It's now 2005 and I have a cold. A minor one, but a cold nonetheless. No matter what's going on, when your health is in question, it clouds all perception.
I'm going to finish revisions on the new book. I'm going to lose weight, again. I'm going to get several old projects finished and published. I'm going to maintain and improve my personal relationships.
There are several positive things already happening. I've had about 3,000 downloads of Star Dragon already since putting it up here for free. I didn't have all that many more hardcover sales despite the great reviews and award nominations, so I take this to be a very good development. Keep spreading the good word.
I received word from NASA that my long-term grant proposal ("Understanding the Post-Starburst Quasar Population") will be funded to the tune of about $600k over the next five years. This shores up funding for my post-doc and my summer salary and will let us concentrate on new science results rather than proposals. It's a lot to do, but very exciting to look forward to.
Classes start early here in Wyoming, January 10, and this week I'll be preparing to teach and finishing all the presentations my students and I are giving at the American Astronomical Society meeting in San Diego next week.
I'll try to get my appearences link updated. When I'm in San Diego I'll drop by Mysterious Galaxy, probably Tuesday Jan. 11, to sign books. I'll be attending COsine, a science fiction convention in Colorado Springs Jan. 21-23.
Oh, finally, we've been having a lot of problem with comment spammers on our group of websites and having been turning off comments. I hope we don't have to leave them off permanently, but the problem has been recurring and growing. Please, always feel free to drop me some email if you want to contact me about anything.