You Need A Cat!
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
Caught Midnight hanging out on the couch, enjoying the afternoon. She does NOT like having her picture taken.
But hey, now you have a cat for today.
Tags: Pictures Cats
Filed under: Pictures Cats
3/9/2010 4:19:54 PM
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Sign of Spring
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Julie Barrett
It's nice to know the snow didn't kill the buds...
Tags: Pictures
Filed under: Pictures
3/9/2010 4:03:24 PM
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Monday Mumblings, Tuesday-Style
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
Well. I didn't mean to be gone for the better part of a week, but such is life. Or lack thereof, in my case.
No, I lie. I had a life over the weekend. Paul and I went out with some friends to watch Alice in Wonderland. The operative word, of course, is "out." As in "away from the computer."
The WIP is cracking along. I should start shaming myself by offering up a daily word count. Nothint on it so far today other than some scribbled notes, but I did pop out about 500 words on the New Super Sekkrit Project. No, I can't tell you lest someone breaks my fingers in retaliation. The only thing I can say is that this may be going on for some time, and it looks like it will be a fun project. I can do with fun.
Somewhat related to a recent post regarding civility and politics, C. E. Petit weighs in one aspect of free speech. (See his fourth bullet point.) One quote: "...misuse of free speech rights cannot be allowed to lead to their
forfeiture, else "misuse" enlarges to swallow the rights themselves." Yes, I know: This is a different situation, but the outcome is the same. The shouters are ruining it for the rest of us.
Alrighty. I have some real work to get done today. Not looking forward to it, but it has to be done.
Tags: Life
Filed under: Life
3/9/2010 2:34:33 PM
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How to Get Rich in Self-Publishing ... Or Not
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
J. A. Konrath has a word of caution for folks hoping to make the kind of money he's hauling via Kindle: It doesn't work for everyone.
Konrath is making very good money off of his backlist, which he has formatted for the Kindle and offered for sale on Amazon. Here's his money graf:
I'm not out to crush anyone's dreams here. But writing a good book is
hard to do, and not everyone can do it. There's a learning curve. We're
all eager to get read. We all want to get published. But before you let
the hard-to-please masses read your work, you really have to make sure
it's good enough. Readers don't care about you, or your dreams, or how
hard you worked on a book. They want to be entertained. Period. If they
buy your book and don't like it, they'll let you and others know.
In other words, if you put it out there, the readers won't necessarily come. He makes a very good case for the gatekeeper system as it exists now.
(Via Lee Goldberg.)
Tags: Publishing Writing
Filed under: Publishing Writing
3/9/2010 2:26:15 PM
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Fastening the Election Season Seat Belts
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Julie Barrett
Now we're through the second of what looks to be FIVE elections the first half of this year.
Five. Freaking five. Can't these entities get their acts together?
First, it was a special election for a vacant city council seat. One of the council members left (as required by city charter) to run for Texas House District 66. (As ugly as that race has turned, I'm starting to wonder if there's a third 6 hiding somewhere.) Three candidates filed for that seat and no one got 50% of the vote. That leaves a runoff on March 27. Early voting starts next Thursday.
The aforementioned District 666 race ended in a runoff between two candidates. I think there are a couple of other primary races that went to runoff. That election is April 15 with early voting kicking off on April 5.
But wait, there's more! We have three seats open on the school board. That election is scheduled for May 8 with early voting starting April 26. Hope we don't have a runoff on one of those seats.
This means a spring filled with robocalls and nastiness on blog comment threads. The fur continues to fly over at the Plano DMN blog. Those people look like a bunch of little kids screaming at each other on the playground. Two freaking months of this stuff. As if the last month hasn't been nasty enough.
The big news? The Tea Party candidates, for the most part, got nowhere.
Tags: Politics
Filed under: Politics
3/3/2010 9:05:47 AM
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Political Ephemera From 1984 - the Year, Not the Book
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
This is about politics, but not political in the sense that it's not espousing a position. It will, however, prove to you that I'm as old as dirt.
(Well, perhaps not, though I certainly feel that way after two days of DIY home projects.)
I covered the Republican National Convention in 1984. That's not a typo. Somewhere I still have my press pass. I should dig it up sometime.
This is something I picked up from a street vendor, on the supposition that someday I'd look at it as a relic of the period. I ran across it today:
Yep, that was in reference to Walter F. "Fritz" Mondale, the Democratic presidential nominee of that year. And also in reference to the blockbuster movie of the year, Ghostbusters.
Someone wasn't afraid of no copyright police.
Edit: I found the pass.
This didn't get me on the floor during the big events, but I did get to see a lot of the convention. A couple of things stand out in my mind. One is standing almost close enough to (then) V.P. George Bush that I could touch him. It was in a press conference. The other is that I came upon the very end of the flag burning demonstration. The person burning the flag was arrested, and that case eventually went to the Supreme Court.
There are a few other bits I remember mainly as curiosities. The security was intense, and we had to enter through metal detectors. Days before the convention I'd slipped and jammed my wrist. The initial X-Ray had showed a possible fracture, so while I was waiting to get an appointment at the orthopedist I had to have my right wrist immobilized in a metal brace. Oh, boy, did that make for a fun time! I got to the orthopedist before the convention was over, and I remember the security guard had remembered me and was glad he didn't have to pull me aside for wanding. There was no break, but I spent most of the RNC filing text to the radio station via my TRS-80 Model 100. I couldn't write. I was able to operate my cassette recorder, which meant I could file voice reports. Part of my job entailed filing text reports via e-mail on StarText. There's another blast from the past.
Another curiosity was an article that was passed around the press room one day. I swear I've saved it, and one day I'll run across it. The gist was that reporters are liberal because they (wait for it...) went to Liberal Arts school! Yes, that had us rolling in the aisles.
One other security-related thing I remember was the Secret Service guys. They were actually pretty cool, taking the gentle ribbing from reporters about their earpieces with good humor.
Alrighty. I think that about does it for the night. I'm done in.
Filed under: Politics
3/2/2010 7:46:07 PM
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Monday Mumblings
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
Oy.
I think that about sums up today.
Chris and I took off for coffee in the truck, then off to Walmart for a bookcase their website assured us was in stock. We got there and discovered they were out of the color I wanted. The associate who came by to help said that someone had been in that morning and had cleaned them out of all of the bookcases in that color - all ten.Well, I didn't want black. I'd planned to get a pair for the bedroom and thought it would be nice if they kinda sorta looked like they might have been selected with the existing furniture in mind.
Oh, who am I kidding? They're cheap bookcases. But the furniture is brown and I didn't want black.
The associate checked her computer and told us the store a few miles west had four in stock. Great. We trundled into the truck and took off west. No bookcases. We went up and down the aisles and finally someone stopped to ask if the could help us. "We don't carry THOSE here." Well, we had been told you had some in stock. "We don't carry THOSE." I'm sorry. Obviously it was my fault for believing the sales associate who looked up the items on her computer, and my fault for driving to the cheap department store on the rich side of town. Obviously, they don't carry bookcases that sell for less than $250. They hold fewer books, but they're classier.
I just want a serviceable bookcase. I don't need designer furniture. Oh, when I'm rich (yeah, right) I want to rip out half the furniture and redo two walls in the bedroom completely in IKEA. But for now I just need a place to put some books and store some stuff.
We stopped at Target, and before we went in we checked the Walmart site on our cell phones. The site acted like they hadn't even heard of the store to the east of where we live. So there. We went into Target and found the bookcases in a brown color they called "espresso." A sign in front of a shelf f boxes of bookcases informed us that they were out of bookcases, but perhaps we'd like to pay $5 more for a computer desk? Uh, no. So what were those boxes, an optical illusion?
We grabbed a couple of boxes and price checked them before we left the department. Yep, those were the items on sale. Fine. I was tired of driving all over town on a wild goose chase. These were a few bucks more, but I'd spent far more than that in time and gas driving all over town.
Chris and I managed to get one bookcase put together, and it was like assembling a car from a pile of parts. One of the shelves ended up upside-down, and some of the holes will drilled offset from where they should have been. It's up, and in the room, and full o' books.
We tackle the other shelf tomorrow.
As for now, I'm completely wiped, and I know Chris is, too.
I'm going to try to finish this job tomorrow. Don't count on pictures.
It's only 7:30 and I'm done for the night. I have a new book to read, and I'm off. More about what I'm reading tomorrow.
Tags: Life
Filed under: Life Monday Mumblings
3/1/2010 7:20:20 PM
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Friday!
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
It's the end of the week. And there was MUCH rejoicing.
Actually, today was a busy day, and I'm still waiting for the inevitable crash. I may even write some more.
I lazed around ab bit this morning, but then took off to vote early for Tuesday's primary election, ran down to Buckingham for a bottle or two, back for groceries, home for laundry, housework, research, and some writing.
I still have some energy, but I probably ought not to push myself. I'd like to think I've turned a bit of a corner with all my "certain age" issues. Yes, I whine. The truth, though, is that things could be far worse, and I know it.
And speaking of looking on the bright side of life, an event I ever so wish would come to a cinema near me:
Okay, I'll take the DVD. Please?
So yes, writing. I made some decent progress on the WIP backstory today. I'm getting very close to wrapping that part up, I think. I'm trying to flesh this character out so I can get busy with writing the actual story and less of the "get on with it!" stuff in my draft. I'm still not convinced this will be something I can sell, but I've had a grand time finding this character's voice and fleshing out her past. In that respect it's not wasted work.
Also had some interesting conversations on Twitter today. I've met (virtually, anyway) some very fun, smart folks. Some apparently live in the area. It might be nice to meat up for real, but I'm afraid I'd disappoint.
I think I'll go finish my train of thought in my WIP, then go read.
What am I reading? Good question. I don't talk enough about what I'm
reading, and I should. Sometimes I'm reading things related to my writing, and others I'm reading stuff just for fun. Right now I'm reading Conan Doyle's The Firm of Girdlestone. Next, I plan to tackle some of the Nebula Award nominees I haven't read. The Nebulas you say? Yes, the list of nominees is out, and I'll get to vote this year.
Enjoy your weekend, and thanks for putting up with me this week.
Tags: Life Writing What I'm Reading
Filed under: Life Writing What I'm Reading
2/26/2010 8:17:35 PM
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You Know What We Need? A Cat!
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
Abby is enjoying the sunshine today. Enjoy it while you can, kitty. More rain is on the way.
Tags: Pictures Cats
Filed under: Pictures Cats
2/25/2010 12:58:51 PM
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Civility, Trolls, and Politics - Oh, My!
Fresh (almost) daily from
Julie Barrett
Both of my Twitter followers know I've been musing over this topic for
a few days. I think it all gelled last night when I sat down to watch
Craig Ferguson's one-on-one interview with the ever-charming and always
erudite Stephen Fry.
Mr. Fry is an interesting study in contrasts. He is, as he noted,
practically "made of tweed," and yet he embraces new technology with a
cheerful optimism. His musings on trolling and incivility online were
cut short by the dreaded commercial break, but he did seem to note that
it's a small price to pay for the openness, the freedom to express
one's opinion unfettered.
I write as one who has been accused many times over the years of being
the "civility police" and of using "censorship" to moderate bulletin
board discussions. (Hint: It's not censorship to enforce the terms of
service one agrees to when they sign up to post.)
One thing that frustrates me to know end (I'll admit it) is how a rumor
grabs hold and refuses to let go even when it has been refuted. It's
human nature, I suppose. We believe what we want to believe, and we'll
defend out beliefs until the very end.
It seems that politics has become the battleground on the Internet.
Loyal voters are now taking care of the "dirty work" of attacking
political opponents. All it seems a politician has to do is toss a
tidbit out on their web site and the faithful take it from there,
spreading the word to chat rooms, Facebook, newspaper blogs, anywhere
they might be allowed to present their opinion. I'm not accusing any
politician of wrongdoing, but what happens if they discover they were
mistaken in the tidbit they tossed out or if their supporters
completely misunderstood? (Again, people believe what they want to
believe.)
The local political kerfuffle that has me somewhat flummoxed at present is the
Republican politician who - gasp! - voted in the Democratic primary in
2008. Republican loyalists seem to have conveniently forgotten that a
number of their party members crossed lines to vote for Hillary Clinton
in what was dubbed "Operation Chaos." In fact, it was downright
fashionable to do so and seen as support for John McCain. That seeming
contradiction makes sense when you realize that Texas was one of the
last states to hold a primary. The Republican nomination was locked up
for McCain, but Clinton and Obama were still waging a close race for
the Democratic nomination. Republicans figured (and I don't think
they'd have been wrong) that Clinton would be an easier candidate for
McCain to defeat in the election, so there was a movement afoot to get
Republicans to cross party lines and vote. We're a caucus state, so a
number of Republicans showed up to sign the sheet in support of
Clinton.
Two years ago, this was considered fair politics. Now it's enough to
vilify a candidate. Of course, the story that gets spread is that the
candidate in question voted for a yellow dog Democrat, and
conveniently sidesteps the fact that he did it for Republican ends.
Politics just gets curiouser and curiouser.
And what does this have to with civility? A discussion thread including
that topic on a local newspaper blog devolved into unacceptable
language. Call me the Civility Police, but when someone calls the
female candidate a "female dog" (their words) and uses the word "vomit"
in the same sentence, it is a post clearly meant to provoke a negative
response rather than contribute to the conversation. When someone took
offense at my taking offense, I pointed out that I'd be just as
offended if someone has used "illegitimate male child" to describe a
male candidate.
Politics gets people passionate, and that's a good thing. Our country
was founded on that very passion. However, when rational discourse
sinks to unsubstantiated "he said, she said" arguments and we accept
vulgar speech in place of substance, we are chipping away at those very
foundations of free speech.
Why? Because the only speech left will be the shouters, those who monger fear and hate in place of reason.
I challenge you - Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative,
independent, moderate - to stand up for rational, reasoned discourse.
Let's show the world that it's possible to disagree without virtually
beating each other up.
Here's our slogan: "Strike a blow for civility!"
What good is civility if not tempted with a gentle sense of humor, eh?
Tags: LifePolitics
Filed under: Life Politics
2/25/2010 11:53:21 AM
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