A theme song. A code name. A doppelganger. A signature drink. The MacGuyver-like ability to get out of any situation using only a safety pin, a stick of gum, and a roll of duct tape.

Also, I forgot to say that I am traveling to Vancouver, B.C. later this year from the Southwest and am taking the train there, in part because I do not want to participate in this madness. I'm flying home, though, and I'm rather dreading it because I don't want to have to go through what you just went through. I hope I am not forced to make that choice.

You wrote: I believe that the choice we are currently given by the American government when we need to fly is morally wrong, unconstitutional, and does nothing to enhance passenger safety. I further believe that when I choose to fly, I should not be forced to choose between submitting myself to a virtually-nude scan (and exposing myself to uncertain health risks due to radiation exposure)1, or enduring an aggressive, invasive patdown where a stranger puts his hands in my pants, and makes any contact at all with my genitals. I agree with every word, a thousand and one percent. I encourage you to submit your story to Christopher Elliott, a travel expert who frequently posts stories like yours, and like this one here: http://www.elliott.org/blog/patting-down-toddlers-security-failure-and-whistleblowers-its-been-another-interesting-week-for-the-tsa/

When we go out, I usually drive, because I'd rather be in my car than his truck (more comfy, better gas mileage, the speakers don't suck), and while he will and does drive my car, he's more comfortable riding in it than driving it (he's tall, my car is better made for those not long of limb). Plus I like driving my car. Unless we have to drive on the freeway. Then he has to drive. Because I'm all weird like that. But yes, there are times when, as a 21st century woman, I enjoy being driven by hubby as well. And having doors opened. Though I also do plenty of door opening too. P.S.(We're in our early 40s). P.P.S. This was all far too much information than you wanted, probably. Sorry. ::g::

I'm pretty sure we had a Highlights subscription when I was a kid--I know we definitely got Ranger Rick. Out of curiosity, why shouldn't Anne be the one driving? I mean...is it really that odd that she would be?

Happy New Year! Have a fabulous time on your cruise! Don't worry, the Internet will still be here when you get back. I think taking a break from it will be a Very Good Thing. And your wife is right--it is kind of awesome. All that hard work and staring your fears down is paying off--congratulations!

Thanks for the reminder to watch the show! I keep not catching it and I have never seen Evil Wil in action, so I'm looking forward to it. If I may take this moment to switch gears...I was wondering if there is any news on Memories of the Future, Vol. 2? My apologies if this has already been asked and answered before, but I haven't seen anything mentioning it, if so. My husband and I recently listened to all of the MOTFcasts, which I burned onto CD to listen to on a long road trip...I'd listened to them all when you originally broadcast them but he never had. He loved them as much as I did,and we are both totally looking forward to what's coming next.

Happy Birthday!!! Here, I've got a present of sorts for you. So, I turned my husband (who is about a year and a half older than you) on to your Radio Free Burrito podcasts--I burned them onto CD and he's been listening to them in the car on the way to work, or we listen to them together when we're out running errands. The other day, I go in his office and see him sitting there leafing through one of his old D&D books, the dungeon master's guide, I think. And tells me that listening to you talk about running delves totally made him want to play again. The next day, he calls me while I'm out running errands to ask me where his dice are.(At one point, I'm sure he couldn't imagine not knowing exactly where there were at all times, but that was before I got my hands on them in my quest for organization and he hasn't used them in quite a while) And when I get home, and go into the living room, there on the coffee table is a stack of all his D&D books, and his box of dice, and some of his old skool character sheets, and he's all, let's roll some new characters. Me, I've only played D&D a few times--and that was a long time ago. But he used to play all the time as a kid, and I have to say, I'm really happy he's excited about it and I'm looking forward to learning how to play with him. And it's all YOUR fault! :-)

Yes! I'd be into the hardcopy version.

I love it and am so going to order one for my husband...as soon as his size is back in stock! :-)

Thanks for the info--those mics look really nice.

The Sub Press special edition of The Happiest Days of Our Lives is beautiful! I hadn't read the "non-special" edition before so I don't have that to compare it to, but I really enjoyed it. My only criticism is I wish it had been a lot longer. Because I read it really fast and didn't want it to be over. :-) So hey, I have a question that has nothing to do with that, and I apologize if it's been asked before or if you don't answer this sort of question: what kind of recording equipment/software do you use to record your podcasts? Because I'm fairly new to listening to RFB, I've been going back and listening to them from the beginning. I've been burning one or two onto a CD and listening to them in my car. (Yeah, I don't have an mp3 player yet) I've noticed that the sound quality of the current RFBs (like today's) is much better than the first episodes. So I was wondering, what kind of microphone do you currently use? How do you record and mix these? Thanks! P.S. I hope the GDMF construction ends very, very soon.

At first I thought that was a novelty photo of you, too, then realized it wasn't you, and thought that was an ancestor of yours. Seriously. ::cue Twilight Zone music::

Wanting to hear Oingo Boingo right now in your car...that reminded me of 1986, when I heard "Big Time" and "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel on the radio whilst driving around in my Karmann Ghia and I loved it so much I HAD TO HAVE THE ALBUM OMG RIGHT NOW so I went and bought it on cassette and popped that baby in the player right then and there in the parking lot of wherever I'd just bought it. You're so right about the importance of saving journals and mixtapes and photo albums...I do this too, probably to a ridiculous degree because I'm all sentimental and nostalgic like that. Mixtapes in particular are like journal entries, stories, snapshots of a person's life; listening to them takes you back to who you were, what the world was like then, what you liked and were listening to at a particular moment in time. As someone who ordered the Subterranean Press ed. of Happiest Days a while ago, I am very excited about its imminent release--but not surprised to hear about how beautiful it is, as Subterranean Press does gorgeous work. Yay!

Beautiful, evocative storytelling, as usual. Thank you for sharing this with us. I haven't read Dancing Barefoot yet but it's on my wishlist and this really makes me want to read it even more. And yet I'm almost glad my first exposure to it was listening to it here, because I almost think hearing it in your voice will be better somehow. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is one of my favorite albums of all time, too. That little snippet of Moonage Daydream you used totally reminded me of listening to that album (on vinyl, and I still have it) over and over again when I was in high school.

Yay for bonus episode and clip show! It was definitely NOT the worst. episode. ever. RobotWil kind of freaked me out, though, man, I'm sorry. Hurt my ears.

I noticed several errors as I was reading. What I saw may have already been noted above by others, but I'll look through the book again. I agree with the person above about the dig at Cass Elliot. When I read it, I winced. I'm one of those who preordered The Happiest Days of Our Lives (a book of yours I haven't read yet) from Sub. Press. One thing that appealed to me about getting that version, besides the excellent quality of Sub. Press books, is that it has been expanded from your original releases. And so, I'd be interested in an omnibus hardcover edition, one which assembles into one book all the Memories of the Future books, especially if it had bonus stuff you didn't include in the original Lulu press editions. I would not be into a hardcover of Part 1, a hardcover of Part 2, a hardcover of Part 3, etc. I reviewed MOTF here (under Rachael): http://www.librarything.com/work/9106744/reviews/52596155 And finally, I loved the Bynars episode. And while it would have been great to see them in another episode, Minuet is referenced later, and that was super cool.

I haven't actually listened to one of your Radio Free Burrito episodes yet, just Memories of the Futurecast. I shall miss Memories when you have come to the end of Vol. 1--if there's a way for you to extend them somehow, like some kind of looping space time continuum thing involving a dead mummy hand, that would be great. But that probably won't happen, so I think I'd enjoy trying out RFB. And yay for starting to work on Vol. 2!

What a wonderful photo! Happy Anniversary! 1999 was a good year to get married. My husband and I will celebrate our 10th (wedding) next month, and our 20th (hookin' up) next year.

Memories of the Futurecast's got a lot of stuff it's gotta think about... I definitely read the shownotes Memories of the Futurecast works so hard to write! They crack me up. Wesley Crusher was sometimes annoying in the earlier seasons, I admit. Mostly it was those horrible sweaters. Heh. And never did I feel such rage that you describe being directed your way. I mean, yeah, a character can sometimes be a prat, but jeez. He wasn't that bad, even in this episode, and as the seasons progressed, Wesley Crusher ceased to be annoying, especially once the sweaters were gone. Just remember what Jessica Rabbit says: "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way." Wesley wasn't bad, he was just written that way--in those episodes, anyway. Have you read this? It's a very sweet homage to Star Trek NG and Wesley Crusher in particular. http://campstrange.com/2009/10/a-love-letter-to-star-trek/ Oh, and the slow clap? I may have participated in a few, jokingly, but never purposefully to be a jerk, and, the only ones like that I've only seen in movies and tv shows.

And finally, (I will stop commenting now!), oh yeah, I remember how preachy the first season of Next Gen was. Wesley: Why are druuugz bad? Tasha: Blah blah blah Just Say No. Did Nancy Reagan write that episode, or what? ::PING!::

Your strange f-ups ::PING!:: and asides and pauses and silly sound effects and non-professional cell phone interruptions are exactly what make these podcasts so fun to listen to!

Ok, that comment showed up. Hmm. Maybe the other was too long. Anyway--the book is visually appealing, well designed, taller than I thought it would be, slimmer than I hoped it would be. The bit I've read so far, I hear in your voice. Which makes it even funnier. It's clean. ::PING!:: It's beautiful. ::PING!:: Hee. Yes, that was a good idea.

Excessive amounts of and...um-ing tend to bug me, but honestly, and I really do mean honestly, I didn't notice it in these podcasts. Maybe because I was laughing too freakin' hard the whole time. Or maybe because another reason I've found these so enjoyable to listen to besides the humor and the subject matter is that while they are professional, they are not overly polished. You're being yourself, and just letting it happen as it happens, I assume, which makes these extra fun to listen to. I guess in this case, then, any extra verbage and and um-ing is going un-noticed by me. Thanks to Anne though for looking out for your listeners.

This is ridiculously pedantic of me, and it probably doesn't matter, but your bio on the official w00tstock page is a wee bit out of date. Your latest book isn't Sunken Treasure anymore, and it could mention your recent appearances on The Guild. (nice pic by the way! heehee)