A Penny For My Thoughts

Today, the story-telling game I've been working (slowly) on for the last two years is shipping from the warehouse to customers. My comp copies arrived last week, and I'm amazed at how an idea that started as some notes scribbled in the back of a bus has turned into a tangible thing. I'm a little overwhelmed by the whole process, so I'm not really sure what else to say. You can read more about it, check out the promotional website, or order a copy.

Also: Woot!

Listen To The Cookie

I have a weakness for mediocre Chinese buffets. While there are downsides to this failing, the advantage is that I get to enjoy fortune cookie fortunes often. I suspect I'm not alone in being unable to read a fortune without mentally adding the words "...in bed." (For any Green Hills Software engineers, current or alums, who happen to be reading, I also occasionally amuse myself by adding "...while using the Service Router.") With this in mind, the fortunes that have accumulated on my bedside table recently range from the slightly funny ("Don't worry about the stock market. Invest in family.") to the fairly amusing  ("You will receive an unexpected gift from an acquaintance.") to the absurd ("You would prosper in the field of wacky inventions.").

Sometimes, though, the cookies are on to something. On Thursday, I was in the middle of pushing forward on some of my plans for the project I'm managing at work. I was meeting with some resistance, so I decided to get out of the office for a bit and grab an early lunch by myself. I was worked up and nervous, and I had hard time concentrating. I spent most of lunch working through my reasons and questioning whether or not this was the right thing do. At the end of the meal, just as I was getting ready to head back to work, I opened up my cookie and read the fortune inside.

"Assert yourself, your ideas are worthwhile at this time."

Read Down The Wind

Every so often I have the honor (and pleasure) of narrating a story for PodCastle (or their big sister, Escape Pod). This week they released The Dreaming Wind by Jeffrey Ford, which I recorded for them back in December. I almost forgotten about it, and it turns out I wasn't the only one. Due to an editorial mixup, they ended up getting two recordings of the story, one by myself and one by Rajan Khanna, and they posted them both. Whichever of the two versions you prefer, I'm glad I was able to read another story for them, and I hope I get the chance to do another one soon.

Lacking Sleep, But Home

Gwen and I were able to return home yesterday. The house is fine, if a bit covered in ash. I ended up working a shift at the Red Cross shelter out at UCSB last night, and despite my morning-long nap I'm still tired. We're all glad to be home though, and by tomorrow things should be back to normal.

Lacking Sleep, But Ok

Last night, as the Jesusita Fire burned rapidly to the west, Gwen, the cats, and I left our house to go stay with our friends Roy and Michelle. They eventually ordered an evacuation for our house, but we were long gone by then. So far as we know, the first hasn't gotten anywhere near our house yet. The fire was very unpredictable yesterday, so they were very aggressive about ordering evacuations. Hopefully we'll find out more about what's going on today, but the bottom line is that we're safe.