Two advance copies of Shortpacked! Book 3 (preorder it now!) arrived via FedEx this morning for me.  Like, they were sent from Hong Kong yesterday, and now they're here.  I know we have, y'know, jet planes and what have you, but that still seems magically fast.

The books are beautiful, as always!

I'm told that the rest of the books are going on the boat next week and they'll arrive over here near the first week of June.  ... and if you recall my history, they'll spend the next 2-3 weeks in customs.  It's going to happen.  Let's just resign ourselves to the inevitable.

This morning I'm on the road at 8am to get my ass to Troy, Michigan, by noon.  Penguicon is this weekend, and I'll be at Howard Tayler's table.  Look for the two guys in brightly-colored Hawaiian shirts.  One, a successful breadwinner.  The other, an awkward manchild.  Randy Millholland (Something*Positive) will also be there, and he's written a very informative comic strip about it.

There's been a dearth of toy talk from me recently, but only because I gots no new toys to talk about!  It's a very dead period for me, apparently.  There's gonna be some new Transformers soon, right?  Some G.I. Joes?  Oh, lord, please, yes.

Just because I'm not gabbing about toys doesn't mean I'm not keeping myself busy.  This weekend I'm going up to Troy, Michigan, for Penguicon.  Really, I'm just helping out Howard Tayler (Schlock Mercenary) and his wife at their table.  They're Distinguished Guests at the convention, and so they both have panels they gotta be on, and thus need a dude to hold down the fort.  In exchange for helping them out, I get a corner to do my thing.

It's been a while since Howard and I have tangoed, so I'm looking forward to it.  There's the usual ice-breaking "your mom" joke, followed by the usual "my mother is already passed away" retort, followed by my usual awkward silence...

Why does Howard tolerate me again?

Also, I'll get to see my favorite highway signage in all the land, Big Beaver Road, Exit 69.  Oh, how I've missed you.