Um.....okay... :-)

Your 80s Theme Song Is:

Little Red Corvette by Prince

What's Your 80s Theme Song?

Men in kilts

Pretty hot, but some of these make me ask, at what point does it stop being a kilt and become a skirt?

"Some creepy guy"

Which president is this (2), originally uploaded by Travelin' Librarian.

Last Wednesday I stepped out of Murphy's Irish Pub in Rapid City, after a few drinks, to wait for my dad to pick me up from my sis-in-law-to-be's bachelorette party. Eight hours of driving followed by three beers and a shot of something yummy but inebriating had taken its toll and I was more than ready for bed.

I was about to head for the corner to wait, but noticed a creepy guy in a long coat standing there, so I decided to stick close to the door I'd come out of. I stood there several minutes, watching people go by, checking my e-mail on my phone ("Addict!" I hear hubby saying), and wishing I was already in bed. I glanced at the creepy guy. He hadn't moved. People came and went. I checked my e-mail again. I checked what time I had called Dad. It had only been about five minutes. I wished again that I was in bed. I glanced at the creepy guy. And finally, I remembered...

Rapid City has statues of presidents on the street corners downtown. The "creepy guy" was Millard Fillmore (I think...I'm not totally sure WHO it is). So, I smacked myself on the head and twittered it. ("Addict!" hubby mutters)

I think I'm lost

I think I'm lost, originally uploaded by mdesive.

I was browsing the maps at a gas station in Mitchell SD and found the usual South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska selection, but also one for the Greater Middle East. Now that'd be a loooooong drive.

Little streams

Little streams, originally uploaded by mdesive.

One bonus (if there is one) of being drenched at Mt. Rushmore is seeing the little streams and waterfalls I've never seen before. You could stand still and just listen to all the water gurgling and bubbling its way down the mountain.

The hardest part of the drive

The hardest part of the drive, originally uploaded by mdesive.

We're so close, yet there's so much nothing yet to cross

Beemer

Beemer, originally uploaded by mdesive.

I have nothing interesting to say about Beemer...

Our first "stop"

Our first "stop", originally uploaded by mdesive.

Goodbye, West Point. Hello, road construction.

It's Hooper-dooper!

It's Hooper-dooper!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

Heading out!

Heading out!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

Road trip!

RWA Conference on The Today Show

Why does the media always sound so surprised that romance sells well? This looks a lot like the segment they do EVERY year. They always take the tack of "Wow! Romance actually sells? Why?" rather than "Hey, look a romance conference. How cool!" or at least something other than bemused surprise.

Follow me!

I'm loving Twitter (when it works...sometimes it gets overwhelmed and then I'm sad)

Here's an explanation of Twitter. Once you've watched it, check out my "tweets" and I hope you'll follow me. :-)

Turning on the lamp

I love this scene from The Big Bang Theory. This episode was on tonight.

LOLCandidate

see Obama pictures

Romance Q&A: Victoria Alexander

Here's a great interview with my friend Victoria Alexander in a recent Library Journal. Wish I could be at RWA in San Francisco to hear her speech this summer, but alas, it's not to be.

Romance Q&A: Victoria Alexander - 6/15/2008 - Library Journal: "With The Perfect Wife (LJ 2/15/08), a reprint of a 1996 title, hitting No. 1 on the New York Times's best sellers list and Seduction of a Proper Gentleman, the eagerly awaited finale to her 'Last Man Standing' series, due in September (see review, p. 50), Victoria Alexander is quickly becoming a favorite among romance fans. See what this 2008 Romance Writers of America® conference keynote speaker has to say about the romance market and her plans for the future."

A tease

I pasted the entire text of my WIP into Wordle, and this is the result. It's Morgan's story, so I think this came out soooo well!

Romance Trash Talk

This is hilarious!


Thanks to Cheryl St. John for the link!

Harry Potter "prequel" online

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter "prequel" written on a note card is online at Waterstone's. Click on "Authors" then "J.K.Rowling" to get to the card (and don't forget it has two sides!).

Cool little story about James and Sirius...the bad thing is, it made me want MORE! Oooh, Rowling is e-vil.

BANGHEADDESKBANGHEADDESKBANGHEADDESK!

(Click on the picture for a larger, readable version)

Gee, if only there was someplace you could get books you wouldn't have to keep, that you could take back so other people could read them, and it'd be cool if they were free, too...hmmm...somebody should invent such a place...and they could call it....A LIBRARY!!!!

Oh, this makes my head hurt.

Book Rental Fail

You know it's a slow news day in Chadron when...

...they're reporting that I'm sleep-deprived and in the closet, eight hours away in Omaha.

Oh well, now the world will know why I'm crabby this week. And I will learn not to say clever things to Genell that make her say "Hey, can I interview you?" ;-)

I really am thankful that I'm nothing worse than sleep-deprived. Other people have suffered damage to their homes or even lost their children in the last few days. I'm sure they're losing more sleep than I am.

Memorial Day in the 21st Century

The hubby was downstairs on the patio barbecuing some meat and texted me "Will u toss down the foil?" So, I stepped out on the deck and sent him the text "Heads up" just before I dropped it.

No, he didn't catch it.

Don't forget your towel today!

Because "any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with." - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Empty Orange Case

You have new Picture Mail!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

Oh...kay....

Homemade dogga treats

Homemade dogga treats, originally uploaded by mdesive.

I made these using Rachael Ray's Peanut-Carob Isabooscotti recipe (with some little tweaks - no carob sauce, smooth instead of chunky pb and I cut them up much smaller than the recipe called for)

Happy May Day!

Happy May Day!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

This was waiting for us when we got home today. I'm glad somebody still keeps this tradition (and I know who you are!) ;)

It's RSS Awareness Day!

And yes, I'm an RSS feed addict...I crammed so much stuff in my reader, I made it useless. Now that I've basically cleaned it out and started over, I'm trying to employ better habits so that it remains a tool and not just another time-sink. Still, I don't think nearly enough sites employ RSS - for instance, I have yet to find a single news source in my old college town that provides a feed, and they should. Oh, they should! I've had to create my own feeds for them from a Google search, and it's still not what I think it should be. Oh, well, off my soap box now to let you learn just what RSS is. Here's some info with a nifty video which explains it all!

Choices, choices

Choices, choices, originally uploaded by mdesive.

I ended up eating both eventually, but I ate the chocolate first.

This post is mostly just a test of blogging from my phone via Flickr - if you're reading this on my blog, it worked!

Recently Read

Last night I finally finished Black Ships by Jo Graham. I enjoyed this one, though it took me about three months to finish it. It was like a nice ramble, without any deeply compelling reason to reach the end. I'm not sure why. When I finished, I felt like I'd been on a long journey, just as the characters in the book had. Overall, reading this book was pleasant, but lacking something.

This was an Early Reviewers book from LibraryThing.

Hey, that's my job title!

Okay, so only a couple of the words in this title are in mine, but if you get rid of "temporary part-time libraries North-West" and "business unit administration".... :P

The Plain English Campaign claims this is the World's Longest Job Title: temporary part-time libraries North-West inter-library loan business unit administration assistant.

Football!

(4/13/08 Update - The "official" picture of Dan) ;-)

Every once in awhile, it does seem like I have a life! :) Friday, Dan won tickets to Saturday's Omaha Beef football game. The Beef are Omaha's indoor arena football team, and I've never been to a game even though it's something we've talked about doing (talked about as in one of us says "We should go to a Beef game some time" and the other one says "Yes, we should!" and the conversation ends there). So, Saturday night Dan, Ashley, our friend Sam, and I headed downtown. I think Ashley had the most fun. Before we ever got through the front door of the civic center, she'd been through two bounce houses, gotten a crown made of balloons and had her face painted. Once we got inside, we eventually made it to the Party Box, which is behind one end zone.

I've been curious about arena football, but never really understood the draw until last night. I mean, I know we don't have an NFL team, but we do have the Huskers nearby. How much football do you need, even in Nebraska? (No, I didn't just get struck by lightning). And in the cities where they do have NFL teams, why would you want to watch arena football?

I get it now. This is football in a pro-wrestling atmosphere, and it's FUN!. I think it was the most fun football game I've ever been to. There is practically nothing dividing the fans from the players - just a half wall with padding on top. Even in high school, there was usually a good yard or two between the stands and the field. Even "good" seats at a Husker game made me wish I had a telephoto lens. When we got to the Beef game and sat down, I was a little worried when I realized it was end zone/wall/me. The goalposts were IN the Party Box - we were sitting under them! It was a crazy party atmosphere - every time-out seemed to bring some new goofy event onto the field - boxing with giant gloves, grown men doing the Chicken Dance, the "Rump Roasters" doing some other goofy dances. At the end of the game, fans are allowed out on the field and get to talk to the players and get autographs.

Part of Dan's prize was to be the honorary coach for the mascot game at halftime. Basically, he just had to go out on the field and be interviewed about his contest entry for the Unofficial Mascot of 1620 The Zone (Hopefully, I can get him to blog about what exactly the contest was and what he said - his entry had something to do with The Stain). Then the mascots played a quick game of football, which was hilarious. We also each got t-shirts, and how cool is it that they say "More Cowbell!" I LOVE IT! (Ironically, when we got home Christopher Walken was hosting Saturday Night Live, but there was no mention of cowbell that I saw. Oh well.) I've posted a few pictures at Flickr, but I'll post more as I go through them. I took well over 1000 pictures last night (no, that's not a typo).

Recently Read...

I no longer have to live in fear of people discussing Harry Potter! I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last week, and I think it was the best of the series.

I had meant to hold out for the paperback, as I did for the other six (they don't hurt you when you doze off and let go of the book - Hey, I'm a mom, I'm tired and I'm usually reading at the end of the evening when I'm even more tired). But spoilers kept creeping up on me and I was getting way too good at changing the channel on the TV or radio whenever I even heard the name Harry Potter uttered. So, I finally asked to borrow my mom-in-law's copy. Even that came at the price of an unintentional spoiler (I didn't take it well. I think I screamed "Shut Up!" at her - whoops, sorry!).

It took me about three weeks to get through the first half, reading at my normal rate of a couple chapters every few nights. Then I hit the half-way point and my reading pace picked up. I read the second half in a week, the last third in an evening (I would have finished it the night before, but even a dragon on a rampage through Gringott's couldn't keep my eyes open - see above). My house certainly showed the effects of that week of reading.

The final evening, I did almost nothing but read, stopping only to reluctantly eat dinner (good thing the hubby is the cook). My daughter complained, and I'm surprised she doesn't resent Harry Potter now, but she doesn't seem to. In fact, I caught her picking up the book a couple of the few times I actually put it down. It was odd to see a seven-year-old reading a book that thick. Unfortunately, she had usually chosen a spot ahead of where I was reading, which resulted in a panicked "Don't tell me ANYTHING you just read!"

The only problem with finishing Deathly Hallows is that now I have a big urge to go back and re-read the whole series from my new perspective. What clues were there, who do I see differently knowing how things turn out for them? And there's one character I'm intensely curious about - he was mentioned several times, but was he ever actually DESCRIBED until the last book when we found out who he really was? Were there clues to who he might be that flew right over my head? Hmmm....I scratched one book off my reading list, but put six back on. Oh, well...

Currently reading: Black Ships by Jo Graham - an Early Reviewers copy from LibraryThing.

Sigh....but could I do it???

I pop into Ariel Meadow Stallings' Electrolicious blog from time to time and she's got a great idea in today's post. She says "one night a week, I am going to completely unplug from anything with a screen. This means no internet, no sidekick, no watching dvds."

It's a great idea. I think I'm going to try it. I just have to figure out which night works best for me, and my family. It will probably have to be a family thing, or what's the point? Someone else will have the TV or whatever on & my effort will be lost. So maybe the title above should be "But could WE do it?"

I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

What Mary Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Scary!

I shudder to think of it...

Imagine a World Without Apple, Bloggers, Google or Dell - New York Times

;-)

'Meanest mom on planet' sells son's car

I only have one comment for this: GO MOM!!!

'Meanest mom on planet' sells son's car - CNN.com

I need to file this away to show my daughter when she starts driving.

WooHoo!

Yay! Bill O'Boyle is the 2007 DII Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year. Go Eagles!

Reading for 2008

I'm not posting my resolutions, since they mostly all hinge off one thing: STOP PROCRASTINATING. The details I'll keep to myself for now. Instead, I've decided to post my provisional reading list for the year.

Most of my reading for the first part of 2008 involves finishing books I've already started reading. Most of the ones I haven't started were Christmas gifts (or bought with gift cards I received as gifts).

These are in no particular order, since I never know which one I'm going to feel like reading by the time I finish one, but I'll break them into sections:

Library books which need to be finished ASAP:
The Now Habit by Neil Fiore - how ironic is it that I've procrastinated on reading this one?
Body Language by Julius Fast - recommended by a writer friend. It's been good, but keeps getting interrupted by other things (like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

Books I've started and which must be finished (tagged "Reading List 2008" in LibraryThing):
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy : Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale by James B. South - I've popped around in the essays in this book, but I'm going to finally just read it straight through.
Close-up Photography by Michael Freeman - I like playing with the macro setting on my camera, so this looked like a good choice. Luckily, it was already on my husband's shelf.
The Conversation Begins : Mothers and Daughters Talk about Living Feminism by Christina Looper Baker and Christina Baker Kline - Another book of essays I need to finish.
Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life by Alison Weir - I sat down and read the first chapter one day, but I've put off reading the whole book until some others were finished.
I Thought It Was Just Me: Women Reclaiming Power and Courage in a Culture of Shame by Brené Brown - got this ARC for free a couple months ago and also read the first chapter, but put it aside for another day.
John Adams by David G. McCullough - I've now been reading this book for seven years! I don't know why I don't just sit down and finish it. Luckily, I've absorbed and retained it well enough that I don't have to go back each time I pick it up again. This year I WILL just finish the darn thing!
The Joy of Writing Sex by Elizabeth Benedict - Nearly done with this one, but just haven't gone back to finish it yet. Yes, it has a pretty blunt title, but it's mostly addressing the issue of "When you can say anything, what DO you say" in love scenes.
The Key : How to Write Damn Good Fiction using the Power of Myth by James N. Frey - Mostly based on Joseph Campbell's Hero of a Thousand Faces, but boiled down to the basics for the purposes of plotting.
Nikon D40/D40x Digital Field Guide by David D. Busch - so I can understand all the little do-dads on my camera. Using it on Auto is fine, but it feels a bit like driving a Ferrari in second gear.
Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher - I keep putting this one down because it's a bit depressing and scary, but I feel it's something I should read as the mother of a girl.
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King - Given to me by a writer friend, and I just never have finished it for some reason, despite the fact that I'm not far from the end.
Spunk & Bite: A Writer's Guide to Bold, Contemporary Style by Arthur Plotnik - Looks like a good read, but I've been saving it for another day. Need to get it read!
To Kill an Eagle : IndianVviews on the Death of Crazy Horse by Edward Kadlecek - Borrowed from my brother many years ago. I need to buy my own copy and give his back. :)
Women Who Run with the Wolves : Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estés - Another book I've been poking around in, in sort of a random way. I need to just read it straight through.

Not started yet:
Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University: 91 Days to Beat Debt and Build Wealth!
Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey
The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey - These three were a gift from my parents, one of my brothers, and his girlfriend. I know we need it, and I know we need to read it soon.
Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass - Friends have been telling me for years that I need to read this. I finally bought it the other day.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling - Haven't got this one yet, but I need to read it before I encounter any more spoilers!

The last book of 2007

I finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince late last night. This one was, I think, the best since the first. Now to make my way though some other books on my nightstand and then I'll try to get to Book 7 before too long. It's getting to be too hard not to see & hear spoilers, so I need to read it soon. I just hate lugging these around in hardcover, so I usually wait for the paperback. But by the time Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out in paperback I may have heard something (more) that I didn't want to.

All I want for Christmas...

Starbucks a la vena, originally uploaded by ( p a r é n t e s i s ).

Vote!

The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks

I came across this blog today. It's just "hilarious." But maybe that's me just being more of a "geek." Anyway, even my 7-year-old got a giggle out of it. She was reading the signs out loud and doing "air quotes." You should try it - it makes it even "funnier!"

The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks

12 Days of Christmas

This is a great version of The 12 Days of Christmas. Thanks to *lizzie starr for the link!

Happy Birthday, Missy!

Halloween Party 2007 (16), originally uploaded by mdesive.

So we now have either two two-year-olds or two fourteen-year-olds in the house (depending on whether you're using dog years or not) - I think we're in trouble!

How sad...

I was going to order a book on procrastination today, but I didn't get it done.

Happy Birthday, Quinn!

We have a two-year old in the house again! Or, a 14-year old in dog years. Either way you look at it: Uh-oh!

Quinn really enjoyed "opening" his birthday present. We got him a new kitty and he was determined to get the stuffing out.

Within half an hour of getting his toy, this it what it looked like:

Done...well, sort of

I reached a milestone tonight. Three weeks late, or 20 years late, depending on how you look at it, I reached the end of my first draft. I wanted to have it done before I started NaNo this month, but I got a little stuck. Thankfully, I have my great critique group who brainstormed me out of that, and I finally got over (or just pushed through) my own hangups about reaching the end.

Now I get guilt-free NaNo-ing for the rest of the month. Well, free from the voices that said "You haven't finished your main WIP yet! You never finish anything! You suck!" As to the other voices, well, I'll deal with them later. For tonight, I'm sort of floating in a weepy sort of way (if you don't cry when it's done, what was the point?). In December, the editing starts, but I'll think about that in a couple weeks.

Now I've got an incredible amount of NaNo-ing to catch up on! Can I just type "the" 45,000 times? I didn't think so.

Where's Mary

McGooganReception2, originally uploaded by mcmlapubcom.

I am somewhere in this picture. Can you find me????

Here's a hint: Find Dan first.

I know, I'm evil! :)

Wasting time...

Take the Quiz here!

Take your Muggle medicine

Fittingly for Halloween, I tripped across these articles on PubMed today. Apparently Wizarding/Muggle medical relations are an issue. Just in case you want to brush up on this important subject, I've provided links to the articles, both from respected Muggle medical journals.

Lim EC, et al. Duty of care to the undiagnosed patient: ethical imperative, or just a load of Hogwarts? CMAJ. 2006 Dec 5;175(12):1557-9 (PMID 17146093)

Lim EC, et al. Interesting in- and outpatient attendances at Hogwarts Infirmary and St Mungo's Hospital for magical maladies. Ann Acad Med Singapore. 2006 Feb;35(2):127-9. (PMID 16565770)

If I find any more, I will certainly keep you updated. I think we all need to be aware!

Happy Halloween!

I just had to share one of my all-time favorite Looney Tunes. I like this one any day of the year, but especially on Halloween! Enjoy!

Halloween is at the door!

Halloween is at the door!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

Woohoo!

April Fools? The Onion? Nope. It's Nebraska.

Chambers Says He Found God: Tom Osborne

I wonder why it took Ernie Chambers so long to figure this out ;)

I took the plunge

I signed up for NaNoWriMo!

You can track my progress (or lack of it - we'll see how November goes) by clicking on the icon above.

More geekiness

The coolest thing I found on the 'net today: LibraryThing Haikus - WikiThing

I think every site should have their help pages written in Haiku! :)

Oh, happy day

Yesterday was a book lover's heaven for me. I took a "mental health day" from work so I could go to the Bookworm's open house. There I got to hang out with some of the published authors from my writer's group. These are ladies I look up to and who always encourage me to FINISH MY BOOK!!!! (I think Julie's looking for the whip as we speak).

Bookworm 20070919, originally uploaded by mdesive.

On top of that, I got a ginormous stack of free books. It's funny what you'll pick up when you don't have to pay for it and don't have a due date. I grabbed a few I hope will get my entrepreneurial spirit going and some that just had titles that were so crazy I couldn't leave them there. Some I'm really not sure are fiction or non-fiction or what they're really about, but the titles caught my eye so I took them. Most of these are ARC's (advanced reading copies), which explains the lack of, well, explanation on the covers. It'll be fun finding out what they're about.

Bookstack, originally uploaded by mdesive.

I only bought two books. It's easy to limit yourself to that when you're already lugging around a bag (oh, yeah, I got a free bag, too!) of fifteen free books.

On top of that, there was free chocolate, thanks to Cyndy Salzmann! So, right there, I was already having a perfect day.

In the evening, Tonya and I went downtown to the Holland Performing Arts Center and met Claire so we could see Anne Lamott speak. I've been a fan of Anne's since college (way, way back <grin>) when one of the librarians on campus recommended Bird by Bird to me. I read the library's copy, bought my own, and read it and read it and read it. The book is yellowed, dogeared, highlighted, underlined, sticky-noted, well-traveled among my friends, and now, IT'S SIGNED!!!!! I'm so excited!

Anne Lamott, originally uploaded by mdesive.

Even today's return to normal life (or my out-of-character encounter with the protesters just before going in) couldn't bring me down. I think I floated out the door last night. And I have to say again, CLAIRE ROCKS! She got us seats in the SECOND ROW! And a THANK YOU to Tonya for driving me downtown because I'm a wuss (I hate driving downtown, but I do when I have to, and I was going to, but I was incredibly relieved when Tonya offered to drive.)

Claire Rocks!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

This all feels like the culmination of a literary bender that lasted nearly a week. Last Saturday, I got to attend the (downtown) omaha lit fest (Yes, downtown - I drove myself! But it was early on a Saturday, so I wasn't very worried about traffic or parking). I'm a little disappointed in myself that I didn't take the time to meet some of the authors, but it felt like more of an absorbing day than a schmoozing day, if that makes any sense. I took pages and pages of notes. My arm felt like it might fall off by the end of the day. I've got a list of books I want to read and authors I want to explore more. And, again, I got to hang out with some of my writer friends.

So now the fun is over, and I'm pumped up to get on with the writing. If I want to get where all these people are, I know I've got to get to work and just write past all the scary, sick voices in my head who tell me I can't possibly finish this book. I'm firing my internal editor until the end of the year. She can come back when it's time to rewrite. (And when I'm stuck again, you all have permission to send these last few lines to me, throw them in my face and tell me to get to work!)

*happy sigh* I'm heading to bed now.

This has been a freakin' awesome day!

It started off with free books, chocolate & time with the women who inspire and encourage me to keep writing. It ended with meeting my favorite author, Anne Lamott, and pizza & drinks with one of my best friends. This has been the best Talk Like a Pirate Day EVER! :)

More details tomorrow, gotta head to bed now. I'm exhausted and have to return to normal life in the morning.

Why I Don't Cook, Reason #1

I put some eggs on to boil today. Not even thirty seconds later, I went "Oh, the space shuttle is landing!" Twenty minutes later (best guess) I remembered the eggs. At least I didn't need the smoke detector or anything like that to remind me.

Fortunately, the eggs weren't ruined, but they were a leeetle overdone. Still, they went into some pretty good tuna salad sandwiches. Those were a wee bit runny because I put in too much mayo, but in my (cook)book, anything edible is a success.

Aftermath

After the Storm 8-20-2007 8-24-00 PM, originally uploaded by mdesive.

After the Storm 8-20-2007 8-25-14 PM, originally uploaded by mdesive.

We had quite the storm last night. The tornado sirens went off during dinner, so we headed to the basement, but pretty soon hunger won out so I ran back up for our plates and we finished down there on the couch, fighting off the dogs who kept "innocently" sniffing at our food. ("What? I just want to see what you're having...in case I want to take it!")

After the storm was over, light started filtering through the thick clouds so I went out for some pictures. Most of them didn't come out well in the low light, but I got a few good ones.

After watching the news, I'm really glad we live in a new development where the trees are still little. No car- or house-crushing branches to fall on us. Other parts of town weren't so lucky in that respect.

What I'm riding to Sturgis

I wish...

I'd ride this if I could go! *sob*

Oh well, I guess I'll just keep checking out the Sturgis Street Blog for my fix this year.

Oscar the cat

There's an essay about this cat in the latest New England Journal of Medicine. I can't forward that around (as much as I would like to), but here's the link to the CNN story. This cat lives in a nursing home and predicts when people are going to die - he simply goes to their room and curls up next to them. According to the article, "His mere presence at the bedside is viewed by physicians and nursing home staff as an almost absolute indicator of impending death, allowing staff members to adequately notify families. Oscar has also provided companionship to those who would otherwise have died alone."

If you have access to the NEJM, I'd recommend reading the original essay by Dr. Dosa. It's in the July 26, 2007 issue ( vol.357, p.328-9). If not, searching "Oscar the cat" on Google News brings up quite a few hits.

My Harry Potter encounter today - and it's not what you think

I got a request today for an article about Boomslang bite. I see odd words every day, but they're usually more along the lines of psychoneuroendocrinology. "Boomslang" struck me funny, like it belonged in something like a Harry Potter book more than a medical journal. Little did I know.

I had no idea what a boomslang was (a bug was my guess) so I took a minute and looked it up. It's a venomous snake native to Africa. In my quick search, I also came across a reference to Harry Potter. Since it was Wikipedia, I took it with a grain of salt and wanted to verify that for myself. When I got home, I pulled out my copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and found that "shredded skin of a boomslang" really is an ingredient in Polyjuice Potion (page 165 in my paperback edition).

Of all the days for that request to cross my desk and grab my curiosity. Serendipity?

In case you're wondering, I won't be in line for Harry tonight. I just finished Order of the Phoenix a few weeks ago and it will be awhile before I start Half Blood Prince. If I can just keep from hearing how the series ends before I read it for myself, I'll be a happy camper. But I doubt that will last long. If you see me, don't tell me. :)

Pew Internet & American Life Project: "Omnivores embrace all this connectivity, feeling confident in how they manage information and their many devices. This puts information technology at the center of how they express themselves, do their jobs, and connect to their friends."

That would be me. I groan when people tell me NOT to e-mail them because they don't check it very often ("WHAT? How will I communicate with you then?"). If the internet goes down, I can't do 95% of my day job. If I forget my cell-phone at home, I have a panic attack. The thing I call my brain is not the gray matter in my head, it's the gadget in my pocket. And I don't think I even know how to load film into a camera anymore, even though I take more pictures than ever.

The term my husband often uses for me is "Ubergeek."

See more about Ominovres and how they fall into the rest of the tech-using population here and you can take the quiz yourself here.

Arrrh, Matey!

My pirate name is:

Mad Mary Bonney

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

Just how stupid is my dog?

She's taking chew toys to a whole new level.

(Two posts in one day, can you believe it?)

At last!

After *only* a year-and-a-half (or so) I FINALLY finished reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on Monday night. Yay! Just in time, apparently, because I saw the first TV spot for the movie on Tuesday.

A sign of my complete and utter geekiness

The Bayeux Tapestry
Uploaded by dekku

I got the biggest kick out of this!

An interesting take

Tim at LibraryThing posted this on the Thingology blog a couple days ago. I really hadn't looked at the whole CDs-and-DVDs-in-libraries debate (as in, do they belong in the library) this way before. Basically, he sees it as a moot point, since "This stuff is on the way out," as he puts it. And when I stopped to think about it, he's right. I can't remember the last CD or DVD I got from the library (though I know I have done so occasionally, but so rarely and so long ago that I couldn't tell you what they were now). He says "let's all stop imagining a library without books, and imagine a library without CDs and DVDs. Let's imagine a library with books, and hope for one with more of them."

I use the public library often for books. I use it even more since I discovered that they'll hold items for me at the circulation desk for me so I can just come in, ask for them, have them checked out to me, and leave. This makes it very easy for me to pick them up on my evening commute when I'm in a time crunch to pick my daughter up from school. Since I live in a newer part of town, which leaves me without a convenient library on weekends (hint hint: We need a library further west than 132nd Street), it's great that there's a library directly on my route home which will perform this service. It's really a win-win - I get the use of the books (free, as always!) and the books get circulated, helping the library's usage statistics. I've been meaning to send them a note saying how much I appreciate this service...Guess I'd better go do it now.

WooHoo!!!! I can't wait!

Thunder

Mmmmm, thunder. Spring is here!

Of course, I won't be happy when lightning zaps my computer, but for the moment, it's bliss to hear that rumble and know that rain is coming, not snow!

Green food

I just realized my last two posts were about green food. Either I need to blog more or eat strange food less (maybe both). More non-food-related posts coming soon, I promise! They're all in my head, I just haven't taken time to polish them yet. As soon as I do, they'll be here.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

We started the day off right - with green food! (It seems to be becoming a trend in our house) Then we tried to go to lunch at the Brazen Head, a local Irish pub, but that turned out to be standing-room only and you couldn't hear the band anyway. We went a few doors down to Old Chicago, who were all decorated for St. Patrick's Day but not nearly as crowded. Still, I missed out on the music I'd been counting on all week. Guess I'll just have to put on a CD tonight and get my fix that way.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!, originally uploaded by mdesive.

Mmmmm! Green Eggs and Ham! I do like them, Sam I Am! (and they taste MUCH better than they look. The eggs were a little psychedelic-looking (the food coloring came out of the bottle much faster than I expected) and the green made the ham look rather, well, BLEH. But it all still tasted normal.

Not going anywhere today!

The worst is, it's still coming down! Can't find my car and haven't seen a snowplow yet. Our neighbor did our sidewalk with his snow blower about half an hour ago, but you can't tell now. Good day to stay in and write. Hmmm, where's the hot cocoa?

Finished: Circle of Stones

Circle of Stones: Woman's Journey to Herself is a short book, but I kept it lying around as the one to pick up when I had just a few moments to read, so it's taken me a couple months. It was very interesting. I'll probably pull the second one off the shelf soon to read in the same manner. First, though, I have only a week to read Now, Discover Your Strengths. It's assigned reading for a workshop I'll be attending, so I have to drop all my "fun" reading until that's done.

My dog can talk...but is he saying anything?

Apparently, I was fairly bored this week, between getting snowed in and then being home with a sick kid. So, I started filming the dogs...



Missy usually falls asleep on her side, curled up like a "normal" doggie. But as soon as she's really asleep, she rolls over on her back with all four legs in the air. Then she starts to twitch...

Starting over

D'oh! Apparently all the Valentine's chocolate went to my head.

One of the goals of my local RWA group, Heartland Writers Group, is for each of us to write (at least) 100 words a day for 100 days. If you miss a day, you have to start over at day one. And I was doing so well, but I completely forgot to write my 100 words yesterday. I was 43 days in! And now I have to start over at Day ONE. Gah! Maybe it's some subconscious thing about being at the 9000-word mark. I don't know. But here I go, starting over. You can watch my progress here.

At least there's humor in Scotland...

You are very, very naughty!, originally uploaded by juliebee.

...unless you misbehave near the hot water.

The theme for today

That's one way to deal, originally uploaded by waiting line.

I hate Thursdays.

More Darkfever

I was poking around to see when Bloodfever comes out (nothing says yet, and that's frustrating because it probably means "Not for a while yet"), but I found this from KMM about the Fever series.

Darkfever

I'm going to try keeping better track of what I've read this year, and share on my blog.

I just finished Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning. It takes place in the same "world" (this world, but peppered with the Fae, Sidhe-seers, possible vampires and some things as-yet unidentified) as her romances, but this isn't a romance. I love her romances, but I thought this book was the strongest of hers I've read. And I'm itching for the next book!!!!!

More 'Fun with skeletons'

Doc, originally uploaded by X-travalueMeal#2.

Apparently dressing up skeletons in more widespread than I thought. :)

So Nebraskan

A Fitting End
Originally uploaded by Chris in NE.

I found this on Flickr tonight when I should have been doing something productive.

Why dogs bite people (adding to that e-mail that's going around)

nacho libre and esqueleto
Originally uploaded by fetching.

This is hilarous! The look on the one dog's face says it all!

Happy Halloween!

collage1
Originally uploaded by mdesive.

Yay! It's Halloween! Hope everyone has a happy and safe one!