So…it comes to this. Sixteen years ago today (well, overnight last night, anyway), after spending the previous few weeks in and out of the hospital thanks to pregnancy induced complications (already causing grief before even breathing independently…hrmmm), I watched a really, really tiny human get squeezed out of my wife. It was weird, gross, scary, and utterly fascinating.

Fascinating enough that we’ve managed to keep her alive for sixteen whole years.

And during that time, on average, she’s managed to continually impress, amaze, occasionally infuriate, but in general, inspire feelings of pride and admiration; despite our best efforts, she’s turned into a generally pleasant, talented, intelligent, opinionated, well (if not entirely non-vulgar) spoken young adult, who tends to win over most of the other responsible adults with her maturity and poise, which shows, if nothing else, she knows when to deploy said maturity and poise to greatest effect, which, I suppose, is a lesson in itself.

As such, I don’t worry about having to support her financially well into middle age*, because she’ll be able to handle herself, and while she, like any human being, makes the occasional bad choice, I trust that she won’t make most of the really bad ones, which, in some ways of looking at things, is one of the best things a parent can say about the experience of raising a child.

Anyway, I look forward to many more years of sharing old-person music, barely understood teenage slang, shouting up the stairs, witnessing amazing accomplishments and wisdom beyond anything I managed at a similar age, and generally being proud of my kid.

happy birthday!

Oh – traditionally, on kids birthdays, i try to post an image of a number of animals (usually kittens) equal to the number of years we’re concerned with, but an image search for sixteen cats got weird and confusing very quickly. It did, however, turn up this song, which I’d never heard, but is, nonetheless, a pretty cool find.

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* – given our experiences over the last six months or so, though, I may end up driving her places forever…

I learned this morning that, depending on which CD was passed on, “Weird” Al Yankovic may indeed own a recording of me playing several instruments, as well as a photo of me on stage playing bass with The Blibbering Humdingers.

This is both very cool, and very intimidating. Mostly, I hope he likes it, if it didn’t immediately end up in the tour bus trash. I like to think that Al would at least take a listen to a professionally-produced CD such as ours, rather than trash it out of hand. He’s that kind of guy.

I don’t have any particularly profound things to share, but the space feels empty, and I have a few minutes. Oh look, it’s June.

Life is life, really…moving along, slow and steady, generally not particularly noteworthy. Employment is employment: I’ve been at this particular chapter for five months and change now; it’s mostly paying the bills, and I’m mostly managing the stress. To be brutally honest, it’s not the most rewarding work I’ve ever had. I’m learning what I can, fixing problems where I’m able, but I’m having trouble looking at this position as a long-term prospect; everything I do I tend to mentally frame as “leaving things better than a found them” rather than “feathering the nest.” I’m not necessarily proud of my looking at things this way, but it’s reality, and perhaps a coping mechanism. I feel like I’m spinning wheels a bit, maybe…At nearly 41, I’m pretty sure I still don’t know what I want to be when i grow up.

I guess it’s a good thing I have some creative outlets. The band and other occasional musical outlets help, though after the gig the other weekend, I don’t have anything officially lined up. It’s probably my exhaustion and chemical imbalances talking, but things felt the slightest bit, I dunno, final; at least the end of a chapter, with the release of the CD (which is really good). It’s probably just the slowing down after con season and the fact that for the first time in six months or so, I don’t have a definite gig lined up to look forward to, which is a weird feeling. Anyway, I hope it’s not the end; I really enjoy the experience.

Reading back on the last couple of paragraphs, things really sound kinda bleak, don’t they?

It’s not all Eyore and little black rainclouds. There are other adventures. Last weekend, half a dozen of us, friends old and new, did our (at least) annual Appalachian Trail hike, doing roughly nine miles between 3400 and 4000 feet above sea level, between Pinnacles and Stony Man in Shenandoah National Park. It was a good time, though the combined might of con crud earlier in the week and my not being in the absolute best shape of the last couple of years, I struggled, especially on the uphill sections, but I conquered opponents both viral and gravitational, and kicked that trail’s ass.

This Thursday, I’ve also got fourth row tickets to “Weird” Al Yankovic’s show in town. I’ll be in the audience for one of the best live bands performing today, enjoying the musical comedy sountrack of my life since I was in elementary school, with friends scattered all over the crowd (sales limits prevented us from managing to all sit together). Nostalgia, entertainment, and something to look forward to.

So, on balance, it’s a wash. two steps forward, one and a half steps back. Slouching towards something, but not terribly enthusiastic about any of it.

Andy Weir’s The Martian was one of the best books I read last year. If you haven’t read it yet, go do so, immediately. Trust me.

In broad terms, it’s the story of an astronaut who gets stranded alone on Mars during a near-future NASA mission, and all the stuff he has to do to survive, using only his science and survival knowledge and the meager supply of equipment he has on hand. It’s riveting stuff, plus, it’s funny. Think Apollo 13 meets Mythbusters. Yeah.

Now it seems there’s a movie coming, and it looks like it’s got most of the same spirit as the novel. Here’s the trailer, which seems to balance the drama and the wit pretty well. I’m looking forward to this one.

Potatoes.

So, ConCarolinas was a pretty good experience, on balance. We played some pretty damned good shows, if I do say so myself (and I do), our CD sounds really good, and people really seemed to dig the new stuff.

I also got to meet one of my favorite modern authors (and made him laugh with our brand of musical comedy during opening ceremonies…or maybe it was the simulated lightning strike), learned a bunch of new songs, made a few new friends, ended up playing bass with another band entirely as well, and generally had a successful convention experience.

We might have sold some more CDs if we had audiences that matched how good our shows sounded, which I blame mostly on scheduling things (our “special” guest status seemed more like the use of “special” when followed by “needs”) – a high-energy set full of jokes and music at a sci-fi convention isn’t going to fare well when scheduled against skimpy anime girl costume parades, or potential panel drama.

Oh well, we still kicked ass.

Thanks, again, Scott, Kirsten, Eddie, Christie, Leah, Mikey, Gray, Larry, and all you other people who made the weekend fun.

I drove home Sunday afternoon, struggling with what I would find to be con crud. I didn’t sleep particularly well at the con (something about a Hilton that’s not a Marriott), nor did I do so once I got home Sunday night. I felt awful otherwise, from stem to stern (especially stern), so to speak. I pre-emptively took off on Monday (largely because I knew how things were gonna go), but I ended up dropping out on Tuesday as well – some days, you wake up and you know it’s not going to happen.

If you’re near Charlotte NC this weekend, I’ll be playing Concarolinas with “Special Musical Guests” The Blibbering Humdingers.

We’ve got two big shows Friday and Saturday, plus we’ll probably be goofing off playing music, meeting the public, and selling merch and whatever most the weekend, with our friends Mikey Mason, Valentine Wolfe, and Hawthorn and Holly.

It’ll be my first time at this Con, though it looks like a good one from here, with lots of great guests, including Guest of Honor John Scalzi, who I’m looking forward to meeting if I get the chance.

so again, if you’re around, stop by, buy the new CD, Raised By Nerds, and say hello!

….or maybe you’re in the DC area? Swing by Awesomecon, and say hello to my friends Chris Otto, Dan Nokes, and Nick Davis…and yeah, a bunch of other people who may have once crewed the USS Enterprise, the Tardis, or a Megazord or something….seriously, a pretty great guest list.

Greetings, all. I’m on my second week of business travel in a row, adding little of value to a project in “The Arch City”. I’ve gotten to meet some people I talk to on the phone all the time in person, but honestly, it’s not been that useful a week, all told.

This happens.

I did, however, get to spend a nice evening out for dinner with my friends Elizabeth and Duncan who live in town and are awfully nice about entertaining me when I find myself spending a couple of nights in one of the Marriott properties out by the airport. I’ve thanked you guys profusely already, but I just want you to know how much I appreciate the gesture.

There’s nothing like having friends willing to entertain an intinerant business traveler when he’s stuck away from home, and going through some personal turmoil regarding his lot in work life.

My latest career move (which, you’ll recall, I took on around the first of the year) hasn’t exactly been what I’d hoped it would be. It’s frustrating for a lot of reasons, is eating up a lot of my brainspace with stuff it probably shouldn’t, and exascerbating some other things I thought I had under control. This week, being stuck away from home (for the second week in a row) away from my support system (who I’m afraid I’m already overstressing with my issues) has been really tough.

The simple act of a friend opening up their home and life to you for a couple of hours, sharing a nice meal and a couple of small personal accomplishments, really means a lot.

Seemingl small acts of kindness and hospitality can have remarkable effects on others. As someone who experienced the benefit of one of those small acts today, I just wanted to say thanks, and hope I get the chance to pay it forward soon.

Something hit the internets yesterday that’s too exciting not to share, so I’m sharing.

Remember the post of April 14 wherein I talked about making some neat things? Those neat things are now available for pre-order on bandcamp.

Behold, the latest record from The Blibbering Humdingers, Raised By Nerds:

The whole business is quite a lot of fun if you like nerdy and funny sorts of things, though if you’re visiting this site because of me, you might want to check out tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, which feature me, on, variously, bass guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, and ukulele.

Just thought I’d share….occasionally I get to make neat things, and I’m proud of the work, plus I can never thank Scott and Kirsten enough for dragging me along on their musical adventures.

Yes, it’s been almost a month since I posted anything. I’ve been busy. And overwhelmed. And stressed. And engaging in copious business travel involving the wearing of suits on the subway when it’s 90 degrees outside. Not cool.

Life’s getting in the way. Pffft. I totally missed my traditional First of May and Star Wars Day posts, as well as a mention of Free Comic Book Day (which was pretty good this year). I also saw Avengers: Age of Ultron a couple of times, in preparation of my participation in the Expert Panel Review of the film at the Virginia Comicon this weekend. To get my specific thoughts on the film, you’ll have to show up, but TL;DR? Pretty damned good.

Otherwise, stuff is happening. Yes, Stuff.

couple of great shows with the Blibbering Humdingers, getting to see some good friends (a couple of whom I met in real life for the first time), and not spending a whole bunch of money…I’m calling it a pretty good con.

That said, things felt a bit off this year at Ravencon – it looked like attendance was down, the hotel smelled kind of funny, and the atmosphere seemed really subdued and I dunno…mournful?

Maybe it was the impending move to Williamsburg, the brush with Gamergate drama, or the whole Hugo awards “sad puppy” thing*, or maybe it was personal, related to the the spurts of teenage drama that kept insinuating itself into the weekend, but there was a strangeness to the proceedings I couldn’t help noticing.

Anyway, I still got to spend time with my friends, and that’s what really matters. Games still got played, music got made, and relationships were kindled and rekindled. All in all…not too bad.

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* – a con acquaintence of mine, Gray Reinhart, was one of the nominees on the slate. Being not terribly versed in the controversy – hey, I’ve been busy! -, I congratulated him on his nominated story (which is pretty good), which led to an interesting conversation, and I kind of feel like I stepped in it a bit – sorry, Gray – my congrats were heartfelt and had nothing to do with politics.