it's. so. hot.

Guys, I hate summer. Like, really really really REALLY hate summer.

It's been in the nineties all this week and even though I'm only ever outside for like half an hour at a time it is killing meeeee. I get asked fairly often if I think a Utah summer is superior to a New York summer as the temperatures are higher here on average but it's "dry heat." You know, to all people who think that dry air is somehow superior to air with any degree of humidity I say "forget you." I understand where the argument comes from and while moisture in air can create a list of complaints it's really difficult for me to remember that list when I wake up in the morning with blood in my nose because the air is so freaking dry that I can't breath. And that only gets worse when you get outside and the world is so hot that you have to squint to keep your eyes from drying out and you have to breath through your mouth to keep your sinuses from turning to dust and blowing away and even then you're constantly questioning whether you're actually getting any oxygen when you inhale. I got news for you people, summer is summer whether the air is wet or dry and I hate the season indiscriminately.

The only redeemable thing about summer for me is the fact that I can go grocery shopping at 10pm without freezing to death from a slight breeze.

*end rant*

This week I discovered that some friends of ours pronounce Cruella Deville "Koala Deville." I kid you not. I was so surprised to hear this new and mind-boggling pronunciation that I couldn't think fast enough to ask if it was an inside joke sort of thing or if they just pronounce her name that way. Whatever the case, this is officially the funniest thing I've heard all week. Try singing "Cruella Deville" in your head that way. I dare you. Of course, with material like this I couldn't resist a quick sketch today. Behold:

[in other news: I'm not very good at drawing koalas]

I think I'm going to be chuckling about this for a while.

I've been doing some brainstorming lately to get myself back into my writing and one of the things I've been working on is reviewing my list of characters and deciding why they are part of the story and if it really needs them. It feels about as heartless as it sounds but it's a necessary step that I'm sure I'll come back to over and over. I was considering a few characters yesterday and I was struck with the realization that one of them has DID [Disassociative Identity Disorder, previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder]. Now, I don't generally go around trying to give my characters psychological conditions but this one just makes sense. It actually serves to condense two characters that I really like but were a little redundant, as well as to bring the focus back to the central theme of the book. I've been personally fascinated with DID since I was in high school so the idea of writing a character with it is really exciting but also scary because the disorder is complex in nature and there is so little really understood about the way it works. Well, research for writing is the only kind I can stand anyway so it's a bonus here that I'm really curious about the subject anyway!