Unfortunately, as it’s not a Leap Year, my sweetheart doesn’t get her Birthday on her actual Birth Date. To make up for it, we usually celebrate all of February 😉
At any rate, this is the closest date to the actual event, and thus I send lots of birthday hugs, wishes, whispers, and nibbles to my gorgeous wife Chantale 🙂 Happy Birthday, amore!
(you can send her birthday greetings via her LJ at
No time for proper post. Just wanted to send out an update.
I went to visit Francisco in the hospital yesterday. We’re in the third week of his stay there and it’s gotten really hard on everyone now mainly because he was actually doing so good last week that they were beginning to talk about releasing him this past Saturday. He had been disconnected from his feeding tube and was back on solids as of Wednesday. Then, Thursday afternoon he suffered a relapse and fell back to square one. In this case, unfortunately, the recovery has not been as quick. He’s suffering through a few extra ailments due to this relapse and new issues have arisen in his lungs (embolism), kidneys (psuedo-cyst), and intestines. Needless to say he’s back on several tubes and pumped up on morphine. All this is starting to really get to everyone as everybody’s energy levels as taken a big dip. Even his mother broke down as I hugged her good-bye yesterday. I’ll keep you posted but I’ll need your continued good thoughts as payment…
While cleaning up some random papers last night, I came across an old binder I knew I had but had pretty much forgotten about. Back in the days when I Guested at a lot of conventions, I would always carry this thing around and thus had it filled with notes, story ideas, partial stories, pieces of stories, and some finished scripts of which I intended to continue storylines. I obviously had a lot of paper in there along with photographs, pens, business cards, etc. Of course, it’s been a number of years since I’ve opened it up.
You can imagine then how funny it was to come across it yesterday and re-remember all those outlines and snatches of stories I had written way back when. There was actually pieces of one particular story (bridging the gap of years that The Mysterious Minute-Men had not been heard from) that I completed in a totally different mode when I wrote the Ready For The Future novel last year. Some of those old scenes can probably be incorporated into future stories, though, so not all is lost.
I should probably type up all those notes so I’ll have them more readily available in the future. At any rate, seeing them all again reminded me of how much I want to tie up all my RoyalMount stories. All those dangling plot threads from Eldritch Tales, The Savage Knight, The Red Devil, The Nightstalker Chronicles, and others that have been screaming out to be completed and for which I could not find the time. 2006 may just be the year to bring back all those heroes and continue the build to its epic conclusion. November will tell.
In other news, Comicopia #93 was mailed out this weekend. I’m meeting up with Mark Shainblum, Gabriel Morrissette (I hope you’ve all seen his awesome work in Planet of the Apes #2!) and Johane Matte on Friday to give them copies. Something new this time around as Millenium Comics has asked for copies to sell. If it pans out, it sure will help. And, of course, a little less than a year and a half away from hitting our 100th issue. I’m still floored by that 🙂
For all those interested, the Canadian Shuster Awards Nominees are now online at http://www.shusterawards.com. You can also get a glimpse at the special poster drawn by Darwyn Cooke specifically for the event.
I’m scheduled to go pick up the ballots and posters from Quebecor at the end of the week. Afterwards, I’ll be stuffing envelopes (over 350!) which go back to Quebecor who will get it to Diamond so that all Canadian Comic Shops will have them for that second week in March to distribute to their clients.
Online Voting begins March 4th and ends April 7th. Winners will be announced at the Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon on April 29th @ 7:30pm. It promises to be an even more memorable event than last year! Yes, every year the project grows and gets better and this year is no different! Exciting stuff!
Wow. I can’t believe it’s wednesday already. I mean, yeah, sure, but damn it all flies when you’re busy! 4 Comicopia sections printed and collated, 2 more at the shop now, one more to be submitted after I get the editorials taken care of, 2 more being picked up on Friday after getting the covers done, and one last hopefully in my mailbox on friday. Then it’s binding and mailing. Wow. It’s coming together in a totally different way than any other issue, and it just really sux that Francisco won’t have something in (even though I know he was more than halfway done). Still, I’d rather have him healthy than in the Apa.
Update on Francisco: he’s doing better. there’s good progress every day. he’s not being pumped as full of liquids as he was before. he’s still in the oxygen tent due to the fact that his lungs shrank during the attack when his heartbeat raced. but, he’s been able to sit up a few times although not for long and he’s able to read a little since he’s more awake. In fact, Line brought him a copy of the last Comicopia (smile). he’s still in ICU and will be there for a few more days at least but it is progressing. his pancreas has a good chance of healing. i’ll be visiting him in a few days so i’ll post more afterwards.
On a very sad note, the sci-fi world recently lost G’Kar 🙁 From the press: “Babylon 5’s Katsulas Dies – Andreas Katsulas, the character actor known to SF fans as G’Kar on Babylon 5 and a familiar face from Star Trek and other SF&F TV shows, died Feb. 13 of lung cancer in Los Angeles, his agent, Donna Massetti, confirmed to SCI FI Wire. He was 59.” damn.
I was a total wreck last night. Fatigued to the point of exhaustion. I don’t know what time I finally fell asleep as my pounding headache kept me concious longer than I thought. I know I was happily snuggled with Chantale who had gone to get another large blanket to add to the bed since I was also freezing.
Kyle woke up a few times during the night, finally getting up with me at 6am. He came with me while I got ready for work but within 30 minutes it was clear he was hungry. I brought him to bed so Chantale could nurse him and I finished getting ready. When it was time to go I went to remind Chantale that she was going to drive me to the train. They were both sleeping so peacefully that I really didn’t want to wake them. I know she was tired and he needed sleep (he’s still teething) so I gave her a big/soft smooch on the forehead and left. I knew I had enough time to walk to the train station and catch the last train out. It wasn’t horrendously cold outside and I need the exercise (I’ve got winter poundage to lose!) so off I went. Glad to see I can still make good time as I walked the 5km in about 35 minutes. In fact, I think I’ll try to do it the rest of the week as long as the weather’s not too bad!
I did get some news of Francisco last night. He’s still in ICU but he’s more stable. He’s quite tubed-up and doped-up due to the pain so he’s only lucid for very very short periods. They’re keeping an eye on his pancreas and he’s being helped to breathe via an oxygen tent. The doctors have stated that he will recover. It will be a very long process, but he will get better.
I got a phone call from Line a little earlier this morning. She told me that Francisco
*sigh of frustration*
Any and all thoughts would be appreciated. I’ll make sure he gets them all.
After watching last night’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy, I had the following words bouncing around my head. I started writing them out as a Fast Fiction piece, but then realized I wasn’t writing a story as much as sharing a sentiment. Thus, although I kept the FF format, it’s more a “Fast Last Word” (or editorial) piece 🙂
Update:I decided to forego the 200 words and remove the “be a doer” ending because I agreed with the comment that it stopped the flow of the piece 🙂
What if the last time you saw your wife was the very last time you saw her?
What if that last time you saw her it was to kiss her softly on the forehead on your way to work as she slumbered peacefully in your bed?
And what if that peaceful slumber had come only after an evening of arguments, pain, and tears? How would you feel?
What if one day you woke up and realized that your world had turned upside down? Would it only be then that you lamented the fact that the last time you spoke with your loved one it was in anger and not followed by cuddling and reconciliation?
Do you need to wait for the worst to happen before you remember that you accepted them into your heart for better or for worse? When all is said and done, remembering the good times is a lot easier when the majority of the time you spend together is good.
Whenever you part, make sure you do it with no regrets and nothing left unsaid. Whether you leave for a week, a day, or even a few hours, let nothing burden your heart.
Just another little story I wanted to share 🙂
For Ben, the prospect of dying with his pants down around his ankles had never once entered his mind. It wasn’t, after all, an extremely popular way of going out.
“When I die, I want it to be quietly in my sleep, just like my grandfather,” he would often state, “not screaming in fear like his passengers!”
He wasn’t screaming in fear at the moment, but he wondered how long that would last. Already he felt its cold hand clutching at his chest, building the terror that demanded a vocalized release.
“Of all the gin-joints in this damned city, I had to come into the one that’s frequented by mobsters during a hit,” he whispered through gritted teeth, finally letting a tear drop.
He squeezed his legs in an effort to relax his muscles. The cramps were so severe his legs had gone numb. Falling on his face would do him no good now. His only option was to wait it out and hope someone would eventually walk in and see him.
Ben looked between his legs and into the bowl. The little red light continued to blink. “Booby-trapping a toilet is just wrong on so many levels,” he cried.
I’m exhausted today, I don’t know why. Must be all those interruptions of sleep… There’s only so much of that a body can take.
My mind is still a whirlwind of activity. A lot of it revolving around death (obviously), life and living (how we do it and the challenges thereof) and just an attempt at finding direction. You know the whole game of Destination and Journey, right? You know where you want to go and you just have to figure out a path. Or you know the path you want to walk and have to decide on a direction. Well, I’m on the first (i think). I know what I want out of life, I see the road I have to travel, but then I also see the path I would prefer to take. And, there are no tracks on that path – I have to make them. But the lighting just isn’t clear enough and I’m a little frightened about the steps.
Yes, I’m in the phase called “Transition” and it’s driving me batty. The main thing I’m focusing on right now is February 7th wherein a small vacation begins. It will do me an enormous amount of good to be able to switch my brain off and think only of family, relaxing, and reading. Maybe some writing (as Comicopia’s next deadline falls on the 15th so I have to prepare) but I’m not forcing it. This explains the last couple of Fast Fictions (by the way, I did change the ending of The Purchase. I think it flows better now)
Speaking of creative endeavours, The Shuster Awards Nominating Committee is currently deliberating the final names on the ballots. It’s a good process and everything needs to be finalized by end next week. Hmm. I guess I’m going to have to borrow my Uncle’s computer next Friday to do a final mail-check in the event there’s anything else pending. Anyhow, there will be some further news regarding the Awards coming up (including a more regular role for myself in future years).
By the way, for those who remember my dad’s retina problems of last year… my mom told me this past weekend that things got worse. He’s now effectively blind in one eye as it has degenerated more (even with the laser treatments) and he can only see shadows/shapes… Yeah, that left a hole in my gut.
And on that note, I’m off to battle another headache with the power of Advil Liqui-Gels…
