Julie Barrett is a freelance writer and photographer based in Plano, TX.

Monday Mumblings

Fresh when it gets here from Julie Barrett
Monday, July 16, 2007


Welcome to summer in Texas. It's 91F outside and 86F in the home office. I am so NOT looking forward to the next round of hot flashes!

So, do I work up to today's news or start with Friday? Oh, I'll start with Friday. As both of my readers will recall, I was scheduled to spend the day at RWA National. I did get to go, and I spent the day with P.N. Elrod, and the evening with her, Rachel Caine, and their agent, who was kind enough to shepherd us through several very cool parties. I learned quite a bit about that part of the industry. My feet still ache, but that's a small price to pay.

Best of all, I've renewed my enthusiasm for both novels in progress. In addition to those, I have a story for an anthology and an audio theatre script due soon, so there will be plenty to keep me out of trouble.

Spent another part of the weekend trying to decide whether or not I'm going to upgrade my cell phone. At this point I'm leaning against it. Carriers today make it very difficult for people to upgrade their phones while they court new customers with all sorts of perks. I've got my eye on a new PDA phone. If I were a new customer they'd offer me $250 in phone credits and rebates to jump ship. As a valued customer of six years or so I'm worth $75 to them. What is wrong with that picture? It's not just my carrier; they all pull those stunts.

Thus endeth the vintage whine for the day.

Of course, we went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix this weekend. I made it through most of the film before the allergy attack this time. That's good for me. Usually the attack starts in the first quarter hour of the film (or sometimes during the previews) and I'm stuck with watery eyes until the credits finish rolling. I enjoyed the film.

Spent last night plotting on the mystery story, which brings us to this morning when ...

I discovered a body had been found. In the street. A block and a fargin' half down the street! That's just a little close to home, thank you very much. No ID on the apparent gunshot victim yet, but of course we're all wondering if it's someone in the neighborhood, whether the body was dumped there, or what. Guess we'll find out soon enough.

And then the mail arrived - with a letter from the IRS. Just the thing I needed on a Monday. Actually, it was! Turns out I sent more estimated taxes than I reported on my return. I'll be getting the balance plus interest. It's not that much, but hey, that's the kind of contact I LIKE to have with the IRS!

And finally, a real-life Trojan Horse. Contains some NSFW language, some of which is repeated in captions. Good thing it wasn't a Trojan Rabbit.

Well, I've got bills to pay, laundry to finish, and groceries to buy, not to mention that I still need a little BIC time.

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Filed under: Life   Writing         

 

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