I'm not sure how to take this.

The fortune said that my luck would change completely.

But it didn't specify in what direction.

Or what it believed my luck to be at the time.

I'm a little concerned.

(And dropping that open box of cereal sure didn't help.)

Poor Frank.

He's had a bit of a setback.

I hope he's going to be okay.

It's official.

I have tomatoes.

And that's it.

(The logs don't count.)

It's a good thing that I don't have to depend on this garden for food,

otherwise I don't believe I'd make it through the fall...or the end of summer.

Some days it's harder than others.

The original can be found here.

(Because the link doesn't seem to want to work with the picture.)

Oh, what the heck.

Here's Claude.

(I think he was starting to feel neglected :).)

Alive and kicking.

Frank has weathered the heat wave and is still hanging in there.

I hope that's a good sign.

(And yes, that would be Claude at the bottom, trying to worm his way into the picture.)

I will never say "the Apple software" the same way again.

If you've never heard Richard Dreyfuss read portions of the Apple iTunes EULA, you should rectify that now.

In retrospect,

Writing about digging graves and burying bodies might not have been the best thing to do before leaving for work.

Would you like to update? No.

Every time iTunes gets an update, the first time I open it up, I have the irrational fear that it will have undone all of my careful sorting and organizing, and that I'll have to do it all over again. Maybe it's because I remember the one time that it did actually throw things out of whack and all of the trouble it caused. (And no, I would not like to Ping about it.)

Oh, Dr. Jeff.

The comic is not called Mary Cory.

Yesterday I had a garden.

Then it rained.

At least the tomatoes survived.

(Perhaps I should name them.)

I guess it's a good thing I've got that backlog of books to read.

Borders is toast, and soon the only stores in that little shopping plaza will be Michael's and Bed, Bath and Beyond. On either side will be the two empty holes that once held Borders and Circuit City. I suppose I could go to Barnes & Noble now. I suppose. But their history section isn't very good, at least not in the nearest store. So I'm going to have to find another source for my history books once Borders finally closes, and while some people would say that this is what happens when you keep giving out coupons and such, I'm going to come right out and say that those coupons made me spend more than I would have, and made me buy more than I would have, and if we're going to go on about coupons and such, then someone should also mention Kohl's, though I'm not going to. This isn't about them. It's about Borders.

I'm going to miss Borders when it finally closes. I'm going to miss wandering around and looking at books, finding something I hadn't even planned on buying, and wishing for all of the books that I want to buy but just didn't have the money for. I'm also going to miss the people because they knew me and I knew them. Now that I know it's going to close, my mind is having a little panic attack, going through all of the books that I wanted to buy but didn't, all of the CDs that I didn't buy but that I know are still sitting there waiting for me and my coupon to appear, and all of the books and things that will be gone and that I know aren't waiting at Barnes & Noble. Don't get me wrong, I like Barnes & Noble too. I've bought stuff there, and someday I might even become a member, but I'll have to think about it because that store is on the other side of town and this one was only about a five minute or so drive away, right next to other stores that I had to go to anyway.

I suppose all things must come to an end, but I had kind of hoped that it wouldn't be so soon. At least not until I'd finished buying those books. And yes, I know that there's also the Internet, but really, there are a lot of books that I bought only after seeing them on the shelves or flipping through them. A lot of books that were bought just because I happened to come upon them. A lot of books that I wouldn't have found on the Internet because the Internet, though it promises so much variety and so much more, is very direct and targeted and doesn't lend itself to roaming because you always have to put in something to search for, which makes stumbling upon something all the more difficult. After all, if you don't know that you're looking for something, how can you find it when you're asked to identify what you're looking for? Ah well, I shall survive. I'll just have to find another bookstore. Goodbye Borders. I'm going to miss you.

The worst time to have an idea is two minutes before your break ends.

Guess what happened yesterday.

But did I manage to get the words written in those two minutes and get back to work on time?

You bet I did.

And so it begins.

The first thousand words have been thrown down.

(And boy, do I feel sorry for anyone who has to deal with the guy kicking things off.)

(No, it's not that he's kicking puppies or setting fires or punching orphans or doing anything terribly bad. He's just...being himself.)

Does that mean he's also loose?

Every time I see the local news promo where they ask me to feel the magic of the new Harry Potter film, I can't help but be reminded of the ThunderCats theme song. I hope I'm not the only one, though I might be the only one who feels the need to actually sing it out loud.

It's not that I name all of my plants.

Only the ones that get sick.

That's why there's a Frank.

And a Claude.

(But don't worry about him. He got better.)

Hanging in there.

Frank is still alive and doesn't appear to be on the decline.

Here's hoping that he keeps improving.

(And be sure to tune in for next week's Frank Watch Update, where hopefully nothing much will have happened.)

Now the writing can really begin.

Unless I decide to change your name.

Again.

The weather could change before you finish watching this.

Take that chance.

Plot Device from Red Giant on Vimeo.

We've hit a small snag.

I have no idea what your name is.

(Which wouldn't be a problem if you weren't kicking off this here book thing.)

(And no, Bob, Tom, Bill, or Fred, will not work.)

Quack. Quack.

All of my ducks are now in a row.

Time to start writing.

So I guess it's sort of there.

The beginning parts of the timeline came together pretty well.

The ones toward the end of the middle, not so much as things started to kind of fall apart.

But the few at the end are in great shape and right where they should be.

No one ever said this had to make sense.

Least of all me.

Looks like we're going to need another Smeagol.

What is the Eye of Sauron doing with Oprah?

Does that mean he made a backup Ring just in case?

Does Gandalf know?

Does Frodo?

Does Sam?

Does this mean there's also a backup Gollum?

I hope so.

Otherwise, that new ring might not get destroyed.

Pray for Frank.

First he was infested with bugs.

Then, in the process of repotting him, I accidentally knocked most of his roots off.

I hope he survives.

He's far too young to die.

So begins the second.

In a little while.

After I finish sorting the notes and snippets of dialog.

And anything else that needs to be done.

But at least I know how it begins.

And how it ends.

It's just all the stuff in the middle that needs to be sorted out.

All 67 pages of it.

El elefante.

Es gris y grande.

If you like horror books about teenage sociopaths...

You should read the John Wayne Cleaver trilogy by Dan Wells. I got the first book, I Am Not A Serial Killer, for Christmas and then it sat on the shelf for a while because there was a line of other books to read, so it had to wait its turn. (Actually, some of those books are still waiting in that line and probably more than a little sore at the trilogy for taking over the way it did.) Then, the day finally came when it reached the front and I commenced reading. So I read. And read. And really, it was the first time in a long time that I'd found a book that I didn't want to put down, which meant that I read it before bed one night and had some rather interesting dreams. Later, after finishing the first book, I immediately picked up the second, Mr. Monster, because I'd already bought it when I had seen that it was out in paperback. Then, as I was reading the second, I found that the third, I Don't Want To Kill You, had come out in paperback as well. (Yes, I am cheap. The last hardcover I bought was The Monuments Men because I didn't know if I'd ever see that one in paperback. Anyway, back to the tale.) So I read the second book, zooming through it, and finishing it on a day I had told myself that I wouldn't, that I would divide up those last chapters and make it last. I didn't. I couldn't. I just had to know what happened, and once I did, I had to go buy the third book the very next day because I had a coupon and because I really, really wanted to read the third and see what would happen this time, especially since it was the last book in the series. (Yeah, I liked the series that much.) So I bought it on Friday, finished by Wednesday, and yes, I did read those last chapters all at once, even though, once again, I told myself that I wouldn't. I've got to say, I liked the ending. I liked that I still had questions. That I felt that the people would still keep on living and still have to deal with stuff. That the world would go on and that there would still be...well, I don't want to give anything away, so I won't finish that sentence. Anyway, if you like scary books and suspense and stuff like that, and if you want something to read on a pleasant afternoon, I'd take a look at these. If you don't, well, you probably said no to the title of this post and have no interest in these, unless you're willing to take a chance and meet John...

(But as LeVar would say, "You don't have to take my word for it.")

Happy Birthday America!

Go do something fun.

I suggest those little black snake things you light and then watch grow on the sidewalk.

I've always liked those.

(And don't forget the sparklers.)