Reading: City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff VanderMeer
Music: random bluegrass
TV/Movie: The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan
Link o' the Day: Writing In the Age of Distraction by Cory Doctorow

Welcome to St. Patrick's Day. The day where I feel really bad for all the native Irish currently living or visiting the States who can't get away from tacky lephrechauns and off-key warblings of "Danny Boy" and "I'll Take You Home Kathleen". You poor Mick slobs.



Yeah, this picture explains it all, don't it?

As a Mick slob myself, and an American one at that, I should be out on the street corners today throwing up green beer and butchering pronounciations of "slainte" and "cead mile failte". Sorry haters. That's not my bag anymore. I kind of blurrily remember the last time I went out and partied on St. Paddy's--I think I was at Club Babyhead where the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones were playing and I got fall-down piss-ass drunk before they even made it to the stage. A fight nearly ensued and I ended up getting poured into a cab by a friend who deserved a better night than looking out for my drunk ass.

I think it was still a couple of years after that before I sobered up, but even during those remaining drinking years, I still gave St. Paddy's Day a wide berth--having learned my limits like a Volkswagen hitting a brick wall.

Now that it's been nearly ten years since my last drink, the whole bar scene isn't really my thing and the only time I'm in one is when I'm lugging along the banjo and bodhran for an Irish music session. Even then, it's diet coke or coffee while we play tunes, tunes, tunes. But on St. Patrick's Day...even if it's a session day.. I'm likely to give it a pass just so I can avoid the requests for "Black Velvet Band", "Whiskey In the Jar", and (lord help me) "Whistling Gypsy Rover". I can't even take the Irish punk fusion this time of year.

But as they say..."god bless 'em!" They're having fun. And I'm sure one of these years I'm going to get sucked into a session or show on St. Patrick's Day and probably have a bang up good time at the ole craic. Tonight, tho, it's our weekly trip to the coffeeshop and home before the bars let out.

Have fun! And Be of Good Cheer!

Drive safely, folks. And if a friend wants to pour your drunk ass into a cab, trust them.

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The cats got me up way too early. I won't even say how early, but I've been making the most of it. I've finished processing the photos for a book on Van Alexander--noted band leader, arranger, and composer. You'd have heard his work on shows like Bewitched and Dream of Jeannie, movies like Baby Face Nelson and The Big Operator and his work with band leader Chick Webb which led to the early Ella Fitzgerald hit "A Tisket A-Tasket". (A very fun tune...you should hunt it down if you've not heard it before.)



Anyway, I've gotten a lot done on this book and it should be completed within the week. Then it's back to Ray Danton. Work on the Nebula issue of the SFWA Bulletin continues...much of it is out on proof right now, and I have some edits for the medical journal to hit sometime today as well.

Good work if you can get it. I'd like to get some more.

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Rumor has it...While Ireland is known for it's very generous tax exemptions for creative artists, the Eire Tax Code does not acknowledge the following as art: mime, chainsaw sculpture, balloon animals, woodburning, sad clown paintings, and cat juggling.


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Today's link is a very interesting article by Cory Doctorow which appears in Locus Online entitled Writing In the Age of Distraction. It's a rare argument for finding ways to be a productive writer even in this age of Internet and other new media distractions. He makes some very good points and has some very helpful suggestions for writers who sit in front of a glowing screen a good portion of the day, and who still have to deal with the real world. (Thanks to Jason Erik Lundberg for pointing the link out on his facebook.)

Check it out. You won't be sorry.

Cheers!