I’m still finishing up final edits of The Sinner’s Guide to Writing the Book Which I Will Never Ever Ever Be Done With Ever, and working on another writing project which I’m thrilled to be a part of, but which is giving me nightmares because I want to get it right. And I decided we should go ahead and redo the living room walls, which are horsehair plaster, covered with wallpaper, covered with cheap wood panelling, covered with two more layers of wallpaper, covered with paint.
And all of this needs to be done soon, before school starts next week, because the beginning of the school year is like childbirth: if you’ve been through it enough times, you do so remember how painful it is.
I was going to say “I may not be blogging much in the next week or so,” but I don’t actually blog that much anyway. So, I don’t know, here are seven things:
–1–
Suzanne Temple reposts an oldie but goodie about a perennial question: how the heck do I deal with the little kids when I’m trying to teach the big kids? It’s aimed at homeschoolers, but much of the advice will work for parents who are trying to get anything at all done with little guys around.
–2–
Here is fog rolling in in Newfoundland. It’s just fog and it’s gorgeous, but if I were standing on that road, this would freak. me. out.
–3–
Speaking of being freaked out, here is an underwater sinkhole eating some trees whole:
Hmm, I’m noticing a pattern here in the videos that capture my imagination. Could it be that I’m feeling a tad overwhelmed? Nah.
–4–
Here’s someone who did not get overwhelmed: Antoinette Tuff. I embarrassed my kids by bursting into tears when they played the 911 call recording on the radio.
She tells the shooter that she almost committed suicide last year, when her husband left her, but she got through it and here she is now. She says to him, “It’s gonna be all right, sweetie. I just want you to know that I love you, though, OK? And I’m proud of you. That’s a good thing. You’ve just given up. Don’t worry about it.”
God bless her. Wondering about what the “feminine genius” looks like in action? Here you go. She never forgot for one instant that he was a human being. Just beautiful, and terrifying.
–5–
From the sublime to the ridiculous: MST3K is back on Netflix Instant View! They started with only four episodes, but seem to be adding more gradually. Looks like we will have a Patrick Swayze Christmas after all!
–6–
The other night, we saw the International Space Station go by overhead. Well, duh, of course it was overhead. It was very nice. It just sailed along, so quiet and orderly, so full of astronauts. We waved. Here you can check out where and when to look for the ISS in your piece of the sky..
–7–
One of the reasons we bought my laptop from Walmart is because of their excellent service plan. I’m not going to point any fingers, but somehow coffee was spilled in a very bad place, and my keyboard stopped working. So we put in a claim and they sent us a postage paid padded box to mail it in. Then somehow (again, not naming names), it got sent off without the order slip (with my name and address and description of the problem) inside. But even so, a week later, I got it back, all fixed! Good deal. Furthermore, I guess I left a Steely Dan CD inside, and they returned that, too. Thanks, Walmart! This one’s for you:
Don’t forget to check out the other Seven Quick Takes at Conversion Diary, and happy weekend!
