Now that Halloween is past us, I think it’s safe for me to post a short story with the word “Christmas” in it.  After all, they were setting out the candy canes at Walgreens yesterday.  That makes it official. 

So here it is: Poor Percival Deals with Sly Fox.  And of course if you need to catch up on the other Poor Percival stories, you can check them out here.

Enjoy!

 

A week from today I will have a new short story for you to read.  Actually, it’s already completed, but because it has the “Christmas” word in it I’ve decided to hold it until after Halloween. 

It’s a new Poor Percival story.  If you haven’t read the others yet, then this week is the perfect opportunity!  Check them out here.

You may now start getting excited.

 

Strike that.  Absolutely no work was done this week.  That’s more like it. 

It began last Sunday when my computer gave me that wonderful (sarcasm) blue screen of death.  After playing around trying to figure out the cause, downloading drivers like mad, I resigned myself to reformatting on Tuesday night. 

That was the first time.

With more unwanted appearances of the blue screen, Thursday night found me reformatting again.

That was the second time.

Then, Saturday was “Revenge of the Blue Screens: The Movie.”  This time one occurred during my attempt to install service pack 3, making it so I could not even boot up my computer.  So, I reformatted again, doing the Quick Format option because I no longer cared whether it was the “proper” option.  It was painfully clear I would not be able to reformat my way out of this problem. 

That was the third time.

Now, I’m able to get on my computer again, able to work on my writing and get on the internet, with the occasional blue screen dropping by to see how I am doing.  My guess is that the hard drive is going wonky, and it seems the price of a replacement one would put me well on my way toward a new laptop altogether.  My plan is to try and ride it out for another week and see where I am by the weekend.  I think most likely I will be at Best Buy on Saturday morning.

Now, I submit this before the blue screen comes and eats it up gone.  

 

Last weekend I went over all the feedback for my story, of which there was a great deal, and began the long process of reworking just about everything I had spent months putting together.  (How do you make a frowny face with punctuation marks again?)  I did end up getting a fair amount of work done, and am hoping that I am able to get just as much if not more done this weekend. 

I remember now, the most difficult part of going over the feedback is trying to explain to the person how they are wrong :)  Heh, I joke, I joke. 

Ok, now I must dive back into it.  Bye. 

 

Here’s a fun poem I wrote last night to start the weekend with.  Enjoy.

 

Lunch Hour

While eating lunch I heard someone say,

From right behind me the voice said ‘Hey!

Are ya busy? Wanna talk.

Shall we go and take a walk?

What’s that book?

Can I take a look?

I will mark your place,

With pencil that will erase.

Oh I’m sorry, but that was pen,

Now there’s pen on your page ten.

It’s a shame I cannot stay.

Can I have a dollar by the way?

I would like to buy myself a drink,

Two dollars should serve me better don’t you think?

And what’s that you’re eating there?

Perhaps you would you like to share.

I really would enjoy that cake,

To take back with me for my break.

A piece for me and I’ll be on my way.’

And I said ‘No! Now go away!’

 

So I’m still working on coming up with a title for my latest story.  (It’s a middle-grade fiction by the way.  Not sure if I’ve mentioned that here before, and am far too lazy to check.)  I have a few ideas, but nothing that really seems to strike me as the right one.  I mentioned this fact in a comment on Holly Black’s blog, and she was kind enough to direct me to this article on the many different types of titles and how they each have their own unique way of working.  Definitely interesting, though now I have even more to consider…Thanks Holly!

 

I’ve made it two days now with the new glasses.  The glasses jokes have made a rise (not surprisingly) but the twin jokes have seen a sharp decline.  So all in all, things are good. 

Also, I realized after I published my last blog post that the Windows Live Writer update now immediately updates my Twitter account.  Yes!  Score one for the home team!

That’s all.  Nothing much. 

 

Been working on my blog for a good bit today.  I updated the Short Works page with my latest poem of a couple days ago, The Night of Bells.  I urge you to check it out if you haven’t already.  Feel free to drop a comment and let me know what you think.  Go on…I can take criticism.

Anyway, I can see now that the Short Works page is growing quite long with this recent addition, and am now wondering if I should relocate each poem to pages of their own.  Sounds like another project to work on.  At the moment, I don’t think it’s too horrible. 

My original intention was to work on a cool looking banner for my blog title, but alas it seems I would have to give up a good part of the formatting that makes my blog so nice and organized.  Oh well, maybe some other time.

I also learned today there is a 2009 version of Windows Live Writer out, so I went ahead and updated mine.  It thrills me to see the “From File” tab when inserting a video.  No more uploading videos to Photobucket for this guy!

 

Yesterday I picked up my glasses from the eye doctor.  I've never realized just how bad my eyesight really was.  The best way to put it would be: it's like going from standard-def to high-def.  Really.

The eye doctor never mentioned anything about contacts, and it's just as well.  I'm not going anywhere near my eyes with my fingers.  It's mostly a trust issue, as in I don't trust my fingers not to poke out my eyes. 

...

The weather here is perfect today, so a walk was in order this morning.  On a typical walk I will see at least one hawk, one woodpecker, ducks and geese, and sometimes a turtle if I'm lucky.  So, today I decided to bring a camera along to document it all for my loyal following, but of course none of them showed, at least close enough for me to snap a picture of (stupid hawks mocking me).  Typical indeed.  Here are a few nice pictures anyway: 

There's a squirrel in this one.  Can you find it?

Spanish moss is so cool looking, don't you think?

And of course I had to get at least one palm tree in the mix.