Now and then the universe has its ways of reminding us how good the little things in life are. Like hot running water, good friends, good friends who have fixit-guys who show up at a moment's notice - discover we don't in fact need a high-priced plummer (just someone smart enough to turn the funny little nobs the right way) and then not even charge us.

Sometimes when the universe sucks (like when you try to take a shower and discover there is only a sad little trickle of warm water) it also doesn't so much in other ways.

Thank you Sarah and Marek. For the little things.

Books: Grrrr. Chapter order. Tossing chapters. Inventing new ones. Just how am I going to make this work out?

I paid a bunch of bills today using some money I got as a bonus. Of course, now that the checks are sent I'm having mini panic attacks about how the money could have been spent better. It's one of those things I'll just try not to think about for a few months. It's not like I could have retired early on the sum, but I'm afraid I spent it all in a sensible manner (ok, I bought a few little fun things with a little bit of it). Now I'm having a hard time believing I was so practical. I mean really - it's the kind of thing I won't see a benefit from for months and months. No instant gratification.

Meaning - I didn't quit my dayjob.

Books: Last night I worked on something a little different. It's a comic book script. The genre intrigues me, and once again I find myself reading a lot of things and thinking "I could do better than this!" so now I'm putting my pen where my mouth is. It's likely something I'll post here one of these days (the shock! the horror! opening up my library section!) so I won't spoil the surprise by telling you what it's about.

I will say I've already started a body count. Why is everything I write so violent?

Big party this weekend. If you would like many bizarre particulars, you can check out Sarah's blog over at the Fiendish Plot. It includes several days of planning, obsessing, and an attempt at explaining the multi-layered theme.

The short version of the story is that I got all gothed up for the event. I don't get (or give myself) the opportunity to get really dressed up all that often, but when I do there's usually a day of shopping, some last minute frenzy at the sewing machine, and hopefully a pleasant result. I suppose I am pretty much guaranteed not to show up in the same dress as anybody else, but that's just a happy side effect of being unsatisfied by the choices other people offer me in stores.

I'll try to get some pictures up here once the official photographer gets them developed.

Must blog!

So what's going on in my life? Mostly work. The joys of being a manager. At least we were able to give raises this year. That was a nice twist at my dayjob.

Books: Mmmmm..... rewrites. See my last post where I said the first draft wasn't half bad? There's nothing more than a few of the original sentences left. I'm trying not to dwell on it.

Here's what I learned today. Hopefully it sticks.
(this applies to the modern American armed forces, by the way)

8 or 10 soldiers = squad
2 to 4 squads = platoon
3 to 5 platoons = company
4 to 6 company = battalion
3 to 5 battalions = brigade (3,000 - 5,000 soldiers)
3 brigades = division
2 to 5 divisions = corps
2 or more corps = army

Books: Ok, the first draft of this particular chapter isn't half bad. Sadly I've changed some of the backstory so I have to massage it a little.... or a lot. We'll see.

I seem to be having trouble consistently updating this thing on a daily basis. All I can say is that I'll keep making an effort. Thanks to those of you who keep reading. It's my adoring public that keeps me writing here. (That, and the threats of bodily harm from my friend Sarah.)

There also seems to be a plethora of posts about television. What can I say? I'm entertained by entertainment.

Major project for today: taking cat naps.

There's a thing in realm of conspiracy theory called "missing time" where people can't remember where they've been or what they've been doing for whatever amount of time. You know, one minute you're walking down the street, the next thing you know you're sitting on your couch eating potato chips. Where did that time in between go? (The usual explanation usually involves aliens.)

So here's my point. I just had the opposite occur. There I was sure in my clock-reading skills saying to myself, "Self, it's 11:30. Time to go to bed." But of course I didn't go to bed, I had Tivo to keep me company. One episode of The Daily Show later, I look at the clock again - and behold! It's 11:00!

So I found some of that missing time. Now what do I do with it?

Books: I'll be sorely disapointed if I never get paid for all this work. If I was writing on one of those good old fashioned typewriters my floor would be covered in crumpled up pieces of paper.

My latest addiction on BBC America is called "Bargain Hunt." They give two teams 200 pounds each and send them to a flea market with an expert to give them advice. A week later they take their finds to an auction. If they make a profit, the winning team gets to keep it. Bits of it are pretty slow. I fast forward a lot. But I like to watch the auction at the end to see how close they are to making money.

So far I've only seen about two teams make a profit. Most people lose 40 pounds or so. I think it would be great fun to spend $300 of somebody else's money on antiques.

Hmm. Have I blogged about this before? I'm having deja vu.

Books: Yeah, my second draft of this chapter still needs some work. Parts of it are good. Parts of it are not. Making an attempt to make a cardboard character a little more 3D - all in one conversation.

I got tangled up in researching Vermeer tonight. I enjoyed this page, particularly.Chronological Vermeer.