Yeesh.

Monday night I was idly wondering if I was close enough to cheat until I added up how many times I'd have to copy what I'd already written and paste it in again to win, and gave up.

My excuses this year? I was caught up just before my Save Hiatus buddy Adam Levermore showed up to stay for four days so we could attend the STS-129 Shuttle Atlantis launch Tweetup at the Kennedy Space Center, which was an amazing experience.

Plus I had to show him around a few spots in Daytona (OK, one spot) (OK, the speedway) and then I figured it would be rude to ignore him while I wrote even though a) I knew he wouldn't mind and b) at least one evening he was busy ignoring me to write his own stuff. But hey, there was a guest in the house.

Then after he left I had just a few days before Teresa would be leaving for a week-long trip to NYC so that time was precious and I knew I'd have a whole week to myself to write. No problem! Plus I had a lot of shuttle photos to work up and stuff.

That week was spent dealing with errands, dinners, coordinating rides, IMing to Teresa, and reconstructing the contents of my iPod Touch after my iTunes library lapsed into a persistent vegetative state and forgot that I had any apps. All vitally important.

Then Teres came back, and joyous time was spent catching up with her.

And and and… (Coincidentally, my excuses for not working out for three weeks are strikingly similar to these)

Actually I did do a fair amount of writing, in my Flickr descriptions and e-mails and forum posts and articles and Twitter tweets. The problem wasn't getting me in front of a keyboard, it was getting me to write my novel, and looking at it now I still don't get an urge to work on it (although I did think of stuff I wanted to put into a previous unfinished NaNo novel). Which means that a) my novel idea isn't thrilling me, and b) I'm not enough of a novelist to write it anyway and make it thrilling. So this one goes on the shelf.

However, to get myself back into the habit of writing I'm lowering my bar a bit and leaping into Hollidailies, where I commit to posting at least one blog post a day for a month, Dec. 7 to Jan. 6, 2010.  Instead of 1,667 words a day I need only produce 50, and I think I can blather that long, so be prepared for at least a steady trickle of brain leakage.

Hmm. Maybe I can write my novel in 50-word bursts…

From his increasingly frantic tweets:

It's a Maxtor drive, w/ both USB and FireWire inputs. It's making a sound like a ticking wristwatch (both in terms of rhythm and volume)

One possible issue: Power requirement is 12V / 3A, but the supply that's connected is 12V / 2.5A. Could this be a contributing factor?

The sound doesn't change at all, regardless of whether I'm using the USB or the FireWire, or if neither is plugged in.

Finally, it's not making any sort of winding-up, spinning or whooshing noises I usually associate with a working hard drive.

HALP?

He's tried most of the urban legend fixes — freezing, etc — but he could really use the help or extremely discounted services of an experienced data-retrieval techie. Any fans out there with suggestions? Contact him or me if you can help out. Thanks!

Third in QMx's hit series of Serenity Little Damn Heroes limited-edition animated maquettes, "Thrilling Heroics" stars none other than the man they call Jayne (Cobb) himself. Standing 4.5 inches tall, the Jayne maquette is cast in resin, hand-painted and comes holding Jayne's very favorite gun, Vera. He's sculpted wearing the cunning hat knit by his ma and wearing his Blue Sun t-shirt. The one what got River so riled.

Based on Adam Levermore's "Little Damn Heroes" series of cartoons, "Thrilling Heroics" is limited to 1,000 numbered pieces. $49.95, shipping September 15. Order now!

To be clear, this is not a product announcement – we’re not ready to discuss pricing, availability or even edition size of the Jayne maquette. The maquette being offered at the screening is FEP (Final Engineering Proof) #2 and, as those who’ve won our prototypes before know, our FEPs are all truly unique pieces and subject to change before they hit the stores.

That's not all SoCal will have — QMx is giving them several prototype items to auction off — and this year for the first time they're setting up ways for people to place remote bids. Keep an eye on www.socalbrowncoats.com for more details.

Hey all. We're working on Series 2 of the Blue Sun Travel posters. To comment on what worlds you'd like to see us visit next, go to our discussion group here on the QMx Facebook page or over to the Firefly Ship Works.

Go check out the suggestions or add your own!

Hoban Washburne, or Wash as he's known to his friends, he of the dinosaur passion play set. This t-shirt commemorates that passion play with one of Serenity's pilot's most memorable lines.

The Inevitable Betrayal T-shirt is an original design from Black Market Beagle's Adam Levermore, and is part of BMB's "Discreet Geek" line of cool and fashionable shirts, stickers and other items of geeky goodness. It comes on a chocolate brown-colored 6.1 ounce, 100-percent cotton Gildan t-shirt, offering the same high quality QMx t-shirts have become famous for. It is available in men's sizes small to 3XL. And now, for the first time, Inevitable Betrayal is available in women's babydoll t-shirts, sizes small to 2XL. (Note: all shirt sizes are available while supplies last.)

So get your Inevitable Betrayal t-shirt and let them know you saw it coming.

Check 'em out here.

Or, more to the point, less than 100 of here because the rest got sold already.

"I Aim to Misbehave," the second in QMx's "Little Damn Heroes " line iof Serenity maquettes (based on Adam Levermore-Rich's amazing designs) is now on sale at QMx. But you'd better hurry; presales were so strong on these limited edition statues than fewer than 100 are left.

The 4.5-inch resin statue shows Mal with his gun drawn and browncoat billowing behind him. Details in the maquette include screen-accurate sculpts of his boots, suspenders, even his iconic pistol.

Only 1,000 "I Aim to Misbehave" limited-edition maquettes are being made. And, through special arrangement with Nathan Fillion and PJ Haarsma, co-founders of Kids Need To Read (www.kidsneedtoread.org), a portion of the proceeds from sales of  "Aim" will be donated to this worthy cause.

We got a glimpse over a year and a half ago, when pics were leaked and demos were spotted at a con and one of the test pieces was auctioned off for CSTS, and some of us remember the original Little Damn Heroes cartoons by Adam Levermore-Rich that the maquettes are based on.But now they're here and she's looking very shiny indeed.

You can get 'em at QMx or TFAW, but if you're getting the QMx Insider newsletter you already know about the great 24-hour launch-day deal QMx has going today only (and if you're not getting the newsletter, I think maybe you should so you know what I'm talking about, yes?). Besides, the newsletter will be the only way to find out about… I've said too much.

Shiny! The word epitomizes Serenity's unsinkable engineer, Kaywinnit Lee Frye, or as she's known to her friends, Kaylee. And now for the first time, Kaylee's shining spirit is captured in this limited edition, hand-painted animation maquette, designed by well-known artist Adam Levermore-Rich, creator of the best-selling Serenity: Blue Sun Travel Posters. The stylized statue brings together Kaylee's two seemingly contradictory aspects – savant engineer and girly girl – perfectly. Smiling beatifically, the 4 1/2' Kaylee Maquette is sculpted wearing her mechanic's coveralls (complete with teddy bear patch) and holding her trademark rainbow parasol, standing in her work boots on a black resin base. Limited to 1,500 pieces, this maquette will be a unique collectible that deserves a place in every Browncoat's collection. Painted and ready to display.

They'll be limited to 1,500, first in a series of Little Damn Heroes maquettes. And that's the key, here: "first in a series." I've seen the other two demo pieces, and I want the complete set. And I will yell at you until you buy enough of these to make the rest of the set a reality. And I can be pretty shrill, so get over to quantummechanix.com or TFAW.com and click away.

According to Adam, Andy from QMx was quick to point out that there has not been an official release and that there are "still Ts to cross and Is to dot and other various studio hoops to jump through before they can make an official announcement." But here's hoping something comes out soon.

Spotted at Creation last weekend, another secret project – Serenity marquettes that look an awful lot like Adam Levermore-Rich's "Little Damn Heroes" designs! Dunno who QMx's sculptor is, but s/he did an amazing job.

Negotiations are still going on so I don't have any more details than this, but I can disclose that they've got me salivating.