I have no sleep. Can I borrow a cup of yours?

[capri0mni]

I have no sleep.

When I have no sleep, other thoughts creep into the vacuum.

"Thoughts List":

1. I have decided that my novel's protagonist needs a rat's volume of blood, each day. This works out to about an ounce. Which is also nice, because that's a safe amount occasional drawing of blood from a human, if a volunteer (or three) is available (I remember, when I was in the hospital for my last orthopedic surgery, they took roughly this amout a couple of times a week, for lab testing). Also, rats are animals available for hunting even in modern industrialized cities, and people generally do not get upset if you hunt them. So, I decided, for my polished writing, to research rat-catching. And I found this: Full Revelations of a Professional Rat-catcher (published 1898). And it starts like this:
   

   In the first place my advice is—never poison Rats in any enclosed buildings whatever. Why? Simply because the Rats that you poison are Drain Rats, or what you call Black Rats, and you can depend upon it that the Rats that you poison will not get back into the drains, but die under the floor between the laths and plaster, and the consequence is that in a few days the stench that will arise will be most obnoxious. And there is nothing more injurious than the smell of a decomposed Rat.

   
   Seems to me as good advice in 1898 as 2007. Anyway. For some reason, this amuses me. (And yes, what this man wrote will change my character's hunting techniques)



2. A Wonderment: Is 'fic' a term meant only for fanfiction, or any short fiction not written for money, or any fiction of any length? I know it's used most often for fanfiction... But most of the people on my f'list only write fanfiction, so I can't tell...



3. My aide is still insisting that Global Warming is not really a problem. Or that she's not convinced that it's a problem (or not convinced it's a very Big problem). Mostly, I think she's just rationalizing, so that however bad the problem may be, government regulation to help fix it will undoubtedly be worse. She's Libertarian, and government regulation gives her the willies. I can see her point, up to a point. But big corporations give me the willies. Mega-merged corporations are just as powerful a force in the world, these days, as nation-states. And they are run by oligarchical boards--often hereditary--and are often secretive and devoid of checks and balances. A completely unregulated free-market where mega-corporations are concerned is hardly as free, these days, as it would have been a hundred years ago-- not a lot of room for Mom-n-Pop inventiveness to solve problems. I'm just saying.



4. Since I couldn't sleep, I surfed the New York Times email, and found this op-ed column. I think it's just as interesting for it's history of writing and punctuation and rhetoric as it is for its opinion on the Second Ammendment: Clause and Effect.



5. It's now nearly 6 am, and I still have no sleep. I should go lie down, anyway. I need to change my orientation regularly, like an etch-a-sketch, to function properly... But since I'm also hungry, I may have breakfast, first. erm.... this is wrong, probably. But I know I can't sleep if I'm hungry...

Comments

[jekesta]

I think sleep after breakfast is a sound plan. I hope it worked.

People thinking that global warming isn't happening are really quite difficult.

I think I've seen fic used about non-fanfic stories sometimes, but I don't know how common it is or how widely accepted. Original stories are often referred to as original fic, so I guess there's that. Hm.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

It did help. Yes. I had a whole wheat mini-bagal, some cheese, and warm milk without any coffee or cocoa in it.

I also took a regular dose of headache tablets, and a half-dose of over-the-counter of sleep aid. So that probably helped, too...

I was just wondering because I was looking around at the Christmas Wishlist Meme, and people are asking for "fics," and then suggesting fandoms. I don't do fanfic (doesn't work with my brain, is all). But I like to write stories, so I was wondering... Can't ask the people directly, because that would spoil the surprise.....

[jekesta]

Ah, I think probably if people are mentioning the fandom they're expecting fanfic. Which isn't to say they wouldn't like original fic, just that it's not what they're particularly asking for. But that might be just me:)

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

That's what I figured.. :-)

It just raised the question in my head.