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August, 2002
Hey, hey! Guess who couldn't let go of his Friday? Ah, it's barely after 2am and I could be up all night! SciFi's running Time Tunnel at 5am! ...so I guess I'd better get to sleep before that happens.
Skipping back and forth over a few things in the past couple hours, one of the things I did was cobble together a new section: The Grab Bag. It's a series of brief comments on some of the most recent comics and related magazines I've read. Give it a look and do what it asks at the bottom and nobody gets hurt, see?
On a thoroughly unrelated note, while I fairly despise instant messaging - I can rant about it without even getting a couple drinks in me - I do tend to run the MSN version (quickly putting myself into "Appear offline" mode) so that I have pop-up messages to let me know when email rolls in. So, while sitting here I've seen that the latest wave of porn spam has begun to roll in like the fragrant tide at the Jersey shore. At least, that's what I expect to find after seeing that I just received a message from "Samantha the Sex Addict."
Oh, Sammy..! Not you!
I must get this simply by existing, because - honestly - I haven't gone anywhere online to deserve this. I probably filled out the wrong form somewhere and have been determined to fall into the sex and age demographic where someone's determined that aside from needing alternate financing and refinancing I'm desperate for products to shrink my waistline, grow hair, grow another part a few inches, shoot farther and make a bigger splash when I arrive, so to speak. Ah, technology. At least I take it less personally when I also find offers to increase my bustline. Whatever happened to all the nice letters I used to get from the widows of deposed African potentates, ready to deposit millions of dollars in my bank account?
Say goodnight, Mike.
August 30, 2002
Not too bad this time. At least it's within the same month, and even better - the same week. Heading into the weekend this time, which is definitely the preferred direction.
Tonight I've decided to add a new feature - The Pull List. There I look ahead to the comics coming out next week, tell you what I ordered, what I didn't, and in some cases why. Look it over and react to them over on the messageboard (There are links to the messageboard in The Pull List section, too.) If that section works out - and I stick with it each week - maybe this site will become something I'll be interested in promoting a little.
The counter's tell me people have been touring the Wizard World Weekend pages, but as is often the way in this ghost world of the web the tourists are leaving no other clue. I've taken enough silent tours of sites that I can hardly be casting stones, but that still doesn't squelch the desire to see some reactions.
Another busy week down - at least the workweek portion. A three day weekend ahead, we'll be getting together with my in-laws on Saturday to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday. We haven't seen them in a while, so that should be fun. No, really.
So far that's the only social obligation of this three-day weekend, unless you count the (weather permitting) Labor Day cookout ritual, which is fine with me. It never seems that I can get enough quiet time. Oh, I know that's the case for everyone, but this is coming from someone who would rather spend a new year's eve alone - reading or working on something - than be dragged to a party.
The kids are in their final few days of summer vacation, scheduled to start back to school next Wednesday. They're about as ready as they're ever going to be for it, though I see an extreme course correction coming up as far as bed times go. They've gotten used to being up to ridiculously late hours, and as we get into these last few days of seeming freedom it's not getting any easier to get them to give up the late-night life. I know the rational approach is to work at it from the other end - get them up early and keep them moving so they're worn out by a decent hour - but man-o-man, doesn't that sound like a lot of work? There should be a detailed job description that goes with this parenting assignment...
August 25, 2002
Finally, I've taken a little time to post some photos and accompanying comments of my early July weekend in Chicago. I was in town for the Chicago Comic Con (aka Wizard World). It's fun - at least I think it is - though you'll forgive me for the use of just first names in most places. I don't like to take liberties with throwing private citizen's names around online without permission.
With BeSeen going belly up tomorrow I had to find a new host for the messageboard, so now we're with Bravenet. Drop by and post if you have something to say.
It's a Sunday night, with Monday coming at me as swiftly and unwelcome as a ripe, horny viking, so my urge to work on the website's growing the later it gets and the more I probably should get to sleep. Well, if I did anything else before bedtime, it'll be up above this post.
MJ Norton
Head back to the Embassy
...read earlier Dispatches.
...go to the Messageboard to check for other updates or leave your own comments
...or just drop me an email directly!
