Mortaine’s Blog

I’m a tech writer, and right now I’m under a couple of big deadlines,
so this is what I’ve been doing most of the day. Well, this and trying
to get health insurance, which was a big hassle!

This is an archive of my shorter book reviews and notes, which historically have been posted over at the 50 Book Challenge on LiveJournal, but which I’m starting to move over here. I’m posting them with altered date-stamps, but they might show up in my LiveJournal cross-post anyway. Bear with me, please.

Note: Many of these books also have full reviews available in the book review podcast (RSS).
Read the rest of this entry »

This afternoon I went to the drugstore and got to overhear a woman yell that she was going to “SUE” long’s drugs when her shoulder wouldn’t heal and she couldn’t dance anymore. I’m thinking “dance? Lady, physical injuries are an occupational hazard, and since when did the drugstore ever cause you the injury anyway?” But it did remind me how fucked up the US health care system is these days. So did the bill from Aetna for my holiday illness. $110 was the “negotiated” amount. Guess how much was the covered amount? Yes, that’s right: “Dr. Soandso may bill you $110.” Thanks, guys. Exactly why am I paying $750/month for your crappy health insurance?

In other news…. went out to lunch with Johnny. We went to an all-natural vegetarian Indian/Southeast Asian restaurant that he likes. It was good, but here it is 2 hours later and I’m hungry again. What gives! I’m going to have to go down to the kitchen and find an appropriate snack. Grump.

3 reviews bridging the gap between fiction and non-fiction.
A Prison Diary: non-fictional account of life in a maximum security prison.
Gates of the Alamo: historical fiction about the Alamo.
Life of Pi: fictional novel about a boy’s adventure at sea.

My friend Junglemonkey has a spirituality podcast called Satellite of Grace. A few weeks ago, she reviewed Life of Pi as well. For her take on it, check out Autumn Leaves - Book Reviews!.

 

 Reviews: A Prison Diary, Gates of the Alamo, Life of Pi [7:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I know there are some musicians and composers on my Friends List. Is anyone willing to make a 3-5 second music clip to be used as a non-profit’s videoblog theme music?

I’m looking for a very short clip for my fish club’s vlog.