The Mob and the Assassin!

Okay--so I know it has been a while since I have had anything to say, and I do apologize. Life has been a little hectic.

Most who know me, know that I am a conspiracy nut--I love a good tale of government corruption. Not that I believe every theory laid out about JFK, RFK, Roswell, etc., but I am extremely fascinated by those events, as well as many others of historical significance.

Don Denton, a former covert government assassin, will be back at our store on October 25th. If you haven't met Don, it is easy to be skeptical about his stories and alleged experiences. But meet and talk to him, and it becomes much harder to write him off. He comes off as sincere and knowledgable, and if nothing else, is interesting as hell to talk to. To me, his stories, while maybe not written as clear and concise as he would have liked, are just too detailed to ignore. I investigated some of the "incidents" he discusses, and places, dates, etc. seem to match up. While that is not definitive "proof," it is nonetheless compelling. Read Don's books, and talk to the man, and you will see that while some of the claims are fantastical, he just doesn't come off as someone who is making everything up. I will say this--if he is fabricating, his attention to detail in his story telling is remarkable!

Now--In that same bane, I have always been fascinated by Mob history. And of course, on October 29th, THE Henry Hill will be here. You may know the name - Ray Liotta played him in the Martin Scorcese's movie "Goodfella's". This should be fascinating. I have never (knowingly) spent time talking to someone who was actually in the mob. Having the opportunity to meet someone who actually lived that life, was associated with numerous famous underworld figures, will be really cool.

Be well!

What a difference a tan makes!!

I am currently working on a website for a friend that owns a sunless tanning company (coming very soon) and decided to help her by posing for a couple before and after photos. My was I shocked to see the difference. (See my photos below.) I have never been one to worry about getting and keeping a tan. Being from Michigan, we tan in summer and whiten in winter--that's just the way it is. Now that I am older, I rarely get tan. (Although while I was working in the golf business, a farmers tan was usually the norm.)


But when she sprayed that stuff on, and I looked in the mirror, I could not believe the difference. I looked like a mythological God; a greek warrior like Achilles or Adonis. I don't think I will ever spend a day without a tan again. I plan on scheduling appointments at least every five days to keep this beautiful glow all the time. Best of all, it is completely safe and free from toxins. No skin cancer worries, no sitting in the hot sun for 3 days to get tan. This is the best thing I have ever found. I will post a link to the website as soon as it is up, but I can highly recommend sunless tanning to all who want to change their lives.


Be well.

Before

After

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

STANLEY TIME!!

Well i couldn't be happier this morning. The Wings proved once again that they can win no matter what the NHL does to prevent it.

Last night they finished off the Penguins in Pittsburg to win their 11th Stanley Cup overall, and their 4th in 11 years.

What makes it so great is that this is a team that was scouted and put together by Jim Nill and Ken Holland, finding players late in drafts that no one knows about. Detroit's top line consists of Pavel Datsyuk (Drafted 176th overall in 99), Tomas Holmstrom (Drafted 256th), and Henrik Zetterberg (Drafted 221st) who incidentally won the Conn Smythe trophy as the MVP of the NHL Playoffs. Even Nick Lidstrom, arguably the greatest defenseman in the history of the NHL, was picked 51st overall in 1990. They were matched against the Penguins who feature Sidney Crosby (1st pick), Marc Andre Fluery (1st pick), and Yvgeny Malkin (2nd pick).

To put it in perspective, you have to consider that most other sports have 6-10 rounds, and anyone that is picked after about round 4 has a very slim chance of not only having a career, but even making the teams. But the Wings have always seemed ahead of the times, being the first to scout in Eastern Europe, Sweden, Finland, etc.

All I know is that I love this team, I love Mike Babcock (coach), and I want another Stanley Cup next year! Oh, and since I vowed to get a Wing Wheel tattoo if they won, if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

Be well.

Hey Hey Hockeytown

Finally...

The Stanley cup finals have come to hockeytown where they belong!

Pittsburg and Detroit offer an interesting series, one that I expect will be close; either 6 or 7 games.

Will the youth of the Penguins outskate the veteran Wings, or will the Euro-twins outduel Crosby, Malkin, Fleury and the rest of the Black & Yellows?

Well it is probably pretty obvious who my team is.

GO WINGS!!!!

The hell I go through

Many have asked me over the last few months, "What's it like to work for Pam?"

For those who don't know, Pam Mains is the owner of Cheesecake and Crime, a mystery bookstore and cheesecake joint in Henderson, Nevada, and my current employer.

Well she is a fun-loving gal who enjoys practical jokes. She has gotten me several times, including calling a funeral home on April Fool's Day and asking for Myra Mains. (Luckily it only worked because her last name is mains!) She genuinely cares about her staff and all the people around her.

But there is a darker side. A vengeful and ominous side which can be seen in the photo below.

While we all have bad days and good days, my bad days have been really really bad, as you can see above. So now I can truthfully say, "I'm so freakin' busy, I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off!" I really mean it.

NHL Playoffs have started, my time is here!

Go Wings!

Trader Me's

I had my first Trader Joe experience yesterday, and I must say I was rather shocked.

I hate cooking, and I was always under the impression that Trader Joe's offered health food ingredients, or something like that. No one ever told me that they had pre-cooked, packaged meals, perfect for a simpleton such as myself. And it's probably healthier than the mac and cheese, french bread pizza I usually ingest. I never knew there was such an array of ethnic foods and packaged meals that were so easy to make. I am all about "throw it in the oven for 10 minutes then eat it." I guess it comes down to my impulsive eating habit. I eat when I get hungry. I don't plan for when I will be hungry. If I get hungry, I don't want to start combining ingredients to make a wholesome meal. I want to eat right friggin now! But now that I have discovered Trader Joe's, I may just be able to eat healthier and better, without sacrificing my desire for quick and painless dishes.

Being April, I guess I should mention that once again, the Detroit Redwings appear to have locked up the #1 overall seed for the NHL playoffs, which always scares me. At this point, with only three games left, they still could face any one of six teams in the first round. And all six teams make me nervous for one reason or another.

Will this be another disappointing playoff year? Or will they step it up and play to their potential in the playoffs. I pray the latter, but prepare for the former. Man would I love a nice two-month playoff run, not just so I can selfishly continue to watch my beloved team, or to cry with joy when they hoist the Stanley Cup, but once hockey is done, what in the hell am I going to watch?? Baseball? Yeah right!

Be well.

Dieticians and CHEESECAKE!!!

Yes it's true!

Tuesday was national dietician's day, and we hosted a cheesecake party for approximately twenty dieticians. That tells me either they aren't very dedicated to their profession, or our cheesecake is made with healthy ingredients.

I'll vote for the latter. Although we can't find a fat-free recipe that is any good for cheesecake, it is still a relatively healthy recipe, and lets face it, even dietician's are allowed to cheat sometimes! We are even in the process of negotiating a deal to have our cheesecake sold by a national health food distributor. So I guess one would have to conclude that our cheesecake is healthy.

We are also in the process of setting up a writer's panel of some sort. We will have a few local authors talking about the publishing industry, so local authors, get your notebooks ready--this will be a free event where you can meet published authors and learn a lot about the business of writing. Topics will range from traditional publishing vs. self publishing, marketing, agent submissions, writing tips and more.

So back to the topic of health, I just spent $600 I don't have on an inexpensive eliptical machine, something I will probably use twice before it becomes just another decorative house piece along with my ab lounge--but I guess the fitness thought is better than doing nothing at all. I figure if it is in the house I will be more inclined to use it than if it isn't. If nothing more, the cats can have a new climbing toy.

Be well.

Let the past, stay the past

With my 20 year high school reunion just around the corner, it is no wonder that I am getting blasted with emails from former classmates asking me if this is really me, and if I am attending the reunion.

I answer with a resounding "HELL NO!"

First off, I hated high school to begin with, and now that one of my few close friends from those days has passed away, there is no one I have a strong desire to see. I have kept in touch with maybe three of friends from high school, and the rest - I don't know them, and don't really need to.

Second, what are high school reunions for? Well in my mind, they are for the jocks to relive the glory days, now that they have lost all of their hair and are working at Taco Bell. They are for the once "unpopular" people to show up in their rented Mercedes 350SLK's to try to show all of the "popular" girls what they supposedly missed out on. They are for all of the former beauty queens to show everyone pictures of their brilliant kids, and talk about why they divorced their first alcoholic husbands. Reunions are rediculous. Of course, even though a woman is married with a loving family, has a great job and everything going for her in the present, she will diet and tan, get her hair done, and try to impress a collection of people she hasn't seen or heard from in 20 years. What's the point?

Although I do miss my fallen friend, and the other close friends I grew up with, I do not miss high school, and I have nothing to prove to those people, and no desire to try to impress them. Nor do I have a desire to see most of them.

I remember hearing people saying things like, "I can't wait to show up at my reunion with my Porsche, two blondes on each arm, throwing cash at everyone I see...Blah Blah Blah" Just plain old insecurity.

While I am definitely not going myself, I don't want to give the impression that I think less of people who do attend reunions. Many people just go to see old friends, reminisce about simpler times, and for one night, go back in time. I am just not one of those people. Maybe it is my anti-social nature or just my cynicism, but I say let the past stay in the past!

Be Well.

When life gives you lemons...

...don't choke on them.

If you missed my exciting blog talk radio show this morning, don't feel bad. We only gave away $6,000,000 in cash and a few Hawaiian getaways!

Thank you so much to author Denny Griffin for having me on his show. If you did miss it, you can listen to it by clicking here.

It was definitely fun to do, though sometimes it can still be difficult to be open about my life struggles, as it can be for many of us. It's not that I am ashamed about some of my experiences, but advertising them is another story. Last time I walked up to a girl and used the line, "I was homeless, can I buy you a drink?" It didn't go over so well. Have you ever seen a girl laugh so hard that she snorted an entire pitcher of beer up her nose in 3 seconds flat?

I spent some time here the other day with an author who has come up with a completely novel concept (no pun intended). Steve Grogan's book "Vegas Die" is set to come out next week. I am excited that we are having an author signing with him on Saturday, March 15. While the premise of the book itself is intriguing (Old time Vegas mobsters die, Mayor #1 suspect!), the interactive part of the book is a totally awesome concept. How can a book be interactive, you ask? Well, Stephen and his publisher, Harvey Addison, have hidden a dagger worth $25k somewhere in the Las Vegas valley, and there are clues riddled throughout the book as to it's whereabouts. Talk about a genius marting plan. Read a book, find $25,000. You can bet I will be out there diggin holes in the desert trying to find it!

Be well.

An A for effort

Well it's not everyday you realize what a moron you are. Today was just that for me.

In trying to install a few new shelves to rearrange our book displays, i began my mission at Lowes, trying to find some brackets that would allow me to install the shelves we already have. Of course, they do not sell what we needed. After brainstorming with myself for a few minutes, I decided the next best option was to buy some wood and cut the shelves myself, to the exact size we needed them.

I meandered over to the lumber section where I quickly spotted the right type of wood. They had two choices, first were four sheets of 4ft x 2ft boards, in which I would have sufficient wood for 4 shelves. Option two were two sheets of 4ft x 4ft, in which I could make 6 shelves. You do the math.

After dragging these heavy 4ft x 4ft boards through the store and the checkout line, I got them to my brand new chevy equinox, and quickly realized they would be a tight fit. Rather than walk the 50 feet to have the boards either cut, or tied on to my roof, I used my knowledge of angles to wedge the boards into the back of my SUV, realizing after the fact that the were scraping along the plastic in my new car.

For the life of me, I will never understand why you are able to get items into a tight fit, and then you can never get them out. Like if you put your head between cage bars at a zoo, and then can't get it out. Seems to defy the laws of physics.

Once back at the store, the boards would not come out of my car. I pried and angled and did everything possible, but there was no way they were coming out. So to cut to the chase, when our owner, Pam, walked up, she inquired as to why I had a handsaw out, sawing boards in half in the back of my new car. I had to explain that in my stupidity, I was not trying to cut the shelving in the back of my car, rather, I was simply trying to get the freakin boards out.

I have never heard her laugh so much in my life.

Well maybe tomorrow I will do something smart to make up for my lapse of intelligence. On a positive note, I was able to salvage and cut 4 shelves from the existing wood!

Be well.

Two Minutes for Slashing

So Pamela, the owner of Cheesecake and Crime, has been encouraging me to start writing a new book. I actually have started about ten different books , but just have not had time to cultivate the stories. This newest venture, however, may have some real possibilities.


It will be the beginning of a mystery series revolving around an ex-hockey player. The first working title is "Two Minutes for Slashing." We will see where the story takes me.


March will be an exciting month for us here at the store. We have five author signings set up, a booth at the annual "Wine Walk" at the Venetian, and Faberge easter egg decorating classes all going on. Should keep us busy. Check our website for more information regarding those events.


Speaking of websites, Mob historian and author Denny Griffin, sent me this link today: http://www.selfpublishersplace.com/
This is a website dedicating to promoting and selling self published books. If you are a self published author, or are sick of all the agent and publisher rejection letters, check this site out.

Thats all for now. Be Well.

Finally....

Joe has a blog! I guess an author without a blog is kind of like a pianist without feet. Sure you can still play, but the tones don't resonate without the sustain pedals! Okay, that analogy may be a little off the mark, but you get my point.

Welcome to my blog, a spot that I will vent and fume, rant and rave, and generally let my feelings be known to all. The two rules that I live by, and I will try to stick to, are no politics, and no religion.

Instead I will spend more time discussing our store, Cheesecake and Crime, disputing posts by Pamela Mains, our store owner, and generally spinning my own top on anything that strikes my fancy.

Enjoy!