Attn: Muse

From: Production
To: Principal Muse
Subject: Your current duties

Twice this morning you have sent the Production Department new story summaries set in the Journal Entries universe as "additions" to the Pale Shadows story arc. While they were lovely summaries of certainly lovely stories, please recall that on August 3rd you were informed that the Journal Entries universe was on hold through November and you were to concentrate on the STL Space Opera Universe #2 project, code name Caprice Starr.

Production regrets to inform you that your stories will not be realized until you have delivered sufficient plot turns and twists for Caprice Starr and the Slums of Mars to fill between sixteen and twenty chapters.

Thank you for your time and diligence in this matter.

Camping, Day 3: Tuesday

Ribit.

This is so weird. Omaha is waking up before me. She never did that on previous years when we went camping. Whatever happened to me being the early riser, getting my coffee and an hour of quiet reading time before she and the kids woke up? How annoying!

I pre-ground all of my coffee before leaving, and I'm noticing just how stale and, well, Maxwell-House the coffee is becoming. I mean, it's not really that bad, after all it's only a few days old and it started life as Deadman's Reach, but now I know why all 1970s coffee tasted the way it did.

We had cold cereal for breakfast and Omaha made chicken salad sandwiches for lunch. Yamaraashi-chan needs a haircut. Her hair is terribly tangly and won't behave no matter how hard we try.

The tent is too full. I lean against the wall, causing it to bulge slightly and making the rainfly significantly less effective because the water will seep through the fabric.

Bzzzzzzz

We walked the Baker River trail from the North, but only did about 3½ miles of it, up and down. We spotted a huge nest of what looked like wasps, as well as a whole bunch of frogs. Given what I've heard about the worldwide population crash in amphibians, it was reassuring to see so many frogs on the path.

Kouryou-chan became whiny toward the end, but was easily distracted by playing Pooh-sticks^[?] (there's a Wikipedia entry on Pooh-sticks. How cool is that?) with Yamaraashi-chan, but they both started running into the woods to get more sticks and Omaha and I joked that we should get them out of there before they deforest the place. My wrist was better, my sciatic nerve stable, but now my left shoulder ached, dammit. The GPS was still problematic, as again we were in the ravine to the North of Forest Road #12 and there was still problems even getting a 2D fix, much less a 3D fix.

After we got home, I took the girls down to the river. They walked along Boulder Creek as long as they could, down the entire campsite and then some. Kouryou-chan led us into another washway, now strewn with boulders and rocks from last year's heavy flooding, and filled with mosquito-breeding pits from this year's rain. It rained all evening, but Omaha is a fire master who can make a fire burn in a hurricane. Dinner was tacos, and the girls ate them down with gusto. We also had s'mores, and I used up the last of my Hershey's Cocoa Reserve.

Poohsticks!

I love the light in that photo.

Attn, Muse: You're not funny.

From: Production
To: Principal Muse
Subject: You're not funny

Attempts to distract us from the Caprice Starr universe by pointing out that Princess Jera from the Aimee series is only half completed and is written with a light guro^[?] theme and, oh by the way she has several brothers mentioned and you just happened to come up with a great idea for what to do with one of them, is not appreciated.

Production will keep your summary of The Prince, The Princess, and The Peapod, and you will be allowed to work on it in December.

P.S. Your idea for starting the Daniel arc in chapter one of Caprice Starr is brilliant. We just need about forty more of those.

Klaatu barada nikt... woah.

You don't need to read this.

Keanu Reeves has been cast to play Klaatu in a remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still. Calling occupants of interplanetary craft!

I dunno. It might work. Klaatu wasn't supposed to emote much anyway.