Michele and Ginger both mentioned love letters in recent blog posts, and it's made me sit and think about the last time I really wrote a letter.

I used to be a prolific letter writer. I have a drawer full of interesting, pretty and artsy stationery, more pens than I care to count, pretty stamps, and colorful sealing wax, but do I use any of it? Hardly ever.

And I miss it.

I mean, I love the immediacy of email, the quick and breezy way we shoot text and pictures back and forth across the ether, but a tangible paper letter is a gift as much as anything made or purchased, and there's something magic about capturing a moment of time with paper and ink.

So why don't I write?

Well, first, it's really not fun unless someone writes back. As in all writing, feedback is better than chocolate. And second, well, I no longer have pretty handwriting. Years of computer use and wrist issues have combined to make my penmanship more like a doctor's scrawl than a calligrapher's script. It's embarrassing, really, because I've always felt that one's handwriting marks one, as much as how one speaks.

Sometimes I think it would be fun to recreate the experiment from my school days where we stuffed notes into helium balloons, and then released them to the winds, waiting with breathless anticipation for people to write back and tell us where they landed. Sadly, in our current state of paranoia, I fear such balloons would be shot to the ground with pellet guns, and tossed aside like so much trash.

If you found a helium ballon with READ ME written on it, would you react like Alice with her magic mushrooms, or would you go hunting for a set of sharp, pointy darts?

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I haven't been posting to this actual account very often since making the move to my own site, and an external blog, two years ago. But I've missed the interaction with all you LJ-ers – I know I have RSS feeds, but the thing is – if you comment on the RSS feeds I don't see them unless I login and go LOOK.

Which is why I'm thrilled that there's a plugin for WordPress (my blogging software) that adds a box at the bottom of the “write” screen, so I can post directly to LJ, and set moods and icons and everything. That last post, “French Press” was the test post for that feature – and it seemed to work, which is always a good thing.

So, here's the deal:
Posts from ALL my sites will be synched to this account.
If you want ONLY blog posts, just read the RSS feed
If you want ONLY book reviews, the RSS feed is
I don't have RSS set up for posts to my fiction blog.

Any questions?

(You can all flee now.)

Ahh, coffee, my precious morning brew.

I woke this morning to glorious rain, started the hot water kettle and spooned coffee grounds into the bottom of my new French Press coffee pot ($30 from Starbucks). 4 minutes after the whistle sounded, I had a rich brew with almost espresso perfect crema.

Poured it into a mug, splashed in a little cream – real cream, but an infinitesimal amount – a packet of Splenda, and sipped.

Ahh, coffee!

And ant-free, at that.

View this post on my blog

Cross-posted, with apologies to the ppl who read me via RSS.

I've watched friends participate in blogathons for several years now, and even supported some of them by donating funds, but this year, I'm participating myself.

I haven't picked a charity yet. There's a local charity that I'm thinking of, and that I want to support because I know that small amounts of money go further with smaller organizations than they do when donated to national funds, but I'm not sure they're blog-friendly. I do have a backup charity, in mind, however.

I've started a page where I'll be updating everyone on how it works and what it entails and all that. Likely, anyone who pledges a minimum of $5 by the start of the blogathon will either be credited in an entry (“this entry sponsored by X”) or will get some other personal thank you. (Lemon bars for the extreme locals.)

Look for updates on THAT tomorrow later today.

Questions? Comments? Use the comment link, or send email via the link on my info-page.

and made me do it. :) Yeah, I succumbed, dug out my headset, downloaded new drivers for it, and then downloaded Gizmo.

I need to warn that I spend so much of my worklife on the phone that I prefer text when I'm not working, it's less rattling for me. BUT, there are times when only the human voice will do.

So, if you're so inclined, my ID there is ms_snarky.

The company I posted about yesterday has asked me to interview on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, my favorite lender in life has opened a branch in Dallas, and the branch manager I work with as a broker (in Novato) has emailed her to expect my call.

Thanks to all of you for the good wishes.

I think your rain-making is working. I mean, I don't know about the skies on YOUR side of the Metroplex, but here in Grand Prairie, the sky has gone from blue to dark grey in about sixty seconds, and lightning is painting streaks across the treetops.

Taken from

When Fuzzy and I bailed on the bay area and moved to Texas, the plan was that I was going to do contract work for my old company and concentrate on writing. Well, the writing is starting to click, but the not-so-pretty electric bill has made me think that it's time to dip my toe back in the corporate waters. At least for a while.

So, today I went online to Monster and MortgageBoard and CareerBuilder to update my resumes and see what was there, and I found an underwriting position (something I've wanted to move into for a while, but chickened out of a couple years ago) that is not only local, and a perfect match for my skills and experience, but is offered by the company that trained me, which CEO is a personal friend of my mother. And the post is dated today.

Taking it as a sign, I emailed my chirpy cover letter and resume off to the recruiter, and then sent a less formal and more chirpy email off to the CEO. And now, I ask that all of you offer positive thoughts, and suchlike, because while I've never had a problem getting a job, this is the first time in a long time that I've WANTED a position.

(Also, I'm betting my writing will be better and flow easier because productivity breeds productivity, and frankly, I feel like I've been stagnating.)

Thanks in advance.