can we go back to handwriting letters and sending them through snailmail?

The following thoughts were inspired by this, which I discovered by way of my new friend Carlos, whom I met through my former-acquaintance-turned-friend Aaron.

And that there, my dearies, is what we call 'networking.' But that's not what I'm writing about in this blopgost. What I'm writing about is communication overload.

How much is too much? How many is too many? Every day, most of us receive at least one electronic message--be it email, text message, or something relating to Facebook--that requires some sort of written follow-up. Some sort of written response. And some of us take an inordinate amount of time to make that necessary (I'm not saying 'required') response.

Why? Why is it so hard to hit 'reply' and type something? Why do we take so long to answer? One message per day isn't a lot, right?

What about 365 messages per year?

Some of you--and here I'm talking to my fellow old folks--will recall the days before email. No, really, such days did exist. They're dim and foggy in my memory, but I swear they really happened. In those days, the riotous heydays of my youth, I received about...oh, let's take a guess on the high side...20 hand- or type-written letters per year that required a hand- or type-written reply. Add to that various greeting cards for holidays and birthday, etc etc, and that number goes up to maybe 50. Maybe. Per year.

So, flash forward (and no, I'm not making a TV reference) to today. If I get one response-required message per day, I'm no longer at 50 per year, I'm at 365.

But I don't get one response-required message per day.

I get an average of 5.

That's 1825 messages per year. And each one requires a response. If I spend only half an hour answering each one, I will spend 38 twenty-four-hour days (24! Count dem! 24 hours! Ah-ah-ah-ah-ahhhhhhh!) out of every year doing nothing but answer messages. That's more than one month per year.

In the inbox of the email account Ed and I use jointly, there are currently 7576 emails. Of these, 667 are unread. I have no idea how many are unanswered. Most times, I feel like closing that account completely and starting from scratch. Except I know that eventually, the new account will look exactly the same, and I'll end up exactly where I am now with all this, which is:

frustrated
overwhelmed
angry with myself
and disappointed in myself, because I know some of those unanswered messages came from people who are disappointed in me for not answering.

I also have this continual, grand plan to answer all the comments I've received on this blog. Haven't been able to get that done, either--and every time I think about it, I feel a painful twinge in the center of my brain.

That twinge is one part irritation and three parts guilt.

At what point is it too much?

I'm so tired of communications-inspired guilt that I'm just tired.

I know 100% for sugar-torting certain I'm not alone in this. How do *you* handle the odious monster guilt blob masquerading as your inbox?

book comments 25

"Cell" by Stephen King
--story of what would happen if Somebody (terrorists? aliens? kids too smart for their own good--and everybody else's?) hijacked cell phone systems and sent out a signal that drives any listener crazy instantly
--also the story of a father desperate to find his son in the midst of civilization's collapse
--fast-paced, freaky, unnerving
--zombies!!!
--made me look askance at my cell phone quite a few times
--recommend to King/horror fans

"The Shack" by William P. Young
--story of Mack, whose young daughter is murdered...and four years later, he gets a note from God, inviting him to visit the site of her death for a weekend
--turns the traditional view of God upside down
--questions everything we think we know about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
--MAKES YOU THINK
In my opinion, everyone should read this book. And I mean *everyone*, no matter what your beliefs about God and afterlife and currentlife. This novel dares to address the questions: Why do pain and suffering exist? Why does God let bad things happen to good people? Everyone asks these very valid questions at some point. This book doesn't claim to have all the answers...but it offers a perspective you won't get from the majority of Answerers in this world.
--highly recommend

"Watchmen" by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
--graphic novel about what the world would be like if superheroes and their evil counterparts had really existed in different decades during the 20th century
--great art, gripping plot, gruesome bad guys
--lots of complex characterization in this one
I am eagerly anticipating getting my hands on the movie now!
--highly recommend to graphic novel and sci-fi fans

"Blaze" by Richard Bachman
--story of a conman, brain-damaged by an abusive father, who tries one last big caper on his own after his clever partner dies
--heart-rending backstory shows how easy it is for a human being to fall into criminal life if he receives no compassion from others
--delicious hints of the SK-like paranormal throughout
--recommend

2010 Book Count To-Date: 12.

book comments 24, or: hey look, a non-fiction title

"Pagan Christianity?" by Frank Viola and George Barna
This book really deserves a full review, but I don't feel like writing one right now. Yes, I'm being mentally and emotionally lazy. So shoot me. ;o) But this book has changed a lot about my thinking and my way of life, so it *will* come up all on its own in future blopgosts. I guar-on-TEE it.

In short:
--analysis of contemporary practices and paradigms of non-Catholic churches
--examination of the historical origins of these practices
--sources include secular history, church history, and scripture
The authors question whether or not a church that is run like a business can ever function as the living organism (read: body) God means it to be. Their answer is that it cannot, and I agree with them. They ask a lot of the questions I (and others I know) have been asking for years. Viola and Barna don't claim to know all the answers...but they at least challenge the pat traditional answers that so many of us have been offered for such a very long time.
I appreciate the authors' attitude throughout the book. They are blunt and unafraid to critique what they consider error--but they also caution that no one should feel free to use the information to bludgeon anybody. They encourage truth without fomenting rebellion, and I think that is priceless.

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone. If you're a believer, you'll benefit from some education in church history and from a challenge to your preconceived ideas. If you're not a believer, this book will answer some of the questions you've always had about why churches have maintained (and still maintain) certain questionable practices.

BUT.

Don't read this if you don't want your beliefs challenged. Don't read this if you don't want to have doubts. Don't read this if you don't want to get out of your comfort zone.

Don't read this if you're afraid to pass a point of no return.

2010 Book Count To-Date: 8.

thoughts on God's kingdom, based on the gospel of matthew

The kingdom of heaven is not a place.

The kingdom of heaven is the rulership of God.

Entering the kingdom of God, being a citizen of God's kingdom, means giving God control and rulership over your life. This manifests itself primarily in your relationships, which should be characterized by:

love
mercy
compassion.

This is why being a citizen of the kingdom is the only citizenship that matters.

Being a citizen of the kingdom means having a loving, merciful, compassionate attitude (behavior, speech, thinking) toward others. It means treating others the way God treats them:

with mercy, love, and compassion;
not "playing favorites" between the "good" and the "evil";
forgiving;
sacrificing self for their needs;
and being radical about it.

The church is not the kingdom.

The kingdom is bigger than the church.

The church is the people who have chosen to live in God's rulership.

once again: searching for courtney

Yesterday's hype about searching for one's own name in an online dictionary (a practice now known as "urbaning," if you must know) made me get curious to Google my name again. (If you wanna read my other "Courtney" posts, do a search at the top of this page.) For your chuckling pleasure:

1. Courtney is a common given name, derived from an English surname.

2. Courtney is a rock musician and actress. I think we all saw that one coming.

3. Courtney is an award-winning author. YEAH BABY.

4. Courtney custom cycles. She'll cycle however you want, if you pay in her chocolate!

5. Courtney: drop-dead gorgeous. Oh, we are SO into humility these days. ;oD

6. Courtney is the prime example of why you should never do drugs, kids. Take heed, ye foolish, ye hapless and misguided!

7. Courtney: All Rights Reserved. Stop your infringing, and I mean it!

8. Courtney: I'm not a girl. Um. Except when I am.

9. Courtney, just entering the professional arena, is treated as a supercilious young starlet. And she has to look up words to define herself, too.

10. Courtney's house is a non-profit organization. That's for strawberry-torting sure. ;o)

book comments 23

"Under The Dome" by Stephen King
--novel answers the question "What would happen if a transparent, oxygen- and light-permeable, but otherwise impenetrable dome suddenly dropped down over a small town?"
--a lot of dead birds, for one thing
I love how King tells his tale. He uses omniscient narration to describe the grand scale of the event, then pares it down to individual viewpoints--almost like a reporter doing a few human interest stories against the backdrop of a larger disaster.
--excellent characterization
--BUT: A few times, I thought some of the characters were almost *too* vivid, as though they came close to being caricatures. I loathed the main antagonist, Jim Rennie--but he was almost too easy to hate, if you know what I mean.
--recommend to any King/horror/psychodrama fan

"The Gunslinger Born" and "The Long Road Home" by Stephen King, Peter David, Robin Furth, Jae Lee, and Richard Isanove
--first two in the graphic novel series based on King's Dark Tower
Just to clarify: The term "graphic novel" does not refer to "graphic sex" or "graphic violence." It means a story told basically in comic book form, but longer than a comic book and printed on more durable materials. A novel told through graphics, holla.
--totally fascinating to read/view these after having read King's novels
--GORGEOUS artwork...just paging through these makes my fingers itch to paint
--for King fans: These include tidbits of story we don't see in the original novels!!!
--my one complaint: They didn't draw Rhea ugly or creepy enough. ;o)
--highly recommend to King fans and graphic novel fans

"The Naming--The First Book of Pellinor" by Alison Croggon
--first novel in a fantasy series
--story of Maerad, a girl rescued out of slavery and starting to find that she has magical powers--and the enemy wants to make sure she never gets to use them
--excellent world-building; history, culture, language, arts, it's all there in the background before the story even starts
I keep thinking this is what Lord of the Rings might have been if a woman had written it--which, coming from me, is a compliment. ;o)
--highly recommend to any fantasy fan, especially young adult
In fact, this would be a great novel with which to get a young teen started on the fantasy genre.

"Odd Hours" by Dean Koontz
--fourth novel about Koontz's endearing character Odd Thomas, who sees ghosts and does what he can to help them move on into the afterlife; in this one, the dead (and the living) are helping him avert an impending, wide-spread disaster
I think my favorite part of this novel is the dialogue, especially Odd's dead-pan one-liners.
--a novel without clutter; Koontz keeps it simple without letting it slide into simplistic
--an open end! I see another Odd novel coming. :o)
--highly recommend to fans of paranormal and/or Koontz

"Elantris" by Brandon Sanderson
--Sanderson's first published novel
--fantasy epic, does *not* read like a first novel (I'm jealous.) ;o)
--story of Prince Raoden and his wife-to-be, Sarene, who fight to save their country and their religion from being overrun by a neighboring empire
This novel is proof that solid backstory is essential and can be offered to readers through tantalizing hints that add up to a coherent, fascinating whole.
--comes complete with a tortured, sympathetic antagonist (though I didn't like him at all until he started doubting himself)
--comes complete with incredible visual imagery that would be stunning in film (as in, LOTR stunning)
--convinces me that Sanderson is, indeed, quite capable of finishing out Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series
--recommend to any fantasy fan

"Heart-Shaped Box" by Joe Hill
--another one to make me jealous with a well-crafted first novel ;o)
--story of aging rocker Jude Coyne, who "buys" a ghost online...and then finds himself haunted and struggling for his life
Hill has created a main character I would love to meet--even though I have no doubt that Jude's appearance alone would scare me witless. ;o)
I appreciate and admire Hill for his female characters, who are strong despite (or because of?) their terrible weaknesses.
--contains a tribute to Hill's father, SK, at the end? (a door in the floor...)
--one complaint: I wish Hill had done more with the music. Yes, music plays a vital role in the story--keeping the vengeful ghost at bay--but I feel like Hill took it *almost* as far as it needed to go, but didn't quite get there. I guess I wanted music to be more directly involved with the story's climax.
--recommend to any horror/paranormal fan


2010 Book Count To-Date: 7.

book comments 22 (and my book count for 2009)

"Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy
I understand why people call this McCarthy's masterpiece.
--gorgeous language, flowing style, highly believable characters
--what I enjoyed in "The Road," I also enjoyed in this novel
--presents a picture of the Old West that I suspect is far more accurate than the shoot-'em-up Westerns we've all become accustomed to courtesy of Louis L'Amour and John Wayne
--BUT.
The mindless, pointless violence of the book's characters made this a tough read for me. When I read a novel, I am THERE with the characters. When the novel is particularly well-crafted, I am not just there, I am IN the characters. But as a woman, I couldn't be in this novel or in any of its characters--because the violence done to every female character in the novel literally made me sick.
On the other hand, "Blood Meridian," like "Lord of the Flies," depicts very well the degeneracy of human beings who have no standards to guide them and no love among them. From that standpoint, the novel serves as an effective warning against letting ourselves careen out of civilization and forget the intrinsic worth of the individual and of humanity as a whole.
--recommend, but ONLY to McCarthy fans or to those with strong stomachs

"Matilda" by Roald Dahl
--story of a genius girl with special powers, fighting against injustice
What's not to like? ;oD
--engaging, charming, witty, and the best of Dahlian morbid
--highly recommend

"'V' for Vendetta" by Alan Moore and David Lloyd
--my first graphic novel, I do believe
--another fight against injustice in a dystopian future
--completely fascinating because SPOILER!!!!!!! we never see the hero's face
--vivid characters, both in dialogue and in drawing
The artist in me was itching to learn these drawing techniques. :o)
--recommend

"The 1977 Annual World's Best SF" edited by Donald A. Wollheim
--collection of sci-fi short stories by Brian Aldiss, John Varley, Michael Coney, Richard Cowper, Lester Del Rey, Isaac Asimov, Barrington Bayley, Joanna Russ, James Tiptree, Jr., Damon Knight
--fun reads for the most part
--some chauvinistic depictions of women, which thankfully aren't as common to the genre now as they were in the '70s
--recommend to any sci-fi buff

Courtney's Total Count of Read Books for 2008: 46. Sadness! I'm five books short of my total count from 2008. I credit The Great Approximately Six-Week-Long Summer 2009 Reading Hiatus with this abysmally low grand total. I'd like to say I want to do better in 2010--but I'm not sure I have the power to shape that particular aspect of my reality. I might have too much writing to do. We shall see. ;o)

Aaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnd....

Courtney's Hidden Track of Unfinished Reads for 2009

"Ariel--Poems by Sylvia Plath"
--didn't finish because it got too depressing
--do intend to finish, but a poempiece at a time (instead of consuming it in big chunks the way I was doing)

"Like a Fish Understands a Tree" by Helen Collins
--didn't finish because I lost interest
--feel bad about not finishing, because this is a fellow NaNo-er who got her book published
--published by Paradigm, a consulting agency for disabilities (agency could use more highly skilled editors)
--might finish

"Strengthening Your Marriage" by Wayne A. Mack
--didn't finish because the content was not new and was not written as well as other marriage books I've read
--don't intend to finish

Courtney's Plumped Count of Read Books for 2008: 49. Dude. ;o)

this wasn't supposed to be my first blopgost of the year

...but it's just kinda happening, because I had this thought, and I wanted to record it.

In public.

Sheesh.

I am sick and tired of not saying what I really think.
I am sick and tired of not saying what I really feel.
I am sick and tired of not saying what I really believe.

I am tired of worrying about what other people will think of me.
Oh, I talk a great game of not caring, not letting others' opinions determine the course of my actions, blah de blah blah blah.

But really, in my secret heart, I want you all to like me.
I hate being the recipient of criticism, disapproval, and--o, the horror--rejection.

If I speak the truth about something, and someone responds by chastising me, my heartrate shoots through the roof, and my desire to make it all okay again shoots through the stratosphere.

This is not a healthy reaction on my part.
I have boundary problems.

And I'm sick and tired of it.

I don't want to be the gutless one.
I don't want to cower when a stronger personality tells me I Have No Right To Say _____________.
I don't want to be afraid anymore.

In the religious denomination I grew up in, I was taught to keep my mouth shut about _____________--because expressing my rock-the-boat opinions might lead another person to trip over something and get hurt.

But what if that something isn't even really there?
What about the other person learning to take responsibility for looking at where they're putting their feet?
What if the thing they need most, in order to learn to walk better, is someone (like me?) who will holler at the top of their (my?) voice about the discrepancies and the dis-integrity?

I've been told that a lot of people in this world look up to me.
If that's true, I don't really know why they do that. I'm a continual screw-up--didn't you know?

And one of the ways in which I screw up is by keeping my mouth shut out of cowardice.

Yes, there is a time and a place for expressing my thoughts/feelings/beliefs about certain things. I need to choose wisely ( --> discern) when and in whose company to verbalize these things.

But if I'm staying quiet simply because I ***fear*** others' reactions...then that right there, O Friends and Neighbors, is Screwing Up In Grand Fashion.

So.

Maybe this was the right blopgost to start the New Year with, after all.

obligatory last post of the year ;o)

Love God.

This means loving peace, justice, mercy, goodness, kindness, gentleness. And it means loving love.

The rest will take care of itself.

still and always, just a geek

So, I'm sitting here reading Wil Wheaton's blog (I've caveated his language before, so you've been duly warned), and I come across a post in which he mentions the one where he won a Super Mario competition against, among others, Jason Bateman. There's a link to a picture of said event. In this pic, Wil is probably 12 or 13.

I angled my Mac toward Ed. "Look, honey, here's when he won the Super Mario competition!"

In a voice à la Lumbergh, Ed drawled, "Grrrrreaaaat."

Even after more than eleven years, I'm not sure my poor husband has completely adjusted to the fact that his wife is just a geek. ;o)

in which a clue is finally gotten (pardon my passive)

I just finished reading this Yahoo! article on finance and the "Great Recession--which is technically over, economists insist--", and the following statement jumped out at me:

"Researchers studying long-term trends among American consumers believe that a 20-year spending binge, fueled by easy credit, is over for good."


I wonder if that's true? I hope so. I think it would be a good sign that people are starting to realize we're all in this together--and individual attitudes toward money will determine the financial condition of a nation.

Just a thought.

when life sucks

The first of the following quotes I discovered in Allison's blog. (Thank you, Al!) The second is from a book I recently read and commented on.

Both of these quotes resonate with me in a powerful way--especially because many recent aspects of my life have felt, to put it bluntly, unbearable. That I am

still here
still more than functional
still optimistic

is a testament to the activeness of God

in my life
in my surroundings
in my heart.


Somehow, he keeps me singing.


And, without further ado, the illuminating and encouraging thoughts of other women:

"Never, ever in our wait, is God inactive. NEVER. We have got to trust that if ever he puts a stay on something, if ever he has put a hold on something, if ever he has called us to wait upon Him: SOMETHING is up. Something is happening in the heavenlies. There is someway that things on earth are coming into the will of the things in Heaven. And we have got to trust Him.
"...When we wait upon a person, a thing, an event, we will lose; but if you're waiting on the Lord, you will renew your strength..."
--Beth Moore
"Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman"

"And he said--gently--that they believe when a lot of things start going wrong all at once, it is to protect something big and lovely that is trying to get itself born--and that this something needs for you to be distracted so that it can be born as perfectly as possible.
"I believe this to be true. And I especially believe it when other people's things are breaking down."
--Anne Lamott
"Traveling Mercies"


I, too, believe these things to be true. God in heaven, I believe these things to be true. You haven't given up on me, that much is clear. Neither will I give up on you. This, I swear.

excerpt from courtney's journal...

...complete with original spellings. ;o)

June, 29, 1986

Iam at Church right now. And I have been thinking about something. Amanda and I were at Grandma Wegers house. We wanted to play the Piano. But most of the Key's would'nt Play. Then we said the Piano would'nt Play. Grandpa then took his 22 Gun out of the Piano so that we could Play it. And that was so funny!

_______________________________

Present day: At the risk of sounding self-aggrandizing ;oD I have to say I find this completely fascinating from a linguistic standpoint. At age 9, it seems I was regularly applying German spelling rules to English words--hence all the capitalized nouns. But the one English noun that's phonetically almost identical to its German counterpart (house -- Haus), I spelled correctly.

Why I capitalized the verb "play," I have no idea. Maybe I was thinking "play" as in something you watch onstage--which would be a noun.

I love being a TCK. :o)

excerpt from nanowrimo...

...encoded. ;o)

"It heippetyed tpalzpalz lpalztyg eigpalz. Ypalzul pepalzple heive fpalzlgpalzttety. We dempalztys lemembel, beceiuse Geidlell dpalzes typalzt let us fpalzlget. She weis leithel itycetysed by the itycidetyt, eityd she dpalzes typalzt fpalzlget quickly."

I weiited fpalzl him tpalz gpalz palzty, eityd he geive ei wpalzlld weeily sigh. I thpalzught theit weis ilpalztyic.

"He heid ei leile gift," he dempalzty fityeilly wetyt palzty, "evety fpalzl ypalzul kityd. He cpalzuld tleivel thlpalzugh speice eityd time eit will, ity the blityk palzf palztye palzf ypalzul delecteible eyes. He ceilled it 'leeidityg the peist...'"


Ta-dah. ;oD

announcement

I might as well make it official, thereby making myself accountable to all y'all nice folks:

My goal in 2010 is to acquire an agent.

There. I said it.

Oy vey.

becoming an artist

The following is from Mark Z. Danielewski's novel "House of Leaves," upon which I commented in my previous post.

There are seven incarnations (and six correlates) necessary to becoming an Artist:

1. Explorer (Courage) -- First, you must leave the safety of your home and go into the dangers of the world, whether to an actual territory or some unexamined aspect of the psyche...

2. Surveyor (Vision) -- Next, you must have the vision to recognize your destination once you get there. Note that a destination may sometimes also be the journey...

3. Miner (Strength) -- Third, you must be strong enough to dig up facts, follow veins of history, unearth telling details...

4. Refiner (Patience) -- Fourth, you must have the patience to winnow and process your material into something rare. This may take months or even years...

5. Designer (Intelligence) -- Fifth, you must use your intellect to conceive of your material as something meaning more than its origins...

6. Maker (Experience) -- Six, you must fashion a work independent of everything that has gone before it including yourself. This is accomplished through experience...

At this stage, the work is acceptable. You will be fortunate to have progressed so far. It is unlikely, however, that you will go any farther. Most do not. But let us assume you are exceptional. Let us assume you are rare. What then does it mean to reach the final incarnation? Only this: at every stage, from 1 thru (sic) 6, you will risk more, see more, gather more, process more, fashion more, consider more, love more, suffer more, imagine more and in the end know why less means more and leave what doesn't and keep what implies and create what matters. This is what is meant by 'Artist.'

7. Artist

____________________________________________


This resonates.

____________________________________________

"Could they be the miners?"
--"Sure, they're, like, three years old."
"...Miners, not minors!
--"You lost me."

;oD

book comments 21

"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
--story of how a man and his son fight to survive in a post-apocalyptic world
--SO vivid
--excellent characterization in minimalist style
--Each sentence draws your attention, your thoughts, your heart on to the next sentence.
--McCarthy has a broad, elegant, lovely vocabulary; I loved the challenge of looking up some of his words:
chary, intestate, shrunken, ensepulchred, davits, sludge, swag, excelsior, loess, torsional, vermiculate
--also the word "illucid," which I think he made up; and crozzled, which seems to be a term from northeastern dialects
--McCarthy is one of my new favorites, if for no other reason than vocabulary. ;o)
--UPDA
--highly recommend

"House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski
--literally the WEIRDEST book I've ever read
--structured something like this:

[[[the story of Johnny (told mostly in footnotes), who reads Zampano's book and starts going crazy as a result <<<the non-fiction book written by crazy (?) old man Zampano (who is blind) *about* Will's movie and house {{{the "home movie" shot by professional photographer Will, whose house is larger on the inside than on the outside; the more he explores, the larger and more labyrinthine it gets--and there's something lurking in it}}} the non-fiction book written by crazy (?) old man Zampano (who is blind) *about* Will's movie and house>>> the story of Johnny (told mostly in footnotes), who reads Zampano's book and starts going crazy as a result]]]

And if you followed that synopsis, you have a pretty good idea of what it was like to read this novel.
--parts of it are in color
--parts of it are missing
--parts of it are written backwards
--parts of it are upside down, so you have to turn the whole book upside down to read it
--The book is structured like the house itself.
--This was a hard, challenging read.
--vulgar language
--recommend, but read at your own risk

"Mister B. Gone" by Clive Barker
--story of Jakabok Botch, a demon from the Ninth Circle of Hell, who tells about his (mis)adventures on Earth
--guest starring Johannes Gutenberg
--fun, fast read, seemingly light-hearted but with darker undertones
--not for the faint of stomach
--reminiscent of C.S. Lewis's "Screwtape Letters"; difference is that the demon addresses the reader
--My second Barker read; the first was 12 years ago. I think I'm ready for more.
--UPDA
--recommend

2009 Book Count To-Date: 42. Ahhh....The Answer. ;oD

peace out, or easy out?

There are a lot of things I don't talk about here.

Not because I'm ashamed of my own thoughts or feelings,

and not because I'm afraid of offending someone.


Quite simply, I keep certain opinion and feelings to myself because I just don't want to have to deal with the fallout from people who, I know, will disagree with me and be combative about it.


Does that make me smart and wise for wanting to keep the peace?

Or does that just make me a big chicken?

because it made me giggle

...and I can see me cooing to squash, too. ;o)

_____________

"It's going to be cold and windy tonight," Anne said that afternoon as we stood in the kitchen and contemplated dinner.

"It's cold and windy right now," I said.

"Yes. That's how I know it's going to be cold and windy tonight. It feels like fall, so I want to make something hearty for dinner."

"Something Autumnal?" I said.

"Um..."

"Something that screams HARVEST!" I said, punctuating the word with jazz hands.

"Sure. Whatever. Let's make some soup with that squash you bought yesterday."

I picked the squash up off the counter and cradled it in my arms like it was a baby. "Do you want to be soup? Do you want to be soup?! I bet you'd be a delicious soup! Yes you would! Yes you would! Yummy, yummy soup!"

Anne and I have been together for 14 years, married for just a few weeks shy of 10 of those years, and it wasn't until that moment that I learned just how much she doesn't like it when people use baby talk with squash. (So just keep in mind, kids: even when you're old like we are, and you've been together for something in the neighborhood of 5000 days, there are still exciting new things to discover about each other.)

--Wil Wheaton


FYI, Mr. Wheaton's blog contains language of the unwashed, unrinsed variety. You have been forewarned.

me in november

You know you're a writer when you're trying to get the words out, and you start looking at your hands, and you get distracted by the complete cramazingness of the fingerprint of your left index finger, and you start coming up with different ways of describing it on paper. Of course, this helps your day's wordcount not at all, but at least you know who you are.

It's NaNoWriMo, you hooligans.