Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Tidbits

Due to NaNo Prep and real life issues I have neglected my blog for a while. So here are some tidbits:

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Before artificial light was bent to our will, most people would retire shortly after dusk, sleep for four or five hours, awaken for an hour or two, then drift back to sleep again until sunrise. During the in between awakening, they would have a snack or read or write in candlelight. Some even dropped in on their neighbors.

Although I was born several decades after electricity was invented, I wonder if this practice is etched in my DNA, because I usually wake up at night and listen to music with earphones or get up and read. Then I go back to sleep. This is the same with my husband, and come to think of it, it used to happen to my grandmother, too.

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Why Love? Some blame it on our jelly-fish neurons.
I didn't make it up, so don't sue me.
To tell the truth, I'd like love to be of spiritual origin or due to some attraction between souls, but then, who knows!

Lousy-neurons  

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--Writer Brings in the World While She Keeps It at Bay--

Author  

I so agree with her stance. After all, she is a writer and not a street vendor.

From my angle, I hate it that writers have to go all over the place spreading their wares and acting like salesmen.

On the other hand, I do understand the need for this, but I wish some other solution could be found other than book tours and the need for the writers to go on talk shows and malls and bookstores to drum up business. If the book is self-published and the author enjoys the give and take, this is fine, but this practice has been continuing for decades as the result of established publishing companies pushing the authors to advertise their own books. It was said that if you didn't take the matters in your own hand, the book wouldn't be sold.

I am sure many writers do feel like me and are inconvenienced by the travel and time-spent. Chances are most writers would rather stay at their desks and work on their next book.

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Oceans-in-a-100-years  

My take on this is: Things never happen the way we predict them. Granted, it may be even worse, but I bet it will turn out to be different.

Talking for me, am I glad I won't live 100 years more, if not for anything but fish is just about the only meat product that puts me among the carnivores.

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False Threat!

This is the sign in the parking lot shared by Barnes&Noble's, Sports Authority, and Office Max in Jensen, FL.

I understand the part of the sign that says "Customer Parking Only, but what I am curious about is the writing under that. "All others will be towed at owner's expense."

I would understand it if they would say something like "Cars left after hours will be towed." Since they didn't, I am wondering how they will be able to decide which car does not belong to a customer, because this is a big parking lot and customers buzz in and out like bees.