I’m not sure if it’s the wintry weather and the slow death of autumn or the recent passing of WFC2009 (which I did not attend, regrettably), but I’ve been missing my friends from abroad lately. Well, more than usual anyway. I’ve countered this somewhat by confirming I will be at Wiscon 24 in May–which I’m very excited about since I’ve never been able to make it before.

I’ve also countered this sudden malaise by uploading a quick little video I shot while out in old town Montreal during Worldcon 2009. We were needing a break from the chaos of the con and decided to go cupcakery hunting and sightseeing.

We found cupcakes:

We found a place to eat them:

And we found a place to make a quick video:

Also, we were actually quick sober during the making of this film–unless you count being high on sugary cupcake goodness.

It wasn’t until later that we hit the tequila.

Got back late last night from one of the best conventions ever, Worldon09 in Montreal. I will explain why I say “best con ever” in my “Con Report”, which will be forthcoming once I go through the photos and get things in order.

Got to reunite with and meet a ton of awesome people, and eat a ton of amazing food.

But right now I feel like I’m the star of a stop-motion video as everything whips past me, my brain all filled with vertigo. I think the sleepless, party-crazy nights have caught up with me.

Early to bed tonight, methinks.

Tomorrow morning I’m off to Worldcon09 (Anticipation) in wonderful Montreal. I’ve been looking forward to this since Montreal won the bid.

I’m pretty much packed and need to get to bed, but thought I’d do a quick blog post and double-check flight info etc.

Hope to see some of you there!

Because all the cool kids are doing it, here is my WorldCon 2009 schedule:

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Did you get it all? Here, let me post it one more time:

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There you go. That’s right, I don’t have a schedule! This may be the last time I get to attend a worldcon without one, so I’m going to enjoy the freedom and run around like a decapitated chicken.

If you want to find me to say hello, I’ll be in the bar.

With Anticipation, the 67th Worldcon just around the corner, and about one month to the day when I will arrive, I thought I’d do a quick Worldcon roll call.

So, are YOU going to Worldcon?

If so, hope to see you there.

Ah yes, June 1st marks the start of summer to me. May is just a tease with the odd nice day, but June, yes June is when the real summery weather comes. Well, it is supposed to anyway. It is bloody frigid out today, and raining. But usually, today is the day. Don’t let me down June.

And with summer weather comes summer diets. Earlier this year–January I think–I gave up fast food for a month before I went on a cruise. I was able to do it–and I survived. It helps I am not a fast food addict, and I don’t crave it all the time or very regularly for that matter. Sure, I like the odd item here and there like most people, but I’m not going to go all Big Mac Attack or antything.

So to spice things up as I get ready for the beach and making public appearances at Worldcon in August, I am going to stop eating fast food again with one exception. If the fast food restaurant offers a “healthy choice” menu, meaning whole grains, grilled items, etc., then I may cautiously indulge. If not, then no can do. No Big Macs for me, no chicken nuggets or deep-fried fishy sandwiches.

Which brings me to the “upping the ante” part: I am also going to stop eating deep-fried food. At least until September–just to see if I can do it. This one will be slightly harder than the fast food avoidance measure, as dining out at decent restaurants could be affected. Lots of sides and appetizers have deep-friend components. But I must remain steadfast. I think I can do it, and I will report back September 1st so you can see how I made out. If I fail, then I will post about it too. But don’t count on it.

All this bad food avoidance, coupled with the gym, and I should be well on my way to–well, I don’t know. Somewhere good I guess.

And no, I will not stop drinking alcohol. Nice try.

So I’m sitting here watching Ghostbusters and I thought I’d take a moment from trying to not cross the streams to do some random updatery. It’s been a very hectic week with the day job–a week where it came and went in a blink, and so I didn’t have much time to blog or keep up with other things.

On Sunday I’m off to Seattle for a week on business. I’m already missing my girls and I haven’t even packed yet. But at least I get to visit friends while I’m there which is always a plus. Work will keep me busy too, so the time will go by quickly.

The 2009 Hugo Award Nominees were listed the other day. My congrats go out to everyone nominated. It’s always cool to see friends and acquaintances nominated, and with WorldCon in Montreal this year (yes, I will be in attendance), it’ll prove to be quite the conference and awards ceremony.

Work on VIOLET has been put temporarily on hold while I finalize a couple synopses for a series I was working on. I need to wrap that up before I can get back into the current WIP.

Hopefully I can get some reading done next week as well. The long 5-hour flights will help with that.

Time to watch Stay Puft go pop.