Top Ten Non-NK Cruise Memories

I went into cruise 2011 more excited about seeing friends and celebrating life than I was about seeing the guys. Don't get me wrong, I mean it when I say I have absolutely no desire to take a cruise vacation that doesn't involve NKOTB, but it's not all about the guys. It's about the Sistah'hood, about seeing friends, about a new kind of reunion. So while I had special moments with each of the guys this year, I'm also taking home some incredible memories that simply involved the amazing women Danny, Donnie, Joe, Jonathan, and Jordan have brought into my life over the past three years. Here are this weekend's Top Ten:

10. Becoming an honorary ATL Blockhead (again…and again…)

9. Chillin’ at the Quiet Pool for hours with no agenda other than catching the rays we missed by over-applying sunblock on HMC. No hair braiding or straw market for us, thank you very much! (And no stalking the boys to Atlantis, either.)

8. The standing ovation Group A gave Danny after Anything for You. It brought me to tears to see a man who gets so little credit feel the power of our love. Moments like this remind me that while there are a few people who are definitely looking out for themselves (and only themselves) the state of this union is stronger than ever.

7. The power of the Sistah’hood-complete strangers joining forces to block out spot-stealing skanks or take pictures of me and my girls getting hugs from the guys.

6. ALPHAAAAAAAS!! Floating in the teal blue Caribbean ocean, watching the beach concert with my fellow Nu Kappas. I couldn’t have written a moment so perfect. (Although I’ve got the one-shot mini-sequel completely finished in my head already.) PS: I think Kris has a good group shot of the 5 of us. I didn't get one. =(

5. The day in Miami on Wednesday-just relaxing and eating some killer Cuban food with Kris, Tara, and Summer.

4. Meeting some incredible people from Twitter in person. Lots of hugs, OMGs, and, in my case, excessive blushing. I swear, at some point this summer I fully intend to learn how to take a compliment. (This is our photo op group. My camera is being a bitch so a lot of my pics with friends are on Kris' camera. I'll post them on Twitter asap!)

3. The rain on Red Carpet Night. For so many reasons this will go down in history as one of my favorite cruise memories. It just isn’t an NK epic moment without a colossal downpour. (This picture does not do the hilarity justice. I was laughing too hard to take a better one.)

2. Leaving and receiving love on our cabin doors. It happened last year but nothing like this year. Sorry I never made it down past Deck 7!

1. The most amazing cruise roommate EVER. No drama. Low maintenance. Lots of laughs. Lots of brainshare. A simple understanding that sometimes only children need to be only children for a little while. I love you, Kris. I cannot wait for our adventures together this summer.

Top Ten Additional Reasons @joeymcintyre Should Follow Me On Twitter

...since it seems the first ten weren't good enough.

10. While there are over 2000 pages of borderline Fan Fiction even Barrett would approve of, there are over 1500 pages of...well...yeah. We'll leave that one be, k?

9. I convert Jon, Danny, Jordan, and Donnie girls into McLovers like it's my motherfucking job.

8. It would be proof positive that you don't actually hate the southeastern United States. **whispers** (Technically I'm a New Englander, so you can still hate them if you follow me.)

7. It would be proof positive that you don't hate Conservatives. Come on, baby, let's cross party lines and pahty!

6. I don't care how much you fart. (It's most likely less than my husband.)

5. I still have the fucking Riddler Pants =*)

4 I'll let you call me a bitch on Twitter...again...

3. I promise never to correct your grammar and spelling and chronic use of massive blog paragraphs...except by DM.

2. I promise not to DM the hell out of you all the time....just when you use terrible grammar or misspell things or chronically...I'll keep my DMing to gross errors in spelling and grammar. You can make big ass paragraphs all you want.

1. I find your ineptitude with technology endearing...even though I realize it means you'll most likely never read this blog. Or if you do it will take you more than a month to mention it on Twitter...or if you take a picture of it with your phone it will be lost forever but...

Four cereal? I love you, McLovin'. Now get your fine ass over here and press my follow button. It'll be as good for you as it is for me. Promise. ;)

xoxo,
RG

Why I'm Not Doing Christmas Cards This Year

For the past few years, I've enjoyed exchanging Christmas cards and gifts with the amazing women I've met through the NKOTB reunion. I've enjoyed sharing special messages of appreciation, and even sent everyone a little gift last year.

I'm not doing that this year.

It's not because I don't love you guys. Seriously, you all mean more to me than I think most of you know. My life would suck without you.

Instead, I'm taking the money I have spent on cards and donating it to Celebrate Joe Mac, a group of fans donating money to United Way of Tampa Bay and First Book in celebration of Joe's 38th birthday.

People's purses are tighter than ever this year. But just $2 can buy a pre-school student a new book to read at home with his or her family. The impact of reading with your parents at an early age is invaluable to a child's future. As a writer, and an avid reader, I personally know the value of storytime with Mom and Dad as a young person. I can't imagine that almost 50% of preschoolers in America today are going to bed without a bedtime story.

So, if we normally exchange cards or gifts and we haven't yet this year, I invite you to consider donating to this group instead. You can follow @JoeMac_2011 on twitter or check their blog for more information. Even if you can't spare much-just $10.00 will allow 5 families to start 2011 with a new book and a lifetime gift of literacy.

Let's Get This!

xoxo

Riddlah

A wise Wahlberg once said...

“When people try to put you down, it’s because they themselves are weak.”

So yesterday was…fun?

If you missed the drama here are the Cliff’s (Riddlah’s?) Notes. And for the record, I’m not posting this to talk shit or start more drama. I keep getting asked “what happened to The Pact?” and at this point I’m wearing myself down by reliving it 581 times. Soooo I’m only going to do this one last time. K?

An accusation was made that I had plagiarized the Jonathan chapter of The Pact. It was taken down temporarily to be investigated. The mods felt that was the best way to handle it at the time, and it’s their decision so I have to respect that. I think it goes against the whole “innocent until proven guilty” philosophy, but under stress that bordered on duress, I understand the decision. Really, I don’t fault them for this at all.

The mods don’t have an easy job. There are constantly people trying to start shit on the Board. I know because I see some of it on my timeline. And every time I thank G-d I am not a moderator on a damn fan fiction board. Because really? There are more important things to worry about than someone criticizing the way you virtually fuck a New Kid. At least in my world.

I just quit my second job to focus on my writing. If I’m going to be stressed, I damn well better be getting paid for it. My home time and hobby-writing should be my happy place. That’s why I did this during NaNoWriMo. It’s recreational. And if it feels like my own personal hell, I’m not going to spend my free time doing it. Besides I'm Jewish. We don't believe in hell, personal or otherwise.

Anyway, an investigation took place and it was determined that my story is not plagiarized (shocking to those of you who read this blog and those who have read my stories, I’m sure.) Unfortunately, in the process of putting The Pact back on the board, the thread was accidentally deleted. It was a stressful situation for the people who got dragged into this and totally understandable. One wrong button click and there was no coming back from it.

So here we are. And I find myself faced with a dilemma.

You see, I promised myself the last time there was drama involving TSQ that if there was any further drama I would walk away from NKAFF for good and find a new home for my work.

The problem is, in addition to the wise Wahlberg I have lip-licking naughtiness in my ear, I also have my other musical idol, Bono who reminds us not to “let the bastards drag you down.”

I’m nothing if not a fighter for the things I believe in. Right now it looks like my story was taken down because I’m a story thief. And for the people who don’t follow me on Twitter or read my blog, they’ll never hear my voice in this. I know it’s “just fan fiction,” but that’s not the kind of legacy I want to leave.

The only proof I’ll ever have that I was vindicated in this situation is if I repost my story on NKAFF and it doesn’t get taken down by the mods. They’re not going to discuss it on the forum openly because that will just stir people up again.

I think, at the core, this situation stemmed from jealousy because, frankly you guys rock my fucking socks with your comments and tweets and thread hits and everything else. I still don’t believe it’s real most of the time. And I think envy-green is an ugly color on all of us when we experience it. I know it’s ugly on me.

I'm not here to talk shit about the person responsible for this. I will NOT say who it is, so if you've asked, please stop. I'm just sad that she picked drama and attention-seeking histrionics (her word, not mine) over our friendship.

So I’m still trying to decide “where do I go from here?” I really don't know what is best-the NKAFF board, a blog, another board? Any thoughts? :::see this is where you leave comments on the blog to prove that people will actually comment on a blog if that's how I decide to move forward with this:::

Don't doubt I WILL be reposting The Pact somewhere. And I'll be doing it very soon (not Wahlberg soon.) I wrote this story for my readers in thanks for all the inspiration and motivation you gave me this summer when I wanted to give up.

I don’t want to give up anymore.

And I want to give you this story. Because, if nothing else, the support I’ve had in the last twenty for hours has been unbelievable. A couple of you know the emotional state I was in when I heard this news. I was preparing for a speaking engagement at the time which is not my favorite part of my job by any stretch of the imagination. Your comments got me through this. So thank you for that as well.

Thank you for sticking with me, for believing in me and for just being the incredible people you are. And hang tough. The party and The Pact WILL continue.

NaNoWriMo 911

Had a rather unfortunate epiphany this afternoon as I was driving home from work.

I've said for a long time that I'm not a Joe girl. And it's true, I'm really not. My screenname on Twitter simply came from me finding him funny as hell when some of his first tweets were about the Riddler pants-hilarity. I laughed so hard I cried...and I might have even peed a little. I was dared to wear Riddler Pants to a 5* and eagerly embraced the challenge. Thus? McRiddlahPants was born.

Now here's the problem:

Kate is supposed to be a Joe girl. But I kinda don't want her to be with Joe.

I've forgotten all the things I love about him. He's been on my shitlist for a while, and he just keeps digging himself deeper. Before I could put aside the yuck and focus on the things I loved-the way he says "wow, really?" or his peppermint/carolina herrera scent or the fact that he used to lurk my page a little. These things are too distant to strike my heart any more. =/

I've lost my McLovin' feelin, ladies.

So, I need your help. Comment below-what do we love about the Mac? What am I forgetting? Help a sistah out!

Cuz for cereal? This is kind of turning into a Jordan fan fic. =/

I Cannot Believe I'm Wasting Precious NaNo Time on This

Warning: The following is a rant. Deal with it or stop reading.

However, it's probably not the rant you're expecting.

I've already spoken my displeasure about this whole joint venture with BSB. I'm done talking about. I firmly believe in my reasons for disliking this arrangement. Woven with the frustration of having to share which I'm just not good at in general, my dislike comes from a place of concern for our boys and the fact that this is an injustice to them. But that's their choice, and since they've made it, I'm going to respect it.

My problem? Is with some of the shit I'm reading on my timeline.

First, and foremost: To the people threatening to unfollow people who express dissent about the path that has been laid out before us.

Go for it.

No, really. If the fact that we disagree on something this trivial is worthy of unfollowing me? Go for it. I follow very few people on Twitter comparatively. As a consequence, if I do follow you, know that I consider you a friend. There are people I consider friends that I don't follow right now because I can't even keep up with my own @replies lately. So go for it. Unfollow me and I'll do the same to you. I'll put a new friend in your place. Because really? If the fact that I don't kiss our boys' asses for every decision they made means I'm intolerable to you, then we're not really friends anyway. My feelings will be hurt (really they already are-that's kind of the point of this), but I'll get over it. I still have my Sisters to support me.

If I only followed people who agreed with me I'd only be following Jewish Conservatives in sub-rural North Carolina. In other words? I'd only be following myself. Diversity is a great thing. Debate is a great thing. And most importantly, our freedom to disagree with each other and still respect each other is a fucking fantastic thing.

If you can't hang, don't hang. Go ahead and click that unfollow button, baby. I'll be hurt, but I'll get over it. Unlike you, I respect your right to disagree with me. And I'm not going to threaten you into silence to keep you around. I respect our differences as much if not more than our similarities.

Second: to those posting the ridiculous "if you don't like it, don't buy a ticket," tweets: Come on. Really? I mean REALLY? I'm not going to tell you to shut the fuck up because I respect your right to have an opinion that differs from mine. But really? How does discouraging fans from supporting the guys help anyone?

If I stopped supporting these men when I disagreed with a decision they made this resurgence (I think we're at the point where we can safely stop referring to it as a reunion now) would have ended for me when Joe brought out that Obama pumpkin at the Charlotte show in 2008. There's nothing wrong with disagreeing with decisions that they make-provided that we do so in a way that isn't slanderous. And as consumers (and to a certain extent that's what we are to them) we have the right to raise concerns if we're dissatisfied with their product.

Let's face it-we're going to be the ones to fill those seats. The BSB cruise has been on sale for six months and there are still cabins available. And they're not even renting out the entire ship. Don't discourage other Blockheads from attending a show. That's just silly, petty nonsense. I mean, wouldn't you rather the venue be filled with Sistahs than....whatever the fuck their fans are called?

At the end of the day we're supposed to be a family, right? So in my opinion that blonde kid who talks too much and the other one with the drug problem are the third cousins I don't talk to except for at funerals, and at other family functions I pretend not to know them. We're still family. (though I couldn't tell you what their names are even if there was money involved.)

I have no problem agreeing to disagree on this. However, rather than telling the people who disagree with me to stop supporting our boys or threatening to cut them off for their dissent, I'm putting it in this blog. Then I'm done with it. I respect your right to disagree with me. Respect my right to disagree with you. Or don't. I have no control over that whatsoever.

Like that Wahlberg kid says, "In the darkest of times we've managed to have the best of times." We're all in this boat together now. Let's make the best of it.

The Omegas have spoken. But don't think for a second that one of those posers is stepping a toe inside The Pact. That? Is my decision.

Now? Back to the Riddlah Pants...

Got $16 and 5 Minutes to Spare?

For the last two years I've walked at the Charlotte Komen Race for the Cure in celebration of my friend Susan who this year celebrates 16 years as a survivor of breast cancer. I was going to do so again this year but also planned to form a Team Betty since it seems as though Charlotte has never had one. As most of you know I've had some major health issues this fall, and as a result I've done absolutely nothing to raise money for Komen.

I'm still feeling unwell, so I won't be walking this year. Instead I'm asking my friends and family to visit Susan's page and make a donation in honor of Betty on my behalf. Please click HERE and then click the button "Donate to Susan." Every dollar helps, but I'm asking everyone to donate $16 (or more if you can) to join with me in celebrating 16 years cancer-free for a woman without whom my life would suck.

Please donate by September 28th. The race is Saturday October 2nd.

Let's Cure This!