It’s been a very busy July and it’s hard to believe we’re already rushing towards it conclusion. The crush has been fun and educational and tiring.
As regular readers know, I attended Shore Leave 45 mid-month. I had a wonderful time, as always. At Friday night’s Meet the Pros party, I actually sold more books than expected, which was nice, considering sales traditionally would be slow over the next two days, as they proved to be.
However, I was there to speak with the fans, moderate panels, and catch up with my friends. That all worked with the panel discussions being moderately to well-attended. I was gratified to see so many people attend the memorial for Peter David. The discussions I held on stage with actors from various franchises were lots of fun, especially as I got to meet people whose work I have admired. The show ended with me speaking with Starship Troopers’ Dina Meyer, Casper Van Diem, Seth Gillem, and Michael Ironside. Unfortunately, Ironside’s back was troubling him, making him humorously irritable with some very unexpected asides. Meyer also put the film’s prop master on speaker phone to address just how much ammunition was fired during the production.
Suddenly, the show was over, so Deb and I headed to BWI airport to get some sleep before getting up at O’Dark Thirty and our flight to Phoenix. While she visited with friends now retired there, I attended Jostens Advisers University, a training opportunity. As a second-year adviser, my rep felt I would learn much from peers and the printer’s staff. He was, of course, correct. Over the course of three days, I had my head filled with information, and I furiously filled a notebook with ideas, action items, and key takeaways. Of course, there was fun too, including a lively dinner with a live band on Monday and a raucous trivia contest on Tuesday afternoon. Our team, the Let’s Get Quizzicals, was tied for the top spot until the penultimate round when we bombed and fell out of competition. By the time the session ended Wednesday afternoon, I was ready to get back to work.
But first, some R&R. Our friends collected me and we spent that afternoon and Thursday seeing the sights and eating way too well.
We returned early Friday morning and yes, part of the last few days has been spent revamping how I was teaching the first few weeks of Yearbook, using the knowledge while still fresh in my mind.
Sadly, the novel outline has sat untouched for two weeks and I’ll be lucky to fit in a day or two this week before we take our well-deserved vacation.
What We’re Watching
The final season of Bosch has been gripping and I look forward to seeing they wrap things up. Silo season 2 has also been interesting. We’ve also delighted in the glitzy soap that is The Gilded Age. And for lighter fare, we’ve been consuming Grantchester.
What I’m Reading
I managed one novel for each leg of the flights, so I enjoyed James Sawllow’s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Toward the Night (no, I haven’t started watching season three yet) and J. Michael Straczynski’s The Glass Box (solid, but not as good as his previous effort). And now it’s back to Zadie Smith’s The Fraud and Avatar Legends: Children of Echoes (which I am reading to review at ComicMix).
#Tags: Adrienne Palicki, Casper Van Diem, Dina Meyer, J. Lee, Jostens Advisors University, Michael Ironside, Peter David, Seth Gillem, Shore Leave, Starship Troopers