Preparing for the Angry Mob & Celebrating?

I just wrote a rather inflammatory article on gun control with regards to how it relates to feminism, so I'm expecting a nice batch of trolls to be visiting in the near future. I don't think it gets more inflammatory than that. There are mentions of a couple of other issues thrown into the article for good measure, too, so we're looking at some seriously happy times for people. I look forward to the ensuing brouhaha. That kind of confrontation doesn't really bother me. One-on-one confrontations with people I actually have a personal relationship with of some sort is usually where I have an issue.

The article hasn't been published yet. I have to wait for my editor to look it over, and then the editor-in-chief has to approve it. That usually takes at least a few days with my stuff, but considering the fact that it's a news-related piece it might go up a bit faster. I'll have to wait and see. I find myself very curious what sort of picture they stick on the top of it.

I'm actually really early writing my piece for +Feminspire this week. My deadline is Saturday morning. My last one hasn't even been published yet, assuming that it gets published - not everything makes the cut for one reason or another. I've had three pieces get accepted, and two rejected. Now I have two sitting in draft. One of them has already been looked over by my editor and is awaiting final approval. The gun control and feminism one I just finished a few minutes ago, so no one has looked at it yet. When I put forth the idea on the staff page on Facebook, it was met with enthusiasm, so I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it posted very quickly.

Just to clarify, before anyone thinks I have a thing against guns. I really don't. I just happen to think criminals and people with psychiatric disorders shouldn't have one. It just makes sense to me, is all.

To be perfectly honest, I like guns, particularly handguns. I would like to own one someday, when I have a thousand dollars or so that I can spare. I want to get my gun licence and learn how to handle it, though. The last thing I'd want in my house is a weapon that I might accidentally shoot myself in the face with. I'm not an idiot, so that would be an unlikely event, seeing as I know enough not to point the thing at my face, or any other living creature I don't intend to kill for that matter. Still, I want to be fully cognizant of all safety measures.

I've learned to be like that with every new thing in my life, though. When I was pregnant with my daughter (about 24 years ago), I read all kinds of books on pregnancy and parenting. I watched a ton of videos, too. When I got Stimpy he was the first ferret I ever had, so before I even went to pick him up I'd already been online doing research on proper ferret care. If I hadn't done that, he'd probably have died the first night I had him. Ferrets can get into fatal trouble very quickly. All it takes is a toilet with the lid up, or a hole in a dryer vent.

The one thing I never researched until it was too late, was proper cat care. I lost one of my cats right after I got Stimpy because I didn't bother to do any research on proper nutrition. I had no idea the grocery store food that I was feeding all three of my cats was one day going to kill one of them. If you have a cat, I suggest you read the article I wrote about cat nutrition a while ago. You can find it here. Cats are obligate carnivores. Corn, rice and potatoes are not something they should be eating, but those are usually highest on the list of ingredients on commercial cat foods. If you Google "How to Avoid Killing Your Cat" all three parts to that article series should come up.

There's a ton of information on protein quantities and fat content in the article. If you don't know some of the stuff I was just talking about, please read the article. Not only might it save the life of your cat, but it might save you thousands of dollars in vet bills, too. It cost me $2100 to try to save my cat, and another $300 to have him put to sleep because his kidneys were destroyed and he was suffering. The one time I assumed I knew everything I needed to know about something, was the time I got kicked in the face for it. My cat got the worst end of that deal, though.

You know, since July I've published 69 articles on +SearchWarp and I've had another 3 published so far on Feminspire, with 2 more possible in the near future. It occurs to me that I'll soon have an anniversary of sorts to celebrate as a writer. I should probably plan something special for my 100th article, I think. To some people it might not be that big of a deal, but to me it really is. I turned 41 before I started taking myself seriously as a writer. I haven't hit 42 yet, and things are going quite well. I've had some truly amazing things happen with my work. I mean, it's a total pat-on-the-back thing for me, because I finally plucked up the courage to really go for it.

I've always wanted to be a writer, and I was working on various things in the privacy of my own home, but I never forced myself to submit anything.  Hell, I started writing fiction when I was twelve. I've had a bit of practice with my writing, I guess you could say. Even with this blog there are close to 150 posts now. This whole blog came as a bit of a surprise to me. When I first started it I had no idea where it was going. Then the place I was living in lost their internet so I went for a couple of months without posting anything at all. I got back to it, though, and then eventually started posting almost every day. The funny thing is, I still have no idea where it's going.

My blog has no purpose, really, other than for me to express whatever is going on in my head at that particular moment. Apparently a certain number of people find the inner workings of my brain enjoyable, and since that seems to work for everyone I'll just keep doing what I've been doing.

Now, when it comes to a celebration for 100 articles being published, I'm going to have think about what I'd really like to do. I think champagne would be a good thing. I remember reading Misery, by Stephen King, and how the main character always had a bottle of Dom Perignon and a single cigarette after the completion of each book. Well, I probably won't spend $100 on bubbly (if that's what a bottle of Dom still costs - I haven't looked in a long time) and a cigarette is out of the question. I quit years ago, and they taste like crap to me now. A single cigarette would make me sick as a dog. Not exactly the kind of celebration I had in mind.

Maybe I'll do something that takes a bit of effort. Long Island iced teas, with plenty of finger foods and some movies about writers, maybe. Just me and my daughter. I'm a real party animal, huh? She might actually drink the Long Islands, so I might be able to get her a little drunk for the first time in her life. That would be entertaining!! It's not like I can have a real party. I know about three people that might actually show up. Most of the people I'm really friends with are living in other parts of the world. Would it make me a total geek to have an online party?? Even if it didn't, it would probably only be fun for about ten minutes and then everyone would be wandering around their homes doing their own thing.

Well, I have quite a few weeks to think about it, depending on whether or not I pick up the pace on my articles again. I've only been doing two per week lately. Granted, I have a couple sitting on my hard drive that I just have to post, so I'll probably do one of those, today. I've got 28 left to publish before I hit that mark, but soon it will only be 25 or 26. Even at 3 pieces per week I'm looking at 9 weeks to come up with something fun. If any of my readers has any ideas, let me know! Leave your comments at the bottom of this post. I read them all, and so far I've published them all, too. Keep in mind I'm practically agoraphobic, and I'm not supposed to be walking, so try to make suggestions that I might actually be able to do. If you've been reading this blog, then you know the kind of person I am, so hopefully I get a few suggestions that I can use!