Who goes there? Please leave comments so (An Aries Knows)!
If you need a little something to get you happy before the weekend (a long weekend in the U.S.), please comment with a page number between 1 and 611, and another number between 1 and 25, and I’ll find out what the 14,000 Things To Be Happy About book has to offer you.
Happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the north!
In honor of Puterbaugh’s birthday, comment with a page number between 1 and 611, and another number between 1 and 25, and I’ll not only tell you what the book 14,000 Things To Be Happy About says, but I’ll randomly pick a second happiness item for you.
I personally would be happy if we could just get a little of the rain that seems to be deluging so many of my friends and contacts in the rest of the country and world. But don’t send it all at once, please. It’s hurricane season, and there can be too much of a good thing.
Y’all know I’m not one to spread misery. But I just received a special gift in the mail from Marika. Want to see why Tim burst out laughing when I opened the envelope?
It always surprises me when people who know me in ways other than the Internet are skeptical about the time I spend online or the relationships I’ve formed here. Let’s assess this… Without the Internet, there would be no Timothy James Beck novels, or the relationships with the editors who bought THE DEAL and THREE FORTUNES, not to mention my two Coventry books. I met my writing partners on the Internet, and theirs are three of the most vital friendships in my life. I wouldn’t know Steve C or Ron–or know that Ron is my cousin a few times removed. I wouldn’t know Rhonda or Lindsey or Sugar. Tim wouldn’t be living in Houston, he’d have no Rex, the dogs he’s fostered wouldn’t have received his unique care before going to loving forever homes. He wouldn’t know The Big H!
Y’all wouldn’t be reading this. I wouldn’t know you or interact with people from all across the U.S. and the world. The many writers who have inspired me and become my friends and acquaintances would be just names on book covers. There would be no FOOL FOR LOVE with all its funny/sad/quirky/amazing stories.
For me, it’s a no-brainer. The Internet, with all its hazards (we all read about the scams and disappointments weekly–and I’ve had a few unpleasant experiences, too), provides a powerful means of connection.
So when I was up late working and housekeeping on Saturday night and into the pre-dawn hours of Sunday morning, it was fun to follow, with thousands of people across the globe, the Tweets from Heather and Jon Armstrong (dooce.com and blurbomat.com) while she was in labor with their second daughter. I don’t know them, I just read their blogs and have for years, which makes them part of my daily life in that unique Internet way.
During the months of her pregnancy, Dooce provided a monthly shot of her expanding tummy. One of the last ones, a self-mocking portrayal of her very pregnant self with a beer tucked into her waistband, a cigarette hanging from her lips, a bag of powdered doughnuts ready to be stuffed into her overly made-up face under badly teased hair, became her most recent masthead. It was her response to the small percentage of people from among her million readers who criticize her life and mothering choices, and it still cracks me up whenever I go to her site.
It awed me that when she posted a photo of her newborn on Twitter, it received sixteen THOUSAND views in no time flat. Then I was dumbfounded by how many people didn’t understand that the first “name” the two proud parents provided–Lil Donette–was a joke based on her pregnancy photo. With the Internet, you take the crazy with the good.
Welcome to the world Marlo Iris Armstrong, and thank you for making June 14 a reason to be happy.
If you, my LJ readers who I’m always grateful to connect with, would like some sweet happiness of your own, please comment with a page number between 1 and 611, and another number between 1 and 25, and I’ll consult the happiness book for you.
Those of you who aren’t cavorting on a beach right now, feel free to comment with a page number between 1 and 611, and another number between 1 and 25, and Flipper here will dive into THE DEEP to find you something to be happy about.
Bet you’re tired of me taking up your monitor real estate, aren’t you?
The other day I read the following quote from Kanye West: I am a proud non-reader of books. I like to get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real life.
And even though I think that’s one of the lamest statements ever (I don’t care if he doesn’t read, but I’m pretty sure there are plenty of readers who are living real lives and who actually talk to people), what really set my teeth on edge was the predictable response: WHAT MESSAGE IS HE SENDING TO THE CHILDREN?
Parents, if your children are getting their life lessons from Kanye West, you have beyond failed them anyway. Just go ahead and drive with them on your lap and dangle them off a balcony, too.
Here at The Compound, a/k/a The Sluggery, I’m not really being a slug. Since I don’t have the stamina to write anything interesting or imaginative, here’s a list that you can ignore or not, as you wish.
I posted a couple of photos from New Orleans to the Moo Sisters group.
I’ve rewritten the same chapter four times. So far, it’s not setting my imagination on fire. It will when I find the right tone. This is just a whole new kind of character for me to write. I want to do right by her.
Tim and I saw UP on Monday. I really liked it. What is it about a few notes of “When You Wish Upon a Star” that always brings out the happy kid in me?
I had a mysterious onset of severe pain about the time we went to New Orleans. It got progressively worse over the last three weeks. It’s now just as mysteriously going away. The body is a wonderful thing.
The Brides are in Florida. Sugar is staying at The Compound. The first night, my sleep schedule drove her crazy. Now she pays no attention to it at all, just does her thing. She has cuddled with me a couple of times. It took Sugar a long time to relax with me, so I like this very much. Sugar, Margot, and Guinness have always gotten along. The girls treat her just like they treat each other–total acceptance. I plan to get some photos of them tomorrow so if Lindsey and Rhonda check in, they can see Sugar living it up at The Compound.
Maverick and Rex are COMEDIANS. I’ve been online so little that I didn’t even know Tim had changed his LJ banner. I love the new photo, especially Rex’s happy grin.
I found a photo of Tom holding Rex in May of 2001 when Rex was living with his first family. He still gets this same stoned/disgruntled look on his face when Tom holds him like this; he just has a lot more leg now.
I’ve been trying to get a photo of Maverick’s ginormous ears from behind, because they are adorably speckled. He doesn’t sit still very long, so photographing him is hit or miss. I ADORE this dog.
I’m reading and enjoying Michael Thomas Ford’s novel Changing Tides. I’m so glad I read Steinbeck’s Cannery Row last year for the first time, because that’s giving me another level to appreciate Ford’s story.
Still going to the gym three to five times a week and adding more to what I do every week. I always whine about the getting there, but I love the being there.
I’m working on another project. So far, I’ve been really pleased with it. Monday night, NOT AT ALL. Much went into the trash and I will start afresh Tuesday. Come to think of it, sounds a lot like my new writing effort.
I told Tim the next time he opened a tin of sardines I was willing to taste one.
He just issued the challenge.
I broke off a chunk, put it in my mouth, and could easily have spit that thing across the house. I forced myself to chew and swallow it, but never again.
Oh, the humanity.
Only Tim would think to text me this link, knowing I would care that Ethan Zohn, winner of Survivor: Africa decided to cut off all his hair after starting chemo for CD20-positive Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Ethan is a favorite Survivor contestant of mine, and my admiration for him grew when he donated some of his game winnings to start Grassroot Soccer, an organization mobilizing the global soccer community to fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa.
Zohn’s longtime girlfriend Jenna Morasca, winner of Survivor: Amazon, has said she’ll stay by Zohn’s side every step of the way. Both have lost a parent to cancer. I was glad to read they’re still together and send out good thoughts for the best possible outcome for the couple and their families.
Those of you who’ve been reading here for any length of time know about the plastic lime slice coasters that Tom and I received as a wedding gift and passed back and forth with Lynne for years–then Lynne’s daughter-in-law Laura got thrown into the mix. (I don’t mean we passed Laura back and forth. I mean sometimes, Laura got the coasters, too.) Eventually I upped the shock value by adding such items as lime slice candles, glasses, and melon and lemon slice coasters–and it was on. Lynne and Laura have been gifting me in kind for about five years now.
Last Christmas, Lynne stunned delighted me with a set of fruit slice dishes. Actually, they were kind of cool, though I didn’t want to admit it. I just don’t have room for more dishes. My dilemma was solved when I realized that Marika loved the dishes. With Lynne’s okay, I regifted them, taking them to Marika when Tim and I went to New Orleans.
I got the BEST thank-you card from Marika. I’ve included it on the upper left of the picture below. It’s all lime-slicey and glittery. I love the chick on the card, and I actually plan to frame this and hang it in my office. There’s a margarita recipe inside the card, and that’s how I chose the name for my most recent addition to The Compound Mattel Top Models, who’s pictured wearing a new dress I made just for her. She’s the Summer doll with the green streaks in her hair. I’m calling her Rita for the margarita card, as well as for Rita Hayworth, who I think was one of the most gorgeous actresses to ever pass through Hollywood–and if that’s not enough, Rita is a character in a Beatles song.
If you comment with a page number between 1 and 611, and another number between 1 and 25, lovely Rita will find something in this book for you to be happy about.
