As you can probably tell from my infrequent posts, I've been busy during the past few weeks. I'm going to jump around a bit in time for the next few updates, so please bear with me.
After visiting my family and a few friends in Virginia during the weekend of 28 to 30 April 2007, I had two compressed workweeks. The first, from 1 to 3 May 2007, was because of my travel and CW's 40th anniversary celebration in downtown Boston on Friday, May 4.
The photo above shows my boss Michele L.D'F., myself, and new co-worker Ken G. at lunch in the State Room, which had a spectacular view of Boston Harbor and Logan Airport. Pat McG., our company's founder and a billionaire philanthropist, regaled us with tales of the early days of journalism about the computer industry.
After several weeks of damp, cool weather, we welcomed the arrival of clear weather. My short weekend consisted of lunch at Janice's and my favorite Chinese buffet and picking up my subscription at New England Comics in Norwood, Massachusetts.
As I've noted previously, Ken G. organized a group screening of "Spider-Man 3" on Sunday, May 6, at the IMAX theater near our office. From there, we carpooled to CW's annual editorial offsite retreat at the Warren Center in Ashland, Mass. The accommodations and grounds were pleasant, and although the copy desk had to overcome the disruption to our schedule, I felt our meetings were worthwhile. Of course, no meeting is complete without plentiful food!
We even bonded with the design and online groups over s'mores and a campfire! It was also good to spend time with former boss Jamie E. (I watched an episode of "Heroes" with him and Johanna A.), try playing with the Nintendo Wii that Ken had brought, and chat with fellow comic book fan Brian F., as well as with Mark H., Frank H., Angela G., and Eric L., who all proved to be knowledgeable about science fiction.
I returned from the offsite on Tuesday, May 8, but I canceled that week's games because of the truncated deadlines at work. Thus, the next regular Tuesday night D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy campaign resumes tonight. I expect to continue the adventures of Dexter V.H./"Faelonia" and Byron V.O./"Ibrahim" tomorrow (Wednesday, May 16), and I rejoined the "City of Heroes" supergroup on Sunday, May 13, Mother's Day.
The other reason I postponed the various games was that Australian programmer Mark A.S., an alumnus of the Boston-area groups, was in town for a biotech conference. Mark, his wife Ann, and their children John and Brianna now live in New Zealand but might return to the U.S. We went to the "Fuji" Japanese steakhouse with Thomas K.Y. on Wednesday, May 9, and to reliable Italian chain restaurant "Bertucci's" the following night. Unfortunately, I missed the visit of former co-worker Jacqui M.D.B. and her husband Denis B., who now live in Des Moines, Iowa.
In addition, college chums Dexter and Stuart C.G. now hope to come up from New York during the second week of June — between a visit by my in-laws and my own family's gathering in Manhattan! It seems like juggling time will continue to be a challenge as summer approaches. Next time: Virginia visit, genre television, and gamer cohorts…
Gene's Worlds 