This past weekend I attended my girlfriend’s brother’s wedding in Mississippi.  I’d intended to write about the trip (and the long drive), but the combination of the eleven-hour trip home; a busy Monday; and catching up on schoolwork put the kibosh to that plan, especially after Murphy and I fell asleep on the couch last night as I was beginning to write it.

Oh, well.  I’ll have that up next week, more than likely.

Instead, I decided to write a short update post on what is going on with yours portly, the blog, and the like.

• It will be another busy weekend.  My girlfriend and I are going camping with a friend she made in quilting class.  That friend and her husband enjoy camping, and I understand the husband plays banjo.  I’m planning on taking a guitar, and I might borrow a banjo a colleague donated to my school’s music program—I’d like to learn some of the basics!
  • On that note, I’ve purchased a pair of long johns and a cold-weather sleeping bag.  Unfortunately, the long johns are the modern variety, so they don’t include a buttoned flap on the backside for easy wilderness access.
• Since I’ll be gone, I’ll be working overtime the next couple of evenings to have posts scheduled for the weekend.  This weekend’s SubscribeStar Saturday post may end up being some additional analysis of the recent elections, including the Lamar mayoral race.
• Private lessons have been booming.  I’ve picked up another student since yesterday, and have at least two (and possibly three) prospective students looking to begin lessons after Christmas.  With gas and food prices skyrocketing (I spent $149.60 driving to and from Mississippi in a car that averages anywhere from 31.5-34 MPG, to put it into perspective), that extra income really helps.
• Speaking of extra income, blogger buddy Whipped Owl reblogged my recent Bandcamp post, “November Bandcamp Friday.”  I really appreciated that bit of support from my frothy friend.
  • Also speaking of extra income, sales of The One-Minute Mysteries of Inspector Gerard have flagged, which is what I expected.  After the initial rush of purchases from friends and curious third parties, I’m making one sale every month or so at this point.  But Christmas is upon us, and if you need a good gag gift (or have someone on your list who appreciates absurdist humor), the paperback version is just $10.
• I do hope to write some more books soon.  I was working on a collection of the first fifty Sunday Doodles from my SubscribeStar page back in March, but curiously squandered the summertime opportunity to keep working on that project.  Now I have virtually no free time to do any additional writing outside of the blog.  Thanksgiving Break might be my opportunity to hammer away at something.
• Aside from Thanksgiving, Christmas is upon us.  My buddy John and I started working on Christmas tunes last night, and will hopefully start lining up some Christmas gigs soon.  We’re already set to play a dinner at our church and a Christmas festival in Lamar.

Well, that’s it for now.  This post is already late and I have to slap together a study guide for my Economics students before class this morning, so I’d be scoot.

Happy Hump Day!

—TPP