Finish Line Crossed

Last night, truth be told, and the manuscript has officially been ceded to my editor. 

Now there’s STILL a lot to do, of course, and I’ll go over what comes next, as well as my own personal evaluation of the degree of my success(es) over the past year, another time.  For now, I’m just going to take some time to enjoy the fact that the unforgiving race has been run. 

But  in case you’re wondering why I didn’t take today to give the manuscript one last going over . . . well . . .

Tonight is not only a “blue moon,” but a lunar eclipse as well . . . pretty rare stuff, and I thought it would set a bad precedent to even imply that my finishing a book was a “once in a rare blue moon” event.

Yes . . . I really think like this.

A Funny Note

Last night I received the following information from a source I have chosen to keep anonymous:

I opened up Google Reader on my phone today and this is what I saw:

1 – So . . . Close ! – Candles and Curses
2 – 696: Still a Long Way to Go – Order of the Stick

I always KNEW Berlew was against me!

(I am fully aware, of course, that it’s textbook paranoia to assume someone you have never met is both harboring and acting upon malicious intent toward you, and Rich Berlew and I have never met.

But how would admitting this was just a coincidence be funny?)

A Sign Hanging On The Door

“Madman at Work.  Do NOT Disturb!”

(So . . . CLOSE . . .)

So . . . Close!

My end of the year deadline is coming up fast, but even with all the delays and hassles (particularly in the past couple of months), I’m ALMOST there; I’ve gone over everything but the last two chapters and the epilogue, and given them my “Let my editor have a look at them now” stamp of approval. 

The finish of this challenge, one way or the other, is in sight . . . but those last chapters are vital, so it’s still up in the air on if I’ll break the tape across the finish line of the race . . . or take it down to the wire and slice myself upon my deadline.

I just wish I was making this up just to make things sound more dramatic.

Happy Holidays!

Despite the flak the phrase has taken in “Twit Face Blog Space” (a recently stolen term of mine to refer to the whole Internet/social networking phenomenon), personally I happen to LIKE the phrase “Happy Holidays” as a general greeting for this time of year (I’ll spare you why right now, because this is no time to be indulging in pedanticism). 

So this candle is for the holidays . . . all of them, but with the general greeting out of the way, I would ALSO like to wish you all, in the manner of my ancestors, a VERY Merry Christmas.

“It’ll All Work Out”

There’s something one part endearing, and two parts annoying about people that constantly chirp happily that “everything will work out.”  No matter the situation, not even being thrown to the lions, nothing EVER gets them to change their tune.

Part of the annoying thing is that they ARE right; One way or the other, everything WILL work out.

They never seem to be able to grasp that fact that sometimes though, what that means is that everything will work out for the LIONS.

Today I’m Less Blue, And More Purple

This is true in no small part due to an excellent late afternoon lunch featuring, among other things, Chicha Morada.

If you haven’t had it before (I have, but it’s been a while), I strongly recommend you seek some out.

Okay, Today I’m Just Maudlin

And it’s got nothing to do with the holidays. 

Via the wonders of the information age I re-established contact with someone I’d lost touch with, which is a good thing, but doing something like that always makes me think of those I likely will NEVER re-establish contact with.

This candle is for you guys.

I’m Feeling Overly Serious Today, But . . .

I’m going to fight it by pointing out something silly.

Remember how some time back I went on about how much words matter?

While driving past Punta Gorda, Florida the other day, I got a fresh reminder how even single LETTER can matter.

You see “Punta Gorda” translates to English as “fat point,” but if you drop the “n” from “Punta,” then the phrase means something QUITE different ( “fat whore”).

Watch those letters, people . . . they can make a difference!

More Questions

Once again I’ve been the recipient of  an interesting question, this time not having anything to do with me other than I was the one being asked my opinion, but I thought I’d showcase this to give you an idea of the TYPE of questions that are frequently asked of me:

A female reader asked: “Why is it, you think, that is easier to have two girls agree to a threesome than it is two guys?”

That’s a big question . . . with a lot of potential factors and complications based on complex social dynamics, as well as all the myriad personalities and quirks of those involved, but I can still give you a short answer:

Because you’re a girl.

(Fair warning:  Depending on the response(s) I get from this, and if the hit count spike on this post due to the word “threesome” amuses me enough, I may decided to elaborate.)