I'm Going Gangnam Style

So this artist Psy from Korea has taken over the US with his zany music video. My hubby showed me the video back in July and I thought it was the mist ridiculous thing I ever seen. He thought it was hilarious. I think I may be missing the gene that makes this hilarious. Since then there are so many parody's if this video. There's a Mitt Romney Style to name one. It got into the presidential campaign.

So what does Gangnam style me to me. It means to be wild and spontaneous, but have fun doing it. I'm not so care free and spontaneous. I would love to be. I always admired people who just picked up done exciting things. Me? I have to plan and over analyze anything that I do. I just can't jump in. Take jumping into a pool. You can do a run and jump in. Me... I have to know how deep the pool is first before I take the running leap into it.

I've always been like this since I was a kid. So it's a very hard habit to break. I feel compelled to take care of everyone close to me. However, I don't like people taking care of me. This is an adjustment that I'm learning to make now that I am married. My hubby has the same issue too. He'd rather take care of me than allow me to take care of him. It's an adjustment that is in progress for both of us.

So what am I going to do Gangnam style? I'm going to take a lot of leaps of faith when travelling and everyday life. I am no longer by myself. I have someone who has my back if something goes wrong. I never felt like I had that before. My biggest leap will be quitting my job to concentrate on writing full time. I don't know when that will be. But it is some time in my future. I need to save up a nest egg, for such occasion. Until then, expect me to go dune bugging, zip lining or something dangerous (my perception danger) on my travels. Maybe I'll conquer most of my fears.

What leaps of faith do you wish to accomplish? What's holding you back?

The Simpsons: Tapped Out

I'm a fan of the Simpsons television show. I've watched them since they were on the Tracy Ulman show. They were a bit raunchy then but has toned down to become mainstream. Last year, EA games, Gracie Films and Fox TV joined together to create "Simpsons: Tapped Out". The game was an overwhelming success that EA servers crashed and had to remove the game from the App Store. I remember that day well. I was one of the millions of people trying to download the game the day the server crashed. So I lost my opportunity for a year. In recent months, Tapped Out came back out in the App Store. I picked it up at once. I excitedly started playing the game.





The premise of the game is as follows:
        Homer was at work at the plant playing with his myPad instead of paying close attention to the power plant. His lack of attention caused the plant to explode which in turn blew up Springfield.

What you need to do is as follows:
        You must assist Homer in rebuilding Springfield. 

This game is different than SimCity type games. As you build your town you have quests and tasks to accomplish. The more the town grows, more characters return to Springfield. Each character has quests and tasks to do.

Like typical SimCity games, you build houses and businesses and collect taxes to build more of the same. In this game, you get to build monumental buildings from the show. Some buildings comes with a character and some don't.

Characters are not a big deal in SimCity games. In this game it's the familiar characters that makes up the town. Their personalities shine thru in the game. You can make Homer eat at Krusty's. You can make Ned Flanders hold emergency bible study.

Tasks and quests are also a source of income. They also provide access to new buildings that you cannot buy in the store. They also provide experience and taxes.











The Negative
Unfortunately this game has in app purchasing. It is apparently the new way for apps to make money in the App Store. I don't like it at all. I'd rather pay for the full game at once. In this game the in app purchases are Donuts. You get donuts as you level (1 or 2). However, to get anything with the donuts you have to have a lot of donuts. They do not make the items very accessible with a moderate amount. Some of he characters can obtained only by donuts. I saved 40 donuts and got the Squeeky Teen. He was he cheapest. The other characters are 60 donuts plus. So I probably won't be getting them. The costs to buy donuts are ridiculous too. You can also buy dollars. Here are the scales:












Second issue which is not so detrimental is the costs of buildings. They really out of line as to how much they pay out. Take Luigi's restaurant. It costs 64,500. It only pays out 500 every 10 hours. You only make 1,000 a day. Most of he buildings at like that. It takes a while to accumulate money to buy a new building or to buy land. The costs to buy are astronomically high. It just gets higher and higher. You have no choice to keep your character doing jobs and planting crops. But if you keep your characters so busy, you do not get the quests in the time you need them.

My strategy to making cash is to visit other towns (to discuss next), have my characters do quests constantly, and collect my taxes ASAP. This has me logging onto the game throughout the day. Which is not good when you are at work. They make it so you really have to purchase dollars and donuts, but I refuse. I will play with theirs sing characters and buildings. Now if someone gives me an iTunes gift card, I may purchase dollars and donuts. I just refuse spending my money on them. It's the principle of it.

Last negative issue. It is small but can be detrimental. You cannot play this game without a data connection. The game is ran off of EA's servers. It can be a bummer for those who are without constant data connections. You can't even load the game without it.



The Social Aspect
like a lot of games nowadays, this one can be social. The game will want you to create an Origins account. This is an EA Games account. It can be used with other games the EA has. Once you have the account you can and friends to your account. If they are playing Simpsons, you can visit their towns. You can see how they are building their towns, make money and experience by collecting their taxes. However, you are limited to 3 chances per town to collect taxes.

I like visiting other towns because it gives me ideas on how to I should place my buildings and decorate my town. There are some people who don't really give a damn. They just buy the buildings and places them ridiculously. They don't even resemble towns. Why play the game then?

Special Events
For the month of October, Simpson held a Halloween event. You were able to get additional characters and buildings. You also go to squish zombies for new forms currency: treats, eggs and toilet paper. Treats allows you to buy special buildings. The eggs and toilet paper allowed you to visit friend's towns and vandalize houses with eggs and teepee their trees. All in good fun.

Overall experience and conclusion
I really love playing this game even with the negative points. Even with the high priced in app purchasing, getting things done is doable. It doesn't limit gameplay at all. They also don't detract much from the enjoyment. If a game holds your attention, it is worth playing. EA came out with a game that is compelling. I even found a wonderful site that gives more detail into the game. The site lists each character w/ all their jobs, buildings w/ their payouts and more helpful information. You can check out the site here.

Simpsons Tapped out is a universal app. It fits all iOS platforms. You can even play on iPhone and continue on your iPad. This is where having a constant data connection comes in to play. Overall, I give this game a solid B+.

Simpsons Tapped Out can be found in the iTunes App Store & Google Play for Free

[iOS, Android]

Co-Habitation Before Marriage?

Lately I've been doing a lot of twitter reading. I find Twitter better than Facebook. I follow a this blogger Uncommonchick. Every now and then one of her articles pique my interest. One day, she had a post about Co-Habitation before marriage. You can check out the article here.

I decided to read the article and comment on it. Here's my comment.

I lived with my husband for a year before we got married. He moved in Aug 2010, he proposed Sept 2011 and we were married Jun 2012. We are newlyweds yes. However, when he moved in I wasn’t thinking about married. I was the “I’m never getting married” girl. I had no issues with having a long term relationship. He was moving to my state from another so I let him move in with me. I was nervous because I could’ve made a HUGE mistake. In the end, he moved in with me so if worse came to worse I could kick him out. That was my logic then. When he did move in. We meshed immediately. We found out how similar our living styles were. How we both handle money. He’s a bit more frugal than me. Getting married prior, was never on my mind. I wasn’t planning on it. My parents were, but not me. Now I can’t think of not living with him. I really didn’t have to change who I am and he didn’t change.

I digressed. I think it is an absolute necessity to move in together prior marriage. You learn whether you really are compatible and can handle the daily issues together. Dating living separate vs dating living together is very different. You don’t get a full picture of the person. Once he leaves you, you have no idea what he up to. It’s a whole different world when you share space.

I am pro for living together before you marry.

Question #1 - Aerin of Siren

I decided to ask me my Twitter followers to ask me questions. This is for them to get to know me a little.
So far I have received the following question:

Well Aerin, here's my answer.

First Favorite:
 "Make you Feel My Love" by Adele

This song is a cover. The song has been covered numerous times. I love Adele's version though. I love her voice. She by far one of the best singers around. The reason why this song is special to me is that it was my first dance with my husband at my wedding. It will always be a special part of my heart and my life.

Second Favorite:
"Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn

This song has been covered numerous times too. Marc Cohn's voice is perfect for the song. Cher's cover sucks. I just love the bluesy and emotional feel of the song when Cohn sings it. It just sends my heart to peace.


Third Favorite: 
"One Love" by Bob Marley

This song is the national song of Jamaica. It is also part of my heritage. So this song makes me feel connected to my culture. It also makes me feel all lovey dovey. It's a warm and positive song. We all need positive vibes in life. This song does make one want to grab the person next to you and give them a nice big hug.

Well Aerin, I  hope you like the answers.

Review: The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I seen the movie couple of times. I normally can't read a book that I already seen the movie to. I hate the redundancy, I guess. I picked up the book anyhow. I wanted something quick and easy. That's not what I got. I got a quest. The book managed to grab my attention and keep it. By the second chapter, I noticed that this book is not anywhere close to the movie. The movie stripped the book of its depth and essential characters.

I love Greek & Roman mythology. It was one of my favorites growing up. So it was a joy to read. I love the way Riordan picked up lesser Gods and gave them voices. This is a great book on conquering your fear and doing what's right. A great lesson for young adults.

I really enjoyed this book. I love the main characters. I will read the next book because I want to find out if Percy & Annabeth end up in the same school. I'm curious on the Titan that is waking up. I believe Riordan did a good job capturing my imagination and my attention. It is a great book.



View all my reviews

A New Anthology: All The Lovely Creatures is out Now

All The Lovely Creatures, was published yesterday, 10/11/12, by B.C. Sirrom and edited by authors from the GoodReads group, Paranormal and Horror Lovers. Obeah Love Affair, my short story, is included.

What is a vampire to do when her family is threatened just to get to her?



Anthology includes stories by:
S.J. Bell
Charlotte Dhark
Lisa Goldman
C.C. Hartley (me)
Mark Mackey
Rebecca Nolan
B.C. Sirrom
L.M. Smith

Art Work by:
Emily Joyner

Forward by:
Jennifer Rainey

You can purchase this book for FREE from Smashwords.

When you're done reading, please be sure to give us your feedback on Smashwords or on GoodReads.

I'd love to hear what you thought about the book or my story, leave me a comment and I will love to discuss it.

Enjoy!!!

C. C. Hartley

Also, join us on GoodReads or on our Facebook Page.

Bullying = Senseless

Bullying. It has been getting a lot of press these days, but it has been around since we evolved/created (don't want any drama). Has it gotten any worse as the years go by? I believe it has. Society has changed over the years. Today's society is not as wholesome as it is. Our society now runs on violence, sex and money. There isn't any kindness to our fellow man. Everyone is out for themselves. (This is a generalization, don't take it literally because there are people out there with heart). Bullying has taken on a more sinister effect. Kids who haven't even experienced life are cutting it short to escape the madness caused by bullying.

I decided to reflect on my past. There are many things I don't wish to discuss, because it was very colorful, but I do remember I've had many distinct experiences with being bullied. Never were violent but the psychological type. I decided to open up and discuss them in this post. Maybe someone can read it and take something from it.

I'll start in elementary school. I would get teased mercilessly on my body. You see I come from a very voluptuous family; both sides. All the women have ample boobs and butts. I was not an exception. However, even though I was skinny, my butt was more pronounced. I remember the girls would grab my butt and ask if I stuffed tissue in my panties to get a butt like mine. The more this happened, the more I felt ashamed of it. I would beg my mom to buy very baggy pants. Nothing really covered it. So I was pretty much doomed. I remember telling my mom that when I get enough money that I was going to get a butt reduction. My butt has been my sore spot most of my life. I've never really embraced it. I now tolerate it and can deal with it, but I still have the nagging inner mind telling me that my butt is an eyesore and it should be removed. Will I ever embrace it? I don't know. It's all the rage today to have a big butt. People are even going thru cosmetic procedures to get what I have naturally. This still doesn't make me feel any better. Try finding a pair of jeans that fit perfectly.

Next is growing up on my block. There were many of us the same age growing up. I used to hang out with a lot of them when my mom permitted me to play outside. There was a set of fraternal twins, boy and girl, who everyone believe to be the most pretty. Everyone wanted to be their good friends. Let's call the Kiki & Ken. Kiki was close to my friend who lived across from me. She was nice to me. I usually played a lot with 2 other girls on the block. I remember Ken always made faces at me or said mean things to me. I never really played with him because he was mean to me. I did play with the other boys on the block. A new family moved onto the block who had 2 boys. They were cute, but I wasn't interested in them like that. Ken came up to me one day and told me that neither of the 2 boys would want to be my friend because I'm ugly and have "N---a naps". Of course that hurt me deeply. He would hammer that point in every time he saw me. I hated him so much. I still don't care for him. In JHS I started seeing this Puerto Rican guy who everyone in school clamored after. How I got him is still a mystery to me. Well he came home with me one day to meet my mom. We were pretty close. I would say he was my 1st love at that point if time. He was there for me thru a lot. Anyway, I digress. After Ken saw my boyfriend, he decided to confront me after he left. He never did say anything to me when my boyfriend was around. He said he doesn't know how the idiot liked me. It must be because I was breaking him off a piece. I was a virgin and only thing me and my boyfriend did was kissing. How could Ken say that? My sister told me that he was just jealous. I don't believe that he was. If he wasn't putting me down, he never paid me any attention. He was just mean spirited. His remarks and behavior really did take a toll on my esteem. I felt ugly and unlikable. I never understood why the guys I dated liked me. I wasn't gorgeous. I still don't see what my husband sees in me either. This is the lingering effect of Ken constantly telling me I'm ugly most of my childhood, my most impressionable time. We all set up how we view ourselves in adolescence.

I was deeply scarred growing up. I was the ugly girl with a big butt. This self hate has been deeply etched into who I am. Could I do without it? Yes. I wish I was more confident about my look and my body. I wish my mom help instill me with self confidence. I had to learn to be confident on my own. It's a struggle that I have to this day.

I just learned that somebody almost killed my nephew at college because if bullying. They put baby oil on the floor in front of his place. When he came out he slipped ad banged his head really hard. Could've killed him. This didn't faze him. He's never let bullies take away his confidence. We've raised him to be confident and self assured. If your meet him, you'd fall in love with him. Everyone remembers who he is where ever he goes.

I understand the torment our youth are facing daily. What they are experiencing can last in their psyche for the rest of their life. Once a youth is bullied, as a parent, all you can do is try to make them overcome them and hope that all the torment they've endured will make them productive and not let them turn into despair. Make them feel special and loved.

Everyone can get more information on bullying and how to protect yourself and their kids at the Trevor Project. Please support our youth and stop insensitive and senseless violence.

Inspirational Weeks

I've been so busy I'm going to have to list what has been going on since my last post. I am going to use the style from a twitter friend to get this post going. I love inspiration in all forms.


1. The book I submitted a story for will be released October 11th, 2012!!! I date you will only experience once in your lifetime, unless you're a vampire. Book is named "All The Lovely Creatures." I'm so excited!!!!

Ni. I have a week off from taking Japanese. My husband and I are taking the class so we can backpack across Japan, plus it's really a cool language to learn.

3. My birthday was this past weekend. My husband took me to the Berkshires in Massachusetts. It was a awesome trip. I love spending time with him.

4. I have gotten back into reading a little bit. I can't read anything substantial though. My brain won't permit it. So I have to leave 2 books unread: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and Taken by The Night By Kathryn Smith. So I've picked up Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. It has been holding my attention.

5. I've been looking to move. I want to sell my house and buy condos. I have grown quite tired of taking care of a house. You always stay broke because there is always something to fix. Plus my neighborhood is turning to shit. I want to get some value out of my house before I won't have any. So it's all about getting my house prepared.

6. I am also trying to get my business website up and going. I want to do a Groupon/Living Social Deal for tax season. So my site really needs to be up. I have to look for someone who's not going to charge me an arm and a leg. If you're interested in Tax and Accounting services, you can email me at info@cleighconsulting.com.

That's all for now. There's more things brewing. Will let you know in a future post. If anything interested you in this post, please put them in comments. I will respond. Thanks.

My Time at BlogHer12

[Originally posted on my BlogHer page 9/10/12]

I was invited to volunteer at BlogHer 2012 this summer. BlogHer 12 was held at the Hilton by Rockefeller Plaza. It is a beautiful hotel. I can't really say about the rooms. I had put in my requests to volunteer the minute they were announced, but I wasn't chosen. At last minute they needed volunteers, so I got to go.  I was given a full conference pass for my time. Yay for me. I was able to enjoy the conference for a little bit. I didn't get to do much but volunteer and see the exhibitors. I was only able to listen to the panels that I worked.

Thursday I had volunteer training and picked up my conference badge. I also go to visit the exhibitor booths. It was too late for any panels, so I quickly went around the booths. There was a lot of food and swag. I stopped at some very interesting booths. There was a booth that called (started with J). They are a net software to assist with blogging. It is a browser plug in that helps you find links to items you are discussing in your blog post. There was also a booth on parental control.  They are looking for bloggers to write about it and they would pay up to $200 for the post. I decided to mark up my program for panels I wanted to see and ones that I worked while I had a bit of time. The rest of the evening, parties were held. Since I am a bit socially awkward, I decided to go home.

Friday, by time I got off work, there were only parties so I didn't go. I wish I were more social. I could blame my mom but really I can't.

Saturday is the day I could spend the whole time. There. I woke up early and left to attend a panel I was most interested in; Telling Stories with Pictures: Incorporating Graphics, Cartoons, and Iconography. Due to NYC transit I missed the panel. So I just explored the conference a bit. I found other rooms with swag.

It was finally time for my first panel that I worked; Blogging into Midlife: The Tension Between the Online Spotlight and Offline Invisibility. I was a mic wrangler. You the girl that brings the mic to people who have questions to ask. Yep that was me. This panel was all about your identity as a blogger as you get older. Society doesn't make it easier for older people to be taken seriously or they don't have anything today. It is a bit unfair. I see it all the time in corporate America. Older people do not get hired as quickly as younger people. It's not fair, but it is what it is. This panel was talking about how they can combat this. Some people suggested not to discuss age related topics. That is totally unfair. Bloggers should be able to discuss whatever they want to. Readership should not die because of age. Blogs will and should gain readership based on people's interest. Questions like, "I'm a mommy blogger. what do I blog about now that my kids have left the coop?" we're abundant. I say blog from the heart. Blog of what interests you. If you try to be someone else, readers will know and you will lose readers. Just because you are old doesn't mean you don't have anything to say.  Other questions like "I take offense of the word 'old' in advertising." There was a dislike to an exhibitor's booth that had a slogan saying something like "Are you scared to get old?" (I don't really recall the correct verbiage.) the women in the audience felt that it makes getting older a bad thing. Some people throughout that we should take back the word and own it. More like take it as a compliment so it doesn't affect you negatively. This topic can go on for days. What I took from the panel are as follows:

     * we are all getting older, but doesn't mean we have nothing to say

     * older women rock and have tons of wisdom to share

     * we need, as a society, to not discount what an older person has to say.

After this panel was lunch, so I left and went to Chipotle even though BlogHer provided lunch. I was in the mood for a mexican meal. After lunch, I went back to the exhibitors areas. I managed to pick up my BlogHer swag bag. There I met the a lovely woman whose twitter handle is @Uncommonchick. She was the first person to talk to me. We had a nice conversation. We exchanged information. I've tried prior to talk to people and they were a bit snobbish. Thank you @uncommonchick for making my day a lot better. We parted ways but I left with a more pleasant look. I then went to go to the main exhibitor hall and bumped into 2 girls I know outside of BlogHer. I didn't even know they were bloggers. Funny what you find out about people. I hung out with them for a while going thru the hall and to lunch. Katie Couric panel was going on, but I didn't really have a fascination to see her. I'd rather Martha Stewart, but I had to work. My friends and I parted ways because I had to go mic wrangle another panel.

My next panel was called #Blog2012: A Conversation.  This panel was just a panel based on a twitter chat of bloggers. In this panel all topics were sort of discussed:

       - why blog?

       - do I have to have a niche?

       - should I try to monetize?

       - how do I get readers?

This panel was more informative. The panelist were a bit warmer. I liked them immediately. They didn't preach as if they were experts. They took a more relaxed conversation method.  I got a lot more out of this panel. I'm thankful I was able to work it and listen to it. I follow 2 of the panelist on my twitter because I liked them so much. Thank you @schmutzie and @neilochka for a brilliant panel.

After this panel, I made my way to the closing Keynote. I was a mic wrangler for this too. We got front row seats for the event. When I got there, I bumped into my 2 friends again. We spoke for a little before I went to find my place. When I found who was in charge we were told that we didn't need to mic wrangle because there wasn't any Q&A after the keynote. So another mic wrangler mic wrangler and myself sat and listened to the speeches. Towards the near end, we were told we needed to mic wrangle. We were missing one girl so one of the tech ladies had to wrangle with us. We managed to get thru the rest of the speech fine.  Learned a lot listening. They also revealed the location of BlogHer13 and couple other conferences they put on.

After keynote, I went back intoning exhibitor room to see if they were unloading a lot of stuff. It was a bit too late. So at that point I left. For what little I was able to see the conference was okay. I can't really make it sound more enjoyable.  Everyone gets something out of the conference. I worked the conference more than I was able to participate in it. Those who I've met except the ones mentioned here, we're not all that friendly or receptive. I wish I had gotten more out of the conference. I'm an amateur at blogging even though I've been blogging since 2006. I wanted to learn a lot more. Maybe next time BlogHer is in NYC, I will go and not volunteer. Maybe I'll feel different that way.  Until the next BlogHer. 

All the Lovely Creatures

So I've been hard at work writing and editing this month. I'm supposed to finish my BlogHer 12 post but it's just not coming right now. I've been busy with editing. What I've been editing?  That's the reason of this post.

I'm a GoodReads member. You may have seen some of my reviews posted on this blog. Well I joined a group for Paranormal & Horror Lovers.  It's a great group if you are into Paranormal or Horror books. It is here that I have embarked on a project that has been keeping me busy since June. A group of authors from the group decided to put together an Anthology. These great writers allowed me, a novice, to contribute a story to the anthology. [Yippee!! Thank you guys!!!! ]

The anthology is called "All The Lovely Creatures ". It is a collection of Paranormal/Horror stories that include cultural creatures. I contributed a piece on Obeah. What is Obeah? You gotta read my story. The book will be out in October. It will be published by Smashwords. The book has 7 to 8 brilliant writers. I am truly honored to be a part of this project.

As I get the links next month I will post it here and on twitter. If you don't have my twitter, follow me here.

Well I'm going back now and finish up my piece. Looking forward to be telling you more on this in the coming weeks. I'm so excited!!! See you soon.