"He sat and sang a melody, his errantry a tarrying...

he begged a pretty butterfly
that fluttered by to marry him..."
-Errantry, J.R.R. Tolkien

I've been singing a lot lately. I made the mistake of sending someone a recording of In The Willow-meads of Tasarinan (aka, In Tauremornalome) by J.R.R. Tolkien (Arr. Donald Swann.) I wanted her to hear the Swann version, but I couldn't find it so I just sang it. It was a critical error, as she thought it would be really cool if I sang a Billy Joel song, because I don't have a girly voice. So I've spent the past several nights with the song on repeat, trying to get it down. It's the hardest song I've ever attempted...I mean, Pagliaccio is easier! Anyhow, Billy Joel makes it sound easy, but it ain't. I'm not a fan; he's talented, but not my usual cuppa. His songwriting is amazing, though. It'll be nice to have this in my repertoire.

In other news, I didn't get done what I needed to today. There were epic things going on in the vicinity of the shop, and I didn't feel like trying to fight someone for a parking space from which I could possibly push-start the CRX if necessary. Tomorrow I'm getting the starter fixed: Kramer and I were going to do it the other night, but the person at AutoZone pulled the wrong starter or I gave him the wrong number. Either way, I'm taking it to a professional in the morning. As an aside, I don't think the spark plugs had been changed in about a decade, so we pulled those and put in some nice, mid-range ones. The car has much more power now. I'm about to check my mileage to see if that had a measurable impact. Not that I'm complaining about 35, but I'd like 40 or 45 if I can swing it, and in the CRX it is eminently doable. I love this car. And stick-shift is so easy now. It's the best thing ever, in fact. Four more months until the car pays for itself in gas and insurance savings.

Soon I will start on body-work. What I can't do myself, I'll take to a local shop. It will look nice when it's done. Then I'll be getting the paint, and after that, the interior. It will be the Half-Life-Mobile: Orange, Silver, and Black. It definitely looks like something Gordon Freeman would drive...although I'd love to find a beat-up 67 Charger and turn it into... No! I must not be tempted!

When I return from Scotland, I plan to buy materials for the HEV suit. I plan to debut at Ohayocon in January. Seriously, when I have my goatee and my nerd-glasses, I am Gordon Freeman.

I'll be in Columbus next weekend at Matsuricon. If any of you readers are out there, stop by and say hey.

And! New article on ANF coming soon. Will keep you posted. In the meantime, go read things. Especially Charles Spencer. He's good.

My AC went out again last night. It's epic fail in the Apartment of Ian. I'll polish a little brass and have maintenance fix it Tuesday. My AC fails every year here. Earlier my unit ran out of Freon, and now it's just gone kaput. Again. It wasn't doing as well as it ought anyway: last summer my apartment stayed a nice 70 degrees. This it's been around 80. I haven't minded the heat so much. It's been good to be used to it for once, and it hasn't been quite as hot this year. Yet, I'm a creature who prefers cold, and the winter cannot come soon enough.

Well, there is much to do.

Oh yeah, and the UEF pwns you.