Jeri Smith-Ready

Wicked Game finals in Golden Leaf (and know your rights!)

In its first contest entered, the New Jersey Romance Writers Golden Leaf Awards, Wicked Game has made the finals in the Paranormal category! The finalists aren't listed on the website yet, but since the awards will be given out on October 24, I figured I better mention it now before I lose.

Once again, your daily voter registration nag. Below is the list of states where voter registration is still open. And at the bottom, a new video, this time a concert video of The Clash's "Know Your Rights."

I picked this video because of a story coming out of Philadelphia yesterday on voter suppression, where once again, inner city folks are being told, falsely, that voting will result in their arrest for outstanding parking tickets. (The headline, I confess, at first made me wonder why a hockey team would be involved. Maybe because of their mom running for vice president?)

Mississippi was voted off the voter registration island, since their last day to register is today, or tomorrow at noon if the clerk's office is open on Saturdays.

The blinky states close their registration roles tomorrow, so Washingtonians and Rhode Islandianianers, get your butts in gear! After you watch a nice video.

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Virgin Islands
Washington - that's Washington State, folks
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

Labels: awards, evil, vampire series, voter registration

• posted by Jeri @ 7:39 AM
• 4 comments

4000

Yesterday the 4,000th U.S. servicemember died in Iraq. See this site for details about any and all of them.

I mention this not because we should care more about #4,000 than #1 or #378 or #1,905, but because according to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, only 28% of Americans surveyed knew how many thousands had died (most people thought it was 3,000 or fewer).

So. Now you know.

But don't worry. As Vice President Cheney pointed out today, they're all volunteers, and "the president carries the biggest burden, obviously."

Bigger, say, than the 2,200+ children who have lost a parent to this insanity. Obviously.

Labels: evil

• posted by Jeri @ 8:18 PM
• 1 comments

Transmetropolitan

I just finished rereading the entire graphic novel series of Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson, and finally reading the last installment. It was even better than I remembered, and unfortunately more relevant now than ever before.

If I could afford it, I'd send a boxed set of Transmetropolitan to every member of the White House press corps, as a desperately needed kick in the ass, to remind them of what journalism means--seeking the truth, no matter how it threatens those who pay for your excellent hairdos.

Then I'd send a set to Keith Olbermann and bloggers like Atrios and Daily Kos and Shakespeare's Sister, as a thank-you, because they don't need the reminder but might occasionally want a source of fire. Even if it comes in the form of a drug-fueled, dog-loathing, bowel-disrupting exhibitionist and his two filthy assistants.

Spider Jerusalem lives. Or democracy dies.

Labels: evil, reading

• posted by Jeri @ 12:26 PM
• 2 comments

First amendment inconveniences government; too bad, says judge

According to this Associated Press article, federal judge Stephen Crocker turned down a request by federal prosecutors to subpoena specific identifying information about Amazon.com customers.

In their attempt to prosecute a used book seller for tax evasion, the feds tried to get a hold of Amazon.com sales records, including identifying information for 24,000 customers. Later they scaled back their request, asking to violate the privacy of only 120 individuals (oh, that's better).

As Crocker stated,

It is an unsettling and un-American scenario to envision federal agents nosing through the reading lists of law-abiding citizens while hunting for evidence against somebody else.

Between this and the unflinching stance of librarians against certain sections of the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act, the people of this great nation seem to agree: reading is private.

Though if you want to shout from the rooftops that you enjoyed my books, feel free.

The key word there is "free."

Labels: evil, reading

• posted by Jeri @ 12:28 PM
• 2 comments

Doin' the Deaky

So I'm heading into my fourth day with "Squeaky Deaky" stuck in my head (occasionally interrupted by the Russian number from Riverdance--it's amazing I sleep). I noticed yesterday as I went about my chores that the singer's mellow, harmless little voice had started crooning alternate lyrics, namely pop ballad couplets a la Roy Orbison.

Squeaky deaky (squeak squeak squeak)
Don't you understand
Squeaky deaky (squeak squeak squeak)
I wanna be your man

I swear that I actually hear the guy's voice singing these lyrics--it's not my own head voice doing it, and it happened totally unbidden.

Squeaky deaky (squeak squeak squeak)
Come on and stay the night
Squeaky deaky (squeak squeak squeak)
It's gonna be all right

(I should add here that I've grown to sort of love the "Squeaky Deaky" song, and highly recommend purchasing the CD, Songs to Make Dogs Happy, which on Monday was #48 on Amazon.com. The song "Scratch My Back" is really cute.)

Squeaky deaky (squeak squeak squeak)
I knew right from the start
Squeaky deaky (squeak squeak squeak)
That you would break my heart

I'm sure it won't be long before the lyrics start to turn dark and/or suggestive. Check back for updates on my descent into madness.

Labels: evil, music, pets

• posted by Jeri @ 8:06 AM

Kill. Me. Now.

Squeakey deakey (squeak squeak squeak)
I love my squeaky toy
Squeakey deakey (squeak squeak squeak)
It makes me jump for joy

Someone on my greyhound listserv posted a link to this NPR bit about a hot new CD for dogs, called Songs to Make Dogs Happy. The above-quoted song, "Squeakey Deakey," is the #1 hit off this new CD. I wasn't aware there was a different Billboard chart for each species, but okay. I played this tune that's supposed to be all the rage with the Rovers to see what Meadow would do. Upon hearing the squeak toy sound effects scattered throughout the song, she immediately went to the back door. This could mean one of three things:

1) the song made her think of her rubber squeaky ball, which lives outside
2) the song made her think of other things that squeak when you bite them, like baby bunnies, which also live outside
3) she wanted to escape the clutches of this song before it devoured her sanity

While she isn't what I would call the world's most intelligent dog, I now credit her with possessing the survival instincts I so clearly lack, because all day this song has been jammed into a deep part of my brain where no neurosurgeon can safely venture.

I went to work and organized my boss's business expenses for tax season. Beneath the tapping of the spreadsheet-filling keyboard lurked

Squeakey deakey (squeak squeak squeak)
Roll it on the ground
Squeakey deakey (squeak squeak squeak)
I love that squeaky sound

I came home and over dinner discussed with my husband the political and philosophical ramifications of the Terry Schiavo case. Yet I felt detached from the conversation, because my mind couldn't grapple with the complex moral issues involved. It was too busy thinking

Squeakey deakey (squeak squeak squeak)
Always makes me laugh
Squeakey deakey (squeak squeak squeak)
Playing in the grass

And now I'm trying to write a particularly intense scene for my new book. The main character is alone in the forest on a vision quest-type experience. To give the scene the depth it deserves, I need to be in a state of spiritual awareness, a place of otherworldly serenity. But the Muzak player in the back corner of my head keeps churning out on infinite "Repeat,"

Squeakey deakey (squeak squeak squeak)
I love to play along
Squeakey deakey (squeak squeak squeak)
I love to squeak the song

Go ahead. Listen to it. I dare you. You'll think, "Oh, that's cute" or silly, or whatever, yet you'll be compelled to hum along and finish the entire two minutes and thirty-four seconds. Then you'll turn it off and give it no more thought.

But just wait until 3:45 a.m., when you wake to get a drink of water or pay a visit to the loo.

It will be there.

Waiting.

Perhaps in a minor key....

Squeakey deakey (squeak squeak squeak)
Makes me jump for joy
Squeakey deakey (squeak squeak squeak)
I love my squeaky toy!

Labels: evil, music, pets

• posted by Jeri @ 10:07 AM