It’s not exactly warm outside, but it’s warm enough that here in Michigan I am more than comfortable sitting outside in a tee shirt with my laptop. This is a good thing considering that Quinn and Finn really want to be outside dogs today. This makes perfect sense since they had to endure a couple hours in their crates today while I went and had our taxes done.

Yes, that’s right. It’s not even April and the taxes are done.

That weird creaking sound you may have heard was my spine straightening after weeks of being slumped over from the weight of having to organize all of that crap. Ugh. There are many things I love about running Dragon’s Roost Press, figuring out tax stuff is not among them.

But, thanks to the wonderful people at Motor City Accounting, that is one thing that I don’t have to concern myself with until next year. I have gotten better at keeping everything I need in the same place, either physically or digitally. I’ve also learned that things go a lot quicker when I make little cheat sheets to hand to the tax preparer. So yeah, that’s pretty much what I have been doing since we last spoke.

The puppies continue to grow at an almost exponential rate. I’m not sure how, considering how much they have been pooping (sorry, too much?). Quinn was able to relax after only a few minutes of class time on Sunday, so that is another win.

Other than those things, it has been a pretty uneventful week, with the exception of one Secret Date Night, which you can read about in this week’s Rambling below.

Listening To: Doomed by Chuck Palahniuk. I’m not enjoying this one quite as much as Damned. Part of this may be due to the setting, as Madison spends the time on Earth instead of Hell.

Currently Reading: I’m still working my way through that big Godzilla book. I might be spending too much time lingering on the pictures…

Current Obsession: The world, and especially the US, is a terrible mess so I have been doing my best to try and see things through the eyes of the puppies. Their excitement over something as simple as chasing a leaf or exploring a new scent is getting me through each day.

Penguicon is THIS weekend! After almost a year of financial uncertainty, the community came through and the convention will definitely be moving ahead. I’ll be around all three days. In addition to my usual writing related panels, I’ll also spend some time talking about my mead making adventure. Check out my schedule here.

Our dance card is slowly filling up: We have added two more appearances to our lineup. Dragon’s Roost Press will be at both Frankenfests this year.

As we have established by now, The Mrs loves a nice surprise. I try to vary these throughout the year, letting her know that we have something planned, but not what it is. These can be anything from a nice dinner out to where we are going on vacation.

Our most recent Surprise Date Night occurred last Thursday. As it was in the evening, she really had no idea what it was. She assumed it would be either a dinner or a night at the movies. Instead we headed downtown to see Lucy Darling in person.

I have been a fan of magic since I was in single digits. I still have my souvenir handbill/book from when my folks took me to see Harry Blackstone Jr. (who was born in Three Rivers, MI and also played Dr. Mephisto on my favorite soap Santa Barbara). I had a tool chest filled with various magic tricks I had purchased over the years. It should come as no surprise that I read tons of books on magic including ones by Blackstone and Houdini.

Granted, Lucy Darling presents more of a comedy show with a little magic (as opposed to someone like the Amazing Jonathon, who we also saw live, whose act was comedic magic). Much of this comedy, as anyone who has seen her reels knows, contains interactions with the audience. There were some really funny bits, including a couple who came up to be “fake wed” in order to piss of their parent. I don’t remember all of the jokes, but I do know that on multiple points during the show I had to take off my glasses because I was laughing so hard that I was crying.

It was a great show and if she is coming to your neck of the woods I highly recommend you grab some tickets.

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