I'm going to make an effort to start actually writing here more, instead of just tossing in the occasional link-dump; I think my mental landscape is suffering from a certain lack of introspection. I used to keep meticulous paper journals; then I started keeping slightly-less-meticulous online journals; lately I've mostly been twittering. And while I actually really like twittering -- no one is more surprised than me -- it's overall not a progression I'd like to see continue.

In the Big News of our life, Flytrap #10 is printed and will mail to subscribers soon... and it'll be our last issue, probably forever, definitely for the foreseeable future. I plan to write a longer entry about Flytrap in general and our reasons for pulling the plug, but basically: Heather and I have full time jobs, and writing careers on the side, and, now, a kid -- and we just can't keep up with everything anymore. Something had to give, and our little 'zine with teeth is the victim. We're sad, but also a bit relieved. And issue #10 is an incredibly awesome issue; we ended on a high note. Details to follow in an entry later, probably Monday.

Tonight should be pretty incredible. For the first time in his life, our adorable baby will be spending the night away from us. His aunt offered to let Heather and I have a night out for ourselves, so Heather's dropping him off at her place this afternoon. We'll go to dinner, maybe see a movie, have some drinks, stay up late -- I can't wait. And we can both sleep in until the decadent hour of 9 a.m. Saturday morning, as Holly is dropping the kid off at 9:30. We haven't both slept until 9 a.m. in, well, over a year. We haven't been to see a movie together since Baby Brigade at the Parkway shut down six months ago. I vibrate with anticipation.

And next week, I get heaps of time off. The combination of my usual days off, the Thanksgiving holiday, and a couple of judiciously placed leftover vacation days means I'm off work for over a week. I go in next Monday, then I'm out for eight days in a row. What will I do with this crazy free time, apart from preparing and eating a vast Thanksgiving feast (followed by myriad sandwiches)? I will revise The Stolen State -- which I've decided to re-title The Nex, by the way. I'm excited about that. I also got an idea for another middle-grade book which I'm rather itching to write, and may do in longhand. Whee!

Of course, this new commitment to substance doesn't mean I won't have any links: Benjamin "Benny the Rose" Rosenbaum has started blogging about Tumbarumba, the art project he's doing with collaborator Ethan Ham, with contributions from me, Heather, Haddayr Copley-Woods, Mary Anne Mohanraj, David Moles, and other worthies. Check it out -- goes live on December 1.