Monday morning update: I had a posty weekend, and other updatess

For those not reading over the weekend, I bitched about Michael Bay's ignorance and racism, bitched some more, and also complained about the weakest song in Rent.

I also posted a trailer to a Russian action movie that looks ridiculously awesome, although it'll probably suck like Wanted did.

Last night, I took Elayna to Explo for the Returning Day Student Orientation. Since she'd been before, she didn't need the campus tour or the orientation, so it was just a matter of a health screening (they use a a cool thermometer that's basically a wand that they roll from her forehead to her temple -- we both agreed it was the coolest piece of tech we'd seen in a while), getting her info packet, getting her picture taken, and heading home.

As always, beyond the classes themselves (Beginning Guitar/Songwriting and Found Object Art), and the Wednesday Workshops (Hip-Hop Dance and Musical Theatre), there are some amazing trips. This Wednesday night, they're taking over an amusement park, and this weekend, she has choices including horseback riding, kayaking, visiting Heifer International, or staying on-campus and making desserts or learning woodworking.

Needless to say, she was insanely excited when she hopped on the bus this morning.

As for me, this week, work will be keep me busy. There may be some big things happening here, but until they happen, we have to follow Gold Five's advice and stay on target.

On the freelance writing front, I have the potential to actually pick up my first bylined piece for PW this week, if things work out properly. It'd be an interview with a bestselling author. And it pays nicely, too (the byline is nice, but I write for money*.). More on that once it happens.

In the meantime, I've been reviewing about three books a month for my YA reviewing gig for PW, and 1-2 for my sf/fantasy one. I've discovered some good stuff that way. Also some complete crap. There's more than enough good stuff out there to balance out the crap, thankfully.

One goal this summer is to ramp up my freelance work. Assuming the interview goes well, that will hopefully open up more opportunities on that front, but I'd also like to write for some other nonfiction markets. I plan to take some time over the upcoming four-day weekend (holiday on Friday and flex day on Monday) to formulate a good plan.

On the gaming front, Plants vs Zombies is my current primary obsession on the Mac. It's just as much fun as it seems. I'm also spending some time on Lego Batman on the Xbox. I'm still playing KOL and Skyrates, but I find myself drawn to games that don't require net connections.

Reading-wise, I'm less prone to talking about what I'm reading (since so much is for review), but I've been catching up on assorted graphic novels and comics Alan Moore did for Wildstorm (both his ABC comics and his run on WildC.A.T.S.), which has been fun.

*And sadly, I recently had to issue a similar gentle reminder to the one scalzi issued this weekend

Verizon sucks

Remember our repair status with Verizon, AKA the phone company that doesn't provide good phone service and pretty much wants its customers to go fuck themselves?

When I checked the status at 5:45 this afternoon, nothing had changed.

As of 6:02, the web page told me that things should have been resolved by 6, and that I should pick a time (including a whopping 8-hour block tomorrow) to schedule a "new" appointment. Of course, no one ever showed up the first time.

Yeah, I'll be having a chat with their customer "service" tomorrow.

Party Down

Feh. According to the latest Watch with Kristin, Jane Lynch is not returning to Party Down. That might be the only thing that makes me dislike Glee.

Mind you, the rest of the cast is more than enough to carry the show. But I'm still annoyed.