Out and About

We went out to dinner with friends last night. Stephen was incredibly well-behaved. Our friends have their own baby daughter, who just turned one this month. Stephen certainly enjoyed interacting with her, and she seemed awed to see another little person play nearby. Yes, folks, it's the start of a beautiful friendship.

Not much is new, really. Same old stuff. I've gone from having one writing project to having four in a matter of days. I can't work on any of them yet, at least not until the details are clear, and they're not all due at the same time, either. Still, it's nice to have work, even though I get the same nervy feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I start in on something new.

Amy's last day at work is Wednesday, January 31st. From that point on, we'll be counting down the days until our new angel arrives. We've got that much time to rearrange what used to be a combination of office and baby room into a full-fledged, no holds barred baby room for two. This means moving hundreds of books, three book cases, and a computer desk, as well as packing away a good bit of extraneous clutter that has accumulated since Stephen came into our lives.

I realize that the last post included no pictures of Stephen. I also realize that some of you in blog land with a vested interest in this site want to see pictures. So I'll post a few recent pictures here, just for you.

All Bow Before King Stephen I
Between Running Us Ragged and Making Messes, Stephen Finds Time To Relax
The Center of Our Universe (Pending His Sister)

My Wife is Famous

Okay, maybe she's not a household name, but she does have her own entry on the Internet Movie Database. That's got to be worth something.

It all goes back to early in our relationship. We weren't married, just "going steady" (as I believe it's called). There was a comic written by a fellow named Jesse Reklaw titled Concave Up, which dealt with people's dreams. Basically, people would send their dreams to Jesse, who would illustrate them and publish them in his comic. He does a similar thing now in a strip called Slow Wave, though in a smaller format.

Amy submitted a dream to Jesse that was entitled Dinner with the Devil, wherein she was invited to dine with Satan himself. While in his graces, she was allowed to look at his library, which contained all the books ever burned by mankind. Being a bookworm, this dream is obviously a manifestation of Amy's subconscious desire to read forbidden lore. No wonder she likes Call of Cthulhu. Jesse illustrated the story and published it in the fifth issue of his comic book.

Somehow, a young Kiwi film maker named Michael Travis got a hold of this comic. He liked the story so much, he wrote and directed a short film of it in 2002, titled The Devil's Library. He and Jesse must have been in contact with one another during the process, but in the time since the comic had been published, Amy had fallen of the face of the earth. Jesse and Michael had little luck finding her.

Somehow, a year or two ago, we became aware of the film's existence. We'd discussed trying to get a copy, but never had much luck. In the end, I managed to contact Jesse Reklaw, who is living in Portland these days, and Michael Travis, who now lives and works in England. My intention was to get a copy of the DVD for Amy for Christmas. Michael was quite gracious, and sent us a copy. It didn't arrive in time for the holiday, but that's not really the point.

If you'd like to see the film for yourself, it seems as if Michael has posted a streaming video of it on his web site. You can page through Michael's site and find it yourself (a worthy endeavor, simply to see the vast amount of work he's done), or you can be lazy and view it by clicking this link. Either way, I won't think any less of you.

So that's how my wife got famous, without even knowing about it. According to Michael, it's not as easy as it might sound to get your work, much less your name, added to the IMDB. With luck, we'll eventually get to see Jesse again, and it would sure be a joy to meet Michael, too.

...And A Happy New Year

Long time no update, eh? I've promised holiday pictures, and that's pretty much what this entry is for. No long, drawn-out descriptions of holiday events, or detailed lists of gifts given and received. Just photos, followed by a pregnancy update for those of you who give a hoot.

Stephen Enjoys Baking (and Eating) Cookies
We didn't bake a lot this year, which means we definitely baked more than we did last year. Perhaps next year we'll be able to ship cookies out to friends and family again. With the new baby on the way, though, who can say for sure..?

Christmas Morning, Stephen Surveys his Haul
Stephen got a lot of Hot Wheels for Christmas. He likes cars, for sure. Santa also brought him a nifty little track set to tool them around on.

Ebenezer Hastur Sleeps Through Christmas
The cats didn't seem to notice Christmas. It doesn't really matter, since they didn't receive any gifts, anyway.

Stephen & Grampa Lee Clown Around
We spent Christmas morning at my mother's place, and Stephen was showered with gifts (see below). In the time before the unwrapping, though, Stephen managed to socialize with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jimmy, and Aunt Rachel.

Stephen, Intoxicated by Numerous Gifts
After a certain point, Stephen ripped open gifts with no real comprehension of what was inside the wrapping paper. It was as if the opening of the presents was his main focus. His eyes glazed over, and he devoted his being to the singular purpose of exposing any wrapped item within his reach to the rest of the world.

Lord of the Dinosaurs
Along with cars, Stephen likes dinosaurs, and Grandma took advantage of this by getting him several small replicas of the creatures.

A Vintage Candy Apple Red Trike
The final gift from Grandma and Grampa was a restored tricycle. They found the thing at an estate sale, rusty and worn out, but went through the process of restoring it to life. It was sandblasted, powder coated, and painted, then completely rebuilt. He can't quite touch the pedals yet, but it's only a matter of time before he's racing around like a maniac.

As for the impending arrival of child #2, we've got a firm date of February 26th. In a little over a month, we'll be bringing our daughter home. What will Stephen think of his sibling? I'm somewhat worried that he'll be jealous. I'm sure that his initial reaction will be a mixture of interest and amusement.

With all of our possessions, as well as one and a half children, it is becoming painfully obvious that we have outgrown our apartment. We are discussing the possibility of moving into a three bedroom apartment, but this will depend a great deal on how well we can juggle our finances. For the time being, we'll reorganize what we have and make the best of it.

All for now!