Nothing incredibly profound here today, just a few of the ramblings rumbling 'round my noggin:

Bubby has been honing his sense of humor and it's an unending pleasure to witness. Tuesday night's Skype session included Bubby telling PawDad and me the name of his soon-to-arrive brother. He got Mommy's goat by insisting again and again ... and again ... that the baby's name is Bubba. Yep, BUBBA. He giggled gloriously throughout the entire tease.

One of the hazards of not working a regular job is the lack of face time with a calendar. With several physical therapy appointments scheduled with two different therapists -- appointments written on the calendar -- it's possible for one to think they have an appointment and show up for it only to be told that particular appointment is actually the following week. Same day, same time, just the next week. Trust me, it can happen. And did. To me. Yesterday.

I just don't have it in me to Twitter and tweet enough to raise my Klout score. Tell me, do I really need Klout?

Speaking of Ramble On, it used to be that Led Zeppelin rarely -- if ever -- granted permission for their songs to be used in movies and such. In the last few weeks, Jim and I have heard Zeppelin several times in the background (or foreground) in movies and television shows. The Beatles on iTunes, Zeppelin on soundtracks ... sheesh, what's the world coming to?

Ever wonder how the real Christopher Robin Milne felt about being the model for Christopher Robin in his father's Winnie-the-Pooh books? Probably much like fictional Luke Hayman did serving as the model for the even more fictional Luke Hayseed of "The Hayseed Chronicles" series in Mr. Toppit by Charles Elton, the book I most recently finished ... and enjoyed immensely.

If you have money to spare and decide to purchase a few domain names from GoDaddy in hopes of later selling those domains for a pretty price, be sure to set the renewal option to "manual" so domains you haven't sold and no longer want don't renew automatically at a time when you no longer have money to spare. Trust me, it can happen. And did. To me. Yesterday. At a time when I no longer have money to spare. To the tune of $172.

As I mentally prepare for the next semester as site coordinator for the Children's Literacy Center, I think about all the 7-pound-3-ounce curriculum books (true weight each, per my postage scale) I need to move from one site to another. Light bulb moment: I realize that it was after moving a bucket of 10 from the site to my garage at the end of the last session that the pain in my back intensified, initiating my call to the physical therapist. Light bulb moment #2: Mickey wasn't the sole cause of my current disc issues after all. So I hereby publicly apologize to Mickey for blaming him and calling him a cusshead. (But ... if he hadn't freaked in the face of the deer, my back likely would have been okay lugging the books. Maybe.)

Which reminds me: An apology followed by a but is no apology at all. So amend that apology to "I'm sorry, Mickey, for placing all the blame for my cussed-up back on you."

Where oh where is the humor in the fact after 20 years of writing picture-book manuscripts I finally, finally, finally get an agent for those books ... just as the death knell inarguably begins ringing for the picture-book market? There is no humor in it. Trust me.

Three weeks from today I'll be flying to the desert to babysit Bubby for a few days while Mommy and Daddy attend a convention in California. The anticipation has addled my brain, rendering me incapable of formulating a coherent and cohesive post consisting of anything more than bulleted ramblings. I'll try again tomorrow.

Today's question:

What's at the top of your list of Thursday thoughts, rambles, rants?

Update

on 2011-01-13 20:10 by Lisa Carpenter

UPDATE on GoDaddy charge: Woo-hoo! I sucked it up, called GoDaddy and told them I'm stupid, and a wonderfully nice man named Bill told me "GoDaddy will take care of you" and reversed the $172.44! Yeah! GoDaddy rocks!

Long, long ago -- okay, about 25 years ago -- I read writing advice from a popular writer about capturing fleeting thoughts that may possibly be the spark of something intriguing, an idea worth writing about or adding to a story or article. Paraphrasing (because I don't really remember the exact quote), the writer advised all novice writers to immediately write down random thoughts, wherever you may be and whatever you may be doing, as those random thoughts are like wild white rabbits that hop away, never to come 'round again, gone in the blink of an eye.

So long, long ago I started writing down all those fleeting "white rabbit" thoughts I had, jotting them on Post-It notes, the backs of old business cards (a great use for the hundreds that remain once you move on to a new position), wacky notepaper, whatever was handy. For the longest time, I filed those thoughts away in a decorative tin I kept on my desk, just in case I was ever in need of inspiration or ideas.

My snippets of white rabbit thoughts eventually filled the tin to overflowing. So I purchased a nifty decorative wooden box that looks rather old-fashioned and unique (even though it came from Hobby Lobby), moved all my thoughts into it and placed it atop my desk. Other than stashing a note here or there at the front of the box -- never having the time to place it correctly into the index-card-divided categories of the type of writing that may come from the idea: picture book, greeting card, general interest, etc. -- I've not looked at my notes in several years.

Until yesterday.

As I sat doing my very important computing for the day, I looked up, saw the box, and decided to peruse those snippets of paper to see how deep those years-old white rabbit thoughts may run. Here are a few examples of what I found within my nifty box o' thoughts:

"People naturally steer clear of others with obvious yet harmless psychological problems (ie Bruce Harper and his inability to be himself and his Elvis impersonations)."

What? I have no idea what that meant. Worse yet, I have absolutely no recollection of anyone named Bruce Harper ... who does Elvis impersonations.

"I've never seen an animal talk with its mouth full until Sadie just did tonight."

Sadie was the coolest cat ever and has been gone now for nearly 10 years. But did it really matter that my prim and proper Siamese once talked with her mouth full?

"I used to be a mountain goat when I was younger, grandma said."

Did I overhear this? Did I imagine this? What is this?

I get what that well-published author was trying to get across to newbies all those years ago, but has she ever gone back and read some of the snippets she so carefully jotted down and honestly found a nugget of a novel, a smidgen of a spark of a successful story or article?

I don't know about her, but from the looks of things deep inside my box o' thoughts and all the inspirational good it's done me, the majority of my white rabbits would have been far better off remaining wild, left to hippity-hop away, never to be seen again.

Today's question:

What is the most important thing you'll do today?

My answer: Refill my dog's estrogen prescription.