Hmm

Ever notice, you have acres of aluminum foil. Loads. Tons. Right up till you run out. Maybe they should put a colored stripe or something, when you're a couple feet from running out.

Yuck!

Yikes! We have ants! Lots of ants! How is it that a hundred ants are not ickier than a few roaches, but seems so much more insidious?

Book Cover Review - The Cassandra Compact

The Cassandra Compact was written by Robert Ludlum and Philip Shelby - -

Cover art by Some Nameless Typesetter - - who has also done covers for far too many books. Cover art doesn't have to be complicated to be good, but dark textured metal alone does not a quality cover make.

Here's the cover:

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I realize that this is a Ludlum series (he does the Jason Bourne stuff, among others), but is it really necessary to have his name on the cover twice? It takes up a huge amount of real estate on the cover, and when you think about it, this book was probably written completely by Philip Shelby, with Ludlum doing maybe an outline, if that.

Clearly, the publisher has the impression that espionage covers can't have any style, art, or oomph to them at all. How about a sexy spy on the cover, at least? An explosion? A sexy exploding spy? But no. The sad part is, some poor slob went to art school for 12 years and probably was told "Hey, take Tuesday and churn out 40 covers for next year's espionage line." Sad sad.

Awful cover, an example of everything that shouldn't be done.

1 out of 10

Maybe I have Mono?

Is it right that I should get up early, spend 30 mins on the treadmill, shower and have a breakfast of fruit and oatmeal, and then be fully ready for a 2 hour nap?

Shouldn't I be invigorated, not nappish?

No Sketchers for me

We spent the day shopping, supposedly for shoes and then a movie, but no shoes and no movie. I did pick up some apple butter, which I smeared all over the tiny powdered donuts I bought, then devoured. Delicious! Apple Butter is best when chilled, but I didn't wanna wait.

Did I mention the big scary non-disclosure?

I'm about to start a new job. Is this really the right time to get serious about my creative projects? Or the perfect time? I do best with a strict routine. Since I've been unemployed for the past few months, maybe now is the time to plan... I start work on Monday, so yeah, could be good time.

Did I mention the big scary non-disclosure I had to sign? If the company owns all "ideas and inventions" while you work for them, how does that affect any fiction I might write and sell?

I guess I don't have to worry about that until I actually make a sale.

Life of Pi - Book Cover Review

Life of Pi was written by Yann Martel - -

Cover art by Andy Bridge - - who has also done covers for the likes of Jennifer Crusie and Sartre of all people.

Here's the cover:
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Like most of Bridge's works, the colors are realistically earthy - they're somewhat muddied. We see Pi in the lifeboat with the tiger, and the giant cat takes up the majority of the room. Pi is curled up into a fetal position, feet ready to kick the tiger - as if that would stop a hungry monster.

The boat is surrounded by open ocean - and more importantly, surrounded by fish and even a few turtles. Right away you get the imagery - just as the 'water water everywhere, and not a drop to drink' is an awful truth, boy and tiger are surrounded by food that they can't get to. The tiger even seems to be batting at a fish?

The orange stripe at the left side is inspired, as it really makes the tiger 'pop' more than he would if the entirety of the front cover was nothing but blue.

The art and text are stylized, giving you the (correct) impression right away that this is not your typical novel, but a 'view askew'.

Great cover! 8 out of 10!

It was a new razr. snazzy.

Jack left his phone in the bathroom after the party. Did I mention, he threw up in my fridge and didn't clean it? Yeah.

I used his phone to change his voicemail greeting message. In a very dreamy, spaced-out-stoner-girl voice (I come by it naturally) I said "Yeah hi, um... Jack's not here? He ate all my peyote buttons and jumped out the window. If this is his girlfriend, I'm sorry for boffing your man. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time, you know? Everclear will do that."

Let that be a lesson to you - don't barf in people's fridges.

A fine line

At what point does a lover's fascination with your boobs become an unhealthy obsession?

Just curious. No reason.

Humph!

Don't you hate it when you try to introduce your friends to wonderful music you've just discovered (The Kills) only to discover they've known about it for a year, and didn't tell you?

WTF?

Fruit Salad?

The squirrels are not eating the apples I tosssed to them. Perhaps squirrels do not like fruit? Maybe I should have cut them up? Maybe it's a problem with presentation? No garnish?

Ah well, the bacterium will enjoy the appley goodness, if nothing else. I guess they could have done that in the landfill just as easily.

It's Saturday morning, my sweetie is sleeping, and I don't know what to do with myself. Maybe I'll take a walk around the block.