kyburg | Hump Day

Wow, frozen toes. My favorite kind!

I am also more than a bit bemused that the last of the free music from Starbucks is something from Paul McCartney - in the midst of this huge writer's strike, here - have a tune. On me. (I have no illusions this is costing Starbucks a pretty penny, but still.)

*looks at card* He could be the next Dr. Who - he's aging well, methinks.

Annnd paying more attention to iTunes, I've noticed the store has a free song a week download. Yup. This might mean I'll listen to anything...but still. Radio these days? I'm not finding music. I'm finding annoying talk. Period. (So I have to lean even more heavily on my FL, which hasn't been all bad.)

My 47th birthday is a week from today. I'm up for suggestions. After missing just about everyone's birthday this year, fairly and without quarter, now is no time to start perking up about the whole affair. I mean, really now.

However. I do have some standing requests.

If you smoke, please quit. I'd like that. A whole lot...and you'll like it a whole lot more, yourself, once it's done.

Bath fizzies are always appreciated, in lieu of.

But I'll add this one, just because - I have a ton of filkers on my list. I know how they got there - a bunch of them are also the biggest wireheads on my list as well! However, keep in mind - with the very clearest exception of

cadhla - I have never heard you sing. EVAR. Fix that, if you wish - happy birthday to me.

If I haven't added the Amazon button to the profile, I will as soon as this is done. Please sort it by price, okay? I throw a ton of stuff to that list, sometimes just to remind me that it was once SHINY WOW and get back to it later.

And as always, if my choice is presence or presents, I chose the former.

Last writer's strike in 1988 saw me leave the business...I tried to re-enter in 1992, but never returned. I now have a standard of living that I couldn't even imagine then. No, I wasn't writing, either. And this time, it doesn't even register on my radar - which, considering what I went to college for, is pretty sad. But then again, my college isn't even offering my major anymore, so what does that say about it in the first place?

I hope they get everything they're asking for - because, in the end, everyone who writes in Hollywood, works for themselves as contract players. Only the union allows you a means to get paid what everyone else does, for the same kind of work, every time. (And before you start squawking, keep in mind a similar check is on what medical professionals get paid - it's called the insurance industry. Who's getting rich again, and why?) Everybody should be able to negotiate a fair rate - power to 'em, say I.

Just...don't quit your day job, okay?