[posted 3-30-07] eep. This year kicked off with a limp and a whimper, but I'm recovering. In the span of two weeks, beginning with the day before New Year's Eve: someone breaks into my car and swipes my satellite radio - in the middle of the afternoon; I blow out my knee during my ignorant, ill-advised attempt to jog around Town Lake; I get violent food poisoning from South Congress Cafe - luckily I found a slightly-used colon on craig's list; then the ice storm hit Austin. I spent 40 minutes chipping it off of my station wagon - you heard me ladies, a wagon - and then I couldn't stand up straight. THEN, I had to hop in and drive 17 agonizing hours to Cincinatti. After a chiropractor and two weeks of sleeping on the floor, I'm finally back to my old, crickety self. Surely things can't be all that bad, Mario? You are correct, imaginary reader. First and foremost, I finally gots me a publisher for my Cynic's Guide to a Rich and Full Life! The good folks over at Last Gasp Publishing will be dispersing my tome of twisted wisdom to bookstores and boutiques across the country this coming fall. We're combining both volumes into one, handsome little hardback, so keep a sharp eye open around October or so. I'm also currently working with a potential college agent out of Toronto. If all goes well, I'll be on the college circuit by the end of the year. Hopefully. What else? I've decided to drop anchor in Austin, at least for a little while, and bought meself a lovely new apartment in the north central area. Poor Oscar no longer has a backyard and a doggie door, which means poor Mario now has to get up before noon to walk him. As much as I'll miss the South Congress/Bouldin Creek area, it sure is swell not pissing away money on rent. Finally, I've come up with a new concept for a series of 26 t-shirt designs, to be released two at a time each month. I can't go into details, but trust you me...good stuff a-comin'. A slow start, but 2007 seems to be snowballing. hugs and hickies, mario old news 2-06 old news 6-05