This is a very sad day because where I live in Highland Park is very near the old World Trade Center. I was very little when it happened but people in my family knew people who went to work that day on the train at New Brunswick and Edison and didn't come home. It was very sad because I think about myself like if I was waiting at home for my Mom or Dad to come home from work at Rutgers or where my Mom works and they never came home, like ever. I guess my brother Becker could raise me but maybe not. I don't know what would happen or who would tuck me in or take me to Chuck E Cheese.

Anyway, at school they said it's ok to be sad on 9/11, so that's why i'm sad.

The end,

By Benjamin

I love the New England part of my family, but they are weird. They’ve lived in or around Boston since like 1800 and they have this house in Cape Cod where they all hang out. Every year, we (me, my Mom, Dad, and Benjamin) go up to The Cape for one week in the Summer. It is hell. First we have to drive up there which takes like 7 hours in the car. Benjamin snores and my Dad makes us listen to the worst books on tape (or CD) you have ever heard. He likes “Lake Wobegon Stories” by some weird guy and self-help tapes like Tony Robbins and Eckhart Tolle. (The funny thing is that none of them are even close to on the money, but that’s another story.)

Then when we get there, there are like 20 people in the house and they call come running out and hug you, but none of them can say the letter “r” so everyone is like “Beckeh,” “Beckeh,” it’s so good to see you. That’s when you know you’ve arrived.

Then for the next 6 days you hang out on the beach and build sand castles with your weird cousins, and then comes the sleeping part. There are way too many people in the house for the number of beds, so it’s every man and child for themselves. Last year, Benjamin put his pillow and blanket in the bathtub and uncle Morton turned on the shower on him in the morning. It was funny.

This year, we are going up again but I’ve already planned ahead and got new headphones and had Kevin at the IFR load some of the new “Mission Simulator” software onto my Blinker for the drive. It’s kind of like these new Seems videogames where you get to go on sample Missions and practice your Fixing skills, except you're kind of really there. Not as sweet as "Juvenile Delinquent 2: The Return of Quentin Flory," but pretty darn cool.

Well, I’d better get going. There’s a lot more to say about the Dranes of New England, but the truth is they’re not that bad. Even though we all get stuck in the same big house and you get sand in almost everything (including your toothpaste), it’s still kind of fun. There are always good stories at the end. Like the time Benjamin was attacked by sand crabs and the time my cousin Kaitlin boogie-boarded into a hole. Anyway, I will definitely give you all the highlights of this year’s trip.

And this time I’m bringing an Aero-Bed!

Don't know if you guys have ever had an encounter with a possum -- or as we like to call them at 12 Grant Ave, giant rats -- but last night around midnight I ran into something licking the grease off the bottom of our grill. At first I thought it was a squirrel or something, so I went down the steps of our back deck to shoo it away...but then I heard the most goddawful sound, and something that looked a lot like this came firing out from beneath the grill.

Suffice it to say, I screamed like a little school girl and ran back inside my house. Glitches and Bleeps I can handle. Possums? If there are any wranglers out there, please send your resumes now...

P.S. if you want to hear what I heard, check out this link and imagine it came out of total darkness...

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/opossum.html

A lot of people have been emailing me and asking about the guy who did the illustrations for “The Seems.”

His name is Gideon Kendall and he lives in Brooklyn, NY. He plays in a band, his wife does sculpture, and he also is an ultimate Frisbee champ. It has also come to my attention that he’s working on some AMAZING new Seems pictures for Book 2: “The Split Second!”

Anyway, I wanted to give out his website address: http://gideonkendall.com/

You can see all his really cool artwork, and music stuff but some of it is kind of rated M for mature, so don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

-BD

P.S. Check out the “picture of the month” on his site. Maybe you’ve seen it before!?

Hey everybody. I just wanted to give you a heads up that The Seems: The Glitch in Sleep PAPERBACK version (which, of course, follows ME, your hero, on my first Mission ever as a Fixer!) is coming out THIS SUMMER!

AND…there’s a brand new cover!

Gideon Kendall, aka “the maestro of Park Slope” is still doing all the inside pictures, but we’ve got this new guy named Christian who did a brand new cover for GIS and is also doing the covers for the next 2 books! (P.S. They’re sweet.)

Anyway, just wanted to let you know. I strongly suggest you get a copy of the paperback (and the next book next Fall) right away so you can get a first edition. They are worth much more later on than if you get a second or third edition.
But – if I see any Seems books on eBay – I’ll know it’s you and find you and make you scoop Pistachio in The Flavor Mines. Just kidding.

Well, I’m feeling a little better since my last blog ‘cause the humidity is lower and you know – some days are better than others. I’m very busy right now with life right now but I’ll write again as soon as possible.