radcliffe was just too cute as Harry. 🙂

Then Julia told me that I had to read the books. Well, I figured if the books were half as good as the movie, it’d be worth my time. I was wrong! The books were three times better than the movie! JK Rowling packed so much heart and hope into what is essentially a children’s book, but there’s a reason that adults and kids alike love these books.

I sprinted through the first four books, then joined the rest of the world in waiting for the 5th book to come out. By then, I was out of college and living back at home with my parents. I didn’t know anyone else reading Harry Potter books at the time, but there was no way I was waiting a moment longer than I had to to get to read it. So there I was at Barnes and Noble at midnight on the release date. I waited in line, then I raced home and spent the entire night and the whole morning reading. My parents didn’t know what to do with a recent college grad, who really didn’t need sleep and just wanted to read. I was a bit of zombie for an entire weekend, but it was so worth it!

I think since then I’ve seen every movie and gotten every book at the midnight release. 🙂 Don’t worry. I was never one to dress up and go overboard for the parties. I just wanted to get the book. I just wanted to see the movie.

Until July 2007 that is. For the first time, I was with friends who loved Harry as much as I did. And for the first time, the book and a movie released within days of each other. So I went to the midnight showing of The Order of the Phoenix with Jess L. and Laura B. (Kelly B.’s sister-in-law). It was amazing! So fun! We got there like 3 hours early and sat and played card games in the theater waiting for the movie to start. The entire theater was practically sizzling with anticipation. And when the movie finally started there was much cheering and joy all around. It was a great movie too! By far my favorite so far. (But book 6 is my favorite book, so I fully expect to love that movie too!)

So a little over a week later, came the release of book 7, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. We were on summer hours at work, which meant that that Friday, Jess and Jess and I were done for the day at 1:30, which meant an entire afternoon of “what do we do to pass the time until midnight?” Turns out we had plenty to do. 🙂 There were t-shirts to be made (mine said, Jealous of Ginny), movies to see (again), and a midnight release party to attend. We met Kelly and Laura at the Barnes and Noble and there, I finally put my hands on the last tome in the series.

I read straight through the night and was done by … hmm … I think I was too tired to remember. 🙂 I do remember throwing my book across the room when one of my favorite characters died.

That Saturday night was my birthday party. Funny thing was, the five of us who’d read the book all through the night sequestered ourselves in the basement for the first 20 minutes just to talk Harry. 🙂 We did finally emerge to be social.

I have a lot of good memories from times with friends that involved Harry Potter. And I have an entire shelf dedicated to my Harry memoribilia–gifts from friends. Here’s a peak at my Harry corner.

Yes those are HP dolls. Gifts! All gifts!

I will say that I love the friendship between HP, Ron, and Hermione. Their loyalty and love for each other is nothing short of inspiring. Plus, Ron is a hoot and quite the funny character!

I thought you might like a peak at the preview for the new Harry Potter movie coming out July 17 this summer. That’s bound to be a great week! The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn comes out on the 14th, and my birthday is the next week! it’s going to be a good summer! 🙂 Counting down the days (oh, man, I won’t even tell you about the paper chain that Jess L. and I made with our favorite HP quotes to count down to the movie release) to the new movie until next time. -LJ

Friday Favorite – Have my taxes DONE!

Posted on March 6, 2009March 3, 2009 by lizjohnson

I thought I’d take a moment to celebrate with you now that my taxes are done. Finished. Completed. And boy was it an ordeal. I had my W-2 forms and all my paperwork in order. I was ready to get going.

Except for one little thing. As of Monday, I still hadn’t figured out how to report my advance on my book. I was waiting for a 1099 form or something from my publisher. So I waited and I waited. And it didn’t come and it didn’t come. So I finally called the Harlequin (yes, my publisher is a division of Harlequin) offices and spoke with a very nice lady in the accounts payable department. She kindly explained to me that because they are headquartered in Toronto, they don’t send out and US tax forms.

Oops. I hadn’t considered that.

So I proceeded to call the IRS helpline to figure out the best way to report my advance (however, small it was). No problem. Right?

Wrong. I explained my situation to everyone that I spoke with and each person told me I was speaking with the wrong department. I spoke with 5 people in 5 departments and still couldn’t get an answer. It’s foreign income. No it’s not. It’s this. No, it’s that. Was I ever going to find the right person? And then IRS helpperson number 6 came to my rescue. She talked me through my options of reporting it. Was I self-employed? Was I out to make a profit? Was I running a business or trade?

Who knew selling a book could be such a stress more than 6 months after the contract was signed?

We talked through these questions. And I filed my taxes, and I’m done! I got an e-mail from my tax prep website, and my filings have been approved. I’m home free!

Until next year. Hmmm … I think I better find a good CPA for next year’s taxes. Still very thankful for IRS helpperson #6 this year until next time … -LJ

Friday Favorite – G-words

Posted on February 27, 2009February 25, 2009 by lizjohnson

Amy posted on her blog recently a list of her ten favorite works starting with the letter K. And she invited me to participate in this rather relaxed game of tag. So I said I was in. She assigned me the letter G and now I proudly present–in no particular order–my 10 favorite Gs …

sleep1 1. “Good night”s – I love sleeping … probably more than I should, but there’s really something lovely about bidding the rest of the world farwell for the night and getting plenty of zzzzzzzz. I even read a magazine article recently about how sleep can help you lose weight. I’m all over that!

2. Grandma Marian stories – My dad’s mom passed away before my parents were married, so I never got to meet her, but I adore hearing stories about her. My dad loves to tell the story about her really bad candle joke. My Aunt Chris has Grandma Marian’s wedding dress displayed in the guest room I always stay in and she’ll tell stories about grandma. It makes me feel like I know her. I wish I had.

3. Grandkids – More specifically my parent’s grandkids. Those would be my nieces Julia, Rachel, and Emily and my nephew Jacob. Cute, cute, cute kids! I love them tons and wish I could spoil them rotten! (But their parents wouldn’t let me get away with it.) I talked with Julia on the phone a couple weeks ago for 30 minutes! The kiddo is 5, and she carries on a conversation like a pro. She’s reading and writing now, and I’m proud as can be. Julia’s little sister Rachel is the pasty blond (she takes after Hannah) of the kids, but she is one of the funniest things ever. She has no qualms about sitting on my lap, begging for a drink of water then dumping it all over me. Emily is a crazy-girl with wild hair, who loves to run around and chase her cousins. And J-dawg … well, he’s still too little to know what he’s going to be like. But he’s a very handsome little guy. Well, done Hannah and John and Micah and Beth.

4. Gilmore Girls – This old WB show is one of the smartest, fastest shows now available on gilmore_girls1 DVD. It’s funny and the mom/daughter relationship is wonderful. Even when I hate what the characters are doing, I love the show.

5. Google – I’m such a googler. No other search engine does it like Google. How did I ever survive before it?

6. Girl Scout Cookies – I mean, come on. Who doesn’t love them? And even if you don’t buy any for yourself (I had serious self-control this season, but it hasn’t stopped me from eating the offered cookies from friends), consider donating a box.

7. Grace – I guess this would be number one on the list priority-wise. But really … what could be more improtant. I need God’s grace more than anything else, because I am a sinner through and through. But I’m totally covered. It’s great to know that!

8. Grated cheese – You know the stuff that comes in the bag? I love it! I mean, I like cheese as much as the next person, but when I’m ready to put it on my taco, nachos, or quesadilla, the already grated cheese in the bag is amazing! It’s the convenience and the ease and the fact that my knuckles don’t have to face being skinned or even eaten alive by the grater. It’s a beautiful thing.

gerard-butler-22 9. Garages – I just love having a garage. I like parking inside especially during the (usually) snowy Colorado winters. I like having extra storage space. I like … well, that pretty much sums it up. But I really do love having a garage.

10. Gerard Butler – My list just wouldn’t be complete without my one of my all-time favorite actors. He’s too adorable, and really quite a fantastic actor. If you don’t know him, check out my recent Phantom of the Opera addiction here. I also recently rewatched Nim’s Island, which has him in two roles–one a slightly nerdy scientist, the other an Indiana Jone-type adventurer. He’s plays them both superbly.

Thanks for the post idea, Amy. Grateful for the Gs in my life until next time. -LJ

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