Things Afoot

For years after seeing Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, my friends would utter the line, "Strange things are afoot at the Circle K..." whenever odd events popped up in groups. Well, today's not so much filled with odd events, per se, but it's definitely a day in which there are Things Afoot. Things Bill and Ted would deem, "Most Excellent!"



Okay, that was a hokey intro. But you know what I mean. It is a HAPPY day!

First: Survivor starts up again tonight! (Collective YAY!) I'm participating in Fantasy Survivor (you can sign up on the CBS site, right here, if you're interested.) However, I will warn you that I plan to win.

Second: I've raved about Alyson Noël's books since I read her first one, FAKING 19. This week, her newest, EVERMORE, is on the New York Times List. If you haven't read her stuff yet, you must must must grab this book. And, frankly, everything else Alyson has written. (Collective YAY for Alyson!)

Third: Yesterday I was perusing the aisles at my local Barnes & Noble and, lo and behold, there's also gorgeous display for my good friend Cynthia Leitich Smith's newest release, ETERNAL. ETERNAL takes place in the same wacky, paranormal version of Austin, TX, as Cynthia's last novel, TANTALIZE. I wasn't expecting to see ETERNAL for another week or thereabouts, so it was truly a happy find. (Collective YAY for Cynthia!)

Go. Read. Watch. Enjoy!

Off the DL

Bet you didn't think there was a disabled list in the baseball off-season. Well, you are WRONG. Not only could I not play baseball for the last few weeks (not that I was planning to, what with the snow and ice), I couldn't TYPE. For a writer and computer addict, this is a big deal. No responding to e-mail. No blogging. No working on my current manuscript. No googling phrases like "Kylie Minogue fashion don't."



Or searching for videos like "Kathy Griffin New Year's Eve hecklers." (Caution: Some of you may find content in this video objectionable. I think Kathy's hysterical, but she is NOT kid-friendly.)



So how did I end up on the typing DL, you wonder? Long story short: My big Christmas gift this year was a new set of kitchen knives.

Long story long: I've been using the same hand-me-downs since I moved into my first apartment during college, so after this Thanksgiving (and another round of heavy-duty cooking with dull, unsightly knives), I decided it was high time I acquired a grown-up set. I spent forever online researching, then went into the kitchen store to try out a few. I settled on a nifty set from Wüsthof, since they felt good in my hand, and talked my husband into letting me open them before Christmas so I'd have them for Christmas entertaining.

The kicker? Those suckers are SHARP.

I opened the box and started washing them one by one, all jazzed to cut a tomato, a green pepper, whatever. Just as I was daydreaming about speed-chopping celery, I slipped. Steak knife + new edge + right index finger = trip to the ER and stitches. Then I had to have my fingers taped together so I wouldn't bend the right index finger. You don't realize how much you use your hands until you whack them with sharp objects.

On the bright side, I did get to watch a lot of TV. Loved the Boston Legal series finale, though I can't see Justice Scalia marrying anyone, let alone Denny and Alan, during his fishing vacation in Canada (leaving aside the fact that no one had a marriage license.) Maybe this will be addressed if, say, NBC, CBS, or even HBO pick up the series? One can only hope.

Also loved the Survivor finale. Very happy Bob Crowley won, though I thought Sugar played a great strategic game (I wish she'd gotten the $100,000 fan fave money.)

But now the stitches are out, so I'm off the typing DL. If anyone has tips on scar prevention (other than the usual advice to keep the wound covered and use sunscreen), let me know. I don't want to look like I was in a fight and lost!

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good: Tonight's episode of Survivor. I cannot WAIT. Last week's ouster of Randy was the most hysterical tribal council of all time. (Crystal is not my fave, but I was rolling when she intentionally made her "confessional" comments so loud that everyone at tribal council and on the jury could hear.)

I'm hoping that Sugar, Matty, Bob, or Kenny win it all. Susie wouldn't be so bad. Crystal would garner an eyeroll and heavy sighs. A Corinne victory would constitute a crime against humanity.

The Bad: Only one more episode left of my beloved Boston Legal. Last week's episode was laugh-aloud funny, so if you've ever seen this show and enjoyed it, do NOT miss the finale next week. Carl Sack and Shirley Schmidt are getting married! Denny and Alan are going to the Supreme Court! Jerry and Katie may actually go on a date! What more could you want? (Aside from another season, of course.)



If you want to catch up before the finale, check out online episodes right here.

The Ugly: Sadly, the "ugly" is my MacBook. I was online when the AOL froze. Couldn't force quit. Clicked over to iCal, which I also had open. No dice quitting iCal, either. So I shut down the MacBook and waited awhile. Went to turn it back on, and got a flashing gray file folder with a question mark on it. Not. A. Good. Sign. If you ever see this, know that it's quite possible your hard drive is dead:



I took my MacBook to the Apple store Genius Bar, where the guys tested it and concluded that yep, it was fried, and yes, it can happen to any computer with no warning whatsoever. They couldn't tell me how it happened (or, more importantly, how to prevent it from happening again.) However, since I wisely purchased AppleCare when I bought the MacBook, they're replacing the hard drive for free.

While having a hard drive crash is a major catastrophe for most writers, I am lucky enough to also have a desktop computer. Though I use it far less than the laptop, I had about 95% of my laptop info backed up to the desktop (and, being neurotic, I then have my desktop backed up to BOTH the Apple .mac server and an external hard drive every night.) Lesson of the week, kids: BACK UP YOUR WORK. Daily. Even when everything is working wonderfully. You never know when an ugly crash will happen.