All you have to do is pick fifteen names. Okay, you also need to have a journal/blog/thingie. Anyway, name fifteen moderately famous non-dead people and go sign up over at the Dead Pool. Do it before the ball drops in Times Square.
Because somebody ought to profit from celebrity deaths, and that somebody might as well be you.
The Dead Pool
Some days it just doesn’t pay to gnaw through the straps, you know?
If there’s one surefire way to ruin your day, it’s reading a distilled synopsis of all of the character flaws that led to the breakup of your marriage. I don’t recommend looking in the mirror of someone else’s pent-up bitterness as a fun way to pass a quiet afternoon.
Of course, one of those character flaws got me into today’s mess in the first place, so I have nobody to blame but myself for how lousy I’m feeling right now.
It’s awfully hard to like myself, most days. It’s even more difficult today.
(For the record: This is not a pity party. I’ll be okay in a while. I just needed to get this “down on paper,” as it were. Think of it as being not entirely unlike writing something down so you don’t forget it later.)
Spotted these the other day at, of all places, a fabric store. (Don’t ask.) The general consensus among those assembled was that it seemed a pretty stupid idea to teach kids that tree lights are a sweet and tasty snack…
(I apologize for the quality of the pic. My phone’s “camera” option isn’t exactly the goddesses’ gift to photography.)
At the same time I picked up that Eddings book reviewed below, I also took a small (four dollar) chance on the first volume in a “recommended” series by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
“The Magic of Recluce” is interesting, amusing at times, moderately compelling, well-told, and takes an effective approach to the whole “good/bad, order/chaos” thing. It’s not exactly a white-knuckle page-turner (especially when the lead-character-slash-narrator settles down for a year to make a living as a woodcrafter) but the writing’s enjoyable enough to keep me hooked even through that bit of downtime. I’m pleased with the book overall, and I’ll definitely check out the next one in the series.
Home sick today. Bleh. Upset tummy, weak as a newborn kitten, etc.
The VPN thing works, though. Go me.
I actually accomplished something useful today. Even better, it’s something I’ve wanted since about a month after I took this job most of eight years ago: A VPN rig.
Mind you, I had to learn a whole new set of quirks… like “how to modify the default IP filters to allow the server to websurf and ping other machines,” since that box is also our SUS server and Servers Alive checker, and when you break networking those programs start to complain a wee bit. Ah well, I needed to stretch my brain a little anyway, right?
Tonight, of course, is the fun part: I get to try logging into the thing…
