10 ways writing stories is like writing code

Being a science fiction writer and (senior) application developer means spending my nights writing stories and my days writing code. It recently occurred to me there are some similarities between the two activities which I will now delineate for you in this conveniently accessible list: Gathering requirements = Outlining. Pretty self-explanatory. Naming variables = Naming [...]

And to perk up your spirits on this dreary day… (NSFW)

Here is a rather funny video Kelly sent me this morning. Having lived in L.A. for nearly 20 years I can attest first hand that this is 100 percent true. Although why someone would order “Grilled Cheese Animal Style” from In-n-Out is beyond me. Double-Double all the way!

15 use cases comparing e-books to traditional books: an illustrated list

I’ve now been reading e-books for more than 2-1/2 years. For the 37 years prior to that, I read paper books exclusively. For a while now, I’ve been meaning to compare the two forms of book in some reasonable and understandable way, but I was hard pressed to come up with a format for such [...]

Wherein my in-laws tease me with long-distance eggnog

A few days ago I wrote about how my wonderful in-laws hooked me on eggnog. Since then, I’ve checked the local grocery stores almost daily for the possibility that one of them will magically receive a late shipment. But no luck, and I figured the season had passed. And then, out of the blue, I [...]

Dear CBS: Here is my application to replace Andy Rooney

I wrote something earlier in the week to which my friend Lisa commented: “Is this essay going to be part of your application to replace Andy Rooney?” Well, no that one wasn’t, Lisa, but your comment gave me inspiration and because of it, I present this: Jamie Todd Rubin: On Straws There was a time when a [...]

We need a national Rosie’s Bar day

With everything going on in the world right now, I think we need a national Rosie’s Bar day. What is a “Rosie’s Bar day”? It comes from the M*A*S*H episode “A Night at Rosie’s.” Hawkeye decides to quit the war and goes to Rosie’s bar for a drink. Colonel Potter sends someone off to find [...]

Dr. Seuss predicts the Nook in 1960

At present, the book du jour that I read to the Little Man each night is Dr. Seuss’s One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. We read it every night and while I’d memorized it as a kid, I’d forgotten a lot of it until I started reading it again. Now I have it memorized [...]

Humor for a Tuesday morning

Tuesdays seem like they are neglected, so I decided to post something funny in honor of the fact that it is Tuesday. (And in truth, seeing my high school class group revived on Facebook spurred the idea.) So without further delay, here is a picture of yours truly, taken in either the fall of 1989 [...]

Google Motion Beta

Check out this innovative new feature coming soon to Google Docs. Write and get exercise, too! Oh, and happy April, everyone.

So you want to write a novel

Via Mary Robinette Kowal: Yes, it is true, I have run into friends like this.  And yes, you know who you are.  This had me laughing so hard that I almost decided to… well, write a novel:

Doppelgänger

A colleague stopped by today asked me if I knew who ESPN’s Sport Science host John Brenkus was?  I didn’t.  So he told me to go look him up at once on ESPN.  Apparently, he looks just like me.  Or I look just like him.  I dunno, he looks older than me, but setting that [...]

A proliferation of bathrooms

Nerd moment of the day:  I spent part of the afternoon today cleaning bathrooms.  In doing so, it occurred to me that bathrooms in the houses in which I have lived since summer 2002 have increased exponentially as a function to each move.  The chart below illustrates this: I started with 1 bathroom when I [...]

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  • Vacation in the Golden Age

    Episode 32: February 1942

    Stories by Smith, Moore, Brackett, Jones, Sturgeon

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    All Clear
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