The official site of Kelly Sedinger: Reader, writer, photographer, and dreamer
If you are anything other than a fiery liberal Democrat, you will not find this funny. If you are anything other than a fiery liberal Democrat, you will find it, at best, mildly unfair and at worst downright slanderous.
Be either amused, or be warned.
I’d love to rely on my hometown newspaper’s website for news more than I do, but The Buffalo News‘s site is, to my way of thinking, a train wreck, and a barely functional one at that.
First, the site is so “busy” as to be unpleasant on the eyes. But as annoying as that is, what bugs me is that the site is not updated with the day’s new content until around 9:00 am, which seems to me rather late. I like checking the news when I get up, which is almost always before nine. I suppose they might be thinking that if they update too early, then more people won’t bother actually picking up the physical paper. And even then, their updates are always problematic: some stories don’t load until well after the update on the main page. Ugh.
Come on guys, the Web’s not a new thing. Let’s work out the kinks.
(Yeah, bad pun, that. Sue me.)
I’m going to try to avoid commenting on the whole Valerie Plame affair; I figure that anyone familiar with my politics will have a pretty good idea of where I stand here. Suffice it to say that I feel none of the antipathy toward the CIA that Jane Galt appears to believe is the mainstream belief of the left; I’ve long believed that sometimes you just plain have to have spooks out there doing stuff that’s a tad questionable. (It probably comes from all those years of watching James Bond movies as a kid, followed by reading Robert Ludlum novels as a teen.)
Anyway, my general views on this whole business mirror Morat‘s and Kevin Drum‘s. Since those fellows (and Darth Swank, as well) are providing lots of good linkage on the Plame affair, I’m going to steer clear of it unless something big breaks.
Today’s the day Scott begins his job search. I hope his goes, well, better than mine has.
Bara, my source for all things Iceland, has put up a post comprising one year’s worth of photographs of the view from her balcony.
She’s got a fine balcony.
(Bara is, among other things, Warren Ellis‘s web designer and the doppelganger for my novel’s heroine.)
Yeah, I watched it last night. It took a while to load on my dial-up, but I just wrote while it loaded. Simple.
Anyway, I can’t really say that the trailer made me drool any more than I’m already drooling over the movie. It is the one film coming out this winter that is an absolute must, as far as I am concerned. But first, I’ve read the book many times so I know how the story ends; and second, based on the first two movies, I pretty much know what this one’s going to look like. This movie is pre-sold, so the trailer was just a nifty tidbit to me.
While I was loading it, I used the little slide-bar thingie to look at specific shots, and at one point I felt a bit of consternation over what appeared to be Elrond pulling a knife on Aragorn; this had me imagining a “Stay away from my daughter, you mortal dog!” kind of thing. Luckily, when I played the actual trailer, this scene turns out to be Elrond giving Narsil to Aragorn. That I can deal with (even if it’s not at all the way it goes in the book).
Yup, one of the stories I sent out over the weekend (the “Snow White” story) has been rejected already. It was a pretty nice rejection, with some general commentary about the tone and even some reading suggestions for other authors whose work I should study if I plan to write this kind of thing in the future. (Although, the authors the editor suggested don’t strike me as being germane to what I was actually attempting with the story, which poses to me the possibility of other problems with the thing.) All this surprised me, since the editor went on to say that even if I reworked the story accordingly it still probably wouldn’t fit with what the publication in question normally does, so this editor took time to give a few general suggestions for a story that’s not really what he would print anyway.
Oh well. Later today I’ll figure out what market gets this one next.
(I should note that as a rule I have little interest in reworking old stories to fit suggestions like the ones this editor gave. If he had specifically requested a rewrite, that’s one thing; and I will probably check out the two writers he named, since both are writers I’ve heard of but not got round to actually reading yet. But I’m not one to try to retrofit old stories. I’m a “What’s next?” kind of guy.)
Last night on one of our fine local TV stations, the weather guy lowered his voice at the end of his forecast segment and said, “And there may be flakes in the air later this week for parts of Western New York.” And my eyes rolled heavenward.
Come on, folks, this is Buffalo! Let’s put an end to this annual rite of hemming-and-hawing over the first time each fall that the word “flurries” has to be used in a weather forecast. Let’s stop acting as if we’re in a Harry Potter novel and we’re referring to Lord Voldemort in hushed tones. Let’s stick out our chins, puff up our chests, and say, “It’s gonna snow this week. Ya got a problem with that?”
Sheesh.
OK, I’ve got Monday Night Football on right now, while I’m doing some late writing and whatnot. The Bears (who are right now on the receiving end of a lopsided beating) have just kicked a field goal to get on the scoreboard, 17-3. But what’s got me posting is this: Chicago’s placekicker, a guy named Edinger. (Funny last name, that….)
Anyway, I watched this guy line up, and he was just standing there with his back to the line of scrimmage while the offensive and defensive lines set up. And he didn’t turn to face the play until the snap of the ball. So, taking into account the twisting of his body as he makes the actual kick, in the course of a field goal attempt this guy’s body pirouettes a full 270 degrees. Weird.
Oh well. Go Packers.
Via John Scalzi I see 100 Documents that Shaped America.
That’s the Gettysburg Address. Fascinating stuff here.