Just to let folks know, my prereaders have prescribed some rewriting for one of my newest scenes. While I take care of that, the running total probably won't change much, but don't worry -- I am still moving ahead.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

It's odd. We didn't do "buddy" sorts of things, over the previous few weeks we had seen little of each other, and our friendship was, all told, less than eight months old. But to my surprise I found that I did consider her a best friend. (Well, kind of a cross between a best friend and a little sister. At least, an idealized version of what I imagined a little sister ought to be like -- having been an only child, I had only second-hand experience with the real article.) I'd been almost as close to Delandra, back in Haven -- after two and a half years of almost constant contact, it would have been impossible for me not to be -- but Delandra had lacked the cultural matrix which she needed to really understand me and where I was coming from. Megatokyo and its version of Earth weren't home by any measure, but they were close enough that Lisa could make that last conceptual leap.I was, therefore, understandably reluctant to part ways with her at the end of lunch. I think she sensed that, because as we crept back toward the lobby entrance of the Cone she wrapped her arms around me and buried her face into my coat. I tried to gether to tell me something of what she was feeling, but she onlyshook her head, her face still pressed against my chest. We stood like that, silently, on the corner across the streetfrom the tower, for several minutes. Neither of us really wantedto let go of the other, so it was a while before, with an unspokenbut mutual agreement, we loosened our grips and moved back fromeach other about half a step. My hands had slid down to rest on her upper arms, and Lisa's were around my waist still. Looking down at her, I saw a glint of moisture under her eyes. Had shebeen crying? I wasn't sure; if she had, the dry winter breeze hadsucked away the evidence before I could notice it. We gazed at each other, again silently, as smiles broke across both our faces. Then she reached up, pulled my face down to hers,and graced me with a soft, sweet and very brief kiss. After a moment she broke the kiss, laid her cheek against mine, and whispered into my ear, "Take care of yourself, okay?" Then she whirled out of my hands and ran back across the plaza, scattering a flock of pigeons which had just come to rest on the wet, cold pavement. By the time they had settled themselves back down, she was gone."Damn," I whispered to myself, and watched the street into which she had vanished for several minutes. "Damn." I knew that one way or another, Lisa was going to hurt, and hurt badly, when I left. The only consolation I had was that our friendship had stayed just that, a friendship, and nothing more. I am a married man. I love my wife, and I am faithful to her by both natural inclination and conscious choice. If I had not been, I would havelost a best friend, I am sure, and the pain from our partingwould only have been greater.Which didn't make the prospect seem any *less* painful, unfortunately.I made my way back up to the 17th floor. As I came through theglass doors and into IDEC's lobby, Sindra give me a conspiratoriallittle smile. "So?" she asked slyly.My mood had drifted a little closer to melancholy on the elevatorride up. "So what?"She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "So how'd it go with thelittle blonde cutie?" She narrowed her eyes. "You ought to knowshe was here last week looking to talk with Mr. Ohara or anyoneelse in charge. Those chocolates might just be a bribe, so becareful!"I smiled and shook my head. "Nah, she's a friend of mine. She didn't know I was working here when she was here last week. I spotted her here and gave her call and that's why we met up today.""Old friend, hmmm?" Sindra murmured with mock lasciviousness, andI laughed."Not that kind of friend!" I waved a reproving finger at her."So you say," she riposted."Go back to work, Sindra," I growled as I pushed through the wooden doors to the offices beyond. Her giggles followed me untilthe doors latched shut behind me.Sindra's good-natured teasing had dispelled the creeping onset of my borderline melancholia, and I found myself smiling as I made my way back to my workship.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

The staff is probably still recovering from the con, but the winners of the Audience Choice award are hiding here. The videos specifically are "Sailor Satan" and "Excel Pop-Up Video."
You will not be sorry you downloaded these. Really.
--Mr. F
"Mako-chan, don't make us lock you in the basement again."
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

My website's up again, and has been for a couple days now. I'll go into more detail when I get home and I'm not typing on a timer, but basically, Netcarrier (which bought out Eclipse over a year ago) finally got around to physically moving Eclipse accounts to their machines this past weekend -- and fumbled a few. I wasn't the only Eclipse user to lose his site temporarily, and while it took a couple of days, Netcarrier got everything back up again.
That's it, end of story.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Just got off the phone with Bob some time ago. He and Peg are sitting out the storm in what's hopefully a safe place.
He DID ask me to let you all know that the recent disappearance of his website was due to the new owners of his ISP having attempted their final "asset merger" of Eclipse.net with the rest of their holdings. As a result, some websites were temporarily 'lost'. The files themselves remained intact, but access to them wasn't possible from the web.
Since then, the new owners have gotten their act together and fixed the websites in question. As of four hours ago my time (I write this at 10:45 pm, Mountain time), Bob's site is functional once more.
Ed Becerra

First time posting here (makes sound of clearing throat).
I offered to make the announcement here for the group I'm in, Pool Cleaners from Distant Planets (home.earthlink.net/~pcfdp/) that we have two music videos in the Nan Desu Kon contest.
Check us out, and if you're at the convention, I'll be there dressed as Ferio on Saturday,
Oh, and Bob, if you want copies of our AMVs (including last year's entry that was shown called 'Could We Please Have Sex') contact me at jeph_a@earthlink.net and we'll talk about it. I can send you a CD to spread around your little group .
JFerio
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

I don't know why, but I will have an answer within 24 hours, I hope -- and maybe the site back up.
Thanks to Ed Becerra for calling me and letting me know there is a problem. I'll be dealing with it ASAP.
Please don't flood my email -- which I haven't yet checked -- with notices; for all I know, actually, my email may be down, too. Aren't vacations wonderful.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Just to push my luck...
What do people think about a Freakazoid Step?
It's not a live franchise, it's a superhero genre, and I would really like to see how Doug got on in this universe! [grin]
Of course, he might be in danger of being out-looned...
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

OK, I know I'm mad...
Two big problems:
1) This is a live franchise.
2) Where would Doug fit in such a universe?
Thoughts?
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

Because I've had this stuck in my head for the past couple of days I figured I would share the wealth so to speak. Because of Doug's current situation the scene in my head has Doug dressed in a Blues Brother's outfit delivering the line, "I'm on a mission from Gods." Who is he saying it too? I have no idea. As a side note Gods is being pronounced God with a slight pause before the s is said for example "God...s" at least I think it is anyways.
With Doug's movie background I can almost see him saying that to some Genom flunkie.

Shawn Earl

{edit: added a few peroids}