computer geek help

I'm writing a report for my sub tracker, which is an access database. I need a report which lists stories which are currently available to send, i.e., not at any market. Each submission gets a separate line in a table. It links to two other tables--a stories table and a market table. So a sub will have a line that looks like this:

SubmissionID StoryID MarketID S_When R_When extra
43 17 19 1/27/03 5/1/03 sale!

Where storyID 17 is "Wounds" and MarketID 19 is "Polyphony"

What I need the report to do is to look at all lines of the sub table and if there are any where R_when isnull, not report any records with that storyID. I've almost got it, I think. At least, I'm pretty sure I've got all the language I need, I'm just not putting it in the right place.

It needs to say "iff (IsNull([submissions]![R_when]), don't use that story at all.)" I just can't figure out how to translate 'don't use that story at all' into SQL, and I don't know where to put this command. Do I need a separate query? I can make it exclude that record, no problem, but I can't make it exclude all records with that storyID. I can do queries in reports, but I've never done a separate query, so I'm not entirely sure how they work.

And I know there are sub trackers out there that would do all of this for me. I like doing it myself. It teaches me how to program in SQL, and it serves as a good break from writing--it's still creative, but it's a different part of my brain, so I end up jostling something loose, and it's all good.

Gee, what are the cats doing, playing with a piece of grey felt?"

It was either playing or truly dead. I 'rescued' it and took it outside. I ended up dropping it gently into the compost heap on the other side of the fence, in case it is really dead (because I don't want anyone eating it). And while he's a good hunter kitty, Darwin's not too bright, as I scooped it up from right in front of him, and took it away, and they're still looking around the throw rug

Actually, I think he's just checking the throw rug now and then, and are off hunting for another one. This may have been Okie's first mouse experience, but it's Darwin's second--the first was on the floor in the kitchen, and he must have found the mouse inside one of Eli's shoes because he *still* stops every time he goes by one of his shoes and sticks his feet into it, just in case. Even his slippers. I told Eli he should start shaking out his shoes in the morning. ;)

"My shoulders are much colder since I fell."

Heavens I'm talkative tonight. I gave up on Company, but then I talked with Hannah for a bit, so I think maybe I've got some things sorted out a little better in it. we'll see. I may give it up again later. I've got my Zeppelins! story set up. It's called "Like Rain, though the sky is clear" for now. we'll see. It really feels like a YA novel right now, and I've only got a paragraph done, so who knows what that means.

As far revision type things are going, I'm currently pondering sex changes for everyone in Falling. I'm not sure why, I'm mostly just wondering if it would be a different story if the angel was a girl and the human was a man. Though I'll have to do some voice work if that's the case, cause I'm pretty sure the voice is too girly.

I'm also pondering renaming "The Goddess Afoot". Right now, I want to call it "Falling from Grace." It probably only works if you know the goddess is Grace, but I'm really tempted. Oh well, if I don't use it for this, I'll use it somewhere else.

I hate forgetting where I'm going with a story. Well, worse than that, I hate forgetting I have a story. Look at this. I'd completely forgotten it, but I went and had a quick look around, and found it. And once I read the rest of it, which is about 8 pages all told, I remembered at least part of the goal I had for it. It's in a folder of stuff I saved from my laptop, which I haven't really touched since I saved it. Sadness! all my beautiful stories, and I don't even remember them. I'm going to need to make a database, just to keep track of them. I found my Kelly Link story (called, to confuse everyone, Hannah), and my horse story, and oh! my sleeping beauty story. Remind me of them when I'm feeling stuck, would you? Because i just tend to focus on like the last two things I've been working on, and completely forget everything else. And while revising is all well and good, sometimes newer stories don't need as much revision. Wounds took about 10 days from start to submission, and that worked out quite nicely, so I need to remember to focus on finishing, not just on fixing.

This is just to say...

My favorite first line of poetry, I think.

My PSAs, for those of you who weren't paying attention the first time around. (mostly, they amuse me terribly, and I wanted a collection of them. For sheer amusement, I recommend insignificant others and Beatles. :)

Insignificant Others

Thundershock

Beatles

Powers

Shoes and winter

And an FYI

And for future reference, a post from me called "Because I already showed it to everyone else" means something completely different than if, say, tikimama or the podling say it. ;)