Drop Edge of Yonder

As requested, photos for your perusal and commentary:

Cindy tagged me for this.  I am absolutely going to do it because now I don’t have to come up with some bullshit post.  I’m supposed to tell you six book-related things about myself and then tag six others to do the same.

1. The first book I ever read — like, for real read and not pretend read because I’d memorized it — was called Who Cried For Cherry Pie? I swear it exists, but I can’t find any reference to it online.
2. If I were forced to name a favorite book, it would probably be Timequake by Kurt Vonnegut.  I used to have two copies of it, but now I can’t find either of them.  This depresses me.  Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions is probably my second-favorite book.  Oddly enough, I’ve never read Slaughterhouse-Five because I’m afraid I’ll be disappointed.
3. I realized last year that I stopped reading books for pleasure about the time I started seminary.  I initially attributed this to having so much boring required reading that my brain couldn’t take any more.  But then I realized that was also about the same time I stopped watching movies and started watching even more television.  Maybe I stopped reading books and watching movies because of attention span issues.  However, I think the most likely reason is that I started reading tons of online fanfic.  Spuffy fanfic.  Lots and lots and lots of it, in fact — most of which was novel length or longer.  I can make recommendations if you’d like.
4. I don’t care for most of the classics, which is probably weird for a former English teacher.  There were two novels in the last literature textbook I taught from: Nicholas Nickleby and Dragonsong.  OF COURSE I picked the McCaffrey novel.  Why?  Because it wasn’t boring, that’s why.
5. My favorite books to escape in are Robert Ludlum and Clive Cussler books, which are chock full of intrigue and action.  (See, LA people?  I come by that whole international jewel thief thing honestly.)
6. People often ask me when I’m going to write a novel.  The answer to that is never.  I believe you should write what you know, and I don’t know much.

I’m tagging Cassy, Helen/Callie, (My Cousin) Rachel, Cindyshine, and Laurie.  Um, and also Oslowe/Will, even though he doesn’t read here; Annika will have to tell him.  (I’m interested to see what he says as a writer of books rather than just a reader.)

Do you know what seems to make everything in life better?  Fried ham steak and canned new potatoes with loads of butter and salt.  Take that, Life!  (Except not literally, because I don’t want to die of a high cholesterol-induced coronary at 34.)

Today I bought a new laptop!

And then my car blew up!

*****

I’ve been writing every day (six pages on Election Day!), and I’ll post and backdate those over the weekend.  I won’t qualify for a NaBloPoMo prize, but at least I won’t feel like a quitter.

When I came back from California, one of my cats was missing.

The cat in question, Nigel, is solid black.  He’s also so lovable and friendly that he’s never without affection for long.  But Nigel and his “brother,” Quentin, became inside/outside cats about two months ago.  I let Nigel out when he asked just before I left for the airport, and the people who came to check on and feed the kitties didn’t see him the whole time I was gone.  When I returned three days later, there was still no sign of Nigel.

You can imagine how depressed I was.  Nigel’s one of those cats who wants to sleep under the covers snuggled right between my boobs, and if I don’t hold him he will nip and scratch my arms until I wrap them around him.  Quentin, on the other hand, is quite aloof (typical cat) and desires attention and affection on his terms.  But since Nigel’s been gone, Quentin has decided he’d like some of that boob action, too, and he’s been perched on Nigel’s “regular” spot behind me on the chair.

I figured Nigel was gone for good; after all, it’s been 12 days.  Besides, people kept telling me not to let him out because it was almost Halloween and black cats have a way of disappearing around that time.  I figured those people didn’t know what they were talking about, but when he was MIA for about five days I sort of said a little prayer and hoped he was enjoying kitty heaven.

But this afternoon Quentin jumped off the back of my chair and went to the door to the deck, gurgling out these horrendous meows.  I kept telling him to wait and I’d let him out when I finished the article I was reading, but he was insistent.  And then, suddenly, he was meowing on two different tones at once.  Now, unless Quentin took Tuvan throat singing classes while I was gone, that shouldn’t have been possible.  And sure enough, there stood Nigel on the other side of the door, his little pink nose pressed up against the pane of glass as he wailed to be let in.

Nigel is, in fact, in perfect health.  I’ve rubbed him and scratched him all over, and he doesn’t seem to have any injuries.  It’s possible he’s lost a little weight, but I can’t be certain.  And he doesn’t seem to have any fleas.  I can’t imagine how or why he would be gone 12 days without injuries or weight loss or fleas, so I’m thinking someone must have taken him in.  (He’s absolutely the kind of cat who would follow you anywhere if you stooped down to pet him.)  So I’m very, very happy right now that my cat is home.  I’m going to go snuggle with him now.

Last night the screen on my laptop just… stopped working.  Yep, three days into NaBloPoMo.  Five days after I created accounts on three different freelance/VA websites.  When I’m eight weeks away from finishing my online course.

Seriously, people.  That’s all I’ve got right now.  No real updates in forever, but I can’t muster anything else.  And do you know why?  Because the fall TV season has begun, and I am hopelessly obsessed.  I can’t even stop watching the bad shows.  (Heroes, you are dangerously close to falling into that category.)

So here’s September’s contest info.  Allison of Allison Wonderland is partnering with me to give away three of her homemade jar candles.  She also makes wonderful bath salts; contact her if you’re interested in purchasing an item.

To qualify for the contest you don’t have to do anything except comment below. The contest closes at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, September 27.  The winner, who will be selected using a random number generator, will receive the aforementioned candle from the linked page from Allison. Everyone who comments is eligible to win, including people I know in real life.

David Foster Wallace is dead.  Normally when an author whom I love dies, I re-read my favorite book by said author.  Thank God I’m unemployed, because there is no way I’d get through Infinite Jest by the end of the year, otherwise.

• Ready to jump! Something tells me Johnny D. won’t be involved. In fact, something tells me this movie will never be made. But a girl can dream.
• You can jump — and do the Truffle Shuffle — in these kick-ass shoes…
• … which would leave you all the better prepared to participate in chess boxing. (Seriously. WTF?)

Turns out Dr. Horrible was always bad.