This weekend was cold and overcast, so we mostly just stayed indoors, with occasional forays outdoors to do some shopping. We browsed in Barnes and Noble on Saturday, and I had a gander at the Lord of the Rings box set and The Hobbit, both editions illustrated by Alan Lee. They look rather nice, so they're both on the must-buy-soon list. I don't actually have a copy of either, having last read library editions when I was 15 or 16.

We also checked out a shoe store and Sam's Club, where we did some grocery shopping. While there we picked up a copy of The Sims : Bustin' Out for the X-Box, which Carrie has been playing for hours ever since :)

After going out to dinner, we stopped off at the pet store and got a new plant for the fish tank and 5 orange Von Rio tetras to keep our other fish company. One of the new ones has perished already, most probably thanks to the frog whom we suspect has been responsible for a number of fish disappearances in the past.

Today I continued labelling New Orleans photos online, burned a CD, and created a New Orleans photo montage which I printed onto the CD surface. Looks very schnazzy :) I was hoping to have posted a summary of the trip by now along with selected photos, but I haven't had the time.

I finally managed to do some reading over the course of last week after a long drought. I had a look through Art of Imagination, which has a lot of interesting magazine and book covers for genre fiction. I'm keen to read through the accompanying text, but that'll have to wait until I'm done with other stuff in the reading pile.

I finished reading issue #2 of Flytrap this weekend, and I was very impressed! The high standard set by issue #1 continues, with not a weak story among the bunch. My favourite stories this issue were The Labyrinth Tourist by Rudi Dornemann (an account of a strange holiday in a labyrinthine city), The Ideas by David Moles (writers will most appreciate this one), You're Only Insane Girl Twice by John Sullivan (disorder or metaphor--you decide), and Ginny's Death by Kristin Livdahl (an emotional tale of a woman who can see Death). There's also a nice selection of poems, and some interesting articles. Also returning are the intriguing Excerpts from the Book of Dead Beginnings snippets (which look like they might be extracts from Tim Pratt's writing journal?), and Automatic Writing (stream of consciousness stuff). I'm looking forward to reading issue #3, which awaits on the shelf :)

I've been a bit down lately about my writing. I've been unmotivated and despairing about the whole enterprise, wondering why I can't seem to just sit down and write. It probably doesn't help that for the first time in nearly two years, I don't have any stories doing the rounds! I was fairly productive up until the end of May, and I've been stunningly unproductive ever since. Granted, it has been a tumultuous time, starting a new job and buying a house, but I still feel as if I should've found time to write and could've progressed so much further than I have. I don't know what to do about it, other than cross my fingers and hope for the best *sigh*

What I'm Reading:
Science Fiction 101 by Robert Silverberg
Analog Science Fiction & Fact, October 2003