Friends, I hope you've had a good week. On Wednesday, 18 March 2009, Janice and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary (and 19 years of being together) by going out to a nice dinner at Blue on Highland in Needham Heights, Massachusetts. Several friends and family members have also had birthdays or anniversaries this month.
On Thursday, fellow copy editors Michele L.D'F., Bob R., and I met former co-worker Jacqui M.D., who was in town on business. We went to P.F. Chang's and gelato at the Melt Café in the Natick Collection. My Mongolian beef dish was very good. Among other things, we talked about the social networking Web sites, the ongoing economic recession, and challenges facing the publishing/journalism industry.
This past weekend, we ate out at Stone Hearth Pizza and Fresco Café, also in Needham, and we stopped in at New England Comics in Norwood. It's been a while since I've reviewed comics, but I'm currently enjoying Doctor Who: the Forgotten, Marvel Adventures: Avengers, and Superman/Action Comics. The direct market — local comic book shops — has been suffering along with other print publications, but I hope the art form endures.
Yesterday, I joined Dexter V.H. for Lord of the Rings Online, and later, him, Beruk A., and Byron V.O. for a Pathfinder: "Holy Steel" teleconferencing session. I took off from work today for a doctor's appointment, and the D&D4e "Vanished Lands: the Faith-Based Initiative" game will reconvene next week.
Among other genre television, I caught up on the premiere of NBC's Kings, a decent drama about an alternate reality in which a modern monarchy parallels the story of the Biblical David. The season finale of computer-animated space opera Star Wars: the Clone Wars was also good, but Batman and the Brave and Bold continues to surprise with its fresh takes on obscure DC Comics characters from the Silver Age.
Janice and I have started watching Castle, an ABC mystery/comedy show starring Firefly/Serenity's Nathan Fillion. It's closer to the canceled Women's Murder Club than to Psych in tone, but it's still amusing in the style of classics such as Magnum P.I., Simon and Simon, and Remington Steele. I'll try to review the series finale of Battlestar Galactica and the direct-to-DVD Wonder Woman in the coming week or so.
Gene's Worlds 
