LifeBox

So, who’s next?

I need as many of these as Uncle Crimbo can afford to send me, and some more nice black Pilot G2 pens. OK Thanks.

We took Pai in for her first visit to the pediatrician today, where she received an A+ for being the right size, totally healthy, having the correct color poop, and being really cute. I’ll have to remember that pooping in the office trick next time I go in for a checkup.

I’m waiting for it to be safe to go outside again. This is why a largely monotheistic culture is anathema to proper traffic flow; everyone’s holidays are all bunched up at the same time. Spread your giant invisible friends out, people!

Bernie got me a Dark Tower game for Crimbo, in super decent condition. I put some batteries in and checked everything out, and the tower works great, and all the pieces are there and perfect-looking. I can’t wait to actually sit down and play it again. It’s not a super deep game, but I still love it.

Bernie is apparently some kind of pagan commie that is determined to “wait until the sun comes up” until opening presents. Where I come from, we nailed up the baby jesus at midnight sharp, and stole his stuff right there and then.

I have procured a copy of Sticky Fingers for the traditional Majcher christmas morning music, though, so, there’s that.

Sweet. Honeypot is all official and stuff.

Now if I only had some actual graphic design skills, I could make this new board look a little bit more like a large land mass, and a little bit less like a swastika made out of dongs.

Happy new year, pagans. Or whatever is is, whenever it is.

I should make some Crimboween cookies, is what I should do. Today was another day of doing a bunch of stuff, but I’m not sure exactly what, but none of it was billable. All I know is that I have a “to do” list with a bunch of stuff crossed off it, a happy sleeping baby and baby-momma, and a fresh batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Tomorrow, after more crazy running around and doing stuff (including shipping the first orders for my new game, and hopefully picking up a paycheck), Bernie’s mom theoretically arrives in town, weather willing. We like Bernie’s mom. Which is good, because she’s going to be hanging out in Austin for a month or so, to visit and lend some extra hands and whatnot for little Pai. Which we also like.

I’ve got a dozen varied two-inch-long plastic dinosaurs lined up here, looking at me expectantly. I gotta think fast.

I spent about a half an hour this evening troubleshooting why my new laser printer wouldn’t work before realizing that I had plugged in a spare mouse that was sitting on my desk instead of the USB cable to the printer. I am a freakin’ genius.

In other news, game’s done.

I actually made it out tonight - first for a brief slice of rehearsal with a new improv project that involves making up stories and songs, and then busting over to the other side of campus to meet up with the rest of IFE for a session with kung-fu badass Dave Buckman, who kicked our asses for a couple hours to help us suck a little bit less. Bonus - everyone showed up to rehearsal, which was great. We had a troupe meeting afterwards to discuss some stuff, like where we’re going, what we want to work on, if we should get a regular coach and who it should be, and so on. There was some spirited back-and-forth, but the group is tight, and consensus was gingerly approached, then quickly chloroformed, duct-taped, and thrown in the trunk as we sped off to parts unknown.

The big news - Parallelogramophonograph asked us to share their slot at the Coldtowne theatre through January and February. We accepted. This is very exciting. We’re used to doing three, maybe four shows every two months or so at the Hideout, so an eight week run of Thursday shows (in addition to our regular schedule) is going to be a blast, and a lot of busy busy. We don’t really have time between now and then to put together something as kickass as the show deserves, but I think that we’ll be doing just fine with what we’ve got now. So, maybe a dozen shows or so, plus rehearsals for two troupes, plus a six-week narrative improv workshop starting in January with Shana and a few other classes here and there… should be a thoroughly exhausting and interesting couple of months to start off the new year.

(Speaking of, Jason made some IFE onesies for Paidia, which are awesome. That kid has some big-ass hands.)

In other news, I’m just about ready to assemble and ship my new board game, Honeypot. (Link forthcoming, as soon as I finish up the new Gizmet pages…) I got the proof from my board printers today, and they say that it’ll be all printed up tomorrow! I’ve got a bunch of stickers to stick on parts, and my packaging tubes should be in by the end of the week, so in theory, they’ll be on sale come Monday or so. Very exciting. Makes a lovely Crimbo gift!

Other than that bit of running around, been doing a lot of cooking, cleaning, running errands, and taking care of the girls. Pai’s doing really well, the midwife says that she looks perfect, and Bernie is trooping along, magically transforming the food that I bring her into tasty stuff that she squirts at the baby. The whole thing is totally cool and weird, but we’re making it go. Folks are visiting now and then, bringing snacks by every once in a while, my sister has moved back to town, and we have folks coming in at the end of the week (Bernie’s mom) and just after Christmas (my dad), in addition to the family in Austin, so we’re pretty solid for support. We’re a little frayed around the edges, but good.

I also got a haircut today at Bird’s. That place rocks.

Foods now.

Poop. Machine.

No, not this one.

I am one of the most skeptical, least superstitious people that I know, and yet I have somehow developed a deep-rooted belief that the underwear that I choose to put on in the morning will influence how an interview or audition will go that day.

I am also shocked at how cheap laser printers are these days. Why, when I was a kid…