cleolinda | Miscellaneous thoughts

Mmm, cinnamon toast.

Not having that great a day otherwise--trying to work, but the Death Crud is still lingering and I feel all ropy and logy and sludgy and dried out. But by God, I've sat here in front of an open Word document all morning and all afternoon. Also, it's (checks weather.yahoo.com) 57 degrees right now (oh, that's a LIE. It's 70 degrees in this house if it's five. Hmm. Maybe this is because Sister Girl has the heat on again. GAH), and we all know that these are conditions under which I cannot art.

A pair of scrunchy brown ankle boots that I ordered on a deep-discount after-Christmas sale arrived today, though. I got a brown purse for Christmas and realized that, for some reason, all of my shoes are black (or sneakers). Thus, something in brown. They're a bitch to get on, but plenty comfortable on and easy to get off. Eeeee, scrunchy boots.

I hope no one reading this has narcolepsy, because I have bad news for you. Seriously, if you do, read this, because Teresa Nielsen Hayden didn't find out that Public Citizen had successfully campaigned to have Cylert/pemoline discontinued until she went to refill her prescription: "Xopher and I and god knows how many other people with narcolepsy, ADHD, and other tricksy neurochemical impairments are looking at THE END OF OUR FUNCTIONAL WORKING LIVES." And if you do use Cylert/pemoline, you may want to take the Narcolepsy Network's advice to write letters of complaint regarding the ban.

(God, I wish I had the power to disemvowel comments sometimes.)

Meanwhile, I have developed a sudden lip gloss obsession that has caused me to sit on my ~~wallet~~ hands to prevent myself from buying hundreds of them (woe unto sephora.com!). Particularly since I got a ton for Christmas anyway, and between Burt's Bees and Tutti Dolci, I should be set. (I think those two are actually on sale right now, as a matter of fact.) I really want some Mabel's Laundromat balms, but I think I'm going to dangle those out as a reward for finished work. I said I wanted to finish things, right?

firei: "Don't know if you've seen this before and/or linked it, but, I thought you might be interested: Literati Lip Balm - lip balm for the literary community." EEEE ALCOTT APRICOT.

In other news:

Efforts to Find Miners [in mine explosion] Become Desperate. "The men, trapped 260 feet down by an explosion Monday morning in the Sago Mine, were believed to be about 12,000 feet past the opening of the shaft. By midday Tuesday, more than 30 hours after the blast, rescue teams had penetrated 10,200 feet, working their way on foot for fear machinery might cause volatile gases to explode."

TCU Freshman Kicker Found Shot to Death.

Scientists May Have Found Mozart's Skull. "The grave on that spot is adorned by a column and a sad-looking angel." As opposed to the IN YO FACE! angels you so frequently see in cemeteries.

Apparently Angelina Jolie really is pregnant. For those of you who care. I mean, I really like her. But it's not like we won't be beaten to death with the Saga of the Brangelina Spawn by the tabloids in the coming year.

Two Marie Antoinette pics.

Prince Caspian already under way.

Goblet of Fire: Best Animated Foreign-Language Documentary of 2005. *nods*

ezaryu reviews The Book.

How do you feel about adoring fans, Unca Neil? The answer is typical gracious Neil Gaiman, bless him. On that Grateful to Be a Writer note, I'm going to take a stab at another hour of ~~staring at the screen~~ writing before starting dinner.