Under Construction

My wife and child are out of town while we're having some work done on the house. I imagined I'd become a dynamo of productivity, knocking off 20-page days on the new novel and reading manuscripts and the stack of books on my shelf by night, with time left over to clear the TiVo backlog.

So far: I've eaten most of a package of Double Stuf Oreos. Which wasn't on the original list, but you've got to have goals you can meet.

I've made the mistake of reading the Internet, which may be where all those spare hours went. Here's what I've learned so far.

Apparently SkyNet will conquer humanity on Jeopardy before unleashing the Terminators.
Detroit will pay you to live in a home there. Oh sure, there may not be any jobs, but they are getting a RoboCop statue.
All of Spy magazine is now available online through Google Books. As Kurt Andersen tweeted, "The Internet has justified itself."
Mark Frauenfelder has a great series of posts on the apps he uses on his brand-new Mac. It's also an in-depth guide to learning how many things a writer has to do in his job these days, from selecting and editing photos to batch renaming programs. I'm a recent convert to Scrivener, based on his recommendation, and I think it's the best word processing app I've ever used.
Charlie Sheen is the new Keith Richards.
The Lisa Simpson Book Club.
Writers also have to have apps for their books these days. Don't know what that means? Me either. But there are people you can hire who do.
Oh, and apparently some stuff is going on in Egypt and other countries that have suffered for years under brutal, repressive regimes.

Further updates as events warrant.