Cube News 1

Found some new YouTube crack:



Can't. Stop. Watching. Or giggling.

More here.

At least there's a reason for all this wackiness.

This morning's shot. I got in early, but instead of writing I flitted from distraction to distraction and got not a single word written. Unless you count the e-mail I sent to a Craigslister advertising a really cute, recently renovated 2 bedroom duplex in one of our target neighborhoods, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't count.

The upside is that some of my distractions involved job-related tasks, so I can charge that hour and get some overtime. Overtime is good.

Here are some random links I came across in my scatterbrained wanderings this morning.

Joss talks of Angel: Season 6. Two thoughts make that three: one - Eeeeee!; two - I don't normally go in for non-canonical Whedonverse comics, but now I have to get Spike: Asylum; and three - that shot at the bottom of the article always chokes me up. Always. *sniffle*

The Fantasy Writer's Exam (via Miss Snark). Test your book to see if it's yet another a Tolkein ripoff. Mine passes (or maybe it fails? I'm not sure what the perspective is there), probably mostly by virtue of being an urban fantasy. So it's more of a Gaiman/Whedon/Butcher ripoff, really.

Isn't this a cute duplex?

***

Update from about an hour later, because I got distracted and busy and forgot to hit "publish," which should tell you a little something about the kind of day I'm having.

I must be PMSing. Exhibit A: Yesterday on the drive home, my regular radio station wouldn't come in for some reason, so I switched over to the news (our CBS station comes in on the radio here; I have no idea if that's universal), and apart from bawling over a segment the local news did on a VA Tech victim from Tulsa, when it went to national news and Katie Couric started talking about Iran becoming a nuclear power, I very nearly had a panic attack. It was the same kind of tight-throated, constricted breathing, sick stomach, scared poopless feeling I used to get when I was a kid at the height of the Cold War and we lived in fear of The Button and our teachers made us watch The Day After and write reports on it and ensured we wouldn't get any more peaceful sleep that year. Which was, I admit, a little over the top, and not really my normal reaction to that kind of news, and I think that's a pretty good indicator of PMS right there.

But if that's not enough, I give you Exhibit B: CAG called in sick (again) this morning. I have a ginormous drawing package going out this evening that will likely take up most of my day (and probably get me another hour or two of overtime tonight), and now I'm also responsible for whatever her team's got going on today. Sure enough, one of her people called to tell me he's also got a major drawing issue going out today. I didn't quite have a panic attack that time, but I did very nearly have a meltdown, and after I hung up the phone I had to put my head in my hands and sit that way for a while, taking deep breaths and willing myself not to cry. Also an admitted overreaction.

I managed to pull myself together, by the way, and when I mentioned it to one of my project teammates he reassured me that the other team's drawings and distribution lists are really small compared to ours, and that one should be fairly quick and easy to handle, but if I still feel overwhelmed, they'll find me some help. I work with nice guys.

At any rate, the weird panic and overreacting plus the more-extreme-than-usual scatterbrained-ness plus the dwindling supply of blue pills in my birth control compact all add up to PMS. Happy happy joy joy.

No more 'net radio?

If you're an enjoyer of internet radio, whether it's free social radio such as LastFM or Pandora, voluntary listener-supported like SomaFM, or paid accounts with the big boys such as Yahoo's Launchcast Plus, you should probably be aware of a court ruling that will effectively end the 'net radio industry as of May 15th of this year. And then you might want to hie yourself over to SaveNetRadio.org and send a message to your senators.

By Jove.

Yesterday, Miss Snark posted a question about how one would go about writing a short hook for a novel with multiple protagonists. Being that my novel has two main protagonists who kind of serve as shadow selves of each other, this is a question I've been pondering myself. When I was writing my hook for my Crapometer entry back in December, I couldn't figure out how to fit both of my protags and their distinct storylines into 300 words or less, so I ended up picking the one that gives the best idea of the overall plot. That didn't go over so well, and it gave a lot of people the wrong idea of what my book's about.

This new discussion got me to obsessing about my hook again. It may seem a little premature to do so, seeing as how the book's only a third of the way done, but as I'm sure I've said before here at some point, I think writing a hook is a good exercise for honing your plot and figuring out exactly what your story's about. Plus, it's motivating. At least for me.

So after obsessing on it all night, I think I've got it: a hook that includes both of my protagonists and their separate stories, as well as the overarching plot that combines them. I did it in about 400 words. I'd like to whittle it down by 50-100 words if I can figure out how to do so without losing the integrity of the thing. At least I've still got plenty of time to pare it down.

As Michael Chambers wraps up the last day of shooting his hit supernatural TV series before it goes on summer hiatus, he's looking forward to some down time before beginning publicity tours and summer film projects; but when his ex-girlfriend and current personal assistant shows up with her cat in tow needing a place to stay, he's too nice a guy to refuse her. When he accidentally lets her cat run away, he's too responsible not to go look for it. When the cat turns out to be a shape-shifting trickster who abducts Michael and delivers him to the militant daughter of the Faerie Queen, he's too wigged out to stick around and hear what she wants. And when his attempts to get home reveal a hidden Faerie world full of violence and terror that is about to spill over into his own world, Michael must decide whether he's too much of a coward to take part in the princess's plan to prevent it.

The trickster has been tricked. The pooka, a shape-shifter who gets his kicks playing cruel practical jokes, has met his match in the princess. He must now perform three tasks to win back his freedom. The first two are simple: get close to the actor, and bring him to the princess. It's the third that proves a challenge, as he must pose as Michael and carry on his life so that no one notices he's gone. The pooka's weakness for human women, and the consequences he would face for indulging that weakness, have for ages kept him from impersonating a human, so he's a little out of practice. The only person close enough to Michael to unwittingly provide the pooka with the guidance he needs is Claire, Michael's beautiful assistant, who is still struggling with feelings for her former lover. The pooka just wants to finish his task and get out of this mess with his immortality intact so that he can return to the simple life of pleasing only himself.

As one world stands on the brink of a war which would bring destruction to the other, Michael's and the pooka's paths eventually intertwine as one discovers the mystery of his past and what it means to possess true power, one discovers the mysteries of humanity and what it means to love someone other than himself, and both discover the sacrifices required of those who would be heroes.

I'm excited about this hook. Looking at it as objectively as possible, this describes a book I would love to read. That means it's a book I'd also love to have written. That last part is what's going to keep me going when I find myself slogging through the second act, trying to fit all of the pieces together and in desperate need of a second wind.

Now there's a shocker.

Drive is canceled. I think at least this show got more play than Wonderfalls.

Stupid Fox. Poor Tim Minear.

It's nice to be appreciated.

If there's one thing my accidental career in corporate administration has taught me, it's that when the boss asks if you have lunch plans, it's generally best to say no. This is how I suddenly find myself scheduled to go out today with CAG and our bosses for an Administrative Professionals Appreciation Week lunch instead of spending that hour literally sweating my ass off at the gym. As this is the second such lunch in a row (yesterday was a group lunch for the entire administrative staff, at which I totally caved and ate a giant cookie. Bad Jean!), I suppose I'd better make it a priority to find the time to get sweaty at some point today.

In other news, because, yes, there is a bit more going on with me today than coffee stains: I passed the 20,000 word mark on the novel this morning! Woo and hoo! This puts me about one-third of the way toward the end, and the current chapter wraps up the first act and kicks off the second. I didn't get as much time to write as I'd hoped this morning, but I'm still on track to finish the first draft by mid-summer. Matt and I are talking about cashing in his old 401K to help pay some bills and go ahead and buy a new computer, because we've reached a point where having our own working computer is a necessity bordering on emergency. Once that happens I should be able to get some writing done at home, too, which should speed up my progress considerably. Even if it doesn't, though, mid-summer isn't so far away as to be too daunting a finish line.

Music to stain your shirt by

I wore a plain white tee-shirt today, so OF COURSE my coffee mug missed my mouth to dump its contents right in the middle of my chest. Thankfully, I wore it under a button-up that I can, y'know, button up, but still: sheesh!

So that this isn't a post entirely about my own ineptitude, here's the soundtrack I'm writing (and spilling) by this morning:

Why Heroes is da' bomb

My street slang is so five years ago.

Like most of my greatest TV obsessions, I got in late on Heroes. See, I have this rule--or at least I did until a few months ago--where I don't watch TV on Monday nights. I'm not sure when exactly it became a rule. Probably back when I was working on my degree, and there was nothing on Monday nights I couldn't stand to miss (this wasn't quite before TiVo, but it was before TiVo made it into my house), and I figured there ought to be ONE night a week devoted to studying instead of television. Since then I've used Monday nights to get stuff done, or to catch up on reading, or, more recently, to hang out and watch movies with the hubby. Monday nights weren't for television. That's why I didn't give Heroes a shot from the beginning.

But then, as obsession-worthy shows are wont to do, it started to generate a lot of talk. On the web, among my friends, even among my family, people kept telling me what a great show this was, and that they couldn't believe, superhero comic book geek that I was, that I wasn't watching it. I explained my Monday night rule, and resolved to stand by it--at least until I found out Jeff Loeb, author of some of the best Batman stories ever and future writer for Buffy: Season 8, was a co-executive producer and staff writer. I couldn't just keep turning my nose up at that.

So I tuned in on a Monday night. And tuned right back out again. What can I say? It was a slow episode. Did I mention that it took me a season and a half to start liking Farscape?

Thank Heaven for rerun marathons on the SciFi channel and slow TV nights. A few weeks after my initial attempt to give it a chance, my husband chose just such a night to go to bed early. I turned the TV on for company while I worked on my knitting. It was SciFi, it was a Heroes marathon, and I didn't feel like surfing to see what else was on.

I started out knitting and ignoring. And then I was listening. Soon, I was watching, and wishing I could keep Hiro Nakamura for a pet. Then a shot of a cheerleader flayed open on an autopsy table ended with her coming back to life, and that was the end of the episode, and oh my LORD how could they end it like THAT and I had to see more NOW.

I watched the rest of the marathon. By the end, I was pretty much hooked.

Thanks to more marathons and Friday night reruns on SciFi, it didn't take me long to catch up. It was the last run of new episodes, though, that got me to declare this my new favorite show, and very possibly a brand new obsession. I haven't been anywhere near obsessed with a series since Buffy went off the air four years ago, so that's really saying something. The last few weeks of hiatus have been both excruciating and exquisite, and most importantly, finally over. New episodes start tonight, leading up to the season finale, and these are the questions that are burning in my little fangirly heart:

- Is Peter dead?

- Is Mohinder?

- Is Not-Bad Glasses Daddy, who, by the by, has gone from awesomely menacing to just plain AWESOME? Is Mama Bennett dead, too? And OMG, what about Mr. Bojangles Muggles?

- Is Sulu evil?

- Is Mama Petrelli evil/in bed with Linderman/working against Linderman/really protecting Claire?

- Who's Claude hiding? Are he and the Hatian in it together?

- Is Nathan going to find out about Claire? Will they finally get to meet? Will Claire's two daddies team up to protect her and help save the world?

There are more, and I'm sure after tonight's episode there will be a whole new list. I can wait for answers. I'm just thrilled I don't have to keep waiting for this wonderful show to sweep me away.

Happy International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day!

What is International Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Day, you ask? It's a day in which creative types around the blogosphere are encouraged to give away some work for the free entertainment of the masses. I think it's meant more for actual real published type writers and artists, but what the heck, I figgered I'd play along anyway. My contribution, the first and only twelve finished chapters of a romance novel I attempted a couple of years ago, is up over at Jean Writes Genre. It's rough and incomplete, but I think it still has the power to amuse.

If you've decided to play along at home, feel free to post a link to your own released works of art in the comment thread below.

Rules to get work done by

1. No anything until I've written at least 1,000 words of novel (or run out of time to work on it, whichever happens first).

2. No blogging until I've completed at least ten actual-job-related tasks.

3. No playing until I've written at least three blog posts.

4. No whining. Shut up and get to work.

This is why I can't give up my television.

I actually got to watch some TV in real time last night, and what a great night of television viewing it was. Survivor delivered possibly the best episode ever, with some of the most awesome sneaking and double-dealing and actual smart game-play I've ever seen on this show. I didn't even know smug, self-satisfied smirks could turn into "Oh crap!" faces that fast. Plus, everybody hates Stacey! Whee!

That was followed with an equally awesome and meta-fabulous Supernatural, which took the opportunity of finding the boys on a haunted horror movie set to give wonderfully in-jokey nods to everything from Padalecki's Gilmore Girl's background to Vancouver's posing as Hollywood to McG's sheer McG-ness. All of that, and Jensen channeling classic Bruce Willis, too. I know a lot of people hate it when shows go all meta, but I can't get enough of that stuff. This show is beginning to kick so many kinds of hinder.

One for the "OMGSOWRONG!!!" file

Blowup dolls for dogs.

Really, there are no words.

(Possibly NSFW, depending how your boss feels about doggie s3x. Found via Miss Snark.)

Experimentation.

Heh, you wish. But no, not that kind.

I'm experimenting with audio posts. On the drive home last night, which is typical, since my brain likes to pick the least convenient times to come up with ideas, I thought of several subjects I would like to blog about. Since I couldn't exactly pull over and write them all down, I whipped out my cell phone and made voice recordings instead, all addressed to YOU, dear reader.

This is not likely to become a trend. For one thing, I hate the sound of my own voice. For another, I write much better than I speak. But here, one time only, for your listening amusement, is my first and most likely only attempt at an audio post.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

It's not the money or the fame; it's the time

What I envy most about Neil Gaiman -- well, what I envy the most are his imagination and talent, but that kind of goes without saying. What I envy most about his success, though, is not the fact that he's set for life even if he decides not to write another word, or that he's pretty much a literary rock star; it's that he's able to disconnect from the world and hole up for days on end to do nothing but think and write. If I could get one day to be left alone to do that, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

Coffee break

Yes, I'm having a third cup again. I'll try not to let this become a habit, but really, I can't be this busy without caffeine to propel me.

While I'm sipping I'm reading Lifehack.org, and they have an interesting collection of Ten Productivity and Organization Myths that, if subscribed to, are a good way to shoot yourself in the foot.

Also of interest is this list of ten negative misapprehensions about introverts and ways to correct them. As a textbook INFP, I gotta say, this list addresses a few peeves of mine.

Back to work.

Best Little Townhouse In Texas

Sponsored post!


When I told Matt I've never drank Shiner Bock beer, he decided that needed to be corrected, so this weekend he picked us up a twelve-pack. Last night we cracked it open, and as we sipped our beer we tried to recount all of the movies we've watched recently that were either set or filmed in Austin, Texas. A Scanner Darkly and Sin City were the first to come to mind, and, of course, Grindhouse, which if I recall correctly actually featured an appearance by the beer in question.

Matt and I have never been to Austin, but we both want to go there. We actually considered attending this years SxSW festival, but those tickets are still too rich for our blood. One way or another, though, I'm sure we'll make it down there before too much longer, where we can see if it's as comfortable and laid back a city as we expect it to be. We've even discussed the possibility of moving there eventually, if it feels like a good fit. From what I can tell, it's got the hip, urban feel we crave, it's a good place to be a creative type, and it's only a day's drive to get from there back home to our extended families. I could even see us settling into one of these awesome Austin Condos in a few years, especially if kids never enter the picture. As much as we'd both like to eventually own a house, I could also totally be happy with a condo, what with the whole "no yard work" factor.

It's probably jumping the gun a bit to start planning our future life in Austin, but even so, it's definitely on our domestic "must visit" list. As for moving it to our "been there" list, just give us another year or two.

What? WHAT? Speak up, I can't hear over all these crickets!

I didn't go to the gym today. I'm feeling a time crunch here at work and I just wasn't comfortable with the idea of leaving the office for a whole entire hour. But that's okay, because yesterday, according to my trusty pedometer, I managed to burn twice as many calories just running around this place trying to get my work done than I normally burn in a single cardio session at the gym, and I expect to repeat that performance today. At any rate, I'm already way over the weekly quota of calories-which-must-be-burned set for me by SparkPeople, so I'm not too worried about it.

So what did I do with my hour instead? I performed the ueber-productive tasks of blogging elsewhere and watching YouTube. Specifically, I watched the Film Pigs' review of Grindhouse (The Film Pigs, if you don't know, are made up of former TWoP 'capper Stee and a couple of his friends, who go see movies and then videotape themselves standing around and talking about them afterwards. Genius!), which pretty well lined up with what Matt and I thought of the movie. As you can see, that was an hour well spent.

Now, I'm going to mostly disappear from the 'webs for the rest of the day so I can tackle some of the things here on the job front that are stressing me out and keeping me from being able to focus entirely on the novel in the mornings. The piles are closing in, and I fear they're going to bury me if I don't pay them some attention soon. As it is, it's getting pretty claustrophobic here in my cubby hole.

When I come back I'll start addressing the requests and questions posed here... that is, if I ever get any. By the way, much thanks to my comment regulars for all of the love and praise, and right back atcha. But for those of you in the silent majority who aren't so satisfied with the status quo or have any particular topic they'd like to see addressed more often, or at all, in this here blog, now's your chance to speak up.

Dance, monkey! Dance!

At the risk of setting off yet another chorus of chirping crickets, I'm going to open up the blog to reader requests. Now's your chance to direct the blog and tell me what to write, or to just spice things up around here and ask me about things that are interesting to you.

Of course, I reserve the right to limit my responses to things that are also interesting to me, because what fun would it be to watch me ramble about things I neither know nor care about? I also reserve the right to ignore embarrassing, too personal, or just plain hostile questions. Not that I expect any of those, you lot coming across as reasonable and reasonably cool so far, but I'm covering my bases.

So go on. Ask me something. Suggest a topic. Pretend this is your blog and I'm your dancing monkey. And if you lurk here, feel free to use this as a de-lurking thread and just say hello. You don't have to ask or suggest anything, just introduce yourself. I know it's crazy, but I actually appreciate knowing who's reading this blog.

Just Enough Coffee Girl*

Today is a three-coffee day, y'all. I've been very good about keeping my caffeine intake down to two cups a day. I don't know for certain whether this indeed one of the factors in nearly eliminating my wrist & pinky pain, but either way I figure less caffeine is better for me in the long run. Today, however, two cups just isn't going to cut it.

I don't know why I'm so draggy today. I got to bed on time last night, and had no trouble falling asleep. Ditto the night before. I woke up once during the night with some allergy troubles, and they didn't leave me feeling so hot this morning. That's the only reason I can think of for why my head has been wrapped in such a thick layer of fog all day.

So it's three cups, at least. I'm working on number 3 right now. I think it's starting to do the trick. I'd still rather go lie down for nappies, but I'm beginning to feel like it might be possible to get my stuff done today--possibly even without having to work late.

God bless you, coffee.

*

Dry spell

I'm having an off day. I'm trying to think of something worth blogging about, and I'm coming up blank. I could talk about VA Tech, but I think it's already got more coverage than is healthy, so I don't really want to give more space to that other than to say that my thoughts and prayers are with all of those left behind to mourn. I'm not egoistic enough to believe that anyone really wants to read about my daily writing quota (which today didn't even come close), or the day-to-day details of my diet, or reports on my gym regimen. My pets haven't done anything lately that's cute or zany or irritating enough to mention, and my marriage is maintaining a happy status quo. Today I'm dealing with allergies and exacerbated ADD tendencies, but who wants to hear me whine about those any more than I've already done?

That leaves work, and work is busy, but boring.

Yes, there are definitely worse problems to have, and perspective is a good thing. Today, I think a lot of us are having our problems put into perspective, and somehow they suddenly don't seem worth mentioning.

But life goes on. Right now it's time for mine to go on at the gym.

Phone Envy

Sponsored post alert!

My husband and I are still, overall, pretty happy with the free cell phones we picked to go with the new plan we signed up for last year. They're not the sleekest phones on the block, but they do everything we need them to, and we've had too much fun with the built in cameras. Still, that doesn't stop us from the occasional bout of cell phone envy. This free BlackBerry Pearl, for one, really makes me want to consider canceling our current T-Mobile account and signing up for a new contract. Hmm. I wonder, if we do some shopping around, if we could negotiate a couple of BlackBerries into our current plan? Might be worth checking out, especially since we recently realized that the phone numbers they gave us are routed outside of our actual calling area and are long-distance from the landlines of pretty much everybody we know. Not cool, T-Mobile. Not cool at all.

T-Mobile's free BlackBerry offer isn't the only hot free phone offer going. Motorola's giving away a RAZr with their plans, and from Cingular you can get a free Sony Ericsson Walkman phone. This one has both a camera AND an MP3 player, as well as a built-in radio, all of which definitely ignites my phone envy. It even comes with an eMusic coupon good for 50 songs, AND the phone can double as a modem for your laptop. Want! The RAZr's not bad either, with its Verison VCast package which would be a nice compromise to my pesky "no high-speed internet at home" problem and let me catch up on my favorite TV shows. Sure, the picture is wee, but better a wee Battlestar Galactica than NO Battlestar Galactica.

Yes, I definitely think it might be time to rethink our current plan (I'm pretty sure we didn't sign a contract, so it's doable) and check out other options.

Writers are a ritualistic and persnickety lot.

Over at No Rules. Just Write, inspirational romance novelist Brenda Coulter discusses various methods, rituals, and/or vices different writers need in order to get started. It's an interesting list, and I can totally relate to the shower thing. And to the chocolate, except for the part about no longer enjoying it, but I always thought Douglas Coupland was mildly whack anyway.

My methods are pretty straightforward and boring (but does that prevent me from blogging about them? OF COURSE NOT!), and largely dependent upon the location and time of day I get my writing done. Currently, writing in the early mornings in my work cubicle, I must have some mellow, non-intrusive music, a big mug of strong coffee, and about forty-five minutes of uninterrupted staring into space to let my mind wander and give the story a chance to take shape in my head. After forty-five minutes, usually, and as long as curious or clueless co-workers don't bug me, I'm good to go, and can get my novel output for the day done before anybody needs me for anything job-related.

If I were writing at home in the evenings, as I used to do a lot back before my computer died and I brought home a husband who can't stand to be in the same room with me for more than five minutes without talking to me, it would probably be much the same, except I might forgo the music for night noises outside an open window, and trade the coffee for a glass of wine. I remember a brief period back in my fanfic days when I couldn't possibly write without a cherry Diet Coke from Sonic; I think the time in my car driving to and from Sonic did more for triggering my imagination than the actual drink did. I think that habit ended with a bought of crappy weather, and never got taken up again. I guess the commonality here is that I need something to sip while I write, be it hot or cold, alcoholic or non.

Quiet's good, too, even better than music when I can get it, but that's pretty rare in my life. Maybe I should check into getting me some of those earplugs.

Outpatient brain surgery. Yes, really.

Sponsored post alert!

Every now and then I come across an opportunity to write a sponsored post for a product or information site that carries personal meaning for me. This is one of those opportunities. As many of you who've been longtime readers of this blog know, I married a cancer survivor. Even though my husband had bone cancer that started in his leg, eventually it spread to his brain, and the treatments he underwent were invasive, traumatic, and they took a huge toll on his body. They worked--he's been in remission for over ten years, and was actually cancer-free when I met him--but even after all this time we're still dealing with aftereffects. That's why I'm happy to point you to this site about a relatively unknown brain tumor treatment that is both non-invasive and limits the amount of radiation exposure on the body. The Gamma Knife is a form of radiosurgery that targets intense radiation right at the tumor, without exposing the rest of the body, and can remove brain tumors without any cutting or drilling. This method didn't exist when my husband could have used it, but if you or someone you know is facing treatment for a brain tumor, I would urge you to gather as much information as you can on this form of treatment and discuss it with your doctors.

Not bad things

Since we're clueless about filing joint taxes, and clueless about taxes in general, we broke down and let a pro do ours this year, which turned out to be surprisingly fast and stress free and totally worth the fee (our preparers were so efficient and on the ball that they even pronounced our last name right on the first try, which never happens). Better yet, we're getting a pretty sizeable (for us) refund; most of it'll go toward credit card debt, but still: nice. (Less nice is that we owe over $100 to state taxes, because our state is run by greedy bastidges, but we're focusing on the positive here). Yay, refund!

***

I've lost two pounds! Only eighteen more to go till I'm back down to my wedding weight. I'm still impressed with SparkPeople, by the way.

I didn't eat so good over the weekend (Saturday I managed to rack up an impressive 5,000 calories over my maximum daily allotment), but Sunday, between walking a mile with Matt and running up and down the stairs at least twenty times in the course of getting laundry and other housework done, I managed to burn enough calories to keep my intake for the day well within my allowable range, despite not being super-strict with myself about my food choices. But now I've got five days of structure and routine to keep me on track, so all should be well.

***

Drive, the new Tim Minear series starring the ever-adorable and always charming Nathan Fillion, and is to The Amazing Race what Lost is to Survivor, premiered last night on Fox. It continues tonight in its regular time slot. So who's watching it? What do you think so far? Does Brian Bloom's receding hairline depress you as much as it does me? Let me know in the comments.

Is there such a thing as Shopper's Elbow?

Sponsored post alert!

On the list of doctors I need to get myself around to seeing, I should probably add some some sort of joint pain specialist for my elbow. I don't know what I've done to it, but it's been hurting pretty steadily for about a month now. I'd suspect tennis elbow, except that I've never played tennis in my life, other than hitting balls around with my older sister one summer when I was about fourteen, and I kind of doubt this is a delayed injury from that. I do reckon, though, that it's some kind of strain or workout related injury, which I seem ever so much more prone to since I've gotten older. According to Gustafson Ortho's patient education page, it looks like the best thing I can do is just keep using it and keep building up strength in and around my joint. And maybe take some more painkillers in the meantime.

Blog Hacks

Final post before I take off for the weekend. Promise.

Lifehack.org has an entire category devoted to improving writing and blogging skills, which might be of interest to anyone looking to grow the quality of their blog (or start one out on the right track).

Now I'm off, for a weekend of last-minute tax preparation panic. Whee! It's scary storming out there, so if anyone's of the praying persuasion, I wouldn't mind having some get-home-safe prayers sent up for me.

Have a good weekend.

Write me a story!

I know I've got a few fellow writers in the audience, and I don't know about you guys, but that vampire killer kit I linked below is giving me all kinds of story ideas. I don't have time to indulge any of them, so I've decided to bribe you guys to do it for me. Write me an original (that means no fanfic, sorry) story that features that kit. Be creative. Ideas include (but are not limited to) how it came to be, how it was marketed back in the day, whether one was ever used for the intended purpose, whether one was ever used to accidentally kill an actual (non-vampire) person... like I said, be creative. No word limit, but try to keep it short enough to post in the comment thread.

My favorite will receive one of the many copies I've still got lying around of the Dancing Lessons: War! soundtrack CD. This is an ecclectic mix double-CD that it is not necessary to be either a Buffy fan nor to have read the fanfic in question in order to enjoy.

I'll set a deadline for midnight next Friday, so that gives y'all exactly a week, plus a few hours' change.

So get to writin'!

WANT!

Serenity Blue Sun Baby Tee

ETA: I starred this item in Google Reader, so it's already over there in the sidebar, but it's worth a mention in the blog proper, and also fits in the category of "covet":

Genuine 19th Century Vampire Hunting Kits developed and hawked by an apparent quack who preyed on the superstitions of travelers to Eastern Europe. I cannot tell you how much I want one of these.

A day late and a genius short

I'm a bit behind on the blogosphere, which is where I get the majority of my news, so I just found out about Kurt Vonnegut. Damn shame, that.

Here, lifted from Jane Espenson's blog, are Vonnegut's 8 rules for writing fiction (from Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction). I've taken them all to heart.

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Good advice from a great writer. It saddens me he's no longer here to pass on his craft.

It really is the little things.

I know what I said Monday about hitting the gym every weekday, but today is wet and cold and yucky and nothing short of a dire family emergency is going to get me out in that weather before it's time to go home. It's all good, though. I've got my trusty pedometer strapped to my waistband, and I'm making up my fitness goal for the day by jogging up and down stairs, taking quick walking breaks around the inside of the building, and taking the long way whenever I have to go somewhere that's not my desk. Also, I just found myself all alone in the bathroom and seized the opportunity to get in a round of jumping jacks. Sparkpeople.com says I need to burn 217 calories today, and I'm already more than halfway there.

Just as it is with finances, little changes and small contributions here and there can add up to big results. Getting fit doesn't have to be an all or nothing proposition. I knew this, but I forgot for a while and let myself get bogged down focusing on the big changes I couldn't bring myself to make instead of looking at the small changes that could make a world of difference.

Now if I can just remember how to apply this philosophy to home organization, I'll really be on top of my life.

Useful stuff: Dentist locator

Sponsored post alert!

Prior to seven months ago, I hadn't been to a dentist since I was in my teens. That many years without professional cleaning left me with some stains on my teeth that simply wouldn't do for my wedding, so I finally broke down and found myself a dentist. I had pretty simple criteria--they had to be near my workplace so that I could get it done on my lunch hour. I lucked out and spotted a dentist's office right around the corner, and I've been pretty happy with them. The technician is an extremely sweet and personable lady, and she not only got rid of my stains and gave me a bright smile worthy of wedding pictures, but she also walked me through all of my teeth whitening options, and what their procedure entailed. She did it without any sales pressure, too, and ultimately we agreed that over-the-counter methods work for me for now, but if I ever decide to go the professional route in the future, at least now I know what to expect.

It's not always so easy to find the right dentist. If I had known about this dentist directory, I probably could have found my dentist without even having to leave my office. As it was, all I had on mine once I spotted his sign was a name, and I still had to track down his contact information. EveryDentist.com would have simpled things up so much.