I’ll keep this post simple:
The first draft of Subnetworks is complete!
I slowed down in June, but started rolling downhill in July: final word count for the month was 14,500. Final word count for the novel? Probably too long. But who cares? I finally finished it!
Is it normal, when you finish a novel, to feel like you should get like a month off from everything?
Wow, a crazy few days for our felines — especially Oslo. I’ll give you the short version since most readers here probably follow Jenn’s blog: earlier this week Oslo threw up a few hairbands. We took him to the emergency room late on Wednesday night and X-rays revealed that at some point he’d developed a habit of swallowing tiny foreign objects. Hairbands seemed to his favorite, but those weren’t the only inadvisable between-meal snacks he’d been ingesting.
So far he’s recovering quite well, and we’ve got him back home, where he’s resting comfortably. Here he is chilling on the cat tower after a dose of pain medicine:
Of course, our senstitive older cat Cairo reacted weirdly to the whole situation. His plaintive cries the night of the surgery, which translated for us to “Where’s my brother?,” gave way to a general freak-out when Oslo returned, smelling like a hospital. Cairo hid for hours and we don’t think he was eating or drinking. Then this morning he threw up, then totally lost his balance…his legs went out from under him and he couldn’t walk. A scary moment, but he rebounded quickly. We got him checked out just to be safe and he looks good now, is eating and behaving normally again. He’s even coming to terms with his brother’s shaved belly and odd scent. Here’s Cairo after his traumatic vet visit:
All in all, its been an exhausting, stressful, expensive few days. Hopefully both our boys are on the mend now!
Yesterday Jenn and I made a day trip down to the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park with our friends Samantha and Chris, who were visiting from out of town. This is my second trip to the park and I had just as much fun as the first time — it’s a great, huge place with tons of exhibits. Put on your walking shoes if you go, though! After several months that were considerably “more homebody” than usual, my body wasn’t sure to do with all that fresh air and exercise!
Some choice photos courtesy of Jenn:
This meerkat is on lookout duty while his buddies forage below.
Late in the day, the petting zoo animals crashed out in the shade...
Unlike most zoos I've been too, the elephants here have some space to roam.
An animal park visit is incomplete without a trip to the lorikeet feeding zone. They told us the birds weren't hungry, but they freaking mauled us in pursuit of nectar. Lies!
I thought about upgrading to a tanking pet, but thought Cairo and Oslo might object.
Our final stop as the park was closing, we spotted this lemur in commando mode, creeping stealthily at the edge of the water.
Another fun trip, and we had a great time catching up with friends and seeing all the exhibits. Check out the park if you’re ever in the neighborhood!
Random news and notes for a random Tuesday:
Finally, I didn’t post at the time, but Jenn did — earlier this month was Oslo’s first birthday. Happy birthday, Ozzie! Here he is, celebrating in true cat fashion…asleep.
This weekend our close friends Steven and Erin got married, and Jenn and I were both in the wedding party. It was a great ceremony and a wonderful time with a number of good friends, and we came away with some rare evidence of what we look like all spiffed up for a formal occasion:
Thanks to our good friend Bill for the photo (great to see you, Bill!) and best wishes to Erin and Steven!
Like a lot of people, I’ve been offline and a bit out of touch for the past week, away from work and enjoying a much-needed vacation! Jenn and I had a nice couple of days last weekend to relax together, then flew out to Buffalo (via Burbank and JFK) to spend Christmas with my family in Fredonia. Since last year’s travel plans fell apart spectacularly (bite me, Southwest!), we were worried about the winter storms on the Atlantic seaboard, but the weather cooperated perfectly for us. All of our flights left on time and arrived early. (Had we left a day earlier, we probably would have been screwed.) Plus, no LAX (always a bonus)! Of course the tickets were bloody expensive, but overall it was a pretty good travel experience.
Christmas in Fredonia (my first in three years) was quiet and relaxing, with unusually dull weather — some snow on the ground but no precipitation during the trip except rain and a brief flurry. We stayed holed up at home most of the time, playing games and spending time with the family. (Hey fellow Fredonians, sorry I missed you if you were in town!)
The trip was full of fantastic eating, including some East Family classics: sesame noodles, lasagna, great desserts, and our traditional Christmas grub: cinnamon rolls, Yorkshire pudding, and prime rib. And I think I drank more coffee last week than I usually do, which is really saying something. As for Christmas loot, I got some great stuff: new spy novels, DVDs, some nice shirts, and more.
I also managed to finish a new tune over the break; Jenn challenged me to write a Christmas song, but my attempt failed profoundly and morphed into a funky-Latin TV theme, “High Security,” about an elderly security guard who’s secretly a crime-fighting bad-ass. The “holiday bells” percussion loop that inspired the song ultimately landed on the cutting room floor.
Our plane left at Godawful O’Clock in the Morning a couple days ago and we stayed up most of the night streaming shows so we wouldn’t miss our plane. It made for an exhausting couple of days, but we made it home fine and it feels good to be back, with a little time to relax and readjust before getting back to work.
Here are a few Christmas photos to send off the season. Hope everyone’s had a great holiday-of-their-choice!
Jenn & I at Lake Erie
White Christmas
Buzzy!
It was kind of a long, rough week, so Saturday came as a welcome respite, and Jenn and I spent a busy and celebratory day together.
First we went to Jenn’s studio in Burbank for a screening party of the new Slangman’s World episodes. For those who aren’t aware, Jenn has been writing and voice-acting for this animated kids’ show, the next incarnation of which is debuting on Georgia Public Broadcasting tomorrow. The new shows are a blast and it’s an exciting time for the studio as they anticipate further production.
Then we drove south to the Staples Center in downtown LA to watch the home opener for the Los Angeles Kings. We’ve never had so much fun watching our team get destroyed. The visiting Phoenix Coyotes, a team in financial disarray and with its ultimate future still in limbo, shredded our defense to win 6-3. Decked out in our home blacks, we had fun anyway, and both of our jersey picks — Alexander Frolov and Anze Kopitar — scored goals, leading us to conclude that had we just worn four more jerseys, we might have pulled this one out! Better luck next time, fellas…
In the aftermath of this busy and exhausting day, we stayed holed up at home on Sunday writing, drinking coffee, napping, watching TV, and generally chilling with the cats. I also joined my first-ever World of Warcraft PuG raid, an overpowered Molten Core run this morning. I usually hate pick-up groups but for some reason I got talked into this one, and had fun. I also came out of it with this awesome screenshot of my orc taking aim at the final boss:
Overall a great weekend, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Life should always be all weekend-y!
Random, recent observations…
And speaking of Facebook, Oslo is now a proud member of Catbook…here he is chilling on the piece of cat furniture we’ve taken to calling “the Lounge.”
Ozzie in the Lounge
Last time I mentioned the new kitten, we were still half-calling him “Arthur,” and he and Cairo weren’t on speaking terms. But things have changed in the last couple of weeks!
The new guy’s name is now Oslo, in keeping with our city theme — we also call him Oz, Ozzie, and (on special occasions) Ozymandias. (sp?) Another name that was in contention was “Deke,” and really, we could easily call him that for how often he fakes us out with his unpredictable moves.
Ozzie is still small enough to fit in the palm of my hand:
And after some initial reluctance, it definitely looks like Cairo has accepted his “little brother” into the family! For those of you who missed Jenn’s great post (complete with combat video!), here are some more pictures of our two dudes hanging out together.
Dinner Time
Wary napping
Sharing a beverage
An eventful and enjoyable Sunday!
I spent most of the day down in West Hollywood reminiscing with old high school friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen for twenty years! Not too long ago, in my hometown of Fredonia, a class reunion was held but many of us on the west coast couldn’t make it. We did our best to make up for it yesterday and I had a lot of fun catching up and sharing stories of our western New York roots. It still amazes me, years later, how lucky I was to grow up in a town full of so many creative, interesting, fun people — I so took it for granted back then. Heya folks: let’s do that again sometime soon!
From old friends to new: Jenn and I adopted a new kitten! So far we haven’t officially named him, but for now he’s “Arthur” (the name his foster mom gave him):
“Arthur” is a friendly and curious fellow who will purr at the drop of a hat. He’s adapting quickly and nicely to his new home. Sadly, the same can’t be said for our four-year-old cat Cairo, who isn’t terribly happy about having to share his house with a new stepbrother. We’re hoping in time the two dudes will start hanging out, but for now, we’ve got them in separate rooms and are hoping to integrate them gradually into each other’s lives. It will take time, but I think it will work out eventually!