Reading: Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkein
Music: The Chieftains
TV/Movie: Grosse Point Blank
Link o' the Day: Dominic Deegan: Oracle For Hire

Wiiiiiiild doggies!!!

It's done! It's done! It's freakin' done!!

Issue #2 of Sleight of Hand is now finished and ready for printing. The first thanks go to Pretty Maggie who understood that I had a couple of self-imposed deadlines for myself this weekend, and wasn't much fun today because of it. Now I can print off a 50-run at work tomorrow to being to Torcon. And before I leave for the Great White North, I'll make sure that the downloadable PDF is available at its webpage.

Is it a good issue? Is it better than issue #1? That's not for me to say. You'll have to judge for yourself. I had fun with some of the articles--and wished I could have included more. I'm learning that faned'ing is harder than I thought when it comes to shaking down contributing authors.

In any case, I'm very happy with the issue. Here's a glimpse of the contents:

Opening Thoughts... -- where I give a recap of what all has happened since issue #1, the highs and lows

Fanzine Fanfaronade by Terry Carr -- a reprint of a 1964 F&SF article which talks about fanzines and fanzine fandom. Includes a great anecdote about Ray Bradbury.

Farewell To The Masters by Ted White -- in which Ted describes how Terry's article came to be, and a further discussion on fandom and F&SF itself.

I Have A Mother by Christopher Pierson -- In which a friend of mine discovers some interesting facts about a family he didn't know he had.

Ten-Second Reviews by John Teehan -- I review a bunch of books, and engage in some self-promotion.

What Mad Universe (Revisited) by Dave Locke -- Dave tackles the old SF, skiffy, sci-fi monster

LoCs - 6 pages of 'em!

Stay tuned for more info

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I also spent the weekend finishing up what I have for the SFWA Bulletin. I shouldn't receive any other pieces for that until after Torcon. Speaking of which, I've started preparing for Torcon anmd have more to do. I still need to find my passport. I'm getting more and more psyched for this.

* * *
So Pretty Maggie and I went to Waterwhizz up in Wareham, MA on Saturday. We pretty much had a blast on all the water slides, the wave pool, the lazy river, and so on. I took a trip down the Pirates Drop which seems like a complicated way to end up in the hospital--but it was a blast. The weather was perfect for this sort of thing, sunny, but with a cool breeze now and again. I erred in not using sunblock soon enough in the day (or enough of it, for that matter) and ended the day being horribly sunburnt. I seem to be recovering fairly well, but what a pain. I haven't gotten this burnt in years. That'll teach me.

Pretty Maggie also got her belated birthday dinner Friday and the Old Grist Mill. Lobsters for her. Steak for me. Bread for all the ducks that were quacking around outside. I checked, but duck doesn't appear on the restaurant's menu. Pity.

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I don't know if I've used this as a link-for-the-day yet, and am too lazy to look it up, but for those lovers of webcomics out there, I submit to you, Dominic Deegan: Oracle For Hire. The art is simple, but expressive and well-executed. Dominic is a unique sort of oracle character in a quasi-medieval setting. It's just a lot of fun to read. Make sure to start at the beginning of the archives for the whole story!

Cheers!