Time to go.

The bags are packed, the kitty-sitters have directions, the staff database has been nudged and massaged into its final form, and everything that can be done for DCTV has been done.

My preparation for dragon*con 2004 began in January of this year. It ends--at last!--tomorrow morning, when I stow my bags in the car and do one of the things I love best: drive.

I've hesitated writing about this chain of events, because I've sat on the subject for this long, and thought about not talking about it at all. If you don't talk about it, you can pretend it never happened, and go on with life.

Except I can't do that this time.

Score: trainers 3, domesticats 0.I'm now in the market for yet another personal trainer. Val emailed me a couple of nights ago to let me know that due to personal time constraints, she would no longer be able to train me.

(This is the part where I scream out loud -- a lot -- in frustration.)

Twenty-eight new adult-swim-style slide sets are ready to be animated. I thought I'd get them laid out as .png files tonight and animated, but I'm still sitting here typing and it's well past one in the morning. I'm thinking it's time to give up for the night. They'll get animated tomorrow.Winamp is going to cry if I play those songs again. I'm not sure how software plans to cry, but I think it will find a way.

Since you wondered (or, maybe, you didn't) about what life is like the month before 'con, here's a slightly-explained description of what's on my 'con-related to-do list right now:

Go out to lunch on a Sunday. Comment on the busy-ness that always comes with August, and the pre-dragon*con preparations. Stop by the grocery store to pick up random food bits we need. Come home and find this:

(Click on the photos to get a larger version.)