Thanks for the get well soon wishes! I am beginning to feel human once again. I'm dreadfully behind on my messages, but I'll be catching up ASAP.


So, while I was under the weather, apparently things happened:
* The great young adult science fiction author William Sleator died. Very sad news indeed. R.I.P. Read more about William Sleator here.

* After 31 years and 15 albums, R.E.M. is no more. What? What?

* And faster-than-light neutrinos? That's more like it.


And in more personal news...
* The PotterWatch 2011 Scholarly Conference on Harry Potter at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, for which I have the honor of being the keynote speaker, now has the full conference schedule posted. It will be held on October 1, 2011, and it looks like a terrific lineup!

* The forthcoming The Philosophy of Joss Whedon (The University Press of Kentucky, 2011), which includes my essay "'Just Get Us a Little Further': Liberty and the Frontier in Firefly and Serenity," now has an official cover:




And Happy Autumn, everyone. Wheeee! All for Fall!


“I learn more from books than from people”
― William Sleator, The Beasties