Testing the phone app

Please disregard this post as being anything significant. I'm just testing the Android app I downloaded.

Let's hope it's awesome.

The Muffin Muncher

First edition, signed by the author. 1978. I was eight. It became my favorite book immediately.

I was thrilled, even as a child, that I had an author signing inside the front cover. Books were the coolest thing ever, other than blowing up Cylons which I planned to do when I grew up (after marrying Buck Rogers or Han Solo or Bo Duke). I didn’t understand first editions at that age, but I had the signature and that was still the most amazing thing ever.

The story itself may or may not be where I got my love of dragons. I know I was already into Vampires and Werewolves at that age. It is possible I was a fan of dragons, but I really think it was this book that did it for me. Maybe that’s why I see them as powerful but reasonably decent creatures.

The Muffin Muncher really gets at the heart of a dragon who terrorizes villages for their food. But before that he sets up camp and brushes his teeth and puts on his pajamas and displays his photograph of his beloved (pony? It’s been 17 years since I read it – but I think it’s his pony.) How amazing! The “bad guy” has a soft spot. Maybe this shaped my love of anime. So many of the characters have these quirky soft spots.

I hated that I had to leave it behind when I fled my marriage. (I won’t get into it because this is an entry of things so precious.) Of all the things I lost this book was one of the most precious to me. I had had the book for 16 years and it was really dear to me. It was not only a cute story of dragon redemption, it was a story with so much depth.

It should arrive in the mail to me next week. I am so excited to read it once more. It isn’t my original copy, but at this point I am just glad to have any copy. I’m a writer, but not of children’s books. I admire people who can write stories in such a small amount of pages and with such simplistic language. It is so much harder than it seems to be. If you don’t admire those people, you should.

As a side note (with a touch of humor) I never realized how the title sounded until I was well into adulthood. I was in my middle to late twenties (days when the interwebz were so new that most didn’t know it existed) and had gone to the book store. I asked for assistance in finding the book called The Muffin Mucher. The worker took me to the erotica section. It was only then that I ever clicked with the alternate implication of the title. I carried it like a bible as a kid. I had such an innocence about it.

Do you have a book that you hold so dear from childhood? Am I alone in this attachment?

Don't give the squirrel Pepsi!

Sometimes I journal in my head while driving “I’ve got to open this next blog with ‘Trust me when I say don’t give the squirrels Pepsi.’ Because they HAVE to know how bad that idea is after what happened in the back yard.” And I write it all out in my head.

Then I get home. Dinner. Homework. Big Bang Theory. More homework. Shower. Read myself to almost asleep “CRAP! I didn’t journal about the squirrel! I’ll do it tomorrow.” Fall asleep. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

The problem with not blogging (or as it was called in the old-school days – journaling) in a while is that there is this need to make excuses. “Sorry everyone. I’ve been up to my eyebrows in homework.” Or  “So much over time. I didn’t mean to neglect you all for so long.” The list goes on and on.

I used to be one of the people who felt the need to explain to the world why I haven’t journaled in 5 weeks. I quit doing that (most of the time). I still apologize sometimes, but mostly I decided it was not required. I should never feel obligated to update a journal (aka blog). It is there for me to say things I want to say when I want to say them.

Now, if this were my profession or if I were heavily networking then I would A) blog more regularly or B) when I did miss a week I would try to offer something in exchange for my absence. Neither of those apply.

I know some of you don’t know me personally outside of the cyber world so you are here because you are genuinely interested in something I have to offer (Spazzing out in excitement over the newest Star Wars announcement? Photos of my Spiderman bathroom? My Pepsi addiction?). I freakin love you guys for being here! I’m just a big geek girl like any other. Your dedication means a ton. I feel like I do owe you guys something more regularly. I am assuming (if you are still reading) that you know I am not a regular journaler. I seem to be feast of famine here. Blog blog blog blog.. silence. Silence. More silence. Blog blog blog!

At any rate. Thank you all for your patience. Lazy bloggers need love too. Thank you guys for the love you show me.

How about my fellow journalers/bloggers? Do you guys apologize for being absent??

(And incase you wondered. Yes, I blog/journal in many places. Often these entries are written and then posted several places. Live Journal, Blogspot, sometimes Facebook, sometimes Gaia, sometimes my other Live Journal, sometimes TheOtaku, sometimes DeviantArt. I’m everywhere.)

About my hearing issues..

After all these decades I have answers. So dear Dragon*con friends (and other friends who deal with me in places of non-quiet)- maybe you will forgive me when you have to repeat yourselves 30 times.

I have to admit, I didn't know other people didn't have the problems I have. I thought a lot of my "problems" were normal. I only recently found out that other people don't hear the way I do. How surprising for me! But now that I know what's wrong, I know I can work actively to try and create situations where my issues can be overcome and handled properly. My hopes are that this will create a better hearing life for me. My doctor told me I am working too hard to communicate. I honestly thought everyone worked that hard. I just wanted a hearing aid. But it is far more than my physical ear that is the issue. Who knew. 


I drew a little comic to try and explain the problem. It is much more complicated than I can explain, but it should help give you the general idea. Read the description and then read the comic - it makes more sense in that order.