dallas county residents: want to find out if you're registered? go here

(you can also type in your (local) friends' names to see if they're registered)

i'll be outside the meridian room this weekend registering fair-goers.

links to info on districts and who's running for what office soon to come!

-s

Fox Intimidating Voters In Arizona?

cat recruitment

anyone interested in going?

Debate Watch Party at Gilley's Dallas
1409 S. Lamar
Dallas, TX 75215
Near downtown, just south of I-30 between the Dallas Convention Center and South Side on Lamar (historic Sears Roebuck Building)
Thursday, September 30
6:30 pm


This will be one of the last opportunities to register voters before the Oct. 4 deadline. GILLEY'S DALLAS from 6:30 - 12 midnight. Watch the Kerry-Bush Debate on over 20 drop-down screens. After the debate there will be LIVE JAZZ with JASON DAVIS and lots of surprises with cameo appearances and candidates. Voluntary donations and Open Bar. Please contact Steve Eddy at steve@dallasforkerry.com.

the spree was so on last night. rivaled the stubbs show last year.

even delaughter seemed to think so.

the crowd watched so actively. joy birthed, music crashing into love, smiles and cries and hands held up in the air. i was at some incredible robe-laden revival; we all jumped up and down, bouncing and screamsinging.

it was so good that i wanted to drive to austin to catch the show tonight. unfortunately, i had a misadventure with a lower-gvill curb on my way home, and am in need of a new tire.

thanks to damon, karen and joshua for helping me out last night & this morning.

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reminder: go see garden state

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i wonder when daniel gets back. missed him this weekend.

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i enjoyed sharing friday evening with two other coys. i'm looking forward to seeing the name (spelled correctly) on the cover of a book soon.

anyone want to go to san antonio this sunday? RLP/Gordon is having a book signing there. his blog changed my life; his most recent postings have particularly resonated with me.

don't listen to the wind of your soul if you want to come to america.

(Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) not welcome here.)

Officials said Islam was on the watch list because of alleged associations and financial support for Muslim charities...

On the Web site, he is associated with three charities: Small Kindness for humanitarian relief; Islamia Schools' Trust for education; and Waqf al Birr Educational Trust for educational research and development and scientific and medical research.

One administration official said the singer had been in the United States as recently as May and was a recent addition to the watch list.

Go see Garden State.

can't sleep right now (the cats have been active since about 5:30 this morning). i had a crazy science fiction dream, where i went into space/another dimension/past evolution (??) with two guys. we had helmets and booklets and had no clue what we were getting into (we had to solve some puzzles and hunt some artifacts down just to assure our space on the transportation craft and assure our survival.)

when i got there they split us into teams, and i joined team 17B -- a team full of alien-looking folk. they put us in a training pool, where we swam around and played icebreakers -- people with eyes bulging from foreheads, or several green wavy arms... an overweight african american woman with four legs kept trying to come onto me (and later attacked me when i rebuffed her advances) and i was saved by (of all people) kirsten dunst, who revealed to me that she'd been genetically engineered from a piece of ceramic.

i'm a little iffy on the other details... i remember complaining to the staff that they had no vegetarian food (the lunch i'd packed before embarking on said journey had somehow mysteriously disappeared) in the lunch hall. i remember talking with the two guys i'd traveled with and they hypothesized that we'd really been in a time machine, and this was earth way way way in the future.

beringer woke me up (he was perched on the pillow next to mine, and he poked me in the face with his paw like he does when he wants me to wake up) and i grumbled a little. it was a strange dream, but i sure wanted to figure out what the hell i was doing there.

goodness, i guess this is what happens after you spend six days surrounded by SF! maybe i can use this as an excuse to skip out on the convention weekend after next....

well folks, things are looking better.

i'm getting my car fixed later this week, i have wilco, the spree and a chili dinner on the horizon, and i've been happy for a near-solid two weeks now (nasty cold nonwithstanding) the previous month brought with it a near-crippling depression, a seeming extension of stressful event after event that began with the root canal in april and culminated with the loss of a friendship in july (with a ton of sickness, health scares, work stress and financial woes in between -- though there were sprinklings of joy like caputo and, well, caputo. and seeing bran.)

praise be for september. it's been incredible so far.

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my internet's back up. my work schedule is nearly under control (as much as it ever will be, i imagine).

looking back (and likely forward -- i recognize the cyclical nature of depression in my life. it's not too smart to assume it won't return), i just want to comment on a couple of things.

1) stress and worry. it's one thing to tell yourself that these things have little value; it's quite a different thing to put that head knowledge into practice when you're in the midst of stress or worry. they seem to have this cumulative effect -- you find yourself doing it even when you're not consciously thinking about the thing or event that's causing it. it's like you're trying really hard to change something, or help something, but all that effort is for naught. i can't even think of a metaphor. it's like wishing my plants would grow, even if i put them in a dark closet and didn't ever water them.

2) pain and rejection. believe it or not, you get better at this after going through it a few times (unless you get swallowed in a well of self-doubt or feeling sorry for yourself).

something just clicked in boston. joy and perspective inched their way in....

Ramsey Creek Nature Preserve

This is where I would like to be buried....

progress....

the thing about sewing is that it takes a certain degree of precision, especially when one is endeavoring to make a quilt.

i've designed my own pattern (simple though it is), calculated the amount of fabric needed, purchased fabric, pored over my quilting book, cut strips of material with my rotary cutter and self-healing mat, and sewed a bunch of squares that are supposed to measure 12 1/2 by 12 1/2.

for the first time in my life i find myself thinking "gee, i could really use some graph paper right now."

uh, yeah. and the squares aren't of equal size. they range from 11 1/2 x 13 1/4. one bugger somehow came out 11 x 11.

i'd try to puzzle it out right now, but i believe it's time to tame the sting-tipped porcupine that's taken up residence in my throat -- i'm taking some medicine and climbing back into bed. here's a picture of my quilt-progress so far:

sure, blame it on the invisible sky king....

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Dear Ms. Coy,

Thank you for presenting your version of this accident. We assure you it has received careful consideration.

The above referenced policy provides protection to our insured in the events that they are determined to be legally liable for damages. After considering all the available facts, it is our position that our insured is not legally liable for the damages arising out of the above referenced loss. Our investigation has determined that the damage to your vehicle was caused by an act of God, not our insured's negligence. Therefore, we respectfully decline payment for your damages under the above referenced claim number.

======

First Annual Coy Chili Dinner!

24 September
7:30 PM
vegetarian fare will be served
bring beverages

apparition

one more quick question: why do they put orange juice in the margaritas here?

The Harry Potter Group

harry, ron and... snape?




friday night the hostess of a pub across the street referred to us thusly.

check soon for images of me apparating.


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i've been having an incredible time in boston. part of me wants to stay longer and explore more, but as it is i won't get into DFW till 10:30 monday eve (and that may get pushed to tuesday, depending on our ability arrange the shipment of 20someodd boxes of books).

for now, time to write some emails and then find some dinner.

looking forward to returning home to my family of cats and friends, to my yellow office and red bed

a return to the gentle rhythms that comprise the life i've created....

one problem with reading the news while doing retail: customers want to know why you're crying.

this september eve, my first night in boston (the first night of the month) has already provided adventure for this editor.

after a day of travel, conversation and the movement of several boxes of books (and the mysterious absence of two bookshelves), my publisher and i headed towards a thai restaurant with an sf author/acquisitions editor and his wife in tow. they regaled us with tales of genre trends (the rise and demise of sf pulps and fanzines and publishers) and some colorful anecdotes of his experiences with the print porn industry and its distributors.

on our walk back to the hotel, i saw a bar called bukowski. i explained that i had to depart and jaywalk my way to the bar named after my favorite authors (who? they asked. who?). and so,

i walked into the dim spectre of tourist-laden space that only took cash. and didn't serve wells.

it was too dark to take pictures of the buk images on the walls, so i grabbed a copy of the boston weekly dig and headed for some random bar that had great lighting and norah jones calling me to come in...

i sidled up to the bar, ordered a drink and slid into a wooden barstool. a couple pages (and a couple sips) later i read that wilco was playing tonight.

i immediately asked the nearest human being what time it was, and how far the venue was from our current location.

twenty-five till nine.
a mile and a half or so.

i asked him if cabs took credit cards.

he shook his head, and tried to ask me if i was from out of town -- but i was too busy flagging down the bartender in the urgent request to close my tab.

i abandoned my drink, flew from the bar, credit card and weekly dig in hand, in search of an ATM.

i spotted one in the front section of a store that had closed; i motioned desperately at the cleaning lady. she saddled her mop in its yellow bucket and let me in.

and fuck.

i haven't made it into my bank branch yet to enter in a pin number (after my debit card was stolen and it took them over a month and a half to replace the fucker) so i was subject to the rejection beep beep beep (repeat at will -- i tried thrice in desperation) and ran out into the street.

must reach wilco.

heart beating overtime. sweating in the sweet cool air that was a gentle invitation to autumn, ready to run the mile or so.

maybe i could ask someone and just pound the slips of sidewalk and street crossings in my adidas if i could get directions. maybe i could run to the hotel and beg my boss for some cash. maybe i could flag down someone in a stupid car and explain to them that i had to see wilco...

i flagged a cab instead, desperately asking if he took credit cards.

he explained in strained english that yeah, sure he did, but it was only two miles away and it took time to process and i hollered that i'd tip him good, just take me!

and slid onto vinyl backseat, making small talk as the meter clicked numbers skyward and looked at the witty paper in my hands (it really is impressive) and squinted at the date, at the day.

friday, 10/1.

today is wednesday, 9/1.

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fruck. uh, i just realized something. can we turn around?

he took me back to my hotel, and only charged me half-price for the fare.


and so here i sit, in the strange post-adrenaline state of wilcolessness, happy to be here still, liking what i've seen of the town (i think i'm right where jus went to school) and looking fwd to seeing hooly and branban and crashing in the strange bed with the many comfy pillows....