Friends, I hope your holidays were happy and that the new year is better than the last one!

On Saturday, 23 December 2006, Janice and I drove to my parents' home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Fortunately, the long drive from Massachusetts to Virginia was relatively smooth, since the rain could have been snow.

On the way, we visited Janice's grandmother in rural Pennsylvania for a few hours. I hadn't yet seen her apartment, which she moved into about a year ago after the death of her husband and the sale of the family homestead. We originally planned to have lunch at favorite local sandwich joint "Talarico's," but she topped that with barbecue (sloppy joes)!

On Christmas Eve, my younger brother Peter, his wife Kelly, and their toddler daughter Ava joined us from Alexandria, Va. As usual, my mother made sure we had abundant and excellent food throughout the weekend, including baked ham, egg rolls, artisan breads, and imported cheeses. My father's appetite has returned after radiotherapy and surgery, but he is still in pain and recovering his energy level. Alas, he also caught the bad cold we had been fighting.

We exchanged gifts then, since Peter & Kelly would be visiting her mother in Maryland the next day. Among other things, I got an astronomy book and the DVD set for Season 1 of the excellent animated fantasy "Avatar: the Last Airbender." Peter also brought gifts from Steve M.R. & Aleece Z.R.

Although the weather continued to be unseasonably warm, Kelly has been uncomfortable in the last months of her second pregnancy, and we didn't want to risk adorable Ava getting sick, so we played Uno. The simple card game has led to many fun hours for my family (see photo). Ava enjoyed the Lego Duplo zoo set we gave her.

Christmas was fairly quiet. I talked with my mother about our family in the Philippines and Belgium and with father about his latest book, travel, and politics. Unfortunately, I was unable to log into his wireless network with my work laptop. Janice read one of the books she had received, and we watched some European newscasts through my parents' satellite television.

On Tuesday, Dec. 26, Janice and I drove back to New England, stopping on the way at the new home of the Potenza family in Carmel, New York. High-school chum Damon F.P. showed off his spacious house, which he has been renovating. His wife Nicole prepared a nice cold-cut lunch, and her adolescent children Aaron and Katie have been growing like weeds!

We hit heavy traffic in Connecticut. Janice and I grabbed dinner at John Harvard's Brewpub near where I work in Natick, Mass., before unpacking and catching up on e-mail and phone calls. We haven't received as many holiday cards as in previous years, but a few friends such as Ron J.K. and Jim J.D'B. have sent thoughtful gifts.

On Wednesday, Dec. 27, I went into CW's offices to work, but fortunately, there weren't too many online news feed stories to copy edit. Janice and I also caught up on filing and went to the Emerald Square shopping mall near Rhode Island to use some gift certificates and coupons for books.

On Saturday, Dec. 30, David I.S. arrived from Upstate New York. Naturally, Dave and I stayed up late into the night talking about speculative fiction (more on that in future postings), games (mainly "City of Heroes"), relationships, and careers. We again ate well, thanks to Janice's chicken dinners. My college friend and I also enjoyed the rebroadcast of the animated "Hellboy: Sword of Storms" on the Cartoon Network.

The next day, we went to the shops in Central and Harvard Squares in Cambridge, Mass., as well as to "Border Café," our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant. Dave and I decided to pass on fantasy flick "Eragon," although the dystopian "Children of Men" looks promising. The deaths of musician James Brown, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and former U.S. president Jerry Ford also sparked conversation.

Thanks again to Damon F.P., Corbin A.Y., Ron J.K., Steve M.R., and David A.H. for their holiday wishes. Janice, Dave, and I celebrated New Year's Eve by watching heavy metal music videos. New Year's Day was relatively quiet, since the weather had turned damp and cooler. We also watched Dave's new DVD of "Time Bandits," one of my favorite Terry Gilliam fantastical comedies, but we missed the local broadcast of remastered episodes of 1960s "Star Trek" episodes.

Dave left this morning for New Hampshire, where he hopes to retrieve a drum set from Nate V.P., and my return to work has gone well so far. Tonight, the D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" face-to-face game resumes, although we're again facing seasonal turnover.

Paul J. is back from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for winter break, Byron V.O. is up for videoconferencing, and newbie Robert F. has dropped out because of scheduling conflicts. Another prospective role-player, Doug H., will be sitting in! We'll see how the "Halmed Desert" heroic fantasy scenarios go… In the meantime, take it easy, -Gene

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

Friends, I hope you had a good Thanksgiving weekend. After a compressed workweek, Janice and I drove to Upstate New York to visit her immediate family. We ate the big holiday meal at Janice's parents' house near Lake George. The entire family took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to go walking in the woods Thursday afternoon, although the various lap dogs and cockatiels stayed home. We also played pool in Marvin & Linda's basement. I've posted some family photographs at Yahoo.

I telephoned my parents and later heard from my brother Peter, Damon F.P., and James B. Early last week, I checked in on Eliza Y., who has been confined to bed rest late in her pregnancy, while her husband Cliff Y. was out of town on business. Ron J.K. had e-mailed holiday wishes and visited his brother in Brookline, while Mark A.S. & Ann W. sent an early card from New Zealand. I also spoke with former "Dragonslayer" Robert A.S. in Sharon, Massachusetts, for the first time in months.

On "Black Friday," Janice, her two younger sisters Michelle and Melinda, and their mother awoke at 3:30 a.m. to get a jump on Christmas shopping! I later met my brothers in law Gary T.L. and Melvin W. and took my nieces Becky, Laura, and Amanda and nephews David and Joshua to see "Happy Feet." The computer-animated musical comedy was decent.

That night, we ate tasty leftovers and watched "Ice Age 2: the Meltdown" on DVD at Gary & Melinda's. Both "Happy Feet" and "Ice Age 2" were amusing, although I liked Aardman's recent "Flushed Away" more. While we've been concerned about various family members' health, I hope everyone had a pleasant holiday. On Saturday, Janice and I drove from our motel to her parents for lunch before heading back to New England.

We caught up on newspapers, including the Boston Globe, the Boston Phoenix, the Cambridge Tab/Dig, the Improper Bostonian, and Stuff at Night, as well as two free Needham weeklies. I also regularly read the top stories of the New York Times, New York Newsday, and the Washington Post through the RSS feed on my Yahoo home page.

The Globe is best for overall local coverage, although I like the alternative (read: left-wing political and cultural) viewpoints of the Phoenix and Tab/Dig. The Improper Bostonian and Stuff at Night are useful for local events, although the glossy nightclub photographs and advertisements are pitched at younger and wealthier readers than me. Reuters is another news source that I used when I was a wire reporter/editor at BNA and again now at CW.

Since most genre television was in reruns, Janice and I watched other things, including an old Ray Harryhausen-animated Sinbad movie, some nature programs on PBS and Animal Planet, the music video channels, and various cooking shows. We do watch a bit of Home & Garden TV, the Discovery Channel (such as "Mythbusters"), and of course, the Food Network.

My favorite celebrity chefs are Wellesley's Ming Tsai, goofy scientist Alton Brown, and Italian "Iron Chef" Mario Battali. I get a fair amount of grief from co-workers about liking the attractive Giada De Laurentiis, the casual Rachael Ray, and the boisterous Emeril Lagasse. Other than "Iron Chef America," however, I'm not a big fan of all the competitive reality shows, including those involving inedible sugary skyscrapers. I prefer simple but filling and good-tasting cuisine.

On Sunday, 26 November 2006, I joined Kim M.E.A.G./"Lady Bewilder" and Dexter V.H./"Lady Faelonia" online as "Nightfall IIb" for "City of Heroes." Our costumed metahumans leveled up after clearing out more warehouses of mutant criminals. I hope that David I.S./"the Excoriator" and Steve M.R./"the Blazing Corona" will rejoin us in coming Thursday nights or Sunday mornings.

The recent release of videogames involving the X-Men, Avengers, and the Justice League are tempting me to buy a console such as Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 2, or Nintendo's Wii, but I have neither the time nor the money right now. In addition, I doubt I could get my friends and family to agree on one system. Simpler PC games such as "City of Heroes," "Lego Star Wars II," and maybe "Neverwinter Nights 2" are more than enough for now.

In the meantime, I've got to prepare for the regular Tuesday night face-to-face D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Halmed Desert" heroic fantasy sessions and this coming weekend's one-shots for Byron V.O./"Ibrahim" (and maybe Dex). The higher-level party is looking forward to taking on an undead dragon in her castle lair, and I'll be running the latest edition of the classic "Ravenloft" module! We're still having difficulty setting up videoconferencing between Byron's new home in St. Louis and the Boston area.

Plus, Janice's birthday is next Tuesday, and I've got holiday shopping to finish! While Janice went to the malls around Albany, New York, I expect to complete shopping for my family online, mainly on Amazon.com. BTW, the photo attached to this posting is from the Super MegaFest–see my previous blog entry. In addition, a co-worker just invited me to her holiday party, and similarly overworked David I.S. may be visiting the Boston area at the end of December. Take it easy, -Gene