Hiho, hiho

It's off to court I go. I think I'm ready.

A lovely coincidence had me in town last night for my friend Harold Hoefle's book launch. Anyone who knows Harold knows how long he's been working towards this first collection of short stories. I'd provide a link, but apparently it's too new even to appear on the Oberon Press website.

Harold read last night at Blizzarts from the book, The Mountain Clinic. We both showed up at Blizzarts at exactly the same time. He had no idea I was in town (as far as he knew, the next time we'd see each other would be in Victoria, where Harold now lives, next weekend), so was surprised as hell to see me. The event was emceed by our common friend Geoff Cook. Also reading were Katia Grubisic and J.R. Carpenter. Also in attendance were Carmine Starnino and John Lofranco.

It was good to see all these folks and to spend some time relaxing before the hearing. Naturally, I stuck to tonic water, since a clear head is of the utmost importance today. The hearing's in 3.5 hours, as I type and I really don't think there's much more I can do to prepare. I've got my facts all lined up and I think they speak for themselves, so persuasive rhetoric shouldn't be an issue.