The Swing

If anyone kept track, that was two weeks of a malfunctioning laptop (I had it propped at a goofy angle and couldn't breathe on it lest the screen go black) and two weeks of no laptop while it was in the shop. It's a four-year-old Dell with the superbig 18 inch HD screen, which is great for watching movies, but a great big power vacuum. My computer repairman thinks the heat from having it on so much melted the AV cables. Yikes! So, some new cables, and a new screen, and she's back to full power. And a good thing, because the withdrawal was reaching critical mass. All my data was saved - and all my books are on a flash drive - but this was yet another lesson in backing up data. I had some book covers saved on the hard drive and I would have been so upset to lose them.

Okay, so, back in the swing of things. I must admit that the moment this baby was back in my hands, my immediate focus was on my work, and not blogging. I think I've forgotten how to blog. So I'm easing back into things with a bunch of random notes.

First off: I spent my computer-free weeks taking Instagram pics of my puppy. There's plenty of farm and flower pics there too. My handle is @hppress if anyone wants to follow along.

Second off: Has anyone notice how completely dark it is first thing in the morning? When I took Viktor out at five-thirty this morning, it was black as pitch outside. The days are getting shorter. Autumn is creeping in, not-so-slowly but oh-so-surely. Autumn is such an evocative season for me; my brain just churns overtime as the seasons bleed together. I turn into a writing fanatic in the fall. Which is a good thing, considering all the stuff I have planned for the rest of this year.

Third off: Did I mention Keeping Bad Company releases September 12? I think so. All this tech trouble pushed me back by a month. Ugh! But never fear, it's coming.

Fourth off: This is officially the bounciest, brattiest puppy in existence. He's "helping" my mom plant her Japanese ferns in this photo. Always thinking of others, this one.