Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone!
I just got back from FenCon, a literary sci-fi/fantasy convention. It was pretty fun, and I got some pretty good writing advice and ideas. I also discovered an e-mag I like called "Heroic Fantasy Quarterly," and on the drive back I chewed on some ideas for a story to send them. I'll probably post a concept image for the main character later. Yes, she'll be attractive.

Over the weekend, I ate at Fogo de Chão, a Brazilian barbecue place. Fell into a food-induced coma afterward.

I feel like there was more that I wanted to say, and I've somehow forgotten it all. 

UPDATE Sep 24
Now that I've had some sleep...

One of the panels was a fun one called, "So You Want to be an Evil Overlord." The panelists stayed in character as villains, each armed with a toy ray gun. I bring up the ray guns because I got shot. I posed a cleverly worded question: "If I were a hero—I'm totally not, I kick puppies and praise the devil all day long like the rest of you—but if I were, what would be the last thing you'd want me to know about your evil plans?" It didn't work. One of the panelists shot me.
Another panel featured editors discussing how to submit your work (be professional, follow submission guidelines, this really should be obvious, guys). They discussed how they've rejected people based on the cover letter alone. One panelist shared the worst she'd ever seen: it began with a picture of a spaceship with the novel's name above it. The letter itself said things such as: "My story is just like Star Wars in that it is made up of six parts," "I think it will make a great movie one day," "It's an original idea where people play games instead of going to war," "The picture at the top could be the novel's cover, or better yet, the movie poster, and it's included free of charge to your company," and, my personal favorite, "I know you're a small publishing house now, but your business will boom if you publish my novel."
I also bought some artwork by Sarah Clemens called "Take Five." Sure, it's cheesecake, but it's also friggin' adorable, darn it. The rabbit's wearing armor! She's sharing lettuce from her sandwich!!!
So yeah, it was a fun con. And unlike the last one I attended, there wasn't a panelist claiming she could cure cancer by "pulling it out of the body and grounding it."

Also, I did some Daz stuff this morning as I'm wont to do. At the beginning of this journal, I mentioned chewing on a story idea. I threw together a concept for the main character.

I'm not thrilled yet, but it's a step in the right direction. So far I'm thinking that she'll be a short redhead with freckles and brown eyes ("...my diminutive dappled dove"). She wants to see the world, so she travels as a bodyguard for a group of minstrels. Armor's not only scarce, but being a woman who's shorter than average, it's impossible for her to scavenge any that will fit. She doesn't have the money to get some custom-made, either.
Yeah, it's one of those "everyone walks around half-naked" settings. Sword & sorcery rocks.