You Could Make a Killing

First, writing news: Yesterday I sold two stories to the webzine Speculon (which has recently upped its pay rate to 5 cents/word)(be warned: the site has pop-ups right now (yech), though the editor is annoyed about that and is going to see what he can do to remedy it). Tim Cooper, the editor, bought both "Straight Trade" (a quiet sort of story about self and selfishness and objects and transactions) and "Dr. Nefarious and the Lazarus Project" (a gonzo mad scientist/evil mastermind/spy/imposter story). One of those stories should come out in mid-January; the other is tentatively slated to appear in April. Everyone wish this magazine luck! The editor likes my weird little stories very much, so I want him to prosper... the money from these sales should mostly pay for my trip to WisCon. So that's lovely, lovely, lovely.

I finally bought my brother's Xmas present, after a little wandering in Streetlight Records (not a spoiler; my brother knows I'm getting him music, I always get him music) and some advice from D. My taste is slowly diverging from my brother's with every passing year, so I needed D.'s input, since their tastes are more similar. I also picked up I'm With Stupid by Aimee Mann. I'm listening to it right now... and it's getting me all nostalgic and mushy.

See, Amily had this CD back in Boone, during the last year we dated. I didn't pay much attention to Aimee Mann back then, didn't dig her particularly. To be honest, I didn’t think I remembered a single track from this album... but now that it's playing, it's taking me back. I remember Amily's room in East Hall, with the view of dumpsters and bushes out the window and the smell of pot smoke drifting up from the floor below. I remember her bed, raised up on cinderblocks, and our Friday night ritual of eating Chinese food and watching The X-Files (yes, back in the day, when it came on Fridays), and then... well. You know.

I know Amily reads this journal from time to time, so I'll take this opportunity to say: I love you, babe. You gave me some of the best years of my life, and I'm glad we're still close, and sad you're so far away from me now. Your fiancé is a lucky man, and I can't wait to see you in your wedding dress next May. You'll be radiant.

You have better taste in music than I used to give you credit for, too. :)

(Amily, by the way, is the "hot girlfriend" Scott mentions in my bio. I'm sure she wouldn't mind me mentioning that.)

In other music news, Keanu Reeves' band Dogstar is playing at the Catalyst tonight... right around the corner from my house. Keanu Reeves is going to be on my block. I don't even like having the dude on my television. I don't usually get het up (is "het up" a southernism?) about actors, but damn I hate this guy. He's been in some good films, but they succeed in spite of him.

He blows. He should go to hell.

He might be a good bass player, though.