I've put up a crapload of stuff to my Deviant page; there's a link in the sidebar if anyone's interested. It's a mix of old and new stuff, although there's nothing brand new as I haven't done a serious project in about six months, and no big projects for about a year and a half. On the whole I feel better than I have in ages, though, and I'm thinking about a few new projects that I'd like to get going. It's really excellent to think about being able to be creative again.

Home again, but I'm still a bit lagged, so if you've emailed and I haven't gotten back to you yet, please don't take it amiss. It'll be a couple of days before I'm caught up on sleep and the time change, so in the interim my emailing will likely be a bit sporadic. I apologize for the delay.

You've all probably been expecting this, but...

Peter S. Beagle won a Nebula with "Two Hearts"! (He won a Hugo as well, last fall) That's so wonderful for him! The last update to his site said that negotiations are proceeding well on what he's owed for the animated version of The Last Unicorn- I wanted to remind everyone that if you're thinking of buying a copy, please buy it from the Conlan Press site, as Lionsgate is giving him half the purchase price, and he doesn't get any money if you buy it elsewhere.

I woke up this morning and had a bit of a weird moment of dissonance as the date clicked, and then I realized that it's been a whole year. I'm okay, really I am, please don't worry. I just wanted to put a picture up of him and I (it's my favorite, actually) as a general sort of memoriam.

Has anyone actually seen those Bruce Campbell Old Spice ads on TV, or was this some sort of massive subversive mindfuck on someone's part? I mean, I've been out of the country for quite a while, and they haven't made it here so far (though they'd fit right in!) but when I was home I'm sure I'd have bloody noticed them.

Better one?
Or better two?

What the hell is up with the weather here? It's *freezing!* It's nearly June and it hasn't gotten above 50 in about a week and a half.

A Girl Singing The Dictionary Or, part of the A's, anyway. I dunno, I just thought it was interesting.

"My window is scarier than this film!"

-The Owlvark, while watching the MST of Future War. (The window dropped open suddenly for no reason and we jumped several feet.)

Sunday Afternoon

Worms Total War = Awesome.

Owlvark and Owl

I can has Owl-Petting Time?

I got a spam today titled, "Be a Granger!" I can only think that they haven't consulted him about this...

(Edited to add photographic evidence.)

Al and Owl

When I was eight years old, I read T.H. White's 'The Once And Future King, ' which is the collected version of his three-part story of the life of King Arthur. Although there were a lot of subtleties to the story of Arthur's grown years that I didn't understand until I was older, I read the first part, about his childhood in the Castle of Forest Sauvage, over and over again. It was adapted into the Disney movie, 'The Sword In The Stone, ' which was okay, but as far as I was concerned it left out the best bits, like the adventures with Robin Hood in the forest, the boar hunt, Christmas (Wold King Cole!), and, best of all, the falconry. The Wart turned to a merlin and set in the mews at night, listening to the hooded hawks talk about their code of honor and taking a test of his courage sitting next to Cully, the mad red-eyed goshawk, for three rings of the bells in the dark. It was amazing and fascinating and it hung out in the back of my mind and never really went away.
At the time, in those dark days before the internet, the book was the only reference I had to this amazing world. Throughout the next two decades I compiled any and all info I could find whenever I came across it. I did a term paper on falconry just to get access to whatever books my English teacher's university library had (just the one, but it was by Frank Beebe, so that made up for it) and I copied everything out of that I could in the week I had it. I dug through old hunting books looking for references, and wrote the Game Commission for their regulations, and then, when the internet turned up, things got a lot easier and I found tons of info free for the searching. The more I read, the more I was fascinated, and I decided that some day when I had a backyard and a handy field, I was going to build a mews and give it my best shot.

Today, then, was completely and utterly awesome. We spent the day at the Bird of Prey Center at Sion Hall, and it was fabulous. We got to handle two owls, and see the falconers fly a Lanner falcon, a Gyr/Saker hybrid, a Common Buzzard, a Caracara, two Sea Eagles, a Griffon Vulture, and a Bald Eagle. It was [teh Kid]amazing![/teh Kid] I have asked for a full-day course there for my birthday, which I have been assured on pretty good authority can be arranged.

I am hugely psyched.

Metroid Prime Hunters for DS = Good.

Fact: The Owlvark had bought a DS.
Fact: Up to four player deathmatch on one cartridge.
Fact: The Owlvark is not yet fully used to the controller/stylus combo.

Conclusion: I'm enjoying the winning while I can...

Gaijin Smash - Summing up Oh sweet lord, Ms. Americanized's explanation of the sports club thing had me laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. I am going to be quoting that forever.

I have never figured out why England hasn't invented the screen door yet. Or screened windows. They have bugs, oh yes, they have bugs. But they don't have screen. Weird.

This comic rules. Honestly, I'd like it for their logo alone. And the one for faking a smile? Brilliant.

Excellent. Now, if ThinkGeek take my idea on board for an "I Hate Todd Goldman" shirt to complement the "I Hate Jack Thompson" one.