*diez*

  Okay, random post here– just, massively random.  I spent two days in San Diego with Rhys Ford and enjoyed the holy hell out of myself. However, there must needs be the return home to the lovely family, and the celebration of mine and Mate’s birthdays, and, well…

*whew*

So here we go.  Random shit in random order.

*  Ethan in Gold is coming out in two days.  I’m thrilled, and it’s already getting reviews.  I’ll post my big “Yay, it’s a book!” post on Friday, along with links to everybody’s reviews. I’m pleased so far– like I’ll tell you all Friday, Ethan was really hard on me.  I think the pain was worth it, but oi!

*  I finished a novella called Shiny! that I guarantee was angst free.  I might also add another 15k to it to make it a novel– I’ll see if Elizabeth likes it short or wants it long.  (It’s all for her– lady’s choice.)

*  I posted my Amy’s Lane article and crossposted on my website.  It’s a “teaching” post, and I enjoyed writing it very much! Jumping the Figurative Gap— check the link and see what it’s about!

*  We visited an alpaca farm in San Diego!  Do you see the cria?  Isn’t he adorable?  The guy with his head cut off in the picture was a crack up– he was such a little piggy.  He wandered around the pen whining “hyum… hyun… hyun…”  until we fed him some hay just to make him feel better.  I got a two teddy bears there for Squish and  Chicken.  Squish’s is just cool– all brown alpaca, including nappy curly fur on his ass.  Chicken’s has a treasure trail.  See that picture?  She’s embarrassed– she begged for that bear!

*  I sat and watched Star Trek: Into Darkness with Chicken, Rhys, and Jenn.  There is something profoundly gratifying about sharing a moment with people who will look at a scene with Carl Urban, Chris Pine, and Benedict Cumberbach and say, “Wow.  The only thing that would make this scene better is would be if everybody was naked.”

*  The woman sitting next to me on the plane had her dog with her.  She had a doctor’s note that said the dog  was necessary to make her chill out, but I think it was just an excuse to be able to cuddle with the dog.  But seriously– I have never seen a dog this chill, so maybe it was just an amicable arrangement, right?  (I thought about getting a doc’s note for Johnnie, but the thought of that dog riding in my shirt for thousands of miles made me think better of it.

*  Mate did wonderful things for my birthday.  He cleaned my car (and no, I won’t go into details.  Too gross for words.)  And he got me presents, and I got pizza and a cake for him, and a “I Aim to Misbehave” T-shirt.  I hope it was enough– he is a most excellent Mate and I appreciate him muchly.

*  And I’ll probably have more to talk about later–honestly, I’m still recovering.  I’m starting to realize that sleep is something I run perilously short on if I’m not careful.  I think I’ll finish birthday weekend with an early trip to bed.