As delivered this morning, when my United Airlines check-in was refused, and I was sent to work things out with USAir, which had arranged the flight:

1 "Don't give me attitude." (This was in response to my pointing out that, yes, as I'd said, I'd already done what she was telling me to do.)

2 "Good thing you got here early." Which I always try to do but am often mocked for. It took about half an hour to disabuse the computer of the notion that I had somehow canceled my return flight home or not made a connecting flight days earlier. (And I should say that the ticket agent did, indeed, solve the problem with the patience required to hang on hold with whoever necessary to resolve things.)

So lessons learned.

Every New Year's Day in recent years has brought a special fonts sale from "The World's Greatest Comic Book Fonts!" aka Richard Starkings' Comicraft service.

The deal is simple enough: On New Year's Day 2000, for example, every font was priced at $20.00. Inflation being what it is, the price has gone up, now that it's New Year's Day 2009: $20.09.

But it was still a pleasure to browse the fonts and pick new favorites. For $20.09 each today, I bought SpillProof, CutthroatLower-Intl, and SignLanguage. You may find others that tickle your fancy. (If you don't already have ComicCrazy, for example, I recommend it for starters.)

But the offer's only good today.

Check it out! You, too, can pretend you're a comic-book letterer!

Following the death of his father, Jeff Vaughn provided thoughts about their relationship in a moving post December 29. It's a sad end to the year -- but an illuminating view of what many comics people experience: a loving bond with a wonderful person who isn't interested in our field but cares deeply about us. (And that aside, Jim Vaughn was clearly someone that made the world a better place.)

Don't miss this reminiscence.

You know how it is: Every so often, you Google a phrase to see whether a favorite topic has turned up information, whether it's to learn whether Alice Troughton is related to Patrick Troughton (she's not his daughter) or whether there's a chance that a favorite commercial from the past is posted somewhere.

And I'm delighted to report that a website posts a series of vintage commercials that opens with something I've been looking for for some time: the original New Country Corn Flakes animation-and-live-action combo. Don and I used to dash into the room to see this whenever we heard the introductory chicken call. We never figured out who did it (though we suspected the Jay Ward crew), but it made us laugh every time. And, by golly, we certainly remembered the name of the product when we were in the grocery store.

Other commercials of interest for one reason or another are in the medly, but I leave it to you whether you watch them all. I'm just saying you owe it to yourself to click on that link, crank up the volume (unless you're in an office, in which case use your discretion), and enjoy the next 60 seconds.

I note that the AP story on Forry's death includes the hesitant notation that he was "widely credited with coining the term 'sci fi.'"

That's what you write when you've been editing long enough to know that many claims to be the first or the biggest or the originator are not necessarily accurate. So when people say, "Forrest J Ackerman created the term 'sci fi,' based on wordplay involving the term 'hi fi,'" the cautious editor will hem and haw or simply back away to a statement that is factual enough: that Forry was credited with the term.

But take it from me (or from the Fancyclopedia II passage quoted earlier today): Forry Ackerman did coin the term "sci fi." Some people have never forgiven him for that.

(Oh, and Maggie Thompson coined the term "Done in One." Just thought I'd mention it, while I'm at it. Years ago. In the pages of CBG. When serials had become so integral to comics that issues containing a tale with beginning, middle, and end deserved special mention. Now you know two anecdotes about originating terms. Amaze your friends.)

So it's been a full month since I last posted anything here, and I apologize; life gets in the way sometimes. And it's doubly sad that it took this news to get me back to the CBGXtra keyboard.

Mark Evanier posted (and I finally got a chance to check out his blog) recently that one of the most vital instigators of the annual comics convention in San Diego has been hospitalized since April! It seems Tom Spurgeon, who doesn't know Shel, posted the news with Shel's address there.

Thanks to Tom -- with an added guilt trip that I hadn't been paying enough attention on my own to learn this. In CBG #1649, my Beautiful Balloons column discussed some of the history of what is today Comic-Con International: San Diego -- so I'd already begun hoping to catch up with the man who was so instrumental in its formation. The first time Don and I went to the event was at his instigation -- in 1976 -- where we received (also, I bet, at his instigation, at least in part) an Inkpot for our fannish activities.

Seriously, if you've ever enjoyed the San Diego show, now's the time to thank Shel for his part in bringing it to us. He wasn't alone in the project; no one person could have done it alone. But, by golly, its formation and early growth owed much to Shel. (And let's not forget the dozens of excellent interviews he provided to CBG and its predecessor publication over the years.)

I'm not going to keep this up for long, but wouldn't it be great to get this on a daily basis? Or in a book? Or (better yet) the original run printed large -- in a book?