Hoping to catch up on blogging a bit, I wrote the following short notes to myself while I was in Athens, GA this weekend. They are a poor excuse for actual writing, but what’re you going to do? A reminder, too, that I am posting links and short items to my Tumblelog, which is also reachable via the button near the top of this page.

Anyway, here’s what Athens was like:

• Sitting in an independent coffee shop in Athens, Georgia. It’s miserably hot in the sun. This place has The Most Uncomfortable Booth in the World—I do not fit between the wooden seat back and the table. The staff at this coffee shop doesn’t think very highly of it. That much is clear.
• Bringing the dog with us to the show? That was a mistake. She’s spending the whole day in her crate, under the table, because she cannot stop being a jerk to everyone who comes by. Still, it’s cooler under there than it is on this side of the table. Lucky bitch.
• Next I think I’ll be looking for a pub to sit down in. Get drinking, if I can. Finish re-reading Thirteen, either way. I want to be more familiar with it in time for my interview with Richard Morgan this week. (Note: I never did find a pub that wasn’t a bar, so I did a lot of reading but no drinking. Bah.)
• The game store out here—Tyche’s Games—is a mix of typical problems and good service. The place is overcrowded with material, with lots of out-of-print product on the shelves that could be moved on eBay. (Looking for the full-color first-edition of Feng Shui? They’ve got it.) Books on the floor, books out of order, that sort of thing. But the guy behind the counter is informative, intelligent, and reasonable, which would make up for all of the clutter were this my FLGS. Best of all, the place is carrying indie RPGs. I picked up Unhallowed Metropolis if only because I finally found it in the flesh (and because I like to patronize local game shops). Also, to be fair, I’d been looking to pick up this gas-mask-chic book since I saw a proof of it at Gen Con last year.
• Yeah, this booth is pretty uncomfortable. I’ve got to get out of here.
• I’m reduced to using a ubiquitous Starbucks, which gets me a green-tea frappuccino and some funny looks for ordering one. I may have to head back to the uncomfortable place later, just for the free WiFi. I’m really not sure how to kill all of this time before the wife’s craft show closes in… seven hours.
• It’s hard to work in public sometimes. Eventually I can find the flow, but I have to work at it. I feel like I’m being watched over my shoulder. Maybe I am.
• I end up back in the uncomfortable coffee shop (which was closed in the middle of the day, thanks very much), but this time I have a terrifically made iced coffee and a table to myself. Vast improvement. Also, this evening-shift guy seems to like his job well enough. That makes a big difference.
• With a comfortable environment and almost two hours of time to work, I bang out some revisions to a freelance assignment and sketch out a budget for the D&D 4E GSL project I may or may not take up after I’ve seen the new rules and the license. Nicely productive two hours, but not enough to make up for a lost day of work.
• Huh. I forgot to eat anything today. The good news is, I am absolutely fine with losing my appetite of late. Let’s see if I can casually start fasting and get some pounds off, huh?

Music: Brad Sucks, “Making Me Nervous”