I have got to get to updating this thing more than once a week. Blarney! Er, Blimey! Something like that. In the plus column, scant updates means I’m working hard, and that’s not bad. No, that’s not bad at all.

First things first: what, do you all hate me now? A few days ago, I had something like 925 Myspace friends. That mysteriously dropped to 913 in the course of a day. Now, we’re down to 888. Do you have any idea how long it’s taken me to amass this crazy following I have?! Do ya?

I get it. It’s because I don’t update the blog enough. I see how it is.

Work, work and more work as I try to finish up some loose ends before Leland and I actually take Memorial Day weekend off. Sure, we’ve been in and out of the state more times than I care to mention in the past two months, and will travel yet even more come October, but all those trips, while wonderful (even the sad ones), have been ultimately reactive rather than proactive. All the more reason why we’re really looking forward to World Fantasy. We’ll get to see friends we don’t always see and hopefully meet new ones. I’ll try hard not to make a total dork of myself in front of Jane Yolen. Leland gets to meet Moebius. Plus, we’re talking upstate New York in the fall, and there is nothing, I mean nothing, that’s better than that. Well, okay, except New England in the fall.

This weekend, though, it’s upstate to hang with Kevie Metal and his lovely family. I do hope I can persuade Kevin to draw a story of mine someday.

Halloween is coming, and so are all the scrapbooking and vintage ephemera sites to tempt me with their wares. This rubber stamp is one of my current favorite things. Alphastamps is dangerous.

Also dangerous: Trader Joe’s in Manhattan, where I just may be doing all of our shopping from now on, despite the travel involved.

Spent a grand afternoon with my friend Shawn Nacol last Friday in a desperate bid to get out of the house. Shawn has got to be one of the coolest people alive, and definitely one of the smarty-pants brigade. His boyfriend Jeffrey is also a delight, and the proud owner of a gen-u-ine George Perez Terra sketch. Jeffrey’s one of the moderators over at ComicBloc.com and we had some “OMG!” nerding out over comics. Bliss.

Despite the travel and the upheavals that happen when loved ones pass, I’ve got to pat myself on the back for all the work I’ve gotten done. Despite my calm, cool exterior, this transition to freelance life has not been the smoothest as I try to adapt with the wide open spaces. Earlier in the year, I wasted a fair amount of time, but all of that is now coming to a close. I feel more calm and centered than I have in, literally, well over a year.

Must be the ravens…