Ask Me If I Care...

about Halloween. Or any other lame co-opted Hallmark holiday. No, I don't want to see tarted-up French maid outfits on hyper-sexualized 12 year olds or any other plastic-y costume from Wal or K or whatever Mart. Sorry, I just don't. Whatever happened to imagination and home-made costumes? Do you think this post has too many hyphens?

7 Days Before the Madness Ensues!

I am talking about NaNoWriMo, of course, the National Novel Writing Month project that I am about to begin. I still have no idea what I am going to write about. No plot, no characters-- but wait, there is one character, an acrobat-- no more of a trapeze artist that keeps flitting about in my head. Perhaps she has a story that needs to be told?

That Time Again

Well, now that I am working what amounts to three jobs, what do you think has been creeping around the edges of my psyche? Yes, grad school! Specifically whether I should or shouldn't. I mean, I have an extra 25 hours to spare, don't I? And you, dear reader, have about 30k just hanging about unneeded and unused, right?

I have a feeling that this is one of those things that will just keep niggling at me until I actually do it so I have sent away for a second round of information (in a fit of disgust, I threw the previous batch away) and will assess the possibilities-- even though I know, pretty much, what school I'd want to attend-- not that I'd necessarily get in... Oh yeah, I am supposed to write a novel next month, too. Sure, I have plenty of time :)

Global Pandemic, anyone?

Quick Guide: Bird flu

Scientists fear a global epidemic of deadly flu in humans will strike soon as this tends to happen three or four times a century.

Bird flu is the most likely trigger and one virus that causes it - H5N1 - is giving particular alarm.

Highly contagious and deadly in birds - and spread by them - this virus has also killed dozens of people since re-emerging in SE Asia in 2003.

Experts think it is only a matter of time before the virus changes and develops the ability to spread easily among humans.

This nifty little guide is courtesy of the BBC. Print it, cut it out, and carry it with you as you go about your day of denial and jocularity.

Failure

A fun little thing a friend sent me: Go to Google.com (don't use the Google toolbar), type in failure, and then hit the I'm feeling lucky button. It's the little things in life that make me smile :)

What did I just do?

In an effort to appease this faux-vacation boredom, or just out of sheer stupidity, I signed up to be a part of this year's NaNoWriMo. For those that don't know, I have just made a commitment to write a 50,000 word novel in one month! I can't even comprehend writing 175 pages of somewhat related material-- I mean, I am a poet known for spare and concise use of language (even though my 'blog seems to suggest otherwise) not a teller of long and sustained tales.

The process starts in November with October as my idea incubation month. Of course, I have no idea what to write about and I've never had aspirations to write a novel--I am so NOT a fiction writer! But hell, those are just little details standing in the way of my future creation. At least I know what I'll be doing with my evenings in November.

In any event, check out the link (above) and consider supporting the project in general or this writer in particular. In fact, if anyone clicks on my Paypal link and drops a few ducats in my account in the month of October, I will share the wealth 50-50 with NaNoWriMo.

I'll accept all plot or character suggestions, words of encouragement, or uplifting libations. I hope this is not the beginning of my final unraveling :)

Fundraiser in the Asphalt Wasteland

Today, the nonprofit I work for had a little fundraiser at a local swap meet. First of all, it was too much sun and heat for this fair-skinned redhead, but worse than that was the unending human parade of what seemed to be the dregs of humanity. Now, I am not being particularly vicious, but some of the people that frequent the swap meet are gene pool bottom feeders. My child-free by choice existence may seem like a contradiction when one considers that I work for a children's literacy organization, but as I like to say, "If they're gonna breed 'em, we're gonna read to 'em." Now if I feel the social responsibility in ensuring that future generations grow up to read, why don't their parents? To whit, one scrawny crack-addled looking dude with a t-shirt that proclaimed "Friggin' Idiot" had at least 4 sprogs in tow and one on the way. We were practically giving away new children's books (donation only) and these people just walk by and scoff as the crack-boy says, "We don't support literacy, he he" with more than a shade of Beavis and Butthead in his voice. Now, he thought that was funny, but I saw his kids as a sad statistic.

Alas, I don't think I can go on about the obese, crappily-tattooed men walking around without shirts or the women, also obese with lame tattoos, eating scary fried concoctions and what I think were polish sausages. Of course they all had cell phones attached to their heads. Sheesh, so much for tolerance from my side of the fence.