The one where I distract you with pretty pictures

[Insert obligatory apology for not updating in freaking forever here.]

Suffice it to say, someone has apparently found me worthy of responsibility, and I have hence been buried beneath it. It's all job stuff, and you don't really want to hear about it any more than I want to write about it. Instead, I'll annotate some brief points, then direct you to my photolog.

• Claudia's been back in Texas for a couple of weeks now. I'm still readjusting to being something other than a hermit. I may be readjusting until May, but I'll keep you posted.
• My friend Feithy and her Kidlet moved back to Canada last week. It's all very sad. Kidlet entrusted me with a silver music box, which I'm to send to him sometime soon. There's a short story waiting to be written there about the treasures of ten-year-old boys, but I'm not ready to write it yet.
• The Texas summer is finally starting to cool off a bit. I survived it fairly well this year. Granted, we didn't have three weeks of weather over 100F, but it was hotter than last summer. I went swimming in my Dad's pool the weekend I picked Claudia up from the airport and realized how much I missed it. There's still time for swimming before the weather gets cold, but I don't know yet whether I'll be able to make the time myself.
• JournalCon Austin is coming up in just over a month. I've got a bunch of things to do, partly in preparation for being a panelist at the conference. JournalCon panelists are supposed to update their journals or weblogs more than once a month, aren't they?
• I don't mention her very often, but my friend Paige is too cool. She even updates almost daily. She's articulate and witty and funny, and I host her right here on waterlilies.org. So go read her.
• I posted several pictures today. Some of them are so woefully old that I am ashamed of myself, and you should be, too. Austin Elvis, for instance, was taken back in June, right after I bought my new Nikon digital camera, before I went to Europe. I posted Backlit several days ago, but it and Austin Sunset were taken at the end of July, on an outing with my photography class. For the record, though, Night-blooming and Moon Shot were taken today.
• Looks like I'll be going to a hummingbird festival this weekend. If the weather is nice and the hummingbirds are beautiful, I'm sure I'll wish that I owned a tripod. No idea what happened to my video camera tripod over the past six years and four moves.