I would post about how my Colorado trip is going so far, but I can't, because today is Do Nothing But Read Day.

My chest hurts. When I cough, it stretches out into a long, drawn out wheeze. My nose is running.

I'm getting on an airplane to Colorado in 16 hours.

For those of you who are as hopeless as I am and will watch anything that features Alan Rickman, there are three shortish videos here where Alan answers some standard questions about working on the Harry Potter series. These are from a Q&A on December 7 at the Hudson Union Society, and I think the quality is exceptionally good.

Wing Nut Ex Machina, by Calvin Trillin

The ace that the Democrats have in their deck:
That Palin and Limbaugh and Goofy Glenn Beck
Will lead the Republicans, thus quickly wreck
The GOP's chances through wild right-wing dreck.

The GOP's base is a weird potpourri,
So maybe that ace will indeed be the key.
But maybe it won't, so most pundits agree
The Democrats really should have a Plan B

Even after almost five years, we still get junk mail addressed to John. Sometimes, when I'm feeling energetic or bored, I notify the senders that John has passed away.

Today we got a catalog from Casual Male XL. It is addressed to... you're really not going to believe this... "Deceased in 2005 Thomson".

Hanging on my walls, amidst the dozens of photos of Justice, Alex, and Faeon, there are... things. There are very few of them that I purchased, and there are a lot which I have no idea where they came from. Someone or another gave them to me (but who would give me a key-holder that says "Our home is just a little house, but God knows where we live."??). A few of them were John's. Many of them were hung on my walls by someone else when we were first decorating this house ten years ago.

So a few moments ago, my eyes grazed across a hanging that reads: "There are but two lasting bequests we can give our children. The first is roots - The last: wings.

Now I have no idea where that came from. It's been hanging on the wall between the kitchen and dining room for as long as I can remember. But today I read it and thought, "Oh my gods, that is beautiful. That is so, so true."

Someone was trying to tell me something. I just wasn't ready before now to hear it.

I have very little interest in either RPS or Harry/Draco (unless it's in a trio with Snape). But I couldn't resist noting this quote: (The italics are mine.)

"I read that the other day, and I was like, 'What the hell is that about?' I haven't seen Dan walking around naked, not on the set anyway. The changing room is a different thing - I'm joking. No, I hadn't heard anything of it. Dan hasn't mentioned it." HARRY POTTER star TOM FELTON was baffled by rumours of raunchy naked scenes in the upcoming wizard movie - insisting his co-star DANIEL RADCLIFFE does not strip off onscreen.

Sunday, December 20th is 'Do Nothing But Read Day'!

You can sign up here .

I am home.

I have a cold. And possibly a bladder infection.

I don't get to see my girls until next week, and that will be the last time until after Christmas.

I'm 58.

But...

I have four virtual gifts in my profile!

I'm getting a new GPS Navigator, which should arrive tomorrow.

Half-Blood Prince was released on DVD yesterday.


To all my dear friends, I apologize that you won't get Holiday cards from me this year. I have decided not to celebrate Christmas, or even recognize it. The people I feel I must give gifts to are getting money or gift cards. No decorations, no wrapped presents. I'm not going to be allowed to share Christmas with the girls this year, and that sucks all the joy of the Holidays out of me. I'm leaving for Colorado next week, where there will be snow instead of rain, and I hope to have solitude, peace, and maybe even some fun. I'll be in the air, flying home, on Christmas Day.

It's not sitting in the airplane for an hour while they tried to fix it that I mind. It's not having my flight eventually canceled that I mind. It's not being booked with another airline on a flight that takes off 8 hours later that I mind, even though I had to go through Security a second time and I have an awful seat because I don't have premiere status with Alaska Airlines.

But getting up at 4:45 AM and getting on a flight that leaves at 4:40 PM... That ticks me off.

I did not expect these past nine days to be so hectic. I had this idea that posting and reading here would keep me grounded. Instead, it seems as though there hasn't even been time to sleep and eat. In fact, I should be in the shower by now.

I miss my girls. I miss my son. I miss playing Animal Crossing with Jinx.

Don't get me wrong. Loscon went fine, Los Angeles sooths my soul, and I'm really enjoying SMOFcon. I appreciate the fact that I've been able to make this trip. But I feel like I've been away from home for a month.

Also, two real bummers: I lost the base to my GPS navigator at the airport, and have been unsuccessful in finding a substitute. I feel literally lost without it. Secondly, it is fucking cold in Austin. We are having a tremendous cold wave. Seriously, there have been snow flurries! I didn't bring the clothes for this, so I'm stuck inside the hotel.

Need to get going... I should have been showered by now... Need to hit the con suite for breakfast before a 10:00 panel.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I'm taking Faeon, Chad and Patrick out to a nice buffet, then coming home to wildly throw things into a suitcase. I leave for Loscon in Los Angeles tomorrow morning (and because of the logistics of getting me to the airport, Faeon will have to drive me out to an airport hotel tonight). From there I'm going straight to Austin for SMOFcon. I'll have my laptop, of course, so I won't be entirely without the internet - not sure I could survive that.

I really don't have time to make a post today, much less write anything remotely equal to what the subject deserves.

But I have sitting on the desk before me copies of Chocolate and Asphodel, Volumes 1 and 2. They are printed in full color, back to back, and bound - the way they were meant to be enjoyed and cherished.

They are... indescribably gorgeous and glorious. I wish I could share them with every Snupin fan I know. On the other hand, I want to hug them protectively. Mine!

To McKay, Lore, Klynie, Karasu_Hime, and all the many writers and artists who contributed, thank you. Thank you so very much.

The black light in my son's room died, so he replaced it. It was maybe 2.5 feet long. So he had this dead bulb. I don't know where he thought he was going to dispose of it. I don't know why he was trying to use it as a baton. It's a man thing.

The good news is that nobody got hurt.

The resultant explosion when he dropped it and it hit the floor threw leetle tiny shards of black glass over an area 3 yards in radius.

Okay, we might have over-reacted a bit. But, I mean, mercury gas? Not cool. Opened the windows and evacuated that part of the house for a few minutes, while I worried about the wellfare of the dog.

And then there was much cleaning. And after a while outbreaks of giggles at how far away glass shards had traveled and what odd places they had landed. Because of the angle of a bookcase, I thought my Snape collection was totally safe, although books on the other side of it were covered with glass. But on careful examination I found one - one - tiny piece of broken tube among the Harry Potter Christmas ornaments. (Those are on display all year, by the way. I'm not celebrating Christmas this year.)

I figure an hour of vacuuming, including replacing the belt on the vacuum, is ample punishment for Faeon's temporary stupidity.

Back in my Quantum Leap days, I tended to be more of a fan of Dean Stockwell than Scott Bakula. And I'm proud of my record of watching very little television aside from MSNBC and HBO.

Nevertheless, I am more excited about Men of a Certain Age than I have been about any show since the premiere of True Blood.



I mean, face it, the man is gorgeous.

I am not leaving the house tomorrow. I'm not leaving the house until I have to leave for Mandalynn's 4th Birthday Party on Sunday evening.

To start out, there is the weather. If the weatherman were unable to use the word "rain," he would be totally mute.

There is the fact that the City of Sumner, the City of Bonney Lake, and Pierce County have ALL decided that this is the perfect time for really major road construction.

But mostly, it's the way that this was a great day to be a burglar. Because aside from the people who were working, every damn resident of this area spent the entire day in their car. It looks like 2 days before Christmas out there. I was ten minutes late for my hair appointment because I couldn't find a parking place in an area where there is usually a space only steps away. I ended up three blocks away in front of the liquor store. I'll be damned if I know why people aren't shopping for booze today.

As I sat for five minutes trying to make a left turn, surrounded by barriers and "Road Work' signs, I could at least take comfort in the fact that one thing they are working on is putting a fucking stop light at that intersection.

I have a massage scheduled in a couple hours. I know that's not going to be comfortable, but if it does any good in the long run, I'm all for it. Stress hits me hard in the shoulder muscles, as well as tension headaches.

That gives me a perfect little time period right now to get my nails done and stop by Kinko's with the Snupin 'zine. Except it is pissing down rain, and I don't want to go out in that. True, it has been raining and will continue to rain for weeks, but I can at least hope there will be a pause later.

I leave for Loscon in eleven days. I'm not going to be amused if it is raining in Los Angeles when I get there.

VOLUME 2 of the Snupin 'zine Chocolate & Asphodel is utter, indescribable magnificence. I have been distracted from Snupin fandom far too long.

I hope Kinko's doesn't give me any grief about printing explicit artwork, because I must have a hard copy of this.

Okay, so Daniel was photographed smoking. The big hullabaloo seems to be that it is alleged to have been cannabis, but if it hadn't been a roll-up the headlines would have been "Harry Potter addicted to cigarettes," or something like that.

Heaven forbid that Daniel Radcliffe behave like an average 20-year-old male. Doesn't he realize he is supposed to stay in character every waking hour, because young children will believe it is okay at their age to do whatever Harry Potter does?

I refuse to link to the original tabloid.

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