When an idea for a story seems funny as hell, but then surprisingly reveals itself to be quite dark.

Yes, it's true: I'm eight years old today, as far as any of you know.

My first post, in fact, was sent in by telegraph, back when the world-wide-web barely stretched past Pittsburgh. Every website was still all black-and-white, and all the pictures were cut from linoleum blocks.

Oh, but those were the days!

Anyway, it's been amazing to be here with all of you. I'm sorry I don't have all the time I had eight years ago, when I could spend hours a day reading and writing and exchanging notes.

I've had some odd experiences with my family relating to writing.

One of my nieces has become an art historian, and sent me some things she's written. They were flawless, and I told her so in an email. I was very specific about her strengths as a writer and the way she built and supported her argument. Some time later I was talking to her father (my brother-in-law), and he said, "Your opinion meant a lot to her because she knows you're a good writer. And when she said that, it made me wonder: Have you written anything lately?"

I didn't realize that Archie Comics were still around, but they are, and they are all still teenagers.

This episode has all the kids change gender. (In the picture, the cute girl saying, "I still can't choose!" is Archie.)

The artist is one of my favorites - Gisele Lagace.

http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/archie_636_promo

Today I had a chunk of time at work, and made another pass through a sort-of long, three-part story I've been working on.

We had a lottery pool at work, to take a crack at the half-billion-dollar prize last night,
but oh well! We didn't win. Not even one of the lower-tier prizes.

Work has been a bit absorbing lately, but even so, I've been managing to put some time in each day
at writing. I decided to go back through everything I've written, to tweak it and fix places
that don't work as well as they should. I've gotten through most of my fairy tales, and have spent
many hours on "The Kinglet" -- which still seems to need a lot of help.

The movie Jack and Jill has gotten the Razzie Award for worst film of 2011.

In the article I linked to, it's described as a "crossdressing film" -- which it's not -- but I think we need a negative-sounding word for when a man dresses as a woman because he's trying to be funny.

I've been writing for a long time, and I'm not saying that I'm great at it... I think I'm pretty good for a sandlot player, but definitely not in the big leagues.

However, there are a few things I've learned, and one biggie is the difference between situations and stories.

Inspired by Angharad's Christmas story, I went for a walk/run this morning. It took me an hour to do three miles, most of the time walking. But I had a blast. I love running.

Next Time, A Map!

Whenever you finish a long piece, it's a good idea to write a kind of postscript, at least for yourself, about how it went.

What Courtney Knew

First of all, I did a bad job with the names. I've thought about going back to fix it, but by now it seems a bit late.

Usually I have a chart with all the characters listed, but for some reason I missed the fact that almost every character's name starts with an M: Marcie, Maisie, Misty/Mary, Margaret/Maisie... even Miriam! And I bet I missed one or two.

And why were there *two* Maisie's? Maisie Beale, the little girl, and Maisie Sabatino, now known as Mrs. Wix?

About a week ago I finished reading the science-fiction novel Trouble On Triton by Samuel Delany. I hadn't heard of it before, and only read it because I had the idea that it was about a man who turns into a woman.

Well. I wouldn't characterize the book *that* way. It doesn happen, but in the very last pages of the book.

Has anyone else read it?