Still going quackers
Jun. 15th, 2025 06:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jhetleyAir temperature 49 F, wind near calm, fog at the airport and visibility 1.5 miles. Reports of frost and hard freeze up in the northern reaches. Should be able to get a bike ride in a few hours. Elder Son reports two duck families on his walk yesterday. 'Tis the season.
Books Received, June 7 to June 13
Jun. 14th, 2025 09:03 amjames_davis_nicoll
Ten books new to me: 4.5 fantasy, 1 horror, 1 mystery, 3.5 science fiction, of which only two are identified as series.
Books Received, June 7 to June 13
Poll #33251 Books Received, June 7 to June 13
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 46
Which of these look interesting?
View Answers
This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews (March 2026)
18 (39.1%)
The Swan’s Daughter: A Possibly Doomed Love Story by Roshani Chokshi (January 2026)
12 (26.1%)
Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology edited by Julie C. Day, Carina Bissett, and Craig Laurance Gidney (June 2025)
24 (52.2%)
The Storm by Rachel Hawkins (January2026)
3 (6.5%)
What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher (September 2025)
25 (54.3%)
Red Empire by Jonathan Maberry (March 2026)
2 (4.3%)
The Two Lies of Faven Sythe by Megan E. O’Keefe (June 2025)
13 (28.3%)
The Young Necromancer’s Guide to Ghosts by Vanessa Ricci-Thode (April 2024)
12 (26.1%)
The Poet Empress by Shen Tao (January 2026)
6 (13.0%)
Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky (June 2025)
24 (52.2%)
Some other option (see comments)
0 (0.0%)
Cats!
29 (63.0%)
Cytoplasm works
Jun. 14th, 2025 06:59 amjhetleyAir temperature 54 F, north wind 6 mph, cloudy. Weather radar shows rain just south of us, moving from west to east. May be able to sneak a walk past it. Salvia plants haven't died yet.
Ignoring chaos
Jun. 13th, 2025 11:13 amjhetleyGot the salvia planted around the lamp post, after digging out about a foot of light potting soil and replacing it with "planter" soil. For some reason known but to the precast concrete shop, that lamp pole is well off-center in the planter. Maybe it was intended to be rotated 90 degrees so that the post is offset toward the street. Anyway, we have bee forage available again. And the lawn crew showed up as I was typing this.
A Rebel’s History of Mars by Nadia Afifi
Jun. 13th, 2025 09:04 amjames_davis_nicoll
The embittered Martian aerialist and the nonconformist live a thousand-plus years apart, in different solar systems. What, then, connects them?
A Rebel’s History of Mars by Nadia Afifi
Agriculture pends
Jun. 13th, 2025 07:27 amjhetleyAir temperature 55 F, wind northwest gusting over 20 mph, partly cloudy. Winds supposed to drop after noon, so bike ride may be rescheduled. Waiting for lawn crew to mow, clearing the decks for me to empty out the light-post planter and restock it with fresh salvia to keep the bees happy. We never use that light, so bee-feeding is its only purpose.
Minneapolis
Jun. 12th, 2025 11:24 amsartoriasIt's very poignant to be here again. I'm in Minneapolis so rarely that I can still distinguish each visit, but the overall sense is one of extended memory, that is not just of my own, but of anecdotes from my mother and grandmother about their lives here, my grandmother as a (very) young adult, and my mother as a kid.
Not all the memories of mine are good--the week we spent in Bloomington ranged from weird to horrific, the axis we kid spun around was the sound of my mother crying in the bathroom when my bio grandfather started his daily drinking and turned into a monster. We kids at least escaped with his bio kids (our age, his second marriage) but mom couldn't escape--we had the car.
The city that was best to them all (though mom only got to visit, never got to live there) was Red Wing. I adore that place! There's something so peaceful about Red Wing. And extended memory is very complete, as we heard ALL the stories about life on the farm, etc. But it wasn't idyllic--my grandmother and her older sister had to go--that was the conditions my great-grandmother accepted when she remarried in order to save the farm, around 1930, with the Depression really digging in. The man said he could abide the two younger girls but the sixteen year old (my grandmother) and her older sister had to get out and find their way on their own. Which they did, in Minneapolis, waiting tables.
Anyway I'm here for a con. I came a day early, knowing that getting in at one in the morning would leave me a zombie for a day. The weather is perfect--cool and cloudy. I think I'll go out for another walk.
Not all the memories of mine are good--the week we spent in Bloomington ranged from weird to horrific, the axis we kid spun around was the sound of my mother crying in the bathroom when my bio grandfather started his daily drinking and turned into a monster. We kids at least escaped with his bio kids (our age, his second marriage) but mom couldn't escape--we had the car.
The city that was best to them all (though mom only got to visit, never got to live there) was Red Wing. I adore that place! There's something so peaceful about Red Wing. And extended memory is very complete, as we heard ALL the stories about life on the farm, etc. But it wasn't idyllic--my grandmother and her older sister had to go--that was the conditions my great-grandmother accepted when she remarried in order to save the farm, around 1930, with the Depression really digging in. The man said he could abide the two younger girls but the sixteen year old (my grandmother) and her older sister had to get out and find their way on their own. Which they did, in Minneapolis, waiting tables.
Anyway I'm here for a con. I came a day early, knowing that getting in at one in the morning would leave me a zombie for a day. The weather is perfect--cool and cloudy. I think I'll go out for another walk.
Bundle of Holding: Coriolis Mercy of the Icons T
Jun. 12th, 2025 10:41 amjames_davis_nicoll
The corebook + the ICONS adventure trilogy from Free League.
Bundle of Holding: Coriolis Mercy of the Icons
So, there's an employee I dread managing
Jun. 12th, 2025 09:35 amjames_davis_nicollVery nice and punctual but they've basically learned nothing in the year they've worked at the theatre. Not where to stand, not which row is which, or the general location of a given seat. The last two really matter during reserved seating shows. Whatever side that usher is on is going to have lines, and people may end up in the wrong seats.
So I was discussing the situation with my boss and I said my current approach was that each shift would be to pick one thing that usher does not know, and do my best to ensure they know it by the end of the shift. Last shift was "where to stand", for example. My reward is, I think, that usher is now _my_ special project who I will be working with whenever I HM.
I did assure my boss I do remember a previous HM who grilled ushers on seat location and would ding them a quarter hour for minor uniform infractions and that I wasn't going to use them as a model. Well, I do, but only in the sense of asking myself if the way I want to handle something is how that person would, and if it is, I do something else.
So I was discussing the situation with my boss and I said my current approach was that each shift would be to pick one thing that usher does not know, and do my best to ensure they know it by the end of the shift. Last shift was "where to stand", for example. My reward is, I think, that usher is now _my_ special project who I will be working with whenever I HM.
I did assure my boss I do remember a previous HM who grilled ushers on seat location and would ding them a quarter hour for minor uniform infractions and that I wasn't going to use them as a model. Well, I do, but only in the sense of asking myself if the way I want to handle something is how that person would, and if it is, I do something else.
The Transitive Properties of Cheese by Ann LeBlanc
Jun. 12th, 2025 08:59 amjames_davis_nicoll
An artisanal cheesemaker's attempt to save her precious cheese cave lands her in the middle of an interplanetary crisis.
The Transitive Properties of Cheese by Ann LeBlanc
Bestride the narrow
Jun. 12th, 2025 07:02 amjhetleyAir temperature 64 F, wind southwest about 4 mph, "showers in the vicinity" -- not raining here now, but a green glob on the weather radar west of us. Radar clear beyond that, so should be able to get my walk in. World does not seem to have ended while I was sleeping. Shame, that.
Wednesday floral report
Jun. 11th, 2025 12:48 pmjhetleyFirst ox-eye daisies, purple vetch, red and white clover, hobblebush, and ragged-robin blooming. Also probable phlox, although that was ID'd at about 25 mph on a downhill.
Only roadkill was a possible rat. No metal avian report because the runway is closed for repaving.
Got out on the bike, across town and back, with a detour due to bridge repair that will last into July. Will be adjusting detour mileage with added loops on future outings. Did not die.
14.91 miles, 1:34:45
Only roadkill was a possible rat. No metal avian report because the runway is closed for repaving.
Got out on the bike, across town and back, with a detour due to bridge repair that will last into July. Will be adjusting detour mileage with added loops on future outings. Did not die.
14.91 miles, 1:34:45
Five SFF Books About Oddballs Resisting Conformity
Jun. 11th, 2025 10:08 amjames_davis_nicoll
Tales of dissidents, dissenters, and iconoclasts taking on the status quo...
Five SFF Books About Oddballs Resisting Conformity
Armageddon rag
Jun. 11th, 2025 07:00 amjhetleyAir temperature 61 F, wind west about 5 mph, sunny. No ducks visible in the park. Should be able to get a bike ride in. Far behind . . .
(no subject)
Jun. 10th, 2025 03:30 pmjhetleyBeen seeing black unmarked cop SUVs around town that don't match the make and model of our regular cop cars. And the county sheriff uses a different style, also. Maine is a border state . . .
My daughter got a new job
Jun. 10th, 2025 07:06 pmwatervoleHobbies can sometimes lead to useful transferable skills.
Decades ago, I ran a commercial postal RPG called 'Delenda est Carthago' It even won an award.
I employed several people over the years - one interview was with a Dr Who fan, the kind who knew every detail of pretty much every episode.
That was what got him the job - it demon stated his ability to get involved with a fantasy world and to learn all the relevant details. And he turned out to be a very good GM.
My daughter hs a volunteer at Little Woodham - the 17th century replica village. She's become a dab hand at entertaining the visitors with leather-working demonstrations, all sorts of interesting historical facts and also by organising groups of children into being the crew of a canon! (I gather the kids absolutely love it, even the ones who get 'killed' by standing in front of the barrel when loading it, etc.)
Turns out that this is a transferable skill also. It was her time at LIttle Woodham that got her an interview with a company doing coach tours (she has a bus-drivers licence, but that wasn't the critical element). They were looking for someone could entertain the passengers as well as drive them safely.
Monday Passenger: "You're very knowledgeable. How long have you been doing this? It must be a couple of decades."
Lindsey: It's my first day...
She'd done a lot of research and stacked up anecdotes about all the places they would pass en route. A bridge Winston Churchill fell off as a boy; another bridge that had a Civil War fight where a dozen cavalry held off around 200 infantry, stuff about Lulworth Castle, etc.
So, if you ever take a coach tour from Bournemouth rail/coach station to the Jurassic Coast, maybe you'll meet her!
From This Day Forward by John Brunner
Jun. 10th, 2025 09:00 amjames_davis_nicoll
The sudden, shocking, return of Shockwave Reader. Will the living envy the dead?
From This Day Forward by John Brunner
Gray inside and out
Jun. 10th, 2025 07:10 amjhetleyAir temperature 52 F, wind near calm, cloudy. Rain not supposed to kick in here until this afternoon. Foraging probable.
Five Stories About Time Travel on a Limited Scale
Jun. 9th, 2025 12:40 pmjames_davis_nicoll
No rules, no bureaucracy, just some randos messing around with the past, present, and future.
Five Stories About Time Travel on a Limited Scale
Thinking About Camping
Jun. 9th, 2025 08:15 amhrjOne of the things I treated myself to in retirement was a lifetime National Park Pass (because of the senior discount). Which, of course, is only useful if I actually use it. I've been thinking about getting back to doing the occasional short car-camping trip. (Short enough to leave the cats to their own devices, so mostly fairly local. But with some light cat-checkup I could get as far as Crater Lake.)
First step will be to pull out all the camping gear to check that it's clean and in good working order. I have a set-up for the back of the Element with an elevated platform bed with gear stowed underneath. I can take a bicycle, but not the recumbent (which is a good argument for keeping the fold-up Brompton).
At one point I bought a pop-up so that I can set up a larger "living space" off the back of the vehicle, which I haven't ever used yet. So I need to do a test set-up. My plan is to use some of the canvas from my old pavilion to create walls for it, so that I can use it for changing. (Changing clothes while wriggling around in a sleeping bag is for the young and flexible.) So I need to do that.
And then, of course, there's the issue of scheduling reservations, though mid-week availability will help there, I imagine. I haven't found a similar program for state parks -- there's a senior discount program, but it isn't as generous. But state parks are more numerous, of course.
First step will be to pull out all the camping gear to check that it's clean and in good working order. I have a set-up for the back of the Element with an elevated platform bed with gear stowed underneath. I can take a bicycle, but not the recumbent (which is a good argument for keeping the fold-up Brompton).
At one point I bought a pop-up so that I can set up a larger "living space" off the back of the vehicle, which I haven't ever used yet. So I need to do a test set-up. My plan is to use some of the canvas from my old pavilion to create walls for it, so that I can use it for changing. (Changing clothes while wriggling around in a sleeping bag is for the young and flexible.) So I need to do that.
And then, of course, there's the issue of scheduling reservations, though mid-week availability will help there, I imagine. I haven't found a similar program for state parks -- there's a senior discount program, but it isn't as generous. But state parks are more numerous, of course.
Clarke Award Finalists 2000
Jun. 9th, 2025 10:21 amjames_davis_nicoll2000: 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
Armageddon tired
Jun. 9th, 2025 07:12 amjhetleyAir temperature 56 F, light northwest breeze, fog at the airport. Sun on dewy grass here on the other side of town. Moderate air quality, AQI 70-- Canadian pollution. Appointments this morning to rate our aging eyes.
Timing
Jun. 8th, 2025 07:06 pmjames_davis_nicollI 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.
The Heirs of Babylon by Glen Cook
Jun. 8th, 2025 09:18 amjames_davis_nicoll
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
Slow Sunday moving
Jun. 8th, 2025 07:19 amjhetleyAir temperature 58 F, wind north about 8 mph, sunny. Four mallards in the middle of the park. I don't think we have a pond out there, but it can't be ruled out . . .
Air quality "moderate" with AQI 97. This raises questions about a bike ride later.
Air quality "moderate" with AQI 97. This raises questions about a bike ride later.
Nebula winners announced
Jun. 7th, 2025 11:15 pmjames_davis_nicollBest 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
Happy to see me?
Jun. 7th, 2025 10:46 amjhetleyCould hear Ms. Sasha purring as she strolled down the walkway to meet me. We did the usual ritual of a meet-up scritch and then escort around the corner to her front steps for an extended session.
Orange hawkweed blooming in one yard, earliest of the species. More rhododendrons, more roses, etc, etc, etc.
Orange hawkweed blooming in one yard, earliest of the species. More rhododendrons, more roses, etc, etc, etc.
Madhouse viewing point
Jun. 7th, 2025 07:05 amjhetleyAir temperature 64 F, wind near calm, light mist falling. Roads had been drying off from overnight rain. No current local rain showing on the radar. May be able to get out for a walk.
(no subject)
Jun. 6th, 2025 12:43 pmjhetleyThe lion and the unicorn
Were fighting for the crown
The lion beat the unicorn
All around the town.
Some gave them white bread,
And some gave them brown;
Some gave them plum cake
and drummed them out of town.
Were fighting for the crown
The lion beat the unicorn
All around the town.
Some gave them white bread,
And some gave them brown;
Some gave them plum cake
and drummed them out of town.
Numamushi by Mina Ikemoto Ghosh
Jun. 6th, 2025 09:09 amjames_davis_nicoll
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
Death of ambition
Jun. 6th, 2025 06:49 amjhetleyAir temperature 66 F, wind northwest about 5 mph, partly cloudy with added wildfire smoke. Dew point 63 F, high pollen, air quality moderate with AQI 57. I did not like the air when I rolled the trash bin to the end of the driveway. Planned bike ride may be scrubbed in favor of a sedate walk.
(no subject)
Jun. 5th, 2025 05:40 pmjhetleyWell, I was wondering when they would hit the rocks. How long until Musk is scapegoated for everything that breaks?
I had a tiny little tense moment last night
Jun. 5th, 2025 09:41 amjames_davis_nicollWhen 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.
The Witch Roads (The Witch Roads, volume 1) by Kate Elliott
Jun. 5th, 2025 09:11 amjames_davis_nicoll
An arduous journey in a prince's entourage offers a courier escape from immediate, judicial danger, at the cost of an entirely different assortment of dangers.
The Witch Roads (The Witch Roads, volume 1) by Kate Elliott
NDP display firm resolve
Jun. 5th, 2025 09:04 amjames_davis_nicoll Pursuing their vow to bring down the government, NDP ... do nothing of the sort.
I wonder if they got phone calls from voters expressing their displeasure at the prospect of an election so soon after the previous one?
I wonder if they got phone calls from voters expressing their displeasure at the prospect of an election so soon after the previous one?