I need a macro that posts a Dispatch here reading: “I’m so slammed with work right now . . .”

Firing on all cylinders though. I really feel like I’m at the top of my game right now. I have three big projects, all of which are great and thrilling and challenging. I’m doing writing, editing, video, audio, web pages, game design, and graphic design, day in and day out. It’s just fantastic. I really thrive when I can be pushing multiple projects forward at once, so there’s real variety in my day. It’s when I’m just pushing on one thing that I get easily distracted.

There’s not a lot to write about in my life at present except for all this work, so in brief:

I spent five hours Saturday night brainstorming Delta Green computer game issues with Paul at Flying Lab. Total progress was somewhat slight, because we spent much of our time exploring alternate avenues to some recent ideas and finding those avenues didn’t work. But it was completely worthwhile because it strengthens the decisions we’ve made recently. Meanwhile, our Phenomen-X project is off and running, and is great fun so far.

We’re recruiting volunteers to host computer game screenshots and such on their web sites. If you’ve got a site of any kind and want some neat graphics and images from the game, send an email and we’ll send you a zip file with a bunch of neat stuff in it shortly.

The Unknown Armies rulebook is kicking mountains of ass. It’s about 2/3 laid out and we’re collecting comments on the final section from some long-time UA writers now. I began proofing the book last night and wow, it’s good stuff. This book rocks on toast.

Mike Daisey’s Off-Broadway show opens for previews tonight in New York, with the official opening May 9. The web site is running great, and I’ve got seven of the short video bits we shot finished and ready to show whenever we pull the switch on that project. They turned out great. Mike is really funny and enjoyable to watch.

Karen and I split the country on Tuesday the 23rd, and I won’t be back home until about May 27. I’ll be online sporadically during our trip, but doubt I’ll be accomplishing much here on the Dispatches. It does look like I’ll take my laptop with me to write on the trip, and when I get home I can share the fruits of that labor. At present, our loose itenerary looks like this:

April 24: Arrive in London, stay with James Wallis of Hogshead Publishing, a capital fellow and gracious host.

April 26: Take the train to Oxford then rent the Exeter, a 42ft. canal boat, and sail up some canal or other for a week. Allegedly it’s no problem for two random tourists to sail this thing alone up and down the canal. We already know that four short blows on the whistle tells the other boats: “We cannot steer!”

May 3: Back in London for a night to impose on James yet again.

May 4: Chunnel train to Paris and on to a town nearby where Monet’s house and gardens are.

May 7 or 8: Train from Paris to Geneva, Switzerland, where we stay with a college friend of Karen’s.

May 10 or 11: Fly (?) from Geneva to any convenient city in Spain.

May 11-21: Visit my aunt and uncle near Malaga, then Edge Entertainment (the Spanish publishers of UA and soon Puppetland) in Sevilla, and finally however much of Spain we feel like seeing in the time available.

May 21: I return to Seattle, Karen stays on for another week in Spain or wherever else she goes. I fly on to Los Angeles that night for the E3 computer gaming trade show to promote the Delta Green project.

May 26/27: Back in Seattle. My work for UA2 and Mike should be pretty well complete, and I’ll have all summer to start something new and fun.

And now I have to get back to work.