BRAINPAN LEAKAGE

Yo’kay…

I probably should have expected this, but I wasn’t thinking. Which makes the title of this post, and the post in and of itself all the more bizarre…

So, anyway, when I “hacked” the new theme – meaning, I downloaded a theme, made my own graphics, and edited the PHP and CSS files… Way back when, before the connotations applied to the word “hacker” became what they are today, rewriting code for your own puproses was what it meant. It wasn’t something sexy, criminal, or even movie fodder. We were just computer geeks making something work – or, work in a different fashion. And, yes, back then I was a hacker.

Yeah, yeah…digressing…

So, back to the issue at hand. When I hacked this WordPress theme to make it look the way I wanted I created a new banner graphic. The picture of me was taken from a photo shoot with Dorothy Morrison. You might recognize the wild look in my eyes – it’s from the Bobblehead Lady Video promo and Wingnuts button. What I “wasn’t thinking” was that some folks might have more than a passing interest in what is going on in the thought balloon depicted floating next to my head. Based on some incoming email, they do.

So, here you go. I somewhat larger version of the graphic, complete with a list of what is contained.

So here goes, in no particular order, even though it is enumerated:

Leading (small balloons)

1. Red X (An absolutely amazing liquor warehouse type store in KC)
2. Egg Nog (’nuff said)
3. A stiletto heeled pump (hey, I’m a guy, okay?)

Main Balloon

1. EK (She’s ALWAYS on my mind…)
   
2. Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
3. SPAM™
4. Kristin Madden playing with her nose
5. An algebraic formula / mathematical expression
6. “Don’t call me Kirstin…” (the mantra of Kristin Madden)
7. First page of Chapter 18 from Harm None
8. Design for a fictional M&M launcher (© 2006, M. R. Sellars)
9. Big, red exclamation point

And, yeah…that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

More to come…

Murv

Okay, so I have this piece of rental property. I could go into this long diatribe about the problems I am having with said property, etc, but that is a whole ‘nother story, and one that doesn’t truly bear exploring in a public arena. Suffice it to say, the property is going to be vacant for a while due to a need for rehabbing that shouldn’t have been needed in the first place… But, I don’t want to digress.

Anyhow, since the property will be semi-vacant – there will still be contractors in and out of it all the time, just no one actually living there for a bit – I went ahead and had a security system installed. Mainly, this is to protect the property against vandalism, but it will also be something that will reduce insurance costs for both future rental tennants and me. So, when you consider the fact that I got a great deal on the system since I was already having the one in my own home upgraded to begin with, and it is going to save me money in the long run, it becomes a win-win situation.

But, on with the “Bad Murv” portion of the tale.

Yesterday, the installer was on-site to put in the system. Of course, I had to be there to let him in, tell him where I wanted motion sensors placed, sign off on the job, etc. So, rather than let him in then run off, I hung out since the installation wasn’t going to be an all day process. Anyhow, while the young man was working he was chatting with me and asked what I do for a living. Well, of course, I told him I write books.

He asked the typical followup question, which was, “What kind of books?”

I gave my standard reply, “Mystery suspense novels about serial killers and that sort of thing.”

Then he asked me if , “I liked it.”

Well, this is where “Bad Murv” happens. Obviously he was referring to the occupation of being an author, but since I had mentioned serial killers I couldn’t pass it up…

Without missing a beat I replied, “Yeah, it’s okay. I used to like it more, but the last time I killed someone I almost got caught.”

The poor guy froze, the power drill in his hand stopped, and he just stared at me wide-eyed as the color in his face seemed to be fading right before my eyes.

After a short pause I laughed, told him I was just kidding, and that I only write about serial killers, I’m not actually one myself. Fortunately, he caught on to the joke and all was good.

Of course, I couldn’t stop there… When I had to get on the phone to answer the verification questions with the monitoring service the young lady told me that it could take up to 4 hours before the monitoring on the new installation was live. After that she asked me if I had any questions.

Being the ka-ka disturber I am, I replied, “Yes, if someone breaks in and wants to kill me within the next four hours is it okay if I just go ahead and kill them back?”

Fortunately, she got the joke right away. The poor girl laughed so hard I thought she was going to pass out.

More to come…

Murv