Guns, grenades or peanut butter?

Alex is gone. Read the post "Alex the Squirrel" below for the story behind the squirrel in the fireplace.


E 'handled' the situation. Note that E has access to a lot of weapons and ammo and was looking for a way to stay entertained while home on a sick day, so any of the scenarios shown below is within the realm of possibility.

What happened to Alex?












Enter your guess in the Mercenary or Merciful Contest by posting a comment. Tell whether you think Alex was killed or set free, and then explain how you think it was accomplished. The actual scenario may or may not be depicted in the photos above. If you enter the actual answer, you'll win! The actual prize is TBD, but your real reward will be glory and recognition. Contest closes 9:00 a.m. on Friday, March 2, 2007.
In case of a tie, the winner will be chosen from a random draw of the correct entries. If there are no correct entries, the winner will be chosen by a random draw from the correct entries for the "killed" or "set free" portion of the answer.
Karen, Alex, and E are not eligible to participate in the contest.

Alex the Squirrel

Walking through the living room this morning, I glanced at the fireplace and saw two eyes looking back at me. Through some navigational error, excess of curiousity or lack of coordination, a squirrel managed to land in the fireplace and survive. Other than a sooty nose, the squirrel seems to be ok.

Me: "There's a squirrel in the fireplace"
E: (Eyes not open/ still sleeping) "Light a fire under it."
Me: "Can't we somehow get it outside alive?"
E: "Work on that plan while I get more sleep"
update/clarification: E is struck down with a plague-like cold and is home trying (unsuccessfully) to rest. He is normally not snoozing late on Friday morning.

Later, when E is more rested, and we're sitting on the couch looking at Alex (In lieu of coming up with a workable plan, I named the squirrel hoping to personalize him/her, increasing his/her odds of survival)
E: "It's like a mammal aquarium"
Me: Noting that Alex is crammed in a corner, not moving "It's a boring mammal aquarium"
E: "Yah. We need to add hornets or something"

Later, after I've convinced myself he was kidding
Me: "So what's your plan, seriously?"
E: "Smoke bomb"
Me: "Isn't there any way to not kill Alex?"
E: "I could put on two layers of fleece and gloves and try to grab it - depends how skittish it is. Knock on the fireplace door to see if it runs around"
Me: (Sad that E is referring to Alex as 'it', but happy that he didn't suggest that I put on 2 layers of fleece and gloves) --after jiggling the fireplace door latch--"Alex is just sitting there blinking."

E:"It can't be very smart - it probably wouldn't even survive outside. Too bad it didn't go down the other way. It would have been incinerated"
Me: "Maybe Alex is VERY smart, but Alex's friends said to go on the roof and Alex isn't coordinated and Alex slipped."
E - sighing.
Me - sighing.

Alex's fate is still unknown, but I'm afraid if I leave E down there too long unsupervised, Alex will 'disappear'

I prefer my romance unscheduled, thank you very much

Yes, yes, E and I celebrated Valentine's Day - romantic dinner for two, lovely bottle of wine, and the romantic movie Quick Change (ok, not romantic, but funny). But honestly, this is a busy week, and VDay didn't exactly fall at an ideal time. There have been other evenings when we've had much more time to linger over dinner, chatting and letting the evening pass by.

I was more touched by what E did the day before VDay. I've been whining and complaining about diet and exercise for pretty much all of February. This is normal for this tme of year, but as my jeans get tighter and I still can't get motivated to stop snacking and work out more, I get increasingly crabby and E gets to listen to it. Instead of telling me to snap out of it and get on with the eat better/exercise more program that we all know works, he went out of his way to go to the bookstore to pick up two women's fitness magazines for me. He pointed out specific articles he thought I would like and let me curl up to read them. The fact that he listens and is supportive of whatever it is I'm trying to do means much more to me than a handful of overpriced dead roses on a manufactured romance day.

I think we'll have time for a nice, long, no-rush dinner sometime in March...

HUMOR: Adapting to change

Watch Introducing the Book on YouTube


Also funny: March of the Librarians

Productivity: low
At least I'm laughing, not whining

No disgruntled poets, please!

Tonight I am going to meet a group of 'Montreal Writers.' I found this group via meetups.com in my never-ending quest to find critique partners who are not my friends or family. We'll see how this goes. My last foray into critique groups resulted in me quitting due to the less-than-useful suggestions from the over-abundance of self-proclaimed unappreciated, misunderstood poets in the group.

So far, tonight's group has two strikes against it:
one - the host is charging $10 per person. For what? Wine and hors d'oevres. Great. Apparently we need to be liquored up to read each other's work
two - writers tend to not be particularly social, which means we'll all stand around feeling uncomfortable wishing we were at home, alone, reading.

However, I'm going. I will do my best to conjure up 'outgoing Karen' and see how it goes. I promise to not rip the head off the first disgruntled poet who sneers at my commercial women's fiction, but if there is more than one in the group I won't be held responsible for my actions.

Coming soon: winter camping 07 pictures. I need to finish some freelance work before monkeying around with flickr but I should have time tomorrow.

Pandalerium, indeed

Now we get to name the pandas??!!!
I adore #12,

but #13 is pretty funny showing his booty to the camera.


Must think of panda names, panda names...

BTW getting tons of work done on my book. heh heh

Panda Therapy

I was feeling anxious about making a tough decision when I saw photos of the baby pandas. They're so freaking cute I felt cheered up immediately.

Tough decision? Putting book #1 aside to focus on book #2. I've been going around about this decision for months. It's difficult to be sure that I'm not just stopping because I'm tired of book #1 in the final stages. No, I'm sure that's not it - I gave it a nice long break and even had a fresh angle that would have improved some trouble spots. I honestly think it might just be my 'learning' book. It's painful to not do anything with it but file it away, but I believe my time will be better spent moving book #2 forward. Book #2 has a fresher angle, is better organized and tighter (thanks to me learning the hard way) and I think it has a better chance of hitting the mark I'm aiming for and being something I'm proud to have my name on instead of hiding behind Chiete Nickerson.

So there it is. Next deadline: March 30 - conference in MA and a chance to pitch the book to an agent. Time to get cracking.

Oh, and I also need to lose 15 lbs and get in shape to run a 1/2 marathon by the end of April.

Feeling anxious, must go look at pandas,... ahhhhhh. : )

As bad as it looks

See more Mt-Washington photos in my flickr set. Don't worry - there are only 10 this time! I was too cold and miserable to snap lots of photos.

On the plus side, I didn't need my avalanche kit

Mt. Washington was insanely cold, even for Mt. Washington: -70 with wind chill. The wind was 100 mph with 135 mph gusts. I made it as far as Harvard Cabin, which involved slugging uphill for 1 1/2 hours wearing a 5 lb boot on each foot plus layers of high-tech winter gear. I had a 37 lb backpack on for about 100 ft until E's friend "Speedy" took it to help pick up our pace a little. It was still pretty miserable. Even when we got to the cabin to stop, I had been working so hard I started sweating, which was BAD because then I was wet and then I got cold and started shivering. It took me another hour sitting in front of the fire in the cabin with 2 layers of down coats on to get warm. Brutal.
So, all was not well. E and his friend went climbing further and picked me up on their way back. I made it back down and felt better after the Chinese buffet and a couple of margaritas.
Sunday we set out to go climbing again, but I bailed at the last minute and spent the day reading "Dating Dead Men." Coincidentally, E is being exceptionally nice to me.

Graphic and disturbing? Sounds like a good read

Yesterday was Anne Bronte's birthday. I only discovered this because today, Fits told me about listening to the daily trivia and poem on Writer's Almanac.

From yesterday's Writer's Almanac:

"It's the birthday of Anne Brontë, (books by this author) born in Yorkshire (1820). Anne Brontë has been remembered primarily as the third Brontë sister. She was meek and more religious-minded than Charlotte or Emily, and little is known about her life compared to the lives of her sisters. But she was a writer, just as they were. Her first novel was Agnes Grey (1847), based on her experience as a governess. It didn't get much attention, but her second novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), was an immediate success. The heroine, Helen Huntingdon, leaves her husband to protect their young son from his influence. She supports herself and her son by painting while living in hiding. In doing so, she violates social conventions and English law. At the time, a married woman had no independent legal existence apart from her husband.

In the second printing of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë responded to critics who said her portrayal of the husband was graphic and disturbing. She wrote, "Is it better to reveal the snares and pitfalls of life to the young and thoughtless traveller, or to cover them with branches and flowers? O Reader! if there were less of this delicate concealment of facts — this whispering "Peace, peace," when there is no peace, there would be less of sin and misery to the young of both sexes who are left to wring their bitter knowledge from experience."

Why haven't I read this book yet?

I am working on my synopsis and mustering the courage to boldly go where E insists we go ice climbing this weekend: Mount Washington. Hopefully between his ability and my ineptness we will make it to the top. O Reader! wish me luck.

me: "when I called the equipment rental guy for my viper axes and avalanche kit (!) he asked where we were going, and when I told him he said 'WHOA!'"
E: "he's just jealous"

Popularity Contest

From the NYT Book section : a contest for an as-yet unpublished book that will be voted on over the Internet. Winner gets published. Seems a little desperate. Talk about a long shot. Hmm, maybe I'll give it a second look....

Current book status: flailing between fixing up and sending out book #1 or scrapping book #1 and focusing on book #2. Every time I decide to just fix #1 up so I can move on, I feel overwhelmed. Today is the day - do or die. Note that I am up at 5 a.m. for some unknown reason.

Tart by Jody Gehrman

Just finished reading Tart by Jody Gehrman. If you like chick lit, I recommend it. The main character is quirky and the writing is quick and funny. There are a couple of predictable pieces you need to ignore: the hot motorcycle-riding surfer guy and the classic misunderstanding, but otherwise, it's and original, light, fun read.

Sounds good to me

I didn't set any specific 2007 resolutions because I have a lot going on and I'm extremely happy with my life, so I'd like to keep moving forward with the freelancing, book writing, and increased sports and leisure. Last year had enough change and upheaval for me.

I asked E what his resolutions are. He told me without missing a beat:
"Laugh more and eat more ice cream."

Can't beat that.

: )

Top chick lit books

I still have a hard time describing 'chick lit' to people who ask. I do not want to ditch the CL tag and use 'women's fiction' because to me, 'women's fiction' is a depressing tale of death, abuse and woe. Prove me wrong by recommending something that breaks the mold!

Trashionista listed their top 10 chick lit, and I haven't even read everything on the list. Of the ones I have read, I didn't love them all...

10-Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell
Never read it, but loved the TV show. It's on my TBR list.

9-Thirtynothing by Lisa Jewell
Never read it, never heard of it.

8-The Nanny Diariesby Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin

I'm not into the whole mom-lit thing, so I'm not sure this would be for me. Not on my TBR pile.

7-The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

Also never read this one - I'm beginning to wonder if I know ANYTHING about chick lit. I did enjoy the movie.

6-High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

Finally something I've read. Love Nick Hornby, but is this chick lit?

5-Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie

I've only read 2 Jennifer Crusie books: Bet Me and ummm, something else. Neither are on my favorites list, but "Don't Look Down" is on my TBR pile.

4-In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner

The Only J. Weiner book I've read is Good In Bed. It was extremely hyped by the time I read it and I didn't love it. sorry.

3-The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

I thought the first book was called Confessions of a Shopaholic--? I did read it and enjoy it, but I preferred "Can You keep a Secret" by Sophie Kinsella.

2 Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes

Finally, one I agree with. Yes!

1-Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

I agree - v. v. funny. Definitely my #1

So - what would I add to my 'best chick lit' list?
The Girlfriend Curse and the Accidental Virgin by Valerie Frankel
Tales of A Drama Queen, Hand Me Down and True Lies of a Drama Queen by Lee Nichols
I also liked Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin.

Scuba Cuba

The photos are online here

Happy Holidays!

It's back to reality tomorrow - setting the alarm, and not for a good reason, like making an early dive or catching a plane heading south.

The holidays were wonderful, even though we only got a white boxing day, not a white Christmas. No xc skiing, but I still can't complain : )

Here's a pic of our non-traditional Christmas dinner:



I'll put the vacation pics on Flicr asap. I'm still working on getting our increasingly belated holiday card out - I sent a desperate plea for help to Dodi - hopefully she can help or I'll figure it out tomorrow.

Handling rejection

We got back early last night and our neighbor brought over our mail pile this morning. At the bottom of my pile was an SASE I had sent to the agent I met at the Midwest Lit Fest. Getting your SASE back is always bad - if they want your story, they'll call. So yes, I have received my first official rejection. On the plus side, it was a personalized letter specifically about my story, not a form rejection. So while I'm a litle sad about being rejected, I'm making my list of who to send the story to next. It's all part of the process.

Shark

Went diving for the first time Monday and we saw a shark! It was just a small (3.5 ft) nurse shark - not dangerous, but it was neat to see - our guide made the 'shark' sign, and I thought he was kidding, but then he pointed to the shark tail, then wiggled the tail and the shark swam out of the coral and under us. : )
Of course no one in our group had a camera, including the professional photographer who is doing this trip solely for the photos. Getting a photo of one of the sharks is turning into a quest like photographing bigfoot.
We're set to dive again today at 1 at a different location, right by the resort. Diving near coral is unbelievably beautiful - it is literally like being dropped into a giant aquarium. The fish don't swim away - they pretty much ignore you, swim next to you and between you. It's a lot of fun. E. was true to his word and held my hand - I pretty much had him in a death grip. I wasn't scared per se - just a little freaked out - it's a little weird to be in the ocean, plus it was an extremely rough day - the boat that dropped us off was tossing around in huge swells. I ran out of air pretty fast (nebies tend to pant instead of breathing slowly) so I went up before E. When I surfaced with the 2 other low air people, we couldn't even see the boat - just ocean. That's a little weird, plus we were bobbing around like corks in the waves. Getting back on the boat was by far the hardest part - I have bruises up and down my left leg from being thrashed around on the ladder as the boat rocked. All in all an amazing time. We hooked up with a Toronto dive club for dinner and had the biggest langouste tails I've ever seen, plus real mojitos (with mint), music, actual bottles of wine, plus a star-filled sky and walk on the beach as E puffed a Monte Cristo-like cigar - it was all good.
Our birthday dinner had a few hitches including them having no idea what a private table meant or realizing that chapmagne should be chilled, but we enjoyed ourselves once I got E to laugh about the situation.
Hasta Luego!

Last ni

HOLA AMIGOS

So far so okay in Cuba. A few stolen items from E's luggage including the underwater camera got us off to a rocky start but after lots of rum drinks we're starting to recover.

No diving yet - too much wind today, but we did try out my new mask in the pool yesterday and I can clear it no probnlem, so I feel ready. Today will most likely be a day of slack - we're adjusting nicely to the despacio pace here.

We've almost got our little side trip to Havana planned - probably next weekend.
Time for my first siesta soon.

see you later : )

Holiday Meme

Since I'm supposed to be paying bills and preparing invoices and trying to get wrinkles out of a no-iron shirt I need to wear tonight, I will instead do a Holiday Meme. No one tagged me, so I guess that makes me a bit of a loser, but hey, it's December, MY month and it's MY blog so I'll do what I want.

Christmas Meme


1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
I had a bad Jack Daniels and egg nog incident in the late '80's - I will NEVER touch the stuff again. Hot chocolate definitely. Preferably WITH marshmallows :)

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?
Wrapped!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
White.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No - isn't it poisinous? It's really not that nice-looking either. No idea where that tradition started.


5. When do you put your decorations up?
Normally I would get a real tree the weekend around my b-day Dec 12, but we'll be gone this year and my decorations are still in storage in Plainfield, so we'll be decor-less. Maybe a wreath.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
Chcolate gingerbread people hand-decorated to maximize originality and creativity. The sad-face ones with broken limbs are the best.

7. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
What do you mean?

8. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Love it!! I have spiffy new xc skis ready to go this year.

9. Can you ice skate?
I can stay upright and move forward but it isn't pretty.

10. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Getting a good book and spending the afternoon reading it. I know, not really Christmas-related, but it's nice to relax once the hoopla is over.

Ok, I admit I cut this down from 20 to 10, but I think 10 is enough.
I tag Dodi.