Honestly, a week ago I believed I'd be announcing the release of STUPEFYING STORIES 1.6 today. Instead, things got exciting—and then frightening—and then alarming—and then wet. So tonight I am announcing only the triumphant return of running hot water to my house, along with the resounding defeat of the Minnesota DNR's attempt to have my office declared a protected wetland. I can also say with a high degree of confidence that I now know more about residential water heaters and their associated gas and water pipe fittings than any reasonable person should ever have to know, and that when the plumber you've hired begins to laugh out loud, you should be afraid; be very afraid.
The sound of a plumber laughing is an expensive sound. It's not quite on the same order of magnitude as when your daughter calls to say, "Daddy, the car is making a funny noise," but it's close. A plumber laughs not because of anything that you might find funny, but out of a sense of relief, as he suddenly realizes that he now knows how he's going to be able to afford that new fishing boat he's been thinking of buying.
I believe there is a book in this: The Laughing Plumber. It's a home remodeling/horror story. "It started with just one tiny leak..."
But enough on that. We also have some good news to announce this week, and a picture being both worth a thousand words and much easier to type, we'll go straight to the visual:
World, meet Hollas Goodman, newest son of Stupefying Stories Art Director David Goodman and his lovely wife, Rachel. Hollas arrived in the wee hours of Friday morning, weighed 8 lbs on the dot, and both mom and baby are doing very well. (Dad is a bit frazzled, though.)
We'll have more to say about Hollas in a minute, but first...
In the matter of the 4/20 Friday Challenge, "What Earth Day Means To Me," we received
- J M Perkins, "A Word a Day: Earth-Day"
- Anatoly Belilovsky, untitled (in the comments on the original post)
- Jack Calverley, "Earth Day"
- Kevan Chandler, "Remember Earth - Remembering Treachery"
- N.M. Whitley, "Earth Days" (on The Friday Challenge Yahoo Group)
As you read the entries, by the way, don't be afraid to leave comments on the authors' sites. Authors love to know that people are actually reading and thinking about their words.
Now, as for this week's challenge, it's a simple one:
"For Hollas, Who Will Be 20 In The Year 2032"
This week's challenge is to write a letter, to a child newly born now—Hollas has graciously volunteered to be the representative infant, if you don't know anyone else who is having kids these days—to be read when the child reaches adulthood, in which you tell this child...
Well, that's the challenge now, isn't it? What is the most important message you can think of to put in a bottle and cast upon the sea of time, to be found and read a generation from now?
Think it over; jot it down; post your answer here or on your own site and post a link here; and let's all meet back here again on Friday, May 4th, to compare results.
And remember, have fun. Always, have fun!
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