I'd like to wish all of you Happy Holidays (a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Cool Yule, etc…) and a healthy and prosperous New Year!

While Janice and I have been getting over a nasty cold, we've been dealing with the annual preholiday rush of work, shopping, and travel preparations. I attended a depressing meeting regarding what we need to set aside for 401(k)s, but on a lighter note, I won a gift basket in a raffle during a fun party at work (see photo with co-worker Bob R.). There are far too many delectable snacks at the office! My holiday cards are once again going out late, but I've received a few nice ones and gifts from family and friends…

The traffic hearing I attended in Somerville, Massachusetts, last Thursday (14 December 2006) had a favorable result–I was judged to not be at fault in a fender-bender this past spring and won't be receiving points on my driver's license or additional state surcharge. Now, if only I can get through the coming winter without the annual damage and repairs to my aging car.

With most genre entertainment television now on hiatus, Janice and I have also been watching our DVDs of various animated holiday specials. Do you have any favorites? Ours include the "Claymation Christmas," "A Wish for Wings That Work," and the funky original British version of "Robbie the Reindeer." Of course, classics such as "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" are compulsory viewing.

On the Dimension Corps Online message board, there has been more debate regarding the merits of the SciFi Channel's latest season of "Battlestar Galactica" and other shows. I'm in the minority who think it could be much better in terms of tone and plot. Fortunately, there are enough other programs to watch.

This past weekend and last night, I successfully teleconferenced with Byron V.O. in St. Louis, Missouri, and Dexter V.H. in Brooklyn, New York, marking a new era in our role-playing. As noted at my "Vanished Lands" Yahoo/eGroups Web club, for the past 25 years, most of my "Dungeons & Dragons" games have been face to face, including the current Boston-area heroic fantasy sessions. However, role-play by snailmail has given way to play by e-mail, and now videoconferencing! In addition, the "City of Heroes" online party may soon grow, thanks to David I.S.'s promotion of the superpowered game.

Dave may be visiting us in the weekend before New Year's, and before that, Janice and I will be driving down to see my family in Virginia for Christmas. My niece Ava said, "Hi, Uncle," for the first time the other night! We'll be stopping to see Janice's grandmother in Pennsylvania on the way down and plan to see high school buddy Damon F.P. and family's new home in New York on the way back to New England.

Once again, may you and your families have a safe and happy holiday season, -Gene

Friends, I hope you've had a good fortnight. It's hard to believe that Christmas is only a few weeks away! I have yet to write my holiday cards, but in the meantime, here's my latest update.

On Friday, 1 December 2006, I met Thomas K.Y. and Byron V.O. after work for dinner at the "Minado" sushi buffet near CW's offices in Natick, Massachusetts. After moving to St. Louis with his young family this past summer, Byron was back in the Boston area for a conference. We chatted about work and travel.

Byron stayed at Janice's and my second duplex in Needham Heights, Mass., that weekend, but unfortunately, Dexter V.H. was unable to get babysitters in Brooklyn, New York, so he couldn't join us. Byron and I watched the SciFi Channel's Friday night lineup and prepared for the next day's D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands" heroic fantasy one-shot.

Greg D.C./"Janus" brought lunch from "Blue Ribbon Barbecue" in Newton, Mass., and helped set up my end of the videoconferencing through which Byron and others hope to participate in our regular game. The majority of the current role-players arrived by 3:00 p.m. and didn't leave until well after midnight, so I consider the session a success (see Yahoo photos). While not as cinematic as last year's Flying Citadel scenario, I hope everybody had fun.

The higher-level Player Characters successfully stormed a haunted castle containing a vampiric dragon, among other monsters, as well as an evil temple in a barbaric seaport! The once and future "Dragonslayers" (Byron's Paladin "Ibrahim," plus members of the "Liberators" and "Seekers of Lore") now have draconic allies of their own and are busy preparing strategies for the ongoing war in my campaign setting (see my Yahoo/eGroups Web site for more details).

I was also pleased that alumni such as Thomas/"Ahrad," as well as Paul J./"Tetsuo" and Alex J./"Vasec" (who came from college with Paul's girlfriend Bre) were able to attend. I was disappointed that Dex/"Faelonia," Carolyn M.P./"Grace," Brian W., and James B. didn't make it, but the regular, lower-powered "Halmed Desert" game resumes this coming Tuesday night.

Janice and I then caught up on housework and reading. We also watched recorded television dramas, including the excellent midseason finales of anime fantasy "Avatar: the Last Airbender," metahuman hit "Heroes," and youthful sleuth "Veronica Mars." The revisionist "Battlestar Galactica" and proto-Justice League "Smallville" haven't gone on hiatus, and I'm looking forward to the last few episodes of military space opera "Stargate SG1" sometime next month.

For Janice's birthday, I gave her some limited-edition figurines inspired by Brian Jacques' "Redwall" fantasy novels and took her to "Fuji," a local Japanese steakhouse. We had off from work and took the commuter rail into downtown Boston to the Museum of Fine Arts on Tuesday, Dec. 5. After lunch at one of Janice's favorite burrito places, we walked around and did some shopping Back Bay, the Prudential Center, and Copley Place.

The compressed workweek was again hectic, but we got through it without incident. Janice's parents came this past weekend to belatedly celebrate her birthday and for the Bay Colony Dog Show at the Bayside Expo Center. For animal lovers, the agility trials, breed judging, and "Best in Show" competition were all very interesting.

We then took Janice's parents to the animal shelter where she volunteers on Sunday mornings before grabbing dinner at "Firefly's," a Southwestern barbeque restaurant in Framingham, Mass., on their way home (we had received a new vacuum cleaner from them). Despite concerns about various ill family members on both sides, I look forward to seeing my folks in Virginia around Christmas.

This past Thursday and yesterday morning, I played in the "City of Heroes" online game with David I.S./"the Excoriator" and Kim M.E.A.G./"Lady Bewilder." Dexter V.H./"Dalance" and Steve M.R./"the Blazing Corona" weren't able to join our superheroes.

At Kim's recommendation, in addition to "Nightfall IIb" and other characters on the Champion server, I've now created "the Scarlet Saber" on the Guardian server, mainly for Thursday nights. Other than the occasional home computer or network slowdowns, I expect the team(s) of my college friends to continue their adventures!

Last night, Janice and I visited Cliff & Eliza Y., who are expecting their first child in the coming month, around the same time my younger brother Peter and his wife Kelly are expecting their second child. We sipped some cider, ate at the Bertucci's in Framingham, and chatted about politics, work, and travel.

Speaking of work, my latest brief profiles of award-winning information technology executives for CW's print and line editions were published today! Although I spend most of my time copy editing, it's nice to get a change of pace reporting occasionally.

This week, I'll be fighting an automotive insurance increase at a traffic hearing on Thursday. Although I haven't been the cause of any of the annual accidents involving my 1998 Honda Civic, the state still wants to penalize me, so I have to take a day off from work to go up to Somerville. Janice and I hope this coming weekend will be relatively quiet as we head into the winter holidays. In the meantime, take it easy, -Gene