Faster than a speeding albino frog!
Friday, May 20, 2005
The Life Aquatic
It's Friday, May 20 ...
About two weeks ago I purchased a new member of the family ... from Walmart. He is an albino clawed foot frog--his name is Ghost. He's pretty cool, though my colleague next to me at the office thinks he's a protozoa. Every time Keith comes over, Ghost seems to be "shut down." While he can be quite the active frog, most of the time he's just floating or just "there" at the bottom of the gallon tank.
To tell the truth, Ghost can be a bit of a spaz. But, as Keith points out, he's a delayed reaction spaz. It might take him a moment or five before he realizes he should be freaking out if I move my hand too close to the tank to turn on or off his light. Regardless, Ghost has brought an element of enjoyment and scientific interest to members of my department.
We wonder many things about him, such as:
How big will he get? (He's currently 1/2" wide, 2" tall/1.2" butt to nose. But Kristy says he will probably get huge.)
Since he has weird red eyes, does that mean he's blind? (We don't know if he's blind or just kinda stupid.)
Will he escape? (Peeps on the internet say that these frogs are escape artists and must not have any form of escape hatch or hole.)
All in all, Ghost is a pretty entertaining guy. Here are a couple of pics of the frogmeister. My favorite is the one where I caught him in full swimming action ... and he looks like a flash of peach color! Super cool!
Minda
www.TheCemeteryClub.com
It's Friday, May 20 ...
About two weeks ago I purchased a new member of the family ... from Walmart. He is an albino clawed foot frog--his name is Ghost. He's pretty cool, though my colleague next to me at the office thinks he's a protozoa. Every time Keith comes over, Ghost seems to be "shut down." While he can be quite the active frog, most of the time he's just floating or just "there" at the bottom of the gallon tank.
To tell the truth, Ghost can be a bit of a spaz. But, as Keith points out, he's a delayed reaction spaz. It might take him a moment or five before he realizes he should be freaking out if I move my hand too close to the tank to turn on or off his light. Regardless, Ghost has brought an element of enjoyment and scientific interest to members of my department.
We wonder many things about him, such as:
How big will he get? (He's currently 1/2" wide, 2" tall/1.2" butt to nose. But Kristy says he will probably get huge.)
Since he has weird red eyes, does that mean he's blind? (We don't know if he's blind or just kinda stupid.)
Will he escape? (Peeps on the internet say that these frogs are escape artists and must not have any form of escape hatch or hole.)
All in all, Ghost is a pretty entertaining guy. Here are a couple of pics of the frogmeister. My favorite is the one where I caught him in full swimming action ... and he looks like a flash of peach color! Super cool!
Minda
www.TheCemeteryClub.com
Monday, May 16, 2005
Hangin' in the ER
It's Monday, May 16, 2005 ...
2005 is turning out to be a banner year for the Powers-Douglas clan of two (plus 2 cats, a fish and a frog). Last week my husband started getting a weird pressure/pain sensation in his chest and tingling in his left arm, and it was off to the ER we went. Fortunately he was not having a heart attack or anything like that. What is going on, we don't know yet. They did a bunch of tests that day, and the next day he had to go in for a stress test. Then the weekend hit, and there we were. Waiting for something to happen and hoping it wouldn't. But since we'd just had a scare of major yikes, we didn't travel out of town for our friend's graduation as planned (sorry, Toni). We actually didn't do too much. We didn't even go to the movies as I had wanted to do. It was sit back and try to relax time. But then Monday came (today), and our family doctor hasn't even received anything from the hospital yet. We still know nothing. Accept that we're getting stressed because we don't know anything.
So the weekend was an odd one. The one thing I had really wanted to do was go to the movies. I used to go to the movies at least once a week. When I was in high school there were even times when I saw three movies in the theater in one day. I'm not joking! THREE! I was a rabid movie fiend. Now I'm lucky if I see three movies in 6 months. It stinks! And there were at least three movies I really want to see out. "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," "Unleashed" and "Crash." I'm holding out for a weeknight this week. We'll see how that works. I need some time to get absorbed into something on a really large screen that can dwarf everything else running through my mind. Time to decompress.
Now for the good news ...
THE BOOK CHAPTERS ARE DONE!!!!!! THE INTRODUCTION IS DONE!!!!!!!
The end of the writing process for "Cemetery Walk" is almost completely done! The book is with my editor/proofers. I'm finishing the last details as well as the photo selection and cutlines. Ahh, it's such a good thing. It will go to the publisher at the end of this month. To quote young Anakin Skywalk in "Phantom Menace," I say, "Yippeeee!"
MAGAZINE UPDATE
All is well on the "Epitaphs" front. I'm doing stuff here and there, and will hit it full steam when the book is out of my hands. Ad space is selling well. Submissions are great. Keep them both coming! The magazine is going to rock!!!
BOOK PROMO STUFF
I put in extra hours on book promotion stuff tonight and didn't end up seeing my husband until 7:30 p.m., which he was not thrilled about. I thought he was just hungry. But he did tell me later during dinner (delicious garlic shrimp at China Wok II) that he's worried that I'm working too much. It took me by surprise. I didn't think he really noticed. Not that he's not a devoted husband; he is. But he works on stuff all the time. I figured that if I wasn't working on projects all the time that he would think I was lazy! Well, I guess I know differently now.
But I did get my first promotion postcards designed tonight. I'm currently trying to load the artwork into this blog post but am failing miserably.
I also started a "new line" of stuff for TheCemeteryClub.com store called "Death Becomes You." It features death- and cemetery-related quotes. Fun stuff. The funny thing is that while I knew it was not a really original name for deathly things (most obviously the movie "Death Becomes Her" beat me to it by a number of years), I got an e-mail from the woman who owns BlueLips.com yesterday (the day I set up the new items). Her Web site used to be called--you guessed it--Death Becomes You. So it's a matter of "stealing" from someone without even being aware of stealing from someone. Please don't think me a total dork, Toni! (Everyone, be sure to check out BlueLips.com, it's a great site.)
Well, while I'm trying to pour out my soul and upload a photo here, Shakespeare won't leave me alone. No, the playwrite is not jumping in my lap ... my cat is. She is totally co-dependent. I created a monster 5 years ago, and now we are practically conjoined twins whenever I am home. She is quite jealous of the computer and hates when I type for long periods of time or surf. She also doesn't like it when I spend too much time in front of the bathroom mirror washing my face or something. She thinks that the time I spend doing these things would be much better spent holding her. She is also jealous of our fish tank. It's out of her viewing range for the most part, and she doesn't really know what it is. What she does know is that I will stand in front of it (it's on top of the hutch of our desk) and talk to it occasionally. If she actually knew there was a living being inside the tank (that would be my betta fish Simon LeBon, who is awesome, incidentally), she would probably figure out a way to get into the tank and eat him. Not gonna happen, Shakespeare, you brat.
Hmmm. If I could figure out how to get the photos to upload, I'd put a pic of Shakespeare and Simon LeBon on here. And India, our other cat. And Ghost, my little albino clawed frog I have in a small tank at work. It's the life aquatic with Minda Zissou.
Well, I'm going to post this and then look into the pic issue again.
Good night, all!
Minda
www.TheCemeteryClub.com
It's Monday, May 16, 2005 ...
2005 is turning out to be a banner year for the Powers-Douglas clan of two (plus 2 cats, a fish and a frog). Last week my husband started getting a weird pressure/pain sensation in his chest and tingling in his left arm, and it was off to the ER we went. Fortunately he was not having a heart attack or anything like that. What is going on, we don't know yet. They did a bunch of tests that day, and the next day he had to go in for a stress test. Then the weekend hit, and there we were. Waiting for something to happen and hoping it wouldn't. But since we'd just had a scare of major yikes, we didn't travel out of town for our friend's graduation as planned (sorry, Toni). We actually didn't do too much. We didn't even go to the movies as I had wanted to do. It was sit back and try to relax time. But then Monday came (today), and our family doctor hasn't even received anything from the hospital yet. We still know nothing. Accept that we're getting stressed because we don't know anything.
So the weekend was an odd one. The one thing I had really wanted to do was go to the movies. I used to go to the movies at least once a week. When I was in high school there were even times when I saw three movies in the theater in one day. I'm not joking! THREE! I was a rabid movie fiend. Now I'm lucky if I see three movies in 6 months. It stinks! And there were at least three movies I really want to see out. "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," "Unleashed" and "Crash." I'm holding out for a weeknight this week. We'll see how that works. I need some time to get absorbed into something on a really large screen that can dwarf everything else running through my mind. Time to decompress.
Now for the good news ...
THE BOOK CHAPTERS ARE DONE!!!!!! THE INTRODUCTION IS DONE!!!!!!!
The end of the writing process for "Cemetery Walk" is almost completely done! The book is with my editor/proofers. I'm finishing the last details as well as the photo selection and cutlines. Ahh, it's such a good thing. It will go to the publisher at the end of this month. To quote young Anakin Skywalk in "Phantom Menace," I say, "Yippeeee!"
MAGAZINE UPDATE
All is well on the "Epitaphs" front. I'm doing stuff here and there, and will hit it full steam when the book is out of my hands. Ad space is selling well. Submissions are great. Keep them both coming! The magazine is going to rock!!!
BOOK PROMO STUFF
I put in extra hours on book promotion stuff tonight and didn't end up seeing my husband until 7:30 p.m., which he was not thrilled about. I thought he was just hungry. But he did tell me later during dinner (delicious garlic shrimp at China Wok II) that he's worried that I'm working too much. It took me by surprise. I didn't think he really noticed. Not that he's not a devoted husband; he is. But he works on stuff all the time. I figured that if I wasn't working on projects all the time that he would think I was lazy! Well, I guess I know differently now.
But I did get my first promotion postcards designed tonight. I'm currently trying to load the artwork into this blog post but am failing miserably.
I also started a "new line" of stuff for TheCemeteryClub.com store called "Death Becomes You." It features death- and cemetery-related quotes. Fun stuff. The funny thing is that while I knew it was not a really original name for deathly things (most obviously the movie "Death Becomes Her" beat me to it by a number of years), I got an e-mail from the woman who owns BlueLips.com yesterday (the day I set up the new items). Her Web site used to be called--you guessed it--Death Becomes You. So it's a matter of "stealing" from someone without even being aware of stealing from someone. Please don't think me a total dork, Toni! (Everyone, be sure to check out BlueLips.com, it's a great site.)
Well, while I'm trying to pour out my soul and upload a photo here, Shakespeare won't leave me alone. No, the playwrite is not jumping in my lap ... my cat is. She is totally co-dependent. I created a monster 5 years ago, and now we are practically conjoined twins whenever I am home. She is quite jealous of the computer and hates when I type for long periods of time or surf. She also doesn't like it when I spend too much time in front of the bathroom mirror washing my face or something. She thinks that the time I spend doing these things would be much better spent holding her. She is also jealous of our fish tank. It's out of her viewing range for the most part, and she doesn't really know what it is. What she does know is that I will stand in front of it (it's on top of the hutch of our desk) and talk to it occasionally. If she actually knew there was a living being inside the tank (that would be my betta fish Simon LeBon, who is awesome, incidentally), she would probably figure out a way to get into the tank and eat him. Not gonna happen, Shakespeare, you brat.
Hmmm. If I could figure out how to get the photos to upload, I'd put a pic of Shakespeare and Simon LeBon on here. And India, our other cat. And Ghost, my little albino clawed frog I have in a small tank at work. It's the life aquatic with Minda Zissou.
Well, I'm going to post this and then look into the pic issue again.
Good night, all!
Minda
www.TheCemeteryClub.com
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Web site updates!
It's Tuesday, May 3, 2005.
I made some Web updates during my lunch break today.
- Subscription information is now available online for "Epitaphs" the magazine!!!
- A new calendar of cemetery events has been posted. Hurray!
So much fun. How can we stand it?
Good news on the book front. I finished two more chapters. It's more than half done now. Actually more than that, as I'm just putting finishing touches on all the chapters at this point. This is great news! This means I can get it to the publisher by the end of this month!
Hurray!!!!!
-Minda
www.TheCemeteryClub.com
It's Tuesday, May 3, 2005.
I made some Web updates during my lunch break today.
- Subscription information is now available online for "Epitaphs" the magazine!!!
- A new calendar of cemetery events has been posted. Hurray!
So much fun. How can we stand it?
Good news on the book front. I finished two more chapters. It's more than half done now. Actually more than that, as I'm just putting finishing touches on all the chapters at this point. This is great news! This means I can get it to the publisher by the end of this month!
Hurray!!!!!
-Minda
www.TheCemeteryClub.com
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Accidents Will Happen
It's May Day, 2005
Normally I put the date in first, but I just realized that the first things you type come up as the title of the post. So I thought this made more sense. Nice to know my brain works sometimes.
So why the title this time? Because on Thursday I was in my second car accident in less than one month. The first was on April Fool's Day (fitting) and was merely a fender bender. Thursday's "bump" was a full on rear end job caused by yours truly. It was a freak thing but stupid nonetheless.
Here's how it went. I was actually leaving on time for work that morning. There was hardly any traffic when I pulled out of our alley. Six blocks later there is a stop light. All of us start going through the light, and we are just through it when the accident happens. I am probably only 20 feet past the intersection when I hit the nice lady in the Lexus. What had happened was that there is a scrap metal place with its entrance within the a block of the intersection. Though I noticed the four cars in front of me, I did not notice the huge scrap truck ahead of them who was turning slooooowly into this place's entrance. In the length of time it took me to get through the intersection and then glance down for a brief moment (was I checking the time? I don't remember) and then look up again, I had just enough time to slam the brakes at about the same time I hit the lady's car in front of me.
Very fortunately, she is okay. And her car is built like a tank. It only got a scuff mark. Not even a dent. My car, on the other hand, is not doing so hot. The fender bender put a big ol' dent in the front corner of my car, and this bump bent the hood a bit (needs to be replaced) and messed up the front of the car. The lights didn't break, but they will need to be replaced. If anyone knows of any Olds Alero hoods that are available, let me know! My repair guy is looking for one. At least the car is drivable right now. But my lights are cock-eyed, so I won't be traveling at night! I'm sure you're thinking, "Damn, good thing! Stay off the road, you crazy driver!" Well, I don't blame you. I hadn't been in a car accident since 1990. Now two in one month. I'm SO glad April is over.
Oh, I didn't mention that I didn't really get too hurt in the accident. I had my seatbelt on, of course. I don't drive without it on. It's the law, and it's also--hello!--super smart. I do have a pretty sucky case of whiplash, though. Good thing my chiropractic team is on the case. I'd be in a lot worse shape by now if were not for Dr. B and my student extern Jason. They are life savers.
The funny thing is that even thought I feel like my brains have been rattled (and beleive me, they have), I finished two more chapters for my book yesterday! I am so close! Chapters are still out with my editors, but I also have at least three more to pass on to them. I want to get this thing to the publisher right away. It's time.
Once I pass it along, the magazine will be my focus. We have had tons of great submissions so far. Our first issue is going to be awesome. We're still shooting for July. I guess it just all depends on any further adventures ... NO MORE CAR ACCIDENTS, THANK YOU!
Well, I'm off to post some stuff on eBay and update my store. On eBay, my username is elfaba1 (that's "elfaba" with a #1, not an "L"). You know how to get to my CafePress store--through TheCemeteryClub.com site store link.
Visit often and buy lots! :-)
Seacrest out,
Minda
www.TheCemeteryClub.com
It's May Day, 2005
Normally I put the date in first, but I just realized that the first things you type come up as the title of the post. So I thought this made more sense. Nice to know my brain works sometimes.
So why the title this time? Because on Thursday I was in my second car accident in less than one month. The first was on April Fool's Day (fitting) and was merely a fender bender. Thursday's "bump" was a full on rear end job caused by yours truly. It was a freak thing but stupid nonetheless.
Here's how it went. I was actually leaving on time for work that morning. There was hardly any traffic when I pulled out of our alley. Six blocks later there is a stop light. All of us start going through the light, and we are just through it when the accident happens. I am probably only 20 feet past the intersection when I hit the nice lady in the Lexus. What had happened was that there is a scrap metal place with its entrance within the a block of the intersection. Though I noticed the four cars in front of me, I did not notice the huge scrap truck ahead of them who was turning slooooowly into this place's entrance. In the length of time it took me to get through the intersection and then glance down for a brief moment (was I checking the time? I don't remember) and then look up again, I had just enough time to slam the brakes at about the same time I hit the lady's car in front of me.
Very fortunately, she is okay. And her car is built like a tank. It only got a scuff mark. Not even a dent. My car, on the other hand, is not doing so hot. The fender bender put a big ol' dent in the front corner of my car, and this bump bent the hood a bit (needs to be replaced) and messed up the front of the car. The lights didn't break, but they will need to be replaced. If anyone knows of any Olds Alero hoods that are available, let me know! My repair guy is looking for one. At least the car is drivable right now. But my lights are cock-eyed, so I won't be traveling at night! I'm sure you're thinking, "Damn, good thing! Stay off the road, you crazy driver!" Well, I don't blame you. I hadn't been in a car accident since 1990. Now two in one month. I'm SO glad April is over.
Oh, I didn't mention that I didn't really get too hurt in the accident. I had my seatbelt on, of course. I don't drive without it on. It's the law, and it's also--hello!--super smart. I do have a pretty sucky case of whiplash, though. Good thing my chiropractic team is on the case. I'd be in a lot worse shape by now if were not for Dr. B and my student extern Jason. They are life savers.
The funny thing is that even thought I feel like my brains have been rattled (and beleive me, they have), I finished two more chapters for my book yesterday! I am so close! Chapters are still out with my editors, but I also have at least three more to pass on to them. I want to get this thing to the publisher right away. It's time.
Once I pass it along, the magazine will be my focus. We have had tons of great submissions so far. Our first issue is going to be awesome. We're still shooting for July. I guess it just all depends on any further adventures ... NO MORE CAR ACCIDENTS, THANK YOU!
Well, I'm off to post some stuff on eBay and update my store. On eBay, my username is elfaba1 (that's "elfaba" with a #1, not an "L"). You know how to get to my CafePress store--through TheCemeteryClub.com site store link.
Visit often and buy lots! :-)
Seacrest out,
Minda
www.TheCemeteryClub.com
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