Monthly Archives: August 2009
What I Miss Out On Not Living in Boston and/or Not Giving a Crap About Sports
Posted on August 31, 2009 37 Comments
Stuff like this: I still think it’s funny, however. Hat tip to Deb Geisler.
Disclaimer, 8/31/09
Posted on August 31, 2009 38 Comments
Since a couple of people have asked: No, as far as I know, I’m not related to the Jason Scalzi quoted in this article. If I were, however, I would probably point him to this, since he’s so very concerned about marriage. And then I would probably tell him to stop being such an ass.
Okay Then: Health Care
Posted on August 31, 2009 551 Comments
So, I’ve been avoiding talking about the health care thing all August long, but let’s go ahead and talk about it a bit, just so that decades from now my biographers (i.e., the great-great grandniece assigned to do a high school project about that ancestor of hers who wrote those spaceship books — how funny!) […]
First Day of School, 2009
Posted on August 31, 2009 37 Comments
And ready to take on the fifth grade. The question is, is fifth grade at all prepared for her? We’ll find out, sometime around 2:40 today, I suppose. I will say she’s very excited to be going back. I hope the feeling survives her first batch of homework.
Oh, Okay, One More Thing
Posted on August 28, 2009 35 Comments
The Hugo finally arrived. It’s on the right. Soon it will slide over to where the Denvention Hugo sits, because Athena wants that one in her room, and, you know, why the heck not. The only problem with this year’s Hugo is that unless you’re looking directly down at it, you can’t see the very […]
Ghlaghghee Simply Cannot Be Bothered To Get Up Out of Bed
Posted on August 28, 2009 43 Comments
And who can blame her? It’s the last lazy weekend of summer around these parts. Might as well sleep in while you can. As it is the last weekend of summer, and because I have weekend guests arriving, and because every time I try to write something here I trail off into crushing indifference regarding […]
Everything is Boring
Posted on August 27, 2009 101 Comments
We’re down to the last couple of days of summer here at the Scalzi compound — school starts on Monday — and this turns out to be a good thing, because both Athena and I have reached that point where we are both unspeakably bored yet any proposed solution to said boredome strikes us as […]
Getting Ahead of One’s Self
Posted on August 27, 2009 20 Comments
Justine Larbalestier takes some questions from an audience at a writers’ festival, quickly realizes that the questions are focused on getting the attention of publishers before a manuscript is even completed, and has an epiphany on how to address those questions. You should link through to see her solution. I’m largely in agreement with her. […]
Now It’s Star Trek’s Turn
Posted on August 27, 2009
Having caused half the science fiction geeks in the known universe to demand my worthless corpse be frozen in carbonite for pointing out the bad design in Star Wars in my AMC column last week, I now risk inflaming the other half by doing the same to the Star Trek universe. Because, damn it, why […]
A Day at the Darke County Fair: A Photo Set
Posted on August 26, 2009 33 Comments
It was a day of cookie making, of rides, of farm animals, and of course, of deep fried pickles. Come see it all in this Flickr set.
RIP, Ted Kennedy
Posted on August 26, 2009 28 Comments
An interesting (and influential) American life, to be sure. CNN has an obituary here.
Oh Noes! It’s The Infopocalypse!
Posted on August 25, 2009 40 Comments
Seriously now, is it just me or are Google, Twitter and Facebook either down or moving incredibly slowly? Is it the end of the world as we know it? And will be stalking our neighbors for their protein value? Someone let me know, please. Because I’ll need to track down some of the more free […]
Athena Jumps Into the Rough and Tumble World of County Fair Junior Baking Contests
Posted on August 25, 2009 37 Comments
Here she is on stage making the peanut butter cookies she was practicing making earlier in the week, competing against a dozen other junior bakers. Athena’s cookies placed out of competition, but she was given a nice baking timer for her participation, and I will tell you without any fatherly pride inflation that her cookies, […]
The Big Idea: C.L. Anderson
Posted on August 25, 2009 93 Comments
“All we are saying is give peace a chance,” John Lennon once sang, from his bed. The question is: What does it take to give peace a chance — and is it an equitable price for what you get? This is a question that C.L. Anderson has thought more than a little bit about, and […]
Today’s Grammar Gripe, Seemingly Out of Nowhere
Posted on August 24, 2009 118 Comments
People: It’s “centers on,” not “centers around.” If you give it some thought, you’ll figure out why. If you can’t figure out why, your nearest mathematician specializing in topology will be happy to explain it to you. If you must use “around” in a phrase, try “revolves around.” That will work, and will keep me […]
Aside From the Fact I Have a BlackBerry Storm, Not an iPhone, This is Accurate
Posted on August 24, 2009 63 Comments
Of course, you’ll have to click through to see what this is. And then you’ll have click back a few days to get the whole story. But what the heck. What else do you have to do with your time, right? Unrelated: I’ve changed the look of the site today and will probably do some […]
Once Again I Have Nothing of Interest To Say, So Please Enjoy These Pictures of Huge Bugs Crawling on My Window Screens
Posted on August 23, 2009 38 Comments
In case you’re wondering, unless you’re viewing these on a monitor larger than 24 inches diagonally, these pictures are either at or smaller than life size. Yeah, they were big’uns. Fortunately, crawling on the outside of the screen as opposed to the inside.
Today I Have Nothing To Say, So Here Is a List of Anagrams for “I Have Nothing To Say”
Posted on August 22, 2009 32 Comments
You’re welcome: A Heaving Shiny Toot Gainsay The Hot Vino Aghast Vein Oho Tiny A Yeshivah Toting On Vagina Shine Toothy Hyaena Voting Hoist A Heavy Shooting Tin Avian Eying Hotshot Vintage Yahoo Thins Shanghai One Ivy Tot
In Which The Author Engages In Some Unseemly Whining
Posted on August 21, 2009 97 Comments
Damn it, where the hell is my Hugo? It was supposed to have been shipped as of the 11th, and here it is the 21st, and I don’t have it. Is it being couriered by tortoises? Has Fed Ex been replaced by a league of snails? Will sloths in UPS caps show up at my […]
Worldbuilding, Briefly
Posted on August 21, 2009 72 Comments
All the recent discussion of design in the Star Wars universe has led to a fair question of how deeply someone designing a universe and the things in it has to go to make the thing plausible enough for its task — which, in my opinion, is to keep the audience engaged all the way […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying