Well, that's amazing.

I just learned that a Usenet troupe I had a hand in creating and growing 13 years ago is still around and even has a Wiki page.

Fear the Lumber Cartel!!! (Which doesn't exist, and is not currently in a massive power struggle over the future of Botswana with the British Dental Association. Fnord.)

I'd provide links, but then I'd have to kill you. You know how that is.

This came to me last night, and I really want to explore it.

I found myself picturing a "gray man" dying at his desk and following his journey through the Buddhist bardos to discover who he really was before being able to move on. Not an angry man, or a particularly lonely man, but just one of those people who just seem to exist and then go away. So, here's Chapter 0:

( Meet Mr. Phelps )

Like I said, no idea where this would go, expect to follow the general path of Tibetan Buddhism and the bardos. If I had to sum up the novel in one sentence it would be "You have to know who you are before you can accept that you aren't him." I do know how the book ends. It ends with a birth announcement dated several days after the events recounted above.

For the bulk of the story I'm thinking of doing The Divine Comedy in reverse, and have the spirit guide be the viewpoint character. that would let me leave Phelps as a puzzle, to be slowly unwrapped.

Ow. (I'm getting a lot of use out of that word recently.)

Today started out good. Reasonably clear weather, I think I'm finally over the hump on healing, and was ready to start living a little of my life again.

One of those things I wanted to do was laundry. I'd fallen desperately behind, and was out of clean everything. Two loads of essentials, I figured, would make a good project for my first day carrying things up and down the stairs.

This was a great plan until I slipped on the stairs and swung my not-protected-by-steel-toed-shoe foot right into the edge of the concrete step. Not broken, but I've taken up limping as a hobby. Also took one of my full strength vicodin.

Laundry's done at least, and Kiri brought home KFC.