Crowded House fans, take note. Their new album, Intriguer, is available in the U.S. today. I downloaded the audio tracks from iTunes this morning and then left my computer running to download the associated videos. I’ve only listened to part of the album, but it sounds good.
Today I was jolted by electricity for fifteen minutes straight. No, I didn’t get hit by the world’s worst bolt of lightning, nor did I stick my knife in the toaster. I started physical therapy for some lower back pain I’ve been experiencing this year caused by a ruptured disk. (“Shit wears out,” a friend warned me a number of years ago and, yea verily, it is true.) Part of the treatment involved lying on my stomach with four electrodes attached to my lower back while a stack of pads were laid across me atop a heating pad. The electricity was…interesting. Tingly. I remember when I was a kid pulling a plug out of a wall socket and coming into contact with the prongs with my thumb and index finger. It felt like that. Surprisingly pleasant!
I finally got my Storytellers Unplugged essay written for this month, too. It goes live on Saturday morning, the same day that I’ll be in Sugar Land talking to the Houston Writers Guild. Naturally, my essay is inspired by that, though not in the usual way. I also have a new first draft of the older story that I rewrote as a space opera. Now comes the real work—the editing! It stands at about 4500 words at present, which means I’ll probably trim about 4-500 words during revision.
A surprise check in the mail last night. Well, it shouldn’t really have been a surprise—I just forgot it was coming. Payment for my 300 word essay in the 2011 Stephen King Library Calendar. Best. Gig. Ever. I make more for that little article than for most short stories ten times as long.
A good debut episode for the new season of The Closer last night. They found a way to reboot the show without messing with the chemistry—by putting the major case squad in new digs. Gives Brenda something new to bitch about. My only problem—and this is getting to be a generic issue—is that the moment I saw the ultimate culprit, I figured it was him/her because he/she was played by a somewhat prominent actor. They weren’t going to just stick him/her in for one scene as a character providing background on the victim.
I didn’t get to see Rizzoli and Isles, but I have it recorded for this evening, when there’s nothing else on. I did finally get a chance to see the first episode of Haven and I thought it was okay. A good companion to Eureka. It has enough levity to keep it going. I liked the scene where the sheriff’s son and Agent Parker were in a standoff, pointing guns at each other, when she reaches inside her jacket for her ID. “Keep your hands where I can see them,” the local LEO says. “What am I going to do—pull out another gun?” she quips. Her character is going to take a little getting used to because she’s monotone and brusque, but I like Duke, the guy on the boat with a bad reputation. The putative male lead is a little bland, too, but his “talent” (not being able to feel pain) is probably useful in law enforcement. The show has a Dead Zone vibe, which is only enhanced by the presence of Nicole de Boer.
