Blog Post No.486
I remember being in a bad mood the other day. I was driving at the time (I can’t remember where or exactly when, so you can tell it wasn’t that big a deal). I could have been on my way home from the day job (a big but decreasing stressor in my life right now) or I could have just dropped over a hundred bucks on gas. The reason doesn’t really matter much. It was fleeting (like most of my moods are). But, at the time, I remember flipping stations on the radio and stopping on a song that totally changed how I was feeling.
I’m racing to the finish line with the Snow from a Distant Sky, the fifth and potentially final novella in my 
The end is near for the fifth and final novella, Snow from a Distant Sky. As I mentioned 
Some years ago, I was at 
There’s a George Carlin routine that I remember from time to time. In general he was a funny and insightful guy (though I don’t think it was a perfect genius like some folks do). Either way, the joke was about 
Welcome to February of 2022. Right now I’m trying to figure out what this blog will look like for the year after having one of the 
January was tough. All my shifts at the day job were cancelled (as I mentioned 
Here we are in the middle of winter (or technically the latter half, but it’ll be a while before spring gets here). The days may be getting longer, but it’s still gets dark really early. I’ve found myself commenting a few times that it feels way latter than it actually is. The lack of light is draining. In the winters, I often think about the years my dad spent working in a factory. He would leave for work in the dark, spend all day inside with few or no windows, and drive home in the dark. 
I’m off from the day job again for pandemic reasons and while it’s mostly a good thing (both having time off and not being at risk with omicron running wild) I’m also not making any money. You’d think that with this sudden time off, I’d be writing up a storm or getting way ahead on edits for the new novella, Snow from a Distant Sky. Unfortunately, edits grind to a halt when you have to wait on people to get back to you with their beta reads. As for writing, I’m still struggling with short stories as a whole and I still haven’t cracked the ability to write while in the middle of an edit. 
Several years ago, I noticed a dead pixel on my laptop screen. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was there or not, but after some very simple tests, I was certain. Thankfully, my laptop was still under warranty. Since it’s a MacBook, I had to bring it in to an authorized repair place. The closest Apple store (in my country (there’s a closer one over the border) is two hours away, but there was a place in my city that was authorized to make apple repairs. I took my laptop in and they replaced the screen at no cost to me. 
Ben Van Dongen 