Okay, so it's three days late, but who cares? I have been a member of Big Closet now for ten years, a whole decade!

Let's Party!

In my never-ending quest to find things cool and awesome, I have discovered an amazing artist. If you're already familiar with her, yay! If not...

Her name is SJ Tucker, and her style is ... difficult to describe. Mythpunk, folk-rock, neopagan blues might be a good start, but she really defies category. The important thing is this: she is amazingly talented.

A federal judge in California has ruled that 'Happy Birthday to You' is in the public domain, so you no longer have to fear the wrath of Warner/Chappell Music. Rejoice and be merry!

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/ridiculous-examples-people-pa...

To start with, my back hurts, and it's been this way for two weeks now, ever since I pulled a muscle during a not particularly violent sneeze. I've been applying a heating pad to it and that's been helping a lot, but it's still limiting how much I can do, and how long I can sit at the computer to write.

If you'd like to follow the saga of The Family Wren, check it out at my LiveJournal site. I've got pictures and stuff!

http://bree-ramsey314.livejournal.com/

I got an email from Julie; she is fine and plans to return to writing soon. I'm sure there are some out there who are thinking, "Told you so," right now. Well, maybe I did get worked up over nothing, but I'll take that over the alternative any day.

Researchers at Great Britain's Northumbria University believe they have discovered some information about the sun, which allows them to predict solar activity with 97% accuracy. According to their research, competing forces in the sun will cancel each other out, resulting in lower solar activity that will cause a mini ice age starting in 2030. You folks up north better start stocking up on firewood and canned goods!

It's been a while, but I have just posted a story. Journey to Eden isn't new, it was posted on Stardust eight years ago as part of a contest, but I never got around to putting it here. That omission has been rectified, and hopefully there are some out there who haven't read it.

Enjoy!

Breanna

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.
-- Tom Clancy
http://genomorph.tglibrary.com/

It is my happy duty to inform you that the author known as Scott Ramsey is no more. He has been replaced, by me!

As I've been telling everyone who will listen tonight, this online community is the only place I will ever be me, so it's just plain silly to not have MY name on my stories. I hope you all are as happy for me as I am. I feel ... reborn. Maybe it's silly, but hey, I'll take it!

In my absence from the online world I've been doing a lot of reading, and I would like to take a moment to talk about my new love, October Daye.

Well, the volume of spam has become overwhelming, so I've created a new email account. To all those with the old one, and anyone else interested in corresponding, send me a PM and I'll provide you with the new addy.

In other news, pop over to So Many Thoughts, So Little Mind for an update on my writing progress!

Tom Clancy, author of Red Storm Rising, The Hunt for Red October and many other great novels, has died at the age of 66. So long, Mr. Clancy, and thank you for many, many hours of adventure and intrigue.

... and it's happening tonight from 8 to midnight EST! Okay, it happens at other times too, but that's the target time for this effort to raise awareness of the chatrooms, so come on in and chat with us! You can use the link in the banner up top to connect through your browser, or copy the information there to your favorite irc client. If you have any questions or problems, send me a PM and I'll do my best to help.

I'm launching an effort to get the chat rooms active once more for the new year. If you're interested in chatting, just use the link at the top of the main page and come in to #MainRoom, #GabyZone, or both if you like, and say hello to my chat alter ego, Breanna. I'll be there for certain between 8PM and Midnight EST, now through the end of January, and probably at other times as well. Just be certain to say my name, Breanna, when you come in so I'll get an alert that you're talking to me, and I'll be happy to talk about anything you like.

On the heels of Apple's Siri, and apparently after a quiet but hostile takeover by Aperture Science, comes the newest thing in cell phone convenience ... GLaDOSiri. Make sure you read the fine print....

Introducing GLaDOSiri on iPhone 4S

Need I say more?

I'd Give Anything to Kill Someone Again

I have a friend who is an English teacher, and she gets these little gems from time to time. This one is from a few years back but I recently found it and thought I post it here for giggles. This is a collection of analogies and metaphors submitted by high school English teachers from around the US and taken from essays turned in by actual students.

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

Thanks to the recent refreshing of The Prodigal, the story received many new hits and comments, and that has caused me to consider writing a prequel. Keeping in mind that this is likely to be a rather dark and violent tale, would anyone be interested in such a thing? I will probably go through with it anyway, but I'm interested in knowing the interest level.

Also, look for something featuring Bree in the next few hours. I've just finished a short piece for the Transgender Day of Remembrance and I'll be posting it soon.

Last year I was very proud when the city of Gainesville approved an ordinance that allows transgender persons to use the public restroom of the gender they identify with. Of course this measure was immediately and quite vehemently attacked, and a petition drive was launched to amend it, ostensibly to prevent men from entering a ladies room and then claim they were transgender if they got caught, despite the fact that the law already has a provision to deal with this.

Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul and Mary, passed away on Wednesday after a long battle with leukemia. Bob Dylan wrote 'Blowin' in the Wind', but it was Mary's powerful voice accompanied by the harmonies of Peter and Paul that made it an anthem for a generation. She will be missed.

It seems a day for sad news. Farrah Fawcett has died of cancer at the age of 62. How I loved her in my teen years; of course I didn't want to be with her, I wanted to be her -- but I'm sure there are others here who can sympathize with that. I think Charlie might say something like this; "Spread your wings and fly, Angel, fly! You soar in the heavens now, forever young and beautiful."

Well, all the hoopla about Amazon has accomplished something positive for me, at least. I found a great book that I'd like to recommend (I didn't buy it from Amazon - I downloaded it as an ebook from Fictionwise). It's entitled Luna, by Julie Anne Peters, and it was simply outstanding.