Allow me to begin this entry by congratulating the folks over at Pyr who are basking in the glow of four brilliant nominations. Our buddy and guest blogger Lou Anders has garnered a Hugo nomination in the category of Best Professional Editor, Long Form. Meanwhile, future guest blogger and long-time Baron Destructo nemesis Joe Abercrombie has received a nomination for the John W. Campbell Best New Writer Award. Also receiving the nod in the same category is author David Louis Edelman. And, finally, Ian McDonald’s Brasyl received a Hugo nomination for Best Novel. Good luck to all.
Well, despite what I interpreted as a very bad omen – the fact that the view outside my office window looked like a damn snow globe this morning (“This isn’t right,”muttered a stunned Carl) – it turned out to be a surprisingly good day. My notes call on Whispers went swimmingly, the director’s cut of Broken Ties was great, and I discovered a government refund check for a whopping $11.99 amid the papers in my briefcase. It was a pleasant change from yesterday when the infuriatingly incompetent West Virginia Mountaineers blew a six point lead in overtime, losing to Xavier and robbing me of a spotless 4-0 night in my March Madness picks. Still, I’m in pretty good shape (provided Memphis, Kansas, Texas, and Wisconsin come through for me tonight) and look poised to finish in the money. Which is alternately nice yet kinda lame. Apparently, prizes will be awarded to not only the first place finisher, but those finishing second, third, fourth, AND FIFTH! Seriously. Whatever happened to winner take all? What kind of world are we living in where we reward people for the simple act of trying? Is it that we’ve grown so apathetic as a society that we require constant reinforcement in order to feel good about ourselves? The answer to that question is a resounding “YES!”. It’s why many schools prevent students from discussing birthday parties or handing out Valentine cards unless they intend to include every frigging classmate AND that creepy janitor with the wooden teeth. And why in Little League play, every team is rewarded with a trophy regardless of record, athleticism, and general suck-assity. In a misguided bid to raise our children’s self-esteem, we’re simultaneously instilling them with unreasonable expectations they‘ll undoubtedly cling to in a wide-eyed stupor when reality eventually slaps them around in their adult years. We desperately want them to believe that “In life, there are no losers only winners” but the truth is life is filled with losers! And we should embrace this fact because, if not for them, the rest of us would be nothing but winners of varying degrees. As is the case with this damn March Madness pool.
Today, many cities around the world are taking part in Earth Hour, an international event in which individuals will do their part to help lower carbon emissions by turning off their lights and appliances for one full hour. I think this is great and if my cell phone didn’t require recharging and the basketball game wasn’t on and I didn’t need to heat up the water for my green tea, I’d be totally down with it. Still, unlike most of you, I’m already doing my part for the environment. Read all about it here: http://josephmallozzi.com/2007/07/07/july-7-2007/
By the way, thanks to those who suggested Baron Destructo and Cookie Monster co-host some sort of intermittent self-help column. I’ve checked with them and both informed me they’d be only too happy to dispense their irresponsible advice.
Today’s pics: The view outside my office, Rob Cooper sitting as his – oh!, The new and improved Ark of Truth poster, Mr. Wraithy’s big move.
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