Good morning, Readers!

2017 has been hard, but it's not over yet, so I'm not looking back at it.  Not yet.

That said, this weekend was great.  Saturday I taught my martial arts classes, and then in the evening went to my Kung Fu school's annual Christmas party.  There were people there I have not seen in a while (hey, Harrison and Jon!), and it was lovely to have them around for a little bit.  I've missed them a lot, and though I didn't get a chance to speak much with them, just seeing them was wonderful.

My stupidly talented Kung Fu sister, Caroline, entertained us with music after we had eaten our fill.  As is typical of my dumb self, I ate so much I gave myself a bellyache.  Word to the wise, don't skip lunch if you're going out to a buffet dinner.  You will regret the amount of food you shove into your gullet.

Or maybe that's just me.

It was great.  There was dancing after dinner, but I was recovering from a cold and was only just feeling myself, so I figured home and bed was best for me.  I'm sad that I missed the fun, but I would not have lasted on the dance floor.

Sunday we filmed the last Nights at the Round Table episodes for the year.  I edited them together Sunday evening, and so they will be live this week (today and Wednesday).  It was great to see everyone again, and to laugh about stuff.  I'm really stupidly lucky with the friends I have.

That was my weekend.  How was yours?

​Let me know in the comments.

Good morning, Readers!

Today, I overslept all three of my alarms.

All three.

I leapt out of bed, much to the irritation of Galahad, who was happily purring beside me, and rushed around the house like a madwoman, getting ready for work.

I did it.  I managed to get to work a mere two minutes late.  I'm impressed with me.  I honestly wish I was still in bed, though.  I'm not in the best state.  I'm fatigued, have a monster headache, and am pretty stuffed up.  I honestly just want to be back in bed, sleeping.  Maybe I'll be able to catch a few minutes of napping during lunch hour today.

As far as days go, it's just one of many.  A perfectly ordinary day, if a little stressful.

That's really more or less the point.  Every day is relatively ordinary.  There isn't really anything magical about any profession.  Even the ones that seem like they'd be glamorous and exciting.  You see, generally, just the carefully curated lives, the sanitised, highly edited glimpses into worlds you don't really know anything about.  What you don't see is the other stuff.  The hours of travelling in uncomfortable, cramped places.  The lack of privacy.  The long hours of work just for that perfect moment.  That stuff is kept hidden.

The image is skewed.

Life, no matter what you're doing with it, is always quite ordinary.

Even if people are carefully editing it to make it look something other than ordinary.

And on that note, I'm going to find a way to do my work with my eyes closed.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

There are so many people to thank today, so I'm just going to do this in a bullet point list.

• Thank you to Matt, Evan and Brandon for cobbling together the ChiSeries holiday bash this year.  It was awesome fun, and they did a bang-up job.  The event wouldn't have happened at all were it not for them.  You all rock.
• Thank you to my friend Bill, who swung by Sunday to pick up my books etc, and then delivered them to the holiday bash last night.  You're an awesome dude, Bill.  Your help was so, so, so appreciated.
• Thank you to Jen and Eric, who saved my hide with a float and a lending of a spare square reader.  I didn't need it, as it turned out, but I'm so happy that they were able to help me out and so very grateful.  You both rock so hard.
• Thank you to everyone who came out to the event this year.  The weather was crappy, and the traffic was worse.  Yet you lot managed to come out and support the Ottawa speculative community all the same.  It was lovely seeing you there, including some faces that I hadn't seen in a bit.  It was wonderful.
• Thank you to my flatmate, who woke me up with Lucia buns, coffee and music this morning.  Frankly, it's not Christmas until someone in a white gown walks into your room to music with food and drink before your alarm goes off.
• Thank you, finally, to Alabama.  I was expecting to go to bed with a heavy heart last night.  Instead, I was smiling. It's not much, to be sure.  But it's something.  And that is better than nothing.

Right, now I'm off to find more coffee.  Hope you have a lovely day.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

This morning worked well for me.

Not.

I'm having a morning, guys.

It started off alright.  I'm coming down with a cold (the longest buildup to a cold in the history of colds, by the way), so it didn't start well, but it was alright.  I got up in time, at least.  I cuddled Galahad, who is a cuddle monster in the morning.  Ordinarily, it's cute, but I'm coming down with a cold, so I got annoyed.  Poor Galahad.  I did give him lots of cuddles, but it didn't last as long as it usually does.  I knew it was snowing outside, and I needed to leave relatively early, because walking in snow is a little slower than otherwise.

Did I manage to leave early?  NOPE.  More on that later.

I dressed, fed the cats (stopping halfway down the stairs to pet Persephone.  She doesn't really give you a choice.  She stops dead on the stairs and won't let you pass until you pet her), and gathered my things.  I'm at the ChiSeries holiday bash tonight, so I would be hauling along my convention bag.  Problem: my float box wasn't in my convention bag.  Already later than I'd like, I sprinted around the house muttering darkly to myself, looking for the thing.  I couldn't find it.  Now very late, I had no choice but to leave.

For the record, the box is in the living room.  In plain sight.  I just couldn't find it in my frantic state.

So, now I'm without cash or my square payment swipe.  Which I need.  For tonight.

Luckily, my friend Eric is a life saver, and I'm able to borrow a spare swipe for me.  So not all is lost.

I was late to work, of course.

In happier news, the walk in was beautiful.  And really good exercise.  And beautiful.  I love the snow.  I do wish I wasn't in the city, though, and didn't have to walk to work.  I wish I could be out in the country, taking a slow morning walk in the snow before breakfast.

*sigh*

Okay, I've done enough grumbling.  I'm off to do work.  Hopefully see you tonight!

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

This is happening tomorrow night.

You should come.  I hear it's a fabulous time.  This will be my first one of these, and I'm excited.  The people who organise the event are, and the Ottawa speculative fiction community is absolutely wonderful.

The holiday bash is not your typical ChiSeries event.  There will not be readings (per se), but I have been promised shenanigans.  There are also door prizes, and ample opportunities to shop for that hard-core book-lover in your life.  I will have a table there to sell stuff, and one of my books will be included in the door prize.

It sounds like a great time, amongst great people.  So drop by for some food, drink and shenanigans.  If you need more details here is the event on Facebook.

Right, I have a highlights video to edit together. Hope to see you tomorrow night!

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I don't have much to talk about today, so I'm just going to say that last night's live stream of Assassin's Creed Origins was very fun.  I did pretty well, except for the two boats I broke.  'Cause I'm a brilliant boat person, thank you very much.

Better yet, I wasn't alone while playing.  Had some friends join me online, and that was the best part.  It genuinely made the whole gaming thing way better.  I love my friends.

Also, I did really well, guys!  I died only once, right at the end of the stream.

Anyway, I just wanted to thank you again for joining me while I played.  It had a blast.

You're all awesome.

Oh, quick reminder that the ChiSeries Holiday Bash is this coming Tuesday at Patty Boland's in the Byward Market.  Details are here.  Do drop by and say hello.  It's a good time.  And there are prizes!

Right, that's all for today.

​Ciao!

This day in 1989, 14 women were gunned down in Montreal, Quebec by a man who claimed to be "fighting feminism."  These are their names:

• Geneviève Bergeron (born 1968), civil engineering student
• Hélène Colgan (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
• Nathalie Croteau (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
• Barbara Daigneault (born 1967), mechanical engineering student
• Anne-Marie Edward (born 1968), chemical engineering student
• Maud Haviernick (born 1960), materials engineering student
• Maryse Laganière (born 1964), budget clerk in the École Polytechnique's finance department
• Maryse Leclair (born 1966), materials engineering student
• Anne-Marie Lemay (born 1967), mechanical engineering student
• Sonia Pelletier (born 1961), mechanical engineering student
• Michèle Richard (born 1968), materials engineering student
• Annie St-Arneault (born 1966), mechanical engineering student
• Annie Turcotte (born 1969), materials engineering student
• Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz (born 1958), nursing student

Remember them.