Why~, is Superman dead?

(Eee aaah eee aah, yeah)
Is it in my head?
We'll just laugh instead
You worry about the weather and
Whether or not you should hate...

So... the Rebecca is telling me I should update again. I'm not entirely sure why - I can only imagine that she's so mind-numbingly bored right now that she needs something to read. Or, perhaps she has an RSS subscription up for all of her subscribed blogs, and mine is lagging behind the rest of the bunch.

Whatever the case, here it is - my first update for July, 2008. This time last year, I was on my way to the Persian Gulf... not much fun. Right now, I'm sitting in my living room... much more fun, but not particularly exciting. It's a quarter 'till midnight, and pretty soon, I'll be headed back to the ship to sleep - back to the ship, rather than upstairs to my bedroom, because the Virginia Beach to Norfolk traffic, especially to the Naval base, is incredibly heinous in the mornings, and finding a parking spot is like searching for an honest man in the wilds of D.C... risky, futile, and fraught with delusional optimism.

So, I sleep on the ship. Better for my sanity, really.

We're out to sea on Friday... not sure for how long. It's a bummer, since that means we'll be setting sea watches at midnight, which is (gasp) eight hours after I get off the day watch (I hate those eight hour turnarounds) and the same time all my friends are going to see Hellboy II... which I'm pumped about, want to see, and sadly won't get an opportunity to, probably until it comes out on DVD.

Sad fugee face.

Lessee... um... some friends are talking about taking a hiking/camping trip next weekend... not sure if I'll be in town for it, but I'll see if I can't get the time off, anyway. Wish me luck, they usually frown on Able Seamen (and especially watch standers) taking off when we're due out to sea... and as I might have mentioned (and might have neglected) some genius decided that I would make a great unrep helmsman. Not my idea of fun, although I suppose the overtime will be good... anyway, means my chances of bailing are pretty slim. But there shouldn't be any harm in asking.

Been reading a bit, lately - over the course of the last four or five days, I've read Robin Hobbs' "Soldier Son" trilogy, Caitlin R. Kiernan's "Silk", and reread the entirety of "Dance Till Tomorrow". Also, finally got ahold of the first trade paperback for Transmetropolitan; I found it a little weak, but the rest of the series more than made up for it. Currently reading Caitlin Kiernan's "Threshold", but I'm thinking about putting it aside and reading some hardboiled detective stories, instead - I picked up, well, pretty much all (if not actually all) of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels. Classics.

I've started a new Paladin serial over on my folder at RDI; I said I might, and so I did. It's called "Twilight Exile"; the name took me forever to hash out, and may still be subject to change. The first two parts are up (plus the teaser/prequel, "Echoes of Absence". I'm pounding away at the third part right now, which will hopefully round out the first chapter of a speculated four plus epilogue. I've gotten a little bit of feedback so far, and it's all been positive, so here's hoping that I can keep it up.

My brother's been having some flooding difficulties over at his apartment lately, so he's got me keeping an eye on his cats. They're not so bad - a little messy, but no worse than, well, any of the roommates I've had. I'd forgotten just how much I liked having a cat around the house - coming up on my second year of living on my own, now.

I dreamed of Joe the other day. I don't know if it's because the anniversary of his death is fast approaching, or what. Just like always, I immediately recognize that he's dead. I wish to god I could forget, at least in my dreams, and not have to deal with that same old question - do I tell him? Or just enjoy his company while I can?

And... that's about it for me. I probably shouldn't give in to the Rebecca's demands so compliantly, because it just encourages her... but I've been meaning to post at least something here for a while, so I guess she's more or less pushing me along the path that I would have chosen eventually anyway. That's what I tell myself, at least.