As I was standing there trying to decide what to do, there was an announcement (that you can never understand...such horrible speakers!), and I caught "significant delays" at the end.

My first thought is that I hope it's not a Valentine's Day suicide. That may just be my issue though.

Happy Anniversary, Deena and Greg!

Heart ma for Cashmere's mom, and knee~ma for brenda's dad. My mom had that surgery last year. It's somewhat of a tough recovery, but in her case the post-op pain was so much less than her previous constant pain, that it went OK. She did too much afterward though, she's no good at resting and taking care of herself (nurses are the worst patients!)

but in her case the post-op pain was so much less than her previous constant pain, that it went OK.

I stongly think this will be the case. He's been putting off this surgery for a long time, though, and I think he's worked himself into quite a state over it. He keeps starting sentences with "in case I croak."

My first thought is that I hope it's not a Valentine's Day suicide. That may just be my issue though.

According to the MBTA website, it was a disabled train at Downtown Crossing. So, it doesn't sound like anything medical...

A couple of people I know have had the surgery in all cases the words " so worth it " are a part of the explanation. Knee ma~~~

Aw, happy anniversary, Deena and Greg!

Does Kara know? The whole anniversary Valentine thing should make for some good Kara stories.

~ma~ to everyone who needs it. Though it might be a little slow, on account of my having exactly no energy left.

Does anyone here sleep on memory foam? Overstock.com has some really good deals, but I'm wary of the off-brands because I don't know anything about them, even if the reviews are universally glowing.

Happy Anniversary, Deena and Greg!

This paper isn't writing itself. Bad paper. No cookie.

Happy Anniversary, Deena & Greg!

I'm a feedback whore, really.

Oh, me too. My next RWA chapter meeting is going to be on how to give helpful and productive critiques, so they wanted five people to volunteer to bring in the first 7 pages of our WIP. I didn't see the email until an hour and a half after Heather the program chair posted it, and I was just sure I was going to be too late.

I was the second person to sign up. And Heather thanked me for being brave. I'm like, "Are you kidding? With stuff like this, I'm Hermione Granger, practically bouncing out of the chair as I wave my hand around and cry, 'Pick me! Pick me!'"

And I'm getting better at receiving negative feedback without going all prickly and defensive. I think I got spoiled all the way through college because I do have a certain degree of natural writing talent and because I'd mastered the art of the three-page case study and the ten-page term paper. So it took me awhile to adjust when I started writing fiction seriously, and instead of hearing, "Ohmigod, you're SO TALENTED," heard, "Nice historical voice, smooth writing style, but where's the conflict? And what's your character's goal in this scene? Are you sure about your POV choice?"

But now that I've accepted that I can't make it on raw talent alone, I'm actually trying to learn something from the criticism. Hence my jumping on the chance to be a critique guinea pig at my RWA meeting. And I'm entering writing contests again. I'm even using them as incentive to finish other work. Starting today I'm going through the marketing program from this book: [link] If I meet my program goals, my reward is that I get to enter two contests in April instead of just the one I'd already planned on.

I sleep on memory foam. It is the Best. Thing. Ever.

HOWEVER, cheap memory foam can stop squishing after a year or so. We stopped buying Tempurpedic knockoffs at Costco because they didn't last.

I bought an "Absolute Comfort" memory-foam mattress here: [link]

They claim to use exactly the same foam as TP, and it's lasted two years already.