Absolutely amazing!

Michael Kors Watches Dylan Black

I admit I ordered this because it's been in the news. (If you don't understand, google "Casio terrorism"). Now that I have it, I am surprisingly pleased with it as a watch, rather than as an ironic accessory.

I like watches, but hate paying a lot for them. The problem is that inexpensive ones usually aren't very comfortable to wear, don't look that good, don't last, and have difficult controls. Every one of these things is not true for this Casio. Right out of the box, it was appealing. The resin strap isn't cheap looking, the watch itself is thin and light. Very readable face. I didn't even have to read the instructions to understand how to use all the controls. It's understated but retro enough to be cool in a geeky way.

I can't swear to it's durability since I've had it only for a day. I'll update this after I've used it for a while.

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Great for my non-terrorist timekeeping activities!

Casio F91W 1 Classic Black Digital

I admit I ordered this because it's been in the news. (If you don't understand, google "Casio terrorism"). Now that I have it, I am surprisingly pleased with it as a watch, rather than as an ironic accessory.

I like watches, but hate paying a lot for them. The problem is that inexpensive ones usually aren't very comfortable to wear, don't look that good, don't last, and have difficult controls. Every one of these things is not true for this Casio. Right out of the box, it was appealing. The resin strap isn't cheap looking, the watch itself is thin and light. Very readable face. I didn't even have to read the instructions to understand how to use all the controls. It's understated but retro enough to be cool in a geeky way.

I can't swear to it's durability since I've had it only for a day. I'll update this after I've used it for a while.

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Uplifting

Letters Katie Middlefield Family Novel

This book is filled with situations that we all could face, not just the Amish. As the story unfolds, Katie and Johnny both realize they have let their wants become the focus of their lives rather than God being the center. Not only is it a book about self- soul searching for God's will but also about putting pride aside by letting others lend a helping hand, through love, prayer and friendship.

If you like real-life situations and are intrigued by the Amish community, it is a book that I would highly recommend reading. Letter writing plays an important part in this book, but so not to give it away, I'll just say you need to read it to understand the title. It is an uplifting read.

Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book by the publisher, Thomas Nelson, through Booksneeze blogger program for review. I was not required to write a favorable review nor was I compensated for my review. The opinions in this review are my own.

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"My father robbed me of more than he knew, orphaning each part of me of its past."

Black Venus Novel James MacManus

Susan Heyboer O'Keefe has taken Marry Shelley's hideous monster, a lump of mismatched parts, and infused him with a soul, his human-like spirit evolving through misadventure and the dogged cruelty of a man dedicated to his extermination, Robert Walton. The dying Frankenstein wrested a promise from his friend with his dying words, "swear to me that you will hunt down the creature and destroy it." There are certainly monsters afoot in this beautifully imagined story, but they are of human origin, twisted by passion and obsession. Seeking shelter from an indifferent, nay, hostile world, Frankenstein's monster embarks upon a bleak journey from a decaying Venice to the wild Orkney Islands and finally a Northumbrian coal mine, relentlessly pursued by Walton. From a tentative exploration of affection with a mute woman in Venice, the monster is tormented, Walton's singular mission to destroy his friend's foul creation. Spewing lies to impressionable villagers, Walton's forces his prey to flee.

As monster embraces humanity, his eager mind fed by books and brief encounters with those who tolerate his deformities, Walton proudly shoulders the burden of his task, filled with vengeance and a sort of divine madness, like a fanatical saint burning with the fervor of his hatred. Each small victory, a new place to sleep, the brief gift of friendship, is avidly destroyed, Walton become the monster's shadow, a terrible twin exacting retribution. In his grief, Frankenstein's creation turns to England with a plan to strike at Walton in kind, through the family her corresponds with regularly, a sister, Margaret Winterbourne, her husband and daughter, Lily, a beautiful sprite who flaunts convention, finding in the spontaneously named "Victor Hartmann" a formidable weapon against the restrictions of convention.

Dupe, fool, object of scorn and terror, "Victor" is swept into Lily's web, imagining one more chance to inhabit the world as other men but for the ugliness of his form. The half-mad Lily drives the next phase of the monster's journey, first to the wild country of the Orkney Islands, then to a Northumbrian coal mine, where a reckoning between foes becomes an epic battle waged in Hades, the cunning Walton filled with deadly fury after a mine collapses in the bowels of the earth. So human does this monster become, so anguished with the burden of his beginnings and the violent assemblage of his disparate parts, that it is impossible not to grant such a creature the grace of existence among men. True evil grows in the twisted pathways of a diseased mind, Shelley's monster an innocent born of Frankenstein's hubris, brutishly navigating a world of predators, until the realization, "I have been a monster of my own making. I will be a man of my own making instead." Luan Gaines/2010.

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"My father robbed me of more than he knew, orphaning each part of me of its past."

Frankensteins Monster Susan Heyboer OKeefe

Susan Heyboer O'Keefe has taken Marry Shelley's hideous monster, a lump of mismatched parts, and infused him with a soul, his human-like spirit evolving through misadventure and the dogged cruelty of a man dedicated to his extermination, Robert Walton. The dying Frankenstein wrested a promise from his friend with his dying words, "swear to me that you will hunt down the creature and destroy it." There are certainly monsters afoot in this beautifully imagined story, but they are of human origin, twisted by passion and obsession. Seeking shelter from an indifferent, nay, hostile world, Frankenstein's monster embarks upon a bleak journey from a decaying Venice to the wild Orkney Islands and finally a Northumbrian coal mine, relentlessly pursued by Walton. From a tentative exploration of affection with a mute woman in Venice, the monster is tormented, Walton's singular mission to destroy his friend's foul creation. Spewing lies to impressionable villagers, Walton's forces his prey to flee.

As monster embraces humanity, his eager mind fed by books and brief encounters with those who tolerate his deformities, Walton proudly shoulders the burden of his task, filled with vengeance and a sort of divine madness, like a fanatical saint burning with the fervor of his hatred. Each small victory, a new place to sleep, the brief gift of friendship, is avidly destroyed, Walton become the monster's shadow, a terrible twin exacting retribution. In his grief, Frankenstein's creation turns to England with a plan to strike at Walton in kind, through the family her corresponds with regularly, a sister, Margaret Winterbourne, her husband and daughter, Lily, a beautiful sprite who flaunts convention, finding in the spontaneously named "Victor Hartmann" a formidable weapon against the restrictions of convention.

Dupe, fool, object of scorn and terror, "Victor" is swept into Lily's web, imagining one more chance to inhabit the world as other men but for the ugliness of his form. The half-mad Lily drives the next phase of the monster's journey, first to the wild country of the Orkney Islands, then to a Northumbrian coal mine, where a reckoning between foes becomes an epic battle waged in Hades, the cunning Walton filled with deadly fury after a mine collapses in the bowels of the earth. So human does this monster become, so anguished with the burden of his beginnings and the violent assemblage of his disparate parts, that it is impossible not to grant such a creature the grace of existence among men. True evil grows in the twisted pathways of a diseased mind, Shelley's monster an innocent born of Frankenstein's hubris, brutishly navigating a world of predators, until the realization, "I have been a monster of my own making. I will be a man of my own making instead." Luan Gaines/2010.

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Watch has lasted deployment after deployment

Timex T41711 Expedition Camper Fabric

In 2005 I needed a watch, something with a cloth band. I found this at PX/BX and figured for ~$25 dollars at the time I couldn't go wrong. I have beat the crap out of it through everyday use since them. One reviewer is so right when he says it grows on you. I feel naked with out it, however when it's on you don't even feel it as it's light and once the band is broken in it's super soft. I lost that original watch in 2008 (foolishly leaving it somewhere). So I immediately purchased a new one and had it to this day (2012). There are no scratches on it, and I've only replaced the battery once (not because it died but because I figured 3 years was a long time on one battery and it might behoove me to make sure it doesn't die when I need it). I have washed it, I have worn it in the rain. I have literally run it under water to clean off layers of mud. No issues. It says "water resistant" on the back, no meters either, so they don't say it can handle water. Mine has.

The watch is smaller, which make it also very comfortable. I hate how companies assume all men want to wear a dinner plate on their wrist. I tried to find a "fancy" watch of this size and it's impossible. So I wear this even when I'm dressed to impress. After all, for a watch at this price range I'm extremely impressed.

One more thing. The glow in the dark feature on mine is still going strong after all this time. If nothing else, get this watch just as a back up to throw in your bug out bag. Analog has extra uses that a digital can't provide as well, like finding north via the sun.

I bought a black one about a year back, but it's strap wrapped under the watch piece. I did not like that at all. I don't recommend that one. It lifted up off my wrist slightly because of the band slipping under.

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"Imagine Love" revisited

B Is Bondage Erotic Alphabet

Big books are a guilty pleasure for me. I like to be whisked off my feet and carried away by a story. Diamond Drake does just that in her amazing fictional work Imagined Love. The book details the life of protagonist Jade Caldwell who has every reason to be leery of love yet finds herself back in its clutches time and time again.

The book starts off with the tumultuous relationship between Jade's parents. This sets the tone for the love roller coasters that take her and the reader for a ride through every stage of her life. Drake does a great job of infiltrating the sweetness of intimate relationships, the bitterness of heartbreak, and the skill it takes to accept them as a part of life. As one reader put it, "the book is simply healing for those of us who know how complicated life can be".

You will laugh, cry, shake your head at characters that seem so familiar you will think they are your friends, and sigh at knowing that Jade is headed for (another) wrong turn, and there is nothing that could be done to stop her. She wants her slice of the fairytale and Drake pulls the reader in so well, that you want Jade to enjoy that slice too.

This book is one that you fall in love with while it reminds you that it takes courage, love, and resilience to find the right person for you, as did the fabulous Jade Caldwell.

-By Erika Miller, Dot Magazine

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