Spring? Hello?

Deadline week, now with added arbitrary deadlines! Argh.

We're halfway through April and it feels like we're still peeking around the corner at March. The weather has been cold and dreary, with few exceptions, and I'm caught between equal bouts of cabin fever and just wanting to snuggle up on the couch and write. Or play that horrible Animal Crossing game. Normally by this point I'd be dying for a good drive, but other than this Sunday, the weather just hasn't been very conducive so far this year.

Speaking of Sunday, Easter/Ostara/Bunny Day was pretty laid back and nice this year. Mom went to a banquet with Middle Brother and his girlfriend, so I accompanied Will to his parents' for the first steak cookout of the season. It was the first time I've spent any real time around his family (other than meeting his parents for five minutes or so when he first moved in) and they're pretty funny. Also, there was Jolly Rancher wine, and his brother spoke actual words! Overall, I'd call it a win.

What else...

I'm waiting patiently to begin more Changeling game-related writing with Cher Mere. Are you jealous? Yes, of course you are. She's a lot of fun, and I enjoy our characters immensely. (And I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it to her Passover dinner this year ... hopefully next. I've never been to one before!) Will and I are tentatively working on something for the same game as well, but we'll see where that ends up.

I have discovered MJK of Tool and A Perfect Circle fame has yet another musical effort out: Puscifer. And damned if I'm not addicted to a couple of the songs already. (I'm looking at you, "Momma Sed" and "Queen B"...) Now, I like Tool, but since Opiate and Undertow, they've been a bit too overwrought for my taste. I recognize the talent, like the sound ... but my brain relegates it to the realm of really good background music, and by the time I've reached the end of the CD, it's all bled together into some strange musical miasma. APC is a different story altogether; that was, and is, instant love. The music's much more accessible and insidious in that brain-burrowing way that keeps it in the braintape loop for days after hearing it. I've only heard a few Puscifer songs, so far, and of the ones I was able to pay attention to, one I actively despise, and three have landed squarely in the loop. And soon, very soon, I will give in and buy some MP3s to assist with the burrowing process.

Speaking of adding to the loops, I managed to infect Edige with the Serj Tankian bug. Win.