Belated Christmas Wishes

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday. I went back to the Fort to visit my folks and my brother and niece. My niece was happy with all the swag she got, which consisted of wanted things and needed things. I'm looking forward to buying her some books soon, too.

Oracular Orb #6

Me: Will we make the deadline???

Oracular Orb: A Google showed the court case mentioned in this Bookseller article, and in this case summary.

Um, that doesn't sound very good. Sorry I asked.

My Hopes for Chicago

Really pulling for Rahm (yes, we're all on a first-name basis with him here in Chicago) to get on the ballot. In case you hadn't heard, his residency is being challenged because he rented out his house after he went to Washington to run the White House. I've been told it's "not a frivolous issue," but . . . it is, really. It's not like he tried to sell his home; he just rented it out. And since he pays Illinois taxes and has an Illinois driver's license (and votes in Illinois politics absentee), I'd say he pretty much meets the standards for residency. A person who does all those things and sublets an apartment to take a semi-permanent job in a different city would still qualify as a resident. Why is the residency requirement suddenly at a higher bar? It's like we're saying the candidate has to meet a higher standard of residency than a voter would. That doesn't make any sense.

Granted, I'm no lawyer—just a Chicago voter who wants the candidate who is by far the most qualified. To be honest, if he doesn't get on the ballot, I'd say we're pretty much screwed. No one else has the administrative experience he does (and he's proven to be an excellent administrator), and after 20+ years of Daley, the last thing I want is to turn Chicago over to some newbie. Also, this whole thing about him "not being Chicago enough" is more nonsense. In a way, I think it's great that he left for a couple of years and ran a clean administration. Because, no matter whether you agree or disagree with President Obama, he's not had the scandals we've seen from previous presidents. I think it would be great to have someone who's not quite so "inside" to be the mayor of Chicago. Might just get us out of the rabbit hole for a while.

OracularOrb #5

Me: Is there really a Santa Claus?

OracularOrb: If you were wondering what kind of a day it was it was a this kind of day.

I think that means the elves have been up to no good.

Questions

It may seem strange to you that I have already, after only four, run of out of questions to ask the Oracular Orb. If you have a question for the Oracular Orb, I will gladly trek into the dark, magical land of the Orb and bring you back your answer. Or, I suppose you could do it yourself, but that would lose all the fun of pondering together what the answers mean.

Oracular Orb #4

Me: Will Rahm Emanuel be successful in his Chicago mayoral bid?

OracularOrb: There was no food, for example.

Oracular Orb #3

For further amusement:

Me: Oracular Orb, will I get everything done I need to get done today?

Oracular Orb: Yours Pat Fox Since 'somewhere' is currently wrong a hundred percent of the time, I'd stop listening to it.

Which E-Reader?

Like Fairyhedgehog a few months back, I'm considering getting an e-reader. I need something that reads PDF files—not just PDF books, but PDF files. So far the Kindle seems to fit that requirement, and with all the free books I've downloaded from Amazon on my Kindle app on my Blackberry, I wouldn't be surprised if the Kindle has already paid for itself. I know, now that I'm editing, that an iPad would be a better product for my needs, but there's no way I can afford that at the moment.

Thoughts?

Oracular Orb #2

Me: How many inches of snow will Chicago get today, O Wise One?

OracularOrb: And what she's saying isn't...

The OracularOrb

So I've been asking questions of Neil Gaiman's Oracular Orb through Twitter (@OracularOrb). I think I may post the answers whenever I ask it questions. This thing is better than the iChing—it's amusing and accurate.

Stacy: Why oh why do I have to go out into the freezing snow today???

OracularOrb: Let's see . . .

Let's see, indeed. I have to work (deadline Monday) and I have to go to the grocery. Not really the way I wanted to spend my day, as I'd planned to spend it writing, editing, and helping D make cookies.

A Helpful Reminder

Somehow I missed this (on Fairyhedgehog's blog, no less!) at clock-changing time. You can bet your ass I'm never going to forget which way to turn my clocks ever again.



You're welcome.

Sale at Wild Child Publishing

Hey Folks - There's a sale going on at Wild Child Publishing and its partner site, FreyasBower (if you're into the romance and erotica thing). If you spend a measly $8 and use the coupon code "Happy Holidays" during checkout, you get 25% off. Happy book hunting!

I'm a Wild Child

I'm excited to say that I'm now a content editor at Wild Child Publishing.