So, in the picture below we have several “printer” related bargains. The printer (top two thirds of the printer) from Greg (who bought it from me YEARS ago). The duplexer and extra paper tray from Floating Bridge Press via Wonderful (who bought it from my YEARS ago), and the pile of toner and drums courtesy of UW Surplus (University of Washington Surplus Store) at $5-$10 each.

The downside is that at the moment the printer is in my KITCHEN and will probably remain there until the directory is printed. Oh, and the downside of getting it down the stairs at Greg’s house and into the back of the SwandaSleigh. Greg was there (sick with a cold) to help me get it in, but at my house it was up to me (I brought the trolley from the garage).

Basically it took me all night to get it tuned up to get good copies in preparation for the directory printing.

That and a chunk of lamb was my evening.

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Or maybe that look is the Russian Brandy that my friend Natasha gave me for my birthday, though it was only a shot.

My day was spent tracking down photographs of 171 faeries attending the Winter Gathering and arranging the Photo Directory (cover posted a couple of days ago). A beautiful sunny winter day in Seattle (great top down day) was in front of a computer for the betterment of my faerie brothers.

The evening is a blur, yet again in front of the computer after being in front of the plate for dinner.

Tomorrow more of the same, and work.

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Nothing like weaving in animals having sex. It is going to my faux-nephew in Portland on the way to the winter gathering.

Lots of work on the gathering directory and a quiet/sane dinner.

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This one should be an interesting on to see on and eReader as the photos are approximately where they were in the print issue. You can click on the cover and go to the Libboo site and read it for free.

I finished that project right at five and switched to the living room to start working on tracking down all the mug shots for the winter gathering directory. Here is the front and back over:

At six, the boys showed up (Wonderful and Marc) for cocktails and a 7pm dinner of slaw, Frenched rack of lamb, sautéed mushrooms, onions, zucchini. Damned yummy.

Then it was back to work for me.

Damn, too many projects in the hopper and none of them paying.

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The Anthology, Pigletté and BoBo Visit Kansas City (#17), and Sign of the Times – A Chronicle of Decadence in the Atomic Age Volume 5, Number 3 are now all available on the Barnes and Noble Nook site. Still waiting for notification from Amazon about the Kindle versions.

And on the health front, my father is weak but home from the hospital, more as I know it. For Swanda, here is the update:

I talked to Chris late yesterday afternoon as he was getting up from his afternoon nap. Sounded a little winded, but not surprising since he’d had two rounds of physical therapy during the day.

MINIMUM time for his return home is three weeks which would be another week in the hospital and then two weeks in a rehab facility. Again, all this is dependent on how his strength is returning.

He did log into email for the first time since his trip to the hospital and spent most of the time deleting emails and trying to clean up his inbox. My guess is that it will take several days before he’s actually sending out any emails.

DancingBear come over a little at 5 for cocktails and then dinner. Brown sugar glazed pork chops, slaw, mashed potatoes, and a little wine rounded out everything.

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• Reading The New Yorker
• Checking email
• Portable music box when I’m on the road

The one thing that has annoyed me about Ken is while the folding cover makes it possible to have a landscape stand, it doesn’t have a portrait stand, and The New Yorker only displays in portrait. Solution?

It says plate holder, but it’s rubberized and only $5 with free shipping from Amazon.

And speaking of Amazon, I discovered this old issue of Sign of the Time available for $15 plus $3.99 shipping. Gee, I’d sell you one for the cover price ($3.50) plus shipping.

Other than a run to the apartment to do a load of laundry in the big machine, picking up a package and running it to the shop, it was generally a quiet day in the city.

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A good Sunday of sales, made even better with a special order of five cases of wine for an event. We need more days like this.

Work, shop, home, drink, eat, drink, bed.

That would make a boring blog.

But to livein it up… best comment about yesterday’s blog/FaceBook picture was from an old college mate who I have never forgiven (sinca 1980) for stealing and trashing my Christmas tree in February:

 You can dress yourself up Mr. Souder, but that smile still says you’re looking for mischief!

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Opera? Or prom date?

Cool opera shoes.

And the final curtain call. The view from my box seats… onto the stage and the pit.

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• The Anthology of Sign of the Times
• One issue of Sign of the Times – A Chronicle of Decadence in the Atomic Age (Volume 5, Number 3)
• Piglettè Issue 17 (Kansas City)

The Piglettè issue will be Libbo’s first ever graphic novel. Hopefully in the next couple of days, these will post to the Amazon and Barnes and Noble sites. I have all the files from Piglettè Number One (Argentina) converted and ready to assemble.

Today’s Swanda health update:

After a couple of rough days, Chris is back in the saddle again. That saddle being about to have normal paced conversations (45 minutes with his boss, 15 with me) rather than the winded couple of words at a time conversation of the last week or so. He is regaining some strength through his Physical Therapists which means he’s been able to start standing (though it doesn’t sound like for long periods of time) and moving to his wheelchair to sit for a couple of hours. They have also been working on getting his legs and feet cleaned up (lots of cracking and calluses) so they are looking better than in the previous months.

Truly, I was amazed in the change in just the last day, I saw him Thursday afternoon as he was sort of in and out of nap zone, but today on the phone he sounded like the Chris from early December. He is still on the oxygen mask at night, but during the day he’s back to just the oxygen tube.

His sister Janet showed up this morning and will be with him through the weekend.

Dinner tonight with SurfBetty whose computer has been in my “rehab facility” to free up more space on his QuickBooks machine. Yep, a laptop devoted to one program. Cheaper than upgrading QuickBooks 2003 to QuickBooks 2010 (which runs on Windows 7).

Marinated flank steak, slaw, saffron rice for SurfBetty. Nice meal.

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Here’s what we were pouring:

2009 Cadence, Coda $25

Red Mountain, 34% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Cabernet Franc, 10% Petit Verdot
The 2009 vintage was warm but not hot with a stunning September to finish up ripening. Coda fairly bursts with lip-smacking berry goodness. Plums, blueberries and a touch of Red Mountain spice lead the aromatic profile. The palate is juicy, fresh and just plain delightful. Tannins are definitely present at the level that begs for food with which to play. There is so much intensity and balance that it can defiantly go past the main course and into desert.

Gonzales Byass, Solera 1847 Oloroso Duce $18

75% Palomino, 25% Pedro Ximenez
This rich Spanish Sherry spent an average 8 years in the Solera. It has full concentrated flavors of sweet raisins and figs with a velvety palate and a touch of nuttiness on the finish. It can stand up to but not over power any number of deserts. And best of all you don’t have to finish the whole bottle. Due to the Solera process it keeps open for months.

I include it as it would be a good match for any chocolate heavy dessert you might be planning.

With some last minute customers we didn’t get out of the shop until 7:30 which put me at home a little after 8 for my steak dinner washed down with the remains of a red and a white that a rep left us to try.

Nice quiet evening.

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