Who Am I To Argue With Fate?

Do you believe in fate? Sometimes I get all cynical and think it's a bunch of crap, that karma does not in fact pay you back for living a life that focuses on bettering the world for others,doesn't bring down the people who bring so much pain and suffering into the world.

Then I have days like today where I realize that there has to be something ... call it God, call it fate, call it good luck, but man ...

So last night, my computer suddenly went psycho. I mean, we're talking crazy. I was pretty sure it was a lost cause (whatever it was swept through the virus protection like wildfire), and Addie confirmed that this morning.

Of course, I had a decision to make. Should I go to a computer specialty store to see if they can repair the earliest version of a Netbook, or should I just get a new computer (which has been on the radar for awhile ... Netbooks have good points, but they also have severe limitations).

Anyway, I'm typing this on my beautiful, brand new laptop :-)

Back to fate for a minute, though.

I got this urge yesterday to print my novel. I have a hard time editing on a computer screen (it's kind of like why I don't have a Kindle or a Nook, despite my insatiable appetite for reading), and I knew I had a lot of work to do.

To make matters even more interesting, my printer is special and prints one page at a time. My completed novel is lengthy. Quite lengthy. It made more sense to just go to Staples, so I put it on a USB and paid far too much money to it printed.

Yeah, do you see why the "one page at a time" approach was just not feasible?

Anyway, while I was putting the novel onto a USB, I figured I might as well print out my current WIP, too. After all, it's in need of some editing as well.

When my computer appeared to be possessed by the equivalent of Charles Manson on acid, I was momentarily hysterical. Other than Addie and Belle (and possibly my dogs), those two pieces of writing are the most important thing in the world to me.

They weren't backed up until yesterday. (Stupid, I know)

Thank you, whatever force made me take care of that business yesterday. I owe you one!

And, if you're interested in exploring my novel in terms of critique or style or abject curiosity or whatev, you can read some of it here, and/or weigh in on a recent struggle I've had with it right here.

And, just because I'm excited about it, here's the hard-to-read dedication page (no pseudonyms there, but I don't think the people on the page would be offended ... interesting that I've written about most of them here under assumed names, though).

Blogroll Appreciation ... and Question

First, I want to express how humbled and appreciative I am to actually be on the blogrolls of a fair number of you. I've become very passionate about this blog, and I've really enjoyed getting to hear viewpoints and connect with a variety of different people.

Okay, now here's my question for you. Addie is my computer guru (although Pythagorus does a lot with computers at work, he is fairly clueless about all things social and blog-esque), and she's not going to be home from Florida until Tuesday. Is there any easy way to organize my blogroll into sections (such as differentiating my writing colleagues, my teaching colleagues, et cetera)?

Also, and not that I think my blog is all that and a bag of chips, but please let me know if you want to be added to my blogroll. I'm very fortunate to be interacting with the vast array of people that I am, and I would love to share whatever I can with you all : ) If I'm being presumptuous, just tell me to shut up. Actually, tell me to please be quiet, as I'm constantly telling my students.

The human condition is a beautiful thing. Thanks in advance for your help :)

Belle has a Cough

Due to a computer snafu in my house, there is only one working computer. (Actually, that's not completely accurate ... Addie's laptop works, so does Pythagorus' work laptop, and so does my laptop as long as I don't need the internet). However, that one working computer is a real gem--I'm guessing you can read the sarcasm there--with odd issues, and it has "Open Office" instead of Windows because Pythagorus hasn't gotten a chance to install the Microsoft stuff yet. Worst of all, it's in the living room, which is extremely cold at night. However, since the sickness of my desktop forced me to abandon the warm, comfortable Salinger-space I've set up in my bedroom for the frozen tundra of the living room, I've been trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Belle is upstairs coughing and, at first, I went running up every time to make sure she was okay. Pythagorus is with her, but he'd sleep through kingdom coming. Even Addie, usually only concerned with how many AIM conversations she can have going on at once or where she's going to charge her iPod now that the main computer is out of commission, poked her head out and asked if Belle was okay.

Yeah, Belle is okay. Like both Pythagorus and Addie, it appears that Belle has allergies. They get worse at night and, again like both her daddy and her sister, they aren't characterized by just a runny nose or tender sinuses ... she gets a hard core cough. She sounds like a chain-smoking drunk the morning after (except, of course, it's still nighttime). She has a physical coming up, and I'm sure she'll get an inhaler of some sort (we can put it in the medicine chest with Addie's and Phythagorus') or maybe they'll put her on Claritin or Zyrtec (although I suspect she's still too young).

Belle is a very neat kid. She actually plays board games better than many adults (she has a sense of strategy that I find both amazing and a little frightening) and is obsessed with the idea of reading (and very close to doing this on her own). I was hoping she'd avoid the curse of the allergies but, if that last cough was any indication, no such luck.

Oh, my little Belle ...