Wow, there sure are a lot of cobwebs around here, aren't there ;) This is probably the longest gap between entries ever, if you consider the last two were a bit of a break from the usual format. While I've been occupied with the usual house stuff and weekend adventures, there have also been a couple of other reasons for the long hiatus. Let the mammoth entry begin!

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I haven't really felt much like updating lately, preferring instead to concentrate on my writing instead. Well, that hasn't exactly been the marvellous productivity booster I was hoping for! I did get off to a good start though, finishing two stories in the space of a week in late July / early August. One of those is busily doing the rounds, while the other is currently undergoing some last minute editing before I send it out. I'm excited about a number of other writing projects, the majority of which are currently vague ideas or themes requiring some thought. Over the coming weeks I'll be whipping one collab story into shape (it needs to be a good deal leaner), and hopefully getting another one back into gear (I was a bit too clever with my instalment!). I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it all again :)

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The week before last we went to the northern reaches of Michigan with Carrie's parents for a whole week, and we had a wonderful time! I'm currently involved with the unenviable task of labelling and uploading almost 400 photos from the trip, which is still 150 less than I actually took. Aren't digital cameras great :)

We had a mostly relaxing time, but we still did our fair share of sightseeing. There's no way I can describe it all here, so you'll have to be content with a brief summary :)

We saw lighthouses, went to the beach a few times, saw a 240-year old windmill in Holland, MI, played mini-golf, went on a picturesque drive through the dunes with stops along the way, stayed at a ski resort for a week, stayed on Mackinac Island for 24 hrs and saw the fort, rode bikes around the entire island (8 miles), got a carriage ride, ate fudge, went hiking, and did some stargazing with a rickety old telescope, among other things.

We stayed at the Crystal Mountain Ski Resort for most of the week. That's about 30 miles south of Traverse City, which makes it an ideal home base for excursions around the coast. Before that we were in Holland (Michigan) for a day, and had dinner with Carrie's friend in Grand Rapids the previous evening.

Later in the week we stayed at an old hotel on Mackinac Island, taking a passenger ferry across from Mackinaw City. That's an amazing and picturesque place that I highly recommend for anyone planning a trip out that way. No cars are allowed on the island; only bikes and horses. It's almost like taking a trip back in time, which is probably why they filmed that Christopher Reeve movie, Somewhere in Time, there. It's very scenic, although you do have to be prepared for the rich aroma of horse manure and fudge in the downtown area ;)

We ran out of time to visit the Upper Peninsula this time around, but that'll definitely be on the itinerary on a future trip. So there you have it--Northern Michigan is a great holiday destination you should make a point of visiting at least once.

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Ever since we got back from the trip, we've been in a state of shock. We knew a hurricane was working its way towards Louisiana, but we were not prepared for the devastation after it hit. It is still hard to believe that New Orleans has practically been wiped off the map, along with the coastal regions of Mississippi and Alabama.

What makes it especially difficult is that we went to New Orleans for a week last year for our wedding anniversary, and we absolutely loved the place and the people. There's so much history there, and it's so unique we still talk about it and read about it, and wish we could go back. Unfortunately that doesn't look like it'll be on the cards anytime soon.

Mingled with the feelings of sorrow and disbelief is an undercurrent of anger and disgust. I simply can't understand the level of disorganization in the days following the disaster. I'm not sure whether it was because of poor communication or incompetence. I guess we'll find out in the weeks and months ahead.

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On a more upbeat note, I've been listening to a lot of Escape Pod lately. In case you've never heard of it, Escape Pod is one of those new-fangled podcasts, which is really just a fancy name for a downloadable internet radio show. The 'pod' bit comes from the common usage, being to whack the audio files on your portable music player of choice (an iPod, for instance) to listen to on your way to work or wherever.

The big draw for Escape Pod is the science fiction, and there's some great stuff on there. Each week they read a different story, sometimes with some additional flash fiction pieces thrown in, and the occasional book review. Host Steve Eley introduces each tale, and usually has plenty of interesting and informative things to say at the opening of each show.

The quality of these podcasts is consistently high, quite often surpassing even that of commercial audiobook productions. They pay all their authors, and all stories are published in audio form under a Creative Commons license. In order to continue their fine podcasts, they gratefully accept donations from listeners. Throw a few bucks their way if you like what you hear! Until the 8th they're passing along all donations to the Red Cross to go toward Hurricane relief, so keep that in mind, too.

Oh, and I noticed more than a few fellow Journalscapers have stories on there, along with a member of my critique group (Hi Josh!). Thanks all for making my morning and evening commutes pass quickly :) Now I must listen to Homer's The Odyssey while I await my next Escape Pod fix....

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You may recall I mentioned getting into astronomy several entries back. Well, I ended up joining an astronomy club in the area, and have been to a couple of the monthly meetings. They're a friendly and knowledgeable bunch, and I've been most impressed by the presentations thus far. The first one we went to was all about the Sun, while the second discussed light pollution. These guys knew their stuff, and both presentations wouldn't seem out of place on something like PBS!

They have weekly observing events, although I haven't found the time to make it to one so far. I'm still scraping together funds for a telescope, so meanwhile I've been content to just stargaze with binoculars. I got a nice view of the Milky Way from our backyard on a particularly clear night, which was surprising because normally light pollution or clouds make it difficult to see much. I also got up around 3am one morning in early August to watch the Perseid meteor shower, but the sky was filled with clouds. Drat! Maybe there'll be another one sometime soon.

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Stories continue to do the rounds, as seen by the stats below. I was up to having 7 out there at one stage, but that's dropped a little in the past week as some have boomeranged back and haven't yet been sent out again. I've still got some older tales to polish up, so hopefully I can take the tally past ten within the next month or two.

Now I better get back to that last minute editing I mentioned earlier. Later!

2005 Stats:

2005 Word count:	26,104
Stories written:	5
Total submissions:	27
Total acceptances:	0
Total rejections:	21
Waiting for response:	5
Books read:	7
Fiction Mags/Chapbooks read:	8
Audiobooks:	44 (each Escape Pod counts as one, right?)

What I'm Reading:
Black Seas of Infinity, H.P. Lovecraft (SFBC collection)
Star Ware: The Amateur Astronomer's Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Buying, & Using Telescopes and Accessories, Philip S. Harrington
The Odyssey, Homer (audiobook)
Locus January '05
Astronomy September '05, and Sky & Telescope September '05