I’ve been in e-mail contact today with Jeffrey DeRego’s wife Cindy. She tells me that he had open heart surgery yesterday to bypass five blocked arteries. The surgery was successful and he’s expected to go home sometime next week.

If anyone cares to know for purposes of sending cards or flowers, etc., he’s at the Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, New Hampshire. You’re also welcome to send cards via us (Jeffrey DeRego, c/o Escape Artists Inc., PO Box 1538, Stone Mountain GA 30086) and I’ll see that they get forwarded to him.

I asked if any financial assistance would be useful, and without getting into overly personal details, the answer is “yes.” The DeRegos aren’t in a good position right now in terms of employment, and while they’re applying for state assistance, surgery of this magnitude is still certain to have a very harsh impact. Escape Artists will be making a contribution, and with Cindy’s permission, I’m asking the Escape Pod listenership to help out.

I’ve set up a PayPal address just for this purpose under our corporate account. If you’d like to help Jeff out, please send your contributions via PayPal to derego@escapepod.org. (I hope to have a better link on the sidebar by tonight.) We’ll cover PayPal fees, so 100% of funds donated will go to defray Jeff’s and Cindy’s medical expenses. I’ll keep that PayPal address open through September.

Please follow your conscience on whether to help. Jeff’s given us some of our favorite EP stories, and I’m happy to do whatever I can for him. If you see fit to help him out too, I’m sure he and his wife would be very grateful. Thanks for your attention.

First: my apologies for recent delays in getting Escape Pod out; in the last couple of weeks it’s hit the feed Friday afternoons rather than late Thursday. It’s probably going to happen again this week. Personal business lately has included me losing my day job, finding a new and much better day job in the space of a couple of weeks (I start Tuesday), and taking on some short-term obligations to fill in the gaps. Expect more on that in an upcoming metacast In the meantime I’m realizing I’m having to get much better organized with a lot of Escape Artists work, not for efficiency but for necessity. So yes, things are late; but I still don’t expect to miss any weeks, and I hope that the lateness will be short term.

Now to the news: once again, Escape Pod and Minx’s Polyamory Weekly will be hosting a joint meetup at Dragon*Con. Just like last year, we’ll be doing a group brunch on SUNDAY, AUGUST 31 AT 11:30 AM, at the Gordon Biersch Brewpub. It’s about a mile north from the hotels, but an easy walk or cab ride. This time we have the restaurant’s upper mezzanine reserved, so it’s like having the place to ourselves. Ask at the front for the Escape Pod meetup.

Generally, I expect to hit very little programming at this year’s D*C. My intent for almost the entire con is just to hang out at the bars or parties, and socialize and relax. If you’d like to join me, follow my Twitter feed to find out where I am or drop me a line to met me know where you are. And if you know where the good parties are — let me know too!

Thanks, and we’ll have the next EP up as soon as possible. (It’s a Union Dues story, if that helps with the waiting.)

I’ve already responded to the people who e-mailed to express an interest, but just to make it public: I’m in London, and we’ll be having an informal pub meetup on Sunday, November 25 at 1 PM at The George on 77 Borough High Street. Not sure yet if we’ll be inside or outside; I’ll be wearing a purple shirt, and if you don’t see me, just look for the crowd of people who look like science fiction fans. If you can make it, we look forward to seeing you there!

I know this is late notice; sorry about that. I’m speaking this weekend at the Podcast Expo in Ontario, California, and Cunning Minx and I have put plans together for a joint brunch meetup. If you’re in the area, I’d love to see you there.

The brunch will be SUNDAY, SEPT. 30 AT 11 AM at Marie Callender’s in Ontario, CA:

MARIE CALLENDER’S
2149 E. Convention Way
Ontario, CA 91764

Here’s a Mapquest link for those of you who can use it.

Feel free to spread the word — but if you’re coming, please drop me an e-mail at sfeley @ gmail.com so we know how big a table to get. Thanks very much.

This’ll be Fun.

Just a quick note for those of you attending Dragon*Con 2007 — here are the places you’ll be able to find Steve during the weekend:

• Steve will be producing the Daily Dragon Podcast every day of the con. Listen in for convention news, interviews, and music!
• The panel Fancasting, 2:30 PM Friday in the Jackson/Carter room in the Hilton.
• The 2nd Annual Parsec Awards, 7 PM Saturday in the Hyatt Regency V ballroom. Escape Pod and Pseudopod are both nominated for excellence in short fiction.
• The Escape Pod Listener Meet-Up, 1 PM Sunday at the Gordon Biersch Brewpub at 848 Peachtree Street. Everyone is welcome!
• The panel Podcasting Into the Future, 10 AM Monday in the Jackson/Carter room in the Hilton.

And of course you might just see me around the convention any other time. If you’re there, I hope to see you — and I hope you have a great time!