As mentioned last week, I spent the weekend in Virginia with the family, celebrating my niece’s high school graduation. As someone who attended a smallish high school, the sheer number of graduates was both exciting to see and a little intimidating. Seriously, there were more graduates in this ceremony than there were students in my school. The people reading off the names had to tag out every couple of rows and let a new person take over—and they each switched four or five times!

It was great to spend time with the family. My sister and brother got together with three other families to host a huge graduation party on Saturday with outdoor tents, lights, and a taco bar!

The drive to and from was exceptionally weird. It’s the first time in a very long time that I drove any great distance that was not for a convention. It was very strange having actual room inside the car. Usually I have to fold the back seats down, fill up every available space in the cargo area with books and display stuff, then cram my travel bag and anything else I’m taking on passenger seat. At one point I was even able to drive with a passenger in the back. I can’t tell you the last time I had a human passenger back there.

While it was nice to not have a bunch of stuff rattling around while I drove, there was one huge drawback. Since I didn’t have the con stuff, I didn’t have a dolly. I had to shlep my suitcase, CPAP machine and water, and cooler around by hand.

Another unfortunate thing which happened was that while I was gone, I seem to have missed the three mandatory days of Spring that we have in Michigan, as calendar be damned, we’ve moved right on to Summer. Yesterday I broke down and turned on the air in the TV room (we don’t have central air at The New House™️ but instead have a bunch of those split units which allow us to cool only the rooms we are in). It was so humid then when I opened the door to the hallway, the smoke detector in the cool room went off and my glasses fogged over.

Another sad piece of news, I broke my writing streak on Monday. I had gone 153 days writing at least a little something each day. After driving back in one shot, I was so tired that I totally forgot to do the book review I had been planning.

Back to 1.

Listening To: Long drives are great for plowing through audiobooks. I finished Boys in the Valley, listened to all of Angel Down by Daniel Kraus (amazing, I can see why it won the Pulitzer) and the novella Sleeping Dogs Lie by Samantha Downing (a fun, quick read). I made it most of the way through Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker.

Currently Reading: The same can not be said for reading physical books. I didn’t really have any time to devote to that last week.

Current Obsession: Wondering why no matter how the bathroom is set up and even whether there is a tub or a walk in shower, hotel showers always spill water on to the floor.

It was very weird being away from the puppies for a full weekend. I slept like absolute crap the entire time I was gone. I can only assume that it was because I wasn’t getting kicked in the head randomly by a paw.

While I was gone, The Mrs took the dogs out for a couple of socialization trips which they apparently did very well on. I guess they really enjoyed visiting Home Depot.

It is still a week away, but I’m already so nervous about the puppies’ upcoming surgeries that I’m nauseous. Finn gets neutered on Tuesday and Quinn gets spayed on Thursday. I’m dreading the idea of them getting anesthesia for the first time. Considering the number of procedures Tesla and Titus had to go through, you think I would be used to it by now, but I’m going to be absolutely wrecked the whole time that each is gone. I’m also worried about how they will be while their sibling is gone. They haven’t spent and real time apart from each other during their lives, so this will be new for them as well. Then there is the recovery period. They are, shall we say, very exuberant when it comes to playing with each other. I absolutely dread the idea of trying to keep them relatively calm and not running around like Tasmanian devils for a week and a half.

We would like to extend our congratulations to all of those taking home a Stoker award after last weekend’s ceremony, especially Stephen Graham Jones whose Buffalo Hunter Hunter won best novel in category crowded with amazing titles.

No new announcements this time around. If you are reading this on release day, make sure to come out and join us at the Historic Howell theater on Saturday for For Y’ur Height Only at 9pm.

Then we will have a weekend off before heading out to Port Huron for Frankenfest. I suspect we may hit up the Raven Cafe while we are in town.

Remember, you can always keep up to date with our appearances by visiting the Dragon’s In The Wild page at our website.

This Week’s Rambling: Rest In Peace Ripper/Repo Man

We were very saddened to learn of the passing of Anthony Stewart Head on the 5^th of this month. He inhabited the role of Rupert Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He embodied the librarian, mentor, and father figure that we all wanted—someone who was intelligent, understanding, caring, and tough when needed. Not only was he an excellent actor, but also an accomplished singer as anyone who has seen Repo: The Genetic Opera knows (I have the soundtrack playing as I write this).

Our condolences go out to his children, actresses Emily and Daisy who lost their mother earlier this year, and his brother, actor and singer Murray Head.