Is it just me or is this the longest damned week of the entire year? I mean, really.

Just let it be over already, would ya?

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One thing that I love about being a freelancer (and it's a double-edged sword) is the variety of subjects I get to research. My head is stuffed with way too much trivial information, but I'm an information junkie. It's not just the writing assignments (although don't get me wrong, life insurance in the UK, all about Twitter, hosting companies and what they offer, and men's engagement rings are fascinating subjects) but anytime I have a question about something or a subject piques my interest, the first thing I do is hit the Goog machine.

I could be gone for hours.

It's a veritable treasure trove of information, Google is. Where else can you find in an instant information about the role of hydrochloric acid in your stomach, the developmental milestones of a baby, who wrote the timeless ditty "Cotton-Eyed Joe" or if vampires really exist? What is the main ingredient of vegimeite sandwiches, how long does it take to cook a turkey, or what are the side effects of protein pump inhibitors?

Google might be the god of information, and with it, you can find information on just about anything in the universe. If you know how to work it and you have patience, you can even start to sound intelligent on a subject with which you've never encountered.

Of course, you can't believe everything you read. One of the most important things I've learned is to consider the source. Usually if I find something interesting and relevant, I hit a couple more search listings to verify what I've found.

I have no idea where I'm going with this.

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I have a deadline today and I'd better get on it. Four hours of sleep doesn't seem like a lot, but it's the best I've done in over a week, so while I might not be feeling exactly perky, I think both brain cells are firing so that's a plus.

Did you know life insurance has a long history, stemming from "burial clubs" in Roman times? In the case of unexpected death, members of the group would pay for the funeral and help out survivors with gifts of money. The practice was lost sometime around 450 AD and the fall of the Roman empire. Burial clubs were then resurrected in the middle of the 17th century in England.

Yeah, not that it's something you needed to know. Still interesting.

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I'm in the middle of "Under the Dome". So far, it hasn't really lived up to "The Stand", but it's a good yarn. I heard (through people I know, this wasn't a Goog thing) that Stephen King has a very good editor. And that at certain points of his career, it was a good thing he had a good editor. Otherwise, certain works would not have been finished nor seen the light of day. By that time his name was a money-maker, and no one wanted to jump off the train.

I find this disturbing. As a total fangirl, it's disappointing but not surprising. I assume this was during his darkest drinking days (and I could probably pick those books out of a line-up) and I can see how he was caught in the machine. Still, the worst of SK is better than the best of a lot of authors I can think of, but it's a sobering thought -- that success isn't the answer to a happy-ever-after wish. That success might be the poison hiding inside the polished apple.


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From the Vaults of Personal Experience:

Ovaltine sucks. So does soy milk. Put the two together and that's a double YUK.

Fresh apples are a great cure for heartburn, even the nuclear kind.

Any situation can feel "normal" if it's gone on long enough.

If it looks like Monday, feels like Monday, smells like Monday, it's probably Tuesday already.