MORE SNOW

Tomorrow.
9-14 inches.
I'm not kidding.
That's all I have the energy to post today. I need to conserve for tomorrow's shoveling.

Dentist, Done

That's right. I'm officially cleared for chewing as of this morning. I don't have to go back to the dentist until April, which means I'm a happy camper. To celebrate, I ate a Twix and two mutant Hershey Kisses (They're a combo of milk, dark and white chocolate. If that ain't mutant, what is?).

We're supposed to get a "moderate" storm tomorrow night. Only 4-8 inches. Is there an off button for this snow anywhere? Cause somebody forgot to hit it. I'll settle for "snooze".

Is It Bad When You Snap a Tendon?

I don't really think I literally snapped it, but that's sort of how it felt. My left forearm kind of twanged, and now my arm is a bit numb and feels like it's lacking strength. I'm sure that's no good.

It's all the snow's fault. It picked the exact wrong time to snow. So we didn't get a delay or anything, and I still had to shovel the 10 or so inches that fell around my house. Nice.

In other news, my lack of sleep is giving me some strange dreams. Last night I dreamed that I went to the Olympics to watch Brandon Sanderson in the solo bobsled event. Except his bobsled had wheels, and he went so fast that he broke through the track and went sailing over the crowd, at which point he got a standing ovation. Also, he had long hair in this dream. Brandon, you haven't been letting your hair get long, have you? Or taken up wheeled bobsledding by any chance?

Cost of Technology

Just found a cool article in PC World about how technology prices have changed today compared to twenty years ago. Think the iPhone is too expensive at $400? The top of the line phone twenty years ago was $4,400. Yeah. How do ya like them apples? Read more here.

Reference Desk

Everyone should have to sit at the reference desk from time to time. Especially in an academic library. People hurriedly scurrying around, tracking down information, while you sit in the middle of it all, soaking up all that accumulated knowledge that's floating around you. Public libraries are fun, too, of course--but there's a lot more public in them, and let's face it, there are times when that's not such a good thing. :-)

It's started to snow here again. The weather people are currently fighting about how much snow we'll actually get. The Weather Channel likes to say 7-12, but what do they know? The local station's saying 10-16. The National Weather Service is somewhere in between. But you know what? No matter which way you slice it, I'm still going to be shoveling tomorrow, so does it really matter? We've gotten a lot of snow. Define a lot? Okay. How about there's already a good two feet of thick, dense snow on my lawn. Not where I've shoveled it into mounds--there it's more 3-4 feet, five in places. No, I'm talking about measuring right out where it's not drifting. And this isn't the light, fluffy stuff. This is the cold, bitter, not-going-to-melt-unless-you-torch me snow. The kind with sand around the edges and a tang of salt through and through. Gray, depressed snow. Add another foot on top of it (with more scheduled for the weekend), and you get an idea of what I mean about a lot of snow. So unless you live in the Tundra, Alaska, or Santa's Workshop, none of you should be complaining about snow.

Baby girl is sleeping about 5.5 hours a night now, and doing super. She went to the doctor yesterday and is already up to 8 lbs. 5 oz. Many thanks to all of you who have been so generous with gifts and the like. Thanks to you, she has enough clothes that we've started using clothes in the wood stove instead of wood. Well, not really. Just ordered another 2 cord of wood today. Next year, I'm sure as heckfire not leaving the wood outside during the winter. I'll stack it in the spring and let it season, and then come October or so, it's going in my garage. Digging it out of the snow is about as much fun as shining a laser pointer in my eye.

Joy

Anybody who's anybody watches the Oscars. That's right. If you didn't watch them last night, then you are officially nobody. How does that make you feel? This year I was particularly happy, because the directors who I think are the best thing since word processing were awarded with three Oscars. That's right. The Coen Brothers did super good. I have yet to see No Country for Old Men--I'm probably going to have to wait for DVD, since I don't get to go to the theaters as much as I'd like. But to me, it doesn't matter. I'm just glad they got the awards. Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski, Miller's Crossing, O Brother Where Art Thou, Fargo, Blood Simple, Intolerable Cruelty, The Man Who Wasn't There, The Hudsucker Proxy. Heck--I even liked The Ladykillers. These men are practically walking gods in my book, and I have yet to see a movie of theirs that I didn't like. No, they're not for everyone. Yes, they have some graphic violence in some films, but hot dawg--they're darn good films. Miller's Crossing was incredible. So I'm very happy they won. (*Extra piece of coolness: Ethan Cohen has the same birthday as me. Well, off by about 21 years, but still. Bill Murray does, too. Maybe I'm just naturally drawn to the work of people who share my birthday.)

As I was watching the Oscars, I realized something. They showed the Best Picture winners for all 80 years, and of the 80 films, I've still only seen 42. Sigh. (Although that's a really cool number, and a cool coincidence--I still need to do better.) I love watching movies. L. O. V. E.

How'd my picks do? I got 13 out of 24. So better than half, which isn't awful, but it could've been a lot better. I was 70% on the big picks, though (picture, actor, etc.) So that's not too shabby.

On another note, some have expressed interest on what I've found about insulation. Basically, it seems like if you've got an old house, the steps to address are:

1. Attic
2. Windows
3. Walls

In order of cost, cheapest to most expensive. So I plan on putting extra insulation in the attic, and insulating underneath my main floor--between us and the basement. Denisa's been making window quilts for the windows, and as for the walls . . . they'll probably have to wait for another day. Or year. Just too expensive. But rolling out insulation? I got that covered. As soon as I have time.

Snowing Again

Everyone at work reminds me that in my interview, I said I loved snow, and that it's all my fault we're getting so much of it this winter. To which I reply, I also love chocolate cake, but if I ate it every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner for six months, I'd get kind of tired of it after a while.

I've also decided I need to insulate my house better. In fact, there are a lot of things I need to fix up around my house. Time to raid the library for some books on how to do it. After successfully putting in a door to my son's room, I'm feeling rather optimistic about my chances.

And as a cool link to all you people who like cool things, check this out: how to make your computer 3-D using a Nintendo Wii. Very spiffy.

Feeling Better

Of course, I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I slept in until 11 this morning. Not that all of that was pure sleep, but if you add what I got during the night all together, then I'm doing better. I also came up with an idea for a sequel to Ichabod this morning, which makes me happy, as well. I'd always wondered what I'd do if I ever wanted to revisit that world again, and now I know--in enough time to plant seeds for the sequel into the draft I'm working on right now. Go me.

Still Tired

Baby girl slept better last night. I didn't. So the net effect is that I feel worse today than yesterday. Then again, maybe that's because I'm back at work--for half the day, at least. Good thing, too. I don't think I'm really capable of paying anything solid attention right now. I just made it through my almost 300 emails, so at least that's done. I'm going to go home soon and try not to fall asleep until night, so that I can get a full night's rest. Sigh.

My Aching Back and Other Annoyances

Hmm. Quite a bit to post about today. We'll see if I actually feel like saying much about all of it. First of all, a disclaimer: baby girl isn't sleeping super well at night, so I'm a bit of a zombie right now. If none of this makes sense, you can thank my daughter. To add to my fatigue, I've been working on stacking and moving wood and shoveling out more of my driveway. The mailbox was a particular pain. Who knew that one little mailbox could get covered in that much snow. I think my mailman's given up on me. Hopefully he'll actually deliver mail tomorrow. You know that bit about “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”? Well, just put enough of that snow around your mailbox, and suddenly those couriers give up on you. Maybe it's because they figure they can't do it swiftly anymore, so why bother.

In other news, Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award was winnowed down to the top 100 today. Yours truly was not number among those happy few. Of course, there were only 5 or 6 sci-fi/fantasy books chosen to proceed, so I can't feel that bad. Of the 106 or so Sci-fi/fantasy books chosen for the top 860, my excerpt ended up rated 37th. This isn't so bad, considering I didn't really pander for good reviews. In fact, only one person I know rated me--the other 7 reviews were all by strangers. Some of the people in the contest were shamelessly asking people for 5 star reviews. What's the point? So anyway--out of that contest now. Of course, I still have yet to hear back from the editor I sent Vodnik to back in September. I wonder what's happening with that . . .

And lastly, I don't post about religion much, but I had an experience in the wee hours of the morning that I wanted to relate to you. The wife and I practice something some have termed as the "Nazi Mom (or Dad) Method of Childrearing" (also known as Babywise). For those of you not "in the know," this essentially means that making sure your baby doesn't cry isn't your top priority. If she's hungry or wet or hurt or gassy--you do your best to accommodate her, but otherwise you let her scream when she's supposed to be going to sleep. (I'm not giving this the full description it deserves, but I'm tired, so give me a break.) We did this for Tomas, and I think it helped us be much better parents for him, and it helped him be much more independent. Anyway. Last night baby girl was supposed to be sleeping. Instead, she was crying. A lot. I had checked her diaper, burped her, re-wrapped her, rocked her, and put her back down. She wasn't in pain. She wasn't in any real distress. As soon as you picked her up, she'd quiet down. What she wanted was for Mommy or Daddy to come and pay her attention. And I wanted to. Really I did. There's nothing quite like listening to your child cry and knowing you could help them and get them to stop crying--but letting them cry anyway. But I didn't pick her up (well, I did every fifteen minutes, just to make sure she was still okay). And I didn't because I knew that if I picked her up last night, there would come another night (likely tonight) when she'd do the same thing. Again, and again. And that as much as I love her and want her to be happy, I believe I need to help her be able to comfort herself and not constantly look to me to do it for her. (I imagine some of you reading this are disagreeing with me right now. Arguments along the lines of "she's only a week old" and such. Well, all I can say is that if you disagree, go have kids of your own and raise them however you feel. This method has worked for me, and I'm sticking to it--even if it is hard.) Anyway--the point is, I wondered last night if God ever felt like I did right then. If he saw His children in obvious distress and pain, and He knew that He could help them, but by helping them, He would only end up getting in the way of their becoming better people. As much as it's nice to have good things happen to you in this life, I really believe you have to have some crappy things happen, too. It goes with the territory. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

I think I'll go take a nap.

(Oh, and by the way, baby girl is sleeping right now. Like an angel.)

Heist and Caper Books

While plotting my book yesterday, I came to a realization. I have watched more than my fair share of heist/caper movies, but I have read practically no heist/caper books. I mean, I know how I would film the scene I'm going to start with, but I don't know how I would write it. So I'm now working on fixing that--by reading some good heist/caper books. We'll see how that goes. One of the troubles is that I'm not really writing an entire heist/caper. I'm just writing two heist/caper scenes. What I want to do is something like the beginning of the Thomas Crown Affair remake, or the opening of The Italian Job remake--heists that introduce characters and challenges all at once, yet still look really cool and make sense. None of the giant build up to the heist that's found in movies like Ocean's Eleven. Does that makes sense? So my appeal to you, dear readers, is if any of you have read any scenes like that in any books. If you have, email or respond below. I'd love to see what you've got.

Ice and Writing

I woke up this morning to see a good half inch of ice coating the ten inches of snow that fell yesterday. If there's one thing I like worse than shoveling, it's chipping at ice. That's why I didn't shovel yesterday. Much easier to pry the ice off if it's resting on a blanket of snow. I also went snow shoeing for the first time today as I traipsed around my house and got the snow off the roof with a roof rake. Snow shoeing could be quite fun once I figure it out. At first, I didn't think the snow shoes were doing that much. I mean, I was still sinking down into the snow past my ankles. Maybe I'm just too fat to snow shoe. Then one of the shoes came off without my knowledge--and I sank down to my waist. So now I appreciate snow shoes a lot more, and I don't think I'm too fat, either. In fact, maybe I'll have another Valentine cookie. (Decorated yesterday)

Baby is doing well. She seems to be sleeping a lot more than my son did at her age. Then again, maybe she's just gearing up for a lot of no sleeping. Who knows? I do know that she's eating better, and that's a big plus.

Now, if only my writing would go better. I've been plotting this latest book for what feels like forever. I have the first two thirds basically plotted, and I know generally what will happen in the last third. But now I'm trying to write it chapter by chapter, plotting each chapter out before I write. This is proving more difficult than I anticipated. The trouble is that all three of the viewpoint characters I'm using have complex plots that require a lot of thought. For example, the chapter I'm plotting right now features a heist scene. But I don't want it to be just any heist scene. I want it to be a really cool heist scene. This involves figuring out a lot of things before I write the scene itself. I just have to keep reminding myself that the end product will be wicked good. (Wicked's a slang word they use up here in Maine. I'm trying to blend in.)

Still, I suppose I should pat myself on the back just for trying to write. I haven't been sleeping well, and frankly I'm pretty stressed out about the whole new baby thing. Keeping track of how everyone is doing in my family--wife, son and daughter--is growing increasingly complex. Oh well. At least my job is letting me take some time off. I don't know what I'd be doing if I was working in addition to everything else. Yikes.

New Baby

As some of you have noted, I haven't posted on here for the past two days, despite my new resolution to do better with that. I have a good excuse, though. We have a new member of the family, name available on request by email. (Can I just comment that society's reached a pretty sad state, when you have to be cautioned at the hospital about the dangers of telling too many people you've had a baby, what her name is, etc.?) In any case, mom and baby are fine. Well, baby is crying right now, but I believe that's because she's hungry. My son is being a great deal of help, and he's very proud to be a big brother at last.

Vital Statistics:

7 lbs 11 oz
21 inches
3:44 pm on Monday February 11th
Total labor length: 11 hours (but that's including mild contractions that weren't bothering the wife too much)
Epidural? No. Wife wasn't admitted to the hospital until after the baby was born, actually.
Pictures: Yes. I'll attach them at the bottom of this post.

It's snowing up a storm outside today. I've been roof raking and plowing and shoveling so much my arms feel like they're going to fall off. However, all is well now--the family's in one place. Phone calls are welcome--I have a cell phone, so if I get irritated or someone wants to sleep, I'll just put it on vibrate.

Now I think I'll go shovel some more.

Snow

Want some? 'Cause I got plenty. I'm willing to sell it to you for the low cost of 5 cents per pound, plus shipping and handling. Believe me, it's the handling that's gonna cost ya. Shovel shovel shovel shovel. And it's still snowing. People around here tell me that they haven't seen this kind of snow in years. When you have a conversation with someone about whether or not your roofs are going to hold out, then you can safely say that you have a lot of snow.

And still no baby.

Romney Out

Well at least I can stop caring as much about the race. With McCain and Huck the only two left . . . I don't know. Sigh. How depressing.

It's still snowing here. Had to plow myself out of my driveway today. It's just not been a good day. What can you do?

I don't feel like talking.

Enough Politics

I'm about to go home for a half day. Hooray for snow! Since I have no time to make a normal sized post--and since I'm sick of election coverage--here's something completely different. For a good laugh, check this page out. It takes government warning signs and puts funny captions with them. I laughed. Hard. But maybe that's just because I'm going home early from work.

And you're not.

Man Crush beats out Common Sense

After the first round of votes, Romney was up over Huckabee in West Virginia, 41% to 33%. McCain had 16%. Only problem is in WV, you need 50% to win the delegates. So they revoted, and all the McCainiacs jumped ship to good ol' Schmuckabee.

The result? Huckabee won.

This frustrates me.

Snow Days (or lack thereof)

So I have finally found the downside to knowing you get snow days at work. If you wake up one morning, the snow is pelting down and there's already three inches on the ground--and you DON'T get a snow day, you become bitter. Grumpy. But I'm pretty much over that now. It helped that we all had a Mardi Gras lunch at work. I had eight different flavors of ice cream, two donut thingies, a piece of sweet potato pie and three big glasses of chocolate milk. I also had lunch.

Did I ever mention I need to start going to the gym?

I do.

Today's Super Tuesday, folks. Aren't you all just so excited you can't stand it? If one of two things happen today, I will at least be content. Either Obama needs to stop Clinton or Romney needs to stop McCain. I could blog about this till the snow stops here. But I'm not going to. You're welcome.

Super Bowl

Take that, you cheating Patriots. Honestly, I'm not anti-Patriots or anything, but the idea that everyone was praising this team that had been cheating and fined for it was disturbing to me. I don't care if "everyone else was doing it." Everyone else should stop. (And everyone else wasn't doing it bad enough to be caught multiple times.)

Anyway.

I had a good time watching the game. And an even better time at my Groundhog Day party. Groundhog sculpting, drawing with feet, quizzes and more. Bill Murray looked even older than usual in HD, but that comes with the territory.

And no. Still no baby.

Groundhog Day

That's right, Woodchuck chuckers--tomorrow is GROUNDHOG DAY!

I probably won't be able to post tomorrow--too busy with the festivities. We're hosting a party, of course. There will be Groundhog Games of Skill (with prizes awarded), a Woodchuck Feast (not eating woodchucks, but rather honoring them), presents from the Great Groundhog and then a screening of the film in high definition. That's right. HD Groundhog Day. Does life get any better?

So what will all of you be doing for this epic day? Will Phil see his shadow? The suspense is killing me! In any case, may the Spirit of Groundhog Day be with you and yours on this lovely weekend.

And you better get your booties, 'cause it's cold outside.

It's cold outside everyday. What is this? Miami Beach?

Not hardly.