Yesterday, Irene and I attended a “2010: Odyssey Two Party” at the home of Risa and Sandy Stewart over in Rockville, Maryland. Also in attendance were Karen and Charlie Newton, Rosie Smith and John Naman, Sharon Patry, Todd Supple, and Kathy Waldbauer (all of whom we’d seen only six days earlier at the season’s previous holiday party), plus Tom Doyle, Beth Delaney, Bud Sparhawk, Kyle and Monica McAbee, Martin Wooster, Richard Waldrop, Julia Duncan, Hannah Waldrop, Brick Barrientos, and my sister-in-law Ellen Vartanoff.

I’m sure I’ve left some names out—if you’re one of them, sorry!

If you know any of the folks above, you also know that science fiction and comics made up the major part of the conversation. Among the many topics discussed were the weird comics of Fletcher Hanks, our worst convention hotel experiences (for me, it was the 1997 World Horror Convention at the Days Inn Niagara Falls), foreign editions of Tarzan comics, what degree of the credit that Stan Lee got for the early days of Marvel was undeserved, our favorite Ray Bradbury stories (I listed “The Picasso Summer,” “The Flying Machine,” and “The Toynbee Convector”), that night’s Doctor Who regeneration, our border-crossing war stories from attending international conventions, and more.

I spent so much time in intense conversation that I didn’t take many pictures. Here’s one of the few I did take (or should I say, one I had someone else take) with Monica McAbee. We’re both wearing the deeley-bobbers the Stewarts provided to add to the inarguable sci-fi nature of any 2010 holiday celebration.

And then today, Irene and I attended yet another party, this one a surprise 40th birthday party that also had a holiday feel to it. That makes four such events in the past three weeks. As much fun as they are, can we stop now? If we don’t, I’ll never get my new short story done—and we’ll never get the last of the back acreage cleared!

So next week, it will be just me, Irene, our computers, and a chainsaw, the way God intended!