Reading: e*I*39- (Vol. 7 No. 4) August 2008
Music: Pendragon
TV/Movie: Moby Dick (the John Huston version w/ Gregory Peck)
Link o' the Day: Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA)

A nice, relaxing weekend. Just what the doctor ordered. (My doctor rocks).

Pretty Maggie and I went up to Brockton Saturday night for a friend's 55th birthday party. Lots of people and lots of food. I'm pleased to note that my peanut butter-chocolate cookies were a hit. (And they're dairy-free!)

Sunday we visited the Johnston Apple Festival which, like last year, had maybe one booth that was apple-themed. Still, amidst the bad costume jewelry, Red Sox plaques and gutter-installation booths, we managed to find a couple of neat things. We're both fans of handmade soaps. One bar I bought claims to be "Coffee flavored". We'll see. I found something nice for my mother-in-law for Christmas, and we got some herb & oil concoctions to use as bread dip.

Later that day I went over to Wards Pub for the weekly Irish trad session. I finally met Al Brown whom I've met previously only online at TheSession.org, a website/message board devoted to Irish trad music. I was quite surprised to learn that Al also knew my name from a story I had published a few years ago in Sharon Lee & Steve Miller's anthology Low Port called "Digger Don't Take No Requests" (a story about a street musician on the moon). Al himself has had a few SF stories published as well, including a couple with some of Jerry Pournelle's military SF anthologies.

It was a good night for tunes. I tried out some of the newer ones I picked up over the past week, and have a couple of more new ones to learn. I also got to listen to Pendragon's newest CD "Still Standing" which celebrate's Rhode Island's favorite Celtic band's 25th year.

I got a bit of a surprise when I learned that Rhode Island governor Don "the Don" Carcieri had come to listen to us play that night. He was but a few tables away. I'm no fan of the governor. He's like a mini George Bush, but without the excuse of willful stupidity. There are times he seems openly hostile to the people he governs. It's bizarre. But like most politicians, he's very amiable in person and I kept my tongue still for the sake of the other musicians and the pub's owners. While it's not custom, he left a sizable tip for the musicians. My share is going to a friend who does charity work around the holidays.

But aside from that, it was a good night and I'm already looking forward to next week.

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A lot of work coming up this week. I have a couple of deadlines hovering over me, but it looks like I should be able to handle it. I have a couple of new stories in the works, and hope I can squeeze in time to work on those more as well. I typically do my freelance during the days, and try to leave my evenings more open. Lately I've been using the evenings to either play music, draw, or play WoW. I should be able to shuffle things around and get some new stories out the mails in a week or two.

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So facebook lets me import my webjournal, and apparently journalscape is RSS friendly. Tres cool! One other thing I did over the weekend was build my facebook network. Most of my friends on facebook are from the writing world and from fandom, but I've made some pleasantly unexpected contacts from old friends as well. I'm going to try to take advantage of this and explore more.

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Today's link goes to the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association (RISAA) website. It's a useful starting place for saltwater fishermen in the Ocean State and even addresses topics important to us pier fishers. They hold a number events throughout the year including community events and environmental cleanup projects. If saltwater fishing is your bag, or you're a Rhode Islander who's curious, by all mean, check 'em out.

Cheers!