various and sundry are really really busy today....

As promised, you heard it here first: you can now pre-order Curse the Dark and Bring it On in mass market paperback from Amazon (and so, presumably, your bookstore of choice, as well). If you know you're gonna want it (and you know you will) why not order it now and have it done? My publisher will thank you. (really. they will. Even if I have to drag it out of them. If I see a noticeable jump in pre-order numbers on Amazon, I will drag a representative over here and have them thank you. How'bout that for customer service?))

Also, I can't remember who gave me that stone mortar and pestle, but thank you again! I ground a bunch of spices this morning (I'm making a lamb tagine) and not only does my kitchen smell wonderful now, but my aggravations are mollified. :-)

and now on to the evening's t.v. roundup:

1. Bush's little speech just made me want to dig my heels in further and demand more accountability, not less. I'm contrary that way, yes. When someone I already don't trust tells me to jump Because It's For My Own Good and They Know Best [even though They got us into this], I back away from the ledge. But that's just me.

2. The writers of "Bones" have redeemed themselves considerably. Poor Zack. For a brilliant alien creature, he's such an idiot. But their idea of what a "publisher" looks/dresses/talks like? Okay, let me break it to you gently, guys. Publishers of major houses look, dress, and talk like any other executive of any other corporation. They absolutely don't look/dress/talk like the director of a cheap porn movie from the 1970's. Sorry.

3. You know a show's got it goin' on when you watch the entire show standing up and pacing. Welcome back, Criminal Minds. We missed you.... [although ( for spoilers )

Also, the off-timing because of #1 kept throwing me in terms of pacing the plot. I wasn't sure if they would ( for more spoilers )

I did like the ending. Poor Hotch. Poor Morgan. You idiot.]

3a. I still have trouble seeing my city get beat up. Especially under a terrorist attack scenario. Not any kind of active reaction, but a passive awareness of the fact that it disturbs me. Interesting, to map my progress that way.

4. Letterman was really, really funny (in an "I'm bitter, damn it" way) about McCain canceling on him at the 11th hour. McCain's handlers really should have timed their decision better. Pissing off a national tv host with an office of pretty damn good comedy writers on-call is never a good idea.

5. Plexico, you eeeeediot. [the previous will only make sense to Giants fans]

pardon me while I fall over...

Tagine v. good*. scotch consumed. dishwasher a blessing. meerkat tiiiiiiired.


Under the heading of not surprising, but interesting: Your office or bedroom holds telltale signs of whether you are a conservative or a liberal, finds a new study.

Considering that I live in a pretty constant state of organized chaos [aka "to you, it's a pile of papers. to me, it's the material I need for chapter 7"] and combine both highly organized file cabinets with madly overcrowded shelves, my mid-road leanings wouldn't surprise this survey at all.

(it also explains Oh So Much about hippy-dippy liberal kradical's working space. You can't help it, bro! You're politically designed that way!)




*if there's interest in the recipe, I'll post it