1) The seven species of robots. TED Talk via Ezra Klein
2) Williams Syndrome: the disease of trust. Audio report and transcript.
3) 25 Beautiful photos of spiral staircases.
4) Do not try to bring your gay dog to this restaurant!.
5) Twetiquette vigilantes! aka People With A Brain Disorder.
6) Mass market supercar competition begins.
7) And, to round things off: Cute dancing robots
Sauce first, then cheese, then toppings on the very top? Sauce, toppings, cheese? Put on the sauce last, so the cheese doesn’t brown so much? Or does it vary according to the cheeses, sauce and toppings you choose?
The first full day of Pizza Week (aka, my wife is out of town) was troubled. The fruit pizza (with sweetened cream cheese) did not go over well. At all. The more traditional pepperoni pizza I made for dinner (with the good pepp) also did not go over well. My son got me to make him a mini-pizza at the end of the day and I put all his usual boring toppings on them.
As for the rest of the day, I’m a single parent so I’m not getting online all that much. I did have a productive conversation with my agent yesterday, and I plan to talk a little about that when it’s not so late. Bedtime has passed, so I must pass out.
Not ten seconds ago, heavy winds out of the south have started shaking the trees on my block. It’s like a dance party out there.
A few hours ago, my back went out for no reason I can see. I’m hobbling around the apartment, trying to straighten up the place and straighten up my posture, using ice, isometrics, dishwasher, stretching, but not the vacuum. Ow. Also, ow.
My wife flies to the east coast tonight. I need to load up her iPod with TED talks before she goes In fact, I’m going to do that now, then get down on the floor and work on my core muscles.
Because this is awesome.
I dropped in at my neighborhood bookstore yesterday, where they had just placed their orders for September books from Random House. Even though I didn’t buy anything (they didn’t have the cars issue of Consumer Reports) they were nice enough to let me take the catalog with me.
Not only was I able to see how many copies of Game of Cages they’d ordered (answer: 10), but I had a chance to look at the way RH designs their mailed catalogs. It was mostly just what you’d expect, except for one thing that surprised me (but shouldn’t have): Most of the books had a line for Story Locale and another for Author Residence.
It surprised me, but it makes perfect sense when I think about it: if the story is set in Portland, Powell’s might carry it as local interest. Same for authors.
1) Can YOU crack the Zodiac Killer’s cipher? The original documents are now available online.
2) Pop quiz: Comic book character or wrestling move?
4) I hope I hope I never get a book cover like these. via genreville
5) This book on hoarding sounds fascinating!
6) Take a look at the 15th, 20th and 24th pictures. (Not to mention all the nice happy people).
Revised it, cleaned up the manuscript this morning, and just now emailed it to my editor.
Phew!
Now I whip up a list of reviewers who need ARCs and try to come up with a selling title for it.
Heading home early.
1) Important indicator of an improving economy: The line at Starbucks is getting way long. I had to skip my refill this morning to get to day-job on time.
2) Remember that editorial note I mentioned before? The one that’s kicking my ass? I skipped breakfast today to get extra time to work on it, and I’m still losing. I’m doing something wrong, but what I don’t know.
3) Medical and dental insurance costs for my family and me for the year: $23,381.28. One year. Three people. Core plan. And that’s just the insurance–it doesn’t include what we’ll be paying for copays, deductibles and care that’s covered at less than a hundred percent. Outrageous? You bet it is. I hope Obamacare does something to bend the curve, but if it’s not enough, Congress should get back .
4) I’m collecting recipes for the Week of Pizza (aka, the week my wife is out of town). Cream cheese, sugar and fresh fruit? Check. Olive oil, capers, pepperoni, salad fixin’s? Check. Olives, pineapple and ham? Check. Bacon and eggs? Check. It’s going to be an odd week.
5) Currently, the Amazon.com sales ranking of Game of Cages is better than the ranking of Child of Fire by a factor of two. Yeah, I know the rankings “don’t mean anything” but I wonder if it’s time to switch my most prominent user icons from the CoF image to the new book:
