The big news!!!

Originally filtered to people not on fractal9091's f-list

Since you're not on fractal9091's f-list, you probably weren't motivated to click on the link in my earlier post and read about it in his own words. And so now I get the opportunity to bubble over with excitement about this!

fractal9091 often plays Magic: The Gathering, and he occasionally plays in "PTQ events," which qualify the winner to play in an international professional tournament. He's writing a 15-page paper this weekend, and I can't say it seemed like a really good idea for him to spend Saturday playing Magic, but the idea of Kuala Lumpur sounded so exotic that I kept joking that it would be so cool if he won.

He did. He did win. He is going to Malaysia!!!! They give him plane tickets, and he'll fly there in February and play Magic! I remain stunned.

See fractal9091's account of the day, with illustrations.

Gem Faire

It's fun, even for those of us who don't do beadwork. I like the fossils and the big polished spheres of colorful stone. Next time, though, I should plan to go there more than 10 minutes ahead of time so I can take R&D too. (They went much later in the afternoon, inspired by my enthusiasm.)