Good vs. Evil

Evil: The Michael Vick story. It makes me ill.

"Dog fighting is an unacceptable activity."

A little while ago I heard a CNN news presenter speak those words. At that very moment Jewel and Ruth were rampaging about my office, snarling and hissing and baring fangs and tackling and yowling in a fake death match. Although their play-fighting is extremely entertaining, I couldn't resist quoting the newsman at them.

Neither Evil Nor Good: I know the ending of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I received a publishing trade communication today that contained the Big Spoiler and quoted from some advance reviews from major newspapers' Sunday editions. So much for embargoes. Its ends the way I predicted, so I'm chuffed about that. (Unless, of course, it's a cruel hoax. But I really don't think so.) I'm not fussed about spoilers. Whenever I write a novel, I know exactly how it'll end, so if I hear how somebody else's novel ends before I get round to reading it, no big deal. The e-zine editor who printed the spoiler promptly sent out a quick "Don't Read Today's Newsletter Because It Has the Spoiler"-type message. But there's bound to be an outcry from the unwary, who read the original without realising what was in it.

I was destined to find out the ending in advance of reading the book anyway, because my copy is coming from the U.K. So everyone else will have it before me. And no way can I shut out media or the internet for the length of time it will take my copy to cross the ocean blue. I wouldn't even try. (See: "I'm not fussed about spoilers," above.)

Evil: Tonight, NBC is re-running that atrocious Posh 'n' Becks program. Which was far, far worse than I imagined it would be.

Good: While the atrocious program was airing on Monday night, I stepped outside (during the earthquake consultant segment) and shot this:



Evil: My mood today. I won't go into why. It's not really the fault of anybody or anything. Just one of those days that went bad from the beginning. And got worse.

Good: My weekly accomplishments...so far. By very early Tuesday morning, when I ended my writing burst, I had 19 manuscript pages completed. I think I might've strained something in the process (like, my entire brain). But it feels wonderful. Then I logged three partial days in the office--learned a lot, completed many tasks. Last evening, I was doing some research for an upcoming scene in my book...gearing up for the next writing burst, though I'm not entirely sure when it will occur.

Better than Good: I'll spend a large chunk of tomorrow in my kitchen, baking for the church bake sale and the dinner party the Chap and I will attend in the evening. Messing about with pots and pans and stuff will be therapeutic! And maybe I can sneak in a bit of writing, who knows?