I came home from vacation to find this waiting from me from my Secret Santa: (Click the image to see a larger version.) It’s a stack of Asimov’s and Analog magazines from the 1970s and includes the premier issue of Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine (the one showing). It also appears to include most issues…
Riffing off John Scalzi‘s and Mary Robinette Kowal‘s posts of a similar vain, here are ten things I’ve done that you probably haven’t: Piloted an airplane myself with no one else onboard Worked for the same company for more than 16 years Driven past Harlan Ellison’s house dozens of times before I ever realized it…
What do you read after you’ve finished an astonishing book? I always have trouble finding something good to read after I read a really superb book and the reason is because superb books are few and far between, the cream of the crop, and almost anything that follows the act will pale in comparison.  I call these…
These are my personal resolutions for 2011. These are not my writing goals for 2011. I am trying to keep things simple here and so I’m focusing on only 3 things. 1. Get back into shape In 2006-2007 I went to the gym religiously, worked with a trainer, and by the summer of 2007, managed…
All Clear is the second part of the book that began with Connie Willis’ Blackout (see my review here) which came out early in 2010. Blackout/All Clear are a single book that was broken into two parts; they are not part of a series and it is impossible to read All Clear without first having…
I haven’t the slightest fear of heights in real life but in my dreams, I am terrified by them for some reason. The last few nights have been plagued by dreams which involve weird or unusual heights. A few nights ago, I dreamt I had taken a wrong turn on the highway and in order…
I read 19 books in 2010 which is a far cry from those early days in the mid-late-90s when I was reading 40 books a year. I know there are people out there who read a lot more and all I can say is: I’m jealous. The year started out with the fascinating biography of…
One of the awesome gifts I got for Christmas this year from my in-laws was a copy of the The Nine Planets by Franklyn M. Branley. I’ve mentioned this book numerous times over the years on this blog. It is the book that turned me onto science back when I was a first-grader. I discovered…
When the Little Man is in a grouchy mood and in need of a nap, it is often my job to get him to sleep. It takes persistence, but I find that singing him lullabies calms him and eventually puts him to sleep. (Granted, he may decide to go to sleep as a way of…
The Little Man has been sick with an ear infection, which entails fevers and some whining, but otherwise, he is a very good sick little boy. In fact, looking at him, you couldn’t tell that he’s even sick. He’s cheerful, happy, playful. All the things I am not when I am sick. I have managed…
I’ve been in one of those “I can’t decide what I want to read” phases. I’ve jumped around and sampled a lot over the last few days, but nothing is sticking. So I decided to go back to Connie Willis’ novel All Clear, which is really just the second part of Blackout which I read…