(insert sparkly vampire snark here?)

Timelies all!

My mom called Gary this morning, so we now know a) they're both in the hospital, b) which hospital they're in and c) they're sharing a room. So, not much new. Oh, yeah, that my mom is coughing, but able to speak.

It is good that they can be together since visits are not possible. I hope that they have a quick recovery.

...if someone gave me "sparkle more" writing feedback, I would set them on fire. Sparkle that, Jack. Give me something useful or STFU.

Uh, yeah, so, long day. Seems I need to unwind and unclench!!

Health -ma all around.

meara, holy crap, I have no words! I feel like you need a whole new identity, or we need to find the person whose dogging you. Didn't you have a previous bank and CashApp thing? WTF?!?

Yep Jen—different bank, last year had someone steal my debit card (twice!?) and use it on cashapp. Since they did it the second time after I got a new card I ended up having them give me just an ATM card and not a debit one! But this is a different bank and apparently in person??

Meara- that is terrible. My mother’s name is Linda Taylor, and she was a social worker in the 80’s when she was a victim of identity theft. She also has the same name as the Reagan “welfare queen”. She ended up adding her middle name (which is a family name) to all of her stuff.

She also had a friend who borrowed her car have an accident.

Therefore, she has never put her credi card information online nor has she ever let anyone drive her car (except me, once, when she had eye surgery). I used to think she was overly cautious, but I am beginning to see the light.

I always think of myself as “fandom adjacent” as well. I think it is almost like a Dunning-Kruger effect. Because I know or know of BNFs, I know I am not them- I have never produced any creative work, and except for this board, I rarely participate in deep conversations. Part of it is that there is really no place left to have deeper conversations as I am dissatisfied with any of the newer platforms, because given the opportunity, I would probably talk. I guess my fandom now is True Crime Review Podcasts…. that is where I participate the most (Crime Writers On and True Crime Obsessed.)

I'm supposed to show my fandom.

[link]

I would provide an alibi to anyone who received "sparkle more" writing feedback. If I ever offer that kind of feedback, I'd expect a) to be murdered posthaste, or b) for someone to realize that I've been kidnapped, possessed, or otherwise impersonated and require rescuing.

NGL, I really want to tell some of my medical-article authors that their writing needs to sparkle more. Like, "Please provide the statistical data to support your key findings in this paragraph, per AMA style. In addition, your writing should sparkle more. Luv ya lots!"

Compare/contrast:

"Your writing should sparkle more."
"Smile!"