Pics or it didn't happen

Walking into the Worldcon is truly an eye opening experience. It wasn't the cool displays, of which there were many. The many writers and artists present are certainly wonderful to talk to. People watching is very nearly a hobby of mine. A Scottish Highlander standing next to a Renaissance noblewoman doesn't phase me in the least. Seeing everyone dress up made it feel like a parade. But the thing that made me smile the most was being around like-minded people.
Folks came up and talked to me as if they'd known me for years. In turn, I shared more of myself with those people who struck up the conversation. What it boiled down to was a bunch of individuals sharing what they like and love with others.
While taking a break in the con suite, I made a new friend. By trade he is a chemical engineer and had been invited to sit in on a few panels.
"Excuse me, may I sit here?" Two strangers who broke the ice over what time the next panel began. Sort of like speed dating, our conversation went from sports to religion to food to cities. Two guys from different states, different walks of life. As we parted to go our separate ways, I recommended the German deli down the street. Then I had to jump once more into the fray.

Chaos machine: Now with tracks

 

Round and round she goes

Calling this work, is like Tom Sawyer and his fence. It may have started with another guy and myself, but more people joined in the amateur engineering experiment. Basically, this is one big pinball machine. Marbles get their start on a pendulum or a chain carrying them to the top of this contraption. From there, a variety of ramps, switches and gears allow them to descend.

Next up: The fanboy stuff.

The unhappy Chimera

Autographed by Phil Foglio

 The first time I met Howard Taylor was seven years ago. His web comic, Schlock Mercenary, is part of my daily routine as much as my morning coffee. To give you an idea of how popular this guy is, I'll tell you whose written the introductions to his books. David Brin, Ben Bova, Laurell K. Hamilton to name a few.

If you have to ask 'who are those people?' then I humbly suggest you put those names into a Google search and prepare to be amazed. Howard's artwork and story telling have only improved with time and practice. We're becoming friends and that's a good thing. He's a neat guy who I really admire.

The next picture is of a board game called Robo Rally. To my knowledge that particular game is no longer being produced. The artwork was done by none other than Phil Foglio. Having only just met the man, I've been a reader and followed his work for over 20 years. After saying our hellos, I wanted to show him the game and let him know I still run it at our cons here in town. The look of astonishment that came over his face confused me at first. He hadn't seen the game in quite a while either. All he said was, "Where's that pen?" He autographed it right there and then without my asking. That alone spoke volumes about him. I thanked him and shook his hand. That alone would have been enough for me, but by taking it to the next level, going beyond what was expected, only raised my opinion of him. What a class act.

Worldcon

Today started off with me writing about my daughter nearly breaking her ankle. There's a long story in there, but she'll be fine. Her foot is a lovely shade of purple right now.

Not pictured: her embarrassment for missing school

For the last day or so, I've been volunteering at Worldcon, the Worlds annual science fiction convention. Every year it's held in a different city, which reminds me, next year it will be in London.

Hey, Matt: Start saving now

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 First off, the convention center is nearly empty. Come on, it's Thursday for crying out loud. Have you ever read a sci-fi book cover that says; 'Hugo and Nebula award winner.'? This is where they decide that.
During the day, there are panels and autograph sessions and of course merchandise to be sold. The dealers room was closed, so I didn't get pictures of that... but I will.
The first few days are the nuts and bolts of the convention. Members voting, workshops attended. Stuff that the average sci-fi fan couldn't care about. It's the PTA meeting of the geek and nerd set.
But never fear: the Labor day weekend is upon us. and this place will be packed with yours truly volunteering and gophering his heinie off.
Just to  give you an idea of what will be going on, I'll post a few pics.

Part of the Dr. Who exhibit

 

Next project found

 

This should be interesting

Rube Goldberg eat your heart out

 

Wouldn't want to sit there

I would want to sit there

I'll send regular updates throughout the weekend. This should be good.
 

What was forgotten

It has been said that I'm impatient. If one person says it, that's one opinion. If several people whom I look up to point this out... Well then, it's time to look at yourself and try to figure out what made them say what they did.
Last October, I submitted Travelers Road to Harper Collins. Either I read it somewhere or I arbitrarily set the date: if I hadn't heard from Harper by January, then it's best to move on. January came and went... so I moved on. No hard feelings.
Yesterday I got an e-mail from Stephen Lapierre, an editor at Harper Collins. He very kindly thanked me for thinking of them, but felt that my book wasn't the right fit for Harper Collins. All in all, a nice rejection letter. It didn't change anything for me. Hanging on to it for 10 months tells me a lot though.
One: it wasn't dismissed right out of hand. TR must have made it to a second or third round before being eliminated.
There's no reason to feel down about that.
So my question is: how long do you wait before you move on? When your wife tells you she'll be, 'five more minutes', it will never be five more minutes. The same way the last minute of a ball game is never one minute.
There are times when I actually feel justified losing my temper. Not all the time, mind you. But when a person is being purposely belligerent.
Harper Collins wasn't being mean spirited. They were being slow as molasses in winter.
No one sets out to be stupid, but to a lot of people it comes naturally.  

Calm before the storm

Another weekend drawing to a close. Finished my press kit for Travelers Road. Now I'm having second guess jitters. Anxious, nervous, impatient and so want this to happen. After writing this I'm going to jot down names and dates on a 3 X 5 card. Name of the assistant editor I sent my original query and the date I sent it. The name of the agent I want to meet. Perhaps a fact or two about his agency. Hours spent researching and borderline stalking of this guy online, and for what? Volunteering at the con seemed like a great idea. Confession time: I'm not sure where I'm going to park or if I'm carpooling with someone. Okay; take a deep breath and try to relax. I've prepared for this, now I have to let things unfold and be there when the opportunity comes.

 Worrying about something doesn't make it better. All it does is raise your blood pressure. So, let's think about something else.

There's a new spaceport in town on Wallops Island in Virginia. From what I'm reading here in the article they're going to have a night launch that will be visible to part of the eastern seaboard, if the weather cooperates.
Important fact #1: This mission is an important step in getting back to the moon. Not only that but what we learn from this will also apply to an eventual Mars mission.
Interesting factoid: The minotaur V rocket is a repurposed Peacekeeper ICBM from the Cold War days.  The irony just keeps rolling doesn't it?

The Mars colonization effort looks to be proceeding. This is a private effort led by Mars One co-founder Bas Lansdorp. The goal is to put volunteer astronauts on Mars by 2023, followed by a second round of volunteers in 2025. What makes this different? They won't be coming back. Brave souls one and all. That sums up my feelings about the plan, this one way mission to Mars. My inner voice is saying; 'about damn time.' Is it foolhardy? Safe? It is definitely not safe nor is it the comfortable thing to do. What I do know is it will be the right thing to do. Those brave souls who go first will most likely die trying, but that's not what we humans are about. Yes, they'll go down in the annuls of history as the pioneers of space. Enshrined in glory. Their names will go alongside Aldrin and Armstrong.  First among firsts.
We humans thrive on this sort of challenge. The reward is the journey, not the destination. Okay, I've channelled Carl Sagan enough. I'm going to cast my lot in with David Brin. Find your spine America. Nut up or shut up. Cowboy up and claim what is humankind's manifest destiny.
Gentlemen, I salute you.
 

Everything is going to be alright

With all the tough things going on this week, I had to remind myself that things will work themselves out. My wife didn't get the teaching position at the high school, but they interviewed her for another teaching position in a middle school. When I asked her how it went, she replied "I've never felt more positive about an interview." That's perhaps the best thing I heard all day.
A long time ago, I helped a kickstarter campaign. A little selfish of me, but I've been following Phil Foglio's webcomic, Girl Genius. I wanted the latest book to go alongside the others. Occasionally I get updates that the book will be sent out by the end of August. If the fates are kind, I'll try and get the artist himself to autograph it. That would be too awesome for words.
I cut out of work a little early today. We had to sign minion #3 up for seventh grade. We're beginning to catch up on our bills. By this time next week we will have caught up on more. Stuff like this comes and goes, but hopefully this time around things will stick around just a little while longer.
School starts Monday around here. Summer is nearly spent. It's been said by others wiser than me, but the kids grow up so damn fast.
At the moment Lowe's is gearing up for the Labor day weekend. Almost right after that, practically overnight, we will be setting up for Christmas. Yes, there will be trees and stockings up in September. Doesn't that take some of the meaning out of the holiday? I've said it before, retail is where souls go to die. In a previous post I was bitching about time slipping through my fingers. Spending five years trying to accomplish a task that you wanted to only spend one year on. If I had to guess, mortality was weighing on my mind.
Is it so bad that I want to get the most out of my years? Pointing to any given problem doesn't solve them. Instead we have to make the most of what we have with what we got. In other words: Deal with it.
 

Brainstorming

This is either going to be very short, or I'll continue it in the morning and post it later in the day, perhaps the later.
Work on my press kit continues. All the material is present, now I need to put it in a decent style and format. Knowing what to do is different than knowing how to do what needs to be done.
A friend came over and we brainstormed a guest list for next years con. The theme is superheroes so I sent out e-mails to performers and artists. Next week is the World con and I'll be volunteering for that in hopes of meeting some agents that will be there, hence the press kit. There are some people I want to talk to while I'm there, perhaps they would like to visit our slightly smaller con.
One of our friends had a sudden and fatal heart attack this morning. My wife and I spent the afternoon playing text message tag. Not all the details are known, but we want to be there to support our friends at this time. Our thoughts and prayers are with them tonight. 
8-21
After a nights sleep things are a bit more in perspective. Funny how that happens.
My friend that passed away certainly lived a good life. I knew he didn't smoke or have any bad habits. The times we had lunch together gave me the impression he ate pretty healthy. To see him with his kids and family, he really didn't miss out on much. Things happen to good people and bad people alike. More to the point: they happen for no good reason. Which should tell us one fact: Life is too short. This precious resource is being squandered before it's too late.
When my wife and I married, our first apartment in Texas wasn't great, not by a long shot, but it was the best we could afford. The quickest way for me to make money was waiting tables. Going into that situation, you tell yourself; It's not forever... it's for now. I only wanted to do it for a year or two until things improved. Suddenly 5 years of my life goes by. So we set a goal to get out of El Paso. Slowly and surely we achieved it. Fast forward to 2004. I start at Lowe's. I'm going to do this until something better comes along. In what seems like the blink of an eye, nine years go by. My oldest is in her senior year and thinking about joining the military. A few years back I set a goal of becoming a published author I'd like to see that become a reality in the near future, before it's too late.

 

Mythos

Today, a few technical bugs got worked out in my story. The hero gets a katana and an apprentice... sort of.
Naturally a Japanese mercantile figures into the story owned by a man hailing from the city of Edo.
The bad guy, for lack of a better term, shows up. He's this reptilian assassin who holds a grudge against our hero. For more information about the first encounter with Daniel you'd have to read my first book, Travelers Road.

Our Japanese merchant spots the lizardman, believing it is a creature out of Japanese myth. He calls it out by a given name.
Here is where my problems begin.
When doing research for my story, I have a one hour rule: If I can't find it in an hour through Google or what have you, then neither can anyone else. That's actually a useful guideline when storytelling.
The problem: I didn't find any reptilian creature in Japanese mythos that fit the description. There was also problem with surnames and miso soup, a Japanese dish.
Confusing, no?
So there was a little backtracking. The merchant now hails from Hong Kong and has a Chinese surname. He also recognises the lizardman and calls it Au Guong, the Dragon King of the East Sea.
But how does Daniel come into possession of a katana and where does the miso soup come in? Those two items have to be in the story, they're practically punchlines. So after a little digging I come to find out Kuang Kiato, the merchant, has a Japanese wife. In classic Romeo and Juliet style, the two love birds fled the Orient and an arranged marriage. Disowned from their families, they have a thriving business in Dallas.
Daniel and Charlotte are going to cut the honeymoon short and run for their lives. Where are they going to hide from this lethal killer? Why, the Chicken Ranch, of course!
Telling this tale is as much work as it is fun. I'm blending actual elements of history and plausibly explaining why things happened the way they did with a supernatural bent.
Another reason I'm telling you all part of the storyline is because I want to assure you guys that I am working on the next book. 
'But don't tell us the spoilers!'
Have no fear... what I'm revealing is the tip of the iceberg. A whole lot of stuff is going on at the same time. Before I decided to type all this up, I ran it by my biggest critics, my kids, while we sat at the dinner table.
Ever the wit, Minion #2 remarked: 'But Dad, Godzilla is a reptile in Japanese myth.' before taking a sip of water. This brought to mind an old classic and I chanted it out. "Oh, no... they say he's got to go..."
She recognized the song and nearly spit her drink across the table. Proud I can make my daughter laugh and chagrined at her discomfort isn't the worst way to go. She's all right. They get the twisted sense of humor from me.
 

Almost

This morning on my way to work, I nearly hit a person who was riding a ten speed bike. At 6:25 this morning, I pulled out of my subdivision. Time to make the doughnuts and all that. The sun hadn't even come up yet. The only light came from my headlights and some approaching cars, but they were at least two blocks away. A perfect time to join the throng of drivers doing the morning commute. In the middle of turning on to the main street, my peripheral vision kicked in. Movement just outside my passenger window. A blurred object that didn't even register as a color. Only after completing the turn and looking in my rear view mirror did I put two and two together. A silhouette of a man riding a bike. The oncoming headlights illuminating him. I did a quick recap. Nothing hit my truck. No sound of warning or injury. A quick look at his posture on the bike told me he wasn't injured or in trouble.
So why the hell was he riding around with no lights or reflectors? He might have had to swerve, we were that close. Inside my second circle: the brace for impact perimeter.
Now I can understand having to ride a bike in order to get from point A to B. In a perfect world, I'd be the one pedalling to work, if my place of employment were closer and my balance weren't so shitty.
What was he doing out before dawn without any gear to alert other drivers? Face it, I got lucky... and so did he.

Many years ago, I did hit a pedestrian. Going to community college part time and taking a morning class is sometimes what it takes. Like all community colleges, parking is a pain in the ass. So here I was, winding my way through near downtown city streets, angling for a parking spot.
Suddenly a dark shape leaps out from between two cars into the street right in front of my vehicle. There was barely enough time to slam on the brakes. A thump and a dark skinned bare butt and thigh rolled over my windshield.
Several things registered all at once while my instinct to do the right thing over rode my caution.
'That was one hairy leg that took off my wiper.'
'Oh my God, I hit a person. There wasn't time to stop.'
'Is he all right? Is he bleeding? Did I just kill him?'
Leaping out of my car, I ran around the back. The man had one hand on the trunk, the other hidden by the angle of my car.
Mr. caution spoke up and I became aware of two facts:
I had just gotten out of my car in a bad section of town while it was still technically night.
The man I'd just hit was naked as a jaybird.
If he had a gun or knife in his hand, I was so dead.
Instead, he picked up his Frank Sinatra style fedora hat, put it on his head, and said, "Man I'm outta here." He took off running down San Pedro Avenue in his birthday suit. Not the sidewalk... directly down the median.
At that moment, I saw a flash of light over my left shoulder, a police car.
Relief beyond measure flooded me. Never in my entire life was I so happy to see the cops.
"Officer, officer. I just hit a naked black man! He took off down the street."
"Is he armed?"
"No, just a hat."
Two more police cars came out of nowhere and quickly caught the streaking jogger before he got too far.
Answering the questions as best I could, I told the police everything.
"We've been chasing him most of the night. He must have forgotten to take his medication or whatever," The officer said.
Part of me knew it wasn't my fault, but I wanted to be clear. "I hit the man," I said. "Am I going to be charged or arrested?"
The officer shook his head. "He wasn't wearing anything reflective. You had no warning. Hell, you slowed him down for us."
This did make me late for class however.
"I hope you have a valid excuse for being late," the teacher said as I entered the classroom.
Without missing a beat, I slapped the police report on his desk. "Actually, yes, I do."
My hands were shaking so badly from the shock and adrenaline, I had a tough time finishing up the day. The story was good enough to get some beers from my friends who wanted details.
My life is never dull.
 

Awesome stuff

Every so often I get this question.
'How come you're in a good mood all the time?'
Often times the follow up question is: 'Are you on drugs?'
The answer to the second question is no. No need to lie, I've tried pot back in the 80's, but I've got better things to do. Relax folks, I have some sort of mental hangup and could never put anything up my nose. Nasal spray is tough enough and I've only been partially successful in doing that.
Whenever I'm feeling down in the dumps, I go over to this site. (No lolcats, I promise.)
Astronomy Picture of the day is simply a picture from an amateur astronomer or from one of our many probes exploring our solar system.
There are no ads. A short explanation accompanies the photo explaining what is going on. Perusing through the archives is one of the more pleasant ways to spend time.
Wanna know a secret? This is where I get my desktops from. Simply surfing through the pictures gets me inspired. How can a person be sad when there are amazing things going on in our world? 

Does this remind you of a Spirograph?

 
 Pretty, right? This was on a few days ago. Now look closely... see those bright circles in the center? There are words under them. Go ahead, take a closer look. Better yet, find the picture from the archives. These are the near earth asteroids that are currently being tracked. Your universe just got a little smaller, didn't it?

Two things occurred to me right after I saw this for the first time.
One: This is a two dimensional image of what is obviously supposed to be a three dimensional model. Still, it drives the point home. We live in a cosmic pin ball machine. A 3D image would probably make us cry for our loved ones. It would certainly scare the crap out of me.
Two: the scale is a bit off. They had to back that way up in order to get the information across that there are a lot of things out there.
 And they are finding new stuff all the time. For the record: I wrote some scenes and blocked out a story about one of these puppies paying us a visit. Don't worry, it's not the planet killer, extinction level event Hollywood movies are made of, it doesn't have to be. If the stuff in my writing were to actually happen, I'd want it to be over quickly.
Let me leave you with another favorite.

My new desktop photo

 Doesn't seeing these gorgeous pictures make you want to visit? The explorer in me would love to see the Aurora in Iceland and the monument marking the Tropic of Cancer in Taiwan. This is your world. We humans need to open our eyes and see the beauty of the place we call home. Not just our patch of dirt, but the whole cosmos stretching out before us.

Public relations

There's so much that I need to learn about marketing and publicity I didn't know where to start.
Two days ago it was suggested I put together a press kit for the upcoming convention.
One of my life rules: Never look surprised. Two professions come to mind where the poker face is an invaluable tool. Nursing and Bartending. People in those professions have seen it all.
The reason I bring that up is because the moment someone said those two words to me, my face mask had to come down. In the past, I'd heard those words used before. In my mind I'm thinking, 'what's a press kit?' My Google-fu did not fail me. After finding out what a press kit was and how it pertained to me, I had to decide how I was going to implement it. That was what happened today. Funny thing is, the press kit is already here. Lying around in the files of my computer. I'm going to use the recommendations and comments from the Amazon sales as well as the letters that have been written to me. Perhaps that is a legal fuzzy area, but these comments are in the public domain and the fan mail was written to me. Put another way: it's all good stuff. Looking back over it, there isn't a negative comment among them. I am truly fortunate to have such wonderful support from my friends and family.

On a completely unrelated note: my wife and daughters had a mini movie marathon today. For the most part, I stayed at the table, typing away like a madman. Full disclosure: my glasses were off, so distractions were cut to a minimum. I know they watched Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and Avengers. There were moments where I did catch my girls fawning over Chris Hemsworth, the guy who plays Thor. My wife summed it up nicely; 'I love you, but he's hot.' That's okay, I'm not offended or intimidated in the least. Actually it's sorta cool they like to do that. About a week or two ago, I became aware of a video by a group who call themselves the Doubleclicks. Sorry, I don't know what they sound like or what genre you'd put them in. What impressed me was their message. More amazing was the celebrity appearances in the video. Girls are Geeks too and I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. With that in mind, check this out.

Milestones

While at work today, I asked a question to my associates: 'My wife's 50th birthday is coming up. What should I get her?'
One of the snarkier comments came from none other than my boss. 'Trade her in for a newer model.'

WTF is up with that? 
Of all the things that come to mind, that would truly be my last thought. This is a perfect example of the type of people I work with. Back when I had my first review, one of my supervisors wrote, 'Bill is a credit to his people.' Yeah, that's a direct quote.The way I saw it, there were two choices: Raise the biggest stink I could (and shorten the length of my employment.) or shut up and go along to get along. There wasn't any upside to this. I knew I'd have to turn a deaf ear (ha ha) to the snide remarks. Not only would I have to work harder to prove I was just as good, I'd have to grow a thick skin as well.
Turning fifty is a milestone, an accomplishment to be celebrated. My wife and I have been married 22 years. We've raised three beautiful daughters who are smarter in some areas than I'll ever be.
Yes, the half century mark is a time of reflection. It isn't a time to go over your regrets, but your accomplishments. There are people I knew 25 years ago at Disney World. Through the magic of Facebook, I can see that some of them are still there. That is, and at the same time, isn't a good thing. Some of them may be happy in what they're doing. A couple of them may not want to be anything more than what they already are. There is a word for this: Stagnate. To remain in place, not grow.
Even though I didn't have a clear picture of what I wanted my life to be back then, I knew one fact: There was more to life than slinging burgers and driving a monorail. The ones who I remained in contact with are the ones who grew over the years.
One of my closest friends started working at his father's law office. He went on to become a police officer for the Albuquerque Police force. Today he is an FBI agent out in California. We still keep in touch through Christmas cards and the like. I'm proud to be his friend. He taught me so much by his actions and words and for that I will be forever grateful to him.
How's that saying go? Life is what happens when we're making other plans?
We can turn our noses at the people who work the minimum wage jobs. Hell, I'm one of them. But what separates the adults from the kids is the ability to step outside our comfort zone. We don't have to accept living paycheck to paycheck. What I mean is, yes; that's what a lot of us are doing, but while we're doing that, can we be doing something else? Something more than hand-to-mouth?
A perfect example is my wife taking online college courses at night while doing her day job. Hell, I write on my lunch break. It may be one paragraph, but that's one paragraph more than a lot of people.
She will be 50 in a few days. She is also a few hours away from completing her masters degree. There are times... highlights really, where I am so extra-proud of her. I'm proud of her all the time, but there are times that are uniquely special, like when she gave birth to our daughters. When she went back to school. When she stepped outside of her comfort zone desiring to be more than what she already was. My wife is not the same person she was 22 years ago. She has grown... evolved... and yes, matured, and I love her for that.
She is more.
More personality.
More radiance.
More being.
When I look at her, I don't see what others see. She may notice wrinkles and grey hair, I see beauty and grace.
Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.

Paying it forward and voting with your wallet

Some of my posts about deaf friendly businesses have been less than stellar. This time around I want to talk about a pizza place that really impressed me.
Maars pizza, (no, I did not stutter.) located at 14218 Nacodoches serves pizza as well as Italian dishes. They have a wide range of drinks, beers and wines to go with your meal.
Next time I visit, I'm going to have the brisket sub and wash it down with a Goose IPA. Every time I've gone, the place was rocking!
There were a few big screen TV's. The Spurs were in the playoffs at the time we visited. Things were so loud, my hearing family used ASL to communicate with me. Here's where it got cooler. The restaurant is spacious. We were able to sign to others across the room. I loved having a wide open area like this.
Rene, the owner, came out and talked to us. He really cared about how we like his place. When he found out I was trying to see the game, he flipped on the captions without me having to ask. Rene impressed me so much, I signed up for the newsletter then and there.
This little family restaurant deserves your support. They have excellent food, great atmosphere and they are active in the community. Here is what they have going on in August. 
Want another reason to go? Monday nights they have poker night with cash prizes. What a way to beat the heat. Cold beer, hot poker and some good food. You can't beat that.
Show them your military ID and get 10% off your meal. They hold car washes to raise money for their MMFH team. They are participating in the walk to end Alzheimers. All of these are causes worthy of your support.
In one of the conversations with Rene I asked him if anyone approached him about holding a deaf related event at MAARS pizza. He said he would not be opposed to it, but no one has approached him. So if the head of a deaf organization is reading this post and wanted to hold a deaf-related event, say a pizza party or a car wash, perhaps you should contact Rene.
Better yet, bring your family in and see for yourself all the good things that are going on here.
Having trouble with Mapquest, this blog, and or my operating system. I wanted to include a map to MAARS pizza and more. They have a map on the MAARS web page. You should have no trouble finding your way there. Heck it's a huge orange building for crying out loud. Go there. Deafman says check it out.
 

What I'm grateful for

It was pointed out yesterday by minion #2 that I was spending too much time typing away at the keyboard. (much like I am now... oh, the irony.)
Her main concern was that we, as a family, might be in the same room and yet be miles apart at the same time. What can I say? She's right. So we're going to fix that.
Meals will be eaten together and a little earlier. We're planning a family game night tonight.
That's also why I'm working on this post a little beforehand.
Getting together with friends on a Friday night was what passed for family game night before. We'd play cards or a board game or do some role playing game.
Tonight we're supposed to play Battle Force. I don't know what it is, I've never played it before. The only thing I do know is it has to do with Battletech, the table top strategy game I play and still like to keep a hand in.

What I'm grateful for is my daughter felt comfortable enough to come to my wife and I and voice her concerns. Let me say that again: A teenager who wants to talk to her parents. Wow! Shocked and honored at the same time.
The other day when I picked up my oldest daughter from the airport, the first words out of her mouth were; 'I love you.'
Sometimes I really don't know how good I've got it. My kids confide their secrets to me.(Most of them, I'll take what I can get.) We have an excellent rapport.
We have the support of family and friends when we need them. I feel truly blessed.
My wife sent me a message about an hour ago. Her bosses neighbor gave us some squash to go along with whatever we're having for dinner. When did I start getting excited about things like that? It could be my faith in humanity gets restored by 'just' that much. It feels good when that happens.
We're experiencing a record heat wave here in Texas. Yesterday was the hottest day on record since the 1960's. But inside the house, we're cool and comfortable. Yes, our air conditioner got fixed and I want to publicly thank my father for helping us get that taken care of. You're the greatest, Dad.
So yes, I have a lot to be thankful for.

You get what you need

Two out of three daughters are back home. The 12th Doctor Who will be announced shortly. It's 99 degrees outside and 87 in the house. Fans are going and I'm thinking cool thoughts. To replace the headlight/turn signal on my truck is 150.00
Nobody will admit to causing the damage. That alone pisses me off more than the actual damage itself.
A check came in the mail for 5.15 from Verizon. Yeah, that should totally even the karma thing out.
The world doesn't owe me anything, but I've been getting more than my fair share of crappy deals. I need some good news. I need a break.
Perhaps I'm asking for too much, but I don't think so. I'm asking for something positive and enabling to come into my life. 

At first, I was going to delete the above paragraph. I had to take the time to decide if it was me complaining about life or plain whining for the sake of whining. Perhaps a little of both.
With her last paycheck from the summer job she took, my daughter wanted to take us out to dinner. While that was all well and good, the underlying reason was to get out of the sauna that the house had become. Yes, the air conditioning officially crapped out again. My family will be running around doing our things today. Jobs, Flag corps... No one will be home to suffer in the sweltering heat of day. I'll leave the dog outside with his kiddie pool of water. Between that and the shady trees he should be okay.

Authors often show only the positive side of things. We see the latest releases, the new graphic novels completed... the good stuff. Rarely is it mentioned how much of this is done on a shoestring and a prayer. Maybe we're all optimists at heart and believe that eventually things will turn out alright.
Bill collectors will always be there. Murphy's law is pretty much a universal constant. For my part, I will keep chipping away at this mountain of karmic debt. 
Wil Wheaton has an expression: Don't be a dick.
When person or entity is being a dick to me and mine, I tell them. Perhaps not using those blunt words, but I let them know they're hurting others as well as myself.
We should call this the Hippocratic oath to fellow humans. Do no harm to others.
So I owe you money? Fine, but I need to feed my family. 
Speaking of feeding the family, we couldn't agree on a place to grab a bite to eat... not at first anyway.
Eventually we found ourselves at the Tilted Kilt. I want to say it's an Americanized (read: watered down.) version of a pub. The food was okay, I've had better. Two things I couldn't decide they had more of: big screen TVs or beers on tap. From where I sat I could see about 20 screens of various sports and games. On the other side of the bar were so many taps I couldn't count them all, let alone identify half of them. Having been in actual pubs in the UK, I can honestly state this was a nice try. Yes, it fell short of what I feel an authentic pub should be, but they weren't mean spirited about it. They did try and capture the spirit of what a pub stood for. Socializing, drinking, eating, surrounded by a bit of nostalgia and history. Like I said: nice try.

Tired of fear

According to my sources on the internets, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity may soon be out of a job. No matter what side of the political spectrum you may fall on, a lot of people I talk to are not sorry to be seeing them leave. Be it liberal, conservative, socialist or libertarian, the consensus is: these loudmouths with microphones have got to go. 
Let's be honest here: People like them make money by stirring up hornets' nests. For a long time I've felt that the common logic over at Fox is: if the ratings are dropping, stoke the fire with FUD. Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt.
If you listen to Fox (I can't quite bring myself to consider them serious news journalists.) the whole of their program is designed to promote fear of X. Fear President Obama. Fear Healthcare reform. Fear liberals. Fear homosexuals. Fear immigrants.

Enough with being afraid for crying out loud. We, as Americans, are not afraid of the unknown. Some country gets a chip on it's shoulder and starts something, we don't back down.
Peace is always preferable to war. We're not afraid to fight. Truth is, we're very good at making war.
Never in my entire life have I been afraid of my neighbours. Some were kind. Others were assholes. None of them were evil take-over-the-world plotters. The closest I've ever gotten to that is that one guy who was trying to sell Amway.
When I'm old and grey, I still won't be afraid of my neighbours. On the other hand, I hope they won't be afraid of me. The boys in our subdivision are frightened of me, but that's because I'm an overprotective father of three girls.
Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, Coulter and their like have one thing in common: they are intolerant of anyone different then themselves. They hate homosexuals (but I haven't heard a legitimate reason why.) They hate the President. (It must kill them that a black man is the commander-in-chief.)
They hate and fear women. I always wondered if some frat guy from Coulter's alma mater took one for the team, would she be the bitter harpy she is today?
Unlike the people at Fox, I listened to their shows. After listening to an entire hour of Limbaugh, I considered his words and came to one conclusion: He's talking out his ass. Not too long ago, he was complaining about how everything started to go wrong when women got equal rights. He went on to state women should have never gotten the right to vote.
What a crock of shit.
He wants women barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen. In good conscience I can't fathom why he would have female listeners.
As for the other pundits on Fox, I won't waste space on them. As parrots for their conservative overlords, They're not paid to think.
Thanks to the tea party, I think the Republicans have alienated just about everybody. Oh wait, they haven't pissed off the old white men segment of the population. If we wait, and it won't be too long, the problem will solve itself.
Brontosaurus and Neanderthals... I mean Rush and his cronies, need to learn one lesson: adapt or die.
An intelligent person will change his mind after considering the facts.
Fact: People come in all shapes and sizes and that's wonderful.
Fact: There are over 7 billion people on this planet. Be a bitter racist all you want, but you'll be lonely and outnumbered.
Think of other people instead of just yourself. I'll lay any amount of money down that none of the Fox 'news' staff has ever volunteered at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen.