FIRST SNOW

Well, technically I suppose the snow showers we had back on that
Sunday in October was the first but this is the first snowstorm
of the snow season up here. But since the temps were up near
70 degrees on Thursday it's not sticking yet to paved surfaces.
We'll see if that's still the truth come sunrise.

Other than hat, nothing much to report. (is there ever?)
I went to work Friday but felt miserable and felt the same
way today so I called out sick. That's about it.

But this is post #52 for the year, which equals the totals
for the past two years already. Shooting for 84 if I can.

Goodnight.

ACH-OOOOOOOO

By which title you might rightly guess that I have a cold. I do.
The runny nose, sore throat sort and there's an uneasy feeling
in my tummy which might mean it's the flu, n0t a cold. Time will
tell on that last part.

Work was miserable today, not just because of my headcold. They
cutback on payroll this week so we were staffed light until around
five o'clock, an hour before we had an appearance by They Might
Be Giants. That was fun but I was tired and drained by the time
I got out of there at 7:30.

BTW, if you were a person looking for a stress and anxiety control
book, tonight wasn't a good time to wander into our store looking
for one, judging by the look on a poor lady's face when she realized
she was surrounded by a large group of about 300 parents and
toddlers waiting for the music to start!

I'm hoping I'll get some sleep tonight, but if my nose keeps
dripping, I doubt I will get much.

SUNDAY, LAZY SUNDAY!

Didn't really accomplish much today except food shop in
the afternoon and a little rp tonight. Couldn't get my
brain in gear to write Camelot or genealogy.

I had this sudden desire for bagels and cream cheese
so I bought some at the grocery and had a bagel and tea
for dinner tonight. Damn, that was good!

And now, off to bed....

THE DAY AFTER THE DAY AFTER

Damn, I hate Black Friday. I'm not too crazy over Black Saturday either.

I was pretty much wiped out by the time I got home tonight. I had
some leftover T-Day food(see below), then tried to get some writing
done while sitting in #Cams and fell asleep sitting here for nearly 3
hours!

Other than that, Thanksgiving Day itself was fine. Turkey was
delicious and my sister gave me a hefty leftover container which
provided me with dinner last night and tonight.

Nothing else exciting to report. Hope you all had a good holiday
yourselves!

GOBBLEDYGOOK

I had a fairly quiet and enjoyable Thanksgiving today. I did a
laundry run around noon. No one else there for most of
the time so I read and drank coffee while the machines cleaned
my clothes.

I drove straight to my sister's house after the clothes were done.
It was an all adult affair except for my grandnephew who,btw,
is cute as a button. The food was delicious and I ate more in
one meal today than I probably have all week.

I got home here around 6:30 pm and worked at finishing a
carnival at my genealogy blog, then spent the rest of the night
mostly vegging out. I did get a little rp in just before bedtime,
which, as it happens , is right about now!

BACK YET AGAIN!

Well, I'm still breathing. I had a bit of a computer meltdown and
I'm using an old laptop I borrowed from my sister for now until
I can find out what needs to be done to fix the desktop. Between
that and the absense back in August I probably won't make my
plan of 100 posts for the year here. But I'll give it a shot.

But for now I need bed, so goodnight.

WHAT THE HAIKU?

This was written last Thursday night but because Blogger
suddenly went wacko on me I couldn't publish it, so I saved it as
a draft:

One of those "eh" days. Slept late, got up, goofed around
a bit on the web while eating breakfast,did a few genealogy
posts, washed the dishes, dumped the trash, went out to
mail the car insurance, returned empty bottles to the
grocery store, picked up a few extra things for food,
then came home, made bologna sandwiches for lunch,
then wrote a haiku:

Above the hawk soars
On warmer breezes, higher.
Bright leaves fall below.

There was a hawk circling over the apartment parking lot, and I
sat there watching it for a few minutes before I ran my errands.
But it got my thinking and I finally wrote the haiku


Must have been something in the bologna. Luckily
I exhausted whatever effects the bologna had on me
with the one haiku.

I think.

EVENING ENNUI

God I love the night before a day off. I can knock around
the web and tinker with writing or genealogy and know
that I can sleep in the next morning. Bed sure is sounding like
the better deal right about now though.

I felt sort of worn out and crappy when I woke up yesterday
(Wed.) morning and the feeling has grown.Work seemed to
drag way the heck out , too!

Whatever I was going to say will have to wait until tomorrow.
Night!

OH MUSE, WHERE THE F...ER...HELL...ART THOU?

So as I mentioned before, I'm braving the world of building
a website to hold the stories I've written since early 2007
and checked the Camelot email list to see what else I had
posted there other than the new Shadow's Touch series.

And found it was practically nothing.

This...stunned me. I knew it had been awhile since I'd
written any stories but I hadn't realized just how long it
had been. I'm not sure what to make of this. I've been
pretty active writing and researching genealogy, I
admit, but even if I don't rp as much, I still do think
about characters and plots and sls. So why haven't I
been writing them?

Is it the lack of roleplay to stimulate the creative juices?

Or am I running out of imagination?

ANOTHER DAY.....

Ah, another day of goffing around at home. Did some genealogy
digging and blog posting, watched my Thursday night shows
and then hung out in #Camelot for about an hour. No action
there...just a good conversation with the PoD.

Dinner was kielbasa, apple sauce and mixed vegetables.

That's all folks!

BEAT

Good thing yesterday was so relaxing because today was
hell on wheels. Not enough staff for a Monday holiday with
a hot kid's release book. We should have sold over 200
of Wimpy Kid#4 by closing.

I was whupped by the time I left at 7pm. Tired and the leg
was sore and stiff. I've stayed off it all night except to get up
for some aspirin a few hours back. But now I'm falling sleep
sitting here so I'm heading off to bed.

This is post #42 and ties the amount of posts for 2003, the
first year of this blog.

WHAT I WAS UP TO TODAY

End of another day. Pretty relaxing and routine, with a trip
to the laundromat with a stop for food shopping on the way
home. I didn't listen to much of the Red Sox game. I just had
this feeling it was not going to be their year. But I did see all the
Patriots game, which also ended badly.

Still, I'm in a fairly good mood. I took the plunge today and started
a web site on Google for the stories I've written the past few years
since Diana left us and that Corrie hasn't had a chance to post on
his website either. No html skill needed although it took me awhile
to get it right and I'm betting it will not be an automatic process for
me in the future. I've included an introduction with links to Diana's
and Chris' sites so that readers have to go there to see the earlier
series. It took me a long time to decide to do this because it felt
like I was being disloyal but I now think Diana would want me to do it.
I'll give out the link once I get a bit more posted there,

But that's it for tonight, folks. G' night!

NATURAL HIGH

So I'm still pretty much floating a few inches off the ground over
seeing my poetry in a national magazine and having my genealogy
blog make it into the next round of Family Tree Magazine's
genealogy blog competition.

Blinded perhaps by this euphoria, I'm going to submit one last
poem to Renaissance Magazine. What the heck, why not? BTW,
it's a magazine about the medieval faires so it's a manly magazine,
especially if you are into rp.

I took a look at some of the D'eshkar stories over at the Lamath
Parma website. Some hold up pretty well and a few I might have
written differently now. What did strike me is how long ago I
wrote some of them. It doesn't feel like 5 or 6 or 7 years.
Anyway. I'm thinking about tinkering with some to submit to a
prozine if any are still out there.

At any rate, life is still good at the moment, and I'll gladly take it
while I can get it.

Good night all.

A REALLY, REALLY, REALLY GOOD COUPLE OF DAYS!

Ok, forgot to post the news here:

Monday night I found out my genealogy blog is one of 130
blogs out of 600 to make the semi-final nominations for
Family Tree Magazine's "40 Top Genealogy Blogs" poll.
There's 30 blogs in my category and they want the voters
to pick 12, so I'm guessing the top 12 move onto the
finals in November. I'll be surprised if I make that but I'm
pleasantly stunned to even make it this far!

And then today, the issues of "Renaissance Magazine" #69
arrived and they printed two of my poems on page 28!

"Period Poetry by Bill West".

I think my parents would have been tickled by that, not to
mention Diana as well!

And now, off to the beddery!

RE-TIRING FOR THE NIGHT

Day got off to a lousy start as I feltsick, Not sure if it was a
reaction to my having cooked rigatoni for dinner instead of
going with a frozen dinner entree or some boiled hotdogs, or
if it was just a byproduct of worry about finances.

Anywho, I survived.

Did a little genealogy writing and some thinking again on what
I want to do with all the various plot threads lying about. I still
have to email about the Alphabet Block Killer to those involved.

"No matter how subtle the wizard, a dagger between the shoulder
blades will seriously crimp his style." (Mercedes Lackey)

I'm turning in early(for me) since I need to be up in 7 hours or so.

It's amazing how much noise there was all day outside just from
car tires, that sort of hissing sound from the treads rolling over the
asphalt. When it dies down, you notice how quiet it suddenly has
become. Then you can start hearing cars approaching from up or
down the road from quite a distance. Guess it comes with living
next to a busy street.

Supposed to pour tomorrow. Ah, New England weather!

Night folks.

OCTOBER ALREADY?

Wow. Time flies and all that stuff.

Of course, today was Thursday, day off. Slept in late, did some
reading, some Cams writing (not done yet) and three genealogy
posts if you count the two I posted after midnight Thursday
morning. I made rigatoni for dinner and there's enough leftovers
for a few more meals.

Had an idea for a story about Duir which reminded me I left poor
Yarrow tied up on a cottage floor a year or so back. Have to finish
that story off, too.

All that is dependent on how much longer before Elaine crashes.
Looks like motherboard issues. But I'll be optimistic and keep
plugging along as long as possible.

Post 36 0r 37 now. My first year I had a total of 42. Last year
I only posted 52. I'm shooting for at least 80 this year. We'll see.

AIN'T IT THE TRUTH, THOUGH!

"A man is a very small thing, and the night is very large and full of wonders. "-
Lord Dunsany

A QUIET SUNDAY IS A GOOD SUNDAY.

A quiet day. It was rainy and a little windy in the morning but
it had died down to occasional showers by the time the Pats
game was over and I went to the laundromat.

Other than that, I did some research for my next genealogy
blog post and later read some Lord Dunsany on Googlebooks,
"The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories". Very Victorian
prose but man. he's one of my favorites.

So I've just finished putting away the last of the clothes and
now off I go to the beddery.

CHILLING IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

By which I mean that not only am I hanging around my kb
on a Friday night, I am also pondering how warm my bed
will be when I head there. The temp has gone from near 80F
on Wednesday into the 40's tonight.


No Cams writing today but I got out another genealogy post.
While the Muse is back in service I need a shot of Sense of
Wonder, I think. Which means I need to read one of the
books that made me want to write myself. Morris, Dunsany,
Norton, anyone with that talent that made their heroes and
worlds seem so real when you read about them. I need that
inspiration so I can get back to stories about The Wyld, or the
Green Silences, or the Bardic Academy. I've got a few ideas.
We'll see where they go.

ANOTHER DAY OVER....

Had a semi-productive day today. I got a fairly long chapter
of the new "Shadow's Touch" series written and posted. I
also posted twice to the genealogy blog, once about the
poor census worker murdered in Kentucky and the other
the latest installment of a series I've been posting about
some of my ancestors battling over a family inheritance.

Before that I slept in very late. This would never have happened
5 or 6 years ago. Most of my life I've been getting up for work
anywhere from 5:30am to 7am depending on the job at the
time. Even on my days off I was usually up by 9 even if it was
just to read a book or maybe to go out someplace, maybe take some
pictures. Now I sleep in sometimes, like today, past noon.

Most be an old fart thing or something.

Speaking of which, I'm sleepy. Good night.

"IT'S QUARTER PAST 2, THERE'S NO ONE IN THE PLACE, EXCEPT ME & YOU..."

...or words to that effect.

Don't know what's gotten into me lately. The Muse
seems to have suddenly decided to kick in. I started
a new series with a sl for Cams last week and should
have part 3 done tomorrow. I also have been thinking
of approaching the E and the Frog Princess about writing
an ending to the "Alphabet Blocks Killer" series. I
can't recall what we called it at the time.But I came
up with a way to explain what happened to the killer
and where he got off to and leave it so he's available
if E wants to use him again in the future.

I'm also kicking around the "Riverstone: series and of
course the "The Wyld" and "Undercurrents".

We'll see if the Muses hold up and let's me turn all
that out.

But right now, bed.

SO WHERE WAS I?

I was offline for nearly three weeks is where I was. Long story.
Suffice it to say my brother moved out, I opened a new phone
account back under my own name and then signed up for 3
free months of AOL for the time being. I can't afford the cost
of broadband right now so I'm back to dialup. But it's better
than nothing, right? Besides, most of my computer use does
not require being able to view video clips, so I'm happy for the
time being.

This now means I get access to the computer earlier and more
often than I had for the past year and a half do that's good. And
I've written and posted the first story in months from me to the
Cams list. So between that and genealogy I should have enough
to keep me iccupied around here.

Back to writing...

MAINE TRIP 1

So back at the beginning of August my sister Cheryl and I made
a trip to Maine to meet up with Aunt Dot, her daughter Diana,
Diana's husband Gary and Gary's Mom Peg. We were going to
attend the Ellingwood Family Reunion for the first time on Aug
8. My dad's grandmother was Clara Ellingwood.

One of the sidetrips we made the day before the reunion was
to the small roadside cemetery where my 3x great grandfather
John Cutter West and some of the family are buried.

Top left is his gravestone. He died in Jul 1862, possibly worn
out by grief. He'd lost three children, three grandchildren and
his daughter in law to a diphtheria outbreak earlier that year.

Top right is the broken gravestone of John's daughter Arvilla
Electa West, 17 years old when she died on 6Feb 1862.

Bottom left is the shared gravestone of Ruth Ellen West, died
26Jan 1862 at age 10, and David Pingree 8 years old when he
died 17Jan 1862 .

Finally, bottom right is the gravestone of Orpha Viette
(Reynolds) West, first wife of my 2x great grandfather Jonathan
Phelps West. She was 20 years old when she died on 31Dec 1861.
They'd been married only two months.

TWO YEARS

It doesn't seem only two years. It seems much longer than that,
but then again, time passed more quickly when I was chatting
with Di.

We miss you, ladybug!

YIKES! ANOTHER MONTH FLOWN BY!

Hmm..hadn't realized it's been awhile since I last posted.

Ok..just a quick check in before bed.

I'm still employed.

I'm still breathing.

Although my fantasy rp and writing has been slim to none, I'm
posting quite a bit to my genealogy blog.

I do miss the rp and related writing though. Wish I could get
online earlier for it but the comp is in use earlier in the night by
my brother.

That's it for tonight. More later.

WHAT IS SO RARE AS A DAY IN JUNE?

How about blog posts from people? I know I see some of you on
Facebook or occasionally over in Cams, but sheesh, people, some
of you wait YEARS between posts. Diana would be tapping her
foot waiting!

On other fronts, I went to the laundromat today, loaded up washers
21 and 22, then went to get some quarters from the change machine,
came back, and loaded them into washers 20 and 21. Didn't realize
I'd wasted$2.00 until the washers stopped. So then I put $2.00
in washer #22 and ended up staying at the laundromat a wee bit
longer then I planned.

Sigh.

I'm going downhill for sure now!

OK, SO......

In answer to E's question about the "GAHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
title for the previous post:

I wrote that shortly after I learned one of the the five poems
I submitted to Renaissance Magazine would be published in
Isuue#69. Trouble was, I didn't read the email until after
midnight. All my family was asleep, so I didn't want to call
them and wake them up. And none of you, dear readers,
were anywhere about to tell, either. And even if you were,
I thought that I should really tell my sister and brother
first.(Although I'd probably WOULD have spilled the beans if
I was chatting with any of you at the time.)

Man, I miss the late night sessions in the Keep with you guys
and Diya.

So there I was, with some good news and no one I could share
it with until the next morning. Sort of like having to hold in
a burp.

So that's the story behind the title of the last post!

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!

I have news, but I can't share it yet until I tell my family.

I think I may explode before then....

RAIN ON THE ROOF

Yawn.

One of those days where I got home from work, ate dinner and then
drifted off to sleep in the armchair. I woke up when my brother
came in, then drifted off again and next thing I knew, I woke up
and it's 2am! I woke up my brother who had fallen asleep watching
"Saturday Night Live" (drat I missed it..) and then came in here. A
few hours of bopping around the web and then doing some writing
later and I'm about to call it a night.

It's raining out. Water's falling off the gutters and there's a bit of wind
out there. Some police cars just went by with lights and sirens going
so probably the usual car accident at the intersection down the street.

Think I'll go to bed and let the wind and rain lull me to sleep.

Good night.

IT'S MAY! IT'S MAY! THE LUSTY MONTH OF MAY!

And I can't believe it's already 11 days into it! Man, time
seems to go by so fast as you get older!

A quiet Sunday. I went to Wal-Mart and used some gift cards
from Christmas to get a new shirt, a pair of shoes, some 3 ring
binders and dividers for my genealogy research records and
some more mundane stuff like Dawn and SOS pads and tonic.
Weather was bright, a bit cool but nice and I stopped for a
burger and coke to sit outside for a bit and chill.

My Muse is itchy. Standby for possible developments.

That's about it. Spent some time at rp, had dinner, watched
some boob tube, then came to the computer to check FB
and chat a little with the PoD. Exciting, eh?

And now, I bid you all good eve!

LAZY BONES

Oh...er..hi there. Yeah, just checking in before tottering off to
bed.

Not much to report here tonight. I'm in one of those nice spots
where nothing bad is going on and life for the most part is
good. I wish I could breathe some life into Cams but like the
rl recession, it's going to take some time to do it.

I've made recontact with the Fantasy Bits forum. That's the
writing prompts group I belonged to when I was writing the
D'eshkar stories, so hopefully I'll get a jumpstart from
rejoining it.

Other than that.. ...nothing
else going on...

Night all..

NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP....

Been in a lazy rut the last few days. Had a good Sunday, with
taking part in the genealogy Scanfest. A bunch of us get
together online and scan old family photos while chatting.It
really is more fun than it sounds! Then I went food shopping,
had dinner and zonked out in the parlor. Woke up around 2am.

Last few days been pretty much about the same except I
was working instead of lounging around here at the kb. I'm
sleepy tonight but in a good way type of sleepy. So I'm going
off to bed and hope I can be a bit more productive on my
day off Thursday as far as writing goes.

Night, all!

A POST BEFORE BEDTIME

Another quiet day off. I made a laundry run because I'll either
be taking part in Scanfest on Sunday or visiting my sister who
had been away with her husband on vacation out west in
Nevada and Arizona. So I took along DeLint's "Someplace
to Be Flying" and got lost in it while the machines chugged
away. Damn, I wish I could write like him. Yeah, I know I
said that before, but it's true!

But the Muse is stirring, I think. I have that itchy feeling that
usually hits me before I write something.

Other than that, nothing else much to report. I'm thinking
about taking this blog private so I don't bore anyone else
with how mundane my life is these days. Besides, it's not
like we stay in touch anymore like we used to in the
busy Camelot days. I'm pretty sure you other folks have
pretty much given up on blogging and reading each others
blogs, so I don't think anyone will even know I've
taken this private for weeks after when I finally decide to do it.

GOOD DAY SUNSHNE!

*Yawn*

A good lazy Sunday. Did Laundry, got lost in a De Lint book(an
old favorite "Someplace to be Flying") and the weather outside
was so good I didn't want to leave the car to comeback into the
house with the laundry.

DeLint is still one of my favorite writers. One of those who can
get you so wrapped up in the book that you don't realize how
much time has passed while you've been reading. I'd like to
write like that someday when I grow up(said the 60 year old).

Meanwhile, they're probably just wrapping up inventory at
work. One of the things I do NOT miss since I stepped down
from management,what, three years ago now?

Anywho, that's my day. I'd ask how all of yours went but I'm
not sure anyone will read this for a bit.

Off to beddy bye...

DEEP ESOTERICAL THOUGHTS AT QUARTER `TIL THREE (THERE'S NO ONE IN THE PLACE EXCEPT YOU AND ME....)

My blog's bigger than your blog
My blog's bigger than yours...
My blog's bigger cuz`...

er

`cuz....

er...

Just `cuz....so there....

PFFT!

IT'S A DIRTY JOB BUT SOMEBODY'S GOT TO DO IT...

Blog that is. Wow, what a bunch of slackers we've all become on
the blogging front. Yeah, I know a few of us have Facebook
accounts but we don't post on them the way we posted in our
blogs. As for Twitter...what..140 words..or is it letters?... per
post?

Pfffft!

Anywho, I am still breathing, as tradition demands. At the
moment, the wolves are not baying at the door, Ping the Car is
running albeit I suspect the sneaky bastard is waiting to fall
apart on me at the worst possible time. Work is still work, for
the moment at least, although the way the chain is teetering
along it's like dancing on the edge of a cliff. But I'll ride it out to
the end, as I have at other jobs. Job hunting at nearly 61 is not
something I'm looking forward to doing if I can avoid it.

Muse wise, no new stories have sprung to mind for rp. I have
been fairly productive on the genealogy blog side. Seems a
whole bunch of my Dad's ancestors were Indian fighters in old
New England and two, Simon Willard and Jeremiah Swain,
were prominent figures back in 17th century Massachusetts. So
I've been posting about all those folks.

That's about it for now. This is post #17 for the year, which I
reached 5 months sooner than last year in September.

Night folks, if anyone is still reading this. Be well.

EHH...

Hadn't realized it's been this long since the last post.

Had a touch of the bug or something starting late Saturday night.
While it wasn't the worst case I've ever had, the orcs kept me
busy and despite having layered up I couldn't seem to get warm
so I think I had a temp. That seemed to clear up around 9
or 10 pm.

Anywho, I stayed home today and pretty much slacked off.
Slept a lot, read some...slept again...and now I'm going to
sleep in the bed.

Exciting reading, eh?

G'night.

TIME TO GO?

I'm beginning to think my rp days are at an end. I'm not happy
about it, but playing BT has not been as much fun as it was in the
past. No reflection on those still playing in Camelot. They are
good folks and good players. But it's been a long time since BT
has had any contact with some of the people who he connects
with, people he has a long history with, and I feel like I'm
just going through the motions when I rp him now.

I have other chars but BT is the first, the one I have created
a whole history around. Nor can I bring myself to leave
Camelot to go elsewhere, not after nearly 12 years.

I have to think some more about this. Once I shut that door,
I won't reopen it.

WELL, THAT SURE DIDN'T WORK!

No posts from anyone on their blogs. I'm not certain that anyone
other than Mike actually reads this anymore.

I'm trying to figure out what to do about Camelot. How do I
breathe some life back into it? Should I bother? I'm sure there
are some who will say "I told you so". But on the other hand,
I'm pretty sure that once Camelot is gone, contacts will
be gone forever.

I'm still thinking on it.

HEY!

Why aren't the rest of you people posting anything to your blogs?
Joy's the only one who posts stuff. The rest of you, it's been a
year in some cases since the last time!

Write! I demand it!

I'm waiting.

I'm mentally tapping my foot.

Waiting.....

SNOW JOB

Pretty much veg out day. I wrote a post for the
genealogy blog but had no luck getting any rp related
story started. Beginning to think my Muse has done
gone with the winded.

The weather forecasters are already sounding the alarm
over the snowstorm in Wednesday. You'd think it was an
arctic blizzard coming the way they carry on about a
storm two or three days before it even reaches us up here
in New England.

Anywho, off to bed. Sleeping in late again tomorrow.
Wooohoooo!

NYAH NYAH

I'm going to sleep in late tomorrow and stay warm inside.

Because I'm on vacation this week!

Again, I say NYAH NYAH!

ANOTHER LATENIGHT POST ABOUT STUFF

Boy this has to be one of the most depressing Winters
nationwide that I can remember. As if the news on the
economy wasn't bad enough, we get hit with this Arctic
cold. I blame Canada. It has to be a plot by Tyralor to
takeover the world.

I had a senior moment this morning when I couldn't
find my house keys before I went to work. This is not
a good thing because if my brother was gone out before
I got home, I'd be locked out in the Arctic cold.But I
needed to get to work, and once I made my way down
the bobsled track...er...sidewalk, I found I'd left the
keys in the car when I got home Wed. night.


I don't think I mentioned here before that my brother
is staying here. He's been here since last April and it
sort of effects my computer use because he uses it
for a few hours at night before I get on. But while
he is, I doze off out in the living room so by the time
he's finished and I wake up it's well after midnight,
and lately much later than that. So that's why I've
been getting on at 1 or 2am and of course that means
if any of you happen to come into the Keep or Cams
earlier in the night, I'll miss you.

This is my 10th post so far this year, which I didn't
reach until May or June in 2008. Maybe I just won't
post anything more until this May and slack off.

Anyway, I'm diving into a warm bed.

A LOOK BACK

I wrote a post for the genealogy blog today that involved
pictures taken at the house with my earliest memories
from my childhood. I needed to find out the name of one of the
nearby streets and used Google Map, and then out of a bit of
curiosity used the 'street view' feature which is a digital
camera view of the street taken as if you were driving down
the street.

And there it was. 37 Beach Street in Malden. The house is
a pale green now instead of the brown it was, and the
houses of the Corielli and Tedesco families on either side
are different colors as well. But it's the same house, the
same neighborhood and I recognized them even after 53
years away from it.

Funny how some memories stay with us longer than others,
eh?

BRRRRRRRRR! AGAIN!

Baby, it's cold outside and it's gonna get colder! Luckily I
am off Thursday and have no need to go out so I'm going
to hibernate....er...sllep in and then try to do some writing
when I get up.

Today was slow at work but it was a good day in one respect
because my leg feels almost back to normal. I think I figured
out why it was taking so long. When I bought my new shoes
they supposedly already had arch supports so I didn't
transfer the inserts from the old pair. I finally did that this
past Friday and I've felt better and better every day since.

Anywho, off to bed.

HITHER & YAWN

Tuesday. Went to work, kept the wolf from breaking down the
door. Then came home and pooped out, dozing off during the
11pm news and waking up about an hour ago. I think I'm
into hibernation mode or something.

So, Tuesday, Jan 13th, 2009, a day like any other day.
And I was there. Hmm. I might have wasted that reference
because most of you guys who read this (if there is anyone
left reading it) are too young to remember the old
Walter Cronkite tv show "YOU ARE THERE".

I better get to bed before I start reminiscing about the
old days in the caves.

WHERE'S MY BED?

GAH. I hate winter. At least we didn't get as much snow
as they originally forecast; 3-4 inches instead of 6-9! But
this cold spell coming up later this week is going to be
around zero. At least I don't take the train anymore, and
won't have to deal with standing out on a cold train
platform for a train running a half hour late!

Not much else to report today. Went to laundromat and
did dishes, then vegged out in front of the idiot box. I
think my Muse has moved out of my brain.

On the plus side, this is my sixth post this year. I didn't
reach six until April of last year, so I'm waaaaay
ahead of 2008.

Goodnight Mrs. Callabash, wherever you are.

RANT

I posted this earlier over on my genealogy blog as well:


I work for a major bookstore chain that's been going through
some tough times for awhile but is still around and fighting to
stay that way. Recently I've been looking at some of online
financial analysis and message boards and have been
dumbfounded at some of the comments I've read from the
"professionals" and others on retail bookselling.


Nobody under the age of 30 reads books for pleasure. They
read more online.


Really? So all those people who have been reading the
Twilight, Harry Potter, Clique, and Gossip Girls series are all
over 40? The kids who put a reservation in for the next
Wimpy Kid book are actually adult midgets?


Most people buy their bestsellers at Costco or Wal-Mart or
some other discount store.

And where do they buy the older books that aren't on the best
seller list? Where do the students buy their summer reading
list books?


The day of the bricks and mortar bookstore is over. More
and more people will buy their books from Amazon and
other online dealers.


Not everyone has a computer. And not all of those who do feel
comfortable buying online. And there are countless people for
whom browsing in a bookstore is the only way they choose
and purchase a book.


Hand held electronic readers with downloadable ebooks will
replace traditional books.


Not until the prices drop much lower and every book is
available in a universal format that works on any reader. And
can you see a 6 year old reading Junie B Jones on her Dad's
Kindle? Thought not. Neither can I.


People should save money by using their local libraries.


A good thought except one of the first areas town governments
cut funding is the library. They cut back hours, staff, and
budget, so you might have a copy of a hot bestseller at your
library, but you have to goon a waiting list to read it and be
able to get there when the library is open. Given the current
economic crisis, that is going to be much more common nation
wide.


There are other reasons why we need bookstores, both the
national chain I work for and the smaller local stores. It would
be disastrous for new writers who will find it more difficult to
get their books out in the public eye, for example, and make it
less likely that many older authors' books stay in print and
available. And of course from a genealogist's viewpoint, it
would be harder for us to find the history books we use to
fill in the background of the times our ancestors lived in.


One of America's strengths has been the easy availability of
books to all classes through bookstores and libraries. To think
it is no great loss if there are less bookstores because of the
reasons I mentioned is to ignore the effect it would have on
our country's future.

99% INTELLECT FREE POST

I took the day off today(Wed) because I woke up feeling
a mite bit yecchy. Feeling yecchy whilst schlepping through
snow and freezing rain didn't appeal to me, nor did standing
about at work while my tummy ached, either.

I did a bit of reading up on my ancestors from the town of
Andover and washed the dishes, then dozed off watching
the History Detectives. One of my favorite shows, btw.

I've been rereading the Fionavar Tapestry lately in hopes
it might give my Muse a kick in the arse but so far the
magic hasn't worked.

Off to bed.

ONLY 50 MORE TO GO!

Since I didn't break 53 posts for the year in 2008,
I'm afraid I'm left with no choice but to try again in 2009.
So you're stuck reading more posts more often, I'm afraid.

Unfortunately, my posts usually aren't very profound.
My apologies in advance to you all.

On the work front, the company switched CEO's today
and the stock went up .13 whole cents to .58 cents!

Yowza! I really hope this works! I've been a deckhand
on the retail Titanic too any times now. Is it so wrong
at age 60 to want to finish off at age 67 with the
company I'm at now?

Health wise, I'm still using a cane for my leg. I pulled
something in my right upper leg the night before
Thanksgiving and while it's much better now it's still not
100%. This sort of stuff used to heal faster when I was
younger and the fact that I kept working on it probably
slowed it down as well, but there is no way I could afford
taking a week or two off, especially when it happened
during the holidays.

Anywho, that's it for tonight.

3 down.

I REALLY SHOULD JUST GO TO BED

..but one of my resolutions was to blog and write more this
year.

The last post was the first of 2009 which meant I didn't get
to 53 for 2008. I mean, 52 is ok, and it certainly is more than
what some other folks I know did for the year (and you all
know who you!) but considering I've doen twice that in
previous years, not so hot.

I haven't got a tally on my Cams writing yet but I'm pretty
sure it didn't pass2007's mark.

I'll count them up tomorrow. Right now, bed.

ONE FOR THE ROAD

OK, this will either be the 53 post of the year which
will be one more than last year or the first post of the
2009. I wanted to hit 53. So let's see if I made it.