Both my desk and inbox are clean.  The first week of using Backpack is over.  It’s actually a pretty powerful program – providing you keep up on it.

Just finished reading another Ender book, Speaker For The Dead.  Now that I’ve read the parallel novels (Shadow of the Hegemon,) I see the Ender novels a little differently.  I like it.

I still want to find out what happened to Bean, though . . .

Found a programming error on my website.  Seems my random short story links on the left were incorrect.  I’ve fixed them.

Now to find something else to distract me from the possibility of losing my lunch.  (Yes, the flu my wife had last week has finally worked its way to me.  Blech.)

My latest obsession . . .  Things at work are changing (mixed bag, both for the better and the worse.)  I’m literally taking over the department as our previous operational supervisor has moved to a different department.  Better for me physically, but I hate phones.  LOL

Now that I’m managing all sorts of crap, I need to organize myself better, and Backpack is the way to go for me.  With an eMac at home, an iBook for roaming, and a PC at work, this web application has already gone way past its worth in monthly payments.  I can log in anywhere to access lists, notes, files, etc.  I’m also using it to organize my personal and home life, as well. (Yes, and writing.)

Still doing lots of reading, as evidenced by my Now Reading list.  Once things settle at work, I think I’ll be able to get back to writing again.  Both Iditarod and Sanguire edits await.

Hel, lazy month, too. Slept ten and a half hours last night. Didn’t even get up every couple of hours as is my wont. Then I took a two hour nap later in the morning. Not sure what the deal is; the last few days at work have been blissfull as far as the lack of physical labor required on my part. Sure am wiped out, though.

Been reading . . . a LOT, as can be seen by my Now Reading column to the right on my homepage. I have a vague sense of guilt for not writing or editing anything, but there’s no urgency, no inspiration. I’ve got a list of thirty plus ideas to work on, but none have really caught my eye.

Oh, yeah, a reminder for those of you involved in the Sanguire reading – you’ve got a week until the deadline. (That’s a laugh. Like I’m going to rush to deal with it . . .)

To Hakan Aydin, the man who created the WordPress theme I’m using as the basis for my site. After weeks of fighting and fuming on my part, and weeks of being slammed with emails on his, we finally connected so he could help me through a slight hurdle.

You’ll note that there’s a bar above this text stating this is page 1 of whatever . . . There has always been the navigation link to the left saying ‘Older.’ You just couldn’t see it because I couldn’t figure out which stinking piece of code in the style.css to rewrite!

All is right in my world! Thank you, Hakan! You rock!

Watched some doomsday show on the SciFi Channel a few nights ago. Pseudo-documentary about the different ways the world will end. One of them got me to thinking:

Gamma ray bursts happen once a day in the universe, so far only recorded in galaxies other than ours. If we were to have one ‘in our backyard,’ it would basicly cook the earth like a microwave.

To try and combat a similar scenario, there was a recent report about plant seeds and animal DNA being gathered in a repository deep within a mountain. (Picked this up from a separate source last month, actually.)

So, what if it happened? Earth is destroyed, yet the ‘Species Bank’ is unharmed. It’s full of machines and robotic instruments that monitor the planet’s surface until something cues them to start reproduction of the species available.

No humans until the machines . . . clone them? Or fertilize eggs? Or something? What kind of society would that be? How many years would these new humans be underground, growing and training (via video to learn how to BE human) before they’re allowed back onto the surface to begin repopulating and reseeding Earth?

While answering an email, I might have inadvertently come across the reason my production has slowed down so much. . .

Outlining.

Up until I began writing the Sanguire series, I didn’t do it.  At least not much more than to figure out what should be in the next chapter.  I responded to a mailing list question about what sorts of notes authors take and how much outlining they do.  It’s only been the last three years that I’ve actively outlined.  And I’ve finished three out of six novels I’ve started.  Prior to that, I’ve started and completed eight novels in five years.

Something to be considering . . .  Even when editing for potential publication, I’ve come across a snag.  I went through On Azrael’s Wings in an attempt to outline and rewrite it.  It sits here gathering dust.

It’s something to consider.  Maybe it’s not just me hitting a writer’s block or succumbing to RA and the exhausting meds.  Maybe I need to get back to my roots.  Toss everything aside (except the almost ready for submission Sanguire) and start a new novel from scratch.

Wouldn’t you know it? Two days after I leave town, I get an email from my publisher. Someone wrote to them because my contact form was wacky on my site.

It’s since been corrected. I’ve had to place the ‘send’ button early. For some reason, WordPress pages doesn’t accept the ‘/textarea’ programming . . .

Thanks to Lee for pointing it out! If anyone has been trying to use the form, head over there now!

Finally!

Needless to say, we arrived in Portland seven hours late.  Good thing I didn’t have to work this morning!  I’d have been dead on my feet!

Still got the unpacking to do.  Spent yesterday hooking up to my beloved internet (I’d mainline it in a hot second,) and reassuring our cats that we’re here to stay.  That’s the joy of being gone for two weeks . . .   It’s just long enough that the cats forget they’re mad at us for abandoning them.  Had we been gone for the weekend, they’d be surly and snooty by turns.

Ah, tea with honey in the morning!  sip

On the train. They called us at home before we left Portland to inform us our train would be leaving at 9:30am instead of 10:15am. Good thing we got to the station so early! Whew! We only had to wait the entire extra hour we were there so the train could leave at . . . you guessed it! Ten fifteen! UGH!

Here’s hoping we make it home without being 9 hours late again!

Last day in Anaheim.  Laundry done, packing complete, my buddy and I finally headed out to some bookstores.  Found a cool one about the great influenza attack in the early 1900s.  Also picked up the Star Trek Encyclopedia for research.  (I’m on a Trek RPG list.  Going to the Trek Experience fired me up!)