Went and gave plasma. If I'm exposed to What Lies Beneath many more times, I may actually start liking it. It seems like a fairly decent movie, all told.

I managed to hack an earbud cellphone headset together with a dollar store headphone set into something wearable and workable. I extracted the speakers from the headphones, cut a slit into an existing slot, and was able to slip the earbud's cord through the slit into the slot. Then I put the spongy cover back on, and cut a hole in that for the earbud's speaker to stick out, which had the added value of holding it in place. The cord and microphone dangle as normal. I think I've fallen in love. [edited to add: Now with images!]

Last night I decided that it would be really nice to make some spare money by whoring out my pen writing romance novels, because the market for them is evidently endless, and the barriers to publication are reputedly low. Google found me this: http://www.passionatepen.com/romancepubs.htm

Poking around looking at the assorted things, and chatting with reichiere, it seems that the hot new thing is the supernatural romance. And.

Suddenly Colleen and Mike started insisting that I write their story, to get it out and written for once and for all so they won't keep coming up every time I want to go and write a romance. Then Raven insisted on getting in with the action, since she was canon. Just to balance things out a bit, I created the cardboard Amber, who immediately took on a life of her own. Plot rapidly developed. I'm going to try and see if I can pump out the word count like it was NaNo time, while keeping the quality of the content up over the "OMG NaNo" quality level. As long as the muses stay with me...

I'm a little concerned, because this is romance rather than comedy. But I did a straight story for Necromancer's Prayer, and both romance and humor crept in. This is the story of Colleen and Mike, and it needs telling, or the era won't rest.

It's my ambition to write such delightful documents of sober and subtle romance that generations to come will thrill at the whispers of nuance in every word.

Instead, I have a nearly one-sided e-mail exchange with a cantankerous best friend, the sort of best friend who scowls and glowers and forgets where the "reply" button is located and doesn't often call back.

I think I'll live.

Romance is yet alive in my soul, despite the fact that my best friend is stiff and uncomfortable with expressions of tender emotion from me, and further despite the fact that he shares his e-mail address with his parents.

TheFerrett writes about the guy who couldn't stand to see couples touching; I reply with some stuff from my experience. One of the most difficult-to-write things I've ever written.

Thette on the "I know it when I see it" search strategy, with input from me.