There’s been so much going on in the last few months with the move and the pregnancy and work and holidays and, well, everything, that I’m feeling a bit more stressed at year’s end than I’d like. Not that I ever favor stress, but I love New Year’s! It’s the closest thing to that back-to-school feeling that I get as a grown up. Fresh start! New calendars! New attitude! New resolutions! New lists! New! New! New! New! New!

This is usually the time of year (Fraction calls it the ghost week) when we get to clean our offices, put gifts away, archive files and generally take time out for the reflection and accounting we don’t allow ourselves during the rest of the year.

The way this week is going so far? It ain’t gonna happen.

…Which makes it kind of a bummer that I just noticed this list of prompts in a mailer from David Allen & Co.

COMPLETING AND REMEMBERING 2009

Review the list of all completed projects
What was your biggest triumph in 2009?
What was the smartest decision you made in 2009?
What one word best sums up and describes your 2009 experience?
What was the greatest lesson you learned in 2009?
What was the most loving service you performed in 2009?
What is your biggest piece of unfinished business in 2009?
What are you most happy about completing in 2009?
Who were the three people that had the greatest impact on your life in 2009?
What was the biggest risk you took in 2009?
What was the biggest surprise in 2009?
What important relationship improved the most in 2009?
What compliment would you liked to have received in 2009?
What compliment would you liked to have given in 2009?
What else do you need to do or say to be complete with 2009?

CREATING THE NEW YEAR

What would you like to be your biggest triumph in 2010?
What advice would you like to give yourself in 2010?
What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in 2010?
What would you be most happy about completing in 2010?
What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2010?
What would you most like to change about yourself in 2010?
What are you looking forward to learning in 2010?
What do you think your biggest risk will be in 2010?
What about your work, are you most committed to changing and improving in 2010?
What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2010?
What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that in 2010?
Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving in 2010?
What one word would you like to have as your theme in 2010

I realize I’m a giant nerd for liking things like this, but–NEWSFLASH!–I’m kind of a giant nerd. Anyway, maybe one of you will get some use out of it. Or maybe I’ll get back to it in January. Of 2011.

Hey, look what got solicited–

SIF #1
Written by KELLY SUE DECONNICK
Pencils by TBD
Cover by Travel Foreman
Spinning out of the pages of THOR!
The Asgardian warrior Sif was no stranger to battle; the heft of steel, the pitch of combat, the spray of an enemy’s blood…she even craved it. But when Asgard and its people made their glorious return through the power of Thor, Sif’s body was stolen and possessed by crafty Loki. Cowed by such defilement, Sif hasn’t been her true self…until a former lover and mate in arms comes to her with a call to battle and blood-spattering adventure…Now Sif sets out with Beta Ray Bill to fight her way back to true warrior’s glory!
32 PGS./One-Shot/Rated T+ …$3.99

I’m excited to be working on a Thor-related book for several reasons, one of which is terribly obvious to folks who follow Marvel news.

It’s completely nerdy, but now that the word is out I have to share another: like, a gazillion years ago, I had lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Simonson in New York during a con (a friend of mine was a student of Mr. Simonson’s).  The four of us ended up talking about THE MIGHTY THOR #380 at length over our fries.  When we got back to the con floor, he — Mr. Simonson — found and purchased a copy of 380 and signed it for me.  Now at the time, for reasons far too embarrassing to go into here, I wore a necklace that said spelled out L-O-I-S.  So the copy of  that I have sitting right her on my desk right now?  It’s inscribed “For Lois.”  There was, of course, no way I was going to correct him.  I thanked him profusely and tucked it in my bag.   

Tallulah's First Photoshoot (October 2009)

I’m pregnant. It’s a girl; we’re expecting her on or about April 21st of next year and we’re going to call her Tallulah. (Haven’t settled on a middle name yet. Once we do, I’ll probably go ahead and get a blog set up for her.  Because, well… we’re those people.)

We’ve kept if off the internet up to this point for a variety of reasons, the most pressing of which being that my pregnancy with Henry was a harrowing experience–more emotionally than physically. My body handled it well, but as a result of two previous miscarriages, my mind was a nervous wreck. In addition, I lost my maternal grandmother in a brutal battle with COPD [note to loved ones: please quit smoking] during which I was lucky enough to be at her bedside. I wouldn’t trade that time with her at the end for anything, but… Anyway, I fell behind on some deadlines.

So, when we got the news about this kid, while overjoyed, I was afraid sharing that news might make editors understandably jumpy about assigning me work. And with the relocation… well, we just aren’t in a position for me to take an extended leave of absence. (Nor would I want to; I like what I do for a living and feel incredibly blessed to earn my keep this way.)

ANYWAY, work has been going swimmingly, we’ve got a fantastic childcare situation here in Portland, we’re more than half-way through the pregnancy [sans drama, knock wood!] and we’ve gone ahead and shared the news with family and clients… Our life here is pretty peaceful and my stress-level this go-round so low that, well, I feel silly keeping it a “secret” anymore.

(Of course this makes perfect sense, but I still find it amusing: during my pregnancy with Henry everything was so new and so exciting/scary. I was *obsessed* with every detail. This time… well, I’ve got a two year old and a job and I sometimes just forget I’m pregnant. Often, in fact. Then I get a swift kick in the bladder and all is recalled, but yeah… very different second time around.)

So there you go. We’re having a baby. Well… not right this minute, but come April. T-A-L-L-U-L-A-H.

Okay: back to work.

If you’re not following my friend Dave’s MY YEAR OF EVERYTHING project, here’s a good example of why you might want to start:

The Enemy Of My Enemy Is Kind Of A Dick:

This morning, I found out that Glenn Beck is simulcasting his Christmas show ‘The Christmas Sweater: A Return To Redemption’ in theaters nationwide this Thursday, and that one of those theaters is not far from my new house. I think Glenn Beck is a jackass, so I immediately emailed three good friends and made plans to go. I mean, how can you miss a return to redemption? You sneak in a flask of bourbon, and you’ve got material for weeks. Comedy writer heaven. Better than ‘New Moon.’

I posted my intention to go on Twitter, figuring the more the merrier, and went to work. A couple of hours later, I logged back on and found reply after reply to the effect of: ‘your a looser!’/’boy, glenn beck gets all the brainiacs!’/’your so stupid!’ Huh? Anyone who even sort of knows me knows I’m kidding, right?

Reading back, the mishegoss started with a message from the Twitter account of an anti-Glenn Beck website: ‘It’s not just Scott Baio, now Former MTV VJ @DaveHolmes has come out as a Glenn Beck fan!’ And since this account doesn’t follow me, it would appear that he just does Twitter searches for ‘Glenn Beck’ and rolls his sleeves up for a slapfight. Even with political kingmakers like Scott Baio. This is how we define ‘activism’ in 2009. Fantastic.

I don’t mind being called names. (I do mind the misspellings, but what are you gonna do?) Here’s what galls me: this guy sent out incorrect information with my contact info on it, a clear incitement for his followers to send me vitriolic messages, and his bio reads: ‘I’ve had enough of Glenn Beck’s vitriol, misinformation, race baiting, & incitement of violence – and so should you.’ Too bad I’m white, because we had a good shot at an irony grand slam.”

(Via My Year Of Everything.)

You can hand your old comics out at Halloween (which, unless you have a huge collection of Scrooge McDuck’s, I do not recommend), donate them to your local library, put them in the recycling bin, leave them at a barber shop or use them for kindling (we’ve done that and honestly, for a few of those comics it was no better than they deserved).  One of the most satisfying options, however, is to send them off to American troops fighting overseas.

Andy Khouri and Mark Sable asked me on Twitter yesterday to remind them how you go about doing that.  Good news: it’s pretty easy.  You’re going to be out the price of postage, but it’s worth it.

Here’s how it works:

1. Go to anysoldier.com.
2. Click on WHERE TO SEND.
3. Click on ANY SOLDIER SEARCH TOOL.
4. Leaving everything else blank, put either COMICS or COMIC BOOKS into the REQUESTS AND EMAIL CONTENTS field.  (As I write this, COMICS returns 8 units requesting comics–7 Army, 1 Air Force; 5 in Iraq, 1 in Qatar, 1 in Afghanistan and 1 in the Philippines.)
5. Click on one of the soldiers names and read their email, making sure what they want is actually what you’ve got.  Often they’re specific — they want funny comics, or newspaper comics, or Marvel comics, or they may even request a particular hero.
6. Once you find someone who either wants what you’ve got or is just generally requesting comics, click where it says CLICK HERE TO REQUEST THE COMPLETE ADDRESS.

Now, it’s been a while since I’ve done this and I can’t proceed any further right now because I don’t actually have any comics to send, but if I recall correctly, you fill out a short form and then you’re emailed the soldier’s address.  I believe you can request up to 2 addresses per day.  (While you’re at it, you might look at what else your soldier is requesting–sometimes it’s something as simple as cotton swabs.  Surely you can throw a package of q-tips in the box.)

The postage fees you pay to an APO or FPO address are NOT international shipping rates.  You pay domestic rates, so while you are picking up a bill, it’s pretty small considering the effect.  And it’s worth mentioning that our local UPS store in KC used to pack up any donations for troops overseas for free.  They’ve since changed ownership and we’ve since moved, so I have no idea if that’s common practice or not, but it’s certainly worth asking.

Good luck!

Matt Fraction: Autodidact, originally uploaded by Kelly Sue.

Happy birthday, my love.