Tweets for Today

• 09:49 Plan C: Go to the classroom and drop some names (sanctioned by the person whose name I'm going to drop)! #
• 10:14 Because--and I'm being non-snarky, here--this is all about working the system! #
• 10:14 I'm all about working the system. Guess that makes me part of The Problem :). #
• 10:29 Unrelated Lesson of the Day: Honesty can get you a 20% discount at the campus bookstore! #
• 13:14 Unrelated Lesson of the Day 2: The discount doesn't apply to textbooks, clothing, or computer stuff. Motherf... #
• 22:19 Trying to remember the last time I paid over $100 for a book... #

Via LoudTwitter

Tweets for Today

• 10:40 Lemme get this straight: fall exmu registration begins...on the day classes start?? #

Via LoudTwitter

This Scares Me

...the hell?

Images from Google Earth have confirmed that cattle tend to align their bodies in a north-south direction.

Wild deer also display this behaviour - a phenomenon that has apparently gone unnoticed by herdsmen and hunters for thousands of years.

Tweets for Today

• 17:34 Sitting here, stonewalled. For now. #

Via LoudTwitter

Tweets for Today

• 18:09 In Edit the Old vs. Write the New, I chose Edit the Old. #
• 18:10 Doesn't give me anything for the crit group, unfortunately. Eh, well... #
• 22:05 L&O:CI S07E22--Great for the first 3/4. Petered out in the end, though. #

Via LoudTwitter

Kmart Magical Realism

This term, literally, popped into my head the other day. I Googled this and found that Lisa Zeidner, from Washington Post Book World, had used it in a blurb for story collection The Jew of Home Depot by Max Apple.

I know nothing about Apple or Zeidner, but the term intrigues seems to fit the stuff I'm working on.

Eh, or not...

John Woo Was a Prophet

Holy crap, Face/Off can be real, now!

New faces given to a Chinese man after a bear tore off part of his face and a French-Caribbean man disfigured by a rare tumor show that such transplants can work and are not medical oddities, researchers said on Thursday.

Tweets for Today

• 19:36 I'd forgotten just how fulfilling the 2-hour Saturday afternoon nap can be. #

Via LoudTwitter

Tweets for Today

• 15:23 And so, it begins...the '08-'09 academic year. May God have mercy on our souls ;). #

Via LoudTwitter

Chicago--Still Cool!

Yes, that is Tomoyasu Hotei on guitar and yes, it really is the Kill Bill song!

(x-posted to the Tumblr)

Tweets for Today

• 11:35 Planning to sit and bust out a new piece, Harlan Ellison-style. Everyone should have a goal, right? #
• 15:06 Indecision: Edit an old story or start a new one? #

Via LoudTwitter

Tweets for Today

• 17:53 Those markets I picked for my story? Gotta wait 2 weeks to submit. Good--more time to make unnecessary changes! #
• 17:54 Survived the cerebral entropy of the dreaded department retreat! #
• 20:42 Series 3 of CHEF! = meh. #
• 21:12 Edits done--I'm leaving the story the hell alone. For now. #

Via LoudTwitter

Slipped My Mind

Totally forgot there was a video for this song...



I know where the song goes, chronologically, but in terms of theme, it doesn't quite fit in this scheme of things.

Tweets for Today

• 07:17 Figured out where the story's going to go. Once I pick all the new nits I've found... #
• 09:42 Planning to cope with a week chock-full of startup meetings by editing on the d/l. #

Via LoudTwitter

Bruce Weber Hates Me

I don't live in Region-fucking-2!


(click to embiggen)

Tweets for Today

• 10:07 Seven more pages of proofreading, and I'll *finally* have a story ready to send out! #
• 10:08 Still waiting on one story to see the light of day. It's all good, though; I've already spent the money I was paid for it ;). #
• 21:17 FINALLY! Another story ready to sub. But, where...? #

Via LoudTwitter

July Scorecard

...is more or less the same as the June scorecard for different, but related reasons. That changes this month. You'll see.

Tumblin' Down

I guess I did figure out a use for my new Tumblr.

Why do I need warm fuzzy freudian slippers 2.0?

This is where I strap my muse to a chair like Alex in A Clockwork Orange, pin its eyes open, and force-feed its brain until it does what it's fucking told.

Tweets for Today

• 09:26 Did I really pay $5 for a book autographed (to someone else) by Ann Beattie??? #
• 10:56 If you write, go to YouTube and search the tag "Authors@Google"--do this now! #

Via LoudTwitter

Tweets for Today

• 11:52 I couldn't just stick to the new books I bought a couple weeks ago, no. Just had to hit the used bookstore, too. #
• 11:53 Added Beattie, Lish, Mason, and a nice fantasy anthology to the goodreads "to read" backlog. #
• 11:54 Wondering what to do with my new tumblog @ warmfuzzyfreudianslippers.tumblr.com #

Via LoudTwitter

The Evolution of a Rock Band

There's a story to be had in this this (not necessarily Chicago-related) about how look and sound evolve--or maybe I should say adapt--over a few decades.

Only the beginning...


Playing free, or in the three, or agreeing to attempt something new...


Disco wasn't quite dead yet...


Synths!


80s hair...


90s hair...


Almost full circle...


Full circle, and going back around...again...

Tweets for Today

• 06:36 Don't know why LoudTwitter didn't work. Futzed with it a little more. Will see if it'll work tonight. #
• 06:36 Don't know why I feel I want a Tumblr, either. #
• 19:34 What happens to a dream deferred? It shrivels into a cold, hard nugget of contempt, stuck in your craw... #
• 19:34 Kidding! Maybe. Or, not. #

Via LoudTwitter

This Is Only a Test

...to see if email posting works properly on this here blog.

Me Next, Me Next!

A team of British researchers took a blob of neurons from an embryonic rat's brain, hooked it up to a robot controller, and used the resulting brain-computer mashup to make a small robot

Filed Under: "Can't Make This Up"

WASHINGTON (AP) — Famed chef Julia Child shared a secret with Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg and Chicago White Sox catcher Moe Berg at a time when the Nazis threatened the world. They served in an international spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services, an early version of the CIA created in World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt.

Sort of reminds me of this 1980s TV "gem," Masquerade

Ancient Chinese Secret, Huh?

I see stuff like this, and marvel at how the Revolution hasn't happened yet.



Bunch o' crack...what was that? Why yes, I'm married to a white woman. So what? Nope, sorry, can't explain the cognitive disconnects--I gotta go to the Mall. See ya!

OPP: Other People's Publications

This is on my goodreads "to-read" list and should be on yours, too.





I met Ben at a reading he gave here in I-town a year or so ago for his first book, Lucky Man. Nice guy whose day job is in the field I worked in back in a past life. Anyway, this promises to be a good one, and based on my experience with Lucky Man, I've got no reason to doubt it.

Admishuns FAIL!

see more pwn and owned pictures

This sort of shenanigans is why grad school is going to get put off for another year. And when I say, "put off," I really mean, "put back on my original time-table." So, the plan is to brush up on some math courses (mostly paid for on the company's dime) and, if things look good, I should be in. Should be. It's a gamble--I was never, ever promised a spot in the program of my choice. But as far as gambles go, I think I've got a better-than-even shot.

The upside is, of course, I've got another year free to write!