Ooooo! A Present!

Okay, so it's not really a present but it felt like a present and it's my blog so I get to call it a present if I want to.

While I was under my rock, Get Off My Lawn! awarded me this:



Now, people, how cool is that? Because here's the thing about writers (at least every single writer *I* know): we're an insecure bunch. Maybe not about who we are, our politics, our bodies, our beliefs. We may have all that down. And we may even be able to say "Yes, I write pretty well." But the truth is, we're insecure about that very same writing. A writer who says otherwise is probably lying. (I won't say definitely ~ perhaps that person is the exception that proves the rule; perhaps that person has been doing it long enough to have gotten over the insecurities. But probably lying? Yeah, I'll go that far.) There's always that niggling in the back of the brain that wonders if anyone else is going to get the joke, appreciate the turn of phrase, care about the words. And to learn that one of my favorite reads considers me one of his favorite reads...Well, that's just super cool.

He also says that I host interesting conversations over here and described me as "way cooler" than he is. Personally, I think that is infinitely debatable (which is a polite way of saying I think he's wrong) and would make for an interesting discussion. But maybe that's just me.

I'm also, according to the "rules" ~ because yeah, GOML! and I care oh so much about those things ~ supposed to pass this award on and then list some things that I find funny. Here's the problem with that ~ GOML! and I have very similar tastes, apparently, because he gave the award to two of the blogs I would have. Plus, someone has already given it to him. Poopies.

However! For just plain fun reads, I highly suggest (along with GOML!, Wolfgrrrl and $$)...

Daisy, over at Daisy Land who speaks to and for every single one of us who has ever had to work retail;

Lori over at This Just In who will make you laugh...right before she makes you think or cry or get furious over some injustice...and will then make you laugh again;

and Zooom over at (surprisingly enough) Zoom, who sees life in such an amazing way and shares it so well that you will be crying from laughing so hard.

Unfortunately, you will have to link over there because my computer and I are still arguing about links within a post. The computer continues to win. *sigh*

And now, some things I find funny. Well...I'm very dry. There's more I don't find funny than I do. And my sense of humor is hard to explain. (Crow Mother and I agree on the fact that we are Niles and Frasier Crane from the television show Frasier ~ but disagree about who gets to be Niles because he's the cool one. Yeah...obscure humor...) So rather than try to explain, perhaps I will just leave you with these:

Q: How does a surrealist change a light bulb?
A: A fish.

Q: Why did the girl fall off the swing?
A: Because she was dead.

Knock knock.
Who's There?
George.
George Who?
George Washington, don't you know me?

Q: What's green, fuzzy, has four legs and will kill you if it falls out of a tree and lands on your head?
A: A pool table.

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Thomas.
Thomas Who?
Thomas Jefferson, was George Washington just here?

Yep. I'm sitting here chuckling at my own jokes. See why I'm not so sure I'm cooler than GOML!?

Those are Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

Slowly...

I am slowly returning to the land of the not-under-a-rock-nonwriters-without-looming-deadlines. You probably know the one I mean. It's the one where people don't speak in definition form and rarely discuss the differences between bonds and debt securities (all bonds are debt securities but not all debt securities are bonds ~ in case you were wondering.)

The deadline was officially met last Thursday but our editor is on vacation right now so I'm sitting on the manuscript for the time being. I'll send it next week. No way does this thing get lost in her inbox. No way.

Meanwhile, here are some things I have learned the past few weeks:

* if you spend enough 14-16 hour days at the computer, sleep becomes a non-event. it is nothing more than the thing which allows your brain to function for the next 14-16 hours;

* if you look at the word "loan" often enough in one 14-16 hour sitting, those letters in that configuration cease to have any meaning whatsoever;

* the apartment complex is very quiet during Lionel's last walk when the last walk occurs at 3:00 a.m.;

* Lionel seems very loud on his last walk when the last walk occurs at 3:00 a.m.;

*it is impossible to write on a subject about which I really know nothing with World of Warcraft in the background;

* it is possible to code a manuscript about which I really know nothing with World of Warcraft in the background;

*eating nothing but strawberries and toast for two days makes me very hungry on day three;

* a cut on the tip of one's left index finger causes many typos when the bandage is larger than the tip of one's finger usually is and it takes about three days to adjust to aforementioned bandage and stop making so many aforementioned typos;

* a lot of keys fall under the left index finger when one is typing;

* Lionel can get up the stairs of the new place;

* Lionel cannot yet get down the stairs of the new place;

* that barking you hear is Lionel at the top of the stairs;

* coffee made by Lithus tastes better when I'm working than coffee I've made myself;

* it is easier, more peaceful and all around better to work when Lithus and Timber are at home than it is to work when they are away. In spite of World of Warcraft.

Those are Pobble Thoughts ~ which will soon be followed by more regularly scheduled Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

I Know, I Know

I know I said I'd be away but look.......


















Oh. My. God. Publication date is February, people. February!

Those are (ohmyGod) Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.

It's Official

I'm going to be away for a little while making this deadline. All's well ~ just swamped and busy. I'm still reading, still caring, still here. Be back as soon as I can be.

Enjoy your summer!

Those are (slightly overwhelmed but not yet panicked) Pobble Thoughts. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee...lots and lots of coffee.

A (Not-So) Small Request

Yes, I know I've been away. Yes, I am coming back. But reading blogs takes much less time than writing them and even work-at-home-in-front-of-the-computer work must trump blogging. Sadly.

However, I am taking this moment to make a request. Tomorrow is the 4th of July. Here in the States, that means Independence Day. And booze. And fireworks. Which is an interesting combination, if you think about it.

Lithus, in a recent email to a fellow pilot/firefighter, referred to the 4th as "the start of arson season." The fellow pilot/firefighter replied back with "Good luck out there." Lithus, already out of town, goes on full alert starting tomorrow. Fellow pilot/firefighter is already flying fires today.

So here's my request...remember shit catches fire. Remember grass burns. Trees burn. Yards and houses and structures burn. Yes, fireworks are really wicked cool. Yes, beer and daiquiris and hard lemonade taste great. But maybe think about indulging in one or the other. Because accidents happen. And "here, hold my beer while I do this" have been famous last words on many occasions. Because somebody's gotta come put out the fire.

And even if it's not the man I love, it's the man or woman someone loves.

Thanks.

Hopefully we'll return to our regularly scheduled blogging. For now, I gotta get back to work.

Those are Pobble Thoughts and Pobble Requests. That and a buck fifty will get you coffee.