Unquiet Desperation

I turned 39 on Friday, and in keeping with the tradition of frustrating the people who wanted to get me something, I told them I had no idea what I wanted for my birthday. It all worked out for the best. Here, in no particular order, is the rundown of birthday loot.

Clothes: What was once the bane of my childish existence was a boon this year. I have become one of those guys who wears whatever he has until it is falling apart, and the end result is a rather shabby-looking fellow staring back in the mirror. My wife, fresh from having pieces of herself removed during surgery last week, decided that it was time to freshen up my look somewhat. A new hoodie, t-shirts, a polo, and a new oxford were welcome sights, as was the gift card she gave me to go pick out more. With luck, I’ll stop looking like a refugee from 2001 this year.

Popcorn: My kids visited my favorite chocolate shop (The Chocolate Emporium) and bought me a bag of their chocolate-covered popcorn. While it’s a small setback for my diet, it is a welcome addition to my lunch this week.

Legos: My four year-old son gave me three small boxes with his Legos in them, saying that he wanted to give me his favorite toys. He also said that he hoped I’d share with him. Which, of course, I shall.

The B-Spot: My in-laws gave me a give card to Michael Symon’s B-Spot restaurant, which is my current favorite place to grab a burger and beer. Highly recommended. I’m saving it for a place to take my wife after she;s fully recovered.

I also received some birthday cash, and with that, I treated myself to some fiction I’ve been waiting to pick up:

- Transmetropolitan, Vol. 2: Lust for Life by Warren Ellis
- The Hidden Family by Charles Stross (Book 2 of The Merchant Princes)
- The Clan Corporate by Charles Stross (Book 3 of The Merchant Princes)

For myself, I picked up the latest MacHeist bundle. I’m using MacJournal from that bundle to write this post, and while I’m not sure that I love it, is does have some good points. I think I like vim better.

Finally, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and bought a monthly subscription to Thomas Gideon’s Commandline Podcast. The man is my tech news aggregator, after all. It’s important to support content creators, and Thomas is one of the best.

Good morning, my people…

• My apologies for missing my TRICKSTERS update for the last two weeks. Between a big event last Thursday and my wife’s operation this week, I’ve just not had the energy to put out a good episode. I’ve written three lousy episodes, but as they are sub-par, I’m going to hold on to them and try to magically turn them into something decent for next week.
• My wife (Cathy) is recovering from he gall bladder surgery nicely…each day is a little better than the last. Thanks to everyone who has sent prayers, luck, and good wishes. She really does appreciate it, as do I.
• Thanks to everyone who is wishing me a happy birthday today.   In case I do not get to thank you personally, know that it is greatly appreciated.
• Want to know what I was up to in Atlanta? My interview about PyCon is now available at The Command Line podcast. 
• My review of Charles Stross’s Halting State is up on The Secret Lair.
• We’ve announced the winner of the Name Overlord Johnson’s Laptop contest.
• I am once again dabbling in Second Life. You can blame Sam Chupp for this.  I am known there as Brand MacIntyre…feel look me up. I am a lonely soul there, knowing no one.

Some time ago, Natalie put out a call for idea for a new art series called Improper Use of Slugs. I’m happy to say that one of my suggestions was accepted, and you can check out the results on her site.

The suggestion?  Thumbtacks.

I’ve worked out which conventions I’ll be attending this year. Sadly, Origins will not be one of them…my family has a vacation planned for that week and I’m going to have to miss it this year.

I’ll be at:

• PyCon: Feb 17-21 in Atlanta, GA
• Balticon 44: May 28-30 in Balimore, MD
• GenCon: Aug 6-8 in Indianapolis, IN
• Con on the Cob: Oct 14-17 in Hudson, OH. This one will be something special…Kris and I have a Clever Plan we’ll talk about in coming months.

If you’re going to be at any of these, drop me a line and let’s find some time to meet up.

Also, the latest episode of TRICKSTERS has been posted on The Secret Lair. Remember the girl on the doorstep from last week? Yeah. There’s more to her than meets the eye.

‘Oral sex’ definition prompts dictionary ban in US schools | Books | guardian.co.uk

Dictionaries have been removed from classrooms in southern California schools after a parent complained about a child reading the definition for “oral sex”.

Merriam Webster’s 10th edition, which has been used for the past few years in fourth and fifth grade classrooms (for children aged nine to 10) in Menifee Union school district, has been pulled from shelves over fears that the “sexually graphic” entry is “just not age appropriate”, according to the area’s local paper.

The dictionary’s online definition of the term is “oral stimulation of the genitals”. “It’s hard to sit and read the dictionary, but we’ll be looking to find other things of a graphic nature,” district spokeswoman Betti Cadmus told the paper.