Archive for May, 2010
peeking in a distant mirror
I don’t think I mentioned it here, but something happened a couple days ago that was pretty cool. I saw an old friend was online on Facebook, so I said hi in FB chat, and she suggested going to Skype. I use it to call my parents’ phone, but I’d actually never done a Skype-to-Skype [...]
unnecessary complications
This trip is getting more and more complicated, as they always seem to. Here’s what I was supposed to do: row tonight, work tomorrow, catch a flight at 10AM Saturday. Sounds simple, right? Except …. first it turned out that I’d have to catch a train at 4AM, that would get me to the airport [...]
farewell to another Atlantis
Last weekend, two things happened at Cape Canaveral: the final launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the SFWA Nebula Awards meeting. Judging by my f-list, about as many of the assembled fantasy and SF writers as you’d expect went out to watch the launch – that is, most or all of them. I was [...]
rowing update
The combination of Jonquil’s and Orbitalmechanic’s entries reminds me that I haven’t written much about rowing lately. The thing is, it’s going really well; I had been on the water so little in the last few years, and I’d slacked off a bit on distance pretty much ever since the last Holiday Challenge ended (“slacked [...]
company – the good kind
You know what’s even nicer than having people over for dinner? Having them over for dinner and then they go away. No, even better – then they go away after helping with the cleanup. I was going to have one rowing friend over for chili, but invited two more when I realized that serving a [...]
human-powered vehicles
I think my endurance is starting to return (I’ve been slacking for a while, really). But yesterday I rowed 10 km, which was all the more notable because it was in my boat, Moonrise, which is a slow and heavy boat. It’s made to be used for open water or for learners; I took it [...]
thoughts on aging
Looking at pictures of myself and some other women I’ve known for a long time, I’m beginning to solidify some thoughts I’ve had for a long time: for many women, there’s a point in our 40s or 50s when we look our worst. I’ve seen it (in photos) in women as diverse as my grandmother [...]
Review: The Red Pyramid: Book 1 of the Kane Chronicles, by Rick Riordan
Short version: I approve. More words: My biggest worry was that this would be a recasting of the Percy Jackson books only with Egyptian gods instead of Greek ones – I love those (no, I didn’t see the movie) but y’know, the world already has that series. I think he’s carried it off, though; this [...]
Wimseyfic: In the Library
Written for the LordPeter list’s fanfic month, and also for Kiwi (who goes by Lady Susan on that list) as thanks for good advice. Thanks also to Gillian NoLJ (as far as I know) for proofreading on both editorial and cultural fronts. This is set during the War period (WWII, that is) when a boys’ [...]
:-(
Ted’s gone, heading up to A’dam to catch the plane back to Taiwan. I was expecting to see him in only two weeks in the US, but it looks like that trip is being postponed. We’re buying a house* and the closing has been delayed. Stupid banks. *Don’t get excited**, we’re not coming back to [...]