"I've done questionable things."

By now, subscribers should have #25 of Sirenia Digest, as Spooky sent it out last night. If you are a subscriber and haven't yet received your copy, email her at crk_books(at)yahoo(dot)com, and we'll get it to you ASAP. I know people are busy and preoccupied, today being what today is, but I'd love to hear some thoughts on the issue.

Yesterday wasn't very much different than expected. A hot bath. Clean hair. A Nap. No writing. Some extremely excellent rp in Second Life, in the Dune sim and in that place where there are angels and demons and worse things yet. That was yesterday.

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Compared to the last three years, 2007 has been so-so. At least, for me, it has been. And despite health issues. There have been some very good things, and I shall try to list them quickly: being interviewed at Oakland Cemetery by Frank Woodward and crew for his forthcoming Lovecraft documentary, Fear of the Unknown; writing some of the best fiction I've yet to write, including "The Apes Wife," "In View of Nothing," "A Season of Broken Dolls," and "The Wolf Who Cried Girl"; discovering Second Life at the end of May; seeing Garland and Jada at Samhain after not having seen them for so very long; They Might Be Giants at Variety Playhouse; being interviewed by BBC2 Scotland back in November; having "In the Waterworks (Birmingham, 1888)" included in S.T. Joshi's Penguin Classics volume, American Supernatural Tales; being invited to speak at the Rose O'Neill Literary House at Washington College (Chesterton, MD) next year; mine and Kathryn's fifth anniversary; seeing Silk, Threshold, and Low Red Moon brought back into print by Penguin; the news of various new dinosaurs, including, Glacialisaurus hammeri from Antarctica and Eotriceratops xerinsularis from Alberta.

And there have been some very good films. And I am always glad for the distraction of very good films. Here are my favourite ten, though I will not claim they are the "best" of 2007, only those I most enjoyed (for various reasons):

01. No Country for Old Men
02. Across the Universe
03. Sunshine
04. Ratatouille
05. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
06. Elizabeth: The Golden Age
07. The Golden Compass
08. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
09. Control
10. Rescue Dawn

Of course, the single most delightful cinematic experience of 2007 was seeing "the final cut" of Blade Runner on the big screen. And I should note that there is a bias in this list, as soaring ticket prices have forced me to primarily see "spectacle" films at the theatre, since most smaller films don't suffer as much being seen on DVD. That's why, I suspect, there aren't more films like The Kite Runner, The Djarleeng Limited, and There Will Be Blood on the list. Also, I do tend to like "Big" films, and am not ashamed to admit that I usually go to the movies to be wowed.

My favourite novel of 2007 is Dan Simmons' The Terror. My favourite album, Radiohead's In Rainbows.

And with that, I need to find some breakfast. Play nice, kiddos. Don't drink anything that smells like Clorox. Use birth control. And remember, this is not the Future, it's just the latest chapter of the Past.

Oh, and please do have a look at the current eBay auctions. Thanks.