Jesse is very high maintenance.

It's true. Really I just need a personal care staff on retainer.

And now I have plane tickets!

Oh, August's credit card bill is going to hurt.

Good thing I'm taking steps to minimize as many expenses as I can. I finally dropped a couple bucks on a sewing kit the other day and that'll help keep me from needing new clothes for a while.

At least I'll be employed this year, unlike two past DragonCons.

Thanks for the reassurance and ideas, y'all. zenkitty, it's especially good to hear from someone else who's been there and found the light on the other side of the tunnel.

One thing that Suze Orman book I read stressed was that you have to turn your back on shame (beating yourself up over past mistakes) and blame (beating up family members, etc. for their role in digging the hole you're in), because both cripple you from actually making changes and focusing on the future. I nodded sagely as I read, but it's a lot harder to put into practice.

The guy who hated my book showed up with fresh criticisms in his LJ (my obsessive vanity googling will be the death of me).

He accused me of plagairism with regards to me citing Snacky's Law.

I received written permission to use Snacky's Law from Snacky. Same with Godwin's Law. Shit, I anal retentively got written permission from Joss to use his posts on Buffistas.

I can't deal with that. I can deal with people hating the book, and me, but this makes me angry.

I would like to respond, but I'm unsure if that's okay, since I found it via google.

Can we respond for you?

No, I think that's wankerific, and he doesn't deserve that just for having an opinion that hurts my feelings. But I love you for offering.

In general, I wouldn't respond at all, but I guess you could address just the plagiarism thing. The problem is that it feels like it would be too easy to get deeper into it, and that's what you want to avoid, I think.

Tom Scola! Time Out NY is looking for NYC photography: [link]

I don't want to bother looking it up, because he's excessively stupid, but how can something be plagarism when you attribute it to the source? It's not like you were talking about Paperdol's Law.

I'm unsure if that's okay, since I found it via google.

If he was trying to keep it a secret, he shouldn't have posted on the internet.

That having been said, I'd advise you to not bother. He's a guy who doesn't like your work, and has made some stupid accusations. It's very unlikely you'll change his mind or even the minds of his normal audience.

Got my chips, no thanks to you guys. On the way up in the elevator I head that Rosario Dawson should be approached for Friday or Saturday (her choice) and she has that poverty and that Latino thing.

Then someone mumbled Ed Norton's name and I didn't hear anything else...