"No, I don't."

Snow

It's gonna snow on Wednesday. A lot.

Finally updated the Blog of my Barometer. It was so neglected.

Wheee, my ship may have come in!

I got this in the mail today:

Seventeen television networks and studios and seven talent agencies have agreed, subject to court approval, to settle age discrimination allegations in connection with the hiring and representation of television writers age 40 or over...for a collective payment of $70,000,000. The settlement defines two classes -- persons age 40 or over who have previously written for television, and other persons age 40 or over who have been interested in writing for television.

Okay, so I'm not 40 or over, and I was a lot younger back when I sent in a few spec scripts...but isn't it funny that even people who wanted to write for TV may be included in the settlement?

The 24 networks, studios, and agencies "deny that they discriminate, but believe it makes sense to end the litigation, which has been pending since 2000. The court did not decide which side was right."

Hey, I want some money just 'cause I didn't have any contacts in TV or film when I got out of school. Why should the privileged get those jobs? Darn it, give me my two dollars!

J.D. Salinger

I'm late in posting about him. Since he's one of my favorite authors, I should post about his death. Really, I have little to say that hasn't been said. I love the way he writes, and of course, his characters. It's a very unique style that can't be imitated, but can be learned from. The sense of detail and non-rushed-ness of the descriptions of goings-on, especially.

I won't comment much on his personal life, but some of it defies explanation. The success of his books, and the fact that he made so much money off of them, is what allowed him to live the way he wanted, and yet he would likely begrudge other writers for publicizing their works in order to even have any hope of selling enough of them to make a few bucks.

He lived to a ripe old age, and of course I would love to read any of his works that he's been hiding all these years. People who knew him have estimated that he had between 2 and 17 manuscripts locked away. More recently, someone said he was merely writing about health issues (he was into all kinds of homeopathic remedies), so maybe it's nothing exciting to read. But the fact that he was reclusive for that long would indicate that he must have been writing SOME fiction. What else could he have been possibly doing with all that free time in his secluded house? Eat, walk the dog, read the papers, read books, watch old movies...he had to have done some Salinger-type writing.

"You didn't post anything today on your blog." -- The Hubby

And...now I have.

New version of Carrie Pilby on Amazon

Well, sort of. I'm sure the new cover will go up soon.

Amazon on YA

Amazon on young adult fiction, which really exploded over the past decade.

The first Carrie Pilby-related Tweet


Thanks to literary agent Janet Reid for Tweeting about my book! It's still set to be re-released in July. I guess I really should update my website fast.


Regarding the Tweet under the one about Carrie Pilby...is there really a cupcake truck? And why would that not surprise me? Do Rachel and Nichelle know about this?!


HOLY CRAP, I just clicked on Rachel and Nichelle's cupcake blog and oh my God look at the key lime cupcake featured on it.

Janet_Reid I didn't know CARRIE PILBY was being re-released! That's GREAT news! I loved that book!7:23 AM Jan 9th from web Janet_Reid It's too bad @susan_adriani doesn't like sushi. I guess we have to lunch at the cupcake truck.#poorpoorpitifulme6:21 PM Jan 8th from web

Hello

I kinda felt like I should post something. It's disappointing when you check a blog and nothing is posted.

So there.

Window of Maine hotel at sunset.

Dear Old Dad

DAD: How old are you going to be on your birthday? 39 or 40?
ME: (sigh) 39.
DAD: So you have a good 25 years left.
ME: Is that when life goes downhill? At 64?
DAD: Well, you look at people who are 10 years older than you, and things don't look that great.

Not just cute puppies

Sometimes you have to appreciate a little kitty now and then, too. So click here.

Combonym

Musician, punster, and friend Michael Lynch writes:

"EXmas"...to take down Christmas decorations.

Recent photos have been sitting on my camera

The next street, after recent snow.

Fire station up the road.

Our first pizzas that Hubby and I made on New Year's Eve. Well, they tasted good! Toppings: Shredded mutz, along with fresh shrooms, onions, and peppers. Hubby is a great veggie picker and chopper. (Thanks, Bridget, for the set of knives.) I didn't roll the dough enough, so mine was like a Chicago pizza. I like Chicago pizza so I was not saddened by the matter.

I kept craving it after we were done, so four days later I made this ricotta and sundried tomato pie. Already the practice came in handy! (It was actually less tasty than the other one though.)

New graffiti added this weekend. Bunch of savages in this town! Notice the Xmas tree in a bag tossed out at the right.

Happy New Year!

I hope 2010 is the best one yet.

A cautionary tale for those of you traveling in wintry weather

"A Reno, Nevada couple got stranded in wintry conditions for three days in the high desert of Eastern Oregon when their SUV's GPS gave them misguided directions and took them down a wrong path. Ask me and I'll tell you that the only wrong path they took was trusting their GPS.
The Klamath County Sheriff, Tim Evinger, clearly a kinder soul than I, was quoted saying "GPS almost did 'em in and GPS saved 'em." Evinger said. "It will give you options to pick the shortest route. You certainly get the shortest route. But it may not be a safe route." After almost three days, they miraculously recovered a weak cellphone signal on a GPS-enabled phone which sent its coordinates to 911.
Actually what saved them was the fact that the couple, both in their mid-to-late 60s, were prepared for winter travel, carrying food, water and warm clothes. Their four-wheel drive Toyota Sequoia was pulled out of the snow with a winch after they were found by a Lake County deputy in the Winema-Fremont National Forest, outside the town of Silver Lake.
John Rhoads, 65, and his wife, Starry Bush-Rhoads, 67, made it home safely to Reno, Nev., Evinger said. "Their statement was, being prepared saved their life," he said."

Awwww, rats!

"(Dec. 28) -- Ready or not, here comes the future of reading. Amazon announced today that it sold more e-books this Christmas than it did the paper variety, a first in its history."

Okay, but...how do you wrap an e-book and give it to a friend?!

Well, so be it. Remember to, uh, download the re-release of Carrie Pilby this coming July!

Oh. My. God.

Someone from elementary school said hello to me on Facebook, I joined a group for my elementary school, and lo and behold there is a 2nd grade class photo that has me in it - and I'm even labeled! The person remembered my name! I loved 2nd grade. I almost cried when I saw this. I remember almost everyone. We spent half the year putting on "Pinocchio" and I was figaro, the cat. I'm on the right below the teacher, standing in red pants. Wow, what memories!

My e-mail to Accuweather today

Hi guys. I commented about this last week too. You have something called Weather Alarms which is pretty cool, but then when I look below at your 5-day forecast, it often contradicts your very own Weather Alarms! For instance, you say Heavy Rain Dec. 25 and 26 for your weather alarms. But in the forecast it says "scattered showers" or "chance of rain" or "partly sunny" for those days. Are your Weather Alarms meant to be hype, or are your 5-day forecasts purposely meeker? I think you should save the Alarms for something more than 'scattered showers' or be more consistent so we know to trust them. Example here.

3 quick things

1. TMZ is reporting that actress Brittany Murphy died!!! She was only 32. That's an unexpected one. It's not like she's in the news all the time doing dangerous stuff like Lindsay Lohan.

2. Michael Lynch sent this combonym:

Carcheology...the act of digging out your car after a snowstorm.

3. Today I learned that making French toast with egg whites and wheat bread may be heart-healthy, but not very tasty. (Surprise!)

PS Hi cutie!

I feel cold just looking at...

THIS.

My favorite months, in order

1. October

2. September

3. August

4. November

5. December

6. July

7. June

8. May

9. January

10. April

11. February

12. March

February and March are the two most boring months ever. The weather is lousy without a holiday coming to justify it. I love the change of the seasons, whatever season it's changing to. But when it's the end of a slushy dull season, that's the worst, and that's why I don't look forward to February or March.

Things at least start to perk up in April, but not much. It rains every weekend. People start complaining about the rain, forgetting that it does that every year.

But right now we're in December, with the gently blinking lights and it's cold without being too too too cold. So rejoice!

Hmmm

I hope the kid is ok, but she is going to have to be in the hospital for months, fighting. I think TLC is putting a real spin on this one.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Dec. 11) -- An Arkansas couple featured on the reality TV show "18 Kids and Counting" now has 19.
Cable network TLC says 43-year-old Michelle Duggar gave birth to a 1-pound, 6-ounce daughter Thursday night during an emergency cesarean section. She'd been due March 18.
TLC says the child is in stable condition at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
The network airs the show starring Duggar, her 44-year-old husband and their brood. It says the Duggars named their 19th child and ninth daughter Josie Brooklyn. The Duggars' first grandchild was born Oct. 8.

Efficient hubby

My hubby has an idea for what he'd like to name a dog someday. He said today that he'd like to get two dogs and name them BOTH that name.

ME: Well, what happens when you call the name?

HIM: They both come!

Boy, is that efficient.

He did it

Somehow I came upon this blog entry of mine about a 2006 news report about a couple who were driving along a dark road, and somehow both the husband and wife got shot. The husband survived, however. Having heard of cases like this before, it seemed to me that the husband shot her and then injured himself to make it look like an accident.

Here's my blog entry about it.

Well, put their names into Google and you can see the result.

MEN: Something simple to improve your heart health

A public service message from Ned Vizzini about flossing.

Do you think

Do you think the first 30 or 40 years of your life are intended to set a foundation for you to enjoy the second half of your life?
In other words, did you spend all of those years working, dating, and undertaking projects in order to make sure you can enjoy (or at least be stable in) your later years? Or did you simply live in the moment and enjoy it and not think about the future?
I would guess that most people do a little of both.
Well, not when you're a kid. When you're a kid, aside from doing well in school, you're kind of off the hook regarding responsibilities for the future. The people you date at 15, if anyone, are very unlikely to be those you marry. You don't start a career then, either.
So maybe 20s and 30s are the main time to prepare for the rest of your life - starting a retirement fund (although who wants to think about being an old codger), looking for someone for a long-term relationship or marriage, getting involved in different things.
I guess you never really stop preparing, though. Even if you retire, there could still be 40 or more years of life ahead of you. Then a lot of your concerns probably become medical - what can I or can't I eat today, which doctor should I see.
I'm generalizing. I don't actually know the purpose of this entry. I was just kind of randomly thinking about the things you do in life to prepare for the future, and the things you do just for the sake of it.
Childhood was fun because of things done just for the sake of them. It's nice, I guess, when you can still fit those in to your adulthood, but sometimes you can find fun ways to prepare for the future too.
Well, the "Jersey Shore" reality show starts in a few hours. We're planning to watch it, and it will add nothing lasting to our lives!

Quote of the day

"Why would I want a Kindle? I would turn it INTO kindle!" - The Hubby