Again, this is brilliant

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Facebook users, this is embedded video. Click through to the blog entry to watch it.

Sorry Gary.

That dream I had last night?

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Not a dream. I thought I dreamed that muscle cramps in my leg woke me screaming in the middle of the night. Apparently, either my wife had a similar dream (in which she woke up terrified and worked on my leg until it was better) or it really did happen.

Shit. Drinking water now. Will have a banana soon. Have already apologized to her.

Weird.

Not online much

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I’m just dropping a quick note before going back to today’s pages.

Reminder for Seattle-area folks! The low-budget horror movie I wrote, THE DEAD FEED, about a group of friends who receive video feeds showing one of their number being murdered before it happens, will have its world premiere this Thursday night 5/20, 7pm, at NW Film Forum.

I’ll be there with camera in hand so I’ll have photos of the event. Maybe video, too. If you can be there, be sure to say hello.

Today

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It’s gorgeous outside. Sunny, warm and inviting in the way that only Seattle can be. So of course I’m stuck inside trying to finish today’s pages.

With luck, I’ll finish a little early and have time for a walk and some reading. Then it’s a trip to the library and lunch in Fremont with an old friend I don’t see often enough. Later this afternoon I’m sure I’ll be playing a little Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich.

But only if I finish these pages. Logging off.

ETA: Done!

Hey, Americans

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If you support our constitution, respond to the census. It’s necessary

Whoa.

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One of the items up for auction on the Do the Write Thing for Nashvilled flood benefits is a lunch with Miss Snark!

I know! Bid here.

So far, the auction has raised over $53,000 dollars to benefit flood victims in Nashville. And I still haven’t heard back about the books I offered.

This is not a post about fanfiction

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On my LiveJournal friends list, which is where I do most of my internet reading, yet another fanfic (definition) discussion has exploded. No link, because it’s just like all the others: a pro writer said the usual dismissive things about fanfic. People who’d never even heard of this writer before swoop in to berate her/patiently explain she’s wrong/inform her they’ll never buy her work/tell her they’re laughing at her/etc to the tune of 300 comments.

Jesus, it’s like that old joke about the community where everyone’s known each other so long that they don’t even bother telling the same jokes anymore. They gave each joke a number and shout those instead.

Pro: Fanfic 6! Also 4 and 2!
Fanficcers: 12! 22! 19!

Anyway, I would like to offer a little expertise (not my own, ‘natch) on conducting an argument of any kind. Dale Carnegie, take it away!

The Buried King

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Finally started chapter one of the new WIP today. Here’s the rough draft first paragraph:

As the sun rose over the ocean, the chirps keened in their aerie. Joad lay on his cotton mat, staring at the timbers overhead. He could never sleep through that sound, faint as it was. To him, it always seemed that the lords of the city were mourning the start of every new day.

I made my goal, too. I’ll probably end up deleting it all, but it’s an auspicious start.

Kolchak and Minuteman, together at last!

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I just got a call from home saying my package finally arrived. Inside are the two Kolchak TV movies, along with the entire Kolchak the Night Stalker TV series.

I should also have received the disc for Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich.

Weekend, you are planned.

But I’ll tell you, I’m bored with my own blog! I have a crap load of work to do on my website (reorganizing, mostly) but I’m tired of the things I’ve been talking about and I’m generally feeling uninspired.

So, I’m going to give the Kolchak videos a watch (I also have the complete season of The Dresden Files) and write a little bit about every episode. Why not? I will love them and laugh at them and make disappointed faces, too. Hopefully, that will satisfy whatever has been making me restless lately.

Randomness for 5/13

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1) Facebook privacy default settings, and how they’ve changed over time, in convenient chart form. I have a FB account, but I never put anything there I wouldn’t put on my main blog.

2) Some folks are still claiming that health care reform will not save any money, and that the claimed savings are the result of budgetary gimmicks. That’s not true, and here’s why.

3) Paging David Prill! David Prill to the white courtesy phone, please!

4) The July 1690 issue of Cosmopolitan.

5) What you see here is a Men’s Room at the Hilton, and I don’t know if I could pee here.

6) Is “indie” authorship finally coming into its own? I’m not ready to go direct-to-Kindle, but it’s still an option. The sad(ish) thing is that I don’t have an extensive backlog of unpublished novels; I cut my teeth writing spec screenplays. Personally, I’m sure as hell not ready to give up on traditional print publishing. Sales of Kindle editions might be profitable, but it’s still a small pond. Growing, but still small. I want my book to reach as many readers as possible.

7) The Onion on childhood obesity.