Month: February 2003

I love people who take the time to think about stuff like this. See the list over at utter wonder?.

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Hey, Robert Blake, maybe after you asked five or six people if they’d kill your wife you should have figured they might TELL someone if YOU did it. And to those people who were approached: Could you have maybe mentioned it to Bonnie at some point? Are they facing any kind of charges for not going straight to the police when he asked?

I really wonder if it was his “celebrity” that made him think that killing another human being would improve his life. Does jail never cross anyone’s mind? It does mine. Every time I inhale, as a matter of fact. This would be the primary reason I’ve never done recreational drugs. Or shoplifted. And prostitution is out of the question because about 20 years ago I actually knew a girl who was arrested for that, and if I ran into her today (and I think I might have last week, which is why it’s fresh in my mind) I could think of nothing except the fact that she was/is a prostitute. We could both be in our 80’s and I’d be thinking that. Who needs to have that following you around for the rest of your life? (Memo to OJ Simpson: Take notes)

Oh, and all those of you out there who have been offered $10k to kill me, could you let me know so I can maybe buy a disguise or something?

(Hmmm. I wonder if I should go over and make this an Open Letter. Probably, huh?)

I have been editing my NaNoWriMo novel the past couple of days, and I have the big papercut to prove it (when did they start making file folders out of razor blades, I ask you?). Parts of it are not bad at all. I’m glad I waited so long before picking it back up, it really is letting me look at it with an unbiased eye. On a scale of 1-10 I’d say right now I’m at about a 5 for cutting out stuff that I think just pads it. That’s the worst thing – cutting stuff until suddenly 130 pages is down to like 50, and you know that it’s not really a novel any more and requires lots of fresh writing. Oh well, it’s part of the process. Right now I can’t picture myself writing new stuff for it, but I know I will have to, it’s not novel lenght to begin with. But maybe after this first pass I’ll make the first chapter available. Right now the story flows, and I knew very soon I’m going to hit the point where my plot took a left at the lights, and I’m going to have to decide which one works better and rewrite the other. See, if I hadn’t been trying to cram out 50,000 words, I would have done that THEN, not now.

On a related note (which is maybe what got me to pick it up again?) I’ve been reading a book published by a relatively new company, and the books I’ve seen (in CVS of all places) seem to be comic novels about being a woman today. The publisher is Red Dress Ink (TM) and the one I’m reading right now is Loose Screws by Karen Templeton. I’m not that far into it, but it starts with a thirtysomething woman being left at the alter. Check out the website, there’s lots of good stuff there. And I think my novel, if it’s ever finished, would be perfect for these guys. So I’m keeping an eye on them.

I hope we can get through this morning without losing a major piece of the car. I got the estimate from the insurance estimater…over $700. Yikes. And while I’ve given my story over the phone several times, now I have to file out a written report. All this because someone ELSE backed into ME. I wonder if they ask you a bunch of times trying to trip up your story. There are only so many ways one can say “I was stopped in a parking lot and a guy backed into me.” Oh well, at least today I can ask the parking lot guy if he actually saw what happened and can be put down as a witness (if they need one). I’m guessing he didn’t see it actually HAPPEN, unless he looked up when I beeped my horn.

But enough about that, I don’t want to dwell on it any more than I have to every time I see the front of the car. Because I can’t get it fixed until the insurance company gives the authorization to pay. Sheesh.

On the good side, I made a perfect cup of coffee for myself this morning. I sucked that mug DRY. Mmmmmm coffee. Oh, and I did more research on other houses similar to mine and what they sold for and are valued at. I think if allowed to actually TALK to the assessors in person, I could explain my point and hear theirs, and I’d feel better about whatever was decided.

My request for a property tax abatement was rejected. Apparently an extremely similar cape (same development) with a garage sold for $242k. So they valued my house for $233 with no garage. I don’t think I’d have a problem with this if the house next door, which is a colonial with a garage, slightly more living space and slightly larger lot, wasn’t valued at 5k LESS than my house. I refuse to believe my house without a garage is worth more than her house with a garage. They were built in the same month. Same footprint. If I were house shopping I would NOT pay more for this one than that one. Period. It doesn’t have a garage, for goodness sake!

They tell me a garage only adds about 7k to the value of a house. I think the person who paid 242k for the cape up the street is the person who had a major malfunction, that’s what I think. Grrrrrrrrr.

I was a Mr. Rogers Toddler. It was one of the few shows I watched when I was really young. That, Sesame Street and Captain Kangaroo. I’ve met Bob (Capt.) Keeshan, who is a lovely lovely man with the bluest eyes EVER, but I never got to meet Mr. Rogers, and I would have loved to, just to tell him how happy he made me over the years.

Junior wasn’t crazy about his show, and I blame myself for not putting it on more often. Thank you Fred, for caring about the children, ALL children; for worrying about how they would deal with war, and the 9/11 tragedy. For being a calming presence in all our lives. You will be missed.