Happy Birthday To Mr. Zimmerman

Today is Bob Dylan's 70th birthday.  In honor of a life filled with song and talent, whose works have inspired so many, I'm posting one of my favorite Dylan tunes as covered by powerhouse vocalist Joan Osborne, Man In the Long Black Coat:




Many happy returns of the day and I wish you could see 70 more.

NaNoFailMo

Okay, so I didn't make the goal of 50,000 words. Still about 15,000 short but I'm glad I tried. It was a great experience and I'll definitely sign up again. No excuses and I'm sure that there are plenty of other folks who were similarly afflicted but I did enjoy it. This first time out taught me that if I focused on getting the words out instead of how many words, then I could possibly get closer to or even attain my goal.

I'm not alone in my failure. Even mega-superstar historical author Carolyn Jewel missed her target. Her attitude about the lack of meeting a 2000 plus daily word count inspired her to open up her blog for fellow crashers to commiserate. In honor of Carolyn, who is seriously talented, and all the rest of us slackers, I give you Beck's international anthem that was probably running through everyone's head on or around November 30:

Testing one, two....

I'm ready to give it the old college try once again.  And by "it" I mean trying to embed a video into the post.  I'm not surprised that something that millions of people (children even!) can seem to manage is beyond my particular scope of understanding.  I think it's only fair that I also confess that I can barely balance my checkbook.  I have, however, mastered linear algebra.  Do Not Ask.  Long story.

Keep your fingers crossed that one of my favorite artists, Tori Amos is a click away from showing you her prowess with an early favorite of mine.  I listen to Tori a lot when I'm writing.  In reading the acknowledgments pages in one of his books, Neil Gaiman mentions being at her house in Ireland while trying to write one of his books.  It appears though, that in the end he spent most of his time there suffering from a nasty flu. But,  I'm glad to know that one of my favorite writers also enjoys the some of the same music that I do.   I will admit to being a tad jealous that Neil knows Tori and also that Tori knows Neil.  Catch-22, eh?  Vicious circle?  No, that's Mrs. Parker and if Neil Gaiman knew Dorothy Parker then I'm prepared to throw a hissy fit because that's just taking things a bit too far.  

Nothing much else to add.  Sorry to have been radio silent for so long.   And yes, Dr. Newell, I SWEAR I'm writing.