Gabe had a great checkup at the vet today. His blood sugar is down to 288 from 482 just a week ago (we're aiming for below 200) which is phenomenal progress considering all the factors that have to be perfect -- dosage, insulin type, timing, etc. He hasn't lost any more weight, and his 'galloping' heartbeat has returned to normal. He's a champ! And we still only have to give him one injection a day, which is a bonus for us.

My green knee has turned shiny white, but is still on fire. Too bad the vet can't fix that also.

AAAAAHHHHHH OWWWWWW OWWWWIEEEEEE OWW OW OWW OW OW OW

Had fun climbing yesterday, but I lost a piece of skin about the size of a quarter from my knee. Bathed the wound in Neosporin and hoped for the best.

Today it is GREEN.

My knee is ON FIRE.

So, we spent a good portion of Xmas afternoon at the emergency vet. Gabe started acting overly tired and a little 'drunk' (he would weave from side to side when he walked) and in cats this sort of behavior is often an insulin reaction. They act a little drunk one minute and collapse the next. Gabe didn't collapse, though; the vet checked his blood glucose, said he was okay, and sent him home for observation. Now he seems back to his old self, so we guess it was just one of those "getting used to new medicine" things.

Other than that, things have been quiet. It's exactly what we hoped. Lots of time at the gym, lots of time playing games, and some time studying (or helping me study) for my personal trainer certification. We had no idea it would be so hard! Currently memorizing all the very long formulas used to calculate the oxygen costs of exercise... well, technically the oxygen (in liters) required to oxidize carbs, fat or proteins to extract the kcals used in exercise. Yikes.

Happy Xmas eve all (or 6th day of Hanukkah)! With my week and a half vacation starting today, Rhon and I plan to do lots of stuff, including indoor rock climbing, playing lots of new video games, cleaning house, hanging out with friends and yes, updating the site more.

For the moment, I've updated the Ubisoft games area, inlcuding a lot more about making CSI and the other games I have worked on in the past year. Click on the CSI cover to the left to get there quickly.

Happy holidays, and to all a good night!

Poor Gabe. He's been incredibly thirsty, so we got worried and brought him to the vet. Turns out that he's developed feline diabetes, which isn't quite as serious in cats as in humans, but means we'll have to give him insulin injections once or twice a day. Forever.

I was dreading it like crazy. We went for an hourlong diabetes orientation with the vet, got a huge box of needles, got the insulin, and found a temporary container for the sharps. (We'll have to get an official Sharps Disposal Unit from the city next week.) All that was left was to actually give him a shot. Tony would have done it, but I needed to get it over with first...

...and it was a breeze. The needle is 'superfine', which means that Gabe doesn't feel it when it goes in. Not even a blink. And the insulin is only three units -- barely more than a drop -- so the whole thing is over with just as soon as it starts.

Phew.

I did the second to last CSI 2 voice recording on Wednesday. (Marg was great BTW!)

As usual, I flew into Burbank Airport to do the session. However, this time was something special. Wednesday the 17th was the inaugural opening of the newly named Bob Hope Airport. Which was ALSO the day of the Centennial of Flight (100 years since the Wright bros. took off.) Which is also interesting because Bob Hope was 100 when he died!

So, now I can bore everyone with that story for the rest of time!

My 'pages' arrived today. These are fully-designed, actual-size pages for the book. There are still certain issues I'm furious about, but at least the designer is great. Fun layout. And exciting to hold something that actually seems like the beginnings of a Real Book.

Of course, this also means we have once again reverted to superspeed Author Time (whencanyousendcomments whencanyoureviewitby howaboutnextMonday?) despite Hanukkah beginning the day after tomorrow and Christmas hot on its heels. Figures.

...which reminds me, I'd better get moving on the author photo. Otherwise goodness knows what they'll put in that space.

Tony and I went to the second charity wrapping party. This time we were smart and brought our own scissors and tape, minimizing our part in the catfighting and hair-pulling at the tables as too many people fought for too few scissors. We still had to scavenge for wrapping paper, pens and gift tags, though. Those wrapping parties really are a sight!

When everything was wrapped, we ate some of the free food and then went and bought some non-charity presents for our own gift list. The stores were much less mobbed than we expected. Either everyone is staying home because they're scared of the flu that's all over the news, or everyplace just seemed quiet compared to the wrapping party.

(Oh, and yesterday I went to a cookie party in the city... a really creative kind of party where a bunch of women got together and baked cookies all afternoon. Our host provided all the ingredients and mixers and everything, so it was easy and fun, and the cookies we didn't bring home (or eat right out of the oven) all went to a women's shelter, so it was virtuous as well.)

It's official.

They are ALL getting COAL from Santa this year.

And after I already bought my editor a holiday gift, too. Well, it's going in the charity bin. Tonight.

Mom and I went to a 'wrapping party' last night, wrapping toys for a local charity to deliver (via firetruck!) on xmas eve. We expected maybe twenty or thirty other people would be there. More like a few hundred. It was an absolute circus, with people crammed up along the wrapping tables like factory workers. No chairs, either, so we were exhausted after a few hours.

BUT, there was also holiday music, and food, and Santa, and lots of volunteer firemen and police cadets, and it was exciting, after all, to be preparing these huge gift bags for the families. Each child got two presents, plus a stuffed animal, plus at least one or two books, plus a whole bag of stocking stuffers, and there was one big 'family game' per household. This meant each family's bag (and there were over 1500) was HUGE and looked wonderful once everything was wrapped up.

We're going back to do it again, this time with Tony, next week.

Hmmm.

The universe is apparantly giving the same 'go slow' message to my publisher as it is to me. No calls in several days now.

Maybe it's a good thing. Maybe they're in meetings, deciding not to be so mean after all.

Maybe they realized that they'd better be nicer to me or Santa will fill their stockings with coal this year.

We went to the Ubisoft holiday party last night. It was in a huge, perfectly restored old theater in San Francisco; lots of space to move around, and a stage. There was a band most of the time, but during their intermissions we got to watch a magic show and even a contortionist.

There were also fortune tellers. We each had tarot readings (I asked about work and heath and got quite specific -- and surprisingly accurate -- readings) and then visited a hydromancer who had us pick a few stones from a tray and then drop them in water. I went first. He took a long look and said it was an unusual reading. A big stone in the middle, signifying me, and a small constellation of stones closely surrounding it. The exact message:

Go slow.

The universe has been giving me this same exact message for months -- through music, through street signs, through meditations when I walk out to the Bay. Tony says that I've been hearing this so much that it's time to put it back out there... re-offer it to the universe, I suppose. So there it is.

Go slow.

Still battling the publisher. This sucks, especially after waiting so long to even have a publisher. It's like finally getting a chance to have dinner with your idol and the first thing he does is spit in your soup.

(Basically, they've made it clear that it's their book now, and they can and will do whatever they please regarding the title -- egad -- the text and, most especially, the illustrations. My input is no longer needed or desired. This is a rough thing for any independent artist-type to swallow... especially this one.)

Hey, I think I fixed it... it was a VERY STRANGE reason why it was broken, but strange things have been afoot lately.

Perhaps this is the beginning of a good trend...

Blog still not publishing, but I'll just keep writing entries and eventually they'll all go up in a rush.

Remember before, when I made some comments about the difficulty of dealing with publishers?

TIP OF THE ICEBURG, baby!

It's been a nightmare. Don't ask. I'm not allowed to tell, anyway. That's just part of the fun. Wheee.