My Jesus Year

I turned thirty-three on Sunday. I feel it is probably about time I start figuring out what I want to be when I grow up. To that end, my lovely wife has supplied me with a gift certificate for a sci-fi/fantasy writing class I want to take in the fall. We also had the first read-through for Hound of the Baskervilles over the weekend, and to top things off I just bought a brand new pair of running shoes, which I hope to wear out by actually, you know, running in them. I even went to a fancy running shoe store where they measure your feet every which way and make you run up and down the street in each pair you try on and tell you why you shouldn't run in cotton socks because they store sweat and chafe and holy crap.

I'm not saying I want to be a runner when I grow up. I'm just trying to be proactive. This guy turned me on to this book, although he doesn't know it, and now I've got myself thinking that I could actually make this work for me.

Mandy and I were in Muskegon the weekend before last. It was the first time in a long time (and also probably the last for a long time) that the whole family (or at least that side of it) was together. Always chaotic, always fun. My mom looks strangely bad-ass with her shaved head, but more importantly she is as energetic and enthusiastic as ever. We ate a lot, and swam a lot. And had a lot of ice cream. And Mandy and I took a canoe out on Black Lake with my friend Eric. I haven't been in a canoe since Boy Scouts, and I had forgotten how much I loved it. I gotta get me one of those.

Also, I participated in a round-robin interview for an article about stage combat that might get published some time in the late summer or early fall. I'll let you know if I hear more about it.

There may be one or two other projects brewing, but I don't want to jinx them by revealing the details too soon.

Happy July 4th, everybody!

ADDENDUM: To avoid any more confusion, you can find a definition of "Jesus Year" right here.