Geeking out here, move along, move along

A few months ago (in a longer and meandering post) I wrote on here that I had finished a trilogy of novels by S.M. Stirling: Dies the Fire, The Protector's War, and A Meeting at Corvallis. I expressed annoyance with the ending of the third book. Or rather, a desire to inflict physical damage upon the author for ending such an interesting series on such a precipice, if he had to at all.
As with much of my life, I forgot the minute details of my own writing, and remembered those of others'.
Yesterday I received a message from Cameron, my friend who had introduced me to the series originally, saying that I had a comment here from Stirling. Of course I got the message at the beginning of a 3 hour long Drawing class, so it was harder than usual to hold still. I checked the post, and recalled my vehement wish to inflict harm. I was more than slightly embarrassed.
However, he did not seem offended, and I was informed of another book in the series, to my great joy.

Mr. Stirling, if you read this, I couldn't find your blog to post this on, but I wanted to say that you are am amazing author. Dies the Fire was so fascinating that it had my brain going too fast to sleep for days. Keep up the good work.

Happy, embarrassed geek.
~Brill

They Keep Telling Me I'm an Adult, But I Don't Believe Them

My twentieth birthday was last week. I am no longer a teenager.
Whee?
I feel like I'm growing out of the house; I've already decided I'm staying at College next summer and working as a counselor at the summer arts program they run for kids. I would have this summer, but chickened out/procrastinated (shocker, I know) and didn't get the application in on time. I won't be able to do the house-sitting for my Psych teacher as I have for the past 3 years, but the money and the DISTANCE and the autonomy are all greater at school.

I got very happy-inducing gifts: money from the grands, which will almost exclusively go to things of which they would not approve, but which I will couch in neutral terms in letters. GLBT fiction and non-fiction become "books," and the corset I have been planning for for a year is "clothing."
My Mum, wonderful creature, got me 2 farcical ("Farcical aquatic ceremony!") comedies: Galaxy Quest and Dogma ("Outdated imperialist dogma!"...I do love the peasant). It is absolute coincidence that Alan Rickman stars in both of these. Total coincidence. Happiest pf all, I now have my own Heather Alexander CD! I'm vaguely embarrassed of the noise I made when I opened it... but only vaguely. Dad didn't need those eardrums anyway.

**Spoiler alert ahead for Dies the Fire series**

I've finished the Dies the Fire trilogy, and now wish to hunt down S.M. Stirling and beat him about the head and shoulders for ending the books with a bloody funeral, wedding, and ominous vision. Seriously, there are too many loose ends! What's the next book/trilogy in the series? Grah!

**End Spoilers**

This past week I sat in at a counseling office as a stand-in receptionist/gopher/paperwork minion. It was interesting, enlightening, and slightly bewildering.
(The fax machine is an evil, evil creature, and We do not understand its devious ways. In fact, We think that it it took a long walk out a close window, the world would be a better place. But that's just Our opinion.)
Paperwork is much easier.

I've made mention of doing a post that delves into my internal gender issues, and I will. Just not today, and not until I have a much longer stretch of free time, and less S.M. Stirling eminently on the brain.

Laters.
~Brill