A little rain must fall...

We finally had a break from the near-drought conditions we've been facing here. It rained almost all day Saturday. The rain was fantastic but we still need more and more may be on the way. I could almost hear the garden sigh yesterday as moisture fell from the heavens.

Loremaster rewrite continues to plod along.

I'm still waiting to hear from Analog magazine about The Platinum Ticket - it was submitted about 5 weeks ago so I should hear soon.

Here's a bit of fun. Visited the website for the upcoming Simpsons movie. Once there you can build your own Simpsons avatar. This is mine. His name is Mr. Radium Ion. Go make your own.


That's about it for now. I have some stuff going on that I can't talk about just yet but I'll keep you posted on any developments.

Dragon my ass...

The Loremaster re-write is going very slowly. It is going well, just a lot slower than I would like. The result is a much improved story but it is a lot of work. If I change something early in the story I need to consider the impact throughout the book and that means going ahead directly after I make the initial change to make other changes. It's like falling dominoes, but if I don't do it right away, I know that I'll forget and it'll just be that much more work later on.

In other news, I submitted a story for the essay column in the Life section of the Globe and Mail, Canada's National Newspaper. With the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the dollar coin I decided to share my first encounter with the eleven-sided seven gram hunk of coinage.

A while back I mentioned I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I have been receiving treatment via something called a CPAP machine. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure keeps the soft tissue in the back of the throat from collapsing and blocking the airway. Using a little machine and some great bondage head-gear my snoring is a thing of the past and I am actually beginning to notice increased energy and alertness. Here's a picture of the mask - very sexy...and it keeps me breathing.



We finally had a break in the weather. Brief showers came as a welcome relief from the near-drought we have been experiencing. Everything is greening up a bit but we could use a lot more rain. The forecast calls for more rain late tomorrow or Friday. I'm thinking I'll chance cutting my ratty lawn - grass hasn't been growing but weeds are doing just fine thank-you - and see what happens.

Anyway, an episode of Deadwood - Season Three awaits.

Ratatouille... and pissing in the park!

Well, the family and I sought out the coolness of a movie theatre this afternoon to escape from the continuing heat. As my 4 year old son says, "It's STINKIN' hot!"

We decided to check out the new Disney/Pixar treat, Ratatouille.

It really was a treat. Of all the great movies Pixar has put out - and there have been a few - this one is tops. The animation is superb. The story is heart-touching and works on so many levels. The timing and humour are spot on. Highly, highly recommended.

Earlier in the day, it was my turn to take the aforementioned 4 year old to his weekly soccer game. We were having a great time until he needed to go pee. In my town, Fergus, we have an A-1 volunteer soccer program. The coaches are great and the playing field is well cared for. There is one issue - toilet facilities.

There are 2 municipal buildings adjacent to the field - a seniors' centre and an information centre. Both have lovely, 21st century bathroom facilities - I know this first hand. Both, unfortunately, are locked on Saturdays. Hundreds of little soccer players and their parents, grandparents etc need to make due with a pair of chemical toilets. That's right, folks, 2 johnnies on the spot for literally hundreds of bladders. The complicating factor today is that after making the frenzied trek to the port-a-potties my son and I discovered that some jokers had decided to tip them over last night.

What's a dad to do. We found a shrub that looked like it could use a little moisture and the boy began to irrigate. At that moment someone's grandma came by and, with a look of shock and disgust, said, "That boy can't pee here!" As my son packed away his man-tackle, I looked the old bird in the eye and said, "Just did, lady. If you have a problem I suggest you and the other old folks open up your friggin' Seniors' Centre. Jesus, lady - I figured if anyone was sympathetic about bathroom emergencies it would be someone in their golden years. That is why they call them the golden years, isn't it?"

Thank god the kid didn't need to take a dump!