Black Friday .. and stuff.

I love Black Friday. I do, it's a guilty pleasure for me. Only since moving up to North Carolina have I actively gone out and waited in lines to buy trinkety-doodads at midnight and all that stuff. And then, the next day, I always lament that I spent too much money and what was I thinking and oh noes.

Like, for instance, I bought LOTR on blu-ray for $4 each. Such a good deal! But I already have them on DVD. Oh. And, really, if I were going out to buy LOTR - I'd buy the extended versions. Heh. This is essentially what I do on Black Friday. Buy stuff I really don't need (and buy stuff for other people that they may or may not want) and lament being broke afterwards.

That, and not shaving from now until the end of the year. These are my traditions. I am a simple man.

I believe in Black Friday, in that little boost to the economy that we desperately need and whosoever is in office will take credit for it. Speaking of politics, I did vote this year, but I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about it. I'm tired of all the negativity and doomsaying in politics. Still, if you don't vote, you can't complain, right? Right.

Anyway, just checking in. While on my path to being a world famous published author, I have to get my house in order, and 2012 has kicked my ass with Chaos, which I can appreciate.

I'm working 6 days a week now, a far cry from a couple months ago, when I was lucky to work at all. I have a lot of goals to accomplish, to get things settled, so that my creative mind is unstressed and relaxed to where I can go back to Zherlios and continue telling the tale of Angtamin, Dubane, Kortirion and Nithacar the Battlerager.

But in the meantime, there's Fantasy Football and collecting MTG and Football cards. Working now enables those habits. Working also takes up all of my time.

Speaking of habits, I am slowly but surely converting my nicotine habit to electronic cigarettes. I've gone from a pack a day to a cigarette a day on average, and I feel that I'll be able to give up the solo cigarette here within the next week.

I love my job. That's a post for another time, but I'm very thankful to have found employment where I'm challenged and engaged and in a friendly, appreciative environment. It's a step in the right direction, and the frustration I've faced these last few years has finally got me going in the right direction.

Wherein the blog is a vehicle for catharsis, examination and eventual retrospect, I would like to thank the Universe for my good fortune, for the money that's coming in, for the love and companionship of my friends and family, for my much improved health, and for the little things too numerous to mention. I'm happier, on many levels, than I've been in a long time. Things will only get better from here. The novel's not going anywhere, it's still there in my head, and I will finish it and it will get published, one way or the other.

I do sometimes miss the camaraderie in engaging the sf/f community on the internet, the hot topics and drama and new titles and author news and such. But, for now, I'm okay with being excited about The Hobbit coming out next month and 4 months until Game of Thrones kicks off Season 3. Season 3 is going to floor people. Storm of Swords is the best book in the ASOIAF series (so far).

That's enough babbling for now. I hope you and yours have a great holiday weekend and have plenty to be thankful for.