Because I know you were dying to know, I ended up getting 16 hours of sleep between Friday evening and Saturday evening. And 9 hours of sleep last night.

Now I feel like I’ll be wound up for the rest of my natural life.

But on the bright side, I don’t have the cold Michael came down with. I have, however, washed my hands seemingly continually since he started to get sick.

Also, I hadn’t mentioned in awhile that I’ve read quite a few books recently, so there are that many reviews up. Read both good mysteries and good supernatural fantasy. Which means that I’m trying to figure out what I want to read next, while the sequels to the books I read ship from Amazon. (Damn Amazon for it’s 4-for-3 sales!)

What is my “regional” accent?

Neutral.

This doesn’t come as a surprise at all. I can do a southern WV drawl when I’m drunk, and use y’all, but my dialect is neutral, and that comes from both my parents (eastern MD and western MD/Canada/Chicage & Air Force brat).

However, 1) Pittsburgh definitely has an accent all its own, and definitely does not belong in the “neutral” area. And 2) they’re right to tag northern WV as very different from the rest of the state–for more reasons than one. And Morgantown is different from the rest of the state, primarily because we draw in so many people from other parts of the country–and the world.

(via Stonekettle Station)

John Scalzi, author of Old Man’s War, is having an auction to benefit the Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust.

Last check, the action was above a thousand dollars, which is pretty awesome.

However, I think that above and beyond that thousand dollars, it would be even more awesome of those who are not bidding in this auction would take the time to support this organization. I’m not going to go into a political rant here, I’m simply going to say that this is an organization that does very good work–a work that all Americans should support.

I’m going to talk with Michael–or perhaps even make a command decision–and make my donation later today.

How about you?

I’m updating Word Press.

Pay no mind to the man behind the curtain… Reality will resume eventually.

ADDENDUM the First:
Upgrade is complete. Lemme know what’s broken!

ADDENDUM the Second:
Random Reading has now also been updated. I think this means it’s now time to curl up on the sofa with a book.

I’ve known for years that my depression is affected by the amount of sleep I get on a regular basis. And so I’ve been very careful to always get plenty of sleep–this week no exception.

However, apparently when one is under stress, “regular” amounts of sleep (about 7 to 7 1/2 hours for me) aren’t enough.

Yesterday we went to the gym after work, came home and ate dinner, and then after dinner I stretched out on the sofa to read. And immediately fell asleep. And slept until Michael woke me up to go to bed, where I slept for nine hours more.

That is a lot of sleeping, especially for someone who tries to get plenty of sleep on a normal basis.

So there you are. When you’re under stress, 7 to 8 hours of sleep may well not be enough.

Now if you’ll pardon me, I have to eat breakfast and run to the grocery store.

And then maybe come home for a nap.

Authors pronouncing their names.

And usually telling a quick story about the pronunciation or history of their name.

Oh, you need that Word document converted to a pdf?

Well, after an uninstall and a reinstall and a repair and finally an update that wanted to take 45 minutes, It still doesn’t work on my machine.

So I moved to another computer…

..Where Acrobat didn’t convert the file the first time I tried the conversion.

Some days, I really hate computers.

I have to say that I am sorely disappointed in Shawn’s review of a review of his review.

Shawn’s review review lacked the substance that I’ve come to expect from his commentary, and instead did little more than tell us that a review of his review existed.

When I read a review of a review, I want to know the nitty gritty: what was exceptional about the review–either exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. There wasn’t even any mention of hideous arse candles. I really expect any negative review of a review to contain at least a side reference to them.

And not only was there not a video of this review, but there weren’t even any pictures, displaying the strengths and weaknesses of the review to be reviewed. All we got was a lousy smiley?! UNACCEPTABLE!

This review lacked the wit and charisma that I’ve come to expect from a man who gives his wife five hot water bottles for Valentine’s Day.
Shawn, I expect better of you in the future.

Also: TAKE YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICINE!

You may or may not remember the incident several months ago, where we one of our neighbors broke the rear windshield on the car, and then refused to own up to it.

Well, check out what we found when we got home.

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My cousin sent me an electronic copy of the picture he gave us for Christmas.

Is that not the most awesome picture ever?

I was just thinking that yesterday’s post probably belongs in my “Things that Don’t Happen to Other People” series of posts.

It just goes to show that I am a living embodiment of “Murphy’s Law.” (She struggled valiantly to overcome her phobia, only to have it reinforced in the worst possible way!)

And it is kinda funny, in a very black, and very twisted way. But if you can’t laugh at yourself, then you don’t have any right to laugh at anyone else, right?

Beth Cave, May 1925 to 9 February 2008.

Today we drove to Frederick to visit my other grandmother, who had stopped eating. I was very worried about the trip, because I have a major phobia of nursing homes, and hadn’t set foot in one since my great grandmother broke her hip when I was in elementary school.

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