We had another busy weekend, but unfortunately writing time was not part of it! Earlier in the week I'd ordered a telescope (an Orion XT10 Intelliscope) and accessories, and surprise, surprise, it was due to arrive on Saturday. I couldn't wait any longer, especially considering Mars is supposed to be quite close to Earth throughout October. If we get some clear nights, I should be able to take advantage of the astronomy club's dark sky sites and see a lot more than out here in suburbia.

We stayed home on Saturday waiting for the delivery, which didn't arrive until 7pm, as it turned out. I didn't realize FedEx delivered so late! Meanwhile we spent the day mowing the lawn, watering plants, and pulling out some of the ivy runners near the back that were going into the lawn. I was hoping to do some lawn re-seeding, but we ran out of time on Saturday and it was rainy all Sunday. I also finished doing some paintwork on Carrie's old car.

After we got back from dinner at the Outback steakhouse, I put the telescope base together, then balanced the tube in it and familiarized myself with the lenses etc. It's quite big, but still manageable. I got some odds and ends with it, including some lenses (10mm & 25mm Sirius Plossls, a ScopeTronix Maxview 40mm for use with my digital camera, and an Orion ShortyPlus 2x Barlow), a digital camera adapter, filters, a solar filter that fits over the end of the telescope, a Telrad (1x sighting device), and a carry case for the tube, among other things. It also came with the Starry Night and TheSky planetarium software which I can use to print star maps and figure out what to see.

By the time I finished putting everything together, it was early morning (around 2am), and I decided to go outside and try it out. It was a fairly clear night with no moon, so there were a lot more stars visible than usual. I didn't have a clear plan for observing, but I had hoped to see Mars and possibly some deep space objects. I saw what I thought was a nebula or star cluster, and there was a really bright star I wanted to take a closer look at. I used the 25mm eyepiece on it, but it was hard to line the telescope up with the finder scope and keep the star in view. It just looked like a star when I looked in the eyepiece, so I got a higher powered eyepiece (10mm) and a barlow (2x magnification) to take a closer look.

Well, my observing was cut short (around 3am) by the arrival of a raccoon! I heard movement over by the woodpile in the corner of our yard, so I got my torch and shone it across the lawn. Staring back at me from the darkness was a pair of beady eyes! This raccoon had absolutely no fear, despite me stamping my feet and growling at it. It came right up to the critter food we put out near the birdfeeders, and it looked like it might've been curious enough to come up to where I stood just outside the back door! I grabbed a piece of wood inside the garage and waved it around and growled at the thing. He backed off a bit, but not quick enough for my liking. I threw the wood toward him, missing by a mile, but it had the intended effect and he scuttled off into the night.

I was getting extremely tired by that stage, so I spent a few more minutes looking at stars and tried to line up a satellite (it was moving too fast), then I packed everything away and put the telescope in the garage.

That was early Sunday morning. Since then we've had lots of rain, thunderstorms, and cloudy skies. So it goes :)

I slept in on Sunday, then felt pretty crook in the afternoon. I'm not sure whether that was due to my late night stargazing, or something I ate. Based on how I've felt over the past few days, I'd say it was the latter. I consoled myself by watching Raging Bull, which was a good deal better than the last De Niro flick I'd seen (Analyze That).

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There hasn't been much progress on the writing front lately (is there ever?). Keeping Time is still in the editing stage, but I'm hoping I'll be able to address the flaws without spending too much time on it. The collab project continues, with the ball in my court (we're taking a back and forth approach). I also need to dash off a short piece over the next couple of days to get back into the habit, and to keep the bloke in Oz entertained ;) Then there's the fast-approaching anthology deadline, for which I have a handful of ideas, but none are particularly inspiring. I'll need to burn the midnight oil if I hope to submit a piece to that one in time.

Looking back over my writing notes from previous years, it seems I've entered the seasonal period of slow writing progress for this year. Whether it's the change of seasons, or a weariness that sets in as the year winds down, I'm not sure. Whatever the cause, it plays havoc with my writing goals.

Maybe this year I can break the cycle, writing a sustained burst of fiction for the remainder of the year. Here's hoping ;)

2005 Stats:

2005 Word count:	26,104
Stories written:	5
Total submissions:	33
Total acceptances:	0
Total rejections:	26
Waiting for response:	6
Books read:	9
Fiction Mags/Chapbooks read:	8
Audiobooks:	51

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
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge and Other Stories, Ambrose Bierce (audiobook)
Locus January '05 (I'm waaaay behind)
Astronomy September '05, and Sky & Telescope September '05