Birth announcement.

 The Dubs are proud to announce the arrival of our latest bundle of joy:

Volume 3 of Classic Home Video Games!

 Almost eight months after shipping his manuscript to his publisher, Brett received copies of his latest book.

We should be used to this by now, but wow, is it exciting to see book #3 on the shelf!

Keeping Austin weird.

After two summers of big cross-country road trips, plus one action-packed week in January at the Rose Parade, we decided to stay closer to home for this year's family vacation. Our plan was to do all the Austin things we don't normally have the time or opportunity to do, plus go a little farther south to tube the Guadalupe.

First stop: SIXTH STREET!

You know, Sixth Street is rarely on our Austin itinerary (much like when I lived there), but on this occasion we were there on business.

In his freelance work, Brett reviews all kinds of museums, so it wasn't all that weird that he wanted to see this one!


Behind the Lucky Lizard gift shop, we found all kinds of oddities, cleverly described in ways to make you wonder, Ripley's style, if you should believe it—or not.

Among the items:

The Fiji Mermaid

A stuffed two-headed calf (among other
two-headed creatures like pigs and chickens)

Wax figures of classic monster like the Phantom,
Frankenstein's monster and Dracula

This unbelievable wax figure
of the Hunchback of Notre Dame

(I mean, really incredible! Just look at that chest hair!)

A baby gargoyle movie prop from Tales from the Darkside

Shrunken heads

Pancho Villa's trigger finger

This massive (live) lizard
(Perhaps he's the lucky one from the gift shop's name?)

A 3,000-year-old mummy

The Museum of the Weird was a fun stop on our get-away! After lunch at Mother's Cafe and stops at Game Over Video Games and Half Price Books stores along the way, we spent the night in New Braunfels, ready for our river adventure the next day.

Reverb 10: Noncontributor.

Today's #reverb10 prompt: Writing. What do you do each day that doesn't contribute to your writing--and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)

Work. It contributes to my writing because I teach writing. It also gives me plenty of writing fodder, but much of that is unbloggable because of privacy issues. I guess you could argue that the income my job provides allows me to write, too, if you want to get all persnickety about it. However, all the mundane tasks that go along with this calling o' mine suck up my time, brainpower and motivation.

Can I eliminate it? Negatory. But I can relish the breaks and make the most of them, which I plan to do in just 16 days.

Here's the story...

Brett's story on my favorite fictional family is in the latest Antique Week! And yes, both of those items pictured are from my personal collection.

Way to go, Brett!

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