Stopped by a Target to check something out…what should I find but a Starbucks. This is not news. What I found novel, however, is what they handed me along with my "venti quad no-whip" marble mocha macchiato. For those of you not well versed in Starbuckspeak, that basically means I got the drink with four espresso shots, in the largest size available, without flagellation.

The bonus bit was a "marble chocolate stir stick," defined as "a blend of Belgian milk chocolate and white chocolate," the idea being that I should stir this into my drink, thus upping the chocolate content therein.

And I thought to myself: yes. This is the American way: have a stick of chocolate to add to this heaping frothy coffee chocolate concoction. Why? Because, dammit, anything worth doing is worth overdoing.

I love this country.

Insomnia is a fucked up thing. Even when you want to sleep, know you really do need to sleep, when you've finally said, "Okay, look, fine, I surrender. I give in. White hanky in the air" it still just sits in the corner and broods, watching you.

I have to sneak up on sleep when I do sleep. I have to dislocate my hip wrestling with it.

Odds and ends. I'm re-reading Imajica. I hardly ever re-read books, simply because I have a pretty solid memory of the books that are worth re-reading and I just go back and access that as necessary.

However, I've picked the Barker back up because of the new one-volume edition with appendix and new illos (I'm such a sucker when it comes to bonus features) and also because I feel the need t0 plunge into something epic. Probably because I'm preparing my brain for the coming of Martin's fourth volume. Probably because Barker and Martin are the only two folks who have really just hit me with an epic that felt…well, epic.

King's Dark Tower series somehow doesn't fit because it seems far too personal an endeavor, and is the rock upon which King built his church. All roads lead to the Tower in King's work, and that just isn't the same. Not in my head, anyway. Tolkien was nice, yes, but it always felt like the really impressive thing that you walked into and looked around a bit, then left–you know, like St. Patrick's Cathedral.

So yes, I want to wade up to my eyeballs in a book and have it slap me around. Hence, Imajica.

Even more odds. The links for Mystics and Desolation over on my right are now Amazon links. Amazon owns Booksurge now, the Amazon prices are corrected and every one you buy helps my sales ranking.

Finally, there's a new LiveJournal, as well as three more Something Odds.

Oh, and I want to say something about writing rules. Not writing rules, mind you, but rules for writing. But not now. Later. This is just a reminder to myself. For now, I'm going to try this sleep bullshit again.

…in the bathroom this morning, and it was coveting my Red Bull. I knew when I stepped into the shower, it would go for my Red Bull. I had visions of either dealing with a drowned fly in my Red Bull, or a fly hopped up on Red Bull flying around the house, like something out of Joe Cartoon.

So, yeah, I drank my Red Bull in the shower.

What? Don't look at me like that.

…how dangerous this is going to be?

I don't think you do.

Found via Boing Boing.

As Lord Fanny once said, "Nothing exceeds like excess." I think I'm in love. Click on the pic to go worship.

Found via HGTV.