After neck surgery Tuesday, my dad is being released today. It will be 3 months of recovery and most of that will fall on my mom. I plan to go over every evening for a while to give her a break. Thanks for all the support.

Could I get some ~ma for my dad? My brother took him to the emergency room tonight. There's been a whole host of complications lately and he's started having problems with his arm swelling up. He can hardly dress himself anymore, and it appears to be getting worse. He can barely walk anymore and he used to do 45 minutes a day walking around the mall. And then with the arm swelling up and a complete loss of motor function in the arm seemed like it was better to take him in than risk something catastrophic happening.

Dad update: it's lung cancer. He's got a large mass in the upper right lobe that's pressing on nerves and blood vessels in his shoulder; hence, the pain and swelling. There's smaller spots all over his lungs and the lungs are 1/8-1/4 filled with fluid. No chemo, he's too old (93) and all they're worried about now is quality of life until the end. So, radiation therapy starting tomorrow to try to reduce the large mass. No one mentioned how much time this will give him.

Thanks for the ~ma; if you could keep it coming, every little bit is greatly appreciated.

Update: I am divorced! It will be one month before I get the judgment in hand, but it's a legal formality. The judge actually said to me, in English no less, "You are now divorced." This is not at all how my lawyer explained the procedure to me, but as I've learned repeatedly during this process, his English is not nearly as good as he thinks it is. I must wait for the official judgment, which must then be officially translated and submitted to the embassy, and when I return to the states I'll have to have it accepted by the courts in Maine because that is where we were married. But it's all formalities at this point as I understand it. And Luna and I will be home by New Years. I am so relieved. I have seven years of stress waiting to come out and once this shock wears off I'm probably going to have a solid cry. But happy tears!

LAistas, a friend of mine is moving to Los Angeles and the spring to take a job with Loot Crate. Are you interested and willing to be the social sponsor for him and his partner? It will be their first time on the West Coast. I think they are looking for a home in the Echo Park area. You can email me at my profile addy.

Thank you all for the ~ma. Dad passed away this evening in as much comfort as we could provide him. He managed to be a cantankerous old coot and a deeply caring man at the same time. A fierce intellect that took no prisoners, who could logic you under the table in two seconds flat (absolutely brilliant mathematician), a lover of jazz and opera, WWII vet, handsome devil that still made ladies' hearts flutter (the nurses were all ga-ga over him). He was such a tremendous support throughout my life and helped me start over more than once. He will be deeply missed by his family and friends.

Tomorrow at 2 pm central - I will need interview-Ma.

-ma for Sumi!

Also, a little -ma for us. We are once more into the breech with our pitch today.

We've cleared the high hurdles of the Very Fancy Executives at the Major Media Companies, and they have sent us to the Producers of Enjoyable Entertainments (aka, their Licencees).

This is the pitch that might produce actual contracts so it would be lovely to nail it once more and actually secure some lean green.

Thanks, Buffistas!

So Dad passed away this morning. He was 89, and remembered the Hindenberg passing over his house in Brooklyn when he was a boy. He was a scamp as a boy, but settled down and became a thoughtful, kind, ethical man; a good engineer, a loyal husband, and a great father.

God bless you, Dad.

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If y'all could spare some am to my mom, I'd appreciate it. She has some lesions on her liver and left kidney. Nothing conclusive yet. Myriad options of bad and fine. Thanks, y'all.