A post with no Bambi references

Bright sunshiny morning, with the prospect of thaw.  Momma Nature had best get busy -- "open water" fishing season is supposed to begin on Tuesday (April Fools Day, of course) and we seem to have a shortage of open water...

But the prognosticators seem to think our next storm will come as rain.  The "Norway" maple a couple of houses over is blooming.  We keep looking for ducks when we walk by the "skating rink" in the park.  And we have a single brave purple crocus in our side yard.

Sometimes Live Journal drives me batshit

A whole bunch of "Friends Page" posts just turned up between ones I read this morning and ones I read last night...

Regarding Amazon and POD...

(Print On Demand)

A number of on-line folks have been getting wound up over Amazon's recent move on POD book listings.  Boils down to "Use our POD service or lose your 'Buy Here' button."

http://www.writersweekly.com/the_latest_from_angelahoycom/004597_03272008.html

I'm afraid I can't get as agitated about it as others seem to think I should.  Amazon is a business.  That's their business site.  Sending business elsewhere cuts money they can earn, even if they get a referral fee.  A billion here, a billion there, soon you're talking about real money.  (Probably misquoting the late senator.)

Nobody seems to claim that Penguin has to list Harper Collins books on their website.

This doesn't stop people from taking their own book dollars elsewhere....

(I should note, of course, that this is not my ox that is getting gored.  My attitude may change if I decide at some future point to release either GHOST POINT or SIGNATURES via POD publishing....)

A slightly less-depressing Bambi note

Two deer browsing in the nature center fields this noon.  They haven't all died.  Yet.

Of course, them being out in the open at midday implies that they are rather hungry...

(Other spring-thing news -- got the mountain bike out and did a couple of miles on what passes for roads in the neighborhood.  Hellooo bike muscles.  Remember this?)