Monthly Archives: November 2005
Random Thought About the War
Posted on November 30, 2005 42 Comments
Sometimes I wonder what it means that more US soldiers died in the first few hours of D-Day, storming Omaha Beach, than have died in Iraq since the beginning of this present conflict. Mind you, it doesn’t have to mean anything at all; Iraq and WWII are manifestly different conflicts. I could equally point out […]
What I’ll Be Doing in 2006
Posted on November 30, 2005 35 Comments
I’ll be writing science fiction, that’s what I’ll be doing, because I just agreed to a new three-book deal with Tor. Included in the deal: Book three in the Old Man’s War series, tentatively titled The Last Colony, and a new two-book series which I’m very excited about but the details of which I want […]
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Goth
Posted on November 30, 2005 24 Comments
Not yet seven, yet she’s got the pose all right for the artist picture at her first gallery exhibition. As I’ve noted before, you can’t teach that. You have to be born with that. And then she’s off to her first Dresden Dolls concert! It really doesn’t get any better than that. But wait, there’s […]
Firefox 1.5 on Mac: Not Ready for Prime Time
Posted on November 29, 2005 15 Comments
The new version of the Firefox browser came out today (version 1.5);I downloaded it for my Mac and almost immediately regretted it, as it froze up a number of times, added an inexplicable empty box to the bottom of the browser, worked very poorly with my Movable Type setu, and generally misbehaved rather badly in […]
But Enough About Me…
Posted on November 29, 2005 15 Comments
…Let’s talk about other writers and books. * For example, did you know that today was the day that Elizabeth Bear’s latest book Worldwired debuted in the stores? And if you did not, have you considered seeking professional help for this problem? This is the third in the series of "Jenny" books (and, I believe, […]
First Review of The Ghost Brigades
Posted on November 28, 2005 15 Comments
Sending out those ARCs of The Ghost Brigades is paying off: The first review of the book is up at SFReviews.net. A choice pull quote, complete with an ellipsis to make you wonder what I’m skipping over: Like Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades is thinking fans’ space opera. And for all that Scalzi gives […]
One Song, Five Takes — A Musical Meme
Posted on November 28, 2005 33 Comments
I haven’t done a musical meme for a while, so here’s one for you: Find a song with at least five cover versions (i.e., a version other than the most famous version) and give a quick review of each cover (can’t find five? Try three, then). My selection: "Unchained Melody" from the Righteous Brothers Cover […]
Off It Goes
Posted on November 28, 2005 10 Comments
The second pass corrections for The Ghost Brigades are now in to Tor, and hopefully we’ve caught all the errors there are to catch, and if not, well, then know we’ve done our best (the corrections for "Questions for a Soldier" went in this weekend as well — truly a weekend for correction!). Barring another […]
The Editorial Process, Revealed, Kinda
Posted on November 26, 2005 27 Comments
Pictured: The second pass of page proofs from The Ghost Brigades, which I need to comb through for any remaining errors/inconsistencies/things I want to take out. After this, any errors that remain become part of the quirky character of a first edition printing, to be enjoyed by bibliophiles for years after they’ve been corrected in […]
An Interesting Condundrum
Posted on November 25, 2005 20 Comments
Now, I find this interesting: A gay man charged with helping his lover loot a wealthy school district has asked a judge to rule that state law protecting spouses from having to testify against each other also applies to same-sex partners. Stephen Signorelli, fighting charges that he stole at least $219,000 from the Roslyn, New […]
Geek-Related Activities
Posted on November 25, 2005 12 Comments
Just to catch you all up on the nerdly events as they transpire in my life: 1. The Ghost Brigades will be a featured alternate selection of the Science Fiction Book Club for March, 2006, so those of you in the SFBC, that’s something to look forward to. The SFBC has been pretty good to […]
Political Rant, Boiled Way Down
Posted on November 25, 2005 13 Comments
Somebody correct me if I’m wrong here, but: A major reason the Bush administration is finally allowing Jose Padilla the Constitutional rights it’s been systematically depriving him of for the last three years is because it doesn’t want to discuss how it tortured people to get the information used to implicate him? Holy mother of […]
Because Lack of Competence Should Never Be a Barrier
Posted on November 25, 2005 13 Comments
Former FEMA head Mike Brown is starting a disaster preparedness consulting firm. This is like Joseph Hazelwood opening up an oil tanker driving school. What really gets me is this quote: Brown said officials need to "take inventory" of what’s going on in a disaster to be able to answer questions to avoid appearing unaware […]
Thanksgiving Sky
Posted on November 24, 2005 4 Comments
Here’s what Thanksgiving looked like in rural Ohio. In case you’ve been wondering all day long. Here’s a bigger version.
Thanksgiving
Posted on November 24, 2005 2 Comments
I’m thankful I have something to do besides be on the computer today.
First Snowfall Photoset
Posted on November 23, 2005 3 Comments
The capricious weather gods have decreed snow for Thanksgiving, the bastards. At least I got a photo set out of it.
It’s a Sale!
Posted on November 23, 2005 8 Comments
Passing along a note to you from Subterranean Press, and it reads like this: We’ve just received copies of AGENT TO THE STARS (John Scalzi) back from our distributor, and are able to offer them for just $10 apiece, plus $5 s&h for US orders. These copies aren’t in perfect nick — some have a […]
The Existential Tension of Photography
Posted on November 22, 2005 23 Comments
It is thus: Sometimes you want to take pictures of majestic clouds rolling across the sky. Sometimes you want to take pictures of your dog eating leftover chili in the bathtub. Discuss.
Basic Friend Pimpage
Posted on November 22, 2005 25 Comments
As I’m crawling through your basic wall of pre-Thanksgiving work, a couple of notes on things friends are doing: 1. My pal Nick Sagan, from whom I enthusiastically stole a major plot point of The Ghost Brigades from his excellent book Edenborn, has gone and started himself a blog, which I recommend you all go […]
A Shout-Out to All The Childfree Folks Out There
Posted on November 20, 2005 139 Comments
Here’s a wombfruit that justifies every single awful horrible thing you might ever say about sprogs and the breeders who squatted them out. To give some context, it’s apparently a nine-year-old, playing an online game on his XBox, having a fit because his mother won’t bring him chocolate milk. He doesn’t appear to be aware […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying