I couldn't help it. I've been thinking about designing this t-shirt for a long time, mostly because I want one for myself, so I sat down and did it today. And yes, I'm ordering one. (If anyone else wants one, they're here, in various shapes and sizes.) I'm feeling more genius than usual in my brand new desk chair, as I mentioned in my last post. My last one was a very basic number that I'd gotten back when desk chairs were invented: padded sitting area about the size of a doily, no arms, and decorative but non-functional rollers on the bottom. It actually served me pretty well for several years, until it read about retirement age over my shoulder and decided that it had reached it. About that time, I began to notice that I couldn't really, you know, feel my legs when I stood up after a long writing session. After watching me hobble around like an escapee from an old folks' home for a week, my husband suggested that perhaps it was time to invest in a new chair. So off we went to Office Staples Depot Supply. They had an assortment of chairs from discount chairs for light use* to dizzyingly expensive chairs for industrial use**. *"this chair is intended to be looked at but not sat upon. Purchaser may hover above its surface like a public restroom toilet for no greater than two hours a day without voiding warranty." **"this chair is designed for those considering wedlock with their job. Warranty and durability is such that once you sit to try it in the store, store employees will carry it out to your car with you still in it and you may continue thus until you expire." I sit on my legs while I work, so I went rapidly through all the chairs, trying them all with one or both legs beneath me. Amazingly, most chairs aren't really comfortable that way. Eventually, however, I found one that called to me. CHAIR: Maude! Maude! ME: Are you talking to me? CHAIR: Probably. Maude! ME: It's Maggie, actually. CHAIR: That's what I meant to say. So I took it home and my husband assembled it in return for benevolent smiles on my behalf (as future queen of America, I'm practicing). And we've been fast friends ever since. I haven't yet gotten used to having comfy arms, however, or to the tall, supportive back that I can't see behind. In between those and the crushing power of its rollers, I'm turning out to be quite deadly. I've already rolled over one Oreo, a stack of mail, a Saltine, and my Blaqk Audio CD (the last one accompanied by much restrained weeping, in a fashion befitting a future monarch). I think I need to get a rearview mirror for it.

So I finally bit the bullet and got a Cafepress page today, so I people can order my art on totes and t-shirts and all kinds of fun stuff. I did this silly cat spoof series earlier this year but hadn't really found a good way to get it onto interesting products, so I'm kinda psyched. I'm gonna load more images later this week.

Anyway, on other news, I wrote 15,000 words on my current WIP this week, which is pretty good considering I only had seven hours to write during. It's on productive weeks like this one that I start thinking about entering that Write a Novel in 3 Days contest that happens every Labor Day. I have to remind myself how much thinking time goes into writing that many words. I contemplate what I'm going to write next all the time - while I'm driving, staring off into space, before I go to bed, while I'm sleeping, and my favorite, in the shower. There's something about the sensory deprivation of a shower stall that helps the whole plotting process. I should try plotting in my closet.