Haiku, Carbonite, and Holey Fonts, Batman!

First off, let me offer an apology to the (zero) readers of this blog. Yesterday morning caught me in a bit of an irascible mood and instead of delaying my blogging until later at night when I am typically much more witty (used here as a synonym for hilarious), I let it get the best of me and wrote that rather crotchety thing about first lines. Sorry. I get that way. Unfortunately, as my blog is a reflection of me, you get the good with the bad (by which I mean the witty with the pissy attitude of a scorned thirteen year old girl).

Now, on to today's brain turds.

Last week I entered a haiku contest on agent Rachelle Gardner's blog. Yesterday, I learned that, while I didn't make her list of finalists, I did receive an honorable mention of sorts. Like fellow blogette, Carrie Harris, Rachelle decided to give recognition to just about everyone who entered. My haiku,

Oh, blue screen of death
You vex me with your timing
I forgot to save

received the much coveted "Best Description of a Writer's Biggest Fear" award. That's right. Eat that. Two kind-of-"almosts" in less than a week. Do you feel me knocking closed and dead bolted portal to the publishing world?

I'd also like to take this space to promote a business. In the interest of full disclosure, I have no connection whatsoever to this business. In fact, I have no connections whatsoever to anything, so don't bother with the accusations of a conflict of interest. While I am occasionally conflicted, I rarely have much interest.

The business is called Carbonite and it offers online backup of the files on your hard drive. I heard it advertised on the radio and it caught my interest for two reasons. First, a while back my own hard drive went kaput and I lost a lot of my writing files as well as my record of submissions. (So to anybody who gets something from me that seems a little familiar, sorry 'bout that.) Second, the name struck me as odd. It didn't sound very computery, onliney, or storagey. So I thought about it a little more and it hit me (as it probably already has you). Carbonite is the stuff Han Solo is frozen in in Empire Strikes Back. And that's when I decided this is probably the coolest company ever.

Lastly, have you heard of holey fonts? Apparently, some Dutch company, in an effort to reduce costs, has developed a font that has holes in it. This font, called "Ecofont," cuts ink usage by 15 percent. You can see it here: Ecofont

Coupla thoughts. First, I think my favorite unintended consequence of the Green movement is how companies who cut corners to save money, claim to cut corners to save the environment. I'm waiting for the day when a company announces lay-offs with the explanation that having fewer employees will allow them to save on energy costs and thereby lesson the company's carbon footprint. Second, the font looks sort of sweet. It could be used on a disco club's marquee. If they could get the little holes to move, they'd really have something. However, somehow I don't think there will be too many agents and editors asking, in the interest of, ya know, saving the planet, that they'd like to see more submissions in Ecofont. Of course, I could be wrong. Crazier things have happened.