Hodgepodge

Today jgaleckas and I were in Michigan to attend the final service our old pastor gave before retiring. His message was so moving and so personal to me that I had tears in my eyes and barely kept from breaking down and sobbing. We have attended services in a few different churches since the one Phil pastored closed for. No preacher has ever been able to touch me with his sermon's like Phil.

Janice was also very moved and at the thanksgiving lunch after the service, the comments from the congregation here in Michigan echoed similar thoughts. It is sad to think he will not be preaching anymore but I am happy that he is able to retire and do more things with his family.

Maybe the Lord will bless us with a church in Missouri with a pastor even close to Phil.

 

Another great Capricon is in the books. jgaleckas and I had a great time and we got to see lots of friends and made some new ones. It was especially good seeing filkertom getting around pretty well, and while he may have injured his leg last year, his voice and enthusiasm are as strong as ever!

The panels were good, the filk was great and the con suite was well stocked and right in the center of the meeting rooms making it easy to pop in for a soda or snack and not have to run to the next event – good job con com!

Janice helped with striking the art show which is getting to be a regular for her. She enjoys helping and has made some good friends. I just read or nap while she does her thing.

Thanks to Helen and her staff for putting on one helluva con! Looking forward to Capricon 30 whose theme is Celebration.

I am sitting in the Hotel Collinsville lobby watching the fen rolling out the door and using their internet because the Gateway center is the typical pay to play that conventions do so well. As is typical on a Sunday morning, there are people sleeping on the chairs and couches who probably have been there since very early this morning.

As is also typical on Sunday morning, the programming is thin so I have a lot of time to kill. Once I catch up on internet stuff, I will try and write a scene in the novel. I will mosey over after noon to toss some coin into the virtual guitar case for Filker Tom Smith, who is recovering from a serious injury and has some serious medical bills to pay. It's too bad the kazillion dollar bailout didn't include a few bucks for Tom - it covered just about everything else right?

Anyway, Archon was good this year, even with a light program schedule. I think they are still recovering from hosting the NASFiC last year. The masquerade was fab, with several outstanding costumes in every class. I would not have wanted to be a judge. If you are into costumes and masquerades, Archon is one of the best. It is always superior to even the Worldcon masquerades.

The author list was small,  no one that we had many books by, in fact this is the first con in years that jgaleckas hasn't been in line getting books signed. Speaking of Janice she was thrilled to be picked to enter the hall costume contest with her Girl Genius outfit, the 6 foot wrench always draws attention. Go Janice!

I didn't win the writer's contest but got good feedback from the 3 judges, which is always helpful.

All in all a fun time. Tomorrow we start shingling the roof on the shop at the farm if the rain holds off.

I just signed on to twitter under bosswriter so feel free to follow me. Also if any of you are on twitter please let me know your user name and I will follow you.

I wasn't going to sign up for this but jgaleckas's son said he might read my blog if I twitter a post so we'll see how I like this.