Good news, everyone!
When the press release went out about MacWorld, a lot of WWdN readers asked if there would be a reading or signing for people who were unable to afford admission to the conference.
Well, it turns out that we have a mole at Borders in Union Square. She made an introduction for me, and I am super excited to announce that I’ve been invited to their store for a reading and signing when I’m in town!
It looks like the Borders website hasn’t been updated yet, but I’m scheduled for Friday January 14th at 7pm.
Oh! I just got a Really Big Idea™, that could be a whole bunch of Supercool: I have a short list of stories from Just A Geek that I choose from when I perform at bookstores. Based on comments and e-mail, I know there are a lot of WWdN readers in NorCal. How about, instead of me choosing what to read, I let you guys pick what you’d like to hear? If you’re planning to come out on the 14th, say so in the comments, and leave a brief description, or chapter number, or page number, or whatever, and the majority will rule.

The always hilarious BBspot hits it out of the park again. Today, they give us The Top Eleven Geek Break Up Lines.
My personal favorite is number eleven:

(A)bort, (R)etry, (F)ail? R
(A)bort, (R)etry, (F)ail? R
(A)bort, (R)etry, (F)ail? F
Relationship failed.

I love that I can look out my office window, and watch a steady curtain of rain fall gently into my backyard. It looks like the powdered milk they used in Singin’ In The Rain.
Occasionally, it knocks a leaf off this old maple tree that is in one corner of my yard.
The opposite corner is flooding.
There are about a dozen finches hopping around on my chinese elm tree. The rain doesn’t seem to bother them.
It’s chilly out, but I opened the window a bit so I can listen to them sing.

A few readers have told me that WWdN is nominated for Best Big Name Blog in the 2004 Best of the Blogs awards, so I headed over there to see who else was nominated, and to perhaps correct the assertion that I’m a Big Name anything.
Holy crap, am I in some good company. Namely, Tony Pierce and Dooce.
So look, here’s the thing: If you’re going to go there and vote, you’d better vote for Tony. Right now he only has 13 votes, and that’s because I can only vote once a day. I’m serious. This isn’t some sort of false humility — it’s a fact. Tony Pierce writes one of the best (and more often than not THE best) blogs on the Internets. Go read his site if you doubt me. Tony is fearless, funny, and talented. And pick up his book How To Blog while you’re there.

Winter Break won’t officially end until tomorrow . . . but I have a Dungeon deadline, plus I’m >this< close to signing on for a totally badass weekly writing gig, and those things will need my attention before I can sit here and make pithy WWdN contributions . . . but it’s just too weird to have nothing here for so long, so how about a tiny little update right now?
Winter Break was spent with family and friends, and there was much rejoicing. We had some wonderful experiences this season that will form much of the foundation for a short (fictional) story I’m writing called “Little Christmas,” which I will pitch to some magazines this fall. If nobody picks it up, I’ll publish it myself in November or thereabouts. (It’s a little-known fact that books published in the month of thereabouts always win awards, so I’m leaning in that direction.)
My iBook died again yesterday. This time it wasn’t the logic board, though. In an exciting new twist, the harddrive decided to start making a chirping noise, then a beeping noise, then a “I think I’m going to crap out now, Wil. Enjoy another trip to the Apple Store and seven days without me” noise.
“I’m taking my iBook up to the Apple Store,” I told Anne as I headed out the door into the rain.
“Again?” was all I heard before a cone of silence poured down between us.
It’s about a three minute drive to Old Town, but today it took almost twenty minutes . . . because it’s the last day of a holiday weekend, and there were about 65000 tourists swarming all over the place.
I don’t know why I didn’t realize that it would be a nightmare up there, but as Napoleon once said, “Come on, dude, lighten up! What could possibly go wrong?”
Fifteen minutes of driving around the block later (which isn’t as bad as it sounds . . . I am on Disc 3 of “America, The Audiobook” and it RULES. Jon Stewarts rant about the media on track 2, alone, is worth double the price of admission.) I realized my folly, and drove back home. I’ll try again tomorrow morning.
In happier news, we picked up Season Five of the Simpsons today, and I forsee several hours of hilarity ensuing just as soon as I hit submit.
Okay, hilarity will ensue right . . . about . . . now.
No. Wait. I need to spell check this thing.
Okay.
Now.