Monthly Archives: March 2010
I Can Say This Because He’s My Representative
Posted on March 22, 2010 54 Comments
I wonder how much of John Boehner’s righteous anger at the recently-passed health care bill is due to the fact that upon its being signed into law, there’s going to be an additional 10% tax on tanning salons. It’s not easy being orange, man.
Reader Request Week 2010 #1: Christianity and Me
Posted on March 22, 2010 127 Comments
All right, let’s get started with this year’s Reader Request Week, with a question from Adam, who asks: I’ve been wondering what your beliefs are pertaining to God, the supernatural, etc. From a few passages in “Old Man’s War” (which I love by the way… the whole series rocks!), some of the religious bits in […]
Health Care Passage Thoughts
Posted on March 22, 2010 286 Comments
Because the passage of one of the most significant bills in history should not go unnoted here: I’ve been silent here about the health care issue since this entry on January 20, primarily because I didn’t have a thing to add to it, in particular this portion: …contrary to apparently popular opinion, health care isn’t […]
Ever So Slightly Ridiculous
Posted on March 21, 2010 46 Comments
The Playstation 3 isn’t playing nicely with the new TV for some unfathomable reason (I’ll figure it out later), and we needed a DVD player for the night’s New Moon Estrogen Spectacular, so I hooked up my desktop computer to the TV, since at the moment it’s not doing anything but sitting about waiting for […]
Not Dead
Posted on March 20, 2010 21 Comments
But our TV died and I spent the day acquiring and setting up the new one. It’s a joy beyond compare, it is. I’m off – I likely won’t be back on today so asking me questions about the TV won’t do you any good. I’ll post pictures when it’s ready to go.
Peter Watts Update
Posted on March 19, 2010
Science fiction author Peter Watts has been found guilty of “assaulting, resisting and obstructing a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer.” That happened this morning. Here’s a news article on the matter. Here’s Peter’s take on it. He’s taking it a whole lot better than I suspect most people would in his position. He’ll be […]
Just Arrived, 3/19/10
Posted on March 19, 2010 14 Comments
Some of these are actually a few days old, but, hey, dude, my house has been a shambles for the last week, okay? Okay, then: * Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously, by Adrienne Martini (Free Press): When Krissy was pregnant with Athena, both she and I decided to try our hand at knitting, […]
A Veritable Festival of White Hot Linkages (and Stuff)
Posted on March 19, 2010 9 Comments
Hey! There’s a lot of stuff I’ve been meaning to link all y’all to this last week, but I’ve been busy doing other things. Secret things. Things that if you knew what they were, they would change the way you look at the world forever. Okay, I’m lying, I’ve just been spending hours admiring all […]
Interview at The Nebula Awards Site
Posted on March 18, 2010 7 Comments
Athena and I are both off to the dentist this morning — yes, all father-daughter outings should be so much unalloyed fun — so until I return, here, have an interview of me at the Nebula Awards site, in which I discuss The God Engines and Zoe’s Tale, my Nebula and Norton-nominated works, and also […]
Because I Know More of You Enjoy Phineas and Ferb Than Will Admit in Mixed Company
Posted on March 17, 2010 45 Comments
The extended version of their theme song, which is actually a fun summer song. AND SUMMER IS COMING. Plan now!
Why Hollywood Gets the Future Wrong
Posted on March 17, 2010
My AMC column is out early this week (and in fact may be permanently moving to Wednesday; I have to check) and this week I’m looking at why Hollywood rarely gets the future right, or, why the Los Angeles of 2019 will almost certainly not have replicants in it. Yes, I know. I’m disappointed too. […]
Reader Request Week 2010: Get Your Requests In!
Posted on March 17, 2010 193 Comments
As you know, Whatever is all about me: Whatever I feel like writing about, whenever I feel like writing about it. But once a year, I like to make it about the readers, by which I mean I like to give my brain a break and make all y’all choose the topics I write about. […]
Messmaker, Messmaker, Make Me a Mess
Posted on March 16, 2010 27 Comments
Behold the front room of our house, which at the moment holds a toilet and a bathroom sink in it, both relocated from the downstairs bathroom, which today along with the front hall and at least part of the kitchen is being refloored. On the chairs you can see some of the contents of the […]
The Big Idea: Carrie Ryan
Posted on March 16, 2010 19 Comments
When we know something, it’s not just what we know but how we came to know it that determines how useful it is to us: How did we learn it? Is it from a trusted source? How will we save and store that knowledge? How will we pass it on? In a world where we […]
The Slightly Less Temporary Temporary Office
Posted on March 15, 2010 43 Comments
As noted earlier, for my office I am currently waiting on a desk and bookshelves, and while I wait, rather than reintroduce the previous massive and now esthetically incompatible desk (which sits, in pieces, in the basement), I went the other direction and got a laptop stand. As it happens, the laptop stand is the […]
The New Office Floor
Posted on March 15, 2010 38 Comments
It’s in, and I think it looks very nice. We’re still a ways off from having the office totally completed — we still have shelves and a desk to go — but now at least I can have my own space back, which is as it turns out a fairly important thing for my mental […]
The Temporary Office
Posted on March 15, 2010 23 Comments
I’ve got about ten minutes before the contractors arrive to put down my new office floor (and in doing so likely knock me offline for most of the day) so before that happens: Here, look at my TempOffice, which is my laptop on top of a portable filing cabinet, with my daughter’s desk chair (I […]
(Probably) Offline Until Tuesday
Posted on March 14, 2010 11 Comments
When the contractors arrive tomorrow I am likely to be knocked offline for most of the day. I know. I’m scared too. Expect delays in e-mail responses and such.
The Definition of Last Minute
Posted on March 13, 2010 8 Comments
The folks handling the Hugos this year asked me to remind all y’all that you have until midnight Pacific time tonight to get in your Hugo nominations (that’ll be 4 am Eastern, because of the time switch), so if you haven’t done your Hugo nominating yet, jeez people, get to it already. I swear, this […]
In the Kingdom of the Worms
Posted on March 13, 2010 38 Comments
It’s raining and the ground is saturated with water and so the earthworms have erupted from the very soil and headed to our garage, which is not saturated with water, but is now saturated with earthworms. The cats are very happy. I’m vaguely concerned I’ll be picking up earthworm-flavored cat vomit for the next couple […]
Whatever Everyone Else is Saying