Now that things have settled down a bit, I'll revert back to the usual format. I won't even attempt to recap our adventures over the last few weeks, but instead I'll talk a bit about this weekend and where I'm at writing-wise.

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We had an action-packed weekend, doing a lot of travelling and sightseeing. On Saturday we got up ultra-early and caught the 7am train to Chicago for the Wired NextFest on Navy Pier. The weather was quite nice in the morning, so we walked from the train station to Navy Pier. That took a bit over an hour.

We walked through Millenium Park, saw the 'spitting fountains' and the gardens, then went over the weird shaped thing that crosses over the road, through Grant Park, and eventually across the bridge over the Chicago River. Once at Navy Pier, we stopped for drinks. I noticed Batman Begins was playing at the IMAX theatre, but unfortunately all sessions were sold out by the time we got there (at 9:30 in the morning!).

They had the huge Festival Hall setup for NextFest, and there was a mindboggling assortment of technology on display. We got to see the Philip K. Dick robot up close, and it was eerie, the way it could track faces and look you in the eye. You could see all the mechanical and electronic bits poking out the back of its head, which was impressive. They handed around a microphone (they only allowed small groups in at a time to keep the noise out) and you could ask the robot a question. The AI was pretty decent because someone asked a question which resulted in a long response from the robot, and it sounded just like PKD (they did a good job capturing biographical info and references to his work). The voice wasn't his though--I've heard some audio recordings of PKD, but this was more like a generic male computer voice.

A few other things we saw: the Moller sky car, a water vehicle shaped like a dolphin, the NASA area, images projected onto fog, controlling a game (Quake 2) by using a treadmill and some handlebars, a Xerox thing where we got a souvenir of us as heat patterns on a fake Wired magazine cover, a big Motorola display, a Korean dancing robot, a big exhibition of GE products, cloned kittens, fancy GM hydrogen vehicles (I want one!), robot DJs, and over a hundred other amazing or strange things.

As if that wasn't enough, there were also three discussion panels throughout the day, each lasting about an hour (different scientists, roboticists, etc came up and talked about their work, with accompanying video). We went to all of those, which meant we were at the event nearly all day.

As the day progressed, the place got busier, so we were glad we got there early. We came away with a few goodies, including a few free issues of Wired magazine, a program book, fliers about various things including the Philip K. Dick robot, and a glowing blue Motorola necklace thing, among other things. As part of the admission we also got a 'free' subscription to the magazine.

We left Navy Pier around five, and caught a cab back to the train station. We got there just in time to catch the 5:30 train!

For dinner we had pizza at the same restaurant we went to last weekend with Carrie's aunts. I was hoping to see the new Batman flick afterward, but by the time we got home there was no way we would've got to it in time (the next session wasn't until late). Instead we went to Home Depot to buy a dehumidifier, more lawn fertilizer, and some other odds and ends. I watered the front lawn, and later tried out the dehumidifier. It's amazing how much moisture is in the air, especially in our basement.

On Sunday we drove to Illinois Beach State Park and went to--surprise!--the beach. It was surprisingly cool compared to the blast furnace that has been our house, and the water was freezing, so we didn't spend too long in there. The beach is quite rocky, which apparently is usual for Lake Michigan.

We had lunch there, and afterward Carrie edited my new story while I worked on an older one. We also got a bit sunburnt despite slathering on the sunscreen.

All in all, it was a great weekend!

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This week I'm taking Wednesday off for the air conditioning install, so hopefully that goes smoothly. We've been without aircon since moving in, but haven't really needed it until the past month or so. We can't wait! We've been dealing with the sweltering heat for far too long, and opening windows and using electric fans just doesn't cut it.

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On the writing front, I finished off a collab tale with another writer a few weeks ago, and we're currently deciding on how best to whip it into shape. I began another collaborative story on the critique group, but haven't had much time to devote to that lately. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to that one soon. But before I do, I need to finish fixing an old story and send it out by week's end.

I've had precious little time for writing lately (after a brief period of productivity), but that's the way it goes. Here's hoping I can get stuck into it again shortly :)

2005 Stats:

2005 Word count:	20,683
Stories written:	3
Total submissions:	11
Total acceptances:	0
Total rejections:	7
Waiting for response:	3
Books read:	7
Fiction Mags/Chapbooks read:	8
Audiobooks:	13

What I'm Reading:
Black Seas of Infinity, H.P. Lovecraft (SFBC collection)
The Iliad (unabridged), Homer (audiobook)
Locus January '05