1) This makes a school bus trip seem like a delight. Actually, I’d probably homeschool.
2) Guys who pay women to play video games with them.
4) And, as an antidote to those of you who were annoyed by the critique of police procedure in CASTLE: A show that get’s the procedure right. FYI, I don’t post these links to harsh peoples’ buzz on their favorite shows; there’s a lot to learn here for writers and readers.
If you saw this:
A KEY, AN EGG, AN UNFORTUNATE REMARK
as a book’s title, what inferences would you draw about the content of the novel?
This book has a better sales ranking than mine.
In my continuing attempts to be useful to people, here are three things I’m glad I know.
1) If you feel the urge to sneeze but need to hold it back (because, say, your beloved spouse is sleeping right there in the room with you), tickle the roof of your mouth with your tongue. It won’t prevent every sneeze, and sometimes it will only delay it, but it works.
2) If you are sick of having the whole roll of aluminum foil pop out of the box when you pull on it, check the sides of the box. There should be a bit of perforated cardboard there. Just punch it in so it sticks into the center of the roll and the problem is solved.
3) This I got from an emergency room doc (who posted it online–I didn’t go to the hospital for it): if you have persistent hiccups, here are three steps to stopping them. First, take a tsp of sugar. That should stop 95% of hiccups. If it doesn’t work, try remedy two: half-tsp of salt. That covers up to 98%. If neither of those work, go with one tsp of vinegar. That should polish off the last two percent.
I should mention that I’ve never had that three-step remedy fail. The only iffy part is getting my son to take it.
2) “… Bloggers aren’t real writers…”
3) The Strange Sad Death of Alan MacDonald.
4) How to take surreptitious photos on the planet Belvedere.
5) The lonely life of a super-hero.
6) Casting call for Pirates of the Caribbean 4: No fake boobs.
I was going to drop this into the latest random link compilation, but it’s too cool to be buried there. Check out this news report on a story from more than fifty years ago in Scotland.
Yes, hundreds of children hunting vampires in a graveyard after dark–a vampire “with iron teeth” no less.
The story ideas that little news piece prompts are undeniable. The two simplest ideas would be to tell it from the POV of one of the children, if only for the chance to write about kids high on adrenaline because they’re doing something forbidden and dangerous. Some other writer might be able to write it from the POV of the vampire as it’s being hunted, frightened by the attention being drawn to it and indignant at being threatened by children.
It’s the POV of the parents that I find most interesting, naturally. A village where every kid has to be home by dark, and no one will talk about the local undead nasty, but what happens when the little ones find out on their own, and decide to be heroes?
I wonder if I can steal this for my next project.
The Senate health care reform package just passed the house with 219 votes, three over the 216 they needed.
Finally! It’s not the reform I would have chosen, and it’s not perfect. Hell, it’ll never be perfect. What it can do, though, is save thousands of American lives every year, and prevent hundreds of thousands of medical bankruptcies.
Tomorrow, I will be happy and at peace. Tuesday, I’ll contact my representative and senators about cap and trade. Or Medicare part E (for “everyone”). Or immigration reform. Or for expanding the insurance exchanges to be national in size.
It’s good. It’s fine. For once, I’m pleased.
I e-filed for the first time this year. I’ve been on computers for over 15 years, but I’m still nervous about sending such and important document over the internet. I’m still paying by check, though; there’s no way I’m turning over part of my taxes to a frigging credit card company.
Last year I used Turbo Tax for the first time, and I accepted its advice that I would not need to pay estimated taxes this year.
On this last return, we had to pay a $105 penalty. Looks like we’ll be getting a pro this year.
According to Washington Post, the House will vote on health care reform tonight at 6pm PST. Please please please get this right, Democrats. It’s not a perfect bill, but the status quo is killing us.
I am shocked shocked to learn that tea party protesters shouted “nigger” at black congressmen, and shouted “faggot” and yelled in lisping voices at Barney Frank. Representative Emanuel Cleaver was spat on by a protester, but told the police he would not press charges, so the police released the spitter.
Who could have foreseen such a thing? I’m sure leading GOP figures will step forward to denounce the spitting and name-calling against their colleagues across the aisle.
Update: And they have. Which is good for them, but it’s a shame they waited until things got so far.
Second update: Forgotten in the apologies is Barney Frank. Apparently, it’s okay for Tea Partiers to scream “Faggot” at a congressment. In fact, they’re doing it again today. The GOP doesn’t have a word to say about that.
In the meantime, conservative bloggers are calling for apologies… from the congressmen who were spit on and called “nigger.”
