http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2009/11/heath-reform-and-big-tradeoff.html

Ah, the truth of it comes out. Healthcare reform is bad because it'll give Americans more security, and if we have more security, we'll be more free. And that would ruin everything.

Hullo, all.

For those of you who might want, but have not yet gotten Bad-Ass Faeries 2: Just Plain Bad, an anthology that contains my first 2 ever published stories, well, this is the time. The book is back in print (with a new cover, upon which one of my characters appears) and is now 20% off until Jan 1.

http://www.mundania.com/book.php?title=Bad-Ass+Faeries+2:+Just+Plain+Bad

While you are there, check out titles by my friends, Dani and Elaine.

http://www.mundania.com/author.php?author=Elaine+Corvidae

http://www.mundania.com/author.php?author=Danielle+Ackley-McPhail

here comes the sun
do do do doo
here comes the sun
and i say
it's too bright

how can this exist, and the world not throw itself into the sun?

My dislike of facebook increases over time. The interface is weird and to some extent uncontrollable. It spews masses of unwanted goop at you. It filters not just by your own choice, but by some arcane and mysterious algorithm, so that you don't actually receive everything. And then, by Sturgeon's Law, 90% of everything you do receive is crap. And there's so much of it.

Lately, facebook has taken to showing even more minutia about one's acquaintances. It has become intrusive. Not only is a whole bunch of your fairly personal data out there for people to investigate, which is, lets face it, an unpleasant truth about all social networking sites, but it is - by fb's terms and conditions - tied to one's real name, and then broadcast promiscuously to All & Sundry.

For several months now, my use of facebook has largely been to log in briefly to post things, or to see things that are responses to me, or that I'm tagged with. While I'm on, I'll peruse the first page of whatever comes up and see if there is anything of interest. Also, I've used facebook chat through the Adium multi-chat-protocol client (rather than the largely unusable and wholly annoying facebook web page pop-up chat thingie).

Most recently, facebook has changed the way that their chat protocol interacts with third party clients. Now, if I try to use adium, it causes facebook to log me out and then have to "prove" my identity. Fuck that.

I disabled facebook chat. You can find me via AIM, MSN, yahoo and lj chat. That's enough, really. I'll still log in to facebook and post things here and again, but I'm not browsing it. FB has never been a reliable way to communicate anyway, and I can't even count the number of times I've heard "Well, I posted about it on facebook. If you were interested, you should have said something."

Eh. No. Never saw it, even when I was trying to keep up with all the hundreds of messages per day. "John Doe has gotten his second cup of coffee" makes it through facebooks you-must-know-this-about-all-your-friends filter, and "Going to the Mutter Museum on Saturday, who wants to come?" does not.

Facebook is not built for communication. That communication sometimes occurs is a testament to human resilience, I suspect.

it's a novel, it's a film, and now it's a wine.

we found some in the local bolshevik likker store and couldn't resist. and now we know. terrible babies make a damn good wine.

which is good, 'cause you wouldn't want terrible baby oil. that would be wrong.

ENTRY #43
0911.25


Today was the release of the final promotional rings tied into Blackest Night. And I suspect that DC saved the most popular for last -- red and green. Well, the green ring, anyway. I'm guessing it was paired with the red ring because let's face it, Christmas is just a month away.

Unlike last week, I have the day off today, so I didn't have the logistical challenge of working my trip to The Great Escape in the middle of getting to work. And after three weeks of this, knowing the right time to arrive is becoming second nature to me.

As always, the first thing to do was to check the rack for the new arrivals. And the first titles I picked up were the ones that were the ti-in books -- Blackest Night #5 and Green Lantern #48. I made a couple of other selections, then went to the register to pay for my purchases.

At the register, the cashier handed me the rings. Once again, I took a good look to be certain that neither was a mismold. I then said to the cashier, "You may be hearing this a lot today." I then slipped the green ring on my finger, and began to recite an oft-reprinted verse:

In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power -- GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT!

I like to think that I have a certain flair for reciting the oath. I usually say the first two lines in my normal tone of voice. For the last two lines, I drop my voice an octave or so lower to make things more dramatic.

(Now, this is the point in my narrative where I would love to tell you that the ring suddenly began to glow. That I was briefly engulfed in a ball of green light, and when it faded, I was wearing the jade and jet uniform of the Green Lantern Corps. Sadly, none of these happened.)

The cashier said that I had been the first person to recite the Green Lantern oath. Of course, at that point the store had been open just a little over an hour, so there couldn't have been that many customers yet. I would hate to think that I was the only one who thought of doing a total geek-out like that. It would be just a little disappointing to learn that no one else would be imaginative enough to do it.

Well, now the set is complete. At the moment, I have the eight rings arrayed in a rough semicircle in front of my mouse. I would be wearing them, but I have discovered that they are bulky enough that it makes typing when I'm wearing all eight. And the black and violet rings -- worn on my left and right pinky fingers -- are just loose enough that they are in danger of sliding off those fingers.

The rings make a nice little display. And one little thought keeps coming up in the back of my mind. Is DC planning to do anything as a promotion for the final issue of Blackest Night? And if they are, what will that be?

-30-

Both at writing consistently and reading consistently.

Looks like I haven't read LJ since the 13th, which was years ago, or at least 10 days. So I'm trying to catch up. Only 360 posts...

The madness of the last few weeks is over. Faeriecon is done. Grand fun, but the cost of vending outstripped what we could earn. Philcon is over. From a vending perspective, the term I heard that best describes things is "grismal." Due to various & sundry complications, we did not actually get copies of the trade paperback version of The Evil Gazebo in, in time for the book launch, which makes it hard to sell them.

On the other hand, we'll have time to get the fine-tune the layout.

Got to hang out with some wonderful folks both weekends, and met some very cool folks, including Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld, and Linda got me into a kilt. Sunday morning on the way to the con, the kilt got me some interesting looks at the Gryphon Cafe as I obtained the necessary nutrients to successfully survive the morning.

Sunday afternoon, I went to a wedding. There were martinis, and discussion of the poise necessary for successfully drinking said martini whilst moving through a crowd. The tables were all named after WoW places. We sat at Thunder Bluff. There was food and dancing and awful music from decades past. People who have no right ever having even HEARD Journey demonstrated that they know ALL THE LYRICS.

Today - MRI for the shoulder issue. Results are pretty damn fast nowadays, and HIPAA regulations that force the labs to only give info to the doctors and not the patients can be overcome with adequate paperwork. Verdict? "There is mild osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral and acromioclavicular joints. There is mild tendonopathy and partial low grade tear of the undersurface of the supraspinatus tendon." Everything else is ok. Hopefully the dr will call soon and we'll see what's in store next.

Tomorrow there's a trip to the farm in Kimberton for yummy CSA food and compost. Wednesday another trip to the car doctor to get the locks fixed. Then Tofu Day.

Mebbe next week things can become sane again.

ENTRY #42
0911.22


Unlike the previous two weeks, this past Wednesday was not a day off for me. Fortunately, the time my manager scheduled me to come in gave me just enough time to make it to The Great Escape for the third release of Blackest Night promotional rings.

After the first two weeks, I had my timing down to a science. I had already juggled the various factors, such as when I had to be at work, transit time, and how long it took The Great Escape's staff to put the new arrivals on the shelf. And I would have to say that I nailed my optimal arrival time.

This week, the tie-in books were Adventure Comics #4 and The Outsiders #24. The rings were the blue and violet rings. And I was handed the blue ring, I took a very close look at it. This time, the right color ring had the right symbol on its face. Or to borrow a line from Bullwinkle J. Moose, "This time for sure . . . Presto!"

I had a few minutes, so I asked the manager if he had encountered any other anomalous rings. Apparently, the only ones that had been misprinted (or mismolded, I suppose) had been yellow. Or if there have been any other rings that were mismolds, they didn't show up here in Louisville.

This coming Wednesday will see the final release of the promotional rings. As far as I know, that is. I suspect that DC may be cooking up something for the Blackest Night finale.

At least I'm going to be off this Wednesday. That's something to be thankful for.


-30-