Surrender, Dorothy: Reviews

The Cat's Pajamas: 101 of the World's Cutest Cats

I've had photographer Rachel Hale's coffee-table book, The Cat's Pajamas, for a really embarrassingly long time. But there's a reason the review has taken so long.

My daughter made off with it. From the moment I got it, she was transfixed by pictures of cute kittehs in all sorts of poses. Some sweet, some just shockingly beautiful. She'd page through them while I worked, cooing and gahing for seriously forty-five minutes straight.

Each photo is accompanied by a description of the breed in the picture, so if you or a friend is looking to invest in a beautiful cat (or just like looking at them), this book is more beautiful than any other breeds book I've ever seen. Or if you're just an LOLCats fan and like looking at cute stuff, this works, too.

I'd better hide the book before it disappears again.

Tooth Fairy Kit

The little angel hasn't lost her first tooth yet, but we just finished reading Ramona the Pest, and she is DYING TO LOSE A TOOTH.

Fortunately, we just received for review the Tooth Fairy Kit, illustrated by Becky Kelly.

As I opened the box, the little angel practically salivated.  There's a pillow with a pocket for the tooth, a little organza pouch and a journal for recording tooth-related activities.  I can't imagine us actually writing down every single time she lost a tooth, but it's a nice thought. The interesting part of the journal is the chart of teeth and the chart of when teeth come in and are usually lost.  According to this, the little angel will probably lose her central incisor first, at six or seven years old.  That seems kind of late to me?  Then again, the Tooth Fairy probably has done quite a bit of market research.

I like the pillow/pouch combo because I can see itsy bitsy teeth getting lost pretty easily, and I can't imagine the hell that would break loose if I lost the little angel's tooth before the fairy arrived. That said, this is definitely a gift for girls.  While my daughter's eyes lit up like Christmas when she saw the glittery organza, I think most boys would probably vomit at its girliness.  To me, though, it beats those little plastic treasure chests we used to get in elementary school any day.

I do have another one of these for giveaway.  Leave your comments between now and March 20 to win one.  I'll use the randomizer this time. 

Also -- congratulations to Fweetieb for winning a free copy of Momnesia!  You've got to comment to win, guys!

Mia Software Winner

And the winner is...Katie! Chosen totally randomly!  Two days late!  Oh, God, I am so tired and so sorry I messed up my own deadline.

Katie, please e-mail me your address and tracking phone number, and this lovely piece of software is in the mail to you!

Winner of the Land's End $100 Gift Card Contest

Hoo, boy.  This was a hard one.  I'm torn between the tampon incident and the swimsuit splitting up the butt.  But really, anything with a tampon sort of goes beyond the nightmare of public exposure to the nightmare of public bleeding gore.  I'm going to have to give this contest to Angie, who wins the $100 Land's End gift card, and hopefully never has to publicly dispose of a feminine hygiene product again.

Angie, please send me your name, address, and phone number, and I'll get Land's End to send you your gift card, stat!

Thanks everyone for participating!  Thank God swimmingsuits hold themselves on a little better now than they did in our youth.

MIFFY Winner Picked Randomly by My Co-Worker

I just was talking to my co-worker and asked her to pick a number between one and seven.  She picked the number FIVE, so the fifth commenter is...fweetieb!  Congratulations! You are the recipient of a two-foot Miffy.

I will need your mailing address.  Please send it me at ritabiermann(at)hotmail(dot)com. 

Thanks to everyone for participating!

Kris Wins the Camera with Scientific Yam Haiku

First off, let me just say I LOVE your yam haiku.  I didn't even have yams this Thanksgiving, but I can taste them, my dears - I can taste them.

Congratulations to Kris, who wins the yam haiku contest and the HP digital camera with this stunning entry:

yams are not even
distantly related to
the sweet potato

Runner-up and winner of nothing but bragging rights is Melissa, with this little ditty:

Yams, o starchy roots,
Without marshmallows, you are
just Sweet Potatoes

Thanks to all who participated in the contest. If you didn't win the camera, head on down to the next post and try to win yourself a gargantuan Miffy.  That makes everything better.

Kris - please e-mail me your mailing address at ritabiermann(at)hotmail(dot)com.

Yam Haiku for Cameras, A Fair Trade, I Always Say

Okay, guys, rev up your haiku engines, because the camera is here. It's a HP Photosmart M447, and I'm wishing SO BAD it were mine right about now.  I didn't even get one!  Because I opted to give it to you, my readers, because I am so very nice.

And I'm hoping they just send me another one.  Which they probably won't. But everybody's got a dream, baby.

This camera is 5.0 megapixel with a 3x optical zoom and a 2.4" LCD screen.   There's a whole lot of other stuff written on the back of the box, but I'll let you read the product site if you want more details.  When I'm trying to win stuff, I usually just look for "free" and make sure it's not a t-shirt, a credit card, or information about real estate in Florida.  Just sayin'.

And so! The contest is:  Whoever submits the best YAM HAIKU in the next seven days, wins!

Go for it.

Final HP Photo Winner and News About Another Contest!

Okay, I had more response to that plea for more entrants than I expected, so to be fair, I put them all in a hat and drew one out with my eyes closed, pinkie swear.

And the winner is...Other SIL!  You may think I'm making this up, but truly, I'm not. 

BUT - if you didn't win, take heart - I just heard from some other fine people at HP that they are sending me a HP digital camera to give away. Who the hell do I think I am?  I'm not sure, but as long as the product people are throwing the goodies my way, I'll take them.

Here's the contest:

Photo lovers' haiku.

Five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables. The subject is:  YAMS.

Please place your haiku in the comments. I don't have the camera yet, but you can start haikuing now. I'll let you know when I have it in my hot little hands, and the contest will be over shortly after.

Need More Winners!

Where are all the people begging for free stuff?

Cagey (nominated by Goofy Girl, who wins won for her nomination) and Sarah win the first three mini HP photo books. I know where Cagey and Goofy live, but Sarah, you'll have to e-mail me an address where you want this sent!

Who else wants one?  I've got one left.