I think I finally got a handle on the final essay I’m doing for an upcoming encyclopedia. I only had 500 words to work with, but I’m quite satisfied with the draft I completed this morning. I’ll read it over once more and then send it off to the editor tomorrow, finally putting that project to rest. I have a few short stories I want to tidy up for various markets during the rest of the month before returning my attention to the novel on August 1st.
I registered for WHC2010 in Brighton yesterday. I can’t remember the last WHC I attended, but the location of this one is attractive, and two anthology projects I’m involved with will be launching at the show, so I thought I’d end my hiatus. I’ll also be at WHC2011 in Austin.
Guess the spy game is driving people to drink. Read in the paper that Jeffrey Donovan from Burn Notice was arrested for DUI. You’d think that Michael Weston could have talked his way out of that situation. Or come up with some gadget on the spot that would have foiled the field sobriety test.
Over 1500 people have read my most recent Storytellers Unplugged essay Apparently I Write Like a Girl so far, about triple the average readership, and I’ve received more feedback on it than from all my other essays combined.
It was confirmed yesterday that we probably did replace our laundry dryer unnecessarily. Turns out the 240 V breaker switch was faulty. It wasn’t tripping off, but it was probably arcing over, momentarily breaking the circuit and turning the dryer off. Condemned to an early grave, all because of a $40 part. The electrician said the breaker was “crunchy” when he threw the switch manually. Then one of the phases went out altogether. He’d never seen one fail quite like that before.
After a fairly ridiculous episode last week, The Closer came back strong this week with one of its best ever. Mary McDonnell reprised her role as a police captain assigned to FID, which investigates whenever someone is shot by a police officer. She gets in the way, but it’s hard to deny that her job is necessary, especially given the LAPD’s history. She plays the character with only a degree more humanity than her autistic character on Grey’s Anatomy, but she does have a wry sense of humor, as evidenced by her parting comment to Brenda as they are all preparing for the funeral. Provenza, however, got in the final shot, alluding to the likelihood that they would, once again, someday be forced to investigate the deaths of other police officers.
A fun, solid episode of Eureka! this week. The sheriff managed to figure out his conundrum using his wits and stamina, and the rest of the town solved the mystery of the misbehaving deputy. Her own insight into how to solve the problem sounded very much like the way the sheriff blunders and guesses his way through things he can’t possibly understand, except at the fundamental level he knows the way things work.
