TartAlarm

The following first appeared as a blog post dated Feb. 17, 2010.

—————–

 
Smart Bitches had a fabulous post recently about the quiet, understated hero. When I read it, I thought of several men in my life, but one in particular came to mind: my brother.

Yup. Handsome, steady, a caring teacher, gifted engineer… All these things are true of him, yet this guy’s got hidden depths. His singing brings goosebumps to my flesh, for instance, and when he’s on the stage, his charisma is such he could have any unattached girl in the audience.

I’d love him for all those things, but then he goes and walks that extra mile. What am I talking about? An unsolicited, un-dreamed-of, specially written program for you.

Remember, in her interview, how Laura Kinsale described her stretching alarm? Now, if you wish, you can have your own.

This is what you do:

1. Go here and save the alarm to your desktop.

2. Read the “About” button.

3. Push the test button to ensure your volume is set appropriately.

4. If you wish, you can change the alarm sound —which I wouldn’t dream of doing because it makes me laugh every time — to another file. Simply push the “browse button beside the sound setting and choose from an already-installed file.

5. The same goes for your alarm image, which will pop up when your writing time is over.

6. Set the number of minutes you wish to write or work, and voilà, you are set up for creativity.

7. Do this poll

8. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. If you do, please come back and let my brother know. Even quiet men deserve loud praise, you know!

Oly, I haven’t told you this, but I’ve got a version installed on my laptop, too. Thanks for doing this for me, and for putting up with the Revision Nazi.