(no subject)

Just a couple of things today, first the reaction to Scale of Dragon, Tooth of Wolf has been, in a word, overwhelming. One of my latest batch of comments included a reader saying she would rec the story as the one must-read in HP fandom. Wow...just...wow. It's a good thing I don't wear a lot of hats 'cause I'm quite sure my noggin' would be so swollen right now it'd never fit into any of them.

I've never considered myself a writer, still don't really, mostly because I just don't have the passion for it that I've had for other creative endeavors. And I'm incredibly lazy. When it comes to sitting down and actually putting all the stuff in my brain onto paper I balk. My self discipline just dribbles out my ears and I find myself doing ridiculous mental gymnastics in order to avoid just sitting down and getting the writing done.

But I can't seem to stop the ideas and I'm already plotting out a sequel to SoD, ToW that might be even bigger, grander, and way longer than the first. I'm just not sure I've got the stamina to pull it off. We shall see.

On a lighter note...( I have just one question after watching the latest episode of Torchwood... )

And the good news just keeps on comin'

So long Ken:

RNC asks Steele to replace Mehlman
By Ralph Z. Hallow
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
November 10, 2006

Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, whose party just lost both chambers of Congress, will leave his position in January, and the post as party chief has been offered to Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele.

And another one gone, and another one gone:

Hastert won’t seek leadership post
Susan Milligan, Boston Globe
Thursday, November 9, 2006

(11-09) 04:00 PST Washington — House Speaker Dennis Hastert, wounded by the GOP’s loss of the House on Tuesday night, said Wednesday he will not seek to continue as his party’s leader in the next Congress.

“As a former wrestling coach, I know what it is like when your team takes second place in the state tournament. It hurts. And so it is with politics,” the Illinois Republican said in a statement.

Sounds like someone's taking his ball and going home. Don't be a bad loser, Denny.

via Sadly, No!

And Krugman offers his own ray of sunshine:

But we may be seeing the downfall of movement conservatism — the potent alliance of wealthy individuals, corporate interests and the religious right that took shape in the 1960s and 1970s. This alliance may once have had something to do with ideas, but it has become mainly a corrupt political machine, and America will be a better place if that machine breaks down.

Why do I want to see movement conservatism crushed? Partly because the movement is fundamentally undemocratic; its leaders don’t accept the legitimacy of opposition. Democrats will only become acceptable, declared Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, once they “are comfortable in their minority status.” He added, “Any farmer will tell you that certain animals run around and are unpleasant, but when they’ve been fixed, then they are happy and sedate.”

And the determination of the movement to hold on to power at any cost has poisoned our political culture. Just think about the campaign that just ended, with its coded racism, deceptive robo-calls, personal smears, homeless men bused in to hand out deceptive fliers, and more. Not to mention the constant implication that anyone who questions the Bush administration or its policies is very nearly a traitor.

When movement conservatism took it over, the Republican Party ceased to be the party of Dwight Eisenhower and became the party of Karl Rove. The good news is that Karl Rove and the political tendency he represents may both have just self-destructed.