Now... on to business
Saturday March 5, 2005 • Howard Tayler


Howard reads a card from a Hawaiian gift-giver, puzzling over the explanation of the odd stuff in the box. Meanwhile, "Patches" looks at Fable, and "Kiki" crouches oddly so she can look at the picture on the front of the card. And yes, Howard is wearing a PvP shirt (it was a gift from my friend Scott Kurtz at Comic-Con 2003. My dirty secret comes to light.)

Because inquiring minds want to know, here are the three items that have gotten the most use so far.

  1. Mythodea: Music for the NASA Mission -- 2001 Mars Odyssey by Vangelis has been played a dozen times, and is my current favorite "music to draw Schlock Mercenary to."
  2. Metroid Prime Echoes has a multi-player mode, and I got to see my seven-year-old son invent a happy-dance when he first beat his Dad. No, I was not holding back. He'd been practicing on the Spider-Ball arena with his friend all afternoon, and the two of them cleaned my clock.
  3. That box of dried foodstuffs from Hawaii has been devoured, with the exception of those salty turd-things. Those were a practical joke, right? You tease the howlis with 'em, and then throw them out when nobody's looking, right? Boy, that's a funny trick.

I won't take the time here to write about ALL the gifts, but I will shout a hearty THANK YOU to all of you who spent the time and money making this a fantastic birthday. It more than made up for the fact that February has no 29th this year.

Now... on to business: I'm sending out thank-you notes this next week, and, per Tayler Corporation company policy, they will have original artwork in them. Unfortunately, a few of the gifts arrived without snail-mail addresses. This includes some of the gifts that people sent to Sandra. If you sent one of the items below, email me with your snail-mail address or we won't be able to send you a thank-you note:

  • Halo 2
  • Metroid Prime 2
  • Fable
  • Berthe Morisot wall poster
  • a stepping stone kit
  • Flower Cameo earrings (Yes, those were for SANDRA. Quit snickering.)

Thanks again, everybody. Now quit cratering my wish list, and save up for the new merchandise coming later this month and later this year.

2005 Convention and Appearance Schedule

March 22: BrainShare 2005 (at the GWAVA booth), Salt Lake City, UT
April 22-24: Penguicon 3.0, Novi Michigan
May 27-29: CONduit XV, Salt Lake City, UT
July 13-17: Comic-Con 2005, San Diego, CA. (tentative... this one's pricey)
August: Fandemonium 2005, Boise, ID. (tentative)
October 8-9: Revoluticon, Asheville, NC
October 14-16: Linucon 2.0, Austin, TX. (tentative)

Are you interested in having me come to your city? Your convention? Your HOUSE? Pay my way and pay my stay, and we can make it happen. The BEST way is to convince the convention organizers that I'm worthy of "GoH" status, but there are alternatives. Email me if you've got an event in mind.