Cat and Printer

This is hilarious!

And so exactly how I relate to technology sometimes!

Butter for the King...

There is a guy at work called Jon, but I have it stuck in my head that his name is James, as that's his surname and also the name of one of my cousins and, lets face it, my memory resembles a swiss cheese. Unfortunately, I call him James to his face - regularly.

It's become a bit of a standing joke, and the poor guy is very nice about it. Today for the umpteeth time I did it again, and after yelling at myself and startling him I started reciting 'James James Morrison Morrison', which is the first line of a poem by A. A. Milne - of Winnie the Pooh fame - called Disobedience.

One of my other, older workmates was damn impressed with my referential knowledge and recited the rest of the poem for us. Thus encouraged, out of the unfathomable recesses of my mind, I then proceeded to recite my favourite Milne poem for his edification, and to general bemusement all round.

Since it's stuck in my head, here it is for you too. I always make a big show out of the 'Oh Deary Me!' bits so try to imagine them in my voice accompanied by lots of over-acting... :D

The King's Breakfast
by A. A. Milne

The King asked
The Queen, and
The Queen asked
The Dairymaid:
"Could we have some butter for
The Royal slice of bread?"
The Queen asked the Dairymaid,
The Dairymaid
Said, "Certainly,
I'll go and tell the cow
Now
Before she goes to bed."

The Dairymaid
She curtsied,
And went and told
The Alderney:
"Don't forget the butter for
The Royal slice of bread."
The Alderney
Said sleepily:
"You'd better tell
His Majesty
That many people nowadays
Like marmalade
Instead."

The Dairymaid
Said, "Fancy!"
And went to
Her Majesty.
She curtsied to the Queen, and
She turned a little red:
"Excuse me,
Your Majesty,
For taking of
The liberty,
But marmalade is tasty, if
It's very
Thickly
Spread."

The Queen said
"Oh!:
And went to
His Majesty:
"Talking of the butter for
The royal slice of bread,
Many people
Think that
Marmalade
Is nicer.
Would you like to try a little
Marmalade
Instead?"

The King said,
"Bother!"
And then he said,
"Oh, deary me!"
The King sobbed, "Oh, deary me!"
And went back to bed.
"Nobody,"
He whimpered,
"Could call me
A fussy man;
I only want
A little bit
Of butter for
My bread!"

The Queen said,
"There, there!"
And went to
The Dairymaid.
The Dairymaid
Said, "There, there!"
And went to the shed.
The cow said,
"There, there!
I didn't really
Mean it;
Here's milk for his porringer,
And butter for his bread."

The Queen took
The butter
And brought it to
His Majesty;
The King said,
"Butter, eh?"
And bounced out of bed.
"Nobody," he said,
As he kissed her
Tenderly,
"Nobody," he said,
As he slid down the banisters,
"Nobody,
My darling,
Could call me
A fussy man -
BUT
I do like a little bit of butter to my bread!"

One Month 'Till NaNo!

The count-down begins. Only 31 days until the month of madness recommences.

I really do love it.

I can't believe I've been doing this for four years already. I can't believe I didn't do it for the three years I knew it existed prior to 2007. I can't believe that after this November I'll have written stories with a collective word count of at least 250k. I can't believe I'll have finished four stories that could, given some help, be turned into real live novels!

But I do believe I'll have a damn good time doing it. To force yourself to be so intensively creative for such a short period of time is such an amazing experience. And to have written 50,000 words is such a mind-blowing achievement!

It is also totally insane. Last year I spent my walk to work talking out loud to myself recording bits of my story on an mp3 player - and seriously alarming the people I passed. No, I am not drunk, I'm just crazy! And in typing on my laptop to reach the 100k mark I completely stuffed both my wrists. I couldn't type anything for months and I was in constant pain. I have an ergonomic keyboard now - I learned that lesson, never fear.

But damn, it is worth it. I have a proof copy of the mess I wrote last year - An actual book with my (pen) name on it! That's really very cool. I also love the fact that I have managed to finish three novels. I've spent so many years saying 'one day', and never doing it - and now, it's done!

Come on November! I can't wait to see what you've got in store for me this year.