Happy Hanukkah!

The oil lasted eight days!

Woo!

Ya, the lamps stayed lit. Kinda a crap miracle, compared with immaculate virgin birth, but whaddya gonna do?

Above: Delish homemade gingerbread menorahs, dreidels and such by Anne B.

Cordelia Evelyn Holland

8 lbs. 6 oz. 21 in.

Call her Delia.

Call me thrilled, exhausted, temporarily and occasionally doped up.

My mother died in June. Her final novel (pictured) came out today from Avon books. I wrote about it, and her, on Word Wenches right here.

Sometimes I forget far flung friends and family read this and not everyone knows or cares about everything in my life. Anyway, in case you do care, October 22, my brother is playing Carnegie Hall.

You can't get tickets, because they entirely sold out in 90 minutes.

Neat huh? If I can still heft myself out the door, I've been secured a comp and I'm going, even if I need to be rolled there.

Image: 1908, people flooding into Carnegie Hall for a Republican Convention. My bro's show will be more fun than that.

This movie I am in is available now on DVD. Also on iTunes and Time Warner on demand. The widget will tell you mucho more...

A star-studded movie I'm in comes to DVD 9/8/09. Now you know. Also, it's super cheap on Amazon, you cheapskates, so buy it already. Note to family across the salty pond: This won't play in yer UK machines -- rats! My college pal ex-pat friend Lara tells me most UK DVD players are now multi-region, so you can play this in UK too. Huzzah!

Today is the first day of the rest of your life, but it's also the last day to vote for my SXSW Panel!

I haven't been great about getting out the vote for this panel. Frankly, due to the work I'll be talking about, I haven't had time. And the panelists I've already lined up (with more to come) are also too busy/too important to do the same.

They say the vote is only 30% and I sure hope our lack of campaigning doesn't nix our chances.

I'm passionate about the topic -- working for online at a TV network. And I also loved SXSW, but found many of the best sounding panels were a bore because the moderators were highly qualified on paper but either shy, or didn't have a sense of how to make them entertaining for an audience.

I know I could put on a brilliantly rollicking panel about cheese or mating habits of the box turtle -- heck I've hosted odder than that. But with this, even better -- I've written and produced for on-air, off-air, online. I've appeared on-air, online, magazines, etc. But I do love the web best. And it dawned on me recently that I am an expert. I've 14 years experience working online for all kinds of sites, but tons for TV online. Just because you email or watch videos online doesn't mean you know what flies on the web or how best to hawk it. But we've all been through fire hammering out and testing what works, seeing the turnaround, knowing what has failed... the whole sheebang.

Sure, I don't know the answers to the questions I'm raising -- what is the future of TV and online entertainment -- and doubt anyone in the world does. But we might figure a thing or two out. And it'll be hella fun.

Anywho, last year I went to SXSWi for the first time as an awards finalist. For next year, I've already booked my trip and my SXSW badge. I'm going again no matter what. I know better what I can and want to get out of it. Plus, my man's best friend from chidhood in the UK just moved his tenure from U of Mich. to U of Texas in Austin -- so double score.

So if my panel is picked, great. And if it's not, I vow I'm going off the grid -- and will put on this event in some fabulous flophouse or similarly groovy Austin venue.

So, in short, pick me! Or don't. Either way it's going to be a darn good time.

Eris (& her grandpa's truck) on her wedding day

I am appearing at Lady Jane’s Salon at 7PM on Monday, July 6th to pay tribute to my mother and enjoy the work of other romance authors. Here's the line-up:

Debut historical author ANTHEA LAWSON will from her RITA nominated work Passionate

Award-winning local author DEE DAVIS will read from A Match Made On Madison

New York Times bestseller DIANA LOVE will read from Whispered Lies

SUSIE FELBER will pay tribute to her her mother, romance novelist EDITH LAYTON.

WHEN: Monday, July 6th, 7-9 PM

WHERE: Madame X, 94 Houston Street (btw LaGuardia and Thompson Streets), New York, NY 10012, 212.539.0808. Nearest subways: F,V,B,D at Lafayette, N, R at Prince Street.

Admission is $5.00 or one gently used romance novel. Proceeds to benefit Share The Love a nonprofit organization that provides gently used romance novels to groups helping women in transition, such as homeless or domestic violence shelters. Why? Because everyone deserves the pleasure of a good story and a happy ending. Co-sponsors: Share The Love and Ron Hogan of Beatrice.com. Cash bar.

The amazing ladies at SBTB and Dear Author have arranged an impressive fundraiser, auction and giveaway in my mom's name. Please spread the word if you can.

Thank you.
--Susie

Edith Laulicht. Edith Felber. Edith Layton.

Mom. Grandma.

(& Eccentric Author)

Loved. Missed.

Very Much So.

Already.

Always.

This is just a technical test for work. You can ignore or enjoy all 5 bad parking videos... Thanks.

See Spot. Run! Top 5 Worst Parking Jobs

Read my take on Susan Boyle mania right here on the day job blog.

To quote from myself, "Viva la frizzy haired thickly-built femme fatales who let their freak flags fly!"

PS I also interviewed a young dewy adult film star today.

See me on TV -- again! I'm on a new episode of "Not Just Another Cable News Show" this Sunday at 7p/9p/midnight/5 AM on CNN HNN a.k.a. HLN. Rumor has it the episode was some kind of last minute slap dash edit, so don't expect tons of me, but I'm on it a tad for sure. And by rumor, I mean the person who put it together.

In other news, I'm sleepy.

And I'm not at liberty to reveal anything about my personal life or the personal lives of anyone I know, so how about I just end with a a not-recent, but rather excellent picture of my dog? Awesome.


Photo by my mom a.k.a. Edith Layton, whose website I really should update but Dreamweaver makes me tremble

This weekend, I may be on a new episode of that TV thingy I've been doing lately.

Details when and if I know them.

Now, for no good reason, here's another picture I took of that parrot in Mexico.

Worst Burglar EVER

From TruTV/The Smoking Gun: Burglar falls through ceilings, breaks bottles and gets trapped. Total gold and gaining fast on Digg.

read more | digg story

Shameless promo: I'm on a NEW episode of "Not Just Another Cable News Show" on CNN HNN this Saturday night at 7:00, 9:00, Midnight and 5:00A



Ya, the last two are technically Sunday.

FYI On your cable box, it's often called HLN.

Enjoy your Felber TVganza!

Back from Mexico and Austin madness. Please enjoy all my SXSW posts here and my awesome yawning Mexican parrot snap, below.



UPDATE: I just turned my beautiful nature photography into really stupid stuff for work. Hello tax write-off!

I can totally relate to this kitty -- bad sign?

Me, today, after being primped in the CNN makeup room. Didn't notice the disco ball until just now. I totally shoulda asked Jack Cafferty to dance.

My day job blog is a finalist in the SXSW Web Awards.

You can find out all about it in this post I wrote right here on the aforementioned day job blog.

I am writing my acceptance speech already.

Of course, I've written and rewritten my Academy Awards acceptance speech in my head many many times. Hasn't everyone?

I always wonder if I'd have the guts to open by staring at the Oscar in wonder, stroking it and saying, "Wow. I've always wanted one of these. I... I can't believe I was always too embarrassed to just go and buy one for myself!"

And then when the audience slowly began to collapse in uproarious laughter, I'd open my eyes wide, do a double or triple take, and pretend to look horrified like I just realized that the statuette I had just won was in not, in fact, a sex toy.

Then I'd give a sly smile and say "thank you" and leave. Or then I'd go into thanking my agents, actors and loved ones in a sincere but not annoyingly lengthy way. Haven't decided that part yet. Luckily, I wasn't nominated this year, so I still have time to plan.

My week was so frakkin difficult, but all's well that ends well. Lots of work, exciting possibilities and brill ideas have been percolating. Cool. Anywho, I also blogged my buns off. Here's a super secret link that only brings you to my posts. The other writers are great, and you should read them all, but these days I've neglected this here venue so you should catch your Susie buzz there.

I totally enjoyed creating this Three Stooges animation for the day job. See the dumb criminal story it relates to right here.

I was working the day job when an email came from a friend that a plane had gone down in the Hudson. Called my husband who said he could see it from where he was in the car. Grabbed the camera. Walked one block and got some interesting shots. For all who think living in NJ means being in a far off mysterious land, check out these photos and views.

See my photos here on the dumb blog.

Quite a few other blog and news sites found my photos from Flickr soon after posting. All wrote to me and asked for permission except Gawker. Gothamist was classy: They asked for permission and gave me a credit and a link back to my job. Gawker did not ask for permission and also attributed one or two photos which were not mine, to me. Sloppy and not cool, right? And legal? You tell me.

I'm tired. I only just updated the homepage for the day job, and it's night.

Nighty night.

For more of me on the Von Trapp goats, check out this post on my brother's blog.

For even more of my hilarity, check out my brill posts on the day job blog.

And finally, for a mind-blowing shaved Parmesan action shot, see below.



Expert cheese application captured at a recent Stephen Gardner/Angela Martin dinner production

A visit to Von Trapp Lodge lives on in Weehawken...

CNN Gaffe 1.1.09

This morning, while doing a segment on Obama's team "feverishly" working on big stimulus packages, the newscaster stumbled amusingly. Yay for DVR and having my camera on me. It's :05 and totally immature. Enjoy.