A bit of trivia to kick off the post: I had attempted a server version upgrade several weeks ago but the process borked in the middle of an interactive shell session. Short version: I had to restore from a backup, but backups had been inoperative (who knew?) for a month, so today I re-posted all the stuff I had originally uploaded in July and August. The content was, theoretically, lost, except I subscribe to my own RSS feed, so Feedly kept a full-text version of everything. Cut-and-paste FTW. Although, I didn’t bother re-creating the original posts’ cover images. Anyway, I’ve been silent here a few weeks (in fact, the site was down thanks to hopelessly broken Apache and MySQL discrepancies) because I just didn’t have the time to fiddle with it. As of tonight, problem solved.

Some updates:

• Birthday. In less than three weeks, I turn 40. I’m surprised by my own serenity at the prospect.
• CafPress posts. I had, while the site here was under the weather, posted two things at Caffeinated Press — a primer on literary citizenship titled 8 Ways to Engage with the Local Liteary Community, and a brief screed about The Sarcastic Narrator.
• Book sales. I trekked to Novi a few weeks ago to attend the Rust City Book Con. Disappointing. Literally no sales, because the convention had almost zero attendees. Today, however, AmyJo and I manned the booth at the Made in Michigan Pop-Up Market, a monthly event at Downtown Market. Had gangbusters sales, and learned a ton about product sales from AmyJo, who in the real world is, well, a sales executive. (Of course, if you want to support local literary excellence, you can buy our stuff online. I’ll even ship it to you.)
• Submissions. Speaking of books, a ton of writing opportunities are open, and since I’ve been fiddling with poems and short stories lately — a bit of pre-bedtime relaxation with adult libations and fuzzy felines — I’ve actually got a somewhat well-curated slush pile to draw from. Fancy that.
• Chicago. The NAHQ board meetings went well. The trip was surprisingly fast — I blew through Chicago on I-90 in record time, in both directions — and the agenda flowed smoothly. Plus, I got to see my old friend Tony, from Illinois, for a cocktail one evening.
• Departures at PH. Our ongoing transitions have left my team in a bit of a mess. One person was promoted and transferred, while another resigned. Never a dull moment. But I am now in the market for a data analyst and welcome recommendations.
• Life after Norovirus. Weeks after being ill, my appetite hasn’t recovered. Down 8 lbs., and counting.

I’m enjoying an extended vacation for Labor Day, so more later. ‘Til then, stay safe out there.