Your Silver Grin

The title comes from the song I'm currently listening to, because I didn't have the time or the inclination to think of anything clever. Today has been a real ball-buster. Gigantor has died. Apparently, the lamps on a certain number of Sony 50" LCD TVs are prone to going out, and they have ordered a repair kit, but it will still take about five business days. Fortunately, Circuit City is being pretty chummy about the whole thing and is loaning me a replacement TV until the lamp assembly comes in. They're even delivering it on Saturday so I don't have to take off work, but I can still watch the game on Sunday. Not that I really care about football, but it's a great excuse to make chili and wraps.

So after that bullshit sorted itself out, I walked to work (still pissed) and walked into a hell of a day. Friday is a major day for deadlines, which basically means that a bunch of projects are due all at once. I suspect that I'm going to end up staying late on Thursday to finish everything, largely because living on the west coast means that the rest of the country (which apparently lives on the east coast or in the midwest - aren't there any fucking magazines in California?) is always two or three hours ahead of you, and when they need something by 5:00, it really means they need it by 2:00. My mornings, which are usually hectic because of fires that have sprouted overnight, are now prime real estate because I've got to get everything done by 5:00 New York time. I almost wish I lived in The City, because I'd be able to boss tired fuckers on the west coast around.

Speaking of, I get to spend almost six days in New York for Toy Fair in February. And it's looking like that, for real, I'll be going to Poland for a couple of weeks. I'm thrilled about both - I'm heading out to Queens for some Greek and I might pop up to Harlem and see how the old neighborhood (Dinerbar!) is getting along. Poland is a whole different story. I'll be with my mom and grandfather for most of the trip, and they are talking about doing a package tour (yuck, days locked in a bus with grayhairs!) and I'm trying to find something to do if I hang around for another week or so. I thought about heading down to Romania or something; I've got a friend in Wroclaw that I'd love to see, but he sounds like a bit of a square (no drinking, and he's Polish??) More details as I get them.

Other than that, I was going to watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre tonight, but Crabby called eleven minutes into the flick, so I decided to come out and blog for a while and see if I can squeeze some more of Crocodile Man out. I know how the goddamned book is going to end; the problem is that I don't have the inclination to sit down and finish it, which is really too bad because I think it could be a salable novel.

Also, the Skull & Bones game I've been running has begun to even out, and it's really got me itching for a Ravenloft game. But I'd really like to play in one, not GM it.