I got this t-shirt the other day, as it was on clearance at Hot Topic:

And this morning, I got this in an email from Sam:

And the sentiment expressed in that photo is completely accurate. Sam would trip me, as she’s said. On the other hand, if Sam were to become a zombie, I would shoot her in the head with a shotgun. No hesitation. It’s an understanding, you see.

My friends are awesome.

Categories: distracted
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I’m afraid to miss watching the games. At the same time, I’m afraid to watch the games. Not only that, but if I miss a game, I’m afraid to check redsox.com the next morning.

Why?

Because the Yankees are only 2.5 games back in the AL East, when at one point during the season, the Sox were as many as 13.5 games ahead. We shouldn’t even have to worry about the 7-game lead over the Tigers in the wild card race, because by all rights and purposes, we should have the AL East pennant clinched.

Do we? No. Why? Because it’s Boston, because it’s the Red Sox. No lead is too great to overcome, and no lead is too great to lose. We knew it would happen. We just hoped it wouldn’t. The Sox have an awesome ability to inspire a flicker of hope even in the most pessimistic fan.

Even this fan, one who checks both ways before crossing a one-way street.

Also, why was Eric Gagne such a great trade? Seriously. Why?

Categories: baseball
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Two of my beta-readers have very dry senses of humor. Now, this works out well for me because I have the same sense of humor. Invariably, whenever I read their in-line comments for a chapter of mine, there will be some giggles in there.

The giggles have also pointed at certain trends I have—oddly enough, I can be wordy. Olivia has to use the word “snip” a lot, while Robin gets to use the word “omit” just as much. Right now, I believe Robin has the edge on leading the word-snipping-omitting race. But only because Robin’s been tackling beta-ing Awaken the Sleeping Gods since Spring, while Olivia’s been helping polish up the first few chapters of Monster Rules.

Highlights of my current trend:

Olivia

Nice vocabulary. Cut it, egghead.

Snip! Wordy McWordton

I’m of two minds about this. On the one hand, OMG so many modifiers, two of them synonyms!

Robin

This is a run-on sentence b/c it joins two separate ideas. The comma should be replaced by either a period or a semi-colon. (Somewhere, at this very moment, my former grammar teachers are very proud of me, lol.)

You like run-on sentences, don’t you? Make this a period.

Replace with either a period or a semicolon. This is a run-on.

See above.

Another run-on. Replace the comma with a semicolon. Do not be afraid of short sentences, though. They are not the earmark of a bad writer. They help shake paragraphs up once in a while. They are your friends.

This is a run-on. Replace with period.

Dear Beta Readers,

I will endeavor try to keep my run-on sentences and gratuitous extra smarty-wordy words to a minimum.

Sincerely,
Jamie

P.S. You guys are teh awesome.

Categories: writing
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