Sunday, December 16, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
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
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!
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Happy Birthday, Missy!
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!
Monday, December 03, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
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:
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:
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Where's Mary
I am somewhere in this picture. Can you find me????
Here's a hint: Find Dan first.
I know, I'm evil! :)
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
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!
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!
Friday, October 26, 2007
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 wonder why it took Ernie Chambers so long to figure this out ;)
Saturday, October 13, 2007
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.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
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! :)
I think every site should have their help pages written in Haiku! :)
Thursday, September 20, 2007
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).
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.
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!
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.)
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.
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.
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!
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.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
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.
More details tomorrow, gotta head to bed now. I'm exhausted and have to return to normal life in the morning.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
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.
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
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.
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