Bernie was kind enough to link me from one of the nicest collections of artistically carved pumpkins I've ever seen. Seriously good shit.

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I'm glad Karl Rove was able to get that brain implant working in time for the elections; the remote appears to be functioning as well. All systems go.

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My lefty/liberal friends are just wonderful, though of course they sort of "put up" with my libertarianism as if it were an endearing eccentricity.

But colleagues in entertainment, fiction-writing and the media? Ye gods; it's awful out there. And Eric is right: the lefties always bring this stuff up, either because they assume everyone shares their passions, or because they want to screen out those who aren't leftist enough for them. Some look around to see who isn't agreeing, and some simply assume that silence is agreement.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:08 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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. . . that aren't bad in and of themselves—only that they open the door to more of the same. That was always my argument against goofing off at work (or, at least, without making up the time that evening, or that weekend): once you get into a habit like that, it's hard to stop. Then you feel guilty, and the pendulum swings back the other way.

One is against compulsive drivenness, but also against sloth. And all these things, not to put too much of a Protestant point on it, are insidious.

And so—back to work.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 09:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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. . . who fell for this.

Dear Abby: what shall I do with her?

UPDATE: Fixed, though it was funnier with the wrong link.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 04:23 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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. . . brought to you by Popular Mechanics.

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Nothing against the moderate Muslims—either one of you.

But you do have your work cut out for you, no?

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It turned out to be sleep—at least, attempting to sleep on any kind of a schedule. I got most of the way through cleaning out my side of the garage yesterday. Enough so that the gutter-hanging people can come by at 7:30 a.m. and hang gutters. Meanwhile, the VVA will be picking up a bunch of our junk, and I shall schlep the rest of it to storage. Then we hand out candy.

The painters are coming on Friday, so there's plenty to be done before then. And we have a bunch of work to do on finances. I'm down with all this, but I've told Attila the Hub he may not see my manuscript until Thursday; that's the way it goes.

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. . . defends Llimbaugh.

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300 million, huh? That's just da bomb, (and I don't mean the population bomb).

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It looks like it.

Thanks, Glenn.

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Good to see you and Ms. Weiss last night. That's why I went to Linguist Guy's digs in the first place: to talk to you two, and to She Who Will Not Practice Law.

But Mr. Linguistics was in fine form.

I'm not sure what the point is of cannabis vodka without any THC in it, but I did discover that if one has enough of it, this deficiency can be counteracted.

Halloween is always such a magical time—even when one celebrates it the previous weekend.

Pax et lux, my friend.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:20 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Discuss.

Please note that the word "spirit" here is lower-cased; the Lord* wasn't discussing the Holy Spirit.

Is there irony in the word "spirits" for booze?

* Oh, how I hate it when my relatives throw that phrase around. But it's different when I do it.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:22 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 Obviously, the part of man that responds to God is willing to do much for God, but the part that does not respond to God is not willing to do much. As for the capitalization: The original languages of the Bible (Hebrew, Greek and a tidbit of Aramaic and Chaldean) did not have our present-day system of capital vs. lower-case letters, although Greek did gain them since that time. The oldest manuscripts have everything in all caps (which did not indicate shouting to them). In fact, Greek, at that time, was often written without spaces between the words. Consequently, the word "spirit" is capitalized in modern English bibles depending on the translators' choices in the matter. Some translators render all instances with a lower-case "s," and let the reader figure out whether the spirit is human or divine. Other translators try to infer it from the context and apply a capital "S" in those cases where they believe the spirit in question is the Holy Spirit. In this particular passage, it simply makes no discernable sense if the spirit here is divine.

Posted by: John at October 27, 2006 03:40 PM (GjZK7)

2 Right. But what is meant when we talk about the human spirit? What do we mean? What did Christ mean? In a scriptural context, how is the spirit distinct from the soul?

Posted by: Attila Girl at October 27, 2006 07:30 PM (LEEsJ)

3 Wouldn't you and St. Thomas Aquinas like to know? In Suma Theologica, et.al., there is little practical difference between the human spirit and soul. The spirit is the soul as given, merged with our sapience-- our consciousness, apperception and experience, etc. I wrote out my own personal theory of God and what it all means, but your system ate it. I took that as a sign! Maybe some other time.

Posted by: Darrell at October 28, 2006 01:19 AM (/ztjB)

4 I'm crushed. As soon as I have my life back, I'll try to get that fixed.

Posted by: Attila Girl at October 28, 2006 08:10 AM (LEEsJ)

5 The spirit would be the part that participates in the afterlife. The term that is translated 'soul' is the Greek word psyche, from which we get words like psychology, etc, although the Greeks had a different word for 'mind'. Whether the soul and the spirit are the same thing or different things really doesn't matter in the long run. If they are the same, pleasing God requires me to give up drunkeness, surfing porn, etc. If they are different, pleasing God requires me to give up drunkeness, surfing porn, etc. So I don't worrty about it.

Posted by: John at October 28, 2006 12:21 PM (VOKJa)

6 I always copy my text, knowing what can happen. Last night that didn't work either. Only two words copied, but the whole text was highlighted properly. Time to call it a night, then. Don't forget to set your clock back tonight(10-2 ....Although you would be early for Mass this time....

Posted by: Darrell at October 28, 2006 08:13 PM (YR+ky)

7 Translation: stop procrastinating and DO IT.

Posted by: eclectic infidel at October 29, 2006 11:45 AM (pPEXX)

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But whenever they leave one of these interviews, the protagonist decides the killer couldn't possibly have been him, "because he's so cute." I think her horniness is messing with her objectivity: I'll have to speak to her about this.

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The usual spirited discussion about whether I should have a character use the word "cunt." I thought it worked, but a lot of people find that word offensive beyond anything else. So, there's that.

And, of course, there was the usual praise for my dialogue, with the standard cautions about how I have too much of it. And the expected admonition that at certain points my characters' voices sound indistinguishible from one another, "as if they'd been written by the same person."

"Yes," I replied. "There's a reason for that."

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If I could just crank out several pages a day consistently, I'd be fine. But I have no attention span. I flit around from chapter to chapter. I rearrange the order of things.

And I forgot to introduce that important whatchamacallit into the first chapter.

I'm a freaking mess right now.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 02:45 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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I just want to work on the book. I'm supposed to have it finished on Tuesday, but that seems hopeless.

I'd like to at least print out some of the earlier chapters, but they keep changing: as I tweak the solution to the puzzle, I have to insert correlating clues in the first few chapters.

Meanwhile, as usual, I'm neglecting the middle of the book. And that stupid mob connection thingie; WTF was I thinking with that?

Posted by: Attila Girl at 09:16 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I'm looking into becoming a Eucharistic Minister at my church.

1) This ministry is now under the direction of the most conservative (legalistic, I want to say) priest there.
2) There is a dress code, and I shall have to scrounge up non-tight dress slacks, and/or skirts that fall below my knees.
3) It is hyper-Catholic, and involves all kinds of arcane terminology.
4) I'll have to learn to genuflect properly.

In short, I'm scared shitless. I'm very likely doing the right thing.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 07:39 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 ... you know, that is really, really cool....

Posted by: Eric at October 26, 2006 12:39 PM (NlzwQ)

2 No. But hey, maybe that's just me.

Posted by: k at October 26, 2006 12:51 PM (lCUKc)

3 Look up "Eucharist Minister" in the Bible. If you don't find it, don't go for it, because you probably won't be doing anyone any good.

Posted by: John at October 26, 2006 06:05 PM (f5QJI)

4 Go for it! It isn't "hyper-Catholic," just Catholic--just like you agreed. Isn't it time to commit fully? Know how many people in times past would have given anything to get the chance you have been given? For centuries, you would have had to have been ordained to handle the Body and Blood of Christ. A lot of people missed that opportunity! Certain roles carry certain responsibilities, and appropriate dress and demeanor certainly are a part of that equation. Besides, you get to shop for clothes, as your bonus! Just like in the Bible! Where it says "Do this in remembrance of Me..." P.S. I would think that LMA was made to genuflect--Built close to the ground with lightening reflexes. Am I missing something?

Posted by: Darrell at October 26, 2006 06:42 PM (X52Zv)

5 Ah--so I just think of it as a form of T'ai Chi, and I'll be fine It turns out I do indeed have skirts that fall below my knees.

Posted by: Attila Girl at October 27, 2006 07:33 PM (LEEsJ)

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Off the top of my head, I'd say "Frankenstein," "Cut the Cake," and "Pick Up the Pieces."

What am I forgetting?

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:32 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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"you know, I'm not going to be an asshole any longer," and then discovered that turning over a new leaf has merely transformed you into an entirely different sort of asshole?

I wonder if this is part of my Protestant heritage—a hangover from the traditional delusion that humans are somehow perfectable.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:02 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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