Congratulations to Steve M.R. & Aleece Z.R. on the birth of their son, Connor Blake Rothandler! Also, Happy Birthday to Dexter V.H. and Steve M.R., and a belated Happy Anniversary to Damon F.P. & Nicole P. and to Corbin A.Y. & Andria K.Y.! Janice and I quietly celebrated our 11th year of marriage and 16 years together last weekend.

Janice and I have made our travel reservations for May 2006 to the Southwest U.S. for a conference and sightseeing and to Belgium for the baptism of niece Ava S.D. Combined with a possible move or houseguests (see below), the next two months should be fun, if somewhat draining. Unfortunately, I'll have to postpone any plans to visit metropolitan New York or Northern Virginia until the summer.

About two weeks ago, while Janice visited her family in Upstate New York, I took adavantage of the nice weather to walk around the shops on Moody Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. The surrounding neighborhoods were seedier than I remember them, but the comic book shop, a used book store, and Danger Planet Games made the trip worthwhile. Upon Janice's return, we enjoyed dinner at "Acapulco's," a Mexican restaurant near where we live.

Although we're often more likely to dine and shop near where we work in Framingham (20 miles west of Boston) or Norwood (15 miles southwest of Boston), Janice and I have recently tried spending time in Newton, which is closer to where we live in Needham Heights, Mass. (10 miles west of Boston).

In addition to "Acapulco's," we've recently been to "Pizzapalooza"; the New England Mobile Book Fair, a huge bookstore strangely organized by publisher more than genre or author; and Newbury Comics, which sells music CDs and DVDs more than comic books or graphic novels.

Speaking of comic-book superheroes and videos, I recently picked up the long-awaited first season of the recent "Justice League" animated series on DVD, as well as Marvel's "Ultimate Avengers." As a fan of the pulp origins of the genre, I'm pleased that the SciFi Channel rebroadcasts "The Phantom," "The Shadow," "The Rocketeer," and "The Mummy" as often as it does. I'm also glad that D.C. Comics is completing its recent angst-ridden storylines and continuity purge with the "Infinite Crisis" and "One Year Later" crossovers. Let's hope that Marvel's "Civil War" has a similar effect…

CW's annual editorial off-site meeting in downtown Boston this past weekend went well. While I'm not a big fan of PowerPoint presentations, extra-long workweeks, and strategizing discussions, the copy desk did express some of its concerns regarding systems migrations and workload/workflow issues, and as expected, we were fed well at the Marriott Long Wharf. We also bonded with some co-workers and got out into the cold to the soon-to-close Borders bookstore near Downtown Crossing and the "Black Rose," and old Irish pub.

Since then, I've been struggling to catch up with work, newspapers, and e-mail. Janice and I have had to ask prospective visitors Dexter V.H., Stuart C.G., Ron J.K., Erik B.L., and Carolyn M.P. to hold off on making travel arrangements for April until we hear back from our landlord. Apparently, his father died recently, and we've been unable to confirm whether our lease will be renewed. Otherwise, we might have to spend the next month packing, apartment-hunting, and moving rather than hosting out-of-town friends and hosting one-shot gaming sessions.

Speaking of role-playing, the D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Seekers of Lore" heroic fantasy Player Characters, who were exploring the ruins of a magic school/library beneath a barbarian-held city, have now found themselves 400 years into their future! Fans of Steve M.R.'s GURPS "Voyagers II: Adventures in the Dimension Corps," Tim M.B.'s GURPS "Arth," and my GURPS "Gaslight Grimoire" ("G3") steampunk/fantasy campaign would probably enjoy this scenario. The play by e-mail activity has also picked up in advance of the potential visits (see above), as those P.C.s begin planning for quests that may lead to battles against dragons…

This coming weekend, I'll be meeting Thomas K.Y. and friends in Natick, Mass., for dinner and "V for Vendetta." The movie adaptation of the British dystopian graphic novel has received mostly favorable reviews so far, although I'm also aware of the changes to the characters and plot that probably annoyed creator Alan Moore. Janice will be spending an extra shift volunteering at the Animal Rescue League in Dedham on Sunday, so I may try to catch up on the "City of Heroes" multiplayer online game.

Next week is the SciFi Channel's "Dark Kingdom: the Dragon King," which got good ratings in Germany, and my D&D3.5 game resumes. Have a good week, -Gene

After about a month of canceled visits by out-of-town friends, wintry weather, illness, and long workweeks, Janice and I finally got out to socialize this past weekend. We joined Thomas K.Y. in visiting the new home of Cliff & Eliza Y., which they moved into a few months ago and have been fixing up ever since.

Cliff, a fellow SUNY-Binghamton alumnus and friend of Ben P.S. and Erik B.L., grilled tasty T-bone steaks and asparagus. The Austrian-style meal, which included Swedish meatball appetizers (from the new Ikea in our area) and kielbasa, was heavy on the meat, which is how Thomas and I like it. We also had some sweet wines and Janice's cinnamon crinkle cookies for dessert. Conversation flowed freely, and we had a good time–the housewarming dinner in Natick, Massachusetts, was long overdue.

Thomas and I met the next day with Beruk A. for lunch at Taiwan Cafe in Boston's Chinatown. As I posted at the D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands" Yahoo/eGroup site, we then screened the Russian horror/fantasy movie "Night Watch," which we enjoyed.

If you liked the supernatural conspiracies of "Highlander," "The X-Files," or "Buffy: the Vampire Slayer," you'll probably enjoy this flick. While I thought there could have been more surreal imagery, I liked the characterizations and updating of Eastern European folklore.

Beruk liked "Night Watch" the most, giving it a "10 out of 10 for a vampire movie," and I gave it about an 8. Thomas gave the foreign film (with subtitles) a 7. It was rated R for some violence, profanity, and nudity, but was not as gory as recent U.S. modern horror/action movies such as "Blade," "Underworld," or "Constantine."

I was going to try to avoid discussing the role-playing group in every blog posting, but last Tuesday's "Seekers of Lore" heroic fantasy session deserves mention. As the current D&D3.5 Player Characters continued to explore the ruins of a magic school/library beneath the barbarian-held port of Gisar, three of the seven were killed by a Banshee. While one was later resurrected with a magical scroll, obviously, the current gaming group is reeling from the heavy casualties. On the one hand, this was an extremely tough encounter, but on the other, the group did defeat the Undead spirit and learned to be even more cautious in the dungeon…

Friends, I hope you had a good Presidents' Day weekend. Although I wasn't able to attend the funeral or shiva call for Steve M.R.'s mother, I'm glad that many of our mutual friends paid their respects and shared their condolences with him and his family.

Unfortunately, college chum Dexter V.H. had to cancel his visit to Massachusetts at the last minute this past weekend due to concerns about the health of his father, who is 90+ years old. Understandably, while Dex wanted to get away from New York, asking his parents to take care of four of his children would pose a challenge. We have stayed in touch and hope to arrange another visit in April, when Erik B.L. and Carolyn M.P. also plan to come up. David I.S. may also be in town for work at some point.

Speaking of houseguests, high school friends Damon F.P. and Steve M. may be in the Boston area this coming weekend. I don't generally recommend that people visit Janice and me in Needham Heights during New England's long winters, but we've had a relatively mild season so far, and it's always good to see friends, since we get fewer visitors than when we lived in the capital area. I hope to visit family and friends in Virginia later this coming spring.

After some last-minute reshuffling, I ended up running another one-shot of my D20 "Mutants & Masterminds" 2nd Ed. "S.J.I.: Drake's Port" superheroic game (previously run using "Vortex," D.C. Heroes, and GURPS "Supers/Powers"). The five local role-players who made it had fun, as novice metahuman vigilantes met and fought a Sentinel (a mutant-hunting robot from Marvel's "X-Men" comic books). See my Yahoo/eGroups Web site for Greg D.C./"Electric Slide's" amusing update. I also played some "City of Heroes," the multiplayer online game that Dexter and I hope others will join.

In addition, Janice and I got our taxes done at H&R Block this past weekend (we'll be getting refunds from both the federal and state governments), and we made our travel reservations for our trip to Las Vegas in May for the Society for Technical Communications conference, the Best Friends animal sanctuary in Utah, and the Grand Canyon. We were pretty tired from recent colds/flu and the workweek, so we laid relatively low. We also got a telephone call from Ann W. in New Zealand.

I caught up on reading and videotaped episodes of "The Boondocks." I also recommend Nickelodeon's computer-animated sci-fi comedy "Jimmy Neutron" and anime-style fantasy "Avatar: the Last Airbender." The latest episodes of "Justice League Unlimited" have also been pretty good, and I understand that the same creative team is working on a futuristic "Legion of Superheroes" television series for the Cartoon Network…

I've also got the latest D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Seekers of Lore" heroic fantasy session tonight to prepare for. When we left the privateers, they had just begun exploring the barbarian-held port of Gisar in search of its lost magic school/library… Due to being busy at work, I've fallen behind a bit with the role-play by e-mail folks, including Carolyn M.P./"Grace," Byron V.O./"Ibrahim," and Greg/"Janus," but one-shots should help us focus.

As you can see, my calendar fills up rather quickly, but being busy always leads to creativity, if at the risk of burnout. Let's hope that spring is around the corner….

Friends, I hope you've had a good fortnight. First, Janice and I offer our condolences to Steve M.R. and family over the death of his mother this past Friday. While I unfortunately won't be able to travel to New York for the funeral or New Jersey or Virginia for the shiva call, my thoughts are with our friends as they deal with this loss.

I've spent much of the past week and a half recovering from a bad cold or flu that has been going around. Janice missed half a day of work, and I was out sick last Monday. I've also been swamped with work, even taking some home. At least I've had time to catch up on things such as the Halmi brothers' "Jason and the Argonauts" on the SciFi Channel, BBC/A&E grifters on "Hustle," and the final episodes of "Justice League Unlimited."

Janice and I have also been cocooning with shows on Animal Planet ("Animal Precinct") and the Food Network ("Good Eats" and "Unwrapped" are our current favorites), and Janice is looking forward to the Westminster dog show in New York tonight and tomorrow. We've also watched a bit of the Winter Olympics, as well as the Super Bowl.

On the role-playing front, while weekend one-shots continue to go well (the latest introduced James B.'s 11-year-old nephew Joey to gaming), we've had some difficulty getting quorum for the regular Tuesday night D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Seekers of Lore" heroic fantasy sessions. While Brian P.W.'s GURPS 4e "Fantasy: Fallowshare" miniseries is winding down, Atilla C. is leaving to start his own group, and Valentine's Day tomorrow means the other married guys will have to miss the game. At least yesterday's 18 inches of snow have mostly been cleared from the roads, and my current party is still relatively large.

With planned visits by Dexter V.H., Damon F.P. and Steve M., and eventually Carolyn M.P. coming up, my weekends will be busy! Janice and I are also beginning to plan for our Las Vegas trip for the Society for Technical Communications conference (and some sightseeing) in early May. Around that time, my parents will be visiting my mother's side of the family in the Philippines, and Janice's folks will be vacationing in Florida. Be well, -Gene

The past two weeks have been relatively quiet. While the unseasonably warm weather is coming to an end, my work hours have been long, and the local social/gaming groups have been dealing with some short-term scheduling changes.

Steve M.R.'s mother continues her battle against cancer, and most of my peers are coming to the painful realization of our parents' mortality. On a lighter note, Damon F.P. and Steve M., two friends of mine since high school, plan to visit Massachusetts in two weeks.

Janice and I attended the "Death by Chocolate" charity event at the Sheraton in Newton, Mass., this past Sunday. We were joined by Beruk A. and my boss Michele L.D'F. and her husband Paul D'F. On an unrelated note, Janice and I are taking tomorrow off from work for the second round of her periodontal surgery.

We've been watching some so-called reality television lately. No, not the "Lord of the Flies"-style competitions that reward backstabbing, but documentaries on the History Channel; home-design shows on HGTV; and "Good Eats," "Unwrapped," and "Iron Chef America" on the Food Network. We've also been enjoying A&E's "Hustle," and I'm glad that "Smallville" and "Veronica Mars" have resumed, despite the traumatic events for the young-adult characters on those shows. We'll see how the merger of the WB and UPN affects genre television…

While the D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Seekers of Lore" heroic fantasy group won't be meeting tonight due to bad weather and the unavailability of some role-players, the play by e-mail teams have continued to forge ahead, as Byron V.O./"Ibrahim" retrieved a large enchanted crystal, Carolyn M.P./"Grace" visited a Sea Elf artifact bearer at the Coral Temple, and Greg D.C./"Janus" travels to eastern mountains on his Satyr Druid's own quest. I'll also be running a one-shot for James B.'s young nephew this coming Saturday…