“I better get cracking!”I informed Alex Levine as I hurried in to unlock my office door. “I have a lot to do today.”
“Putting out the revised script, huh?”Alex assumed.
“Script? Screw the script! I’ve got to make my picks for the NCAA March Madness pool!”
So I settled down, did my research, and made my selections. As did both Cookie Monster and Baron Destructo. While I’m picking Memphis to win it all, I’m banking on both Louisville, Wisconsin, and West Virginia to make a strong showing. The Baron, on the other hand, likes a couple of the number #1 seeds – North Carolina and UCLA – but sees something in Stanford and the Georgetown Hoyas (who he has picked to win it all). Finally, Cookie Monster, always thinking out of the box (Hey, he DID pick the Giants to upset the Pats!), is riding Clemson all the way past North Carolina and into the finals where he’s predicting they’ll upend Texas. Alex and Ivon will be coming over tomorrow so that we can catch the games on the big screen. Thursday’s and Friday’s games tip-off at 9:25 a.m. PST and the final game should wrap up just in time for dinner. Same tip-off time for Saturday and Sunday’s games with the revelry dying down a little after dinner. Guess I’ll set Monday aside as my writing day. And, if I have time, I might even see the wife.
Growing up, I was a voracious reader, a passion my mother was only too happy to nurture. While most kids my age were outside playing hockey, I was inside reading The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (despite the fact that I wrote my Master’s thesis on The Subversion of Meaning in Julius Caesar, Henry IV parts 1 and 2 remain my favorite). My reading list was comprised of everything from X-Men comics to the science fiction novels and short story collections my mom would surprise me with, most which now sit on my office bookshelves – works by Harlan Ellison, Isaac Asimov, and, of course, Arthur C. Clarke. I read a lot when I was younger but, given life’s distractions, it was a hobby I found less and less time for as I grew busier with more and “more important” matters: school, work, women. But it wasn’t until a few years ago that, my schooling done, my career established, and my choice in women finally narrowed down to one, I rediscovered my passion for books. And rediscovered some of the classics that spurred my imagination and started me on the road to writing: Alexander Dumas’ The Count of Monte Cristo, Jim Shooter’s Avengers, and Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End. Seminal works all. So I was saddened to read the news of Clarke’s passing. Granted, at ninety years of age he lived a full life before leaving us. Still, it really feels as though he took a little piece of my childhood along with him.
As did Gary Gygax who passed away last week. Gary was the creator of Dungeons & Dragons, the role-playing game responsible for shifting my focus away from reading and over to exploring deathtrap-laden castles and slapping around recalcitrant elves. So consumed were my buddies and I back then that we would play through entire weekends, Nick as the righteous warrior, Cas as the wizened wizard, and me as the vexatious goblin thief Delfoss Draco. Finally, one of my friend’s parents, concerned with our unhealthy obsession, took the rather extreme step of locking away his Dungeon Master Guide and Player’s Handbook in the house safe. And so, with access to our gaming paraphernalia severely restricted, we lost interest in D&D and eventually discovered alternate interests to occupy our free time. Alternate interests like beer. And B-52 shooters.
Carl put out his first draft of Tracker today. In a word: awesome! McKay and Ronon make a terrific team. We also sat down to a director’s cut of The Seed. Great episode. Poor Zelenka.
Finally, a big thank you to Amy Lynne for the shipment of chocolates and bucketful of walnut cakes. The habanero bar kicked ass.
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