Wednesday, December 21, 2005

freezin' my coax off


No internet for two days. I've been told it was because of the recent sub-zero temps. Makes the lines brittle and they crack and snap. The internet reminds me of the old days of telephone service. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't. *shrug* A gazillion people spend their days patching and duct-taping. Lines are strung all over the outside of my house, and don't even look in the basement. We have connectors and breakers and splitters and cable snaking across the floor. If you were to stagger around in the dark and get tangled up in all those miles of coaxial, you'd never make it out alive. How can something so high tech be so low tech?


I also wanted to share this lovely christmas poem someone wrote for me:


"twas the nite fore krimus an all thru the cabin
not a sole was a sturin
only granny a blabbin

we hunged up our boots by the chimley with care
daddies got melted now hes mad as a bare

the yungins were tied up snug in thare beds
wile dreems of beef jerkie danced round in thare heads

i couldnt sleep so i sat in the chair
hounds started barkin they was sumthin out thare

i run to the window to see fer myself
shore nuff it were santie his mules an a alf

he stopped out in front with them mules in a prance
i got so excited i messed up my pants

he reeched in that wagan an tossed me a toy
krismus is spacial it shore is a joy"

27 comments:

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

*laughs* Very creative & funny poem!!

Brrr, on the cold front. We only get snow up on the mountain tops here, but it can dang cold when it wants to. =D

Jeff said...

Anne- Be careful walking around all those wires and cables. I'm glad you're back online. :)

I like the poem. LOL

anne frasier said...

yeah, wasn't that poem great? a guy named lester sent it to me. :D

Mark Pettus said...

Anne, Be careful, you could trip and fall on your splitter in a snowstorm and might be days before you could email for help. ;)

p.s. I gave myself Hush for Christmas. Are you sure that's you in the jacket photo? You don't look nearly so dark and dangerous and mysterious as you do here.

anne frasier said...

i was young and naive in the hush photo. hehe.

my editor refuses to use the photos i have here. i thought they were nice, but she turned them down flat, with a better-luck-next-time comment. i think she thought they might scare readers away. *shrug*
she called the hush one open and friendly.
both photos are lies, but i prefer the one/ones here. i'm thinking about presenting my argument for the new photos again. thanks for reminding me before it's too late. :D

anne frasier said...

and thanks for buying hush!!! :D

emeraldcite said...

I like the new photos.

We just got our xmas supply (I teach and now have three wonderful weeks of vacation).

Started Playing Dead yesterday. About fifty pages in...

probably finish it tomorrow... :)

The poem is great. Oh, the holiday jive.

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

Both photos are lies, hmmm? Just who is Anne Frasier?? LOL.

Hey, I noticed those new covers you have on the sidebar. Pretty cool! What's up with those? Republished in what language?

anne frasier said...

the real anne frasier is flirting with menopause. :D

i found those covers online, so i'm not sure what is what. some are swedish. maybe another is norwegian. i can't remember!

Anonymous said...

Flirting with menopause? Hmm. Usually menopause get a drink thrown in its face.

Seriously, though, I cool poem. Once I did a similar satire on Scientology called "Twas the Night Before Detonation."

Anonymous said...

Oops, no idea what an "I cool poem" is. How about "a cool poem." Typos typos everywhere.

Jerilyn Dufresne, author said...

Fun poem, anne. Am so glad you're back online. Missed you. Jer

Rob Gregory Browne said...

Open and friendly? Is that what she wants on the cover of a thriller? LOL.

I like the dark and mysterious one you have posted here. It fits your books.

Glad you're back on line!

anne frasier said...

jason, i didn't notice the typo. funny how our eyes don't see those mistakes.

yeah, the poem is great. don't know why the writer wishes to remain anonymous. :D

and about the photos and comments: i'm so glad this issue came up. i've also gotten emails from readers who've also said they much prefer the photo i've used here, so I'm going to have to discuss this with my editor if it's not too late. shouldn't be.

emeraldcite said...

I agree with Rob. They're much more fitting. I was surprised when I opened the back cover of PD and found a picture other than the ones here.

anne frasier said...

emeraldcite: i can definitely see i'm going to have to bring this up with my editor. :D it's good to get this feedback on the issue. when she initially turned down all the new photos, i was upset. then later i started to doubt myself and began to think that maybe she was right.

emeraldcite said...

Nah. The photos on the site fall more in line with the content and tone of the novels.

On another note, this must be the thread of typos. I wrote Playing Dead instead of Play Dead.

[smacks forehead]

I'll blame the lack of tea that day... :)

anne frasier said...

that was my original title, and still the title used in the publisher catalogs. you may have seen the wrong title more than the right one. that's one reason it might not be so bad to call a book untitled until the title is locked.

Rob Gregory Browne said...

The title thing hasn't yet been discussed on my book. No mention of perhaps changing it, except by my agent, before we marketed the thing. Then we both decided it was the best title I could come up with.

So, for now, it stands. I suppose that changes when the marketing people get involved?

anne frasier said...

rob, i think it varies depending on the publishing house.
at my house, my editor first approves it. then it has to be approved by two other people. once that happens, i can be pretty certain marketing won't change it later -- but they always have that option.
i do remember that my editor and i decided to change my title to play dead before it ever got to marketing. but it seems that once something is entered in their system, it's really hard to change it. just a year ago, my first book for them -- hush -- was still in their catalogs as being written under my other name -- a completely different name. this was the catalog bookstores order from. kinda scary.

emeraldcite said...

[tosses all his promotional pics with his hand under his chin and holding a pipe]

Dammit.

[changes into his black turtleneck and tweed jacket for his new pics]

anne frasier said...

and i don't know why they didn't use the one where i was shooting up. it was only kool aid. grape, i believe. or was it black cherry?

Mark Pettus said...

Anne, I trust you already know I'm not bound by the rules regarding political correctness.

Good jacket photos sell books. Here is my take on the two versions of you I've seen (both lies, as you say).

I'd buy the Anne pictured inside the back cover of Hush a cup of coffee.

I'd buy the Anne pictured on Static, a cat-o-nine-tails and a lifetime supply of kama sutra oil.

Which Anne will sell more books? I don't know, but when I showed your profile photo to my brother, he said, "Wow. She looks interesting."

I agree. Very interesting.



Ok, I have to confess. I wrote the above and looked at it for fifteen minutes, wondering if it sounded flirty or creepy. Since I couldn't decide, if you're reading this I must have accidently hit the Login and Publish button.

anne frasier said...

mark, that is too funny! i needed a laugh like that today. :)

Anonymous said...

dadgum anne i caint beleeve you put my poeem up heere on yer computer macheen. im so proud .

an just so's you no i'd bye you a peece a peech pie to go along with at cup o coffe !

em pitchers do show you perty as a fist full o honeysukle bloss ums .



lester

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

Anne, Happy Holidays to you and your family. =)

anne frasier said...

lester;
mmm, peach pie. if that comes warm with cinnamon and whipped cream, i'm sold. :)

kelly: happy holidays to you too!!