snails go crunch

Went biking with David this morning. He noticed how low my tires were (of course I never check them) and pumped them up for me. And wow, riding is much easier, surprise, surprise! Went up the Don River trail. There were a lot of small rocks on the path, and they kept crunching under my tires. "Snail killer," David yelled at me. I laughed. Then I looked down and was horrified to see that they WERE snails! Augh!! The idiotic little things had slimed their way out into the middle of the path for some reason. David suggested that they were Outcasts Of The Forest, ostracized by their snail peers and sent out to face certain death ("Look out for the one in the pink helmet!"). I picked one up and moved him to the side of the road while David laughed at me, the unfeeling cad, but there were just too many!! :( So I went back to crunching over them.

It was perfect biking weather this morning...a sort of last, lingering look back at summer before the cold weather hits for good. These bike rides definitely help keep me sane when work gets too crazy. As we rode, I kept noticing oncoming bikers and joggers smiling as I passed them. Weird, I thought, and wondered if I had some blueberry jam on my nose or my top on inside out. Why on earth was everyone so darned happy this morning? And then I realized that I was smiling, too, a big silly grin plastered over my face (probably getting little insects stuck between my teeth when we did downhills, I'm sure). Partly because of the fine weather, partly because I had air in my tires, partly because it was that kind of morning.

Hey, today is ALISA'S BIRTHDAY!! Feel free to send her
birthday wishes!

OFFICEMUSIC: Fleetwood Mac, RUMOURS.

birthdays

Jodi's birthday is today!!! Allison's birthday is on October 3rd. And I'm hosting a Virtual Birthday Party for them at my place...you're all welcome to join the party!

Place: Debbie's Virtual Living Room

Date: Oct.1 through until Oct. 7

Bring: something for the refreshment table, please

Let the festivities begin...

postcards

In a recent Blathering, I whined about not getting snailmail and pleaded for some of you to send me postcards. Today's postcard pic is courtesy my brother-in-law Kaarel. :-) On the back it reads:

"The FAMOUS Mariners' Restaurant Fishboil - Served every Tues., Wed., Fri., and Sat., in July and August, open 4:30 - 8 pm. Comfortable seating. Roof mounted swamp coolers. On centrally located Hwy 44 near Fort Bay, Ohio. You will surely say, it is the BEST in Fort Bay!"


"Roof mounted swamp coolers"????

Wow, is The Birthday Party ever off to a rollicking start! So many people have joined that I've had to archive the first day's events already. :-) Please do join the festivities, which will continue on until next Wednesday or Jeff divorces me for allowing so many people into our virtual living room.

I'm not sure how much blathering I will be doing between now and the end of the weekend. Jeff and I have traded in our old computers for new ones. He has an iMac (they are SO cool-looking!) and I'm upgrading to a G3 (PowerMac G3, 300 MHz, 98 meg RAM, 6 MB video RAM, 17" monitor, 6 GB hard drive, zip drive, 56k modem). I currently have a PowerMac 7500 with 1 MB hard drive and have been experiencing more and more problems (running out of space, out of memory, system crashes, etc.); I desperately need this upgrade. Jeff's helping me convert to my new system tonight and I'll be converting everything over this weekend. If everything goes smoothly, I should be back online by soon. If you haven't heard any blatherings from me by Saturday night, then you'll know I'm Experiencing Technical Difficulties. Wish me luck!

To all you people off to Conchord this weekend: have fun!

Officemusic: Fleetwood Mac, RUMOURS (yes, again). I'm only "discovering" this album now, tho Jeff and I used Songbird as our "first dance" song at our wedding. :-)

new computer, oasis opens

First blather on my new computer! Still sorting things out, so please bear with me. But first of all...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALLISON! Feel free to send Allison birthday greetings! And don't forget to join the ongoing birthday party!

Sadly, my scanner software doesn't seem to be working so I can't post the lovely picture of Allison today that I was hoping (I know Allison is sadly disappointed about this). Hopefully Jeff can figure out how to get this working next week so you don't all get sick of the lovely food postcard.

Going to Orangeville in about an hour to attend the opening of my mother-in-law's new restaurant, OASIS!

Have a great weekend, everyone....

leaving micris

Yes, I'm happy with my new computer. It's faster, it's stronger, it's friendlier. My scanner still doesn't work, but Jeff was kind enough to scan today's Blatherings picture for me...I KNOW that Allison felt cheated out of having her photo posted on her birthday, after all. >:-)

Spent the weekend revamping Inkspot and finetuning my G3. Still some rough edges to smooth out, but I'm very happy with it so far.

Went to Orangeville on Saturday with Jeff and had lunch at OASIS, my mom-in-law's new restaurant. YUMMY FOOD. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a relation. Seriously. I had the best pizza I've ever had in my life there, a barbecued chicken concoction with cilantro and Spanish onion and other ingredients, the sum of which was a mouth-watering concoction that compelled Jeff and I to buy a whole pizza to take home with us. I had a piece for breakfast and lunch yesterday. I was hoping Jeff would forget his piece in the fridge this morning before going to work, but no luck. And there were the CINNAMON BUNS...sugar overdose heaven! Yummmm....If you're in Orangeville, Ontario, be sure to drop by the place. It's called OASIS, and basically sells prepared food that you can take home for dinner (but also serves lunches in the restaurant). 82 First St., Orangeville, ON L9W 3J6, phone (519) 940-4333.

By the way, my marketing company (MediaGlue) and I have parted ways. This means that I'll be taking care of Inkspot's advertising and marketing on my own again, an idea which doesn't exactly thrill me (I have no talent for marketing, really) but it doesn't look like I have a choice. Anyway, I'm starting a flyer campaign. The flyer basically has info about Inkspot and Inklings, which are free resources for writers. If any of you are going to any literary or writing-related conventions, OR A GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION (hey, I've interviewed Jack Chalker, Robert Sawyer, Zenna Henderson, Julia Ecklar and others for Inklings), please let me know if you're willing to take a few flyers to put on the brochure table! Even just 25 flyers or so would be appreciated. Send email to flyers@inkspot.com and let me know the name and date of the convention, a snailmail address, and how many flyers you'd be willing to take. And thank you!!!