Jaunty Little Cross-Species Cardigans

Yes. This.

Niecely photos. Nephewly videos. Appearing like nuggety nuggets of awesome into DropBox! OK, commercial over. (Still awesome.)

But Not This.

Campaign emails that don't recognize I've already signed up to be a (small-time) monthly contributor. Filter your contacts, dudes!

Mayor of Nerdville

Squeed over this photo, shared by pal Shelley, even though I'd seen it before. I love the one that's facing opposite the rest. He knows where the good stuff is, obviously...

One of these tiger-piglets is smarter than the others.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I ate peanut butter crackers for lunch so I could get the curriculum sets ready for Magik's Fall Academy tomorrow. Then I traipsed down to McDonald's and bought a cheeseburger, chicken tenders, and iced coffee for a 4:00pm Lupper of Champions. And then I walked past the Taiwanese dance group our theatre is currently hosting, clutching said McDonald's bag, reinforcing that Americans can't do without their crappy fast food. In my defense, the German deli was closed!

Question of the Day

What's the best thing about a tiger nursing piglets?

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Tomato (with a Grilled Cheese Sandwich)

Yes. This.

Working within a great team. The folks at Magik are good at what they do and dedicated to bringing the arts to  our community. The ones I work with most closely are motivated, reliable, and awesome people besides. I'm lucky, lucky, lucky.

But Not This.

Meat-heavy sopa de fideo. I like it tomato-based, as at Guajillo's, where it's spectacular.

Mayor of Nerdville

I sent Mom and Dwayne invites to a new folder I created in DropBox - a folder dedicated to photos of Dwayne's kids (my niece and nephew). I'm posting this quickly because Dwayne created a video folder. Eeeeeeee!  *Update: nothing in it yet. YET.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but Dave switched back to a football talk show last night especially for me because they were interviewing Clay Matthews, of Green Bay Packer and long-hair-flinging fame.

   Outer Me: Hm. (sips tea, turns to Dave) That's a very interesting point he makes about the sport of American football.

   Inner Me: OMG teh muscles!

   Outer Me: (to Dave) Don't you think?

   Dave: You aren't fooling me.

He makes excellent points about the sport of American football.

Question of the Day

What's your favorite kind of soup?

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Stick Shift, Preferably

Yes. This.

Plot structure. I've been through writes and revisions and all-out rewrites with Briar-Bound, and whenever I start to feel overwhelmed, I go back to structure. From the tale's start to its finish, the plot structure should act like a great bridge: strong and flexible and a little surprising. Without potholes.

But Not This.

Huge thunderstorms that roar into San Antonio like a devil on fire and then split in two to skirt the city. TEASE! Great lightning, though. Thoroughly enjoyed that.

Mayor of Nerdville

The Notes feature in Windows Vista blows compared to the Sticky Notes in Win7. So I made a spreadsheet last night that mimics sticky notes to move my chapters around. I should probably use Scrivener, but the current Windows beta expires in two days. I'll wait for now.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I used the words "hot Highlander" in a book-rec email to Mom today. I also suggested she get her grandson a bullwhip for his birthday. I'm an excellent influence on my loved ones.

Question of the Day

Stick shift of automatic?

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Autumn

Yes. This.

Rice cookers. I used to think these were one-trick ponies, but we've successfully used ours to make white rice, brown rice, pilaf, quinoa, whole groats, cracked oats, pearled barley, hulled barley, and lentils. Now on Sundays, Dave cooks several batches of grains to use in salads, sides, and soup for the week. Our friend Sook gave us this little gem (a 3-cup model) before she went back to South Korea. Thanks, Sook!

But Not This.

90-degree temps forecast for October. I'm watching you, Mother Nature.

Mayor of Nerdville

Learned today that adult butterflies don't grow, so they eat only liquids. Now maybe you learned it, too.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I'm totally pumped to get my own office tomorrow. I'm displacing someone else, so I can't celebrate too much. But I think the quiet space will do wonders for my concentration level.

Question of the Day

What's your favorite season?

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Drop it in the box, yo.

Yes. This.

Dropbox. A nice marriage of your local hard drives and the cloud -- as polygamous as you want it to be. In other words, anything saved in Dropbox on your computer is saved on your hard drive. It's also saved online at Dropbox's servers. It's also saved on any other computer on which you've installed and linked Dropbox. I did this Friday, installing on and linking my laptop, work PC, and iPad. When you alter a document at one computer, the same document is updated in all of your Dropboxes (or when that computer is next connected to the internet). As long as you have that internet connection, you no longer have to email files to yourself or use thumb drives to carry files between machines.

But Not This.

Haven't yet figured out how to efficiently blend my use of Dropbox and DocsToGo on the iPad to edit texts I'm writing. It seems to involve always saving a new version, which doesn't save in Dropbox. Exactly the kind of extra steps I'm trying to avoid.

Mayor of Nerdville

Uh, Dropbox again. I spent an hour or more Friday moving folders and files into Dropbox. I had my laptop at work, set up on the table behind me. I'd move something on my work PC into DB, then turn around and watch the change happen on my laptop. Ha! Then I moved a bunch of stuff on my laptop into DB. I managed to clear my desktop of all but three icons: Chrome, Dropbox, and Recycle Bin. It was like Inbox Zero, only Desktop Zero. (Okay, Desktop Three.)

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but you know that time in the morning, when you doze in and out and have really vivid dreams? That time when it would be great to be dreaming about...oh, I don't know...say, your literary crush or TV boyfriend? At that time this morning, what was I dreaming about? Jamie Fraser? Jon Hamm? Er, no. I was dreaming about Dropbox. IT'S THAT COOL.

Question of the Day

If you wrote a rap today, what would be the refrain?

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Mountains

Yes. This.

Endurance stainless steel food mill. Dave's making apple butter today. The recipe (Thomas Keller's) calls for cooking uncored, unpeeled, quartered apples in the first stage (the pectin released from the core + skin helps later). In the past, we've then separated the good stuff from the refuse using a sieve and a wooden spoon -- a process that ruined at least one sieve, took a long time, and made for sore elbows. The food mill, Dave reports, took 5 minutes. It also cleans up in a snap. (We found it at our grocery store, but the link above goes to Amazon.)

But Not This.

Commercials. We got cable just for football season; the rest of the year, we use Netflix and Apple TV. With the addition of cable came a lot of commercials. Most get muted.

Mayor of Nerdville

Even on mute, Gmail's Daniel Lee commercial chokes me up. 

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I'm trying to watch Matt Forte, who's on my fantasy football roster, but I keep getting distracted by Clay Matthews, who's on my fantasy football roster. *wink-wink-nudge-nudge*

Question of the Day

Beach or mountains?

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Bert

Yes. This.

If Jim Henson still got birthdays, today would be his 75th. Lucky for us, Kermit will always have birthdays. (Thank you, Jim!)

But Not This.

Pizza on a Chinese buffet. Okay, sure, it's all an American corruption of Chinese food, but come on.

Mayor of Nerdville

A particle moved faster than the speed of light? We'll see. But if it happened, the thousands of textbook rewrites will be the smallest consequence.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but my last Google search was for "warp speed." (see Nerdville above)

Question of the Day

If your life story was a movie cast with Muppets, who would play you?

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Amadeus

Yes. This.

Sporting a new Woot shirt today: Acquired Taste

But Not This.

Facebook. I ditched it yesterday. You can't delete your account -- only deactivate it -- and friends can still contact you with invites, etc. So I unfriended everyone and cleared as much profile info as I could. I wasn't reacting to the new FB changes, just finally acting on my opinion that it's annoying and clunky. Still here and on Twitter, and poking around Google+.

Mayor of Nerdville

Dave's back from Houston, saving me from a fate as a canned-ravioli-eating, chick-flick-watching, Google-prowling recluse. Until he leaves town again.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I skipped working on work-type things for an hour last night to watch storm clouds roll in. No rain, but a good show nonetheless.

Question of the Day

What movie have you watched more than any other?

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Brontë

Yes. This.

Made myself a yummy black bean salad with feta for lunch.

But Not This.

Forgot my yummy black bean salad with feta on the kitchen counter.

Mayor of Nerdville

Spent a productive day making classroom guides for Magik's national tour of If You Give a Moose a Muffin. Every guide this year addresses TEKS in theatre, English Language Arts, math, science, social studies, art, and music. Target date for website upload: Oct 1. Moose should go up tomorrow.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I ate canned ravioli for dinner last night and rented Jane Eyre on Apple TV. Then I image-Googled "Jamie Fraser" to see who fans envision (some weird fan art, dudes). Then I image-Googled Michael Fassbender and Sean Bean, just for the heck of it. Why yes, Dave is out of town.

Question of the Day

Austen or Brontë?

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Flight

Yes. This.

Zombies, Run! app for iOS and Android. Run-tracking software combined with zombie-centered gaming. Would make night and trail running a whole 'nother experience.

But Not This.

Drivers who stop their vehicles in the crosswalk. Thoughtless, selfish, impatient: crap traits for drivers.

Mayor of Nerdville

Was way too comfortable in a City grant contract meeting this morning. Discretionary Disclosure Form? Contractor Monitoring Report? Severability and Indemnity clauses? I should not know what those are.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I forgot to make updated Classroom Guides for Magik's national tour of If You Give a Moose a Muffin. I'll be making them tonight as I watch period-piece dramas because Dave's out of town...opening Moose in Houston. *types faster*

Question of the Day

Flight or invisibility?

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Hot PG Tips with Skim Milk

Yes. This.

Sat on our deck last night and watched an awesome storm roll in. Wine and cheese. Brisk, cedar-scented wind. Lightning that tinted the sky turquoise, then yellow, then blue. Plus: RAIN. Ahhhhh.

But Not This.

I fear the trees in our front yard are dying fast. They're dropping branches, all of which are rotten-light. Gotta get a tree service out before all the leaves fall.

Mayor of Nerdville

Finally, finally got back to running this morning. Was out for an hour, alternating walk and run. Disappointed that my Garmin wasn't charged -- couldn't track distance or pace (a good thing) -- but was out for an hour, alternately running and walking. Was welcomed back to it by the Two Gomers podcast.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I treated myself to chocolate milk as recovery for my run this morning, even though I totally didn't earn it.

Question of the Day

What was the last thing you drank?

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Waffles

Yes. This.

Our SCBWI chapter held our regional conference yesterday. Some great stuff, and a few kinks to work out for next time. I'm super proud of our advisory board and members, and thankful to our great faculty. And we got rain! A good day.

But Not This.

Barista at the Target Starbucks this morning let the sink faucet run for several minutes to rinse a pitcher. Boooo. When she asked Dave what he wanted, he said, "Water conservation."

Mayor of Nerdville

Watched almost two hours of Too Cute on last night. Criticized the Persian kittens and shih tzu puppies for not living up to the title of the show.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I saw this photo of Clay Matthews this morning on the cover of Muscle & Fitness. Wouldn't usually give the mag a second glance, but geeeeez. Confirmed: my casting of him as Uhtred Uhtredson. Also confirmed: the Packers defense has excellent...components.

Question of the Day

Pancakes or waffles?

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Paper Girl

Yes. This.

Finished listening to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society audiobook today. Great characters, fantastic voice talent.

But Not This.

Books that end too soon! I gasped when Guernsey ended. It didn't feel like the right ending, and I was not ready to say goodbye to the characters. Harumph.

Mayor of Nerdville

Made a content standards matrix today for use in our theatre's education programs. Translation: I spent the day making a spreadsheet. The best kind of day, truly.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I took a conference faculty member to dinner tonight, then asked her how it is to work at Publisher X. Too bad she works at Publisher Y. *blush* She was very generous about the mistake. 

Question of the Day

What was your first paying job?

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Tomato

Yes. This.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Has Gary Oldman really never been nominated for an Oscar? Cripes, let's fix that.

But Not This.

Campaign text messages. Until they say BEER AND CUPCAKES, 6 PM...straight to trash.

Mayor of Nerdville

Almost texted Dave about today's Daily Puppy, then realized I'd left my phone at home. Considered emailing a link. Or walking to his office to show him. I mean, come on.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I stayed up really late reading Outlander. I kept thinking, This chapter's gotta end soon, but it didn't and (spoiler alert) there was a witch trial and then a rescue and then a confession and then a huge decision and then a big, snoggy reunion. And then it was 2:00 a.m.

Question of the Day

If you could have just one fruit for the rest of your life, what would it be?

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An Experiment

Yes. This.

Finally ordered Nevermore, longest survivor of The Reckoning.

But Not This.

Long trains that stop on city tracks, blocking many, many intersections during rush hour. Boooo.

Mayor of Nerdville

Recently proclaimed, in an unfiltered moment, "I frickin' love balancing equations!" Still getting grief from Dave.

Shhh, Don't Tell...

...but I'm re-reading Outlander. Totally different experience this time. The Cult of James Fraser is compelling.

Question of the Day

What was the last book you re-read?

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