since last we spoke

Once again it has been a while since I posted.  Maybe we should realize that this is the norm, so in fact it has NOT been a while, it has been the regular length of time between posts. 

Sure. 

What have I been up to?  Well, yesterday we had my daughter Imo's birthday party, and I made the worst cookie cake ever.  I am a pretty terrible baker but this was bad even by my standards.  We ended up dumping the dessicated sweet crumbs (yup, that's what the cake turned into -- I do NOT know why, I swear I followed the recipe) onto some ice cream, and eating that.  With vast amounts of coffee and forbearance it was a plausible dessert. 

It was my third night back from Ottawa, where I had been hanging out with young authors and old airplanes.  The event was the MASC young authors' conference (I would tell you what MASC stands for but I have forgot and am too lazy to check).  Kids were charming and (God bless them!) eager to buy books, festival ran well, and the other authors were old friends I don't get to see often enough (that's us in the picture -- note the dazed expression on Marthe's face.  She knows me best, even to the extent of working on a book with me.  More on that in a later post.)

The event was held at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum, a hangar full of jets, bombers, space suits, biplanes, and super cool aeronautical stuff.  The 9-year-old boy in me was dazzled, especially since I got to hold my workshops near the ejector seat display.  That's right, I actually sat (don't tell anyone) in a working ejector seat.

 

That one there.  Fun? Oh yeah, especially since the MASC people put us up in a hotel near a lot of bars, and at least one of the other authors (note the way Lesley is leaning in the picture) doesn't mind going out for a drink or three.