Holiday! Celebrate!

Heading out of the office momentarily for a lovely long holiday weekend, having come in this morning to a happy offer for one of the books I'm working on, that I'm very excited about, so I conveyed that to the author and made him another $25,000, or thereabouts. Go me! It was a nice way to sail out of the office on a high note, at least for this week.

More soon, unless I get all caught up in exciting pre-Independence Day festivities. Including this. Woot!

Did it!

Celebrating a wee bit of accomplishment tonight, having done my laundry for the first time in over a month. Now, ok, I know that sounds odd. To be perfectly honest, in the last many weeks, I have SENT my laundry out to be washed and dried, and not-so-neatly folded for me, but when I do that, I always hold back a couple of things that I want to wash gently, or hang dry, or something like that. Today, finally, I tackled what had thus become a not-insubstantial pile. Two loads, once I threw in a few others things that had accumulated since the last time I sent my wash out. But now... ah!

All my shirts are neatly on hangers, their fresh, clean scent filling my room. My unmentionables drawer is stocked full again. The bathroom shower rod sports two pair of pants and a pair of shorts, happily air-drying. And I can once more wear any one of my favorite shirts, or newest shirts -- always the first ones to be worn after I do a load of laundry.

And so, with that looming task completed, I will happily settle in on my couch in front of the television, keeping company with the roomie while we watch a DVD on a rainy summer night. And then, tomorrow...

SUPERMAN RETURNS!!!

As does Doyce. So yay! :)

Don't Hassle the Hoff!

According to Entertainment Weekly's Popwatch blog, this very amusing news tidbit:

Who is, as of this moment, in both the top movie and the top TV show in the nation? I'll give you a hint: He pioneered TV's first interautomotive romance with a fey black Trans-Am.

Yup, it's the Hoff. In honor of his stupendous achievement, a little film clip.

Stick around for the moment he goes whizzing by with a jet pack!

Site housekeeping

Did a bit of housekeeping over there on the sidebar. It was bugging me that my links would open in the same page, unless I specifically right-clicked and selected "Open in New Window." Now, I fixed it so they automatically open in a new window. I'd love to go back at some point and do that with my posts, but who am I kidding? I'll just be happy if I remember to do it moving forward!

E is for Ectoplasm!

So, since no one else has picked up the baton yet and run with it, I'm starting my search for the missing lettered links in my blogroll. Today, we investigate the possibilities offered to us by the second vowel, E.

E is for Ectoplasm. Need somewhere to google that cold spot in your home that you suspect is the residue from a haunting? Check out this search engine!

E is also for Elephant. Not Gus van Sant's movie about school shooting, but the real ones! Which you can adopt! And then, maybe, watch this animation together. It's weird, and oddly compelling. How'd they get his trunk to DO that? Also odd -- this scene from Dumbo.

You know what? Einstein ALSO starts with E! This article poses a VERY interesting question.

And what's Emilio Estevez been up to lately? Wow, ok, not much. Except did you know he played a young Jed Bartlett (uncredited, apparently) on an episode of The West Wing? I didn't.

Maybe that's E-nough?

Nah, one more! I don't want to Overload you.

Anyone got other ideas?

Various book links

So, one of my co-workers recommended the very high-brow Critical Mass for my blogroll, from the National Book Critics Circle Board of Directors. And you know what? I hate it. So I'm linking instead to the decidedly lower-brow, and MUCH more entertaining Bookslut. They've got fun articles and comments like this one:

A Penn State biologist has developed a new way to date books. Apparently the old method of taking them to dinner and a movie isn't cool anymore.

Click through for the link.

Growing gills and flippers

It's been a wet, soggy, hot and humid weekend here at ktbuffy central. My hair curled. Seriously. Like, ringlets. It was odd and unnatural.

Had a fabu night out on Friday, first hitting our buddy Trey's Lounge for happy hour cervezas, then grabbing a slice of pizza on the muggy way to karaoke. Did my standards of "Closer to Fine" and "Son of a Preacher Man," as well as a hilarious duet of The Partridge Family's "I Think I Love You" with the Keelster, while others rocked "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant," "American Pie," and Shakira. Also got to spend time with T's little sister Jenni, in between her globe-trotting adventures, which was great.

Saturday I woke up early to straighten things up in the apartment before the cleaning woman arrived (cleaning woman! CLEANING WOMAN!). And before you mock me for cleaning before she got there, bear in mind that it was mostly bagging recycling, putting away the dishes, and such like that. Anyway, she arrived and a short time later, the apartment had that lovely "clean" smell. Delicious! In the afternoon, I headed up to Westchester to meet my mom, and drove with her up to Garrison for my cousins' graduation party, where I got to play with my niece and my cousins' new puppy (she's a golden labradoddle!), and headed back into the city on the second to last train from the 'burbs.

Sunday, still soggy and hot, the roomie and I turned on the AC and played video games. I knocked out another TF on CoH, while Keeley played some kind of raccoon on his borrowed Playstation. After dinner, I signed back on with a yen to do a Mayhem Mission, but the lag was b-a-d, so we just lined a couple up and called it a night.

Now, my lunch got canceled (yay!), but I have to get a manuscript out to some scouts, so I should finish procrastinating and get on that. Laters!

I know that guy!

Watching "The Colbert Report" the other night, and Stephen showed a film clip of some folks cheering about truthiness. And I watched it. And then watched it again. And then hit pause, and turned to the roommate. "I know that guy."

True story. I used to work with him, and sat at the "Drunken Sailor" table with him at a friend's wedding. Go Scott!

(If the link doesn't work, go here and click on the Truthiness Cheer.)

((And man, ain't I blogging like a fiend today?))

I can't say specifically WHO this is about...

But I wrote this in an email to one of my very favorite editors:

It's like when someone tastes something really really disgusting, but they can't just spit it out, so they have to make everyone else around them taste it too.

"Oh my god, this is so gross-- try it!"

And everyone does.

That's how I feel about Annoying Writer's blog. It is a Train Wreck.

More Alan Moore brouhaha

Matt, check it out!

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children has attacked an "inappropriate" graphic novel that portrays Peter Pan's friend Wendy exploring her sexuality. The Lost Girls, which shows Wendy in erotic trysts and being observed by paedophiles, is the latest work by Alan Moore, the British graphic novelist behind V for Vendetta. He said that his novel was inspired by Peter Pan but he would not seek permission to use the Wendy character. "I don't see that you can ban anything in this day and age," he said.

Also, another request!

Oh, my most devoted readers. To the side you see my continually updating blogroll, and though I'm annoyed with it at the moment, for choosing to ignore my repeated requests to show me updates, I have decided to find other fun ways to work with it. To whit! (Wit? Whatever!)

I've alphabetized the thing (or rather, hit the "Arrange alphabetically" button), and suddenly noticed gaping holes where some letters ought to me. So...

I'm looking for the best websites and blogs to link to beginning with the following letters: F, K, N, O, Q, W, X, Y, and Z. What ya got for me?

Friday Funnies!

And what's funnier than spam, I ask you? Nothing!

Those spammers are getting creative, I tell you. Herewith a selection of recent subject lines, arranged in a manner of my choosing, with a few extra words (in caps) thrown in by yours truly, just to really make it SING.

Title: Women in Love

"Oh that I were dead!" she murmured,
MOUTH OPEN IN a pale, long face.
This was Hermione Roddice, a friend of the FOREST
Warning, chiding, spake in this wise:
And though Shingebis, the diver, WARNED
"Don't look back...
Lest the West-Wind come and harm you!"
Pleasant was the landscape round him.

At the door my nets are hanging,
Waving like a hand that beckons,
From the great lakes of the Northland,
Little, dancing, white-fire creature,
Stop ignoring me

"Minne-wawa!" said the Pine-trees,
SHE saw the wild rice, Mahnomonee,
With his garments green and yellow,
What?? Chronicle?
This is incredible.
They're just like the original.

Wildly glaring at each other;
Though the wild-flowers of the meadow
He could shoot ten arrows upward, towards the church.
HERMIONE sent the bluebird, the Owaissa, SINGING
"You had gazed at with such longing,
Not a squirrel clamber o'er them!"

All her life, she had sought to make herself invulnerable.
NOW SHE DIED
There, in the lowest bend of the road, low under THE PINE-TREES
TO your health, Non-British MAN.
Be cool!

Barely had to add a thing. I think those spammers are getting creative. Either that, or a whole series of emails were sent to me with lines of poetry as their subject headings, and I just didn't recognize any of them. Did you? Somebody google them for me, or search wikipedia, if you're bored.

Also, from a manuscript I finished last night

The following deeply humorous line (emphasis mine)

In the coming days, I came across dozens of other people reading US Weekly including several teenage girls, a man in a business suit, a hairdresser, and a sleepy-eyed night watchman. As hard as I tried, I couldn't see what any of them had in common. I doubted that all of them were lonely or bored with their lives. Even if they were, it seemed unlikely that this alone explained why they were reading this particular magazine. Clearly, there had to be other forces at play. And, according to Professor Michae1 P1att of Duke University, those forces may be best understood by studying the behavior of monkeys.

Imagine for a sec...

That you have to pick up your entire life and start over somewhere new, or that you are way past your school years, and looking for new places to make friends. Real friends, not just folks you hang out with in bars. Where do you go? What do you do? How do you find people with similar interests?

This one's for Ali

Did you know the former editors of the late, lamented Budget Living magazine have a blog? It's Shelterrific!! The website for BL is still up, with some archives posted, though who knows how long it'll stay that way. I must confess, I am regretting my decision to toss my old stash, even though I went through them and ripped out some cool "Making It" stuff. Hindsight is 20/20, and all that...

Not that it really needed to be said

But this? That's not me. Despite the similarities to my erotica pseudonym. Still not me.

That is all.

Weekend lists (a kind of recap)

Things read: 2 Entertainment Weeklys, a galley of "But Enough About Me" by Jancee Dunn, part of a manuscript for work, and the first chapter of Terry Pratchett's new book "Wintersmith."

Things watched: last three episodes of season 2.5 of "Battlestar Galactica" (Oh.My.God.), "Elektra" on DVD.

Fathers in residence on Sunday: 3 (my brother, my brother-in-law, and my sister-in-law's dad).

Number of comments I've received from coworkers on my sunburn: 5, so far.

Times my family members have reminded me I always miss spots with my sunblock: lost count.

Munchkins buried in the sand: 2.

Things my sister hates, as expressed on a traffic-filled drive home from the shore: minivans, SUVs, vans, people from Staten Island, potholes, driving, Chinatown buses, rubberneckers, and congestion for no good reason (she'd prefer an accident -- I believe the phrase was "at least 100 people should be dead for this kind of traffic").

Most ladybugs on my person at once: 3.

I was going to write a lyrical, meandering commentary on lazy summer weekends, but I fell asleep on the beach and forgot what I was going to say. I think it involved making a submarine out of sand for my nephew, and enjoying a cold beer on the porch, but the rest is lost to me. All I remember is a few lists.

And after the beach the porch-sitting.

Very much at sea level and loving it.

On the boardwalk at the Shore.

Yet another level of geekiness

So, yes, for much the same reason as Ali, I watch Doctor Who. Never watched it before this season on SciFi, but I think I caught on pretty well. And that's partly because I read the recaps and the commentaries on Television Without Pity. The comments all season have varied between the pedantic, with references back to previous seasons from decades back, and the sublime, with discussions of world philosophy. And sometimes, it's all just about sharing how it makes us feel to watch something so good. To have vague thoughts about what might happen actually come to fruition. And that's very very cool.

I knew it would be something beautiful, but how could you prepare for this? It's like that whole grace thing again: on the tightrope, and then you jump into space and say something bullshitty like, "I think that the TARDIS is an angel and that it is also the Bad Wolf and that Rose is going to kill God and that God is behind the Daleks," in front of just everybody, and then every day before it goes live you go a little whiter thinking that you're going to get fired for talking crazy, and nobody will care what you have to say about TV because you love the Cylons and think a column about fuckin' Doctor Who is the most appropriate platform to hammer out your shit with God, and they'll put you away so fast you'd better just start drinking now...and then somebody reaches out and grabs you, and it turns out you're not crazy. At all. And you weren't making it all up just to seem smart and esoteric, and seeing random shadows. Even if it all looks different than you thought or hoped, and it always will, grace likes it when you jump. Jump more often. The Doctor already said that part, and also this is not about me. Sorry.

And even though the sound is that weird thing I feel is particularly British when I watch it on my tv, where the background sound and music is so much louder than it has any right to be, and it drowns out the dialogue sometimes, I'm going to keep watching the new season, even if it's a new Doctor now, because sometimes, and yes, I'm being corny, TV (and writing about it) makes you FEEL.

All right, fine!

Ok, ok, ok... I take it back. There's been so many comments and fine examples of great work on BOTH sides, that I will continue to hold out on a final decision on the whole Marvel vs. DC debate. So, my comic book loving friends, feel free to share with me the best of 'em all! Matt was good enough to share "Woman Woman: The Hiketeia" with me (from DC), and I really enjoyed it. And I must admit that reading this article from Gawker yesterday has me even more interested in the whole "Civil War" series, as if blogs from ***Dave and Ted hadn't already peaked my interest.

So, bring on Spidey, and Superman, the Dark Knight, the gay Batwoman, your Crises and Civil Wars, and I will read 'em all, not neglecting those wonderful mutant Xs and any number of Fantastics. Clearly, there is geek pride involved.

You know you want it: a HtDaS update!

So, got my very first feedback from an editor yesterday on HtDaS, via my secret agent. It was very well liked, but ultimately declined for want of more actual face to face meetings, which I find kinda of funny, since the purpose of selling the book now is to finance the trips to meet the guys I know online. I mean, duh! I may do a little work on the end chapters to put in something about the meets I have done, although, really, I hope it will be sold on the basis of what's there already. And, if I'm being honest with myself, if I were to pick my top choice for where I'd want HtDaS to be publisher, it wasn't there, so I'm not TOO disappointed. Still disappointed, but not crushed.

That, my friends...

...Is a model of the Eiffel Tower made out of wooden spoons and ice cream containers, standing in Union Square. Just another thing you can see on a summer afternoon in NYC.

Quick Book Review

Or, how I come down on one side of the big question.

Yes, folks, I think -- I'm almost certain -- I'm picking Marvel over DC.

Hush! Don't judge me!

There are elements on both sides that I like a lot. I love DC's Vertigo imprint, for instance, and I'm still eagerly awaiting Joss' Wonder Woman movie. (Which reminds me, I must see if my moms has a photo of me in my favorite Wonder Woman bathing suit from when I was a kid). Also, bring on Supes! And Batman!

So maybe it's a matter of which recent comics I've grown more attached to lately, which ones are more familiar to me. And that's partly, no doubt, because of their cinematic adaptations. But, well, I finished "Identity Crisis" by Brad Meltzer today (link over there under "Recent Reads"), which is a very well done murder mystery about superheroes. And I was capital L lost half the time, completely confused as to who anyone was. Two Flashes? Father and son Green Arrows? Two Green Lanterns? And what's up with Robin being some kid named "Tim"? Of course I know the biggies, but most of the rest of the time -- and especially because characters referred to each other by their real names, not superhero names -- I was utterly confused.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a powerful story. I guess I just didn't feel as connected to the characters because I didn't know their whole history, just the barest sketches. I did what I could with what I had, but still...

I'm comparing it, perhaps unfairly, with Neil Gaiman's "Marvel 1602," which took all the main Marvel superheroes and put them in Elizabethan Europe. Sure, there were some I didn't get, but for the most part, the story still worked for me, without all that backstory.

The Blatantly Cody said after I finished "Identity Crisis" I'd need to dive into the "Infinite Crisis" storyline, but I think I'm going to hold off for now. Maybe I'll be wrong, but I guess my big fear with comics is that I'm never going to be able to get entirely caught up, unless it's with something brand new, like Astro City or Planetary (and even there, I had to have some references explained to me). I respect the huge backstories, but they worry me.

In a mood

Got the grumblies, or something like it. I keep thinking that if I could just crawl on back to bed and go to sleep again, all will be well. But again, that's probably too simple. Got stuff coming up which has me thinking -- and that may sound coy, but it's just a bunch of various things that it's not worth detailing for fear of sounding petty, or what have you.

In other news, Keeley is a mad genius, who had a group of us running all over Central Park on Saturday in search of Dr. Peasley's missing hat. Oh, that Dr. Peasley. Such a puzzle-master!

Later, we watched "Aeon Flux" which, as I so pithily commented, "sux."

Yesterday I caught up on some episodes of Battlestar Galactica, and finished off the second Shadow Shard TF with Noelle.

And if I had boundless capital, I would so go crazy in The Container Store. As it is, I limited myself to a CD album, in order to help calm the clutter in my tiny apartment. It's a start.

... //crickets chirp// ...

Wow. It's like... quiet here today. Very quiet. Almost as if no one has anything of great import to say. Wacky.

Well, I guess I could say something. Something that's been on and off my mind for a while. It's about friendship, so if that bores you, feel free to move along.

I love my friends. Some are new friends, made recently, and others are of longer standing, from college, or earlier, with others picked up along the way of all the activities I've partaken in throughout my life. There are times, I know, when I'm feeling closer to one group of friends, to one person, than to other friends, but in my mind, the truest sign of friendship isn't that you need or want or have to spend ALL your free time with someone. That gets old, fast, and may be one of the best ways to end a friendsship. Think about friends you've moved in with, for example, and see how long friendships sometimes last under that kind of pressure.

A good friend is someone you can call out of the blue and catch up with -- spend an afternoon with filling each other in on everything you've been doing since you last spoke, or, with some friends, picking right up again as if no time has passed at all.

Friendship isn't about WORK. It's not about making time, fitting someone in to your busy schedule, or bargaining -- I'll go there with you if you come here with me. All that can happen sometimes, sure, but when it does, you find yourself getting bitter. And that's not about friendship.

Maybe you met a friend during a time in your life when you were very social, hitting bars a couple times a week, catching new bands with some regularity, and maybe that's not the way you live your life now. If they just want someone to stand with while they hit on guys, that's not a friend. That's a drinking buddy. When I go out with my friends, I want to talk to them. TALK.

I don't know, maybe I'm ranting. And maybe you could catch me on another day and I'll have a whole different view of things. This is on my mind today because there are people who've disappeared from my life, for whatever reason. The thing is, for all the books and articles about breaking up with guys, there's much less said about breaking up with a friend. It happens, certainly, but I guess I thought it was a grade school thing -- "Ohmigod, I totally can't be friends with you anymore!" Which is too simplified, maybe.

Certainly there are people that may reflect a specific period in your life only, which has little or no bearing on what you do now. But do you find a way to keep them in your life somehow -- occassional dinners, chatty catch-up emails, random text messages when you see something that reminds you of them? Or do you just cut them out entirely, wash your hands, and go play with your new friends? I don't have an answer. I know what I prefer, but I also have this thing about wanting people to like me, wanting to be friendly.

*shrugs*

Ah well. There's no answer, and no point to this, I guess. The whole reaching out thing -- if the person that you're reaching out to refuses to lift a hand, to meet you halfway, there's nothing to do but move on, remember the good times, and try not to let it bother you so much. And sometimes, I guess, you do that by blogging randomly about it.

As you were.

A serious conundrum

Really, folks, how am I supposed to chose?
or

Swashbuckling or romance? Love and kisses or swords and fighting? How's a girl to pick just one?

Weekend Recap

If it's Tuesday, it must be time for a weekend recap! <cue music>

Flew out Thursday night to Colorado after a tremendous thunder-and-lightning storm that delayed all flights in and out of NYC for hours. Didn't get in until 2:30 in the morning, some two and a half hours I was supposed to land. On the plus side, I was able to read "JPod" by Douglas Coupland on the way out. (Ok, I technically finished it before we actually took off, but I am Lady Optimism! Pessimists fear me!) All you cubicle and pod dwellers must read. Tech geeks will swear it's about them, and you know? It just might be. What have YOU done with your old computers?

Friday after I managed to get my inner clock onto Mountain Time, we had a late brunch at IHOP and did some shopping. I'm not quite sure when I'll get over the size of the stores out West -- suffice to say there was some Marco Polo-ing in Target. Because some people don't understand how Blockbusters work, we bought "King Kong," and watched it Friday night. I didn't hate it, like some of my friends, but I didn't think it was the best thing ever. It was easily an hour too long, for one thing, and if you asked me about scenes to cut, the first one I would volunteer is the one with all the bugs. I can't be more specific than that, since I had my eyes and ears covered. Still, Gollum did a great job as Kong. (Yes, I know he has a name, but I'm not inclined to look it up at the moment.)

Saturday we were up bright and early, and Doyce and I drove down through Colorado Springs and past the US Air Force Academy to Manitou Springs, and took the cog railroad up to the top of Pike's Peak, site of the aforementioned attack of the giant finger from the lower atmosphere! When I wasn't feeling woozy, I did manage to get a couple of other good shots, like this oneand this panorama from the submit. Also, marmots!! Very cute, though I didn't get any photos of them myself. Also, I got a badge!
Saturday evening, went out to dinner with Doyce, Dave & Margie, Lee & De, and Stan, and assorted wee little munchkins, then over to the gigaplex to see X-Men: The Last Stand. Much has already been said about the movie (here and here, among others), and I won't add much with my contributions, except to say, yes, it would have been nice to know who all those other characters were that were introduced, and how the heck did Colossus and Kitty Pryde get bumped up to X-Men status, and why weren't any of the other students at the school included in the Last Stand? Still, this being touted as the last X-Men movie doesn't quite gell, not with a Wolverine flick already in the pipeline. Is it too much to ask for it to be helmed by Brian Singer again? Or, oooooh! Joss Whedon! When he's done with Wonder Woman!

But enough of that. Sunday, we took the puppies for a walk, then went grocery shopping, and I got a tour of a pod (see comments on "JPod", above). Exciting stuff. Watched some Peabody-winning episodes of "Battlestar Galactica," and frowned to realize soon we'll have to wait for new episodes, as opposed to having them cued up to watch when the mood strikes us. After dinner, I indotrinated Doyce into the wonder that is "Bring It On."

I'm sexy, I'm cute,
I'm popular to boot.
I'm bitchin', great hair,
The boys all love to stare,
I'm wanted, I'm hot,
I'm everything you're not,
I'm pretty, I'm cool,
I dominate the school,
Who am I? Just guess,
Guys wanna touch my chest,
I'm rockin', I smile,
And many think I'm vile,
I'm flyin', I jump,
You can look but don't you hump,
I'm major, I roar,
I swear I'm not a whore.

Tried making some yummy Irish Brown Bread, too, but either I messed up with the ingredients, the batter didn't like sitting out before being baked, or I should have tried a variation on the recipe for high altitude cooking. Either way, it didn't turn out the way I hoped.

Yesterday, Monday, was mostly just a travel day, with my flight back from Colorado to NY lovely and uneventful. Read "Twilight," as per the Recent Reads column over there on the sidebar, and finished a couple of magazines. Enjoyed a new Daily Show and Colbert Report, and if you want funny, check out Colbert and Stone Phillips' "Gravitas-off." (Not sure when the link will go wonky, so check it out soon!) Heh.

And now I'm back at work, catching up on my work, emails, blogs, and assorted other stuff. And speaking of work, I guess I should go do some. Ciao!

Proper Behavior for 666 Day

More on my weekend soon, including a screenshot of a most exciting "Badge Earned!" and capsule reviews of a few movies and books. In the meantime, for today, I'm delighted to present a guide to Proper Behavior for 666 Day:

1) Please do not harass the zombies. If they are trying to eat your brains PLEASE remember it is O.K. to feed the animals at your own discretion.
2) If someone is walking while their head is spinning and they are spewing vomit, PLEASE step aside and let them pass. It is acceptable to shout out, "Cleanup on isle 3"
3) PLEASE be mindful of the smaller demons here to torment us and DO NOT go around stepping on them. They have a job to do just like the rest of us.
4) If you wake up this morning and find yourself to be the antichrist, PLEASE inform us so we can run away screaming.
5) If the A/C comes on loudly, it is O.K. to assume that it is the apocalypse and "duck and cover" for your protection.

If we can all follow these basic rules of behavior we can all have a safe and happy apocalypse this century. Thank You

Top of the world Ma!

View from the top of Pike's Peak, where I was apparently attacked by a giant finger.

In my picture-taking defense, I was nauseous and dizzy and altitude affected. More, non-finger attacked pictures soon. Promise.

Tidying Up

Got a lovely big stack of papers and submissions off my desk today, which always makes me feel lovely and accomplished. And had a great convo with my boss about the work that I'm doing that could be done by an assistant, and she talked to the office manager about making some longed-for changes in the department. Whee!

I've also been party to a small flurry of emails between my sisters about scheduling guests down at the family shore house. Now, technically, and for all legal purposes, I have no rights in the house. But, if I keep mostly to a small space, help with the cleaning and the cooking and stuff (I'm kidding, mostly), there's not usually a problem if I go down there on a weekend. My sisters, however, are trying to arrange adult-only weekends with one or another group of friends, and kid-overload weekends, etc. I think I'll find myself down there a lot less than in previous years, partly because I've got out-of-town trips planned myself, and partly because when I have out-of-town guests in-town, I like to actually be in town, i.e. New York City. We do have a date for the annual family shore party though, and the band is booked. Woot! More details soon.

Otherwise, I'm heading back out to Colorado in a few hours, with the usual sort-of-disruption in posting, so all my lovely readers will have to find something else to do with themselves. Maybe this?