First thing’s first. Watch this video.
Welcome to Snowshoes. We both watched this video today and laughed. Tucker was a Snowshoe, and Zion is mostly one (she’s a weird mix). We both still miss Tuck, and find that we’re enjoying Zion’s company more every day. We’ll probably always have a Snowshoe in our lives – they’re awesome pets. If you let them outside, though, your neighbors may not always agree.
Now on to the week in recap. Click through for more.
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In the spirit of our annual tradition of minor Christmas copyright infringement, a very short story by fantasy writer Neil Gaiman. He wrote this exactly-100-word story one year for his Christmas card; it was published in 1998, in his “Smoke and Mirrors” anthology.
Nicholas Was..
older than sin, and his beard could grow no whiter. He wanted to die.
The dwarfish natives of the Arctic caverns did not speak his language, but conversed in their own, twittering tongue, conducted incomprehensible rituals, when they were not actually working in the factories.
Once every year they forced him, sobbing and protesting, into Endless Night. During the journey he would stand near every child in the world, leave one of the dwarves’ invisible gifts by its bedside. The children slept, frozen in time.
He envied Prometheus and Loki, Sisyphus and Judas. His punishment was harsher.
Ho.
Ho.
Ho.
Merry Christmas, every one. (And pick up “Smoke and Mirrors” if you like good short stories – Gaiman’s story “Chivalry” alone is more than worth the price of the book.)
Addendum:
Quote from wife: “That’s so CRYPTIC! Okay, DEBBIE DOWNER!”
Okay, I just want to make clear that I’m greatly enjoying this holiday season, that I’m in fact NOT as much of a Christmas cynic as in years past.. but I do love this story. It has a beautiful balance to it, I love the ironic counterpoint, and I absolutely adore the fact that it’s exactly 100 words long. And given the merest fraction of an opportunity, I’d love to write something similar for our own cards (though probably couldn’t get away with it). There. Disclaimer made. 🙂
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“Then there’s the kickbacks to the carpenters, and if you plan on using any cement in this building, I’m sure the teamsters would like to have a little chat with ya, and that’ll cost ya. Oh and don’t forget a little something for the building inspectors. Then there’s long term costs, such as waste disposal. I don’t know if you’re familiar with who runs that business, but I assure you it’s not the Boy Scouts.”
– Rodney Dangerfield, “Back To School”
So we got our first porn provider today. I found it hilarious. Kristi found it somewhat disturbing.
We do our research on any new prospects before we call them back. Companies worth working with are easy to spot: there’s a ton of stuff out there about them, press releases, financials, interviews, articles. The dodgy ones have hard-to-find trails. We’ve become pretty good at assessing credit risks simply by crossreferencing publicly available digital sources to quickly assemble an accurate idea of how a company would be as a client.
This morning we were contacted by a company in Miami, and of course they didn’t approach us as a porn company. Outfits like this never do. In this case, they seem to operate under cover of a company that specializes in “digital IP-based content” to home customers, and claim to be closely intertwined with a “digital content innovator” in Europe. There were a number of easy-to-spot red flags, starting with being located in Miami. In our experience, South Florida is home to every flavor of scumball, shady character, con operator and lowlife that America has to offer – do business in Miami at your own risk.
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