Sherri Cornelius

I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving. We ended up having a very informal dinner, as nobody was really in the mood for Thanksgiving, so I had one brother here at my house and that was it. The food was good. The little weiner dog is still with us, and had a lovely time with the turkey carcass in the yard, though her whines of discomfort tell me she stuffed herself too full. Me, too, Brown Bootie, me too.

Anyways, I just thought y'all might like to know I put up chapter 3 over at the BVA blog. I won't be announcing the updates on this blog anymore, as they'll slow down after this one. I will, however, post announcements on the fiction blog, if you have it on your reader you can access it through that.

Now, I think I can fit in one more piece of pie before bed. Pepto Bismol is for tonight. Guilt is for tomorrow.

Just testing this

My laptop was out of commission yet again, only for a couple of days this time. I dropped it and snapped off the plug inside the power jack. Ordered a new cord, from one of those powerselling eBay guys. The cord cost less than the shipping, altogether about $18.

Just a couple of weeks ago I spent all day tearing down the laptop to replace the power jack, first time soldering a piece to a motherboard, and I think I might have loosened my terrible soldering job, because now the connection, even with this new cord, is a little iffy. I'd list all the other challenges I've had with the power cord, but I don' wanna. Let's just say it started with Cody the Questionable Coyote chewing the cord, and went from there.

Speaking of dogs, we've had a dachshund visitor for a week. She somehow ended up outside our door (looking at you, neighbor) on the first rainy night in weeks. I'm a sucker, all right? I know the dog could have found a dry place to sleep, but I didn't want to chance it. She's so much better behaved than Cody ever was, so the only problem is the family's allergies.

During a naming brainstorm session, Jonah hollered out, "Brown Bootie!" Um, why that name, sweetie? "Because she's mostly black except for her brown bootie." (Think doberman markings.) So of COURSE I had to start calling her that. How could I not? We shortened it to B.B. for outdoor calling. Don't want my neighbors to think I'm weird.

We made up a song for her and everything, sung to the tune of "My Buddy." That old doll commercial, remember? Do a Youtube search. I don't link while on the treadmill. Everything's the same except the name and a couple of lines. We don't work that hard.

So then the kids decided that B.B. wouldn't do, so they decided upon Bendy, cuz she's, like, a long-ass bendy weiner dog. Now, you might know there once was a crocodile hunter, and he had a daughter named Bindy, who had a show called "Bindy the Jungle Girl". So (again, look it up) the song is now: Bendy the weiner dog. WeinER.

After doing a reasonable search for her real parents, I put her on Freecycle, and I have a lady coming to meet her tonight. So Brown Bootie might soon have a permanent home and, hopefully, a real dog's name. We'll miss her.

SSS, as we used to sign our notes in middle school. Sorry So Sloppy. That's just how I roll in THOUGHTS FROM THE TREADMILL!!!  Mwahahaha!

I'll shut up now.

Here's a nice art quiz I saw over at DarcKnyt's.

Note my score of -21 in Cubism. I really hate Cubism. Always have. However, I used to really love Impressionism in art and music, but I found myself turning away from those choices. The second-highest score I got was for Renaissance art. I like those paintings because they look weird to me, and there are usually lots of details to study.

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Simple, Progressive, and Sensual

11 Ukiyo-e, 1 Islamic, 2 Impressionist, -21 Cubist, -12 Abstract and 8 Renaissance!

Ukiyo-e (浮世絵, Ukiyo-e), "pictures of the floating world", is a genre of Japaneseand paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries. it mostly featured landscapes, historic tales, theatre, and pleasure. Ukiyo is a rather impetuous urban culture that has bloomed in popularity. Although the Japanese were more strict and had many prohibitions it did not affect the rising merchant class and therefore became a floating art form that did not bind itself to the normal ideals of society.

People that chose Ukiyo-e art tend to be more simplistic yet elegant. They don't care much about new style but are comfortable in creating their own. They like the idea of living for the moment and enjoy giving and receiving pleasure. They may be more agreeable than other people and do not like to argue. They do not mind following traditions but are not afraid to move forward to experience other ideas in life. They tend to enjoy nature and the outdoors. They do not mind being more adventurous in their sexual experiences. They enjoy being popular and like being noticed. They have their own unique style of dress and of presenting themselves. They may also tend to be more business oriented or at the very least interested in money making adventures. They might make good entrepreneurs. They are progressive and adaptable.


Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

Another insightful post from Moonrat today. Rather than rehash the whole topic, I'll just post the main message I wanted to pass along, and hope that you'll go read the whole post at EdAss. I strongly feel that if you're working toward a career in writing of any sort, Editorial Ass is your place.

So here's a way to help us get over the October publishing financial crisis:

For anyone who cares about the book publishing industry and wants to do their part, there's one simple action step:

Buy a book this weekend.

Just buy one.

Now go read the whole post to find out details.

Here's an interesting tidbit for you. On my morning treadmill surfing, I had occasion to write, "hear, hear!" on another blog. I had a moment of doubt about the spelling. It could have been here instead of hear. Have never been sure. I've always thought the phrase meant, "I hear ya, dude!" But I thought it could have meant "Over here is someone who agrees!" So today I finally looked it up, and here is what I found:

hear

O.E. heran (Anglian), (ge)hieran, hyran (W.Saxon), from P.Gmc. *khauzjianan (cf. O.N. hegra, O.Fris. hora, Du. horen, Ger. hören, Goth. hausjan), perhaps from PIE base *(s)keu- "to notice, observe." Spelling difference between hear and here developed 1200-1550. Hearing "listening to evidence in a court of law" is from 1576; hearsay is 1532 from phrase to hear say. O.E. also had the excellent adj. hiersum "ready to hear, obedient," lit. "hear-some" with suffix from handsome, etc. Hear, hear! (1689) was originally imperative, used as an exclamation to call attention to a speaker's words; now a general cheer of approval. Originally it was hear him!

And now my indent is messed up. But anyway, now you don't have to look it up, you lazy bastards.

Maybe I'll just write all my posts while I'm on the treadmill. I've modified my rig so that I have better balance while typing. Haven't fallen off since that one time a couple of days ago. The biggest problem I'm having now is that I no think so clear. The physical act of walking seems to override the mental act of writing, so I have to go a little slower. Think through things. Might be a good exercise for my mind as well as my body. And I'm more likely to stay on this thing longer if I'm distracted. Bor-ing.

I've started to think that my lower back pain may be aggravated by all the junk I have in my trunk. The two pigs fighting under a blanket. The honeysuckle hams strapped to my ass. I think they twist my spine when I walk, fighting for space. Something has to give, and it ain't gonna be the hams.

Enough random thoughts for one day. It's almost time to get off here. Hope you have a lovely day.

Here's an interesting dream I had. What do you think it means?

Dreamed I was practicing casting a fishing pole in a pond and ended up catching 4 huge fish while friends encouraged me. After the 4th one, I looked around at the nice houses surrounding the pond and started to wonder if I was allowed to catch fish there. I wanted to throw them back, but I'd already caught them and the friends said we should just take them, nobody would care. It was really bothering me that I was stealing the fish from this private pond, until I saw that the pond was fed by a stream, and so the fish were likely not exclusive to the pond, and would be replenished easily.

Does it mean that I don't deserve to have the things I've worked for? Fishing in other people's ponds, so the 4 fish I catch don't belong to me? Maybe it means I need to listen to my friends, even if I think they're leading me astray. The number 4 was important. Catching the fish was really easy. Too easy. That's why I felt guilty. What do the fish represent???

I'm totally wired today for some reason. Can't concentrate on anything. Jittery, can't sit still, my leg is bouncing as we speak. Here are some possible reasons: 1) The election, and the late hour I retired to my bedchamber, 2) Claritin, but it's supposed to have no side effects, 3) I was out of synthroid so I ended up taking my old (higher) dosage, but that hormone takes days to even out, so I can't imagine that's it. TOTALLY WIRED, PEOPLE.

Oh, maybe it's the weather. We may get storms this evening.

Did you guys hear Michael Crichton died? CNN reports that he died Tuesday from cancer at age 66. Wow. I didn't even know he was sick! I wonder if they kept it a secret. CNN did say that it was a "private" battle.

Wow.

I don't know how many of you follow the blog of the Editorial Ass, Moonrat, but y'all might wanna pop on over to her 2nd anniversary surprise party. You can win prizes, people.

Moonrat has a great perspective on the writing industry, plus she's a lovely person. Think Miss Snark, only take away the gin and add sunshine. Or, rather, Moon-shine. But then we're back in the liquor cabinet again. I don't know how much she drinks, and I guess that's really none of my business, anyway, since it's unlikely we'll ever be in the same bar together. I don't think she edits fantasy novels.

Well, crap, this is going downhill fast. Just go over there and say hi, will ya?

...but it's getting exciting. Eek!

Oh, and Ryan Gosling is still hot.

First, some random notes:

• Happy voting day, everybody. May your candidate win, whichever he is, because I truly do not give a shit. I'll start caring again when I see what a terrible job the next president does. This is how I operate every election.


• Typing this on the treadmill. Unfortunately, it's not electric, so getting the pushing angle right without hanging onto the bars is a little difficult. Every once in a while it just....stops. You can imagine the hilarity which ensues.


• Oprah had an explicit discussion about sex yesterday, and girl, you KNOW I want to dish about that! But I won't.


• Finally saw the movie "The Notebook" last night. Rachel McAdams was so pretty, my eyes hurt. Ryan Gosling was so virile, my loins hurt. And that ending? My eyes hurt again from rolling them so much. Geez.

Now. Nanowrimo. Not even bothering to link to it. I devoted Nov. 1 to thinking about what I might write, and then I wrote a few lines, and then I decided not to bother. I thought if an idea hit me during my writing wanderings I'd continue, but that did not materialize.

It was quite a low priority anyway, because I'm still working on the NaNoWriMo book from 2007. I've been calling it my WIP, because I wasn't working on anything else, but I must admit I went weeks at a time without cracking it open. Partly because of the personal problems plaguing me the past few months, but also because it was an utter mess, and I seriously didn't know what to do with it.

NaNoWriMo gave me the incentive I needed to finish the WIP. I finished it, all right. Finished it right into the ground. But I have mixed feelings about it, because even though it turned out to be a mess and shook my confidence, now that I'm in the middle of serious edits I see that without that ovaries-to-the-wall, scary-ass month of writing, I wouldn't have made some of these creative leaps that the story needed.

I've been keeping a brave face. If I didn't love this story so much, I'd have totally put it away. But it's a great book! I swear! I usually don't toot my own horn, but this one is going to be great. IF I can pull it off.

And I only fell off the treadmill once during this post.

Your Theme Song is Beautiful Day by U2

"Sky falls, you feel like It's a beautiful day Don't let it get away" You see the beauty in life, especially in ordinary everyday moments. And if you're feeling down, even that seems a little beautiful too.

It looks like I might be back. If anyone still cares! And I know I said I wasn't coming back until something broke in my writing career, but don't get all excited. The progress was internal, not external. Got my mojo back, that's all. Had one of those "I can do this!" realizations (and more importantly, an "I WANT to do this" realization) and jumped back on this slow, lumbering train we call writing with all you other hobos.

I can't guarantee the frequency of posts on this blog, because I'm now dividing my posts in two. My other blog, most of you already know, is Poison Scents, and I'll try to keep all my grumbling about fragrances over there, though I'm sure some will spill over from time to time.

And here's a shout-out to all the NaNoWriMo participants, a group whom I will may join before the end of day one.

Anyhoo, good to see you again.