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It felt like a long weekend. Probably because I spent so much of it writing. Next weekend will be a true long weekend since I spent some of my much horded vacation hours and took Friday and Monday off. I wasn’t sure if I would need recovery time since it’s Dave Diego next weekend. When it comes to bloggers, I’ve only met Hilly and Karl thus far, so Motley and I are truly excited about this event. Not that Hilly and Karl aren’t the pinnacle of bloggers, but you know what I mean.

I went to Blog Talk Radio yesterday to set a reminder for Turnbaby’s anniversary show, even though I knew I wasn’t going to get to listen to the whole thing. I had a Bar writer’s meeting online that I knew would pull me away at some point. However, when I went to set the reminder, I noticed a show that was on called The Mortal Vampire. Me being me, I had to check it out.

The Mortal Vampire seemed really cool and his chatroom was hopping. His guest was Bret Jordan who is an author and artist. They were talking about writing and someone in the chat asked how I’d found the show. So I told them about The Bar and that I write vampires. Bret instantly offered to put a link to The Bar on his links page. Very, very cool. I really enjoyed the show and will be listening again in the future. Many thanks to The Mortal Vampire and Bret Jordan for the plug.

Well, it is Monday, and I do have a Marcus for you. First, I have to say that I am just totally in lust with Christian de la Fuente from In Plain Sight. This guy really pushes my buttons which doesn’t happen very often with celebs. I think I totally called it last Monday when I said he was headed for Marcus status. Not that he would ever take Marcus’ place. No man could do that. I’m more than in lust with Marcus. If I ever met him in person, I would be a babbling fool because he reduces me to complete mush. Really, both these guys more than float my boat!

Last week there was a call for a shirtless Marcus so I’ve got one of those for you today. He’s young here, not that he’s old now, but 39 is old for a model. I guess it’s part of his supermodel status that he still looks good and is still working. Not a lot of guys look as good as he does at 39. He’s certainly inspiration for me when I’m writing hot scenes. My muse doesn’t really help me with those. He just tosses a few Marcus photos at me and heads off to get drunk. He knows the Marcus pictures will invoke the hottest of sex scenes.

I want to call out my thanks to Jen from Redneck Romance Writer and Susan from West of Mars for giving my Zanctuary writing contest entry a lookover yesterday. I appreciated the time you ladies took to read the piece and give me your opinions. The rest of you will get to read Silver Lining after the contest is over. The inspiration came from my past (the dude from yesterday), from Marcus and Christian, from a Lady Antebellum song, and from stuff that happens to people online. It’s an emotional piece from the get go, and yes, there is a sex scene! YAY!

Hope you all have a great Monday with whoever floats your boat!

Shades of Billy Idol screaming is what you’re thinking right now, right? Wrong! It’s just the return of my Marcus Monday. I flipped out just a tiny bit last night because Motley was watching TV in my room and she had on In Plain Sight. I was talking to someone in YIM who had expressed the desire to read the Bar and create a character so she can write with us. I glanced over and there’s this way good looking dude being worked over by a physical therapist. For about a minute, I thought it was Marcus. Then I realized something was off and I Googled the show and discovered that it was Christian de la Fuente.

Ahhh. I watch Larry King. I’d seen this guy before and thought he was way hot then. Now, my attraction was ratcheting itself way up the scale toward the Marcus level. Yum. As usual, my first thought was, I need to get dibs on this guy for the Bar before someone else does. And I remembered thinking I needed to save him for the Bar when I’d seen him on Larry King, but I hadn’t acted on it at all. Just so this doesn’t end up like me and Mozy, I’ll have to slap his photo on the Bar as a “to be named later” character.

At any rate, hot as Christian is, Marcus is still hotter. They have this snapshot thing at the sim where they ask long time players to answer a series of questions to give other players a “snapshot” of who they are… one of the questions is who would you want in the next bed if you had to be bedridden in the hospital for 6 months. My first thought was Marcus, of course, but then I wondered if that was a good idea. I mean, bed ridden? I would either be sick or in pain. Certainly not at my best. Would I want a hot guy seeing me like that?

After my second thought passed, the third one came to the fore. I realized that all the hot guys I’ve been with in the past weren’t attracted to me because of my looks. Six months with Marcus and the guy would have to know something of who I am. Either he would find that attractive or he wouldn’t. If he didn’t, oh well. And maybe I wouldn’t find him attractive anymore if I spent that much time with him. I mean, I’m not all about the abs and the pecs usually.

When people wish that they could spend more time with someone, do they really want that? Wouldn’t that spoil half the relationships out there? Because odds are, lots of relationships have a balance and part of that balance is how much time you spend with the other person. Lots of people are making it as a couple because they don’t live in each other’s back pockets.

Personally, that would bug the shit out of me. I need my personal time and space. Chances are, six months in the same room with Marcus, and I would walk out of there wondering what I ever saw in him in the first place. Of course, six months in the same room with anyone would probably do that to me. Still, I can dream of how awesome it would be spend six days in bed with that body. HEH. Oh, yeah. That thought is almost enough to get me typing stewardesses…

Have a great Monday!

How can I top the Marcus mosaic I did last week? I should never have done that. I just spoiled all the future Mondays. I do have a nice Marcus pic though. I thought perhaps something rather formal was needed since we do have the last of our awards to hand out today. So here’s Marcus in a collar, cuffs, and a tie. Hee hee.

It’s just perfectly appropriate that the end of Blog Reader Appreciation Week should fall at the end of the Marcus Award contest. I’m just a giving fool! And for those of you who didn’t win something, there is still an open contest at this blog. No one ever won the Find the Air France Commercial guy. The commercial is called “Pool” and no one has been able to discover the name of the man in the commercial. If someone is brave enough to try, here’s the link the post about this contest. I found the name of the director, which escapes me now, but it’s buried in one of my posts. I did blog about this commercial at least 3 or 4 times.

To recap my BRAW stuff, Hilly talked to me on Woopra (and remains the only person ever to talk to me on this!) and won a pack of Dave’s playing cards when my order arrives. Marty’s name was drawn from the Dooney purse in the comment entries contest and he wins a hat from our Cafepress store. The end of the Marcus Award contest also fell on Friday. I tallied up the numbers and… MaryO from My Two Cents wins a fanged t-shirt! YAY!!!

I have no clue how she managed to outlast Fab on this one because she’s been pregnant and caring for a newborn plus 2 kids, a DH, pets, and a job through it all. I have no idea how she found the time to come by here, read, and post 115 comments! Now, that is loyalty for ya! Mary… I LOVES YA! Send me a PM at the Bar and tell me what size t-shirt you want.

Keep your eyes peeled for more tiara pics this week. Also, I’m still thinking about ideas for how I should be awarding the Marcus and the Alaric in the future, so feel free to leave your thoughts and ideas on that in comments. Believe me, I will appreciate every one! Have a yummy Monday!

Ya know the meme that’s going around in mosaic form now? Here’s my Marcus version which truly makes this a Mega Marcus Monday! Click on it for the full size so you can admire all those muscles!

I guess it’s time for the Marcus count now. This is the last week of the contest. The count ends on Friday same at the same as time as Reader Appreciation does. I will announce the winner of the Marcus Award contest next Marcus Monday. Here’s the numbers: Mary-7, ShinyBitch, Susan and Marty - 4, Jennifer and Vixen - 3, Jason X, Whall, and Uvonne - 2, Hilly, Dave2, Othurme, and Jester - 1. Next week will be an exciting Monday!

Since this is Blog Reader Appreciation Week, and since I am giving away a couple of prizes, don’t forget to read yesterday’s post if you haven’t already.

Oh! And since I truly do appreciate Othurme… drool people, drool.

Have a simply Mega Everything Monday! MUAH!

I think I’m out of words. I’ve been writing and talking (well typing) all weekend. I’ve been trying to help some new writers at the Bar. Also, the horse racing sim has a new message board and I had to go figure out all the moderator stuff. I watched the Belmont. Big bust there. Posted a couple of times at the Bar. Worked on some future posts for the Bar. Worked on a piece for the Z competition. Posted a riposte at JR Ward’s message board. Created a blog for the sim’s version of the Olympics. Listened to the BTR shows… Ack. I’m tired.

That being said… Here’s Marcus. I need some yummy deliciousness. After all the political stuff that went on last week on blogs and on TV, I thought I’d show all the women how great a tree hugger could be. I never thought I could ever be envious of a hunk of wood, but damn. I wish that was me he has those arms and thighs wrapped around. RAWR. I also drooled over the Polo Black commercial all of Sunday. Motley was sprawled in my bed watching Sunday Super Heroes on FX all day. They kept playing the Polo Black commercials that feature Nacho Figueras. Whew! Hotness!

The Marcus numbers for this week are weak, but I rather expected that since my posting and visiting other blogs was weak as well. It was a tough week for me at the office. Busy, busy. Anyway, it’s a recap week and as a reminder there’s only 2 weeks left in this contest. Here’s how the numbers look for the top five: Mary - 102, Fab - 82, Shinygal - 73, Matt - 70, Susan - 69. I dunno, with two weeks left I almost think this could be anyone in the top five’s game.

Before I head off, I gotta mention a couple things. One, is the poll on the vampire show. I’m leaving it up cause I just don’t know what to do. Only five votes isn’t much. If you have an opinion on this, please vote. We’re talking monthly or quarterly shows, not weekly.

The other thing is that I have to say how flattered I was that Jason X took my TT post and used it to create a post about Blair. I still say she’s a soul sucking demon not a blood sucking vampire, but I appreciated the tribute to my work here. I think that deserves my Alaric. The Alaric doesn’t have actual criteria yet. I’m gonna be figuring that out though, same as with Marcus, once I’ve handed out the prize for Marcus in two weeks. I hope to have it all nailed down by the week of July 1 and then post the criteria on a static page.

Shit. I talk a lot for someone who was all worded out. I know, I know… Charlie Brown’s teacher. Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. Now, here’s the most important words for you from me: Luv ya! MUAH!

I’m kinda shuffling along here, wasted from a lack of sleep. The picnic went pretty well. I arrived home from it in time to hear Fab and Turnbaby’s shows. I’ll have to listen to Karl and Hilly’s shows tonight. I have to admit to being pretty drained when I got home. I wanted to nap, but there was too much going on in my house for that. Motley took a pic of me at the picnic, before I got sunburnt. I’ll post it after she downloads it from the camera.

You’ll have to excuse my dullness today. I’m running on empty and the gas station is nowhere in sight. Not to mention the price to fill up. Ugh. Anyway, here’s a Marcus. He of the luscious body. I know the men out there, the ones who aren’t gay anyway, aren’t that interested. But I need my Marcus boost today since I am totally dragging here. On the upside, I’m not that irritated anymore. I felt a bit of that disconnected thing at the picnic. Mostly, I didn’t because my friend Liz was there. She and her husband Jim are just the coolest people. They make company events bearable for me. Overall, I’m still kinda disconnected feeling though. Maybe sleep will help.

The Marcus Award count for last week goes like this: Fab and Mary - 7, Susan and Jennifer - 6, Shinygal - 4, Marty - 3, Hilly and Renee - 2, and lots of onesies. This was a banner week in my comments. There were some real stand outs for grabbing my attention, not that I don’t read all comments and try to respond. I do, and I appreciate everyone who stops to leave one, just like I appreciate all my readers, even the ones who lurk or only comment occasionally. This week, however, my readers said things like:

“Who’s this Marcus guy? He looks like a tool.” - Diesel

“Who knew when I created Alaric Kohl it would inspire such an obsession…” - Jen

“Man, I LOVE your stuff!!!! You are frickin’ brilliant.” - Jennifer

“I have decided to begin worshipping you.” - Mr. Fabulous

“Oh there you are. I couldn’t find you for a minute.” - Vixen

“Maybe I’ll have a better comment when I stop laughing myself silly.” - Jester

“You are spending so much time around us that we’re seeping into your sweet sweet head.” - Hilly

“Drop a credenza on his head. That’s how I get rid of people…” - Jason X

“…man, I love this. It’s like a soap opera, only better.” - Susan

“Reading this, i totally could picture it all as if i were having the same dream!” - UMB

“Oh, I love some good villains!” - Darla

“He does nothing for me. Does that mean I’m totally straight, or just trying to prove that I’m not gay? Hmm.” - Karl

Now that those comments have made me grin, I’m off to work! Have a great Monday everyone!

I tried to find a pic of Marcus wrapped in an American flag like Liz Phair was. No such luck. *sigh* The best I could do was a patriotic headband. Still, he’s beautiful so it matters not what he wears. And usually, the less he wears the better for us. HEH.

Since I have to work on Memorial Day I’m just gonna cut to the chase today. A big thanks to Fab for having me on his show. I don’t think anyone has ever asked me about grave robbers before… and thank you to Turnbaby for asking about how I got into writing about vampires. I’m all done pimping myself out for awhile I think. The duet show is the only other thing I’m scheduled to do.

This week’s Marcus awards ended up like this (due mostly to Fab’s drooling over Liz Phair): Mr. Fabulous-11, Mary-6, Hilly and Marty-4, Susan and Vixen-3, Shinygal, BPR, and Dave2- 2. Lots of onesies too. I appreciate each and every comment. In addition, I appreciate all those people who read me in their readers and lurk, but do not comment. When I get that Woopra, I may just have to surprise all the lurkers with a Hello and a Thank You for coming by!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day and don’t do like me and eat too much fried chicken and hot dogs.