Dizzy from all the spinning

Is it Friday afternoon yet? Say 4-ish?

It's been one of these weeks.

An obsessive personality

I've explained my difficulty with leaving a series unfinished before. It forced me to read all the books that came after Wicked and all the Twilight books and there are probably more that don't come to mind. The Dresden Files phase began because I couldn't leave the series unfinished but by the end it was more like I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. Alas, I have reached the (current) end and now I have to wait. I hate that, but it was nice while it lasted (for 11 books!). I believe I read the last 3 last week. That takes dedication, hard work, and late nights. Someone who has a vacation looming (can that happen? do vacations loom? I wish I had a vacation looming. I really, really do.) asked for book suggestions (at a low, low price, things being the way they are). This is it for me. This is what I've been doing, and thanks to the library and my tax dollars at work, you can't beat the price. So I say:

-if the idea of a wizard/private investigator who advertises in the phone book
-and "owns" a 30 pound cat named Mister, a 200 pound temple dog named Mouse, and a talking skull named Bob who reads romance novels
-and routinely battles with and alongside vampires, werewolves, faeries, angels, demons, and other wizards/warlocks
-to keep the streets of Chicago and the Ways of the Nevernever safe for you and me
-while keeping a witty comeback ready even in the face of constant life-and-death situations

sounds like something you might be interested in, I say you gotta give these a try. The episode with the chlorofiend in the Wal-Mart sticks out in my memory. You wouldn't believe how many defensive items there are in the Wal-Mart garden center, even if you are only human.

To track them down, look for Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. I think the first one was Storm Front. And now I'm all...floating around, looking for the next compulsion to hit. Until then, I have reality t.v. I think I'll be OK.

What's your brand

OK, so I'm back to posting daily. You have no one to blame but...the people who said I needed to get back to it.

I did a little more thinking on branding than I normally do last night. After a conversation in our staff meeting (this is what happens when we talk about naming a leaflet "Just Bead It" and then realize it might have been a good thing to go with "Beading Workshop" instead and that book finally goes to the printer) of t.v. devotees vs. non-television owners/watchers (a.k.a. the people who can't identify Jon or Kate. Clearly they don't read magazine covers either.), I plopped myself down on the couch around 8-ish to see what stupid show I could watch that would make the high-brow non-televisors at the table cringe. And I wandered into the strange Barbara Walters interviews of stars at the Michael Jackson memorial. And on this show and others, music producers talked about MJ's brand and how he built this amazing worldwide brand so that people around the world knew something about him...it might be something crazy, but they knew who Michael Jackson was. We might not understand the brand or what it stood for, but you can't deny the power.

Snuffling a little (after Paris sorta broke my heart) then, I switched over to watch the premiere of Warehouse 13 on the SciFi channel. Or, now, the Syfy channel. The change was to build a more "portable brand." I don't know what that means. Do you? I think it may be another indication of my aging that I'm thoroughly against shortening and changing the spelling of the already-shortened "science fiction." But changing to a made-up word that requires explanation of pronunciation doesn't seem to be the best branding step. "Imagine Greater" is a great tagline, but I'm distracted by the weird word sitting on top of it.

Clearly, I know very little about branding. I'm the one on the couch turning my brain to mush. And I'm totally OK with that (but I do wish it was with better shows than Warehouse 13 although it may just be off to a slow start...I gotta have something to turn my brain to mush so I'm sure I'll give it another try, but I'm just sayin...I'm happy Eureka's back too. Syfy should be too.)

You are here

So my adoring public stopped by to scold me for not blogging. It was deserved. I get it. I am disappointed when my favorites don't have something new for me to read.

I believe the technical term for my blogger's block has something to do with a...funk. Did you know that there's a place called Funk in Nebraska? Yeah, me either! I have been thinking relocation lately but more like relocation to coastal areas with ocean views or places where the thermometer only reaches 80 degrees. Not Nebraska.

I didn't try for a place called Summer Slump or Hot Weather Funk or even I-Cleaned-My-House-and-Read-Eight-Books-Last-Week-So-I-Have-Nothing-to-Say-on-my-Blog Blues on any map. Funk, Nebraska was good enough. That really is the extent of the action at my place.

1. I cleaned my house. I try to do that once a year whether it needs it or not. It needed it.
2. I read.

I'll get back on track though. Daily blogging again, come heck or low blogging content, beginning tomorrow. I hate to disappoint my adoring fans.

Where's the ON button for this thing?

Apparently my blogging brain is broken. I did some data entry Monday and Tuesday. I believe that massive spreadsheet caused my creativity to scurry away. I should have known it would be harmful to my health.

Better blogging next week. I'm just sure of it. On the bright side, I discover Lolcats now comes in Loldogs too. So that's good. I guess. (Don't know Lolcats? Photo is Exhibit A.)

And my public service announcement for the day: it's July, people!

How did that happen?

One sparkly glove, please

So, I had to do it. If you'd like to skip a trip back to the 80s when videos and Michael Jackson were cool, come back Monday. Thriller was a big part of my preteen years and it makes me very aware of my age to hear that Michael Jackson is dead. And that he was 50 years old. To me, Michael and I are still singing Billie Jean, Beat It, Wanna Be Startin Something. It's 1983 or 1984. He's wearing his sparkly glove and mine are lacy with the fingers cut off. I couldn't find a video for "Billie Jean" to embed but here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En-cHBv7UpA

Happily, I did find "We Are the World" to post. This was the first ever song I bought and I could sing it word for word, complete with impressions. So there.





The Wiki entry:
"We Are the World" is a 1985 song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, produced and conducted by Quincy Jones and recorded by a supergroup of popular musicians billed as USA for Africa. The recording session in January 1985 was held during and after the American Music Awards. Michael Jackson skipped the American Music Awards ceremony that night to record the chorus of the song as a guide to the other artists. The artists who performed on "We Are the World" arrived in-studio from limousines (as most of them had participated in the American Music Awards) - except Bruce Springsteen, who arrived driving a pickup truck.

Sweater-licious

This is the current state of my baby cardigan. The yarn is Louisa Harding Kashmir DK...this is fun to use, but I'm thinking about the content: wool, cashmere, and microfiber. And I'm looking at the temperature...99 degrees today...and despairing of it ever being sweater weather again. Still, it seemed like a good idea so maybe it will again someday. With just two sleeves and the joining and neck finishing, this one's nearly complete. For my next project...knit bikini? Of course, you gotta stick with cotton for that, right?