The Dog Ate My Blog Post and Other Excuses
First, let’s have a round of applause for Val Frankel who wrote an amazing book and then did a great post here, and then let’s follow it up for all the commenters who, in the great tradition of Argh People, took it and ran with it. I swear, putting an idea up here is like throwing chum in the water. I just stand back and watch the action.
You may have noticed I was watching more than usual this time. As in, I was not there. I have reasons. First, my laptop turned into a doorstop. I’m sure it can be fixed as soon as I find what I did with the AppleCare I never registered, but in the meantime I have a new MacBook which I evidently bought seconds before the newest new MacBook is about to be launched, and it will be fabulous and have a weight loss attachment and house train dogs because I already bought the old version. Oh, well. Mostly I miss the big screen on my MacPro. But this is a sturdy little thing, and it has an N key that isn’t worn to a nub, so there’s an upside, too. Also, it works like a dream. My theory is that the Pro is probably full of Diet Coke and dog hair. I’m hard on my computers.
I’ve also been distracted by the house. The contractor is finishing up this phase (since my money market account that was funding the remodel seems to have gone somewhere else, we’re stopping for awhile, which means my garage is full of windows) and I now have french doors out onto my admittedly ancient deck. I will never understand why somebody would build a house on a river and then put tiny little windows on the river wall. Of course, these are the same people who put NO windows on the front of the house, so small windows were probably a step up. Anyway, now there are french doors and a dining room table and I’m actually spending time in that room, eating at a table like a real person instead of holding a plate in my lap while I type. What I’ve discovered about remodeling is that if you do it right, it looks like its always been there and you start hanging out where you never went before. The french doors look like they’ve always been there and I keep ending up in there just because it’s so warm. Some other stuff I’ve done to the house, not so much.
Also, Bob and I have been pedal to the metal on Wild Ride. Well, Bob has. I’ve been panicking because I cannot get my character, poor Mary Imogen. Then last night I sat down with the music on my iPod and started on the collage and bingo, we got ourselves a ballgame, or at least a story about demons set in an amusement park. I don’t know why I have to re-invent the wheel every damn time I write a book, but at least I’ve relearned Lesson Eight: Begin With Collage.
On top of that, I have a house guest coming tomorrow. Bob arrives in the evening, a couple of hours after my mammogram (get one every year, please; it’s a pain in the boob but it saves lives) and I will have to amuse him (Ironman DVD and KitKats) before we hit the road for research. This should be interesting: Bob and I in an amusement park. We are so not amusement park people. {Ed. note: That should be “Bob and I” not “Bob and me”, right? Because it acts as a predicate nominative? I’m too lazy to go look it up.)
And tonight I have to watch the debate with Krissie and Lani, via Campfire. We’d live blog it in public, but then we’d have to mind our reputations. I’m pretty sure I offered to have Joe Biden’s baby during the VP debate. That’s the kind of stuff that can haunt a person. We’ve done all of the debates, so tonight is our last hurrah before the election. We do MSNBC because Lani likes the way Olbermann articulates her anger and I have a girl crush on Rachel Maddow. And because I like the way Olbermann articulates my anger and Lani has a girl crush on Rachel Maddow. Krissie just goes where we go.
Speaking of Krissie, she’s feeling poorly, so it would be great if you’d go to her Drama Queen blog and tell you love her and her books are fab. Her last entry from Sept. 16 has a list of her Facebook postings that’s a fun outline of how she puts a book together.
And now I must go clean the guest room. You may remember the coronary Bob had over the wastebasket on a previous visit. But in the meantime, a nice thing happened on my way to learning this new computer: Wordpress will let me post pictures with it. YAY! So here’s my almost-finished dining room:
And my not even close to finished collage:
Oh, and Veronica would like you to know that despite the title, she is completely and totally innocent:
Coming soon: Another great gift of a book from Meg. Remember the parrots? She’s done it again.
Oh babe, that is a beautiful dining room. I’m sure the light does wonderful things to Veronica’s hair. And I really want to rootle through your plop of impending collage stuffs… *sigh*
Miss ya.
Such a gorgeous dog. Although I’m sure she knows that, please tell her.
The french doors are fabulous!
Ooooh, I love amusement parks. Ride a roller coaster and scream yourself silly at least once for me. Then, because you deserve it, indulge in one horribly expensive lacking in any kind of nutritional value amusement park treat (kissing cousins to state fair treats where everything is fried and on a stick).
Go to Cedar Point in the next few weeks and it’s spooktactular during the day and halloweeny in the evening (at least that’s what the plethora of TV ads say).
That’s an “I’m innocent” doggie look if I’ve ever seen one.
So are you and Bob road tripping to Kennywood? I can’t believe I lived in Pittsburgh for 8 years and never went! pitiful (or may pittiful? or neither looks right)
The dining room is absolutely GORGEOUS!
And may I just add a yum to both Olberman and Maddow. You and Lani have fabulous taste!
It’s a good thing most of us don’t know where you live. I’d be moving in.
A 3D Collage cool
I have finally found the silver lining to the financial bomb. You can’t keep remodeling until you get another book published. I’m saving my pennies (under a matress) so I can buy it when it comes out. Get writing!
Maybe you three polotical commentators can find a way to publish anonymously and then drop hints as to where to find said humorous gold?
When you return, and since you now can post pictures again, we need to see all the pet people — many times. Please.
Since everyone else has commented on the windows and Veronica (definitely gorgeous) - I’ll mention the centerpiece on the table. I couldn’t see it clearly, but I liked it! Also, it’s the only thing on the table. Where’s the mail? And the recipes, newspaper clippings, bits of things that don’t really have a home? You’re doing a lot of things right!
Good to see you again. The dining room looks fantastic!
I thought I was the only one who had such a secret after the VP debate. I think Joe Biden is hot. Loved his Civics 101 lesson which he delivered so well and so politely. Probably went right over Palin’s head. I can see why he is a revered teacher.
If you purchased Applecare at the same time as you purchased the laptop, Apple does the registration for you. You just need the serial number of the MacBook Pro to contact them. Just don’t mention Diet Coke or dog hair, they should be able to help. Nice people at Apple.
I love the color scheme you’ve got going on in the collage. I hope you don’t mind, I’m going to use the colors in a project I have got coming up.
I think Michelle Obama would make a fabulous romance heroine. Girl crush indeed
I am LOVING Olberman-did you watch last night? talk about articulating anger- and I, too, am crushing on Maddow. She’s friggin adorable as all get out.
I always feel proprietary about Rachel because we raised her and trained her right here (Northampton, MA, home of Smith College, among other wonders) before unleashing her fabulousness on the rest of the unsuspecting world.
Your dragonfly lamp even fits the colorscheme, from what I can tell. Glad to see more of your design choices on line. Always makes me happy. Thanks for sharing.
And I love the mine ride rollercoaster at King’s Island when it feels like you’re going to crash into the ground but you wind up going over an unexpected hill. And the Magnum at Cedar Point elicited the first heartfelt scream from me on a rollercoaster. We got to the top, I saw the front of the coaster heading directly down into Lake Erie with nothing between us and them and AAAAAAHHHHH!!! came right out. Eyeballs bulged and everything. Then we finished cresting the hill and turned left, staying on dry ground and not plunging underwater and the ride was great. But yikes - that view of nothing but water from the top is a mind altering one.
“This should be interesting: Bob and I in an amusement park. We are so not amusement park people.”
Perhaps you’ll find one with demons, since that seems to worry you less.
This is totally off all topics, but I am getting a “Fatal error: Call to undefined function c2c_get_recent_posts() in /home/.gunner/progress0nl1ne/arghink.com/wp-content/themes/arghink/sidebar.php on line 27″ message in the right-hand sidebar of this blog-page. I can’t view any of the previous posts! Argh, indeed. Any suggestions? I am using Firefox, which has never given me trouble on this page before.
Jenny - I worked in an amusement park for 18 years and did just about everything you can imagine except sell food. If you have any questions, send me an email. I can give you a great personal perspective.
~Sharon
I see the same “fatal error” message. Sounds very ominous. Wordpress giveth photos and taketh away the sidebar.
Chrissy-if you go to the top of the page, you can follow the link back the previous post, and from there the post before that, and the the…you get the idea.
Congrats on both the new MacBook and the new French doors.
I have fond memories of the Mad Mouse and the old (and now forever gone) Marshall Hall amusement park that stood near the Potomace many many moons ago. It was a rickety wooden coaster with cars that definitely did not hug the curves. You’d swear you were going off the track, right over the edge and then the car would swerve with a sudden jerk back into line.
Chrissy - I see that error message as well.
Zowie! I love the pictures. I hope my sometday dining room spruce up makes mine as inviting as yours. Although, I doubt doors or windows will be in the budget anytime soon.
I do NOT have a fatal error message. I’m using Internet Explorer. FYI
Fatal error message is gone now. Links for recent posts and archives are back as well as the preview window for composing your comments. Thanks for hanging in there!
The French doors look great, the collage exciting, and Veronica is charming. Hope you have a blast at the amusement park, watch out for demons.
Beautiful dining room with gorgeous french doors and lots of light. Love it! Fun pics of Veronica and the collage in progress.
You always make me feel better as a writer when you say things like ‘I cannot get my character…’ Then you think of collage as if its a brand new idea. I love it! Live your life moment to moment!
I love that feeling when things click. That lift off feeling is fantastic.
Good luck with the amusement park and Bob! Have lots of fun.
Thank you, Mollie!
Jenny, the dining room looks great. Just made for sitting & relaxing. Can you see the river when you look out the french doors ?
The collage is..confusing.
How do you pronounce Mary Imogen?
I’ve been wondering.
This will be another food book, won’t it.
“start and end your day with a corn dog and eat cotton candy, ice cream, gyros, fried chicken gizzards, pizza, saltwater taffy, fresh-squeezed lemonade and elephant ears in between”.
Also: deep-fried candy bars.
One word for the dining room: Wow. (Delivered in an appropriately reverential tone with just the tiiiiniest top note of envy.)
And I’m girl-crushing on Rachel Maddow, too. I’ve become an MSNBC whore these past few weeks. Along with my husband. What the heck did we do before we got cable???
Love the french doors! Very beautiful.
Incidentally, you were right about the Bob and I and the whole predicate nominative thing.
That dog ate your blog post? Don’t make me laugh.
That is the classiest-looking dog I have ever seen. Just look at the noble tilt of her head and that long, aristocratic nose… I simply don’t believe she is the kind of dog who would eat a blog post. She looks like the kind of dog who would edit a blog post while sipping champagne and having a pedicure. Seriously.
Remodeling Pictures. Veronica Pictures. Collage Pictures. Jenny and Bob book talking. All is right with the Universe.
Though we could use some more dog pictures. I miss Milton. And stories about Callie.
Talking in fragments day. Liberating.
First of all, a big round of applause to Mollie for putting back the plug-ins although I am not seeing the preview feature. Is everybody else?
Then the centerpiece. It’s a metal twig bowl that has five flat pieces for votive candles. I either got it on sale at Target or at the Pottery Barn outlet in Jeffersonville. Then I filled it with this kind of stick/brush stuff that I’m almost positive I got at Target and half a dozen fake speckled eggs I am positive I got that the PB outlet. All of which is to say, I’m cheap and it was all on markdown.
Yes, I can see the river when I look through the french doors, Jill.
Mary Imogen is Mary Im-Oh-Jen. Or however you want to pronounce it. It’s half your book, too, when you read it.
Food in Wild Ride. MI lives over the ice cream store which is run by her roommate, Cindy, who makes it herself. Magic ice cream. Bob’s character, meanwhile, is hanging out in the beer pavilion. Each to his or her own.
Sharon, we may take you up on that, especially the behind the scenes stories part. We’ve got Lani, too, who used to work at some Wild West theme park in AZ or NM and blow things up and get hanged every day. I wonder if there’s video of that.
As for Veronica, she hasn’t stopped barking at Bob since he got here. It’s not like they haven’t met before but Veronica has a very short memory. Milton keeps leaping on him even though he’s not allowed to leap. Lucy and Wolfie, who have known Bob for years, couldn’t care less.
Funnel cakes!!!
No sign of the preview, but everything else looks good.
Thanks, Mollie!
Um, what’s a preview? All I see is the usual list of links…
The doors are beautiful! And doggy too. :o)
If you want to switch the new old-version MacBook, you can. The Unofficial Apple Weblog says: http://www.tuaw.com/2008/10/17/awe-i-just-bought-a-macbook-last-week/
Jenny - congratulations on your new MacPro. You might want to check out TimeCapsule. It’s a new wireless router thingy for Apples that wirelessly, and automatically, backs up your entire hard drive every 15 minutues. It’s supposed to be a complete recovery system where you can find old versions of files or replace the entire system. It has a tiered system that allows you to go back for 30 days (I think) and recover old versions of your entire computer life.
I just bought mine on Sunday. I’m sure somday, when my Mac eventually crashes, I will be secure in the fact that Timecapsule is still sitting on the floor of my livingroom in the bag I brought home from the store.
sheagal - So - you work in IT, right?
Mollie, sweetie, my ardent thanks - I have Archive back! Good going.
Still no preview, but nevertheless: MOLLIE FOR PRESIDENT!
How is Annie taking to Bob?
Oh, I can’t wait for the “Jenny and Bob Do the Amusement Park” show. I don’t suppose the two of you could do a He Said She Said style post about it? I do miss those Living The Dream blog posts.
Jackie - I am so far from IT that I kept saying to myself “what’s it?” No, I’m actually only moderate when it comes to computers. But I read David Pogue’s column in the NYtimes and he did a write-up on the Time Capsule. Plus, I an Early Adopter. Love the geeky gadgets.
Not sure if this is a good time to ask, but I’ve actually been wondering for a while how you name your characters.
I’ve noticed that most of your leading ladies have uncommon names or nicknames, while the “best friend” characters could have names like Debby or Lisa.
Is naming a character like naming a child, where you give them a name that you hope they live up to, or are you trying to tie into associations people have (or don’t have) about certain names?
This is not the actual comment. My actual comment has links and, will, therefore, probably be eaten by the spam filter. This comment is merely here to let you know if another comment by me does not follow it is most likely in the spam filter. *sigh*
Also, if my other comment does not follow check out the Cake Wrecks blog. Ok…
Jackie - I am so far from IT that I kept saying to myself “what’s it?” No, I’m actually only moderate when it comes to computers. But I read David Pogue’s column in the NYtimes and he did a write-up on the Time Capsule. Plus, I an Early Adopter. Love the geeky gadgets.
I thought you were one of us because you found and great back up tool - and weren’t using it. Classic IT person at home. embarrassing for us at least, you have an excuse.
Can’t wait to sink my teeth into the first Crusie Mayer paranormal. Hope you made it back from the amusement park without vertigo and nausea! Great dining room. Looks like the perfect place to sit with your MacBook.
I thought you were one of us because you found and great back up tool - and weren’t using it. Classic IT person at home. embarrassing for us at least, you have an excuse.
Jackie - Nope, I’m just a plain old ordinary procrastinator. Actually, I invest money for a living and I still need an advisor to call and bug me about making my decisions. “The Shoemaker’s children”, I guess.
Jenny, Bob mentioned that Hannah has been limping and that you’re in mourning over Lucy. Please tell me he was just very tired from the return journey home and unknowingly typed a paragraph of gibberish in his Tuesday post…
Jenny… my deepest condolences on the loss of Lucy (Bob mentioned it in his blog today). I’ve had dogs all my live and love them unconditionally, as do you. Know that sometime in the far future you will cross the Rainbow Bridge and be reunited.
Hi All!
Jenny, for several years I was a California State Fair groupie, buying a season pass ($38) and going every day but one to the Fair. Any help fleshing out the atmosphere you might need, holler. Oh, and I’ve watched Terry Stokes’ wonderful hypnotism show over a hundred times. Nutso, I know, but I love it!! No more California Fairs for me since I moved to Washington State a year ago.
Such sad news. I’m so sorry for your loss, Jenny.
I’m so sorry for your loss. Bob mentioned Lucy’s passing. My heart goes out to you.
So sad and sorry to hear about Lucy. Losing someone you love, with or without fur, hurts so damn much.
So very sorry, Jenny.
Bob has a big mouth. And a big heart. He’s been terrific all through this.
About sixteen or seventeen years ago, I went through a spate of adopting homeless animals. Four dogs and three cats. Lucy was the last of that pack, and she had a wonderful life right up to the end, when things got bad very fast, so she didn’t suffer long. The one thing I learned watching the dogs and cats leave one by one is that the worst thing I can do is try to hold on to them, so I know it’s good she didn’t linger. But it’s been a bad couple of days, made much better by your good thoughts. Thank you very much
Oh, I’m sorry to hear about this, but glad you found each other.
Sending good thoughts your way.
I’m sure she did have a wonderful life with you and it’s good that she didn’t suffer long. Virtual hugs to you, Jenny.
On a note completely unrelated to ANYTHING,but just because I thought of Talpianna when I saw this headline:
Mole stars in signature dishes at Oaxacan Restaurant
If you’re visiting, Tal (way down here), check it out!
Jenny, so sorry to hear about Lucy.
Big hugs.
x
Jenny, I’m sorry that Lucy has gone ahead. I’m sure she’s catching up on old times with her original pack, and they’ll all be waiting for you at the Rainbow Bridge.
I just posted another comment, Jenny, a reply to Diane above. It vanished when I hit Submit Comment, possibly because there was a link in it? Please check your spam folder.
At any rate, today is National Mole Day, so I thanked her for the mention of mole.>/i>
Remember to celebrate in the traditional way:
1. Wear taupe.
2. Give lavish presents to your favorite Mole.
To Jenny and her current pack, I’m sorry for your loss. Of course you will miss her.
So sorry to hear about Lucy. I’m still mourning the loss of my Sarah who died more than a year ago. It does help seeing her photo in an angel frame that a friend gave me…
I love seeing your pets but don’t remember seeing a photo of Lucy? I suppose it would be too painful to post it again?
Jenny: I am so very sorry to hear about Lucy. It sounds as though you gave her a long and happy life, and that is a wonderful and precious gift.
We all have to leave this plane of existence sooner or later, and I have never perceived ant great difference in the loss of a two-legged friend or a four-legged one: as far as I am concerned, they are all ‘people’. I put in a dedication in my latest book, just out, to the dog of my heart, who lived from 1964-1976: his memory is as vivid to me today as it was 32 years ago when his happy little life reached its close.
Once the souls cross the threshold to the Afterlife, perhaps guided (even if human) by canine psychopomps, they are always with us, everywhere, part of our eternal present, and no longer subject to the distressingly rigid, linear pattern of chronological existence.
‘any not ‘ant’. Sigh.
FOUR FEET
I have done mostly what men do,
And pushed it out of my mind;
But I can’t forget, if I wanted to,
Four-Feet trotting behind.
Day after day, the whole day through–
Wherever my road inclined–
Four-Feet said, ‘I am coming with you!’
And trotted along behind.
Now I must go by some other round–
Which I shall never find–
Somewhere that does not carry the sound
Of Four-Feet trotting behind.
— Rudyard Kipling —
A dog does not live as long as a person and this natural law is the fount of many tears. If a child and puppy might grow to adulthood and doghood together, and together grow old, and so in due course die, full many a heartache might be avoided. But the world is not so ordered, and dogs will die and people will weep for them so long as there are dogs and people.
–Ben Ames Williams –
I think the dogs all need Halloween costumes:
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2008/10/how_to_make_star_wars_dog_cost.html
Gosh I’d love to see Veronica in the Princess Leia get-up.
Reminds me of Fast Women, my fav.
love the dining room