yesterday’s ECT went smoothly as far as those things go, i suppose. my memory wasn’t really affected, i pretty much felt fine right? physically, still felt like crapola in my head, though. so much so that i talked Brian into giving me 3 Ativans so that i could sleep the rest of the day because i just didn’t want to deal with anything/anyone. i think i ended up waking up at some point anyway.

the doctors have decided to have me do this 3 times a week for now and then taper off, which means i’ll be back in the hospital on Monday. oh, joy. can’t wait.

Beau and the cats-o-bloggo had a late breakfast this morning because it took me forever to do my hair. it’s finally long enough that i can wear Princess Leia side buns (or at least mini-buns because my hair isn’t that long). when i first tried it the other day it was so easy, but now that i’m purposely trying to wear my hair that way, i can’t accomplish the task. oh, never mind.

here’s Hopper getting ready to go on her very first trip all by herself to the big Outside:

she’s been practicing a lot lately by slipping out the back door. fortunately for us, she goes up the back stairs rather than down. she left just a few minutes ago, headed for Happy Go Lucky and Luna’s house in Oklahoma.? thar she goes! remember to visit the official site for the 2006 Catolympics!

Beau from Tennessee has arrived with the Catolympic torch! this is the biggest thing to happen here since…well, since Angelo ate the rubber glove…but that’s another story.

here’s Hopper, earlier today, wearing her travelling collar and waiting expectantly for Beau to arrive.

now that Beau’s here, it’s time to eat! we’ll post a picture of the torch tomorrow, when it’s Hopper’s turn to run.? and, to find out more about the Catolympics, click here.

by Aaron Allston

Here comes another Star War. Betrayal is the first of a nine-book series called Legacy of the Force. The rest of the volumes will be published between August 2006 through 2008.

I would have liked this a lot better if there wasn’t too much going on. Although the central figure is Jacen Solo, all the other events surrounding his path are also important. Thus, the story, and by extension the readers, end up planet hopping all over the galaxy. In fact, that’s how Allston divides up subsections of each chapter — by where they take place. For example, the first chapter starts with something happening on Coruscant, then there’s a transition to something taking place on Adumar, etc. It’s easy to get lost even if you’re familiar with the SW universe.

Although there are numerous subplots — all of which are very good — I wanted to be able to read more about the characters in those parts of the story. Since the next book will be written by a different author, I hope we’ll still get to see some of these minor characters because they’re interesting.

It isn’t necessary to have read every single book/comic that takes place between Episode VI and Betrayal, but I highly recommend that people read The Corellian Trilogy first, which includes Ambush at Corellia, Assault on Selonia, and Showdown at Centerpoint.

this past weekend Brian and i signed a lease for a new apartment! yay, us! our current lease ends at the end of the month, but our new lease starts on the 15th so we’ll be able to move things over a 2-week period. still, we’re going to hire movers for the really big stuff, probably closer to the end of June.

though we’ll have a different ZIP code, we were fortunate enough to find a place in our current neighborhood, just on the other side of the main street we live off of and 3 blocks east. the bus stop is on our corner rather than a block east or west, and we’ll only be 2-1/2 blocks from the el instead of 5. and there’s a White Hen right on the corner, which is nice nice nice.

since we looked at several apartments in one day (we let Chicago Apartment Finders do all the work), neither of us can remember exactly what it looks like, but it was the last one we saw and the one we liked, not best, but the one we liked, period. it’s still a one-bedroom and although it’s slightly more expensive, it’s a lot nicer and has, not only a built-in microwave, but a dishwasher, as well! woohoo! it’ll be such a treat to finally get away from “ABCD” Management. i can’t believe we’ve been here 5 years–5 years too many, but we hate moving.

it doesn’t help that i’m having to go through ECT right now because moving is such a huge stressor, but in a way, i feel relieved. the only downside is that we’ll no longer be on Pete the Mailman’s route.