A Splintered Mind

The Children's Writers & Illustrator's Market isn't usually the type of book one expects to read a review for, but aside from lists and lists of publishers and agents this book (updated yearly, unlike my copy) is filled with helpful articles covering everything from bios of successful authors and illustrators to advice on how to break into the business. This book has been kicking about my bathroom for two years and I decided to read the articles for once and for all. I'm glad I did. Having Depression, AD/HD, and other disabilities makes me hungry for "how to" articles because I simply won't accept my lot in life. Every little tip I read can be turned into a tool to transform my life bit by bit. This book was filled with many inspirational stories of people who started off slowly but persevered and seized the day. I'm surprised I didn't eat these articles up earlier. I heartily recommend you rent this one from the library or pick it up used o...

I'm in the slow but steady process of renovating this site's design over the next few weeks. I'll also be rolling all the Absentminded Bookshelf posts into this blog. Some of you may have been confused because they are at the top of the RSS feed but have old post dates. I'm keeping the original dates and migrating their comments over to make the two blogs into one. The two blogs originally began with separate purposes but grew more and more similar over time. I think it will be easier for me if I just have one blog to worry about because my time has become exceedingly precious over the past few months. I'm also losing interest in writing weekly articles so I want to change things a bit to help keep my and your interest. The original purposes of this blog have been met so I'm afraid I'm outgrowing it. That's why I'm now announcing this blog's new direction as a Britney Spears Texas Hold 'em Poker extravaganza! No? Alright, well, give it some...

I know how to set really big, humongous goals. Goals so large they could make one's heart faint at just the thought of thinking about them. I could get anything accomplished as long as I put my mind to it and I had absolutely nothing better to do that day. Setting goals that require a second party to meet their end of the goals just leads to frustration. Despite my disabilities, my lack of financial acuity, my lack of worldly accomplishments, and my 40 year old, flabby paunch, I'm OK with who I am. Turning 40 didn't kill me even though I failed to meet many of my goals. I still like vocal trance. Probably a non sequitur, but I thought I'd get it into this list somewhere. My family needs me. Not just because I'm a convenient full-time babysitter. My family needs the skills that I have and the knowledge I can teach them. My two oldest daughters are completely cool. They're fabulously talented and they have such bright futures I can't help but...

Coolest fish ever is the hottest - fish that skips through lava! Interesting discovery, but I'm a little irritated with these science articles big on text and short on visuals. To describe video as part of the discovery and not offer video in a link or an estimated time and place when we can see the video for ourselves is feeble reporting, IMO. Those lumps of fleshy turds do nothing for the imagination. This reminds me of that amazing video of the giant squid the Japanese supposedly took earlier this year. Every article I read at the time talked about how stunning the video was to watch, but nobody had the actual video to share, nor was there any interest by those reporting it to find out when the video would be available. And what about the researchers? Don't any of these scientists have web sites? Don't they have younger staff familiar with flickr , youtube , etc? ;) It's a good thing the Loch Ness Monster hasn't been photographed during this media-phobic, new...