Thursday, September 27, 2007

Dragonlance Movie Song

Here's a brief clip of the "Qualinesti Hymn" from the upcoming Dragons of Autumn Twilight film. Looks like its release form (direct to DVD or cinema) is still unknown at this time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Ure_45SSw

Review-BtS: Dispel Magic

In this week's Digital Front podcast, Behind the Spells: Dispel Magic gets a long awaited review. Surf on over to thedigitalfront.com and have a listen!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Here Comes Autumn...

...and thank God! Yesterday was the first since summer began that I was seen wearing long pants. Today is no different. A crisp wave of cool air has moved into our section of the country and boy does it feel refreshing. When my parents return from an errand later today I will most certainly be getting out onto the mountain. It's been a day shy of 2 weeks that I've been hiking and that's way too long.

My grandmother is recovering nicely (if a bit slowly--but for 84 years old it's good progress), to the point of walking around on her own (albeit only on the floor her bedroom is on). Hopefully she'll get out of her sleepwear today and then she might start to feel normal again. Physical therapy comes tomorrow and that can only increase her recovery speed.

On the job front, I still have nothing solid to report but have found a couple promising leads I'll follow up on tomorrow. With life settling down again on the homefront, I'm finally starting to enjoy my time off so if a job doesn't manifest for another 2 weeks (or more), that's OK with me.

And how about some rpg chatter on here? Well, I'm slowly working on BtS: Sanctuary (with Feather Fall soon to follow). Daniel at Highmoon Media mentioned on a forum that my locale "series" for him will be see its first release in October (I say "series" because I wasn't really certain that I was still writing more than one locale given the 8 or 9 months since I turned in that first one and that I now have a corporation to oversee, but we'll see what happens). And speaking of Daniel, those interested in listening to news of the pdf market should head on over to http://thedigitalfront.com/ where podcast interviews with industry folk are being posted. This is Daniel's new venture and I wish him much success with it!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Welcome Home

Today, after a harrowing two weeks, we brought mom-mom home from the hospital. Even the doctor's are amazed at her progress (not to mention us!). She is in good spirits and can resume activities with no restrictions (although we're keeping her off the stairs for awhile). She'll have physical therapy at the house a few times a week but I bet that won't last longer than a month. We're glad to welcome her back home again.

Friday, September 07, 2007

Friday Update & How I (Almost) Met Michael Palin

Well, the gourmet food run didn't work out...in fact, it didn't even start! I overheard a phone conversation the boss was having with another person interested in the job. When the boss mentioned there was no salary, all commission-based, I turned and fled (after the obligatory "oh, that's how it is; well I'm not comfortable" response to him). Another job seems promising but cannot give full-time hours/pay for 2 to 3 months after a part-time trail (the part-time pay is $300/week but that's cutting it too close for me especially if the job isn't my thing). The search continues.

My grandmother is doing extremely well and is ready to be moved from the ICU. One small problem--no beds! Folks in the ER need beds and there aren't enough to go around so mom-mom may have to stay in the ICU until she's ready to go home. I was with her an hour yesterday after my aborted job run and she was in pretty good shape--a little dementia yet but at least she was sitting in a chair instead of lying in bed. I might make the run out there today with my mom later.

Game on for tomorrow! By request, the planar campaign gets its next installment. The PCs have had some down time and now their approx. 8th-level selves will have an adventure like no other (or is that just a good catch phrase?)! I came up with a plot before bed so it might not hold up well under scrutiny as I work on the adventure today.

And now to Michael Palin--one member of the astoundingly funny and famous Monte Python's Flying Circus group. On the way home from the hospital yesterday, I heard an interview with the man on Philadelphia station 90.9 FM. He was touring for his new book Michael Palin Diaries: 1969-1979, the Python Years. After they played the Lumberjack song at the end of the program (which is about all I heard, coming in late to that station), they mentioned he would be having a talk and signing at the Free Phila. Library on Vine St. @ 7pm that evening. I gathered Scot & Zlaty (after not being able to reach the Cuthberts, admitted Python fans) and headed down. We arrived in a more or less timely fashion but parking was hard to come by. We parked very near the art museum and hoofed it 2 blocks or so. By the time we arrived, security was letting no one else into the building because it was too full--even the standing room was taken! Drat! Probably a couple hundred feet away was a comedy legend I couldn't see. And that's how I (almost) met Michael Palin.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Good News

My grandmother, although still in the ICU, has been successfully removed from the ventilator and she is all but tube-free, talking and more or less coherent. She's a remarkable lady and I hope they can get her out of the ICU soon. It's amazing that it's only been a week since she went in for her mini-stroke symptoms.

On the job search front, I called a company today who needs someone immediately. It has to do, apparently, with gourmet food/delivery and sales. Although I'm not enamored with the "sales" aspect of it, I agreed to go on a no-obligation run with the boss on Thurs. morning. Wish me luck!

Sunday, September 02, 2007

Job Hunt

Got my results back from the postal exam yesterday and my score was 77.10. That doesn't sound particularly good to me since I think it's out of 100 but oh well the letter said I'm eligible and on the register for the next 2 years so that's a good thing. In the meantime, Shirley from the herb shop next to the drug store gave me the card of a sales rep who's looking for help. Turns out he's a published author who was on Oprah so just for that reason alone I'll have to open a dialogue with him. :) Good things are rolling in and it's only day 1 of my "extended vacation."

Grandma Update

Last night things looked grim. Mom called us at the Cuthbert's where we were trying to relax during some gaming. It looked like mom-mom was bleeding again but they did not know from where. So instead of waiting to resume surgery Sunday (today), they had to go back in last night. My mom said the doctor didn't sound hopeful so we all congregated at LVH again and feared the worst. Not terribly long after we were there, the same surgeon as last time emerged to give us...a good report! They could find nothing that indicated mom-mom was bleeding again (very odd but good!) and after checking everything thoroughly (liver is viable and healthy), they sewed her back up. Over the next few days they'll work on taking her off the various machines and see about getting her into shape to come home. Better news we could not have gotten.

Edit: Turns out the anamolous bleeding came from her abdominal wall but all is OK.

Contrary to Popular Belief...

...I'm still around! Feeling a little nostalgic for the old blogging life tonight so decided to stop in and post an update. Oh, life, yo...