Day: January 4, 2010

Back to work

Today was my first day back at work since December 18 — which was itself a much shortened day, consisting mostly of our group’s holiday lunch and setting my away messages on phone and e-mail. That’s actually a shot of my cubicle up above on the right; true, that picture is from way back in March of last year, but there really hasn’t been a significant change to the layout (or clutter) since then, and certainly not in the time that I was away. I spent the morning going through e-mails, but most of the big projects I have in development are on hold until I receive feedback or manuscripts from authors. So it wasn’t the most exciting day back at work, but that’s probably a good thing. I feel like I had a really good vacation, just enough time off, but there’s no reason for a mad rush back into things.

Other than work, and easing back into that daily commute, today was pretty much uneventful. I opened Kaleidotrope back up to submissions again at the start of the new year, and the slush pile continues to build. Meanwhile, I finished my entry in Geist’s Postcard Contest and expect to mail it off tomorrow. It’s a short piece — there was a 500-word maximum — but I had fun with it.

I broke down and bought a copy of Season 2 of The Big Bang Theory on DVD this afternoon. (I had a leftover Borders gift card from the holidays.) It’s very quickly become one of my favorite shows. I also bought a copy of Monty Python: Almost The Truth, which so far doesn’t seem to be offering anything particularly new about the troupe — I have, after all, read this massive tome, among others — but does so in a very fun and engaging way. I’ve only watched the first episode so far, but it’s a really good introduction to how the whole silly thing got started.

And finally, I was also offered a chance to attend an invitation-only “historic event at Carnegie Hall” where I can acquire a Steinway piano “at substantially reduced prices.” They advise me to schedule my appointment early, since it’s “first call, first served,” and this “impressive selection of used and restored vertical and grand pianos” won’t last! I suspect I’m on their mailing list after my mother and I attended a taping of Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! in the Stern Auditorium. And it’s not like I’ve never “considered owning a fine piano.” But for now, I think I’ll pass.

Monday various

  • Exploding Chewing Gum Kills Student. I have to admit, this sounded like a hoax or urban legend when I first read about it, but it seems distrubingly legit. At least, I didn’t find anything discounting the story at Snopes. [via]
  • Well this is disappointing and surprising: the Internet Review of Science Fiction is closing after its February issue.
  • Grant Morrison on what appeals to him about comics as a storytelling medium:

    The essentially magical qualities of inert words and ink pictures working together with reader consciousness to create a holographic Sensurround emotional experience. What else?

  • I’ve seen some talk about how 2010 is the real end of the past decade — that the decade is still going on, that is — since there was never a Year Zero. I think this is maybe true on a very pedantic, technical level, but I also think it’s a battle that was lost two thousand years ago, in Year Ten. When people talk about the last decade, they’re including 2000-2001, not miscounting. As Bad Astronomy points out [via], the argument that 2010 isn’t the start of a new decade suggests that “people [are] confused on how we delineate time.”
  • And finally, Daniel’s Daily Monster:

    Every week day (starting from 7th May 2009) I draw a little monster card to go in my son’s lunchbox.

    These are just really delightful. [via]