"Swim the Fly" by Don Calame and I hate this phrase, but...

...please bear with me...

...as I discover what background I want.

I thought I wanted something sharp and unique, so I picked out this tubular nautical one with waves, an anchor, an octopus, and turquoise. Well, I couldn't read the text or see the photos, which meant that you guys couldn't see the photos. So now I am going back to simple. It's more about content than colors, right?

Oh, btw, for like a month, if you tried to comment on any of my posts, it wouldn't let you. With some finagling, it works now, I think. So I hope no one saw their brilliant thoughts go down the drain, because they couldn't get them onto my blog...but I also hope everyone will try and post for me as often as possible...so that I...will know...it is still working. Yeah, that's it. In order to keep tabs on my finicky blog, I need everyone that stops by to at least say hi. I hope, however, to hear some of your thoughts, on whatever!

Also, I need a vote, of sorts, do you think it is a bad idea, or unprofessional, for an unpublished author - in the process of querying agents - to put snippets of their writing on their blog? Like a chapter or a children's book manuscript, in the hopes of getting feedback from people out their. Or, is it better to keep it private and join reading groups and writer's organizations/societies.

Also, also, I just reread my last post and I think I was possessed by a typo demon, I apologize. The angel on my shoulder is acting all smug, since he was trying to get me to click spell-check the whole time and I ignored him. The devil on my should just has his face in his hands, because he cannot believe the blows my ego is taking, since I am telling you all of this. Oh, their names are Walter and Jasper.

(does anyone know why my photos will not go where I want them to? I used to be able to click, hold, and drag, but now I just get a slashed out circle. What is this, National No Drag Month?)

Okay, so one of the best books I have ever read:

It's interesting that "Swim the Fly" - a hilarious book about a fifteen year old guy and his friends aspiring to see a naked girl before the end of the summer - should make it into my top ten of all-time list. Oddly enough, it is the only book that is a comedy and one of the only with color on the cover to make it there.

Matt and his buds, Coop and Sean, set a goal each summer, they have since they were, like, eight. This summer it is to see a real, live nude girl. The first three hundred pages follow the calamity and shenanigans of the three boys as they never get close to their goal, despite trying way too hard.

During the book, however, there is a shift in the main character and he sort of grows...some balls and with them, a conscience. At first, I had a bit of a hard time getting over the hundreds of references to jacking off and the thirty different names for boobs, but in the end the stereotype-created characters break out of their shells and surprise you.

**THIS BOOK ALMOST MADE ME PEE MY PANTS**

(twice!)