Well, it's been more than just a few days since the last time I wrote here. Wizard World Texas was a lot of fun. It was great to see everyone playing the games I work on (or around) every day. It was especially nice to see that the newest release was very well received. I'm excited about that one; lots of good characters.

As an added surprise, Brian Martin showed up to play games and have fun all weekend. I didn't get to hang out with him a lot, but I did for a bit and it was fun and relaxing. A little history for those who don't know Brian: he's a friend from college whom I now only see at some of the various gaming conventions that I attend. He's also the closest to an actual dilettante among all of my friends.

I'm sure that there were all sorts of cool things that happened over the course of the convention, but now, a week later, it's hard to recall what they were. If I think of anything that stands out I'll be sure to mention it. Oh, I did manage to trade for and buy some fun stuff -- including some Iron Man statues. Those are cool. Oh, and I gave the talk at the event we held for all of our volunteers. That was actually a really good time. In the past we've done it as more of a presentation, but this time I answered questions while I was talking about the various lines and everyone really seemed to enjoy it. I received a couple of compliments on it. That was good to hear as I'll be giving most of these talks at the conventions next year.

I returned last Monday around noon and came to work to check my email and clear up any problems that surfaced while I was gone. Everything was good, so I ducked out early and went home. You'd think that after a long weekend of non-stop work and late nights that I was ready to unpack and settle in. But no! No! I decided it was time to clean my apartment. Including going through all of my novels and gaming books to rearrange them and weed out some things to sell. So, now I have all of my reference books on one bookshelf (it's already paid off), a stack of books to sell, a bookshelf that's newly reorganized, and another bookshelf with a whole shelf empty! Woohoo! Plus, I did my laundry, put away two giant stacks of comics into new boxes, watched some more of The Family Guy DVDs that a friend lent me, watered my wilting plants, and even had time to grab dinner with a friend. Sure, I was tired from the trip, but that's no reason to be lazy, right?

Tuesday and Wednesday were full of work, but I went to the gym Wednesday, so that was good. I also went Friday and Saturday and I feel energized by it. I hope to maintain that feeling for a while. I've said it before, but I've been very bad about going to the gym and maintaining a healthy lifestyle lately. I'm working on fixing it, but the past few days have been very good -- even with Thanksgiving in there.

Speaking of which; I went to Mike and Sharon's for Thanksgiving. They'd invited me, Cathy, Brian, Shana, and Shana's parents over for the day. We had a good time and the food was all excellent. I really liked the sweet potatoes with apple on top -- which is really saying something, because I've never liked sweet potatoes before.

It's funny (in a sad way) because the whole day was great, but it really helped to reinforce how single I am. I drove over alone. I was the only one to arrive alone. I was the only one there over the age of 5 who didn't have a significant other. So I'm sitting in a roomful of people and I felt very alone. Or, I should say, a part of me felt very alone, the rest of me was being social and having a good time, but the whole time I was aware that I was alone. I'm sure no one else noticed at all. I experience this feeling more and more as time goes on.

Along these lines, I had an interesting talk with a workmate the other day about dating and being single versus being in a relationship. We were talking about how hard it is to have to be there for yourself all the time. If you're in a bad mood, or feeling self-conscious about something, or just have a bad self-confidence day, and you're single then the only person you have to rely on to pull you back up is you. You don't have someone else to compliment you or do something nice for you, or, heck, even just notice that you need cheering up. Nope, instead it's just you, all the time. Sometimes that's good because you lead a well-examined life. If something is wrong, you have to figure out how to fix it. I said that that's why I think relationships can be good. Because you have someone to help you when you're down and to help you when you don't know how to handle it. He responded that he's at the point that he doesn't want to burden other people with his problems. Wow. That struck me as a very lonely attitude. I've thought about it a lot since then.

I didn't go to work at all on Thanksgiving or on Friday -- other than to check email since I don't have an internet connection at home yet. Instead I went to the gym, got a haircut, drove downtown to get comics, spent part of the day doing some work at home (not work work, but house work), then had dinner with Ethan and Kian, before going over to Shana's to meet with people to go see 21 Grams. It was a very good, but very dark movie. If you want to be reminded about how good your life is, go see this movie, because those characters' lives suck big time. I'd only strongly recommend to real film buffs or fans of Sean Penn.

Saturday morning I met Brian, Shana, and her parents for breakfast -- yes, once again playing fifth wheel. I thought more people were going to be there. It was a little odd to go out to eat with a couple and one of the people in the couple's parents. It was a good breakfast and it reminded me that I'd really like to find more places like that. It's a place called the Portage Bay Cafe and I mentioned in the past that it reminds me of Bluephies in Madison. I enjoy places like that and I've found very few out here.

Other than breakfast I did some things around that house, then went to the gym, then came to work for the evening. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow, so I'll be in for most of the day after I go to the gym.

Now, I go to bed.

Note to self: Ask Mom about tickets home for Christmas. Need info.