Readers of this blog will know that I have a history of Furbicide and for this, my kids and The Webmeister have ganged up to torture me in all sorts of evil ways involving the vile furry creatures.
Well, imagine my horror when last night I get an email from The Webmeister telling me I should get a new pet:
Scientists have found a wide-eyed primate -- a clawed fur ball that fits snugly in one hand -- in the first live sighting in more than 80 years of a creature that some thought was extinct.
"It was truly amazing," one scientist said. "I couldn't conceive that we had actually caught one."
Over a two-month period, scientists working in Lore Lindu National Park on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi caught and released three pygmy tarsiers. They bear a striking resemblance to the Furby, an electronic toy that spoke its own fantasy language and dominated children's wish lists in the late 1990s.
Argh. Just what I need. A real live Furby.
Cindy Lord asked for a Benny update - so here's a picture of His Royal Cuteness:
He's quite a little character. We're still working on the whole house training thing - he manages to get onto the peepee pad about 50% of the time. My family room carpet is in serious need of a serious professional cleaning, but I'm going to wait till he's totally trained before I do it. He mostly sleeps through the night - sometimes if he wakes up I play some music on my iphone and he goes back to sleep. The problem is he wakes up at 5:30 and wants to pee and then party. Argh.
We start puppy school on Monday night. Wish us luck!
Meanwhile, I thought I'd seen the last of the Evil Furby but the other day my printer was out of paper and when I opened the cupboard door to get some more paper....
(please ignore my messy cupboard)
I blame the Webmeister.
Do you think Furbycide is included in the Puppy School curriculum?
or it will, when Benny wakes up...
The kids and I spent the weekend chez ![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
the_webmeister up in Beantown. Saw the 3D Sun film at the Museum of Science, which was fascinating. Then we took the kids to the Planetarium to see the Laser Magic show. That was a huge success with everyone - now I want to take the kids back to see Laser Beatles and Pink Floyd and U2 and Led Zeppelin - in other words, all my favorite high school bands.
Now I knew The Webmeister was a techno-geek, but what I didn't know was that he's been holding out on me all this time - he actually has a laser thingie (I'll let him tell you the technical term in the comments) of his very own. So when we got home, he let Daughter play with it. I got to choose the CD - and of course I chose the greatest and potentially most laser-friendly album of all time, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Daughter has a bright future as a Laserist - she did a fantastic job creating effects.
Unfortunately The Webmeister is (or should I say "was") in possession of another, more unsavory form of technology. The Dark Side of Technology, one might say. I shall explain.
As a children's book author, I probably shouldn't admit this in a public forum, but I have a history of Furbicide. Many years ago, my former mother-in-law gave my children the most annoying evil toy ever invented - The Furby. Not just one Furby. One for Each Child. I hated the freaking things. They would start talking at the most bizarre and inappropriate times, and you had to go through some elaborate ritual to make the @$#&& things go to sleep.
One night the Furbies started talking at 1am and I'd had it. I wanted to take the batteries out but couldn't find the screwdriver. (It was 1am, after all.) So in an Anthony Perkins-esque move, I took a large kitchen knife and (cue the Psycho shower scene music) stabbed the Furbies until they were silent.
They ended up buried at the bottom of the kitchen garbage bag, never to be heard from again.
But alas...this weekend the kids were going through the Webmeister's basket of dog toys and what should they find at the bottom - yep, one of those F-words. Number 2 of Reasons NOT to Love the Webmeister (a much shorter list than the reasons TO love the Webmeister): he put batteries in the damn thing.
When we were leaving his house this afternoon, I went to put my laptop in my briefcase, and what did I find in it...The Furby. I put it back on his shelf. I got into the car and what was on my seat? The Furby. I told the Webmeister to take it back.
Then, after we left TWM's house, I stopped at Dunkin' Donuts to caffienate myself for the journey home. I opened my bag to pay and this is what I saw:
AAAAAAAAAH! My son, laughing hysterically, told me that the Furby was haunting me for murdering his relatives all those years ago.
We get home, I put on a load of laundry, go up to my room, turn on the light and:
DOUBLE AAAAAAAAAH!
Will Sarah Ever Escape The Curse of the Furby? Stay tuned....
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A new site that reviews POD books!
I'll be interested to see how it goes.
And but for the grace of god goes (s)he
I posted a lengthy comment to POD Critic's blog. Don't know how long it will last there.
If POD Critic wants to fill the hole POD-dy Mouth left, he needs to narrow his focus. A goal of finding and promoting quality POD books is viable. A goal of overhauling the business model is a wee bit ambitious IMHO.
Let's review. Print-on-demand is a technology. Major publishers use it. Small publishers, including independent self-publishers, use it. And vanity presses use it.
However, when the vanity (or "subsidy") publishers use it, they do so as part of what they call publish-on-demand. This name is intended to make "POD" ambiguous and confusing. Is a "POD" book one that Aunt Tillie paid PublishAmerica to allegedly "publish" for her or one that a real publishing house decided not to warehouse anymore but is perfectly willing to sell from its backlist by printing it on demand.
Until bloggers and critics can keep the distinction clear in their own heads (rightfully disdaining the vanity presses' so-called publishing on demand), how on earth can we expect anything like a rational discussion of the subject?
And while we're on the subject, remember that a few companies, such as lulu.com, are happy to work both sides of the street, offering both vanity publishing and contract printing on demand.
Anyone know of any new ebook review sites?
All competent iUniverse authors are welcome at my review blog that has been around since July '06. There is not another one quite like it. I accept only iU books. Most genres and types are accepted, and most of my readers and authors probably arrive from the far side of the Baby Boomer hill. Legitimate reviews are available only for authors who have put genuine effort into the quality of their products. You think I'm joking? Read the posts for yourself. You can click the link from POD Critic's blog. Thank you.