My wrist is sore

No, get those smarmy comments out of your heads. It's sore because I just did something that few people do these days. I actually wrote a letter.

By hand. On paper. With a pen.



I'll wait for the gasping and swooning to stop.

Done now? OK.

A friend's computer is on the blink, and it may be a while before it's up and running again (or they can get together the scratch for a new one), and I wanted to keep in touch, so I sat myself down and wrote her a letter. A simple, friendly letter. Sheesh. When was the last time any of you have done that in this email/text-message era?

It can seem almost barbaric. Actually hand writing two pages of information. Having to mind your penmanship. Having to mind your spelling; no spell-check available! Having to think more about what you're writing because you can't simply delete it. And stuff like "LOL" just doesn't look right when hand-written on cream-colored Italian stationery.

But we're girls and boys with an appreciation of the old-fashioned, aren't we? (Yes, we are. Don't you dare disagree.) So, for all those reading this, I challenge you to sit down and write a letter to a friend or family member. Actually hand-write it. Go out and get some nice stationery. Have fun, joke around, put a goofy sketch in the margins if you want. Design your own stationery if you want.

Maybe in a few weeks we'll graduate to cutting and pasting magazine and newspapers to make threats and blackmail notes.

I'm taking a few days off work, and hitting some museums here in DC. Tomorrow morning, for instance, I'm going to the very new National Museum of Crime & Punishment. I'm going to hit the August Horrorfind convention for a while on Saturday, and in the evening having dinner with friends as a sort of early birthday celebration. (My real birthday is the 31st, by the way. Just sayin'.) I'm reading a few interesting things and I'll give a more exhaustive report in the near future. I'm also watching the Olympics and ogling the male gymnasts shamelessly.

Meanwhile, let's have a few fun videos...

Here's another fun episode of "Tales from the Pub." Adventures in the mysterious....



And, in honor of the fact that my local grocery store has Halloween candy out already...



That's all for tonight...stay cool, stay shady, keep your head full of dark imaginings, and I'll see you soon.