Yesterday I didn't write a real journal entry because horribly, tragically, I woke up with the stomach bug Patrick had gotten last week! (I had felt so convinced that I wouldn't get it, that the possible contagion period had passed, and I was out of danger...sigh. I was wrong.) So not only did I feel horrible enough not to want to type up an entry, but I didn't think you guys would want to read whatever I would have written. It was a wasted day spent moaning and surfing YouTube. Sigh.

But! After being sensible and starving myself yesterday (well, not quite, but eating incredibly bland food - plain pasta, plain toast, etc., which FELT like starvation), I woke up this morning feeling much, much better. So I'm back!

And I came back to find the coolest surprise on the internet: Steven Brust has just posted a Firefly fanfic novel! (And it really is a full, if short, novel - it's 166 pages in the MS Word version I downloaded.) I'm not usually a reader of fanfic, but since Steven Brust is one of my favorite writers, and Firefly is one of my favorite TV shows, I downloaded this one like a shot. I've only read the opening so far, but I really liked that and I'm excited about getting to read the rest. You can download My Own Kind of Freedom here.

Also, via my friend Vickie, I just found out that Tara Hanish Klein, a cellist from our high school (East Lansing High School), is one of the three finalists in the "My Grammy Moment" contest, which anyone can vote in. She graduated in '98, 4 years after me, so I never knew her (although at least one of my brothers might have), but I would have thought that was cool anyway, since I played in the ELHS orchestra through most of my years in high school. As Vickie put it, though,

"Klein, a cellist, faces two violinists..." should be enough to sway any orchestra geek (who doesn't play the violin*).

Violinists always win the any-instrument-can-enter competitions (and the biggest conservatory scholarships). So...take that as you will! You can vote here or here.

And today was an exciting day for me and Maya because the doorbell rang twice with a total of three packages being delivered! Maya raced to the door with total joy to help me get the packages, and afterwards, she hung over me as I opened them (only skittering back when the ripping tape made loud cracking noises). Those of us who work at home have simple pleasures in life...