Whaddaya MEAN You've Never Heard of Me?!?

I got tagged on FB to do the 10 Books that Impacted Me Profoundly meme. FB isn't really a good platform to compose lists, so I'm doing it here. I'm restricting this to fiction because non-fic would take FAR too long and could never be narrowed to ten.
In no particular order and presented without commentary:

1. To Take a Dare by Paul Zindel

2. The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Paula Danzinger

3. Carrie by Stephen King

4. Skeleton Crew and Night Shift by Stephen King
(these go together since they're both anthos, and I obsessed over both around the same time.)

5. My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn

6. American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis

7. Psycho by Robert Bloch

8. The Bachman Books by Richard Bachman
(these include Rage, The Long Walk, The Running Man, and Road Work)

9. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

10. The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

Honorable mention to Skipp & Spector's Book of the Dead anthos, all of Milk & Cheese, Coraline, and anything at all by Roald Dahl.

While I have your attention, I'm looking for someone who might want to write a monthly mag article about horror in television. It will be a nice addition to our regular lit, movie, and game reviews. It's not a paying gig, but I promise I'm swell to work with, and I bet some of you would love to add "magazine feature writer" to your resume. Right? :-)

Actually, people told me this after "A Stabbing for Sadie" first came out. I had no idea Salinger's books had terrible editing. Bahahahahahahaaa!

Which I stole from my intellectual hero, flemco

1. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
I'd actually like to stay here in Ann Arbor, but live much better than I do.

2. Your biggest weakness?
Let's just say self-indulgence, and leave it there.

3. What is your favourite tv show?
The Simpsons. Colbert Report.

4. Name one thing you think you will never be able to do?
Be a mom.

5. Name a book that had a profound impact on your life view?
My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. the first 20 years of Stephen King.

6. What was the last thing you bought?
Sweet and sour shrimp, and egg drop soup with wonton.

7. Where would you like to go on a first date?
Meh, don't care. It's all about the people.

8. Have you ever had to act in self defense?
Ha! Yes, plenty of times.

9. What is your least favorite number?
6.9, because it's not THAT goddamn funny.

10. Do you collect anything quirky?
Cartoon and horror memorabilia, movies, various and sundry fandom items
One might argue that everything I collect is quirky.

11. Do you have any family heirlooms?
If a Grandpa's Basement bar sign counts, then yes. Yes, I do.

If you have not already done so, do take a look at the Ten fictional characters YOU want on your offensive zombie team!!

Okay, so I'm not great with the images. I'm a writer, not a graphic designer. Only some kind of freaky supergenius would be good at both things. That reminds me, next up on my reading list is a book about Bi-polar illness and the creative mind. It's written by the same chick who wrote "The Unquiet Mind."
I'm stoked.

So...plenty of stuff has been happening in the world. I'm at work, so you're not getting links, but all manner of crazy crap has been afoot. All those mysterious shark attacks in Egypt? Caused by sheep traders chumming the waters there regularly, then abruptly stopping. This, of course, makes for lots of hungry sharks expecting food and finding only tourists. Doesn't take Ron and Valerie Taylor to tell you that's gonna be trouble. Now, those poor whitetips are being killed, most recently by some drunken jackass doing a cannonball.

Disappearing Honeybees? This one has been going on only slightly less time than we've been hearing the omnipresent threat of killer bees coming soon to a schoolbus near you. Culprit? The EPA approved some pesticide that is harmful when ingested or touched. Not sure where the big mystery is, but guess what? Poison kills things. I no, rite? [sic}

DADT is dying a sputtering, Tim-Roth-in-Resevoir-Dogs-style death. You'd think people would be embarrassed to bray on and on that gays will make the military a terrible/unstable place. First of all, if you care so goddamn much about the military, how's about getting them proper equipment and medical care? And also, bigots said the same shit about the introduction of racial minorities AND women into the military. Guess what? We still have a military and their feats of bravery still manage to move me to tears on a regular basis. As much as I complain about my job, I'm pretty sure there won't be anyone shooting at me. Sheesh! All this gay-bashing nonsense truly amounts to God=good, gays=icky which is a matter of personal (and ridiculous) opinion, not a basis on which to pass laws. For fuck's sake, why are we even still talking about this?!?

Still have a bit of baking to do for the holidays. Everything will get shipped out tomorrow night or Weds morning via FedEx because we get a discount. H's birthday is today, and I'm giving him some cool gifts. Tomorrow I'm making him another mexican lasagne and marzipan cake. H's favorite cake in the whole world is my extra-rich marzipan butter cake.

1. Beer: Meh, no thanks.
2. McDonalds: Delicious, comes with toy.
3. Relationships: Mine are all pretty awesome.
4. Colour: Pink or Blue
5. Power Rangers: Ew.
6. Weed: I'd love some, thanks!
7. Steroids: Yep, for my sinuses
8. Cartoons: Simpsons, Looney Toons, Seth MacFarland
9. The President: I love you, Barack! Don't let the haters hate on you.
10. Tupperware: Yes, but no parties
11. Florida: The ground is covered with shells.
12. Santa: Gimme Gimme Gimme!
13. Halloween: It's the moooost wonderful tiiiime of the yeeeeeear!
14. Alice: in Chains: Meh
15. Grammar: I'm not immune to the odd mistake
16: Myspace: Not lately, no.
17. Clowns: Only if Gacy painted it.
18. Marriage: Mine? It rocks. I see a lot of shitty ones though.
19. Paris: She's a bimbo.
20. Thor: He's aight
21. Redheads: Renee and Jay
22: Blondes: Meh
23. Pass the: Pipe, Bogartor!
24. One night stands: Not lately, but fine back in the day.
25. Donald Trump: Braying jackass
26. Neverland: I'm not one for the growing up.
27. Pixie sticks: Like drinking sugar.
28. Vanilla ice cream: Paul Newman's Own
29. Public Busses: No, thanks/
30. High school musical: Ugh
31. Pajamas: Underpants and T-shirt
32. Woody: The porn award? Okay.
33. Wet Socks: Goddamit!
34. Zombie Movies: Rock my World
35. Love: H
36. River: Huron

It's the "Five Songs Meme" where you get a letter and post your five fave songs that start with that letter. Because it's 2010, YouTube should have all of those songs. locakitty gave me the letter L:

There are lots of versions of this song (originally by The Cure). This one is by Voltaire, whom I adore:


I liked this song a lot when it first came out. The little boy in it grew up to play Jackie Aprille Jr on The Sopranos:


When I was in college, I started my classic rock radio show with this song routinely:


Lonely Island is hilarious. If you don't think so, you are wrong. Sorry.


If you know anything about me at all, you'll know that Rob Zombie is my hero:

[Error: unknown template qotd]

Me, young: That chick from the new Hairspray, and Huge.
Me, old: Kathy Najimy

H: Laurence Fishburn, duh

Pentelope: a Liger

Joey JoJo Junior Shabadoo: a swath of destruction

Ryan: Harrison Ford

Mark (my brother): Adrien Brody

Mom: Piper Laurie

Fascinating, no?


Just scored an exercise bike for $100. It's being dropped off on Sunday. Didn't even occur to me to ask if it had a weight limit. As some of you know, lots of exercise equipment is not designed for fat people. Not just Wii fit, but other things too. That is smart, because everybody knows that NO fat people exercise--EVER. And if they didn't want to spend $2,000 on exercise equipment that will accommodate their fatness, they shouldn't have gotten fat in the first place. That said, I hope this works out for me, and is not too hurty to my back and legs. EDIT: This did NOT work out for me. Weight limit: 250 llbs. I'd been wanting to get one for awhile but have had far too many expenses lately. In general, marketing a book is expensive. Podcasting is turning out to be expensive too, which leads me to my next announcement:

Our podcast schedule for new episodes is changing. It will now be every other week, instead of every week. Even though our eps are pretty short, it takes a long time to edit and mix them properly. Couple that with my actors also having lives and jobs and families and such, this seems much more reasonable for me. Plus you know, I am also working on what will become the greatest zombie novel since Serpent and the Rainbow. Yeah.

[Error: unknown template qotd]

For the love of God, HELP ME!!
I've been held in a fortune cookie factory for over 30 years.
Your lucky number is 420


I'm not going to finish the JulNoWriMo.
There, I said it.
I've never lost a monthly WriMo before, so it's new to me.
I have decided though, that I'm going to write 50K, I'm just stretching it out to two months. That way, I'll stay motivated and writing but not stress myself out or flake on things that are important. Like today, I have to record the vocal for tomorrows podcast, and cook a big rigatoni for me and H.
Speaking of Take a Stab at This! I've had lots of traffic. Not much in the way of feedback, but a lot of people are looking at it. A couple hundred every day, so that is good news. Sent my lead actor a refurbished iPod which he should be getting today. Might make my life easier to send him the new Zoom H1 recorder my work will be carrying soon. Maybe I'll be able to afford it soon. I still have to buy some copies of my books to have on hand, get new glasses, and then it'll totally be time to work on my Halloween costume, then Christmas and every jackass I know has a birthday in either November or December--the jerks!

Our organic food delivery is coming tomorrow. We're getting spinach (Stop. Omlette Time!) and chard, two pounds of red grapes, and some other stuff. Not exactly sure who is growing grapes in Michigan, though I guess there are wineries here. St Julian's has been around forever. I used to love their sparkling juices as a kid. I ordered a bottle of dressing to go with the great lettuces, tomatoes, and cukes we are getting. I've never been so excited for a salad in my life!

Finished season one of Dexter. Even though I guessed who the bad guy was almost immediately, I thought it was a very well written show. Jennifer Carpenter annoys the hell out of me, but whatever. I'm stoked to get going on season two, and bummed that there's a season 4 spoiler on the cover of the CD set. Thanks, Showtime. You're still not HBO, so just get over yourself already. I do love how so many networks have figured out that people will watch shows if you bother to make them good--and that plenty of people really do know the difference between Art and Product.

[Error: unknown template qotd]

We Built This City (on Rock and Roll)

By Starship



I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to earn say, half a million dollars or more listening to it for an extended period. If I can do Customer Service professionally for X an hour, I can certainly tolerate godawful music for at least 24 hours.

Of course, once it was over I might actually have to murder Grace Slick.
I'm sure a lot of people would be bummed. NOT.

That meme where you ask people to ask you questions is going around again. Anyone who follows me on Facebook knows I can't get enough of the questions. groovesinorbit asked me the following:

1. How do feel about Voltaire now that you've seen him?

He is a fine performer. I enjoyed his show very much.

You know how when you love someone's work, you do this mental thing where you want to like them personally even know you don't actually know them? Yeah, well that is a recipe for huge let-down. Such was the case here. I'm a big fan of the work, but my Epic Squeee for Voltaire is rapidly waning. Just as well, as H was becoming progressively more annoyed with the whole thing.

2. Vampire Ball, would you go again? Do you think other events like this would be good to get your name out?

Well, the Vampire Ball was not really specific enough for me. My books are not about Vampires. The one vampire short story I wrote (specifically for absinthofheart) she did not like very much. Not enough undead sex, I imagine. ;-]
I'm having considerable difficulty getting my name out. I shouldn't be, as my name is very memorable. I really need to get to podcasting and giving more stuff away for free.
But yes, I do plan to go again provided I'll be able to see Voltaire.

3. If you're not in the mood for horror films, what films do you like to watch the most?

I tend to watch reruns of Sunday Night Fox cartoons and South Park. I also enjoy classics, and comedies that have good scripts. Zoolander, Anchorman, and anything by Tim Burton are my staples.

4. How goes the poem writing?

Slow. I'm having trouble escaping the feeling that poetry is for the overtly self-indulgent. I have rebooted the challenge and started again, hoping to finish around Feb 10th, just in time for ny new book to come out. Details are, of course, at wednes_writes

5. What first got you interested in serial killers?

When I was a kid, there was a guy called the Oakland County Child Killer. Not the most original name for a serial killer, but it scared the crap out of us 70's kids. My mom was FRANTIC about the guy, and when I volunteered to go door-to-door for three blocks to deliver the school newsletter, my mom insisted on following me in the car.
She later told me during one of her many psychotic episodes that my biological father was one of the suspects and that maybe I was just like him. Like many of her rantings, that stuck with me for a long time, and I used to worry that I would become a killer and there'd be nothing I could do about it. So far though, she is off target.

--end meme

Because I'm not doing the NaNoWriMo this year, I feel compelled to link you all to flemco's insightful observations on this annual event. He is a tad more vitriolic and passionate than I am about it. But the basic ideas cover most of what bugs me about the NaNo, and why I have bascially avoided the forums for forever. Here it is. And if you're grossly offended by it, please bring that to me, not to him. It's a pretty old post, but still relevant. Enjoy!

[Error: unknown template qotd]

I'll do ya a few better. I've had my computer almost exactly one year. These are my top 25 most played songs for the last year. It's a fascinating glimpse into my psyche. Seriously. This is on the laptop only as I no longer synch my iPod.

Acid Trip: Rob Zombie
Animals: Nickelback
The Bachelor and the Bride: The Decemberists
Bad Things: Jace Everett
Brickhouse 2003: Rob Zombie
Close But No Cigar : Weird Al Yankovic
Dark Globe: Syd Barrett
Fett's Vette: MC Chris
Final Scene: Sweeney Todd
Fuck Her Gently: Tenacious D
I will survive: Cake
Kidnap The Sandy Claws: Korn
A Little Priest: Sweeney Todd
Lotion: Greenskeepers
The Man Upstairs: Voltaire
Meet The Creeper: Rob Zombie
My Favorite Bears: Rowan And Hastings
Never There: Cake
Possum Kingdom: The Toadies
Tribute: Tenacious D
When You're Evil: Voltaire
White & Nerdy: Weird Al Yankovic
The Worst Pies In London: Sweeney Todd
Re: Your Brains: Jonathan Coulton
A Sorta Fairytale: Tori Amos

Okay, so that is my top-25 iTunes list, alphabetically. I took out two things because they were chapters of Harry Potter books and replaced them with the next two most often played songs.

There's a meme going around where you post the top 15 books (off the top of your head, no research) that have influenced you profoundly. Series' can count as one book, and non-fiction is a-okay.

My list, in no particular order:

1. Harry Potter series, duh.
2. Harriet Lerner's Dance of... series
3. My Ishmael by Daniel Quinn
4. On Writing by Stephen King
5. Psycho by Robert Bloch
6. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
7. Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein
8. Johnny Got his Gun by Dalton Trumbo
9. Serial Killer (method and madness...) by Peter Vronsky
10. America Psycho: Bret Easton Ellis
11. Once and Future Goddess by Elinor Gadon
12. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
13. My Uncle Oswald by Roald Dahl
14. anything by Christopher Moore
15. A Stabbing for Sadie by me (what can I say, it affected me profoundly)

I'm not actually going to post about Mexican Swine Flu except to say Holy Shit! and I'm glad I live in the north. Well, I was already glad of that. ;-]

Somehow I'm the last to know that they added a made-up scene to the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince movie (spoilers under clicky)?!? Not sure how THAT news managed to elude me for all this time. For all the news I've been reading as of late, I seem to miss a few key events here and there. Frown.

Still trudging along with the rewriting of the ending of my serial killer. He is not cooperating at all right now. Not giving up, shall stay at it all night if I have to. I'm gonna at least finish this chapter. Then I will reward myself with a viewing of Michael Emerson on The Practice. I heart him. <3

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm an Extroverted Reinventing Self-Knower

We ordered pizza at work today from New York Pizza Depot. It was pretty tasty. Tonight I'm hanging out with K and N, which should be fun if they don't get me sick. It seems like someone is always under the weather at their house.

2008 Meme, yeah!!

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?

Published two novels and actually sold a few.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Nope, I was gonna pay better attention to my diet. Oops.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No, I don't think so.

( it gets even more interesting under the cut )

Woke up with a bloody nose this morning. Not sure how that might have happened. Also got a mysterious bruise on my arm a few days ago. Maybe I'm fighting battles against some unseen evil while I'm asleep. Not likely since I'm generally alone when I go to bed. Hmmmm...

My work is cutting back on everyone's hours even though it's December. I don't want to be a Negative Nancy, but I don't like that one bit. I'm trying to look for a new job, but there's just nothing out there. Nothing at all...
And if the auto companies don't get some kind of bailout, it's gonna get even worse for us regular people here in Michigan. I have to wonder what happened to the big Google building that was supposed to bring in all these jobs. I never saw it, even though I did see some small jobs advertised a few years ago. Fie!! Let's just hope Obama's plan for the economy comes to fruition soon.

As it is, we are not giving out very many holiday gifts this year. Families are getting fancy breads and cookies made by me. We're getting a cool gift for our favorite couple, plus my brother and H's sister. And we're giving some small gifts to each other. That's is though. I used to do granola, muffins, fudge, and cookies for everyone, but we just can't afford it this year. I still owe $90 to a doc I saw in January and don't want H to pay it because he's trying to save for a new computer, since he doesn't have an Intel Mac yet. Poor guy. Anyway, the money is really, really tight and I don't see any way out of it any time soon.

These are always so funny:


Tonight is Life on Mars which I should think will be taking a hiatus in January when LOST starts back up. Because I never watched the original, I am enjoying this redo very much. I especially enjoy Harvey Keitel and Michael Imperioli. I missed last week, but it's on tonight and I'm stoked to see what's up. They've made it pretty clear that he's in a coma, not really in 1973, but it's still a pretty cool show.

Chocolate News, and Sarah Silverman show remain profoundly unfunny.
If you watch either show, can you please tell me why?

In better news, my copy of Beadle the Bard should be arriving any day.

If you saw ME in a police car, what would you think I got arrested for?
(Bearing in mind that I live in Ann Arbor and would not get arrested for marijuana possession)

Answer me, then post to your own journal and see how many crimes you get accused of.
(You don't have to repost if you don't want to)

20,651 / 50,000 (41.3%)

I don't think I'm done writing for the day, I really need to get ahead so I don't fall behind the weekend before my birthday when I'll be terribly busy. The story is coming along reasonably well, though I'm not sure how horrifying it all is. It's definitely creepy and crazy.

[Poll #1296198]

Even though I'm trying not to pick up any new shows, I did give Life on Mars a try last night. It is based on a BBC show, so the concept is solid, and the cast (Lisa Bonet, Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli) is well put together. Other than that, I was not very impressed. It seems pretty clear that the lead guy is actually in a coma and has not really time traveled to 1973. I'm gonna give it a few weeks and see if it falls into it's groove.

I'm about to lose my "extra userpics" on LJ, and I can't decide which ones to keep. In fact, I'm not even sure how many I will get to keep, I got lot of free ones for being an upstanding contributor or whatever. How do I find that out? Anybody know? I'll look into it when I'm at work today. I have a feeling it's going to be a long, slow day.

Last October we had free shipping at work, so we were crazy busy. I missed half the month though, because I was busy getting married, having a honeymoon, and making a life with my beloved H. But our sales goals are the same as they would be if we had free shipping. Needless to say, no one is fussed about the very real fact that we will not make our sales goals this month.

My buddy Steve will be getting an LJ soon. Details to follow. He is trying to increase his online presence because he is writing a book. So we'll likely see him around soon.

( here's a Halloween meme )

It looks as if I will not be doing the NaNoWriMo this year, much as I might like to.
Well, I may surprise myself. I haven't gone through my idea file yet, I need to.
Any of YOU doing the NaNo?

EDIT: Okay seriously, stop sending paid time and userpic time, you anonymous wonderful people!!!

Went to the dentist for the first time in over ten years yesterday. Yeah, I know...the dentist said the same thing. So now I get to go through a pretty intensive cleaning and scraping process. They also said something about oral surgery of some kind. So I guess I have that to deal with.

My galley for The Cat's Apprentice is here, and I've been going over that. It's still not my best work, but it's a perfectly readable novel. I like the characters, and I like what they do. I'm just not sure about theme, and wish I had another couple months to work on it. Anyway, that comes out in September. Truthfully, I'm more excited about the horror anthology that comes out in October. It contains a few of my most favorite short horror stories: In the Closet, The Growlers, and Moonlight Stab, among others.

Also been working on a script for a 30 second TV spot for A Stabbing for Sadie which is going to run during Nightmare SINema and anywhere I can post it. I can't afford any network or cable time, but I can afford this, so I'm going for it. Mad thanks to uterdic who will be helping out. I'm pretty excited to have a TV spot for my book, I hope it does some good. Locally famous is a good precursor to actual fame.

That reminds me, anyone who wants a signed copy needs to preorder thier copy within the next 2 weeks. I haven't presold that many books, I want to be loaded down with them on my way to the post office. C'mon kids. You don't want to miss out on reading my book. Of course, you won't actually miss out if you don't preOrder. You'll be able to get the book for a good, long time after the official release. But if you want a SIGNED copy, you better order soon.

If you get near it, do try the bannana stuffed french toast at iHop. It'll blow your mind.


My Personality

Neuroticism	84
Extraversion	27
Openness to Experience	64
Agreeableness	14
Conscientiousness	6

You are not generally self conscious about yourself, however you experience panic, confusion, and helplessness when under pressure or stress. You lead a leisurely and relaxed life. You would prefer to sit back and smell the roses than indulge in high energy activities. You enjoy a certain amount of debate or intellectual thought, but sometimes get bored with too much. You are mostly a compassionate person, however you prefer to make objective judgments when possible, however you believe that a certain amount of deception in social relationships is necessary. You are guarded in new relationships and less willing to openly reveal the whole truth about yourself. You have a reasonable amount of will-power and are able to follow through on tasks that you feel you need to complete. You can be distracted however and have been known to procrastinate.

Take a Personality Test now or view the full Personality Report. The best Buying Pet Gifts.

I couldn't think of any good April Fools pranks to play on anyone, so I remained prankless. At least nobody got one over on me, so that's better than getting pranked.

Spent today calling back all the people who've been trying to reach me, including a friend from Group, my new psyche doc, and the glasses place: DOC. Then I started sending out queries for interviews to some various online markets. I've approached 8 or 9 online magazines, so hopefully 4 or 5 of them will be interested in doing a review or an interview with me. I still have to assemble hard copies of my press packet and send those out to a few local places.

Here's that TV meme:

1. Bold the shows you've watched every episode of
2. Italic the shows you've seen at least one episode of
3. Post your answers

50. Quantum Leap
49. Prison Break
48. Veronica Mars
47. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
46. Sex & The City

45. Farscape
44. Cracker
43. Star Trek
42. Only Fools and Horses
41. Band of Brothers

40. Life on Mars
39. Monty Python's Flying Circus
38. Curb Your Enthusiasm
37. Star Trek: The Next Generation
36. Father Ted

35. Alias
34. Frasier
33. CSI: Las Vegas
32. Babylon 5
31. Deadwood

30. Dexter
29. ER
28. Fawlty Towers
27. Six Feet Under
26. Red Dwarf

25. Futurama
24. Twin Peaks
23. The Office UK
22. The Shield
21. Angel

20. Blackadder
19. Scrubs
18. Arrested Development
17. South Park
16. Doctor Who (new version)

15. Heroes
14. Firefly
13. Battlestar Galactica (new version)
12. Family Guy
11. Seinfeld

10. Spaced
09. The X-Files
08. The Wire
07. Friends
06. 24

05. Lost
04. The West Wing
03. The Sopranos
02. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
01. The Simpsons

Here's ten reasons why sudrin Rocks:

1. He was in my high school math class, arguably the most ineffectual class I've ever had. I learned far more about note passing than anything math related. And sudrin was there.

2. Used to have nickname "Mobius" after the perplexing strip of the same name.

3. Has really pretty eyes.

4. Has watched zombie movies with me while listening to my commentary. Yay zombies!!

5. Feels passionately about really nerdy things, like Star Wars.

6. Looked me up after ten years away.

7. Had one of my favorite awkward high school moments with sudrin.

8. Took me to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

9. Has read my novel.

10. His biting cynicism.

Tomorrow I find out whether or not I've lost all of my mp3 music...about 11 gigs worth. I'm trying to keep hope alive but it's not looking very good. I have all my music saved n a succession of discs, but if you can believe this, I can't find them. They are all together in a case somewhere in this apartment. I think there's some kind of vortex in my apartment that eats discs. I can't find my Final Draft disc, which I totally need to work on, or even read, my killer zombie screenplay (that I will one day finish, for serious).

Does anybody out there have a Final Draft disc they can burn for me?!?

I got a haircut Friday night after work. I'm having a photo taken for my book cover (the back) so I need to have snappy hair. It'll be a black and white photo, taken my the same talented chap that photog'd at my wedding. My book is all edited. I'm just waiting for one more person to go over it. The editor took out a zillion words like "and" and "but" and "kind of" and "pretty" that I tend to use ad nauseum and then never edit out. The editor did a smashing job, so far as I can tell.

I was going to go to bed, but Harry Potter came on at midnight and I'm slowly getting sucked in.
Stupid ABC family or whatever they're called now...

Some lady in Ann Arbor got killed by walking in front of a train. I don't want to jinx myself or anything, but it seems like that would be sort of difficult to do...just walk in front of a moving train. You'd have to be basically deaf for one thing. Am I missing something here? How does this happen.

Anyway, I changed my mind. I'm going to bed.

You fit in with: Humanism 20% spiritual. 80% reason-oriented.
	Your ideals mostly resemble that of a Humanist. Although you do not have a lot of faith, you are devoted to making this world better, in the short time that you have to live.
Take This Quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

REPOST with name of high school and graduating year!
I went to 2 different high schools, Hazel Park High and Royal Oak Kimball grad: 1988


1. Did you date someone from your school?
Not really. I didn't do much dating, preferring to go out in small groups.

2. Did you win anything in Senior's Who's Who?
No, by senior year I was working full time and didn't do much school stuff.

3. What kind of car did you drive?
None, thank you. The same kind I drive now.

4. It's Friday night...where r u?
Work, followed by drinking in a parking lot.

5. Were you a party animal?
I drank a LOT, but didn't go to parties much, always working.

6. Were you considered a flirt?
I don't know if I'd call it that. I was pretty desperate for male attention, I needed the validation.

7. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
I played the flute and was in drama club.

8. Were you a nerd?
Yes, but not as nerdy as my cohorts.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled?
No, but I had plenty of detention for skipping class.

10. Do u remember your school fight song?
Not really. Something about Kimball Knights fight fight!

11. Who were your favorite teachers?
Mr Barlow at HPH, Mr Botens at Kimball. Both of them thought I was a great writer who showed promise.

12. Where did you sit during lunch?
In Finster's car in the parking lot, or at some fast food dive.

13.What was your school's full name?
See above, and Clarence M Kimball High School. I have no idea who Clarence M Kimball is.

14. School mascot?
I forget Hazel Parks mascot, but it was the Kimball Knights

15. Homecoming court?
Hahahahahahaa!

16. If you could go back and do it again, would you?
Maybe, I'd have done it much differently

17. Where did you go senior skip day?
My Mom made me a doctors appointment. Spiteful Bitch.

18.Were you in any clubs?
Just Drama club and debate team.

19. Have you gained some weight since then?
Honestly? I've gained about 5-10 pounds a year until 2005, when I finally started losing.

20. Who was your Senior prom date.
kissdbyagnome but we didn't actually go to the prom.
The prom is for suckers and sheep.

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion?
I doubt it, it was years ago. My 20 year is next year and I may go to that.

22. Who was your home room teacher?
Some guy I didn't have for any classes

23.Who will repost this?
Who knows

24. Did you play any sports?
Nope. Not unless competetive drinking counts.

25. Do you still talk to people from high school?
Yes in fact, kissdbyagnome and sudrin are still good friends of mine, even though we lost touch for a while. I wish I could talk to Finster, but he went crazy. Too bad too, he was a good one for a while there.

While I'm here, here's the Friday Five:

Many people make a big deal about not being "labeled." And yet, we all are, constantly.

1. Pick one label that you think does describe you (race, religion, hobby, etc.).
I like being called a Witch, you know, the magickal kind.

2. Pick one label that is often put on you, that you really think is inaccurate.
People often tell me how easy going I am, and how I'm so comfortable with myself. This is usually a facade. I'm very "fake it till you make it" in that way.

3. Pick one label you wish could be put on you.
The world's greatest horror novelist since Stephen King.

4. What is one kind of label that you think is universally wrong to use (race, gender, height)?
Labeling people by race can be lazy and stupid, and very vague.

5. Labels, used intelligently, can be a convenient rhetorical shorthand for identifying how a given person will fit into (or react to) a given situation. Labels, used incorrectly, can be an excuse for dismissing the differences still inherent in the people to whom the label is applied. Discuss.
Actually, that pretty much sums it up. I don't mind labels if they are fair and accurate, but they often denegrate into stereotypes, and those are no good for anything.

To counteract the negativity of my last post, here's five things I'm stoked about currently:

1. The Mist which is going to rule. Such a great story, and I loves me some Stephen King, usually. ;-]

2. Having a pretty solid beginning to my NaNo novel even if I have no idea how it will end.

3. Watching Superman with H. The real Superman I mean.

4. Reece's Puffs Cereal. Mmmmmm.

5. The New Rob Zombie Live CD. I know I already posted that, but it's good enough to warrant a second mention.

Dangit! I always get Caligula!

Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.