Reading: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Music: David Bowie's Changes
TV/Movie: The Witches of Eastwick
Link o' the Day:The Funny Times

Fridayyyyyyyy!

And it’s about time. It seems like it’s been a pretty long week, and I’ll betcha any money that the weekend is going to fly by all too quick. Pretty Maggie’s mother is coming for a visit next weekend, so we need to do housecleaning (my office, especially, needs some serious cleaning). I have some edits to work on with the Joel Rapp and Private Eyelashes books, and I have to position about 70 photos in the Paul Frees book before next weekend. Plus I have a book review and two chapbooks to push out this week as well.

Busy, busy, busy.

But I should get in some of my own writing time. My goal is to get three stories (at least) off to markets this week. I’ve had nothing in the slushpiles for ages and it’s time to get that remedied. I’ve been looking over the market listings and realize that two stories are nearing their deadlines for anthology submissios. Definitely time to get cracking.

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So I ranted recently about aspects of my job. Okay, so base stupidity is a pet peeve of mine, but I suppose I should be thankful that in the great scheme of things, it’s all still pretty minor. Idiocy at my job doesn’t affect people’s lives. I’m not a doctor or a social worker or somesuch. It’s probably why I haven’t taken a high-powered rifle to the top of a clocktower yet. As much as my job can be a pain, it’s still not that important and exists solely to pay the bills.

Which leads me to wonder about my goal of working for myself. Dang--but that’s a pretty challenging goal. Not because I couldn’t do it, but could I afford it? Taxed as both employer and employee would mean doubling (at least) my current freelance rates. What if I do work for someone out of state? I know someone who did work in Massachusetts and had to pay federal taxes plus taxes in two states and ended up with practically nothing. (Actually, with travel costs, she probably ended up in the red.) Then there’s question of insurance. And there’s the question of how much to have in savings for those inevitable dry periods.

People do it all the time, so I imagine there has to be a way to do it legally and financially, but before I can really plan for something like that, I need to sock up a lot of savings. Or sell a movie script for a bucketload of cash. Or write the breakthrough bestseller. Well, the plan of action Pretty Maggie and I have doesn’t lead toward self-employment for a number of years--and that’s fine with me for the moment. I make a pretty good living working for another company, and the work isn’t all that hard compared to other jobs I’ve had.

And I’ve got Pretty Maggie.

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Today’s link leads to The Funny Times, a publication of good, old-fashioned liberal humor. It features some good columns, excellent cartoons, and is a pretty professional deal all around. Check it out and enjoy!

Cheers!