About strangers...

"I don't know why I'm saying this to you."

"It's sometimes a good idea to say things like that to strangers.  They make uncomplicated confidants."

From Scales of Justice by Ngaio Marsh.

I really liked this exchange, and as it's not a spoiler in any way, I thought I'd put it here. I wanted to write about it, but I won't tonight.  Maybe later.

I haven't posted in weeks, so I hope you all had a lovely holiday this past week.

Happy New 2013!

November links. :)

Interesting things I found while researching.  Most of these are death, destruction, weapons, and guns.  I found some of them more fun than others, but hey, I like learning things, including weird things that are theoretical.


A shot to the head.  This is about death, yes; don't think it's something else, because it really isn't.  (Yes, I was looking up injuries and deaths, not planning on killing anyone; sorry!)  The internal links are brilliant!

Two angles, one on choosing handguns and the other about large caliber handguns and women.

How does it feel to receive a bullet?  Authors at the Absolute Write Watercooler.

And because Cracked.com should have the last word whenever possible -- okay, maybe not!  5 Weapon Myths You Probably Believe (Thanks to Movies).

Pretty sure I found that last link when I was searching submarines, but I could be wrong.  :D

Bonus link:  Confusing Words.  It hasn't got them all, certainly, but there are some that this is invaluable for.

You came here...

"I demand an explanation.  I intend to hold you to account for alienating the affection of my wife."

"Affections," Wolfe said.

"What?"

"Affections.  In that context the plural is used."

"I didn't come here," he said, "to have my grammar corrected."

"Not grammar.  Diction."

That's Nero Wolfe.  Sound familiar?

If that's not where the inspiration came for Mark Gatiss to write the opening scene of The Great Game, I'd be amazed.  (No, actually, I'd be curious to find out what his inspiration was, but I digress.)  But Mark's a fan of the Golden Age of Detection, and Nero Wolfe is one of the more famous detectives to follow Sherlock Holmes...

You can find the above scene, uncut, in Three at Wolfe's Door.  :D

Taking WFC off.

Cancelled my trip to WFC in Toronto for this weekend.

October was a really chaotic month -- family in hospital, one critically, and lots of other things going on.  Including a lot of sleep troubles.

I finally realized on 30-October that if that wasn't a case of Life causing con burnout, then something was.

So I'm home, and resting.  Finally got a good night's sleep.  Feels like I haven't slept well all week... possibly because I haven't.  (:/)

Even the neighbors hammering away didn't trouble me for quite some time (or they started later, hard to say).

Happy All Saints Day!  Try not to eat all your candy in one sitting, eh?  ;)

Almost to World Fantasy!

I'm anticipating the con.  The schedule's come.

Packing, arranging, and so on will be keeping me busy.  :D

Expect some quiet from me a weekend hence, from 1-Nov. through 4-Nov.  Probably major quiet.  Radio silence sort of quiet.

Unless I use Twitter.  Odds for that are not strong, even though this con is rather different than Chicon 7.  It being in Toronto will give me some challenges that no American con ever has, for one thing!

WFC will be interesting.  Some people who do Michigan cons are part of WFC 2012 staff.  

I'll work at the con, not sure where yet.  Possibly registration, possibly ops.  Don't know.

Cons tend to overset some of your plans... a bit like Pennsic War does.  8)

Anyway, I expect to Do Stuff, visit with friends, meet people, and come back both wired and exhausted.

Whatever happens for you, have a Happy Halloween!  I know I will.

A favorite anthology: 100 Great Fantasy Short-Short Stories.

Talking to a friend on Twitter... I remembered this book, the anthology 100 Great Fantasy Short-Short Stories.

Edited by Isaac Asimov, Terry Carr, and Martin Greenberg.  I miss you all, guys.  Thanks for collecting so many stories for us all!

I love this antho.  Here's the TOC.


Some of my very favorites:

• "Angelica" by Jane Yolen
• "Apocryphal Fragment" by Edward Wellen
• "But Not the Herald" by Roger Zelazny
• "Controlled Experiment" by Rick Conley
• "Deadline" by Mel Gilden
• "Final Version" by John Morressy
• "Pharaoh's Revenge" by C. Bruce Hunter
• "Some Days Are Like That" by Bruce J. Balfour

I'm fond of an awful lot of them -- my copy pops open to certain pages from frequent reading.  But the book's in storage, so I had to recollect titles from memory.  Some are dark, some are funny, some are wicked, some are clever...

I'd recommend any of these to you.  If you can read the rest, do.  :D  They're like potato chips -- can you just have one??


Thanks to Robert Sawyer for kindly having the TOC on hand!

Voting: Dirty Tricks Dept.

So, is this a triumph of OCD, or something else?


Something came in the mail marked as Absent Voter Ballot.

My family's all applied for our absentee voter ballots.  My mother was going to give this ballot application to a friend of hers...

I said she should make sure this ballot was valid first.

She called the township clerk and discovered that  it was NOT valid.  Any ballot application must say Absentee Voter Ballot.


FYI:  Both my parents work local elections.

This application claimed to be from the MEA, and it could not have been, the real MEA would have offered a valid absentee ballot application to its members.  How  do I know that?  Well, to start with, the MEA is for educators.

Welcome to defrauding the voters of America, 2012 edition.


Make sure you check when your ballot has to be in this year!  Call your township clerk, ask friends, hit Google -- do whatever you need to do.

If you haven't registered to vote, please PLEASE go do it.  Don't let yourself get cheated out of your vote.  Voting is your right; exercise it!