The Dartmouth admissions folk believe that Dartmouth and the kid are not a good fit. The kid agrees. I will send a check to Juniata, along with the appropriate paperwork.

She's been assuming for a while now that she'll be attending Juniata; she just felt that she should wait to hear from Dartmouth. I couldn't disagree.

The Computer Room, in Ithaca. These guys are nice and always have something useful to say about whatever machine I bring in, be it desktop, laptop, or netbook. They even helped with the tricky battery installation in a sonic screwdriver (Eleventh Doctor).

The kid has been accepted to Juniata College. She has been awarded a nice big scholarship. There was squealing when she opened the envelope. We are all very pleased.

We are still waiting to hear from Dartmouth. It would be nice if they, too, were to pour money upon her head. We will see.

College applications. Clicking on the "submit" button was, for the girl, a nerve-wracking step. Sort of like dropping an envelope in a mail slot and realizing that there's nothing else you can do. Once the envelope is dropped or the button clicked, it's done and there's nothing left but the waiting.

Fortunately, she has a fluid dynamics unit and Skyrim to distract her, as well as a social life uninterrupted by classes.

Originally posted by write_light at BAD Internet Laws Heading Your Way

I found this at suricattus's LJ:

Originally posted by alfreda89 at Aspiring Writers Info: That Wonderful Blog Known as Writer Beware(tm)
Any aspiring writer looking for an agent or wanting to know who the potential bad guys are in the publishing game has two places I strongly suggest you keep up with -- Publishers Weekly and Writer Beware(tm).

Writers Ann Crispin and Victoria Strauss do a fantastic job discovering and documenting groups that just don't seem to play fair in the game of publishing. Ann & Victoria have many success stories, and consequently have earned enemies. The latest bad guy has decided to try to wage a disinformation campaign against Writer Beware and other anti-scam activists like, for example, the intrepid P.N. Elrod. The new group to be leery of is The Write Agenda. (Note that secure portal link.)

Up until now, Writer Beware(tm) has pretty much ignored the attempts of The Write Agenda to make mischief. But now this group has broadened their nasty guy poison pens to include any writer who so much as mentions Writer Beware (tm) in a good light, or does anything to warn fledgling writers about groups like PublishAmerica. They have created an author boycott list where you will see such fine writers and anti-scam activists as John Scalzi, James D. MacDonald, Amy Sterling Casil, and Sharon Lee. The list is ridiculous, and one writer got on it simply by interviewing Victoria on her blog. (Yes, that is an anonymouse link. Might be a good idea to read that list using anonymouse. I repeat, note that The Write Agenda link in the second paragraph is a secure link -- https:// . These people are paranoid and do know some things about technology. After all, they use it to give people false info.)

So we writers are all going to mention Writer Beware(tm) even more than usual, of course. If you would like to read the post Writer Beware(tm) did on The Write Agenda, go here.

Other useful links are to A & V's version of "2 Thumbs Down" lists for agents and publishers. These lists could use updating, so if you are currently looking, you might contact Writer Beware(tm) and request a new list of infamy. They have a bunch of great links on their blog, including supportive editors and agents.

One would hope that The Write Agenda has realized that going after SF and fantasy writers is like poking a stick into a hornet's nest. But it's possible that I, too, will earn their ire by pointing out that Writer Beware(tm) is a good, trustworthy service you should pay attention to. So if I end up on the list, be sure and tell me. It will be excellent publicity -- remember Mark Twain on the value of being boycotted. Everyone then needs to know what they've been missing!

Thanks to John Scalzi, who always keeps me up to date on industry news.

October. One nasty cold thing that laid the girl flat for a weekend, ensuring that she had no downtime for about two weeks. One day off school because of local flooding. No sick days. Did leave early the day of the mandatory pep rally. Full volume cheering by more than a hundred people in a confined space would definitely trigger a migraine. No sense waiting for it to happen.

I had an amazing day last week. The dental hygienist was happy with me. Then I managed to buy new shoes (not sandals or sneakers) in about fifteen minutes. The first pair I tried on, in fact. This, for those who don't know me, is paramount to miraculous. I don't really like shoes and I detest shopping for them.

A heavy course load isn't enough for the girl. She also has a part in the fall drama production. They're doing "A Bagful of Fables." My daughter will be taking the part of A Very Stupid Sheep Named Bradley. (I think the character's name is just Bradley, but that's what I hear whenever she mentions him.) I'm looking forward to this show.

edit: I have been reminded that Bradley is the brightest of the three sheep.

My daughter and I went to Eeriecon. I've been there many times, made the same drive along the same route. This time, since I hadn't made the drive for five years, I decided I'd better check with Google maps. Not so much of a good idea. The directions are okay, except for the occasional difference between the street name in the text directions and the street name on the map. They also differ from what I remember. Okay, that's why I checked in the first place. Not so helpful after all. I also had problems with the actual street signs. Biggest problem, I think, was forgetting the extreme angle of the turn onto Main Street, where the hotel is. So I didn't make the turn. I went straight where I really didn't want to go straight.

If you miss the turn from Niagara Blvd onto Main Street, you end up on the Rainbow Bridge. Then you end up in Canada. I like Canada, at least the parts I've been to. But the con was in Niagara Falls, NY. The nice lady at the booth going into Canada gave me directions for turning around. Apparently this happens all the time. I tried to follow the directions, but there was a detour on the route. I'm not good with detours. So we took a nice drive down the park road. Nice drive, but not where we wanted to be. Finally, on the way back to a place we might want to be in, we stopped to ask a nice policeman. When he asked where we were going, I was able to point across the river to the Days Inn sign. "Right there," I said. He gave me very simple directions: left at the next light (counter to my not always useful intuition), right at the one after that. That put me in the right place.

Next step, not so easy. Because I had no plans to go to Canada, I didn't have my passport, only a driver's license. The nice guy in the booth asked me several questions I couldn't answer because my grade school years are far, far behind me. Finally he gave up on that and tried to look up my passport. Couldn't find it from his computer, so we had to go into the office. We heard him say "I don't think they're a threat, but ..." So we went into the office and answered the usual questions: who, where, why, how long. Apparently my passport turned up in that computer, because they let us in. The turn from there to Main Street is much simpler. Or so it seemed, since all I had to do was make one left turn, one right turn, and pull into the hotel lot.

And that was our accidental visit to Canada.

The con was nice. Saw people, went to panels, visited the art show and dealer's room. I bought one book. I'd figured on one, Laura Anne Gilman's Weight of Stone. Unfortunately, no one had it. I'll have to pick it up elsewhere. I did buy The Dragon and the Stars, edited by Derwin Mak and Eric Choi.

My daughter bought a few books, but her most exciting (grinning and not quite bouncing) purchase was eight CDs with Doctor Who audios, some made from filmed episodes, some from stories written for radio. She is very happy.

The drive home was pleasingly uneventful. Overall, a nice weekend.

I finally pulled the laptop out of the box and put it to the test. A couple of tests, mostly to test the graphics and check on the core temperature.

The checklist they included with the computer said they'd repaired the obvious things, like replacing the broken case and the blown charger. They said nothing about what had been wrong with the computer's innards and didn't even mention fixing it. But they must have done something, because the thing is no longer overheating and can run graphics-heavy games again. For now. It's entirely possible that they've actually performed a long-term repair. I guess we'll find out. At least she has the thing for her schoolwork.

Still not planning on Dell for our next computer.

This is a lovely book, by Ann B. Ross, the first in a series.

Miss Julia is a recent widow with more money than she's ever had access to before. Funny how many people decide an old woman is too infirm in her mind to make her own decisions as to the uses of that money.

Not too intriguing a comment, I know. I'm not good at writing book reviews, either, so I'll resort to the uninformative clichés: I laughed, I cried, I snorted out loud and commented to the air as I read it.

In any case, I'm about to see how many of the other ten I can get from my local library (or the library system they can borrow from).