Day: June 5, 2013

At the Beginning of a Busy June

By / June 5, 2013

Yesterday I closed the door behind my last shipping helper and breathed a big sigh of relief. The shipping was done. 2400 packages, 20,000 coins, 270 work hours. We did it all in two work weeks. Before the shipping was complete, people began reporting the coins arrival. Over and again we hear that the coins are even better than expected. We feel the same way. I love them. This is good because I spent most of this morning working with Janci to rearrange my shipping room to make space for the coins. There are a lot of them still here. The mass shipping is done, but I’ll be shipping out Kickstarter coin orders for another few weeks. There are problems to resolve and addresses to chase down.

Because life is never simple, I have not been able to focus on just coins and shipping. Yesterday morning Howard’s aching tooth proved to need a root canal, so we took care of that. This afternoon Link had an appointment with a specialist for a minor issue and we’ve been referred to a follow-up specialist. That appointment is tomorrow. In theory this is the week when we’re starting to establish family patterns for the summer, but everything is going to get disrupted again because Howard flies out on Friday for the Writing Excuses retreat. There are lots of preparations involved. It has been awhile since Howard was gone for so extended a trip.

My family came into town for Kiki’s graduation and then departed again. They’ll be back for family reunions in another couple of weeks. I’ll likely wave to them as they pass through. I have so much clean up and organization to do after the past three months. I’m beginning to make progress, but I think it will be the end of June before I truly feel like I’ve got things managed.

Yet, I’m happy. I’m running from thing to thing. I’m often tired and losing track of what comes next, but I’m happy instead of scared. This is good.

Project: Jay Wake Book

By / September 16, 2013 / 7 Comments


UPDATE on 7/20/2013: We are now in phase two of the Jay Wake Book project. We will be collecting additional celebrations of Jay until approximately September 25, 2013. The final version of the project is expected to become publicly available sometime in October.

Introduction to the project:
Our friend Jay has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and is hosting his own wake, Jay Wake, which Howard and I are attending. We know that other friends of Jay would love to be able to come, but can’t for a multitude of reasons. The Jay Wake Book is a project to let everyone participate in the celebration of Jay. I’ll be collecting stories, art, and photos of Jay to compile into the book. The first iteration of this book will be presented to Jay at Jay Wake. The second iteration will include stories and photos collected at Jay Wake. It will be made generally available either in electronic or print version.

The call to action:
We need your stories and accompanying pictures of Jay. Did you witness Jay do something funny at a convention? Tell us about it. Did Jay be clever or raucous? Send us that story. We want to celebrate Jay and by doing so, celebrate this larger community to which Jay has added so much.

What to contribute: Anything that celebrates Jay, his contributions to your life or the fandom community. Thus far we’ve had promised submissions of fiction, personal stories, art, and tales of how Jay has improved the life of people he’s never met. If your idea speaks to you, it will probably speak to others as well. Please contact us to discuss it.

How to submit:
Email your story and pictures to jaylakememory@gmail.com. BUT first read the conditions below.

Terms and conditions:
1. Submitting your story and/or picture of Jay means it will be published in a publicly available form. You will be asked via email to agree to some terms of use for the story and picture. In return, the story and picture will only be used for the Jay Wake Book in print or electronic format. It will not be re-purposed without your permission. Further clarification can be obtained via email. Art celebrations of Jay are very welcome.

2. Please make sure that you read and copy edit carefully before submitting. We do not feel it is appropriate to edit someone else’s memories, so except in the case of simple spelling errors, typos, or punctuation, no changes will be made to the words or pictures that you submit.

3. If you submit your story, photo, or art before July 1st, 2013 it will be included in both phase one and phase two of the project. Stories submitted after July 1st will be included in phase two.
Phase one: A physical book to hand to Jay at the Jay Wake event.
Phase two: A revised and expanded book including photos taken during Jay Wake and additional memories collected after the close of phase one. Copies of this book will be given to Jay and those close to him. It may be made available to the public as well (details to be determined.)

Thanks in advance to everyone who participates.