This time, it's a permanent home, though I can't guarantee the posts will be any more frequent.

So if you will, kindly update your links and feeds to http://www.monkeythumbs.com and I will try to be a better blogger. :)

I think it should go without saying that I love this birthday cake.

Also... check out Vylar Kaftan's story on Brain Harvest! Hooray for week #2!

Hello dear readers, if there are any of you.

Brain Harvest is LIVE!

Check it out!

Also, check us out on Boingboing. :)

Okay, so for all 5 of you out there, there must be one of you that hasn't heard this yet? Maybe? Anyway, I'm co-editing a new online spec fic mag with buddies spitkitten  and Shane. Check it out!  I'll just pilfer the exact wordage from spitkitten :
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On March 1, 2009, Brain Harvest: An Almanac of Bad-Ass Speculative Fiction will begin its intrepid voyage, bringing you the best speculative short fiction we can find.

Brain Harvest will publish on the web and on your mobile device. We've noticed that a lot of reading is happening in non-traditional ways (hey, we see you, over there, glued to your iPhone or Blackberry. If you've got ten minutes, we've got the best SFF you can hold in your hand).

We pay "pro-rates" (5 cents a word) for stories 100 - 750 words.

We will be opening for general submissions on February 15, 2009. Please do not submit before then--we'll delete everything dated before 2/15.

Go to http://www.brainharvestmag.com/submit for full guidelines.

Also, if you need a high quality, professional critique of your work, submit it to our Fresh Eyes service (http://www.brainharvestmag.com/fresh-eyes) ... for a small fee, we'll give you a kick ass crit in short order. This service is available as of *now*!! And even better than that, some of the money goes right back into the magazine so we can continue to pay our writers pro rates!

Pass it on, yo!!

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Plugging along...



Of course, I need to go back to the first chapter I wrote and rewrite it so it fits with this new chapter. Sigh. Hopefully some to most of it can be salvaged.

It's not much, but it's a start. I have more written, actually, but I'm going to pretend that it doesn't exist for the moment.



100,000? Isn't that what we're going for in a novel, more or  less?

Sorry about the terribly infrequent updates. I plan on abandoning this blog sooner rather than later when I get my brand spanking new big girl website (yay 4emphasis!) so enjoy it while you can.

Speaking of websites... I need a name for my website that either isn't my name, or is some cool variation on my name that won't be confused with a certain other person that also has my name.  Also, I only want a .com. Any ideas? Seriously. I need ideas.

And so did 10.4% of Illinois in 2006.

When 1 in 10 Illinoisians votes Green Party over an incumbent Democratic governor, you've got problems.

And those problems are an impeached governor who says lawmakers hate him because he's trying to cure cancer.

Ah the drama.

...but at least this time he isn't watching porn.

And this is for pamrentz:



Me and Dewey the Zombie

Winter in Chicago is a bitch.  This will be my third one as an adult, but I lived through 17 of them growing up. Sometime in January, I usually turn to Kyle and yell "Why did you make me move back here?" The cold will freeze your nose hairs and your teeth if you open your mouth. You will not see the sun for weeks. The snow is lovely for approximately 4 hours, until the cars pulverize it into black, slushy mush. The winter lasts until April.

But there is one silver lining to all of this, and that is the Chicago Transit Authority's holiday trains. Every year in December, the CTA posts a schedule of its holiday trains, and then lucky commuters standing on the freezing cold platforms get to watch in childlike wonder as a CTA train chugs by them, bedazzled with lights, garland, ornaments and an open-air sleigh in the middle, usually occupied by Santa Claus, who waves and smiles a frigid smile as he passes by. No, you can't ride the holiday train, you can only admire it from afar, while you freeze your ass off waiting for an actual train. (UPDATE! According to the CTA website, you can ride the holiday train. Maybe they just didn't want vagrants like me on it. Sez the website: The spectacular train is an amazing sight - during the daytime and at night. They even rhyme!) Nevertheless, this tradition tickles me. I just saw one yesterday. Here is a picture for you so you know I'm not lying:




The second weird thing is actually something that happened a couple of months ago at work, but which I had forgotten about until today.  My second job is housed in an old warehouse that apparently has very thin walls... because one day I heard, in the office next door, an upstanding business man being thwacked by what sounded like a dominatrix.

Either sobbing or dancing...
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Election Night Event in Chicago, IL
With Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, and Jill Biden

Join us for a special Election Night event in Chicago, IL.

Here are the details:
Election Night Event

Grant Park -- Hutchinson Field
Chicago, IL 60603

Tuesday, November 4th