As you can probably surmise from the above photo of me looking full of myself with printed manuscript in one hand (sans the recipe section) and a tasty libation in the other, we are finished with the book. At least the first phase. Next will come all the editorial discussions and consequent minor (we hope) changes. Then the copy editing (a real drag) followed by galleys (requiring yet another read), and then the actual printed hardback. All that aside, we are through for now, and our lives can get back to some semblance of normalcy (or at least as normal as our lives ever get).
We got the manuscript finished on time only to learn that our editor is backed up on another book project and won’t be able to get to ours for another week. So, says she, take another week. But we’re already finished. So, we’ll spend this week reading the manuscript from the beginning, a luxury we’ve never had before.
I received a lot of suggestions from readers who were appalled by the messy, disorganized desktop of my computer (not to mention the messy desktop of my real desktop). All of you who were so appalled really don’t know the half of it. Pictured below are my desktop (in the top photo) and my laptop. As you can see, both desktops are in dreadful shape. I plan to fix them with a whole lot of dragging and dropping over the next few days.
I know, I know, it’s pitiful.
Despite my whining about the pdf files that automatically save to the desktop, I kind of like it. It means that with very little (read: none) effort on my part, each attachment I open and each pdf file I pull down is saved in a place that ultimately makes me deal with it. If I use Adobe Acrobat Reader (as I did for many years on my PCs) I open the pdf files then have to put them somewhere if I want to save them. Typically when I’m surfing the medical literature I don’t take the time to save them (unless it’s the specific paper I’m looking for) so I don’t. I always figure that if I really want the paper I can find it again. Problem is, I often can’t. The way it’s set up on the Mac – where they all save automatically – I ultimately stuff them away somewhere, but I always know they’re in one of a couple of places. So no more frantically searching the medical databases for a paper I remembered but didn’t save. I guess having a grotesquely cluttered desktop from time to time is a small price to pay. I still wish there were a way to open the pdf files in Preview and save them save automatically into the folder of my choice instead of on the desktop, but such is not to be. I am tremendously grateful to all of you who took the time to try to extricate me from this mess with your suggestions via the comment section. Thanks very much.
If you want to see how happy I am to be finished with this phase of this writing project, take a look at the YouTube video below. Watch the guy in the yellow sweater. He’s almost as happy as I am.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBaTRO2Vp2w[/youtube]
You get the idea.
Now that I’ve got some free time, I’ll go through all the comments that have stacked up. It’ll take me a few days because there are about a hundred (literally), but I’ll get them done. This blog isn’t the only thing in my life that has fallen behind since I’ve been under the gun the past month or so on this book – there are a lot of other projects I’ll be digging out from under as well.
Thanks for your patience. I really appreciate it. I’ll have another real post up in a day or two.
The official website of Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades, low carb pioneers and authors of Protein Power.
ah, back to the drinking and gambling, eh?
At least back to the drinking. Until football season, that is.
Cheers
As for PDF downloads from Firefox, I had the same problem you had (ignoring my preferences). I installed “PDF Download”, a Firefox extension . It gives you a bit more control over what happens when you click on a PDF file. (I have no connection to this company or software — I just like the software.) Good luck with your desktop; it looks just like my office!
Hey Scott–
Thanks for the tip. I did download ‘PDF Download,’ but I couldn’t make it do what I wanted it to do. I’ll keep fooling with it, though.
Best–
Can’t wait to read the book!! 🙂
And that Yellow Sweater guy is a riot… LOLOL!
Thanks for all you do. I just love your blog.
PS I’m on my second round of weight-loss with PP and it works, man, it works.
Hey Lula–
Thanks for the kind words. Hang in there with the program, and when you reach your goal, you can be like the guy in the yellow sweater.
Cheers–
Wow, and your entire bottom taskbar is filled up. 🙂
That may look bad to some, but to quote Albert Einstein, “If a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind, Of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?”
Congratulations on finishing the manuscript!
I feel sorry for the person next to the guy in the yellow sweater.
It looks like my desktop when I’m in the middle of the project. Somehow, I find it easier to just leave everything on the desktop until I am finished and then do the archiving after.
Nice work!
Missed your posts but looking forward to the book. I assume you will update us on when it is available to order?
I will update indeed as soon as I know something. I think the publisher is almost finished with the cover art, which means that it may be up on Amazon.com soon. I’ll keep everyone posted.
Congrats on finishing stage 1 of your book, Dr. Mike.
I’m not sure if it’s worthy topic for a blog but I read a recent study (abstract) and I’d be interested to know your take on it.
I love coffee (and I think you guys do too). And, I understand that it does have many possible health benefits but this study concerns and confuses me. It confuses me because I’ve seen other research that indicates that larger amounts of coffee may reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
http://www.vitasearch.com/get-clp-summary/37363
Any thoughts about this?
Thanks for your time and site.
Hi John–
I saw this abstract, too. I need to pull the paper to comment intelligently, but I can say that this is only one study up against literally dozens that show coffee is protective against diabetes. I’m certainly not going to stop drinking it based on this paper.
Cheers–
I hope that I can use some of the ideas in your new book even if I am past middle age. The low carbo way has been great. I have lost a pound a week since the start of the year and several pants sizes. i plan to continue until the end of the year; however the remaining weight does seem to be in my middle.
I appreciated your long response to a question that I sent you, especially as it was when you were writing the book. Congratulation on completing it!
Glad to see that we use the same model computer. I have become lazy about setting up folders as I can find anything so quickly with spotlight. I just throw everything into documents. So my electronic desktop looks good, but my physical one is a mess. There is a famous quote about clean desks and small minds but I cannot find it on the net today.
So when can you start dropping a few tidbits from the new book into your blog?
As a 53-year-old woman in the throes of menopause …
who is on bio-identical estradiol and prometrium …
who has been trying like mad to lose the 40 pounds of menopause weight…
that was gained, and refuses to budge …
despite my very-low/zero-carb-no-processed-foods eating style …
I am eagerly awaiting any information you could provide that might be able to help me.
Hey Kathy–
We’ll start dropping tidbits as soon as the publisher lets us.
Cheers–
Dear Dr. Eades,
Congratulations on finishing your manuscript! Your pictures made me laugh (especially the computer screens). Good to have you back!
Good to be back…I think. Now I’m immersed in ‘comment’ hell.
Cheers–
I had the quote wrong. It is Emerson “Foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” Nothing about desks.
I figured this was the quote you were referring to. We used it in one of our books somewhere. I’m sure it applies to desks as well.
Now be honest – – was there a “honey tree” to celebrate this event? (Like, at least a small slice of cheesecake?)
Sadly, there was no honey tree. I downed a glass of scotch (the one in the photo), a Scott’s 1973 Macallan single malt, and MD threw back a low-carb gimlet, her current drink of choice. We went out to eat at our local Irish pub where we both had the Alpine burger (large beef patty with blue cheese) without the bun and a salad instead of fries. She had a glass of Hardcore cider; I had a Newcastle Ale. Our lives are dreadfully dull.
Can you remind us what the title/subject of this new book is? And when is it going to be available?
The working title is: The 6-Week Cure for the Middle-Aged Middle. It should be available in December of this year.
Great pic.
I can’t help but think of how much fatter, puffier and pastier Ornish would look at a similar point in the writing of his latest low-fat tome.
I looked fat, puffy and pasty when I was finished, but I fired up the ol’ Photoshop, and Voila! 🙂
Cheers–
Congrats on the manuscript, I’m looking forward to seeing the book. I might actually buy one of your books on Amazon this time. I usually buy them in the book store (I’ve bought several copies each of the original PP and PPLP in paperback because I keep giving them away) but PPLP has been getting hard to find.
Off topic – speaking of coffee – I recently tried cold-brewing. You can get a special device for cold-brewing (a “Toddy” brewer) but I just use my French press. The coffee comes out with lots of body and deeper notes but less acid which is nice as I’m somewhat sensitive to it.
Hi Lark–
Thanks for the book buying support. It’s all the same to us wherever you buy it. One of the things most people probably don’t know about the book biz is that authors are paid on the cover price irrespective of what the book is actually sold for. That’s why everyone (including yours truly) wants to be on the New York Times Bestseller List. Barnes & Noble, Borders and all the chain bookstores put the books on the NY Times list at the front of the store in the Bestseller shelf and discount them substantially. It’s great if you’re an author because you get the same royalty even though the books are basically sold at almost a loss to the store. But the big discount keeps the books selling. Which is why once a book gets on the NY Times list, it seems to stay there forever.
As to the coffee…cold pressed tastes fine to me. The problem is it contains a ton of caffeine, and I can’t drink much until I start getting an uncomfortable buzz. Caffeine is water soluble, so the longer the grounds stay in contact with water – as in a French press – the more caffeine leaches out and ends up in the coffee. That’s why I like Cafe Americano so much. It has great flavor, but the steam passing through doesn’t spend much time with the grounds so it doesn’t pick up as much caffeine (about half as much as regular coffee) but does pick up the aromatic and tasty coffee oils and flavors. So you get a strong, rich coffee without a lot of caffeine. If you haven’t seen it, here is a link to a video I made about making Cafe Americano.
Cheers–
Your disclaimer about depuffing with Photoshop really made me laugh! I’m looking forward to my middle’s depuffing after your new book hits the stands!
I’m sorry that copy editing isn’t on your list of top fun activities. In defense of my trade, all I can say is we’re doing our best to enhance your reputation.
Yeah, I know, I know, about the copy editing. The first time I ever got a copy-edited manuscript back I thought I was going to commit sepuku until I went through it and began to understand. MD and I do appreciate most copy editors we’ve worked with, but a few have been a little too anal and have aggravated us to no end. As I’m sure you know, the line editing stuff is pretty easy to deal with – and doesn’t even have to be done. Most editors I’ve worked with tell me that they figure they’re lucky if their authors accept 50 percent of their suggestions. MD and I usually do a lot better than that, so our editors love us. Copy editors, as you know, are a different story. Every single one of those little yellow flags has to be dealt with in writing, and it can be a monumental pain if is too, too anal.
Cheers–
Who needs a honey tree when there is low carb cheesecake?
I was having an email argument with someone who assured me that arguing about the details was a “waist of time.” After chuckling at the misspelling, I realize there’s a title for your book:
Waist of Time: the middle age belly. Beats Good Calories Bad Calories at least. Peter
Thanks for the tip. We fooled around with a zillion permutations of ‘waist’ before we settled on the middle-aged middle both for alliterative reasons and the population of readers the book will appeal to.
Cheers–
MRE
Must feel like finishing one of those college term papers where 50% of your grade rests on the one paper, and you waited until a week before it was due to get started. But what a relief when it’s over. And as soon as you hand it in, you think of a dozen other ideas that you just know would have upped your grade. At least we didn’t have to put up with those skanky copy editors — our work was our own. And what do they know anyway? Did Dickens have a copy editor? I hope not.
Copy editors are worth their weight in gold. It’s just a pain to deal with all their questions.
Best of luck with the publishing process! And if its not too late – a conversion chart for those of us not in the US who are on metrics would be awesome. PP is an old ‘bible’ – and even though I cant always use the recipes because of products not available here in Australia I try and work things out from the carb lists. Having something that reminds me what 1 oz is roughly in gms would be great. And thanks for your commitment to those of us with middle-aged middles!!
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll see if the publisher will let us do it. There are some things we have no control over.
You’re looking hot, Dr. Grandpa Eades. Don’t take that the wrong way, I’m probably younger than your son in the pic with you on July 4th. He’s a cutie, too. Good looking fam! (precious granddaughter) Anyways, you’re aging well. There must be something to that low carb diet… 😉
I’m ready to read your new book!!
I never take it the wrong way when some young woman tells me I look hot. 🙂 BTW, son Dan is 35. Emma is 4. Uh, and that’s Dr. ‘Baba’ Eades.
Cheers–
MRE
OK, he’s quite a bit older than me (10 years!) but he has a baby face! Is that your oldest son? I remember reading that you have 2 sons in your book. Is Emma your only grandchild?
Nope, he’s not the eldest. The eldest is 38, and he has a real baby face. You can see the youngest here. We have 3 sons and 3 grandchildren (here are the grandsons); Emma is the youngest.
Dr Mike – all those files on your desktop might be slowing down your system (can depend on how much memory you have installed & how many windows you like to have open at one time) see:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20051117154624368
Check out this desktop humor!!
http://macenstein.com/default/archives/1280
BTW – You can set _where_ your browser downloads files TO. I’m using Safari – under Safari/Preferences/General there’s a setting for “Save downloaded files to:” If you don’t like the current setting, click on the arrows, then click on “Other…” which brings up a file selection (finder) window where you can specify.
I have a folder named “Downloads” that’s in my Library where all my downloaded files go. I download a lot of PDFs ’cause lots of times just bringing them up in the browser the type is too small to read and I can’t resize it (or can’t figure out how). If I download it and open it w/ Preview, I can resize the type just by dragging the corner of the window larger (you may have to have the Preview preferences set to “Scale large images to fit windows”). The Downloads file is not as in your face as having all the downloads on the desktop, but they’re all contained in one place where I know where they are and I can read them and file them at my convenience. [I’m running OS X 10.4.11 – and have been for a few years. At this point I can’t remember what the default location was for downloads – I _think_ that I created the Downloads file [at the urging of computer professional DH] and set that as the default location for downloads, but I can’t remember]
Now for some desktop humor – check this out!!
http://macenstein.com/default/archives/1280
Thanks for the tip. Probably why my machine is running so slowly.