Friday Hodge-Podge

Today is going to be a round-up and hodge-podge of random stuff I seem to keep forgetting to mention.

If you've been really bad and are in need of repentance this Good Friday, Stargate Universe returns to the Sci Fi Channel tonight. Force yourself to watch it as penance for your sins (I'm going to church instead, but I may catch it OnDemand or the late-night repeat because snarking about it is just too much fun). Sci Fi (I refuse to acknowledge the name change) is also showing the second season of Merlin, after NBC showed the first season last summer (though I suspect that if you care, you've already watched on the UK schedule via other means). That one was kind of okay, though they had a bad problem with a serious Stupid Virus infecting either their food supply or water system because, damn, but every character on that show is Too Stupid to Live. To watch it, I have to pretend that it's about people who happen to be named Merlin, Arthur, Uther, etc., not the characters out of legend.

I think I've pretty much finalized my convention schedule for the year, unless something happens to drastically change it. In two weeks, I'll be on a panel at the Texas Library Association convention in San Antonio. In late August, I'll be at Armadillocon in Austin. And then in September I'll be at FenCon in Dallas. Otherwise, this is another cave year in which I focus on writing instead of traveling. I'm still on the fence about Mythcon in Dallas this summer, but if I go, it will likely be as an attendee, not a program participant because it's more of an academic conference with paper presentations instead of panels, and I don't feel like I'm enough of an expert to write a paper (and I don't want to devote the time to writing a paper).

I forgot to mention in my discussion of the book Inkheart that one thing I loved about it was how the author's love of books shines through. I love the way she talks about books (or her characters talk about books). I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that an author loves books, but the way she described reading and the way it feels and the impact of a favorite book had me constantly saying, "She gets it! That's exactly the way it is!"

And now I need to go figure out exactly what needs to happen in a big, climactic scene. My spirit guide Terry Pratchett was of no help in that area last night.