Tag: trevor

Restful evening

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I headed home at 4 PM as usual and started In Memory Yet Green on the train, which is a pleasure as always. I love starting the these two volumes of Asimov’s autobiography because they total some 1500 pages and 650,000 words and I enjoy them immensely. I am always wistfully sad when I finish.

I watched 24, which I had TiVo’d last night. I also wrote a brief note to Trevor and thepopeswife because they recently moved and because I owed them a letter but haven’t had time to sit down and write one at length. And would you know it, while I was writing the note, I got a call from Trevor. He was at a Minnesota Twins game and the Twins happened to be playing the Orioles. How crazy is that!

I did a few chores. No mail of significance this evening. In fact, it was all junk. Now I’m off to bed. I’m going to read for an hour or so, and I have a tall glass of chocolate milk sitting here beside me. I feel guilty for not going to the gym today, but I simply couldn’t resist the gorgeous weather we had. The rest of the week is going to cool off dramatically (below freezing at night!) and so I think it was worthwhile.

Back to the grind tomorrow…

Mail call!

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Several of my chores and errands are complete. It turns out that I am going out later than I expected so that gives me more time to kill. I can probably get through a few more stories in SF AGE. Or finish the final draft of “4005 B.C.”

When the mail came this afternoon, I saw what looked to be the familiar backside of a self-addressed stamped envelop that all writers quickly recognize as the sign of a rejection slip. So I was surprised when I flipped the envelop over to find a letter from thepopeswife and Trevor. It was a double surprise, really, because (a) it wasn’t a rejection slip and (b) it’s always good to hear from Trevor and Andrea. And now I get to write back!

I had a lunch at T.G.I.Friday’s (while listening to Metallica’s Garage, Inc.). Spoke with Doug earlier today. Also left messages with jen_ashlock and jkashlock. Otherwise, things are quiet here this afternoon.

Wrapup

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I think I’ll be going into work tomorrow. I participated in two meetings from home today and my alarm is set for 4:30 AM. It will also be the first time since Tuesday that I will get to the gym.

I got a call from Trevor tonight. I hadn’t talked to him in a while and I was really glad he called and we had a little time to catch up. I could hear thepopeswife say hello in the background and it was nice to hear from her as well.

I’m a little more than halfway through The Winds of Change and Other Stories. I’m anxious to finish up the story that I started writing earlier today, “4005 B.C” and if I am lucky, I will finish it up in time to get it in the mail next week.

I watched Smallville this evening (another good episode). And for the first time, I used the DVR in my bedroom to record The Office (which is on at the same time as Smallville) and I just finished watching that too.

I received my last issue of THE NEW YORKER in the mail today. I didn’t renew my subscription because I already have more than I can possibly read and that magazine was one that was going completely unread, except by Dad who would read the cartoons when he came out for ball games during the summer. I also received a refund check from Verizon in the amount of $36. I have to mail that into the bank at some point.

Cards and letters

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Yesterday was a good mail day, with two gems left in the pan after sifting out all of the junk. First, I had a holiday card from Twila, with a picture of her almost 3 year old daughter. Next, I had 2 letters and a card from Trevor and thepopeswife. Trevor wrote one of the letters, Andrea wrote the other, and then there was a post card with photos of the two of them that made them look like J Crew models in Central Park. (Except that they are not J Crew models and they live in Minnesota.)

I started to write a reply but I didn’t have time to finish it up last night. I’ll get it finished tonight and then out in the mail tomorrow. It so happens that I have about 5 things to mail tomorrow anyway so a trip to the post office is in order.

Off to bed

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I just finished watching Heroes and Studio 60 and now I’m packing my lunch and I’m off to bed. Studio 60 has gotten better in the last several episodes, its started to acquire some of that stuff that The West Wing had in its first couple of years. It’s nice to see that.

I had a letter in the mail today from Trevor and thepopeswife which was a nice way to wrap up my afternoon, and to which I replied early this evening. That should go out in the mail tomorrow.

I have a full schedule at work tomorrow, one of those days where my calendar is more meetings than anything else. I don’t typically look forward to a day full of meetings, but I am trying to improve my attitude about work in general. I’ve been too cynical about it lately, and I think that says more bad things about me than my cynicism says about work. So I’m off to bed. I may try and sneak in a chapter or two of Rollback. We’ll see…

Letter-writing

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It took about an hour, but I finished the letter to Trevor and Andrea and it will go out in the mail tomorrow, and they should have it in hand Saturday or Monday. And to personalize it, I not only autographed the letter, but, after I packaged it all up neatly in its envelope, I (accidentally) spilled caffeine-free Coke on it and now there is a stain. I hope it survives!

Now I can have my dinner!

Good mail day

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I left the office half an hour later than usual and had to stop at the grocery store on the way home to pick up a few things. I was trying to figure out what to do tonight (Wednesday evening is the one week night evening where there is nothing good on TV). I arrived home to find that today was a good mail day.

First, my autographed copy of Visions arrived, personally signed by strausmouse right beneath the article he wrote on his recent skydiving experience. Believe it or not, I have a small collection on my bookshelves, of items signed by my friends. I have a Master’s thesis signed by Tawnya. I have a signed copy of Healthy Pet magazine, which Lisa edits. I have a signed copy of an article in the San Luis Obispo Tribune featuring Dan. I have a signed copy from an Oxnard newspaper mentioned Grandpa. I have a signed copy of an article from the UCLA Law Review, “On Regulating the Internet: Usenet, A Case Study” by Paul. I have a guest editorial in the Rockland County Journal written by none other than Doug many years ago. (That one, alas, is not signed. I’ll have to bring it to Seattle with me next time I go.) And now, I can add Eric’s article to my collection. I swear, the day I finally publish something, I’m going to sign 50 copies of it, personalize each one of them (“To Jamie, a really swell guy!”) and stuff my shelves with them!

Second, I received a letter from Trevor and Andrea (aka, thepopeswife). Actually, it was two-and-a-half letters, as Trevor wrote one letter, Andrea wrote another letter, and then she included an addendum to tell me that she agrees with my spelling thoughts! And so our mutual snail-mail, letter-writing pen-palism continues.

I now know what I am going to do tonight. I am going to compose a letter back to Trevor and Andrea. I may even autograph it for them so that they can start a collection on their bookshelf (if Trevor clears away some of the Lord of the Rings DVDs to make some room). Those autographs will be worth something, someday!

Long day

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It has been a long day. It’s after 7 PM and I’m just getting home. I was able to be pretty productive until about 11 AM. From that point, and for the rest of the day I was in meetings. I didn’t really even get a lunch today. I ate while I worked, in a hurried and unorganized manner.

I had my workout with Bernard at 4:30 PM, about which I will post the usual details later. Now I’m finally home and there a number of chores to get done, laundry, trash, cleaning up the kitchen, blah, blah, blah. But I can relax in about 45 minutes. Smallville and Gray’s Anatomy are on tonight and I’m looking forward to both.

The high point of the day was when I got home. I had a letter from Trevor and thepopeswife. Ever since they moved to the wilds of Minnesota, we’ve been communicating the old-fashioned way, by post. Actually, it’s fun. I have to write back but I probably won’t get around to it until sometime tomorrow.

Okay, chores to do…

Mail call

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In this evening’s mail were exactly 3 items of interest and 10 items of junk. I’ve gotten into the routine of sorting through my mail as soon as I get into the house, lest it linger in a coma-like state for all eternity and I miss paying another bill. The junk was weeded out quickly. The three items of interest, were, in order of importance:

  1. A hand-written note from Trevor and thepopeswife with an accompanying photo of our last dinner together before they moved off to Minneapolis. No one writes hand written notes anymore (heck, people hardly write letters anymore) and so it is very cool to get them because they are so personal. I’m trying to come up with an appropriate way to reciprocate. Pen pals, perhaps?
  2. The December 2006 issue of ASTOUNDING ANALOG (whoa there, what was I thinking!) This is the issue I have been waiting for because it contains part 3 of Robert J. Sawyer’s 4-part serial Rollback. The timing could not be worse. I am very eager to read the story, but I am totally and completely loving Andy Rooney’s Out of My Mind and at the present moment, the book is winning the battle over the serial. (On the other hand, I’ll finish the book quickly and perhaps be able to read the serial sometime this weekend.)
  3. Notice from the state of Maryland that it’s time for another emissions check. And before strausmouse can make the joke, they are referring to my car.

Once the junk was weeded out, it was a good mail day. One piece of good mail makes it worthwhile, but two pieces of good mail is something special.

Hey Trevor!

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I was browsing the Apple Music Store a few minutes ago and saw that Bob Dylan had a new album, Modern Time available for pre-order. You can also get dibs on tickets for his upcoming tour.

Trevor, who is the husband of thepopeswife is a big Bob Dylan fan, and although I used to tease him about it relentlessly, I really have no idea what I’m talking about when it comes to Bob Dylan. But then so it seems neither does Bob Dylan.

I also used to tease Trevor about his home state of North Dakota. I would frequently point out that the entire population of his home town could attend a Yankee game at Yankee Stadium and just barely fill it up.

Incidentally, for those who don’t know Trevor, he is Good People. I took his name in vain in my story, “Graveyard Shift”, where he makes a brief cameo appearance as a five year-old boy who teases the daughter of one of the main characters. Of course, in real life, Trevor would never do anything like this.