Tales from the Raven

This comes from the notes of Charles Darwin, and lists his personal pros and cons to marrying.  I’ve never seen a funnier list–and that from a compulsive list maker.  ‘Companionship…better than a dog, anyhow’.  If someday my kids need convincing to marry, that’s the reason I’m trotting out.

My writing focus lately has been firmly fixed on plotting.  While of course I have many candidates for my writing attention, I think my total lack of grok when it comes to plotting is my biggest pitfall.
So I’m collecting books (which I’ll review as I finish them), have been listening carefully to various better-published writers [...]

I’ve wondered what my attraction is to caving.  It seems an odd pasttime for one who is not entirely comfortable underground, but I’ve now visited five or six caves, sometimes in multiple visits, and have more on my list.
Perhaps it’s the thrill of exploration, the awareness of potential danger, or the acute peak of the senses while underground.  Our last [...]

I happened to link to my LJ tonight and noticed that it’s been just a few months shy of a year since I last posted there.
Uhm…oops.
I never intended it to compete with this one, but by any standard of regular blogging, that’s still pathetic.  So I decided to take pity on the poor thing and [...]

Our son came in today and asked if “some time we can get some dry ice to play with.”
After taking a deep breath (he caught me in the middle of dinner prep.) I reminded him that frozen carbon dioxide is not a toy, and he will not be ‘playing’ with it.  Of course, I then [...]

This should really come with a warning label:  All writers, before watching this video, please attend to any restroom needs, find a quiet place, and lay down on the floor in preperation for rolling, howling, or generally reverting to ape-like behavior.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zo1XFz0kac0" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Note to self: Red means danger.  Red means stop.  Red means don’t-put-it-in-your-eye.
I have the kind of contacts which soak overnight in a peroxide solution.  They get nicely cleaned, and by morning the peroxide’s neutralized.  Then, I keep a saline solution at hand, and squirt a bit of that in the contacts before putting them in [...]