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Wednesday, June 11th, 2025 08:54 am
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Tuesday, June 10th, 2025 06:09 pm
As I mentioned, I get another 3 AM wake-up call tomorrow due to needing to be at work on the Day Jobbe due to the person in India for whom I'm the backup being on PTO. Oh, well, I hope I can knock off work no later than Noon tomorrow. And on the bright side, it should be cooler at 3 AM and I can open the front door (we do have a screen door) and get more cross-ventilation through the house.
Not helping my rest was having to work late today, and also I was expecting a call that never came. I wish the people who were holding me in place had at least dropped me a note telling me that they didn't need me this afternoon after all.
Not helping my rest was having to work late today, and also I was expecting a call that never came. I wish the people who were holding me in place had at least dropped me a note telling me that they didn't need me this afternoon after all.
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Tuesday, June 10th, 2025 09:00 am
The sudden, shocking, return of Shockwave Reader. Will the living envy the dead?
From This Day Forward by John Brunner
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Monday, June 9th, 2025 08:23 pm
Fine
Change is a
Crucible
And I am on fire;
The world burns
So hot
Nothing false in me
Can escape the flame
(and i hope
to survive it
i pray)
If we are
Any of us
To be okay
Ever again
We must rise in truth
Within the funeral pyre
Of our failures.
This is—
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Monday, June 9th, 2025 06:55 pm
This is an offer of the 2nd edition of Green Ronin's Adventure Game Engine FRPG with supplements:
https://bundleofholding.com/p
This is a well-regarded system and the rules are easy to learn, mostly similar to the previous release and broadly compatible with other games from Green Ronin such as The Expanse. One of the supplements covers one a fun subgenre, technofantasy - adventures in a world where magic and forgotten technology are pretty much interchangeable. I'm probably not going to be playing it, since I OD'd on the genre in the seventies and eighties and got fed up with some aspects of fantasy adventuring, but it's relatively cheap and I think it's worth a look if you're interested.
https://bundleofholding.com/p
This is a well-regarded system and the rules are easy to learn, mostly similar to the previous release and broadly compatible with other games from Green Ronin such as The Expanse. One of the supplements covers one a fun subgenre, technofantasy - adventures in a world where magic and forgotten technology are pretty much interchangeable. I'm probably not going to be playing it, since I OD'd on the genre in the seventies and eighties and got fed up with some aspects of fantasy adventuring, but it's relatively cheap and I think it's worth a look if you're interested.
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Monday, June 9th, 2025 02:01 pm
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Monday, June 9th, 2025 12:40 pm
No rules, no bureaucracy, just some randos messing around with the past, present, and future.
Five Stories About Time Travel on a Limited Scale
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Monday, June 9th, 2025 10:21 am
2000: The theft of an Enigma Machine comes too late to play a significant role in World War Two, Sellafield highlight British dedication to nuclear saafety, and the Conservatives, informed polling has them 2% ahead of Labour, discover that they are actually trailing by 13%.
Bold for have read, italic for intend to read,, underline for never heard of it.
Which 2000 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Distraction by Bruce Sterling
A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Silver Screen by Justina Robson
The Bones of Time by Kathleen Ann Goonan
Time by Stephen Baxter
Poll #33234 Clarke Award Finalists 2000
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 54
Which 2000 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
View Answers
Distraction by Bruce Sterling
11 (20.4%)
A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
40 (74.1%)
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
42 (77.8%)
Silver Screen by Justina Robson
8 (14.8%)
The Bones of Time by Kathleen Ann Goonan
4 (7.4%)
Time by Stephen Baxter
11 (20.4%)
Bold for have read, italic for intend to read,, underline for never heard of it.
Which 2000 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Distraction by Bruce Sterling
A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Silver Screen by Justina Robson
The Bones of Time by Kathleen Ann Goonan
Time by Stephen Baxter
Sunday, June 8th, 2025 10:47 pm
Last night's sleep was Bad in complex ways (I woke up at 6, tried to get back to sleep and did not until after 7, and then had to be up at 8:30 for church service). But that meant I woke up in the middle of a dream and thus remember some bits of it.
( Just a few remembered snippets, mostly because I remember them from telling KJ this morning. )
( Just a few remembered snippets, mostly because I remember them from telling KJ this morning. )
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Sunday, June 8th, 2025 05:21 pm
It's just as well that I have to start work Monday morning at just after 3 AM PT due to some technical issues that I need to supervise for the Day Jobbe, because it's apt to be tolerably cool then and I should then be able to bail out by Noon or so.
Kayla went out to breakfast this morning at 6:30 AM and did some errands, getting back home by about 9 AM before the full heat of the day hit. Then we spent the next few hours working on Westercon site selection issues. I am in overall charge of the two Westercon Business functions for BayCon 2025/Westercon 77, while Martin Pyne is chair of the Business Meeting and Kayla Allen is head of Site Selection. I expect that Kayla will have something more to write about this on Monday.
I think it peaked at 36°C, which, being just below body temperature, is where things are getting dangerous. The swamp cooler can help, but it's still not much fun.
Now to see if I can get to sleep in this afternoon heat, as my bedroom is on the west side of the house so gets the afternoon sun. I keep a piece of insulation in the window to try and keep it dark and to reduce the amount of heat. I also fill the tank on the swamp cooler and point it into the bedroom when I go to bed under these conditions. Then, after sundown (I hate daylight savings time) and when things have cooled somewhat, if I wake up (likely), I can open the windows and get some cross-ventilation going.
Kayla went out to breakfast this morning at 6:30 AM and did some errands, getting back home by about 9 AM before the full heat of the day hit. Then we spent the next few hours working on Westercon site selection issues. I am in overall charge of the two Westercon Business functions for BayCon 2025/Westercon 77, while Martin Pyne is chair of the Business Meeting and Kayla Allen is head of Site Selection. I expect that Kayla will have something more to write about this on Monday.
I think it peaked at 36°C, which, being just below body temperature, is where things are getting dangerous. The swamp cooler can help, but it's still not much fun.
Now to see if I can get to sleep in this afternoon heat, as my bedroom is on the west side of the house so gets the afternoon sun. I keep a piece of insulation in the window to try and keep it dark and to reduce the amount of heat. I also fill the tank on the swamp cooler and point it into the bedroom when I go to bed under these conditions. Then, after sundown (I hate daylight savings time) and when things have cooled somewhat, if I wake up (likely), I can open the windows and get some cross-ventilation going.
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Sunday, June 8th, 2025 07:23 pm
My right knee is healing, and stretching worked significantly better than yesterday. I even did a few carefully selected PT exercises this afternoon.
I can do more things standing up, and walking around the apartment is easier. However, I seem to have been leaning too much on the other leg, because my left knee started to hurt earlier. Not badly, but enough that I am putting the cane aside for the moment.
update Monday, 6/9: my knees feel mostly OK today. I am still being careful about walking a lot or standing too long. I just got the mail, figuring the two steps down to the mailboxes would be a useful check of how I'm doing. It was doable, but did hurt a little; I'm glad I decided not to go out. (The sidewalk is down another half dozen stairs, which are a bit more difficult than the ones inside, but the main thing is that this way I only had to climb back up two stairs.)
I heard from the GI doctor's office this morning, and have an appointment Friday at 10:30, which will be telemedicine. I hope my knees will be feeling a lot better by then, but if she had wanted to see me in person, I would have called a lyft and taken the quad cane with me just in case.
I can do more things standing up, and walking around the apartment is easier. However, I seem to have been leaning too much on the other leg, because my left knee started to hurt earlier. Not badly, but enough that I am putting the cane aside for the moment.
update Monday, 6/9: my knees feel mostly OK today. I am still being careful about walking a lot or standing too long. I just got the mail, figuring the two steps down to the mailboxes would be a useful check of how I'm doing. It was doable, but did hurt a little; I'm glad I decided not to go out. (The sidewalk is down another half dozen stairs, which are a bit more difficult than the ones inside, but the main thing is that this way I only had to climb back up two stairs.)
I heard from the GI doctor's office this morning, and have an appointment Friday at 10:30, which will be telemedicine. I hope my knees will be feeling a lot better by then, but if she had wanted to see me in person, I would have called a lyft and taken the quad cane with me just in case.
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Sunday, June 8th, 2025 07:06 pm
I swung by Old Goat Books to pick up a book I ordered, which meant I was in the right place at the right time hear the confused customer next to me ask "What's speculative fiction?" Which, after I explained what it meant, was followed by the question. "Do you know anything about Andre Norton?"
It was only with great effort that I resisted shouting "BEHOLD! I AM Marshall McLuhan" before helping.
It was only with great effort that I resisted shouting "BEHOLD! I AM Marshall McLuhan" before helping.
Sunday, June 8th, 2025 09:18 am
A decrepit fleet sails from Germany to play its role in a futile war, crewed by sailors who seem more eager to kill each other than the perfidious Australians.
The Heirs of Babylon by Glen Cook
Saturday, June 7th, 2025 11:15 pm
Best Novel: Someone You Can Build a Nest In, John Wiswell (DAW; Arcadia UK)
Best Novella: The Dragonfly Gambit, A.D. Sui (Neon Hemlock)
Best Novelette: Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being, A.W. Prihandita (Clarkesworld 11/24)
Short Story: Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole, Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld 2/24)
Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction: The Young Necromancer’s Guide to Ghosts, Vanessa Ricci-Thode (self-published)
Best Game Writing: A Death in Hyperspace, Stewart C Baker, Phoebe Barton, James Beamon, Kate Heartfield, Isabel J. Kim, Sara S. Messenger, Naca Rat, Natalia Theodoridou, M. Darusha Wehm, Merc Fenn Wolfmoor (Infomancy.net)
Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation: Dune: Part Two by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve (Warner Bros)
Kevin O'Donnell, Jr Special Service Award: C.J. Lavigne
Best Novella: The Dragonfly Gambit, A.D. Sui (Neon Hemlock)
Best Novelette: Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being, A.W. Prihandita (Clarkesworld 11/24)
Short Story: Why Don’t We Just Kill the Kid in the Omelas Hole, Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld 2/24)
Andre Norton Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction: The Young Necromancer’s Guide to Ghosts, Vanessa Ricci-Thode (self-published)
Best Game Writing: A Death in Hyperspace, Stewart C Baker, Phoebe Barton, James Beamon, Kate Heartfield, Isabel J. Kim, Sara S. Messenger, Naca Rat, Natalia Theodoridou, M. Darusha Wehm, Merc Fenn Wolfmoor (Infomancy.net)
Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation: Dune: Part Two by Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve (Warner Bros)
Kevin O'Donnell, Jr Special Service Award: C.J. Lavigne
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Saturday, June 7th, 2025 07:55 pm
Lisa and I went to Reno to find her a quality camera bag for her to use on her trip to Europe this summer, after which we went to WinCo Foods for groceries. It was relatively late in my day when we turned for home, so I decided to get a mocha frappuccino from Starbucks. Those of you who follow Kayla's journal will recognize the irony of this. Fortunately, there was no issue with me going in to pick up the drink that Kayla ordered for me.
Friday, June 6th, 2025 09:09 am
A foundling boy raised by a great snake becomes intrigued by a reclusive calligrapher living near the river snake and boy call home.
Numamushi by Mina Ikemoto Ghosh
Thursday, June 5th, 2025 09:10 pm
We had a *weird* power outage today: most but not all of the apartment lost power. Mercifully, we did not lose power to the study, where I've been sitting quietly in the air conditioning all day (the high was 35C/95F). Our first thought was that something weird had happened to our apartment's power. Cattitude spent some time on the phone with the management company, which sent a technician. The technician looked things over and told us to call Eversource.
Some piece of their equipment broke, leaving 37 customers without power, according to the outage map, including us and our upstairs neighbors who also had power in part of each apartment. It took them several hours to fix, but fortunately we got our lights back before it was entirely dark out. The oddest-feeling bit of this was realizing that I could plug my phone in to charge, in the middle of a power outage.
I have been doing almost nothing today, to avoid straining my knee*. It's feel better now than last night, but still not great, and I'm having trouble using the quad cane correctly: even moving slowly, my foot and the cane are landing with one an inch or so ahead of the other (sometimes the foot is forward, sometimes it's behind). Tomorrow is supposed to be a lot cooler, but I'm still planning to stay home, and hopefully do some stretching.
* Yes, I buried the lede in yesterday's post, because the googly-eyed train was more interesting.
Some piece of their equipment broke, leaving 37 customers without power, according to the outage map, including us and our upstairs neighbors who also had power in part of each apartment. It took them several hours to fix, but fortunately we got our lights back before it was entirely dark out. The oddest-feeling bit of this was realizing that I could plug my phone in to charge, in the middle of a power outage.
I have been doing almost nothing today, to avoid straining my knee*. It's feel better now than last night, but still not great, and I'm having trouble using the quad cane correctly: even moving slowly, my foot and the cane are landing with one an inch or so ahead of the other (sometimes the foot is forward, sometimes it's behind). Tomorrow is supposed to be a lot cooler, but I'm still planning to stay home, and hopefully do some stretching.
* Yes, I buried the lede in yesterday's post, because the googly-eyed train was more interesting.
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Thursday, June 5th, 2025 09:27 am
This morning when Kayla was on her way to breakfast, she spotted not one, but two rabbits in our field.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Thursday, June 5th, 2025 09:41 am
When a woman looked around her for her husband, who had been right behind her on the stairs but was now nowhere to be seen. I was very worried I was facing a repeat of the time not too long ago when I spent an hour looking for a missing patron.
The missing husband turned out not to have been behind his wife on the stairs after all, so mystery solved. The missing patron I spent that hour looking for was found once I thought about where she had to be to have not been found where we looked: row H or J, somewhere near seat 26.
The missing husband turned out not to have been behind his wife on the stairs after all, so mystery solved. The missing patron I spent that hour looking for was found once I thought about where she had to be to have not been found where we looked: row H or J, somewhere near seat 26.