OK

Let's try that again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SSV3B4psrw

Ahh, domesticity

Last night was the first Friday night I have spent at home IN THREE AND A HALF MONTHS!
Starting in August, I had to spend every Friday night covering football (remember those Friday Night Lights). Then I volunteered to play Santa Claus for the local Chamber of Commerce at the city park every Friday and Saturday night in December.
Because the local football team made a decent playoff run, the two commitments ran into each other, so I haven't had a free Friday night since August.
Ahh, it was so nice to stay at home, listen to the rain howl, and watch the boob tube with the wife.
Things are also looking up on the job. With the end of the holiday season the extra advertising that had increased the newshole I've had to fill should be ending, plus a new typesetter should be starting on the job Tuesday (I've only had a person in that job maybe two weeks since the end of October).
Well, here's a blast from the past that always puts me in a good mood. This is probably the live performance by any group that I like the best: Cheap Trick's version of "I Want You to Want Me" from their performance in Budokan in Japan in about 1979. Lord, it seems to so long ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SSV3B4psrw

Synchronicity

Here's a little piece of weirdness:

I've had the Guy Mitchell tune "Singing the Blues" rattling through my brain for the past few weeks - you know, how you get a song stuck in your head.

I assumed it was some sort of subliminal message - I'm turning 50 next week (Jan. 6).

Today I was googling some research and found some information about the song. Guess what - it was the No. 1 chart topper at the time I was born: The end of 1956 and the start of 1957.

So the question is: Did I already know what - or do I just have a REAL good memory?

Farewell, Ultraverse

Got an email Friday from Chris Africa, the publisher of the ezine Ultraverse. She said that because of family reasons (a new baby a year ago) she doesn't have the time to update the web zine, so it's going to archive status and not publishing any new fiction.

Ultraverse published my story "Big Girl" in May 2005. This is the second year in a row I got word that a webzine that published me was closing down at the end of the year. The same thing happened with Astounding Tales last December.

"Eva" published

The December issue of Neometropolis has been posted, so "Eva" is available to read. The web site is www.neometropolis.com

As I've noted before, this is the first collaboration between Ed Morris and I that has seen the light of day.

This was kind of a weird collaboration, since I wrote the outline but Ed actually wrote the story. I had wanted it to be more even-handed, but things intervened to keep me from getting back to it, so Ed essentially did all the heavy lifting.

Cyberpunk web magazine?

Recently heard from Ed Morris, my collaborating pal in Portland, that our first project together has been accepted by a cyberpunk web magazine called Neometropolis and should be published later this month. It's an alternate history story that delves into (what else?) the Third Reich, called "Eva". We combined forces on this back in March, I think. Actually, the story is attributed as "by Ed Morris (with Lou Antonelli)". I had the idea and the outline, but when we started, some personal deadlines interposed and kept me from working on it, so Ed actually did the heavy lifting and wrote the story up.
I probably would never have written anything that could be a good fit for a cyberpunk web magazine, but I understand from the way Ed wrote it up why they took it.
I am continuing the treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, and it does seem to be working. The sharp pains and subsiding but I'm not going to let up for a long time. I did not enjoy the pain I had towards the end of last week.

My apologies...

to anyone who follows my comings and goings via this blog, but I obviously haven't been posting regularly. My work load has been such that I've aggravated my carpal tunnel syndrome - to the point that I cut back on a lot of optional stuff. But the condition has deteriorated and I had to go to the doctor Friday. I'm wearing a brace on my leftwrist and taking some anti-inflammatory drugs. I hope things improve soon.