November 16, 2011: Maximus on the mend! Smacaron-Off! Dark Matter!

I'm pleased to report that my boy Maximus is on the road to short-term recovery.  I dropped him off at the vet's this morning where he underwent surgery to remove part of the melanoma on the inside of his cheek, something that has clearly made him very uncomfortable lately as he's struggled to eat.  According to Dr. Clark, he was able to remove eighty percent of the tumor and Max displayed great courage and toughness, rebounding quite nicely after the procedure.  When we went to pick him up this afternoon, he was very excited to see us, animated, tail wagging, demonstrating better spirits than he has in months.  Now he's at home convalescing – sitting at my feet as I write today's entry.

In case you suspect I've forgotten – no, I'm still working my way through the best (and worst) Vancouver has to offer in my very first Macaron-Off (or Smacaron-Off, if you prefer).  I've visited a little over a dozen places and I'm sorry to report that, for the most part, they've been major disappointments.  There have, however, been a few bright spots.  Nothing to compare to Pierre Hermes or Jean-Paul Hevin or even Laduree, but some nice Canadian contenders nevertheless.  The shop we visited today, unfortunately, was not among them.  I'm of the personal opinion that one should throw out rather than sell stale or overbaked macarons – but maybe that's just me.  No, clearly that's not just me as evidenced by this afternoon's experience.  As a rule of thumb, if you can't break a macaron apart with your fingers or easily cut it in half with a knife, then you shouldn't be selling it, much less eating it.  Akemi enjoyed her giant meringue though -

Just finishing up my fourth interview for my upcoming comic book series, Dark Matter.  The first two were for Comic Book Resources and Newsarama; these last two for Pop Culture Zoo and Multiverse UK.  The challenge I faced was two-fold: 1) offering up enough information to intrigue potential readers without giving too much away since the entire series is driven by plot twists and surprise revelations, and 2) giving each interviewer unique insight into the series and its characters.  I believe I succeeded on all counts.  Don't believe me?  Check out the interviews.  When they come out.

Oh, and speaking of coming out – in case you forgot, Dark Matter #1 (of 4) hits the stands on January 11, 2012.

Today's entry is dedicated to blog (more than) regular Das!