Thursday, July 14, 2005

Birthday Ten

Ten Things I Didn't Learn During Year 43

1. How to write by the seat of my pants. Maybe my butt is illiterate.

2. Who Mad Max Perkins is (did narrow it down to a possible five.)

3. What you call writers who harp on that Creative Commons thing. Creative Communists?

4. Why Mrs. Peel (the internet computer) hates my scanner, while Darth (the work computer) loves it. They're both the same model/make, just different-sized drives.

4a. No, don't explain it to me. By God, I'm going to figure out this one on my own.

5. Why teenage males find lifting the toilet seat as tiresome as putting it back down.

6. A reasonable justification for a writers' organization to practice censorship of its membership.

7. If that Whitebread Lady is ever going to show up at that Blog I Promised Not to Rag on Anymore.

8. Why looking for, bidding and buying a house takes approximately twice as long as conceiving, carrying, and giving birth to a child. Babies hurt more, though.

9. If/When I'll be ready to take the next big career gamble. (Stayed tuned, could be just around the bend.)

10. Where will we writers go from here?

12 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday PBW, I hope you have a great day. July's a good month to be born in.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous5:49 AM

    1. How to write by the seat of my pants. Maybe my butt is illiterate.

    Or maybe complexity requires planning. You wouldn’t build a cathedral by the seat of your pants.

    2. Who Mad Max Perkins is (did narrow it down to a possible five.)

    It’s you – it explains all those blank spots in your memory, and why you sometimes wake up wearing a wizard mask.

    3. What you call writers who harp on that Creative Commons thing. Creative Communists?

    Fools. Or very shrewd operators, depending on their motivation. As I understand it, Charles Stross’s release of Accelerando as an e-text with the whole creative commons thing (ttp://www.accelerando.org/) has actually enabled him to sell an awful lot of books.

    I suspect this approach will only work as long as (1) nobody’s developed the perfect ebook reader, and (2) it’s cheaper and less hassle to buy the paperback than print off and bind the ebook.

    4. Why Mrs. Peel (the internet computer) hates my scanner, while Darth (the work computer) loves it. They're both the same model/make, just different-sized drives.

    Well…
    4a. No, don't explain it to me. By God, I'm going to figure out this one on my own.
    Oh. OK

    5. Why teenage males find lifting the toilet seat as tiresome as putting it back down.

    Testosterone. We males tend to be rather mono-focused and in a rush.

    6. A reasonable justification for a writers' organization to practice censorship of its membership.

    My best guess is the old hacks trying to lock out the newer, raunchier writers – i.e. a practical, cynical justification.

    9. If/When I'll be ready to take the next big career gamble. (Stayed tuned, could be just around the bend.)

    This year. I have you down as a “just do it” personality.

    10. Where will we writers go from here?

    Raunchier. More populist.

    Happy birthday!

    Z

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  3. Anonymous7:58 AM

    Hope you have a very special day and do something that "you" enjoy! Life's lessons come at different times and sometimes the lessons are easier than others, although I tend to remember the harder ones and repeat the easier ones (not too bright I know). Grattis!! Marie

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  4. Happy Birthday, PBW! Looking forward to your next big gamble....
    Joely

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  5. Happy Birthday PBW!! And I can't wait for your next big gamble! No matter what you do, I know you'll make it fantastic!

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  6. Anonymous9:21 AM

    Happy Birthday to You!!

    I just celebrated entering my fourth decade yesterday...so far, so good!

    "10. Where will be writers go from here?"

    Anywhere we want.

    Christyne

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  7. Happy birthday! Embrace the mid-40s if for no other reason than . . . there's no reason not to! How's that for pretzel logic?

    I'm 47. I'm acting my age, particularly because it's wide-open to interpretation. Having never been this age before, I have nothing to compare it to. Therefore, anything goes!

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  8. Anonymous10:17 AM

    Happy birthday, PBW! Hope 44 is the best yet.
    charlene www.charleneteglia.com

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  9. More birthday wishes. I love birthdays and will wish anyone a good one as many times as I can. I'm older than you, too, so you can't claim my love of birthdays is because I'm still young enough not to feel old at every one. I love being over 50. You have so much freedom as a middle-aged woman.

    As for the career move--go for it. You're not going to start wimping out now, are you? lol

    And where we writers go from here--back to the computer to write more words.

    Linda

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  10. >>>9. If/When I'll be ready to take the next big career gamble. (Stayed tuned, could be just around the bend.)

    Good luck with whatever you have up your sleeve and Happy Birthday!

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  11. Happy Belated Birthday!!! If you find the answers to any of those questions, will you let me know?;-)

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