Holiday Plans

Hey folks,
The blog will probably be very quiet over the holidays-- Kat and I will be seeing family and doing all the holiday ritual things.
We did get a Christmas tree yesterday (it's about Charlie Brown-sized, just 'cause the bigger and/or live trees were a lot more effort) and decorated it, plus there's more decorating around the condo to do tonight. It's beginning to feel like Christmas.
Plus we have cards to mail out.
We're kind of caught up now with Brielle coming in February. Lots and lots to do before then.
Anyway, though I plan to post a bunch before Christmas, I hope you'll all have a terrific holiday season and a Happy New Year!
Drew

Pictures!

Okay, I know I've been bad, but here are some long-delayed snapshots of some diverse things. (The kittens absolutely LOVED the tree!)

Hope you like them!

Happy New Year!

Hey folks! Seems like it's been forever since I last blogged. I know, I thought I would be able to post a bit over the holidays but it just didn't happen (obviously). Between being away from home and getting over "holiday-lag," that vacation hangover that won't go away when you've been gone a week... well, you know the story.

On the good side, 2008 is off to a good start. My review of INSIDE STRAIGHT is up at SFRevu, as is Kat's and my interview with George R.R. Martin and Melinda Snodgrass, plus a number of other reviews that made my December very lively. Now I'm kicking back with Mike Carey's latest Felix Castor novel, DEAD MEN'S BOOTS, and enjoying it greatly. Mike is a great guy, a good friend and a terrific writer--so read his stuff!

Anything else? Oh yeah, we're going to put some long-delayed pix of our now-bygone Christmas tree on the blog tonight (cross those fingers), and maybe a few odds and ends.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
best from me and Kat,
Drew

O Tannenbaum! part 1

Kat called me while I was coming home from work Monday night. "Are you tired?" she asked. Not a good sign.

"No, I'm okay. Why?"

"Can you get a Christmas tree?"

Kat's been feeling out of sorts and out of the Christmas spirit this year--no reason given why, she just is. So I said yeah, with about as much enthusiasm as I could muster for trudging alone through the night to Home Depot and wrangling a tree back to our condo.

Oh the adventure.

More on this tomorrow.

Odds and Ends

Got very little sleep this weekend. I stayed up till about 3am reading STAR WARS: LEGACY OF THE FORCE- FURY by Aaron Alston without really meaning to, then was up very late helping Kat look for a missing item. Sort of groggy today.
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The TV strike has me at odds with myself. On the one hand, I like knowing that I have lots of free time now. Liberation from the tyranny of the glowing box hasn't happened from within, so maybe freedom is at hand. On the other hand, I'm already missing the stuff I like to watch.
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Now reading VICIOUS CIRCLE by Mike Carey, courtesy of Kat's and my good friend Sherin Nicole. Really good follow up to THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, featuring Felix Castor, exorcist. I'll be reviewing it for SFRevu, even though John Berlyne has already done a magnificent review of the British release (I think it came out there last year-- lucky Brits!).
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My Xbox 360 went down a week ago Saturday. It must be a fairly common problem--it's the dreaded "three flashing red lights" around the on/off button, which supposedly indicates a hardware failure. After calling customer service, I struggled with removing the hard drive, only to have Kat succeed when she pushed the button and I wrenched the stubborn part loose. Teamwork!

Then I packed up the console, labeled it and took it all the way into DC to send back via UPS. With luck, I'll have my Xbox back sometime in the new year. (this is me not being very happy)
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Got lots of Christmas cards to send out this week. If you're reading this, you're probably on the list to get one. If not, comment below with an address and maybe we (Kat and I) will send you one.
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and that's it for now!