Some Xmas stuff

Wednesday night Rebecca's dad came over, and he and the girls decorated the tree while Rebecca and I went shopping for Xmas presents. This was the first time the girls had ever had a real tree, so they were pretty excited about it. We didn't want to do anything extravagant, so we went with a small tree...although I think we could have used a few more ornaments.

Here are some pics...

The tree before:





The family with the tree:





The tree after:





The next night there was a gorgeous sunset, so I had to go on to our balcony and get a shot of it:

Why is the universe trying to crap on my Xmas?

I thought it was a bad thing when I found out that I might be losing my job after the holidays. Very Scroogish of my employers...but I just got off the phone with my mom, and she told me that my three and a half year old niece has been diagnosed with leukemia. Kind of put things in perspective for me...

For a young child to have to suffer like that seems pretty cruel of the universe, but for it to happen to a family less than two weeks before Christmas seems completely unfair...but then I've never thought the universe was a fair place.

Rebecca's brother battled leukemia when they were both teenagers...unfortunately, he lost his battle. We're all thinking positive thoughts for my niece, and we're hoping she gets a diagnosis of one of the forms that is easier to treat.

I'd appreciate it if you could all think positive thoughts for her as well.

Damn jobs

Anyone who reads here frequently knows that I had one hell of a hard time finding a job when we moved here. Most likely it was because of my availability, but I spent close to three months looking before I got my current job. I've now been there for close to a month, and today we were all told that the store was closing and that we are going into liquidation.

That means that in the next 6-12 weeks, I will once again be out of a job. I might be able to get a transfer, but there are no guarantees. It does give me time to look, but it's not easy to find something at holiday time...so to say that the timing of this sucked would be quite the understatement. This is one of the main reasons why I don't like "real" jobs, but unfortunately, writing and editing is still very hit and miss on money for me.

Since I like to report on nature sightings I have, I'll mention that while I was standing out in the cold waiting for our oldest to get out of school, a large bird flew over me. I was expecting it to be a goose, since there are so many of them near her school, but I didn't hear any noise. When I looked up, I realized that it was a bald eagle. That's about the only good news I have from the day...

The TSO show

To say that the Trans-Siberian Orchestra show was amazing would be an understatement. Great music, a phenomenal light show, and a great crowd made for a great night...not to mention the great company.

The first part of the show was put together as a story, which was pretty much the same as their Christmas Eve and Other Stories album. After that, they jammed, and that was the best part of the show. Moving lights, stage sections that rose, electric violins...it was definitely amazing. If you've never seen them live, you owe it to yourself to go.

Before the show, Rebecca wasn't sure if she would enjoy it, but she had a blast.

Possibly the best part of the show was the fact that the members of the band are real class acts. Before the show, they donated more than $17,000 to local charities, and after the show, they set up tables in the hallways so they could sit and talk with their fans. You definitely don't see that with most bands. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to stay...maybe next year.

Again, if Trans-Siberian Orchestra is coming to your town, you need to go see them. If you really appreciate good music, you will not be sorry.

Going to the TSO show

Rebecca and I will soon be leaving for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. This is something that I've been waiting for for years now...and, it's hard to believe, but this will be Rebecca's first ever concert.

No matter what, this will be a great show...enjoy some vids...

Noises in the Night

Sunday night after Rebecca came home from work, we both heard strange noises coming from outside. At first, I thought it was kids laughing on the stairs, but why would kids be out at almost 11 at night? Yeah, some parents are ok with that...

As we listened more closely, we realized that the noises were coming from the field behind our place. We went out on the balcony, but couldn't see anything, but it was obvious that the sounds were being made by coyotes. Shortly after that, someone went over to the field with a flashlight and they took off...we did see one of them running through the trees. Our guess is that they'd chased something into a thicket that's over there because we went over to investigate the next morning and didn't find any signs of a kill in the snow.

We've known that we had coyotes in the area. I've seen them on two different occasions, but this was the first time that we'd heard them...and they were only about 50 meters from our place.

In other news, we're having the typical crazy Colorado weather. I walked to work this morning at 6 in howling winds, but because the winds were out of the west, it was 50 degrees...and it warmed up close to 70 today. However, tonight the winds are supposed to shift to coming out of the north, which means that the temps will drop, and we have a chance for snow. You have to love Colorado's weather...

Damn word counts

I don't know why, but my works tend to fall around the 60,000 word mark. That's too long for the few novella publishers out there, and it's too short for the novel markets. Granted, if I was writing mainstream fiction it would be fine, but for SF, most markets want at least 80k.

I finished the latest revisions of the novelization of A Problem in Translation, and it came in at 61,574 words. I guess that means it's back to the drawing board with it. I suppose I need to find several new scenes to add...but I'm just not sure where.

For now, I'll probably set it aside for a few weeks, and let it stew in my brain.

Black Friday is over

My original plan had been to title this entry "I Survived Black Friday," but then I read about a Wal-Mart employee in New York being trampled to death by crazy shoppers and I decided that would be a tasteless title.

Come on people. We're talking about saving a few bucks...is it really worth killing an employee over? I'm sorry but when hundreds of people run the poor guy over...and then step around his broken body, you can't call it an accident, and all of those shoppers should be deeply ashamed of what they did today.

As for my Black Friday, we were busy, but nothing like that. The first two hours, we were crazy busy, but then after that, it was just more of a steady busy. No matter what, we definitely earned our paychecks today.

Thanksgiving went well here. Rebecca made a fabulous dinner. She'd never done a turkey before, and she was absolutely convinced that she was going to ruin it, but in all honesty, it was one of the best turkeys I've ever had...now we have tons of leftovers.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Black Friday

For my 30+ years on this planet, I've managed to avoid Black Friday like the plague. I don't generally like crowds, and I really hate them in stores or malls, so I've never seen a reason to partake in the festivities.

However, now that I have a retail job, I find that I will be working on Black Friday, and not only that, but I have to be in at 5 a.m. I'm really not sure what to expect, as our location is pretty slow, so there might not be very many people coming in. Still, I think we will be busier than normal, so I would guess the day will pass quick. After that, it's one short day on Saturday and then two days off. I'm hoping to use that time to finish up the revisions on the novella/short novel that I've been working on...but it isn't turning out like I'd hoped, so it probably won't be the final revisions like I'd wanted them to be...

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow will be Thanksgiving here in the U.S. For me, this holiday has always brought up mixed feelings. Since becoming an adult (at least in age, not necessarily in maturity) I haven't really been a part of a family. Yes, I have been in relationships during the holidays, but they've always been highly dysfunctional...to say the least.

This year, I suddenly find myself with a family. Rebecca and I have been together for a little over a year, and our little family will be celebrating Thanksgiving together, and as the cliche requires...that makes me very thankful.

Some other things I'm thankful for would be the rest of my family...who are scattered all over the States, my friends (including the childhood friends who I've just started to re-connect with), my readers (you're the ones that make writing worthwhile), and of course the end of the Bush administration.

One thing that has always bothered me about this holiday is that in a lot of ways it seems to celebrate the exploitation of the Native American population. Let's face it, most of those early colonies would not have survived without the help of the local Indians...and it's a disgrace how they were repaid for their help. Knowing that some of my ancestors walked the Trail of Tears always makes me a bit morose on Thanksgiving.

So, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving, and I ask that you please try to take a few minutes to remember the atrocities committed against the Indian people after that first Thanksgiving.

The aStore

For those of you not reading this in an RSS feed, you've probably noticed that there's a new widget at the top of my main page...it's also on most of the pages on my homepage.

This is an Amazon aStore widget. The aStore I've created features a number of the books I've written or edited. Unfortunately, it doesn't have most of the Sam's Dot titles I've worked on because they're not available on Amazon...which is the one thing keeping Sam's Dot from being one of the major small press markets.

Yes, it's just one more attempt by me to try to make more money off of the hard work I've put into my writing and editing...

Still undecided

I've been debating back and forth whether or not I'll see this when it comes out.

Now that I've seen this preview, I can honestly say that I'm still undecided. Parts of it look good, and other parts look ridiculous...

SNOW!!!

I woke up this morning to get ready for work, and found that it had snowed overnight. It wasn't a lot of snow...just enough to almost cover the grass, but it was the first measurable snow we've had in Denver so far this Fall. According to my memory, which isn't what it used to be, this is the latest first snow we've had since I've lived here.

Of course, the sun came out and melted it all away, but at least I finally got my snow.

The job search is over

For better, or for worse, I once again have a "real" job. Tomorrow at 6 a.m. I report for duty at Office Depot, where I'll be doing stocking and sales.

It's certainly not my dream job, but it is a job. Given the limited hours I'm actually available, I'm reasonably happy to have this. At least it's not food. I don't know if I could have handled another food job.

Looking on the bright side, I will hopefully get a discount on things like paper and mailing supplies...that's always a good thing for a freelance writer.

Also, today is Veterans' Day here in America, so I would like to take the time to wish every veteran a Happy Veterans' Day, and thank them for their service. Be sure you're all doing the same.

The real losers in this election

The ballots have been cast, and the votes have been counted. The media has told us who the winners are and who the losers are, but I'd like to take a moment to tell you who the real losers in this election are. It's actually a very simple answer...go look in a mirrror. That's right America, you and me, the American people are the real losers in this election.

Of the two main candidates for president, I do believe that the lesser of two evils won. I think we will be better off with Obama than we would have been with McCain, but I still don't think we're in good shape.

The simple reason for this is that both the Democrats and the Republicans are owned by big business, and it's big business that makes the decisions for these politicians. Whether it's the Republicans and the oil companies, or the Democrats and the pharmaceutical companies, these people are more interested in doing what is best for major corporations and for their own political careers than they are in doing what is right for the American people...the people who put them in power.

The system is stacked to favor the two party system. If you don't believe me, just look into what a third party candidate has to do to get on the ballot in most states. And forget about media coverage (which is what generally governs the American view of the world.) The media is too closely tied to the major parties to ever let a third party candidate get the kind of coverage needed to mount a serious charge. Have you ever wondered why you didn't see a Green or Libertarian candidate in the debates? Simple. The debates are owned and operated by the two major parties...thus locking out any chance for a third party candidate.

As long as we continue to have a corporate democracy as opposed to a representative democracy, it will be the American people who continue to suffer. So, in future elections, please consider the possibility of voting for a third party candidate.

Having said all of this, I offer my hearty congratulations to President-elect Obama. Of the two, I'm glad it's him. I hope he can restore some of the America that has been destroyed by the current administration, and I certainly hope that he will bring about some racial healing in this country...something that is still badly needed.

An entry about writing

And finally, an entry without pictures...

While at MileHiCon last week, I moderated a panel about getting inside the minds of non-human characters. It was a great panel...one of the best I've ever done...and it gave me a lot of ideas for the novelization of my short story A Problem in Translation.

So, earlier this week, I started on the revisions. Right now I'm just making notes on the manuscript itself, but soon I'll be back at the keyboard, and hopefully it will be good enough to sell...to a major market...

Halloween

Last night was my first Halloween as a dad. I think what struck me more than anything is the surprising number of people that don't give out candy. I can remember being a kid and going around one or two blocks and coming home with the mother lode of candy. But last night we had to drive around a lot just to find streets where people were actually giving out candy.

The kids still did well, because let's face it, they really don't need too much candy. I was also struck by the amount of candy that we threw out. Rebecca and I were both very cautious and we threw out anything that looked even slightly suspicious.

This year, the girls went as a bride and a unicorn...even though the unicorn had wings, which struck me as odd. We finally decided it was a pegicorn.

MileHiCon pics

Obviously I'm trying to get caught up on blogging tonight...

Here are some pics from last weekend's MileHiCon.

The Getting into the Minds of Non-Humans Panel
(picture courtesy of Ian Brazee-Cannon)


The girls made masks...



Then they got to go to make costumes out of scrap...




Then all of the kids got to pose with a working R2 unit...

The neighborhood

From previous posts, you've probably gathered that we live in an area that's rich in wildlife, even though we're still in the city. The other night as we were coming home, we came across three very large raccoons, who didn't seem to be the least bit afraid of people...and the other day while I was on my way to a job interview, I heard a rustling sound coming from the dry canal that runs close to us. I walked over to investigate, and there was a very large coyote strolling through the canal. He looked up at me and started walking a little faster, but he didn't run from me.

Here are some pics I've taken over the last couple of months...

Why can't we be friends?

As many of you know when Rebecca and I moved in together, we each brought a cat. I brought Mosi, and she brought K.J. To say that the blending of this part of our family has not been very successful would be an understatement. K.J. has tried to make friends, but Mosi usually chases him or attacks him for no reason...although I'm sure she thinks there's a reason.

Still, sometimes they get along better than they want us to know. One day when Rebecca was taking a nap while I was working at my computer, I turned around and saw these...