I am guest blogging over at Candace’s today while she’s on the final jag of her London holiday! Check me out over there!

The delightful(ly) Evil Mommy does this thing on just about every Friday where she lists the first 10 songs that come up on her mp3 player in shuffle mode. Today I’m cleaning up my home office so I’ve got iTunes running loud and proud so I thought, why not copy her!? So here ya go…my Friday Random 10:

1. Up the Beach - Jane’s Addiction
2. Diamond Dogs - Beck
3. Mercy in You - Depeche Mode
4. Presents to Send You - Jimmy Buffett
5. Circle - Big Head Todd and the Monsters
6. Dream Thrum - James
7. Bartender - Dave Matthews Band
8. Ghost - Live
9. Sister Europe - Psychadelic Furs
10. Your Body is a Wonderland - John Mayer

Amazon.com
Halfway House, Katharine Noel’s triumphant debut, does far more than expose the highs and lows of battling mental illness; rather, it leaves readers with a sense of longing that transcends the subject matter. Told from the perspective of five family members, Noel expertly captures each character’s essence with unapologetic honesty, creating sympathies that would falter under a less gifted writer. The result is a profound look at how a crisis can both destroy and reinvent a seemingly typical family.

Set in rural New Hampshire, Halfway House tells the story of the Voorster family, whose lives are upended when 17-year-old Angie suffers a breakdown and is eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As Angie shuffles between hospitals, dorm rooms, halfway houses, and her childhood home, the side effects of her disease and treatment impact each member of her family. Her father Pieter, a Dutch-born cellist, retreats into himself, while her mother Jordana begins an affair. Angie’s brother Luke finds comfort in his girlfriends, especially Wendy, whom he meets while at college in Wisconsin. Eventually, familial relationships must be broken in order to be reinvented. In the process, family dynamics must shift, and each character must confront their own demons in order to emerge on the other side.

From One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to Girl, Interrupted, the subject of mental illness is hardly uncharted in modern literature. What Noel does is go beyond the disease to explore the consequences of crisis, both punishing and redemptive, without compromise or excuses. That is what makes Halfway House a wonder, and a pleasure to behold. –Gisele Toueg

Found this one over at Turtleheart’s and thought it looked like fun. You can steal it too!

GRUB-OLOGY

What is your salad dressing of choice? Hidden Valley Ranch - Ranch dressing. Nothing special!
What is your favorite fast food restaurant? This week it’s Qdoba
What is your favorite sit down restaurant? Joe’s Crab Shack
On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant? 15-20%
What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Ice cream!!!!
Name three foods you detest above all others. Brussel sprouts, cooked broccoli or cauliflower, beets, okra. Okay, so they’re all vegetables!
What is your favorite dish to order in a Chinese restaurant? Sesame Chicken
What are your pizza toppings of choice? Pepperoni and pineapples or black olives.
What do you like to put on your toast? Butter and jelly. Sometimes just honey.
What is your favorite type of gum? Usually I chew Orbit gum, any flavor. But I’ve just discovered this new Stride gum that’s really good!!!
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Tool came to denver in May. Their first tour in six years. I found out about the concert only 6 days before the event. Needless to say, tickets sold out in ten minutes so I didn’t get any.
A friend at work told me last week that Tool’s coming back next month and that tickets were going on sale this morning. Honey and I got up and ready, fingers poised anxiously over our mouse buttons…SUCCESS!!! Honey got us two tickets to the show! I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!!!