This is exactly the reason we published Linda Criddle's book,Look Both Ways. Linda Criddle has some great advice about blogging and online bullying in her book. If you are interested you can find out more at her site.

A headline on my CNET Buzz Out Loud newsletter said bestselling author Kathy Sierra has canceled appearances and stopped blogging after receiving death threats.

I hate to say this, but it reminded me of reading something Camille Paglia said about women. Now I won't get this exactly right, but the idea that as a woman you will never be able to camp out by yourself next to the Pyramids without the fear of being attacked. Translation...that no matter how sophisticated we think our society is and all the great strides we've taken, the world is still an unsafe place--especially if you are a woman. That now also applies in cyberspace.

Boy, this makes me angry. I don't know Kathy personally, but I've been an admirer of her innovative Head First series and her place in the technology industry. And now some loonybird sickos are stalking her.

I had a friend that was stalked once. Some creepy person was leaving her flowers on her car with notes. She asked a professional and they told her to not take the flowers in the house, and to just tear up the notes without reading them. Most likely the stalker was watching her and was getting some satisfaction that she was reacting to the flowers and notes.

Anyone wishing to stalk me, might want to take a look at my husband first before proceeding.

This past weekend I went out with my BFFs to celebrate a couple birthdays. By the way, I love how MSN Spaces has never updated my age. I don't mind staying 39 forever...how did it know?

We like to get dressed up for the celebration and spend some time downtown Seattle. Ah, downtown. I remember you well when I first arrived in Seattle a single gal. I used to go to events, bars, plays, restaurants... I remember when my husband and I were first dating we spent a lot of time attending cultural events in Seattle, and even knew a couple of regulars at the Paragon. Oh, that's all over now. When I do get the chance to go downtown it is an EVENT in my life.

So went downtown this past weekend. Well, one of us had to turn back for a family emergency. But two of us went. We first had dinner at Dahlia Lounge which is always a blast. Although, we ran late so I DID NOT GET ANY DONUTS! I've dreamed about those donuts for two years now.

We then made it over to the Moore Theater for a modern dance look at Kurt Cobain called Nevermind. We didn't get a program since we arrived late. Expecting to hear Nirvana, we heard hip-hop instead and were a bit confused. Did they lose the rights to the music? The dancers kept scratching themselves, there was no plaid, and there were "taggers" on the stage behind the dancers producing art. We didn't find out until the first intermission that apparently there were two other dance acts on the bill before the Cobain retrospective.

Then the second act came on. Wait. Are those women or men in those outfits? I think they are women, but they look a little like drag queens. The dance was a new take on Giselle (and unfortunately, I didn't know the story of Giselle). The dancers were dressed is these god awful black page boy wigs. They wore red tops with what looked like silver or white lightning bolts all over, and then enormous white tutus. Seriously, you have to see them. Here is a link to the Stranger's review with picture. I kept thinking about the dancers and wondered if they had family in the audience. I mean, what do you say to your daughter or niece after the performance?

At the end of it, my BFF who took years of dance by the way, turned to me and said, "That was horrible." A moment later she heard the woman behind her turn to her companions and say, "That was magnificent." I guess you love modern dance or you don't. I've decided I'm not a fan. I really like my art pretty.

So the Kurt vignette starts. Now, I thought it wasn't half bad. I thought the dancer who was Courtney channeled her persona pretty well. And at least there was plaid in this. It wouldn't be grunge or Seattle without a bit of plaid. But again with the dancers scratching themselves? And a whole song with the other dancers standing in the back pretending to throw up? Okay, I get it. Drug addicts and heroin users are itchy. But heck, so am I in the winter from the heating in my house. Whatever you do kids don't start drugs---it leads to manic scratching.

I can't say I loved this work, but I'm glad to have gotten out.

Congratulations to John Pierce, Jim Boyce, Jeff Conrad, Mark Dodge, Stephanie Krieger, Mary Millhollan, Katherine Murray, Beth Sheresh, Doug Sheresh, S.E. Slack, Craig Stinson, John Viescas and the whole team here on the publication of 2007 Microsoft Office System Inside Out. All I keep thinking is..."it takes a village" which is evident by that list of contributors. Thank you to everyone for not only producing your own books, but contributing to this one as well. 

And thank you John, Lisa and Sandra for not running screaming from this project. Hey--at least we get a break until the next release! Or until we do the Deluxe Edition to cover any applications that didn't fit. Please pray that Office doesn't add another app!

You know, both this book--which covers the basics of the different Office applications, and Stephanie's book which covers advanced topics would make a great companion set. 

Wow--Stephanie, which I just blogged about already has her first five star review on Amazon. I had to pull this quote out from it:

In a crowded field that includes beginners' step-by-step tutorials and comprehensive but undiscriminating 1,200-page doorstops, Krieger's book stands out for its thoughtful effort to help experienced users create and manage effective documents. Users who read her book are likely to find themselves in a better position to please their bosses and move their organizations forward.

By the way, I posted a listmania list--Which Office 2007 or Vista Book is right for me? The list has now been accessed 1,988 times.

Congratulations to Stephanie Krieger and the whole team here on the publication of Advanced Microsoft Office Documents Inside Out. If you spend a lot of time creating documents (and seriously, who doesn't these days?)--from Word to Excel to PowertPoint, this is a great resource. If you haven't yet, check out one of Stephanie's popular Webcasts.

Thanks to Stephanie--who knows more about Office than anyone I know, I'm using more Word features to make my reports and documents look snazzier.

Now that I've read Excel 2007 Step by Step by Curt Frye, and have a reasonable handle (finally!) on Pivot Tables, I'm looking forward to reading Stephanie's book to take my Pivot Tables and Charts to the next level.

The Amazon blog asked readers to send in their top Ten book lists. I'm a little late, but here is my own personal top ten fiction books. These are not in particular order.

1. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. Cowboys, a story of friendship, what more could you want?
2. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. I can't count the number of times I've read this story or watched one of the films or mini-series. The story is new every time.  
3. The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy. A desperate drunken man sells his wife and child to a passing sailor. Years go by and the man becomes a model of respectability and a mayor of a rural town. Enter wife and child. Watch him fall.
4. The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. 1980s New York. A snobbish investment banker takes a wrong turn into the Bronx. Watch him fall. Hmmm...I'm seeing a pattern here.
5. The Two Mrs. Grenvilles by Dominick Dunne. Rich Billy Grenville falls in love with a showgirl and marries her much to the horror of his mother. One night Billy is killed...what happens next? Both this and the Bonfire of the Vanities I remember so well. They were both promoted as "summer reads" in 1988 or 89 while I was working at Waldenbooks. I can still remember the covers in the display dumps. There were some good reads that summer.
6. The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Who doesn't love this book?
7. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I absolutely hated this book the first time I had to read it for a class. Now it is one of my favorites as well as Hawthorne's short stories. Having a good American Lit professor can make all the difference.
8. Sarum by Edward Rutherford. It was either Rutherford or Michener here. They just don't do huge sweeping sagas like they did in the 70s and 80s. I think it is because people have less time to devote to a 1000 page novel. But this is one of the best of the latest--a history of Salisbury, England.
9. The Little House Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read these books over and over and over again. Well, maybe not Shores of Silver Lake. But the rest of the series? Wonderful, wonderful. One day I brought one of the books home from the school library--Little House on a Prairie. The same day, my mom had picked me one up at the county library--Little House in the Big Woods. It was one of those serendipitous moments. I don't know what your Barbies did, but mine were always crossing the Midwest in a covered wagon.   
10. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. One more from my childhood. I read it in third grade and can still remember buying it at the bookstore (a Waldenbooks!) and taking it home and sitting in a chair in the living room to read it through.