Sunday, August 01, 2010

Sunday Stuff

"Farther" and "Further" are both acceptable to use to denote physical distance. Some editors prefer "farther," and sometimes it's house style. But I HATE that word and will always, always use "further" unless forced to change it. Which I will do without argument, but then never read my own work again. :)
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I started reading a book on Friday that got a lot of attention recently, including bestseller status and critical acclaim. It had an interesting premise, so I picked it up, despite it being something that was way outside my usual interests. *sigh* I should have ignored all that other stuff. I got one page into the book and was bored out of my mind. The dialogue was mundane and stale and I had no sense of the people saying it, except that they both seemed like twits.

Luckily, the book I read after that was the extreme opposite, and I finished it the same day, which hasn't happened in a really long time.
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I finally caved, and I'm on Twitter. The main reason is because Brenda Novak is having a Cyber Launch Party on Twitter for her new release, and will be giving away great stuff, including iPads. I considered not mentioning who was giving the event, to avoid beefing up the competition, but that would just be wrong. So good luck! :)

Setting up a Twitter account was pretty gratifying. I followed a few people/groups, and some immediately followed back and mentioned my new account, one even saying "Hey, everybody, Natalie's here! @NJDamschroder (Finally)." I love the "Finally," as if they've been waiting for me. LOL I also got followed by some people I don't know, which was flattering.

Still, I doubt I'll use it much. It will languish for long periods of time, like Facebook does, in part because my cell phone? Is just a cell phone. And probably always will be. Also, I rarely have interesting things to say.
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So that was one thing I did this weekend. Others include such boring stuff as:
  • Shopping for work shirts suitable for embroidering
  • Shopping for household stuff like box spring sheets*
  • Trying on shoes I didn't buy**
  • Grocery shopping
  • Cleaning the house
  • Moving furniture out of the living room
  • Reading through Soul of the Dragon to ready for publication***

*BG is our big fabric clawer. (Maya prefers gouging wood, and Frisbee enjoys picking at the screens in the front window.) BG destroyed Number One's old box spring, so I told the girls we were getting bed skirts to protect the new mattresses. The protests hurt my ears. So I decided to get cheap sheets to put over them instead. Turns out I could get an entire sheet set for $5–10 less than a bed skirt, anyway.

**After four hours of non-stop running, my feet and legs are killing me. I've tried three different pairs of my better shoes. One pair is too battered, and my feet were overall okay but the toes were tender afterward, because my feet slide in them too much. One looks best with capris, but the edges of the leather chafe my feet too much, and the unbroken leather makes them sweat, which doesn't help. One pair is the most comfortable, but even with a cushioned insole, isn't giving enough support, so I hobble out of work at the end of the morning.

I tried a few things on yesterday. The problem is that I have weird feet. They measure about a 6.5 EEE (in good shoe measurements) but I really wear a 9.5 or 10 D (wide). Not many shoes are made wide, so I end up getting them longer than I need, and they're still too snug. The most promising pair of shoes I tried on were Keds that had decent support and cushioning but looked like giant, glowing boats on my feet. I don't know if I can walk around the office like that. I'll blind patients when they lie down for lumbar stim.

***I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but I've decided to give Kindle and Smashwords a try—as an author, that is—and self-publish my first paranormal romantic adventure, Soul of the Dragon. It never found a home with a traditional publisher for various reasons, and I still love the story. I've been reading through it (editing as necessary), and it holds up, despite how long its been since I wrote it. It was the first book of my heart, and as such, deserves to see if it can find an audience. So stay tuned for more as I head toward publication!

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