Odds of dying… In a flood: 1 in 144,156 After being struck by lightning: 1 in 79,746 By legal execution: 1 in 62,468 By accidental electrocution: 1 in 9,968 In a fire/of smoke inhalation: 1 in 1,113 By drowning: 1 in 1,008 By suicide: 1 in 119 In a motor vehicle accident: 1 in 84 […]

I am both nervous and impatient to get on with the house-buying process. Things both are dreaded and cannot happen fast enough. I’m like that with anything new. Anyway, since I started proceedings on Thursday, I’ve been restless. What needs to happen is for me to use up all my excess energy on a project,

An early-morning rumination following a dream of a bookstore: What is the writerly muse, if not a collection of interests, curiosities, subconscious desires, obsessions, and memories that has become a individualized figure, an entity to be visualized and invoked at will? What does “I have lost my muse” mean but “I have no obsessions”?

The illustrator who designed “Olive, the Other Reindeer,” J.otto Seibold, has a new book out, “Alice in (pop-up) Wonderland.” And a Flash website, too. (Via Neatorama.)

Reading the Otherland series* by Tad Williams, I wandered across the legend of the Wulgaru: He chanted the most powerful incantations he knew, and tapped the figure with his woomera. The sun sank, dusk changed to dark and, daring the evil spirits of the night, Djarapa chanted and tapped without stopping on through the night

Testing…

Democracy. If we’re trying to make the world safe for democracy, wouldn’t it be better to infiltrate the black market than declare war? I kept thinking about it today: sneak cells of philanthropists, teachers, jounalists, and black marketeers into a country. That way, fundamentalists can scream about how godless the US is, but what everybody’s

TV. Okay, here’s the deal. Any show I’ve watched at least three full episodes of is bolded: 247th HeavenAdam-12Alfred Hitchcock PresentsAliasAngelArrested DevelopmentBattlestar Galactica [1 and 2]BaywatchBeverly Hills 90210BonanzaBoy Meets WorldBuffy the Vampire SlayerBug JuiceChappelle’s ShowCharlie’s AngelsCharmedCheersColumboCommander in ChiefCouplingCowboy BebopCSI: MiamiCSI: NYCurb Your EnthusiasmDanny PhantomDawson’s CreekDead Like MeDeadwoodDegrassi: The Next GenerationDesperate HousewivesDoctor Who (not lately)EntourageEREverwoodFamily GuyFarscapeFather

Ah… It’a slack-off, fried-chicken, read-a-novel, play-some-sudoku nite. Shhh….don’t spoil the illusion by saying the word “tomorrow” yet…

Rewards and Punishments. So, about a month ago, I had a good idea for a novel. At least, it was the kind of thing that I thought would be a good idea fora novel. So I wrote it. Finished it this afternoon. Don’t like the ending,* couple of big places that could stand some additional