There was a letter in the September 5 issue of Time magazine that irked me when I read it today. The context of the letter was in response to an article about autism that appeared in the August 29 issue, in which is was reported that one possible cause might be genetic. Clearly the letter writer…
Early this week we had an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale. Tomorrow we are facing Hurricane Irene. In our part of the mid-Atlantic, it will likely be tropical storm-force, as opposed hurricane force. The rain is supposed to start tomorrow morning and get stronger throughout the day until tomorrow evening, when the strong…
Heinlein has been on my mind over the last few days because he keeps popping up in various places. Fellow Arlington Writers Group member, Libby Heily recently recommended Heinlein’s The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. Heinlein came up somewhere else in conversation. And, of course, Heinlein has two stories in the May 1941 Astounding: “Universe”…
So the Little Man has developed a hilarious new phrase and he didn’t learn it from us. It is a versatile phrase and he uses it with glee. He could be playing with a toy, for instance, and the toy will leap out of his hand and smash into the floor. “Oh man!” he’ll say. He could…
The Little Man was at school, the Little Miss was napping so Kelly and I decided that it would be a good time to take a nap. She napped on the couch and I went up stairs to our room. I was just dozing off when, at 1:51pm, Â it felt like a large truck was…
Not long ago, I wrote a post in which I described some features that I wished were available on some of the apps that I use on the iPad. In the caes of Evernote, which I use constantly as my paperless filing cabinet, there were two things that I really wanted: The ability to mark…
We are back home, this time with an additional family member. The Little Man was very happy to see me pick him up from school today. He is still somewhat dubious about his new sister. However, to his credit, when he got home, he gave her his monkey–the same monkey that he carries with him…
As you read this latest Episode in my Vacation in the Golden Age, I am likely at the hospital feeding my newborn daughter, or more likely, changing her diaper while my wife recovers from the delivery. Nevertheless, I was determined to see this Episode go out on schedule, and indeed, reading through the May 1941…
Congratulations to all of the Hugo Awards winners! We are still in the hospital, and since the award ceremony was in Reno and didn’t start until 11pm here on the East Coast, I couldn’t watch it live streamed online. I had the Little Miss sleeping in my arms while I followed the various Twitter feeds…
I remember when I was in college thinking on occasion that pulling an all-nighter would be a good idea in order to finish a paper or study for an exam. It always seemed like a good idea before-hand. I still seemed like a good idea at 11pm when you made a burger run. But at…
After months of build-up and anticipation, the Little Man finally got to meet the Little Miss in-person last night. I suspect it was a bitter letdown for him. We’ve been building up to this point for some time. The Little Man knew he had a sister coming. He knew her name and that she was…