weekend hangovers

Our familial houseguests have left and the house is blissfully silent (they're good houseguests, but my one nephew is an incessant chatterbox -- a good reminder of why I never want to have kids, not that I ever actually need a reminder). Today we'll go to the library and the gym, write stuff, and maybe go down to the Opera House to see our friend the youth orchestra conductor's show. I finally got some coma-like sleep last night and feel much, much better as a result. George the Dog got up far less. For the past few days, he's just panted really hard when he wanted to drink water at night so we'd get up and bring him a bowl. But last night he was finally feeling good enough to get up on his own and walk into the kitchen and get a drink. Odd that something so normal can become such a happy event so quickly.

He's still needing help on the steps but he's getting around pretty good otherwise and this morning he apparently led Christopher on a wild chase down the street. (See note on coma above. I slept through that.)

I'm sorry to natter on so much about George, but I am so, so, so relieved. The vet really did not seem that hopeful that the steroids would work. I cried on at least two acquaintances Friday. (I cry at the drop of a hat when I'm tired and stressed.) But they're working, which should mean we'll be able to treat this.

Last night we settled in and watched the Freaks and Geeks episodes Christopher hadn't seen and drank too much wine. I fell asleep during the season finale and went straight to bed without reading for the first time in ages.

So, hangovers.

1. Harlan Ellison gets Mabused.

2. The mystery of Hogzilla will be solved tonight on the National Geographic Channel at 7.

3. Alan DeNiro uncovers a Dastardly Plot by the Forces of Slipsteam to stamp out Science Fiction. (And makes me laugh very hard.)

4. Bookdwarf also makes me laugh very hard with this post about Dan Brown. She sez, quoting Brown's quote from a USA Today article:

"In many ways, editing yourself is the most important part of being a novelist. ... For every page in a published novel, I wrote 10 that ended up in the trash."

- Dan Brown from www.danbrown.com
Brown stats: 29 million copies of Da Vinci Code in print worldwide; more than 1 million of The Da Vinci Code: Special Illustrated Edition in USA

Too bad the entire book didn't make it there.

5. There's a fantastic amalgamation of knowledge and horror stories from the children's book slush pile over at Something's Begun. (Via Wendy at the Poundy Blog.) A highlight from the cover letter file (I wish I could post some of the cover letters we get for Say... here, but I'm not that bitchy yet):

What Life Is All About is not just a tale I have created, it is theme perennial best selling authors, like God, attempt to address. However, mine targets the inquiring eight-year old, does it in less than 500 words, and is accompanied by gorgeous illustrations.

Gives new meaning to the phrase "Write like God."