Manatee, Monty and Milchman

Look how nice they look!

Manatees are so cool. They just chill, being all groovy...

I'd so love to swim with them.

Magical Monty Python

Anyone who knows Monty Python pretty well and sees my self-appointed title (Watery Tart) knows I'm a fan. Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail is my favorite movie EVER and Life of Brian is a very close second. But just LOOK at these nuts. Can you think of people it would be more fun to hang out with? Because I just can't. Michael Palin has always been my favorite, though I love all of them in most of their forms. They just really are the best possible argument for always being as silly as possible. Life is just more fun that way.

Here are a few of my favorite clips:

The one my name comes from
The French Taunting
The Romanian Grammar Police
Spank Me!
Knights Who Say Ni!
What Have the Romans Done For Us?


Jenny Milchman and Cover of Snow

The next book in my TBR pile is one I am VERY excited to get to. Jenny came through Ann Arbor recently—her family is going a real live drive-all-over book tour. She is one of my ABNA buddies and is FANTASTICALLY supportive of her fellow writers. Here is the blurb for her book:


Waking up one wintry morning in her old farmhouse nestled in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, Nora Hamilton instantly knows that something is wrong. When her fog of sleep clears, she finds her world is suddenly, irretrievably shattered: Her husband, Brendan, has committed suicide.

The first few hours following Nora’s devastating discovery pass for her in a blur of numbness and disbelief. Then, a disturbing awareness slowly settles in: Brendan left no note and gave no indication that he was contemplating taking his own life. Why would a rock-solid police officer with unwavering affection for his wife, job, and quaint hometown suddenly choose to end it all? Having spent a lifetime avoiding hard truths, Nora must now start facing them.

Unraveling her late husband’s final days, Nora searches for an explanation—but finds a bewildering resistance from Brendan’s best friend and partner, his fellow police officers, and his brittle mother. It quickly becomes clear to Nora that she is asking questions no one wants to answer. For beneath the soft cover of snow lies a powerful conspiracy that will stop at nothing to keep its presence unknown . . . and its darkest secrets hidden.