Got to go run

Well, maybe the "run" should be in quotes, because I end up walking about half, I think.  Ah, well.  I'll leave you with this:

http://www.happyplace.com/4286/brilliantly-sarcastic-responses-to-completely-well-meaning-signs

Vandalized signs that are (mostly) clever and amusing.  Here's a peek...

Not a bad silhouette, right?

I like writing fiction...

...but I'm not good at queries!  Queries, for those who don't know, are one-page letters you send to agents, and they're supposed to make your manuscript sound enticing enough to read.  Only I'm not so good at deciding what I should put in.

Take Star Wars, for example.  If you had to sum up Star Wars in two paragraphs, what would you focus on?  The Death Star can blow up planets, Luke can use the Force, there's Leia and her rebel forces, and that's not even mentioning Darth Vader, who's all menacing and cape-billowy.  You can't mention too many names, or it gets confusing, but I'd like to write something that shows the whimsical humor and the strangeness and the poetical moments in my book.  Patricia's family is stolen, she's got magic she has to figure out in a few days, she needs to decide whether she should trust her teacher or the witch she sees in her dreams, and--well, she's got to save her family!  It's hard to decide what to put in, and how, but at least the Evil Editor looked at it today on his blog and gave me some pointers.  He's smart, even if he is evil, and I think he's funny because he's evil.  Anyway, this is just my long rambling way of saying I'm grateful to all the people who market books, the agents and editors and slush readers and such who know lots about business and reading, because I only know about reading.  And writing.  Because writing on my best days feels exhilarating, like climbing to the top of a mountain and finding a rainbow with a family of mountain goats and a glacier that crackles and reflects the light.  Like discovery, in other words, and accomplishment, and healthiness (for the brain, in the case of writing--for the body, in the case of mountain climbing).

Okay.  I'm done.  In honor of Evil Editor, here is an exciting picture of Benjamin Franklin:

Evil Editor looks like good old Ben, and lightning makes everything 80% more compelling, so there's some lightning, too!

Cell phone...

Well, it looks like we'll finally get cell phones.  Our land line still isn't working, so we're looking into getting something a bit more mobile.  Any advice?

Here is a picture of the cell phone we WON'T be getting, because we don't want to give our sons any ideas...it's got built-in defense, though!

Long day

Swimming lessons for three-year-old, shots for one-year-old, an internet and phone connection that didn't work all day, and I got some good writing done anyway.

Yay?

Awesome blog of craftiness

When I get lazy, I link to other blogs.  I've appreciated links in the past, so I can justify it as helpful, and I don't have to do much work.  Snazzy, right?  Anyway, one of my favorite blogs for geeky crafts is http://www.epbot.com/.  It's full of cute ideas, fun links, and happy feelings (for me, at least).  Yay!

Here's an image from her latest post.  I still like Portal 2.  Just so you know.

Lucky runners

I'd better go running tonight.  Triathlons are biased against swimmers--if you did an event that took a competitive distance swimmer the same length of time that running a 5K or biking 9 miles takes competitive bikers and runners, it'd be more like a mile than a 400-meter race.  A 400 meter stint in the pool isn't even a warm up for those of us who've been on a swim team, and that's a warmup for sprinters and distance folk of every stroke expertise.  Ah, well.  I'll literally run to the store and buy some shampoo and conditioner for our three-year-old, who's in swimming lessons (and jumped off the diving board today--well, with help from me at the top and his teacher at the bottom!), and maybe the practice will make me into a passable jogger (maybe).  So, without further ado, here's a picture for today:

This isn't what he looked like, actually--but it wasn't a high dive, either!  I've drawn this picture in charcoals, though, and I love the kid's look of flat-out terror.

Fireworks...

...can look like sparkle bees, or spiky balloons, or waterfalls of magic.  According to my three-year-old, at least.  The boys stayed up super late last night (well, baby Ninja didn't make it past 10 p.m. very well, but Lightning managed to reach the fireworks after some stress--and he enjoyed them when they started) and watched an early firework display.  We'll buy a few sparklers and throwing-pop ones tomorrow, but last night was magic for Lightning.  There was some payment today in the form of mild grumpiness, but seeing my three-year-old simulate explosions with his hands all day and bounce around is hilarious and worth the extra effort.

I think of Gandalf every time I think of fireworks, and even though this clip is a mishmash of two scenes from the movie, it includes both cute kids and the fire dragon--so up it goes!