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Saturday, May 17th, 2008
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8:06 am - We're havin' a heat wave
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As you might know, I crave the hot weather, so this heatwave is most welcome to me.
Even though I have the beginnings of a head cold. But I don't care, I tell ya. I'm off to the heated pool for a quick swim before the day's festivities.
And y'all have fun out there, stay cool if that's your desire, and enjoy.
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| Sunday, May 11th, 2008
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9:07 am - The Forbidden Kingdom
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Went to see "The Forbidden Kingdom" with Jim yesterday. He's almost at the end of his newest novel and a trifle burned out; I'm... celebrating solvency. So we figured, something light, choreographed action, Calgon take me away.
And yeah! But it was more than that. Quite a deep story for a retelling of The Monkey King and the Jade Warlord (and oh. Mao Tse Tung styled himself as the Jade Warlord, so Jim thinks this is an anti-communist swipe. Me, I just enjoyed the story. And Jet Li. And Jackie Chan in dreadlocks! w00t!)
It did not deserve the bad reviews. And some weeks after release, it still had a full audience at 4pm Saturday. not great art, mind you, but a movie that I'll pick up on dvd when it gets there.
(We met at Starbucks and enjoyed the sunshine on the outdoor patio first; then went to a Peruvian place for dinner. Then to Barnes & Noble where I discovered the column in New Scientist. All in all a great day.)(Plus I got gifts for my kids, which should make all of us happy.)
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8:31 am - Oh My Gosh! New Scientist even
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So, the Abyss&Apex story, (flash, no less) Wikihistory, made a bit of a splash what with BoingBoing, the Washington Post, and various other internet places picking up on its time travel "let's kill Hitler" theme (yes, done to death, but this was a cuter version than average.)
But just now, The New Scientist magazine (um, May 10-16, 2008, page 64, first column) (a print medium, mind you) has a Feedback column with a review of the story and they MENTION ABYSS&APEX IN PRINT!
w00t!! Seriously. w0000TT!
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| Thursday, May 8th, 2008
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2:11 pm - Abyss&Apex Issue 26: 2nd Quarter 2008
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Good gravy and it took us long enough!
This issue of Abyss&Apex also features my first-time-ever editorial, Real Life.
Plus great stuff by Lawrence M. Schoen, Larry Hodges' story about baseball, ghosts, and dinosaurs, Fuller's story about evil evil furniture (well, sorta), and Vylar Kaftan and Laura AnnE Gilman's respective lovely offerings.
No poetry this time, but ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) samhenderson is working on our next issue's offerings (she'll be our guest editor.) BTW, our poetry guidelines have changed, so hie over there and read up on our new requirements.
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| Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
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9:57 pm - a job well behind me
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Holy gee, I think it's done! Whew! Wow, what a pain this issue has been.
Later, I'll officially announce.
Later, I'll reprint most of the original text of the editorial (some sections were slashed for modesty's sake).
But for now... off to bed, me.
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| Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
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12:21 pm - Full
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The group I'm working with had a potluck today, celebrating cinco de sixo. Seise de Mayo? A day after party, anyway.
And oh gosh am I full.
I brought strawberry shortcake, cuz May always means strawberries to me. I slice 'em, wet 'em down with orange juice, sugar and let them set a while; today my shortcake is old-fashioned buttermilk donuts; and topped with real whipped cream, of course.
I'm NOT losing weight here.
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| Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
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7:41 am - Hadley Rille Booksigning!
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| Thursday, May 1st, 2008
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7:23 pm - detritus
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Oh well.
Some months back Steve (chromeoxide) asked if he could crash with me April 30, in preparation for a computer seminar thingie.
I didn't tell him when I moved.
Received (April 29th) a plaintive email from him.
"Called your number and it's disconnected," he said. "Can I still crash with you? Understand if not."
Sure glad he didn't just go to my door.
We did hook up with me the next night at the Orange County Science Fiction club meeting, and I offered him couch space (brought my big green sectional to the condo in Sunset.) We got to the condo and Simon and his girlfriend du jour were cavorting around with her little chihuahua. (I'd called Simon earlier and he said he'd be out til 3am or so.) So Steve ended up sleeping on a huge beanbag in my room. Rather tense.
I left early, of course, for work. Haven't heard back from Steve but he did take the cover off the parrot cage. Hope he had fun with the computers.
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| Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
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7:38 am - Congress is full of meanies
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So here I am, first day back on the internet, and I have to listen to Bush talk about the economy. Sort of, anyway.
"Congress is full of meanies," he says. "Congress has blocked expansion and needs to do more and won't give the federal government more authority. Meanies, I tell ya. They need to be responsible! That's not too much to ask, even in an election year."
It's all Congress' fault.
Thanks for the laugh, Georgie.
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| Monday, April 21st, 2008
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8:44 am - friends help you move, good friends help you move bodies
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I am almost-but-not quite moved from my home of the past 14 years. Jim and Simon and Stephie and Sean all pitched in, Paul sent some hired help and a van to move the furniture and books, the pets are resettled, and I'll be living in luxury in a condo on the beach.
Life is good.
And no one questioned the contents of the black plastic sacks. I have good friends.
(if you want my new phone/address, email me.)
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| Sunday, April 13th, 2008
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12:03 am - Time to hit the road
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Going home is always the reward of a good vacation, sometimes with sadness, sometimes with relief. This time with the certainty of a job well-done.
And photos! Soon to come, once I get home.
Catching the 1:45am Greyhound outta town. This is a casino town (never sleeps, snicker.) Guess I better pack.
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| Saturday, April 12th, 2008
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7:01 am - All atwitter!
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You mean Locus Online" (see April 12) has a notice of our signing? Good golly.
This morning we're signing from 9:30am to 12:30pm at Spring Creek Coffee Co. (I met the proprietors, Carmen, Scott, and Peggy, at dinner last night. Cool folks!)
After lunch we're signing at Enchanted Paper in Elko, from 1:30pm to 3:30pm.
I'm trying to get my co-signers (will_couvillier and Floyd Edwards) to read, too, but they're both unwilling. Darn. Means I can't show off on my own!
Wish us luck, folks. ericreynoldsEric Reynolds' babies (the anthologies, I mean) deserve all the recognition they can get.
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| Friday, April 11th, 2008
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5:34 pm - Yes!
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Yes, I'm in Elko at the Stockmen's Hotel and Casino. YES! I have internet!
Yes! I've met Floyd Edwards and his charming wife Carol; I'm about to meet Willis Couvillier and his charming wife Karen (we're all going out for dinner (and to scope out tomorrow's signing site)).
Just talked to Eric Reynolds on the phone for the first time. A day of firsts!
And yes, when the cops boarded the bus at Elko and asked if I had any bombs or bazookas or anything, I smiled and said, "No."
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| Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
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6:02 am - Time: twitch-twitch, twitch-twitch, twitch-twitch
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I sat in the break room yesterday and stared at the analog clock on the wall. It keeps accurate time, but moves two seconds at a time. The second hand makes two mechanical beats for each positional movement and covers two seconds with each sweep. Very odd.
(Hmm, mimicking heartbeats, perhaps? Must consider it.)
For some reason, my blood donor database decided yesterday was today so all yesterday's transactions were dated 4/9/08. This only caused minor problems and nothing needs to be redone, but it was puzzling. As it happens, my computer system time had reset to twelve hours later than real-time (real-time? what the heck is that?) I reset system time (and it resisted, btw, allowing me to apply but not applying at least twice before succumbing to my superior computer guru skills.)
I also went to work at 11am and left at 7:30, but still managed to catch the 7:20 bus. Go figure. Everything yesterday was a bit off-time.
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| Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
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8:05 am - Happy Birthday!
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7:23 am - Elko museum
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When I'm in Elko, Nevada, this weekend, publicizing Desolate Places and other Hadley Rille titles, I hope to make time to see the mastodon at this museum:
Northeastern Nevada Museum
1515 Idaho Street,
Elko, Nevada 89801
1(775)738-3418
Discover 40,000 square feet of Nevada's history, natural history, wildlife wing, theater, art, history galleries, archives and reference library all in one museum.
The Northeastern Nevada Museum boasts of the Wanamaker Wildlife Wing, consisting of Nevada's largest collection of wild animals from around the world. Approximately 300 animals, both full and head mounts are on exhibit. These trophies were taken by the late Jack Wanamaker of Burbank, California, and generally donated to the museum and a portion of the funds to build the wing.
In Spring Creek, Nevada, in 1994, a crew digging a waterline trench unearthed what was found to be a two million year old American Mastodon. The excavation and study of the fossilized remains are a permanent exhibit at the museum.
The History and Geology Gallery features an extensive firearms collection and chronicles Nevada's history through the Native American and Basque cultures, local geology, natural history, ranching, railroads and mining.
Permanent and rotating art exhibits featuring local art and history are the subject in the museum's two art galleries. A 90-seat theater in the round is unique with its four stages and revolving seats.
The museum archives contain government records, oral histories, manuscripts, more than 35,000 photographs, and a complete set of area newspapers. The research library has more than 2,200 volumes. The archives and library are open to the public.
Northeastern Nevada Museum
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| Sunday, April 6th, 2008
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6:57 am - Literary Orange and STARBUCKS forever!
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The seminar yesterday went as expected. Perhaps 500 women in business attire (and a few men) and me in jeans and tie-dye. No, not a clothing faux pas, but a calculated risk: I wanted to stand out. Oh boy did I.
So, they fed us breakfast (Starbucks coffee with flavor syrups, half n half, yum), juice, water, tea, yogurt, fruit, granola (!), bagels with cream cheese, muffins, sliced sweet bread, coffee cake.
Then they talked to us for a while. I met up with Shauna Roberts (another Hadley Rille author!) and we went into the science fiction panel with David Brin and Vernor Vinge. Nothing earth-shattering there (ha!) but still interesting. Dick, the man in charge of the Orange County Science Fiction Club, was there collecting autographs and subsequently asked Shauna and me to have a signing party at one of the club meetings. Did I say "YES!" fast enough? I believe so.
Then we had lunch. Very nice green salad with tomato confetti and spaghettini squash and bread rolls and butter; bow-tie pasta with vegetables and chicken and a lovely cheese sauce; chocolate bombe dessert; ice tea and water and oh! rather sweet coffee mugs.
Then the next panel, starring Gregory Benford and Larry Niven (Dr. Benford says he remembers me from the Campbell Conference; we talked for a few minutes about the CERN silliness and black hole generation. Larry Niven was quite dismissive of the CERN concern: "I wrote about that possibility ten years ago!" he said.)
Then more food: they'd put out fruit and juice and ice tea for us, plus more Starbucks.
The last panel was supposed to be about literary writing but instead was two historical romance authors lauding each other's good sense and intelligence. Quite boring. I'd had some hopes of getting an answer to the question, why bother with literary writing which goes nowhere?... but no. These women wwere not capable of answering a deep question. Um, they said so. Not just my prejudice.
And then there was more Starbucks, a white chocolate fondue, and petit-fours.
Kelly is STILL full. And the Starbucks hasn't worn off yet!
After the seminar, Jim and I went to see "The Ruins," and yeah it's pretty awful (please don't go watch it, we don't want to encourage that kind of thing.) I guess the worst part is that, with a few plot/scripting changes, this might have been a cool movie. But no. Just as bad as the novel (with a couple of changes.) I swear I'm gonna write a better version of it, see if I don't!
Then Jim and I went to Starbucks for a while to dissect the movie and talk.
Time for a garage sale.
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| Saturday, April 5th, 2008
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10:30 pm - goodbye, Charlton Heston
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6:01 am - saturday and the livin' is easy
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http://literaryorange.org/?pg=main
I'm doing this today, a literary seminar meant to sell books for the big names (and perhaps give me a bit of name-dropping time.)
And afterwards, doing something with Jim, who is spending the morning ridin' his motorcycle into the future ("I don't want a pickle, I just wanna ride on my motorcycle.")
Later tonight, staging for a garage sale.
OH! Wendy safewrite is a first time new granny! Go say hi to her.
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| Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
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11:14 pm - Code 245: Felony Assault with a Deadly Weapon
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The little kitten's name is Hershi (female, I'm pretty sure, and long haired with gray legs and tail. Gorgeous.) Oh and strawberries are on sale now! I just acquired 4 pounds for $5.
Along with a $4 bottle of French chardonnay.
So things are good.
Some things, anyway.
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