by Ryan Mathews

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May 1998

I'm back! Miss me?

This column marks the one year anniversary of Last Exit Before Toll. Not bad, especially when you consider that I had my doubts the column would last more than a few months. I didn't know if I'd have enough ideas to keep me afloat, if I'd be able to meet the deadlines, or if there would be reader interest. Twelve months later, the doubts are gone. Oh, I've missed a deadline or two, but there's always been a new column by the first of the month. I still have enough ideas for the foreseeable future. As for reader response, it's been very satisfying. The letters I've received and the comments I hear at conventions (not to mention the hit count) tell me people are reading. I want to thank everyone who's written me over the past year for inspiring me to keep going.

I want to apologize in advance for this month's column being short. Actually, as I'm writing this, I'm just presuming that it will be short from the material I have to work with. It's five days before deadline and I'm just now getting started. Let me explain why.

I went to Anime Central the weekend of April 3rd. To save on hotel costs, I roomed with five of my friends, one of whom had a cold. As might be expected, I ended up getting the damned bug myself. Thankfully, the disease had an incubation period long enough to allow me to enjoy the con. But what it lacked in immediacy, it made up in strength. This was the Super Saiyajin of colds. I missed a day and a half of work, and spent most of a week on my back, buzzed out on NyQuil and hacking up what I playfully refer to as "lung nuggets". It's only now, seven days after first showing symptoms, that I finally feel up to doing something more than sitting in my apartment and coughing.

I'd like to touch briefly on a couple of topics from previous columns. Those who read the March/April column know that I took a month off to do some writing. I'd hoped to finish my current story-in-progress. That didn't happen. However, I did finish two chapters of the story. If you're curious, the new work can be found at .

I've also begun to watch Fushigi Yuugi, the subject of my January column. A friend in my club had the fansubs of all 52 episodes, so I borrowed them. I'm watching them slowly, one episode each day, at breakfast before work. I'm up to episode 15. I'm enjoying the series, and I'm learning respect for it, but anyone who's expecting me to be transformed into a rabid "FY" fan will be disappointed. It's still not my kind of show. When I watched Escaflowne in the same fashion, I couldn't wait to see the next episode. With Fushigi Yuugi, I'm wondering if I'll survive until episode 52. It's holding my interest now, but I've got 37 episodes to go!

Let's move on to this month's topic,
a combination convention review and web review.