Cuparius.com

Farewell, March 2004, and good riddance! As usual, you have succeeded in disappointing, and I'm glad to see the end of you. Thank you so much for the miserable weather and overcast skies at a time when all of the planets that are visible to the naked eye are in perfect alignment. Thank you! Thank you for being the month in which my car has continued to have problems, including a flat tire that I had to change Monday night after work and a dying battery that prevented my car from starting Wednesday before work. Thank you! Thank you for being the month in which I have caught a very bad cold that dashed my plans for the weekend. Thank you so bloody much.

Now that I got that out of my system, [pause to put the kettle on as I consider how to continue the sentence] I can report the good things that happened in March. I finally started the Ray Harryhausen portion of my DVD collection with:

• Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
• 20 Million Miles to Earth
• Jason and the Argonauts
• The Golden Voyage of Sinbad
• The 7th Voyage of Sinbad     and
• Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger

I also picked up 2001: A Space Odyssey, [water's boiling!] The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and The Complete Superman Collection: Diamond Anniversary Edition, "The Paramount Cartoon Classics of Max & Dave Fleischer," including all seventeen of the original Superman cartoons from September 1941 through July 1943. Ah, but there is so much more I desire... (Why does that sentence seem as if it should be narrated by Ricardo Montelban?) [tea's ready!]

I was just preparing the tea a moment ago when I couldn't resist toasting a few slices of challah (my favorite kind of bread) that I bought from Zingerman's Bakehouse. My cold has adversely affected my ability to taste food, but it seems to be recovering. Hurrah!

The deadlines of my two annual quandaries are approaching. Quandary Number One: Do I attend the Origins convention in June? If the answer is yes, then I must preregister and submit the events I intend to run by 10 April. Quandary Number Two: Do I attend the GenCon convention in August? If the answer is yes, then I must take the same action described above, but I must do it by the 2nd of April. Close shave! I have Thursday and before the end of Friday to arrive at the GenCon decision. Both of which are work days. Should I take the plunge? At this rate it may be the only role-playing I accomplish this year. But the expense! Aye, the expense, but consider the fun! Och, the madness of planning holidays! Why do I procrastinate???

I shall conclude this month's update by mentioning that Alistair Cooke, the beloved writer and broadcaster whose weekly Letter from America constituted the longest running radio program in history, passed away at the age of 95. I learned of it Tuesday night as I drove home from work listening to the BBC World Service, which gave him a special tribute. He is dearly missed.