David Lubar's Blog, page 11

Tacky cardia

So, I recently had a stress test, and learned my heart is fine. (At least, medically. The test didn't address degrees of darkness.) This afternoon, the bill came. My heart is no longer fine. It seems to have stopped completely.

The blizzard of odds

Well, unless there's a major change in the weather ten days from now, the Winter Travel challenge will be a success. Of course, given how the forces of nature seemed to have been created mostly as a tool for irony, there will probably be snow, ice, rain, hail, and meteors.

I have a lot less travel scheduled in March than usual. It feels strange being able to stay home and write. Things get hectic again next month, but I'm going to savor these moments when my coffee pot isn't in the bathroom and all my drinking glasses aren't plastic.

In other news, Tom Yezerski has a gorgeous new book out about the Meadowlands.

No snow, radio

I haven't looked out the window, yet. Not that it matters. At 5:15 AM, everything would be too blurry and dark to really see what's going on. But I'm pretty sure there's no snow on the roads, which means I'll be able to make the penultimate trip in my Winter Travel Challenge. I'm heading for a local school, which is a nice break from my recent drives. Even better, February is over. I know it's still winter, but there's something about the combination of winter and February that makes the world seem like a frigid wasteland. So, yay for March.

Laptops and Ogres and Whiskers on Kittens

Laptops: I' ve decided that rather than buy a third battery for craptistic Dell that my wife is using, it's time to get her a new computer. Anyone have a recent purchase that you love? Maybe in the 15" screen category? I'm thinking inexpensive, but not cheap. So far, Lenovo, Acer, and HP look interesting. Something that doesn't come loaded with bloatware would be a plus, though I don't know if that's a possibility. In line with that, I have a far-too-varied array of firewall and anti-virus software on my computers. I was using the Zone Alarm firewall with AVG anti virus until they stopped playing together nicely. Right now, I have Commodo on one system. (I know I should get her a Mac, blah, blash blah. I understand the quality and amazingness of it. I've met Steve Wozniak, and ages ago I knew several of the guys who helped design the original Mac. My first computer was an Apple II. Macs are awesome. But I'm not spending $1,200 for a system that will be used for nothing other than email and Bejeweled.)

Ogres: I rarely pre-order video games. I like to read reviews, first. But I took a chance with Tactics Ogre for the PSP, since it was a remake of a game that many people raved about. It was a good move (no pun intended). If you like strategy role-playing games like Disgaea, Jeane d'Arc, or Final Fantasy Tactics, then you'll love Tactics Ogre. SPeaking of which, I'm now in my 70th hour of playing Resonance of Fate on the Xbox 360 (over a period of many months). It features a unique hybrid of action and turn-based combat. My initial reaction after the first hour or two was to return it for a refund. But I'd read several reviews that said you really had to give it a chance. I did, and I was glad.

Whiskers on Kittens: Sorry. I lied. Wait -- I just noticed my cats have whiskers. And they were kittens, once. So, I hope that does the trick.

I hit triple digits

Five inches of snow couldn't stop me from getting to Lititz, PA on Tuesday. Happily, it all melted before I arrived. So the Winter Travel Challenge loot pot has hit triple digits. If you are playing along, or even if you're not, and want a good place to donate some money, please read April Henry's post about the Nathan Wolfson Trust. April, and the writing world, lost a wonderful friend to a horrible disease. While the money is being saved for future education costs, the message it sends might bring a small bit of comfort right now by letting those who are suffering the most know that so many people care.

The odds I'll die in a tragic accident have just risen significantly

For various reasons, my doctor decided it would be a good idea for me to get a stress test. (I consider life to be a stress test, but he had something more specific in mind.) So I spent a big chunk of yesterday in a local hospital. It was acutally rather nice to be greeted with, "Are you the author?" One of the persons who worked there had a son who liked my books. Actually, everyone who worked there was great, and made the whole process easy to bear. While I wasn't super worried about the results, I couldn't help thinking about friends of mine who had gone for a stress test and been immediately anesthetized so a surgeon could disconnect four or five veins or arteries from varous limbs and relocate them to the vicinty of the heart. Other than ending up with a great scar for Halloween parties, the whole bypass process didn't strike me as fun. Happily, I got a call this morning telling me everything was normal. (Obviously, the test doesn't check the heart for darkness.) So it looks like I won't be one of those guys who keel over unexpectedly.

In other news, I completed the next leg of the winter travel challenge. I'm heading out again on Tuesday, when there is a bit of talk of early-morning snow. But the charity pool is growing nicely, and there aren't that many trips left. So keep that mojo coming my way.

Lastly, I know that many of you have been eagerly awaiting news of the official date for DLAW (David Lubar Appreciation Week). It will kick off on Sunday, March 13th. Stay tuned for a list of DLAW activities.

Storming the Weather

I completed another trip in the 2011 Winter Travel Challenge, pumping the total to $32.00 and pushing past the halfway point. The kids in Middletown, DE just blew me away. I actually hated to end my session with the 8th graders at Alfred G. Waters Middle School. (And with many of the other groups.) I could have spent all day with them. Really -- kids like this give me great hope for the future of our country.

I just signed a contract I'm very excited about. As soon as I get it back, I'll tell all. It shouldn't be long.

Weaving through the snow

I flew to Denver a day after an ice storm closed airports here, and left on Saturday, a day before the next storm. (More about Denver in a moment.) Yesterday, I finally managed to get to the twice-postponed visit at Spring Garden Elementary in Bethlehem, PA, the 4th school in the great 2011 Travel Challenge. I'm heading out for the 5th one, today. The snow predicted for this morning seems to have missed us, and the snow for Thursday is also looking like it won't arrive. SO, big thanks to all who have used their mental powers to push the clouds away.

As for Denver, the Colorado Council of the IRA really knows how to celebrate books, and how to treat authors. I was stunned to walk into the hotel and see a banner for The Battle of the Red Hot Pepper Weenies hanging from the mezzanine. There were banners, made by school kids, for all of the Blue Spruce nominees. I get a fair number of state nominations, but almost never for my story collections, so this was especially nice. Here's a bad cell-phone shot of it:



I had a chance to see lots of old friends, and meet some folks I'd only known online. But the big fanboy thrill for me was to not only meet Lawrence Yep, who is the author of one of my favorite books, Dragon Wings,, but to also be on a panel with him. Larry, as he asked me to call him, was amazinly gracious. (In my experience, all the really good authors are like that.) The third member of the panel was Dom Testa, author of the Galahad series and famous Denver radio guy. He posted a great picture of the three of us on Facebook, but I have no idea how to link to it from here. It's on my wall. Whatever that is.

Sweet silence

I just realized it's been more than I week since I've made a blog post. And, since I consider this a meta-post, the stretch continues. It's nowhere near a record. I once went more than 50 years without blogging.

Fan tastic

I love my fans. There's no feeling quite like reading the enthusiastic comments of inteeligent young readers. I can't help sharing a snippet from an email I just received from a 10-year-old girl from the midwest:

"Your stories have just the right amount of suspense and humor in them. All my friends think your books are too freaky, but they can just go right ahead and read books about talking puppies and fairies because, I think freaky books are awesome!"

There may be snow all around, but I feel warm and toasty.

Speaking of snow -- for those of you who are following the charity-challenge, I made it to my Morris Plains school. We had to reschedule from Thursday to Friday, but I got there just fine. The pot has swollen to $8.00.