Deborah Woehr

I finally wiped Movable Type off of my main directory and installed WordPress, along with the Semiologic theme. The theme is supposed to give you the option of creating a blog and/or a website. I’ll be playing around with it as time permits. You can see what I’ve done here, although it’s not much.

When I’m done, deborahwoehr.com will be the professional blog that I had originally intended. I’ll talk more about writing-related topics, plus offer my services such as proofreading and creating custom headers for blogs. In the future, I’d like to offer book designing services, but I’m not there yet.

This blog isn’t going away. I’m just trying to separate the personal from the professional.

Update: For some reason, I’m still seeing the Movable Type interface. I’ll let you know when I get that fixed.

Okay, it’s fixed now. It seems that I needed to clear out the cache in Firefox.

I read the article of the first link from Melly’s Publishing 2010, found this article where writers debated over this lawsuit. This debate occurred back in October, but still provides good feedback from both sides of the fence.

After checking out GBS, I found that I could only access the first three pages of two books in completely different genres (horror and computers). The publisher or author has the right to control how much of their book should be read by non-paying readers.

While publishers and writers are screaming about copyright issues, I think the real issue (like Doctorow said) is money. The writers want a kickback from Google’s AdSense revenue. Although I can’t blame them for wanting more than chump change in the name of royalties, I see a great opportunity for free publicity not only in the Google Print but in the search engines.

The writers who are pro-Google see this and feel that the publishing industry is too constrictive and rigid in their business methods. Unless you are J.K. Rowling or Stephen King, these publishers are going to next to nothing for your book marketing campaign. In the case of Meghann Marco, she had to make a public outcry before her publisher would allow her to place her book on Google Print.

Where do you stand on this lawsuit? Are you for or against Google?

John asked me how to hide the standard WordPress header type without deleting the title and description from their fields in the Options menu. I did this once with another blog, but realize now that I did it the hard way. After experimenting with the Kubric file (and breaking it), I decided to perform a search. I found this link, which offers a good variety of tips and tricks for your headers. Enjoy!

Designing Headers

Here’s a town.

This has become my biggest pet peeve where driving is concerned. What is so important that you can’t wait until you get to where you’re going to use the damned phone? The worst experience I had occurred when I was driving on the freeway one morning. I got stuck behind this older gentleman in a gold Mercedes, doing 30mph while everyone else was doing 80+. I could see him clearly, gabbing away on his phone, not a care in the world.

Ten minutes later, I was finally able to get around him. In my years of commuting to and from work, I’ve come to understand why road rage occurs.

This photo hit home with me because there have been so many times where I’ve almost been broadsided in parking lots. The picture gives a whole new meaning to Drive Thru, eh?

SD Gov. ‘Inclined’ to Sign Abortion Ban: The ban will make abortions illegal except when the woman’s life is at stake. The ban includes cases of rape or incest. It’s this last that I don’t agree with. Yes, they can give the child up for adoption. But why inflict the woman (in most cases, girls) with more trauma than she’s already been through?

Abortion Rights Activists Threaten to Boycott SD: The boycotters are threatening the tourism industry. It remains to be seen whether this intimidation tactic will work. It did with Idaho.

Could This Be the End of Roe vs. Wade?: I doubt it, but it’s possible. To be perfectly honest, I’m sick of this issue, but I’m going to talk about it anyway. I think the government should stay the hell out of this unless a crime has been committed. Their energies would be better spent going after all those single mothers who keep pumping out kids in order to receive a bigger welfare check.

My views on abortion have changed as I’ve gotten older. At 20, I was totally pro-choice. If I had gotten pregnant back then, I would have gotten an abortion simply because I wasn’t financially able to raise a child. My parents’ reaction was another factor, but the financial would have been the deciding point.

As I approach 40, my outlook has changed. I’ve seen too many women (and men) use the “pro-choice right” as a cover-up for their promiscuity and stupidity. Yes, accidents happen. But five times??

1. Psycho Path: Traverse City, Mich.
2. Divorce Court: Heather Highlands, Pa.
3. Farfrompoopen Road in Tennessee: the only road to Constipation Ridge
4. The intersection of Lonesome and Hardup: Albany, Ga.
5. The intersection of Clinton and Fidelity: Houston, TX
6. Bucket of Blood Street: Holbrook, Ariz.
7. Unexpected Road: Buena, N.J.
8. Shades of Death Road: Warren County, N.J.
9. The intersection of Count and Basie: Richmond, Va.
10. Tater Peeler Road: Lebanon, Texas

Can you imagine writing these addresses on the envelopes of your Christmas cards?

Source: Yahoo! News

I’ve decided to hold off the second pass of my editing of the anthology for Monday, as the kids are home on winter break until then. Soon they’ll be off for another week-long break for Easter. They get twice as many days off as I did, but their summer break is getting shorter.

Yesterday, I ran them and myself ragged running errands. We left the house around 9:30 and didn’t get home until 4:30. It’s been a long time since I went out all day like that. I lead a very sedentary lifestyle, so this was good for me to get out and walk around.

At one point, my youngest pipes up that tomorrow will be one of the worst days of his life. We have to take him to the hospital for minor surgery tomorrow morning. They want to give him some anesthetic to “take the edge off” where the needles are concerned.

This is an outpatient procedure, but the fact that he has to be given anesthesia isn’t sitting too well with me or my husband. The surgeon explained that he was doing this because of my son’s age. I tried to reassure my son that it won’t be any big deal, that he will just be very sleepy.

He’s still very nervous about this, and I can’t blame him. Hospitals are our least favorite places, especially after what happened to my father-in-law. I’ll be glad when this is over and done with.

Quoted from Yahoo! News

ST LOUIS, United States (AFP) - Life expectancy may balloon to 100 years old in rich nations thanks to scientific advances, but such progress could widen the gap between wealthy and poor nations, according to researchers.
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Within the next 10 years, state-of-the-art, anti-ageing technologies could — if they come into widespread use — radically start altering global demographics, extending people’s lifespans by 20 years, according to Shripad Tuljapurkar, a Stanford University biologist.

This article goes on to address the problems these anti-aging technologies could cause, such as a global underclass. I immediately thought about my country’s Social Security problem. My generation won’t have the same luxury, but that’s for another post.

Next, I thought about whether or not I would want to live to be 100. The average life expectancy for my family is 82, which is a good number. I wouldn’t mind living to be 100 as long as I had my mind and I could get around reasonably well.

What about you? How do you feel about anti-aging technologies?

After I finished my editing early this afternoon, I had planned to finish Chapter 14 of Prosperity as a reward. But then I got sidetracked by an excellent book. So far, I’ve plowed through 150 pages, which is not like me unless I’m totally engrossed. I can remember three books that I’ve read in one or two sittings: Stephen King’s “Gerald’s Game” and “Misery,” and Dean Koontz’s “Intensity.”

What novels/books have kept you reading all day and well into the night?