We just got back from a nice dinner with some of Carrie's co-workers at a nearby restaurant. We'd been to this place several times before, but it seems the portion sizes are bigger these days! Either that, or we're forgetting what it was like the last time we went. Not that I'm complaining too much -- it's like two meals in one and I've got leftovers for tomorrow :)

You may have noticed I've been posting journal entries less frequently than in the past. This is partly a result of the holidays, and partly because I've been trying to cut back on the amount of time I spend online. These computers will eat up all your time if you let them, and it gets frustrating sometimes when I realize I've just wasted a couple of hours online. I can't entirely avoid it because the daily job-hunt takes a fair bit of time online, but I do think I sometimes spend too much time on here when I could be doing something more productive (like writing, for instance).

In addition to writing fewer journal entries, I'm also going to try to avoid talking too much about writing goals and progress. I will update the journal with this sort of stuff (it is supposed to be a writing journal, after all!), but I just won't do so as frequently. Lately it seems I talk a lot about what I'm planning and come up with all sorts of goals and ideas, but I end up completely jinxing things. It remains to be seen whether this course of action will help pull me out of my current writing slump...

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I finished reading the September issue of Asimov's yesterday. This issue has a lot of good stuff, but as always I enjoyed some stories more than others. My favourite stories for this issue were Looking through Lace by Ruth Nestvold (a team of xenolinguists and sociologists attempt to decipher an alien culture), Off on a Starship by William Barton (UFO adventure with an old-school SF perspective), and The Long Way Home by James Van Pelt (breathes new life into the well-worn post-apocalyptic SF theme). Now onto the double issue!

Today I stopped by the Talebones website to see what was new and found that there's a new issue out! Needless to say, I ordered it on the spot :) If you haven't had the pleasure of reading this fine magazine, get thee over to their website pronto!

While I was online, I also placed an order for a pocket-sized Moleskine notebook. I've been meaning to get a notebook (paper, not electronic) for quite some time and after reading about these nifty things on some other journals, I decided that now is the time! I do most of my writing on a clunky laptop and use scraps of paper to take quick notes, so a notebook should help reduce clutter and provide more portability, not to mention reducing aggravation (paper-based notebooks can't crash). Besides, how can I call myself a writer if I don't putter with the pen every so often ;)

What I'm Reading:
Asimov's Science Fiction, October/November 2003