Eagles Over the Kennebec

First things first:  This is for the purposes of planning the Friends of Liad Breakfast on Saturday morning of  Balticon at 8:45 am

If you are planning to attend the breakfast (you do not need to be a member of the con to come to breakfast): say "Yes" in comments.

Things you need to know about the Friends of Liad Breakfast:  (1) This is a family gathering to catch up with each other and news. Everybody pays for their own breakfast.  (2) It is not a con event.

Go!

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What went before ONE: Old/new snippet: "Was that too long?" Theo snapped, worry sublimating into temper by a process he understood intimately. "You smashed the rack-and-tile array with a starbar. The doc had to do repairs at the cellular level! You should be dead, except you got lucky."

Lucky. Of course, he had gotten lucky.

What went before TWO: So, lost +/-230 words on the day, bringing the total WIP to 34,440, more or less. And! I have a follow to a new scene that did not appear in Salvage Right, and which will address something that we glossed over in Salvage Right because deadline and if we kept on going we'd have written a 200,000 word book and, just -- no.

There are already /1/0 15 people who say they'll be attending the Saturday morning Friends of Liad breakfast at BaltiCon. Hoping the in-house restaurant is more amenable to reservations than the Boskone hotel, which, the last time Steve and I hosted a FOL breakfast, adamantly refused to take a reservation, and therefore doomed themselves to constantly rearranging the room for two hours, as folks kept arriving.

I am scheduled to be interviewed at 11:30 on Saturday at the con, according to the Less Drafty Schedule, so that's something else to bear in mind.

Trooper was unfortunately messily ill this morning, which means that there will be no Happy Hour this evening. Because explaining to cats that they need to not gorge on gooshy food because it will make them sick isn't exactly an Easy Sell, I think I will be on the couch watching Dr. Who and ignoring the protests of felines whose throats have been cut, rather than trying to read, or write, or do ASL homework.

And that's all I've got on the day.

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Saturday. The 'beans claim it's raining. The weather over the Long Back Yard is mostly sunny and a trifle cool. I've set the Awesome Chair up on the deck.

Breakfast was a ham and cheese sandwich (which finishes the ham, which I am now tired of, so it will be easier -- for a while, anyway -- to resist temptation) and veggie chips. Yes, that does sound like lunch. Actual lunch will be quiche and salad.

Thanks to everyone who pitched in on the name of the movie. Kill Bill it was. Nasty piece of work. Bearing in mind that I also did not think Thelma and Louise was "funny." I think I may have mentioned that I am not the person they make movies for.

Speaking of movies, I watched The Church on Ruby Road, and the difference between now and 1997 is ... wow. The cats all joined me, and we had a lovely viewing. Firefly has already asked that we do it again this evening, so I've got that inked in.

I stayed up a bit late last night, to finish The Teller of Small Fortunes. I also made the executive decision not to finish the book club book. This is slightly awkward, because I'm going to listen to the author read from this book in a week or two. OTOH, there always exists the possibility that I'm reading it wrong -- reading protocols are A Thing, after all -- and that the author's performance will inform me.

Having gone to bed late, I slept late, and woke up to the realization that I need to start Making Lists for my upcoming perambulations, and for my duties to the con. Since I will apparently not be doing itinerant readings, I think I will read Blays and Majel's Excellent Adventure officially, and perhaps carry with me "The Last Train to Clarkesville," in case there's another opportunity to just sit and read for an hour (it's a long story).

This still leaves me with packing (1) the big suitcase full of con stuff and (2) the duffel bag, for my mini-vacay on the way home. I have engaged one of those apartmenty things, with a kitchen, and there's a Wegman's somewhere in Corning which I'll try to hit before I check in. I have my tickets for two days at the museum, and two classes booked -- one at the museum, and one at a studio in-town.

I still need to come to terms with how to get out of Baltimore. I'm thinking that Steve and I left BaltiCon 50 at, like, 4 o'clock in the morning and just shot out the Jones Falls well ahead of rush hour. That may be my best plan.

Today, I intend, mostly, to write. I have a few chores, as per usual, and one's duty to the cats, and I will honor Firefly's request for Moar Dr. Who. Oh, and I have to find something to read. I think I have the most recent Sebastian St. Cyr in the electronic TBR pile, the second Bad Heirs, a couple of cozies, and a Celia Lake to test drive. Yeah, I won't starve.

What's everybody reading today?

Oh. There are four cats in my office.

What Went Before: I returned to the keyboard after serving up Happy Hour. Trooper is calling foul and is trying to get Tali to fill out the form in triplicate to the Committee Cat. Tali is not interested in getting carbon on her toes, so I'm not sure that complaint's going to be filed any time soon.

956-ish new words on the WIP, which brings it a whisper short of 5,000 total words. I'm pleased with the day's progress, and look forward to making more progress, tomorrow.

I would like to report that the portable deadbolts I bought from Amazon really do work well, but I had reckoned without the Resident Void, who can quite easily stand up on his back feet and dork around with the chain -- not a particularly safe situation. Cats, man...

I have received a Very, Very Dangerous Email from Vacassa offering almost-affordable places to stay oceanfront in Old Orchard Beach. I tried to avert my eyes -- well, no, I didn't. I opened the dern thing right up and started clicking. It's a little unnerving to find that I know where most of these places are, including the one in Ocean Park, which is, yes, Just A Walk from the Beach, but it's a Rather Stern Walk.

The 'beans are clinging to this upcoming Weather Event like it's their firstborn child. I'm not going anywhere, myself, and the generator is ready on standby, but I could honestly do without a Weather Event. I'm ready to be done with winter. Witness my explorations at the beach, above.

I think I'd better be done at the desk for the day, before I get into even more Dutch with the coon cats. I do still have to pair socks and clear the dishwasher, and by that time Trooper may have decided to file the report himself.

SNIPPET: "Treachery is always possible," his former master reminded him in memory. "Honor is always possible. It is our task as traders to nurture honor while being alert for treachery."
OR: "Trust in Allah, but tie your camel."

Onward.

Sunday.  Snowed a couple inches on the overnight. Looks to be taking a breather right now, then we're supposed to be treated to more snow and the ever-popular wintry mix.

Breakfast will be scrambled eggs. Lunch will be -- dunno. Maybe leftover stew. Maybe a grilled cheese sandwich. We'll see.

Today's plans include changing out the cat boxes, baking a loaf of bread, writing, and contemplating the precipitation when and how it chooses to fall from the sky. Surely, that's enough for one day.

So! Those who attended -- how's Boskone?

Everybody else -- how's the weekend been treating you?

Today's title brought to you by Bruce Springsteen and Manfred Mann.  Yes I do realize this is a Religious Thing that's just as heat-inducing as Oxford Commas, and How Many Spaces After a Period.  That being so:
"Blinded by the Light," Manfred Mann
"Blinded by the Light," Bruce Springsteen

Sunday morning photo shoot: