Last night, while I was at work, our daughter Asnakech called. She told Kathe that she had seen our son Tesfaye, that not only is he alive, but he appeared to be healthy.
Combined with the fact that Tes appears not to have been arrested anywhere in Oregon for the last year, this is especially good news.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Take what you can get."\\
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Don't Take Our Stuff
Back when we had a functioning wood stove, we periodically acquired piles of firewood, and sometimes we'd get a piece of wood that was just too big to break up. Such pieces of wood tended to wind up down along the Tenth Street side of the house, near the shed that at one time was a garage. There they would sit until they eventually rotted away.
The hunks of wood never really served any purpose, except that occasionally one of them would be used as an anvil for splitting a smaller piece of wood, but we did take a certain enjoyment in admiring "the stump garden".
When the wood stove rusted out, the stump garden remained, its massive knots gradually decaying until only one remained.
Then the other day I noticed that the one chunk remaining was gone. A trail of ground-off punky wood led into the back yard of the house adjoining ours on Tenth Street, where we had seen (and smelled) the residents, a sadly typical bunch of college students, burning garbage in defiance of both law and decency.
So we called the police (again) and complained of our rotten log being stolen. We explained that no, we didn't actually want the log back, but we didn't want to establish a precedent of their coming onto our property and taking our things with impunity.
They haven't actually been puned this time, either, but I hope that the visit from the police and the fire marshal did at least leave them feeling pwn3d.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Do not take what does not belong to you."\\
The hunks of wood never really served any purpose, except that occasionally one of them would be used as an anvil for splitting a smaller piece of wood, but we did take a certain enjoyment in admiring "the stump garden".
When the wood stove rusted out, the stump garden remained, its massive knots gradually decaying until only one remained.
Then the other day I noticed that the one chunk remaining was gone. A trail of ground-off punky wood led into the back yard of the house adjoining ours on Tenth Street, where we had seen (and smelled) the residents, a sadly typical bunch of college students, burning garbage in defiance of both law and decency.
So we called the police (again) and complained of our rotten log being stolen. We explained that no, we didn't actually want the log back, but we didn't want to establish a precedent of their coming onto our property and taking our things with impunity.
They haven't actually been puned this time, either, but I hope that the visit from the police and the fire marshal did at least leave them feeling pwn3d.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Do not take what does not belong to you."\\
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
One Word
One Word.....
One Word.
USING ONLY ONE WORD! It's not as easy as you might think! Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on. Be sure to tag the person you received it from!
-----
1. Your cell phone? Active.
2. Your significant other? Shining.
3. Your hair? Drab.
4. Your mother? Determined.
5. Your father? Decrepit.
6. Your favorite place? Bed.
7. Your dream last night? Busy.
8. Your favorite drink? Coffee.
9. Your dream/goal? Marriage.
10. What room you are in? Workroom.
11. Your hobby? Writing.
12. Your fear? Failure.
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home.
14. Where were you last night? Work.
15. Something that you are not? Content.
16. Muffins? Sure.
17. Wish list item? Hope.
18. Where you grew up? Oregon.
19. Last thing you did? Work.
20. What are you wearing? Scrubs.
21. Your TV? Uncabled.
22. Your pets? Dead.
23. Friends? Some.
24. Your life? Difficult.
25. Your mood? Determined.
26. Missing some one? Yes.
27. Car? Borrowed.
28. Something you're not wearing? Rings.
29. Your favorite store? Matt's.
30. Your favorite color? Blue.
33. When is the last time you laughed? Cheezburger.
34. Last time you cried? Harbors.
35. Who will resend this? Nobody.
36. One place that you go to over and over? Library.
37. One person who texts you regularly? Kathe.
38. Your favorite place to eat? Home.
39. Your favorite food? Coffee.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Succinctness."\\
One Word.
USING ONLY ONE WORD! It's not as easy as you might think! Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on. Be sure to tag the person you received it from!
-----
1. Your cell phone? Active.
2. Your significant other? Shining.
3. Your hair? Drab.
4. Your mother? Determined.
5. Your father? Decrepit.
6. Your favorite place? Bed.
7. Your dream last night? Busy.
8. Your favorite drink? Coffee.
9. Your dream/goal? Marriage.
10. What room you are in? Workroom.
11. Your hobby? Writing.
12. Your fear? Failure.
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home.
14. Where were you last night? Work.
15. Something that you are not? Content.
16. Muffins? Sure.
17. Wish list item? Hope.
18. Where you grew up? Oregon.
19. Last thing you did? Work.
20. What are you wearing? Scrubs.
21. Your TV? Uncabled.
22. Your pets? Dead.
23. Friends? Some.
24. Your life? Difficult.
25. Your mood? Determined.
26. Missing some one? Yes.
27. Car? Borrowed.
28. Something you're not wearing? Rings.
29. Your favorite store? Matt's.
30. Your favorite color? Blue.
33. When is the last time you laughed? Cheezburger.
34. Last time you cried? Harbors.
35. Who will resend this? Nobody.
36. One place that you go to over and over? Library.
37. One person who texts you regularly? Kathe.
38. Your favorite place to eat? Home.
39. Your favorite food? Coffee.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Succinctness."\\
Sunday, February 08, 2009
25 Random Things About me
I think I did this already, but I don't suppose there is any rule against randomly doing another one.
1. My hair was bright red as a child. It turned brown many years ago, but I have never been reconciled to it, and it always looks wrong in the mirror.
2. I have always considered the dense freckles on my arm to be a connection to my grandmother, who has the same. I finally mentioned that to her in a telephone conversation we had not long ago.
3. My wife and I have attended the Corvallis Friends Meeting for some years, off and on. I never seriously considered calling myself a "Christian" at any time, nor did I ever feel the slightest urge to declare Jesus Christ my personal Lord and Savior. But a few years ago, I was driving along and started turning the phrase "Friends of christ" over in my head, and concluded that, all issues of the supernatural aside, I certainly felt entirely comfortable declaring that (to the extent such a statement has meaning), I was "a friend of Christ". Suddenly I burst into tears, which was quite distracting since I was driving at the time, and I considered pulling over to contemplate the matter at more length, but in the end I just went on to my destination. This is probably as close as I am ever likely to get to a conversion experience, and doubtless not nearly enough to get me into Heaven*, but it was quite odd and surprising.
4. *I do not believe in an afterlife.
5. If I ever become the owner of an apartment building, the apartments will not have numbers, but names. I am thinking that the building will be called the Mark Twain, and the apartments will have names like "The Tom Sawyer Suite". Wouldn;t you like to have "Pudd'nhead Wilson Suite, Mark Twain Apartments, 369 Maple Street" for an address?
6. I am very fond of rats, have enjoyed petting and playing with them since I was a small child and befriended the rats my father used in his psychology research, was delighted in 1984 when I learned that my new friends (including the one who became my wife) kept rats.
7. I currently do not have any pets of any description, neither rats nor cats nor dogs. It feels weird.
8. I currently do not have any children living at home, and doubt whether I ever will. It feels weird.
9. There is a five-foot-long stuffed facsimile of a catfish about ten feet to my right. I bought it at a garage sale.
10. There is a twelve-inch globe of Earth's Moon about four feet to the right and upward from the catfish. My parents bought it during the Apollo Moon landings. I'm not sure why I have it and not them or my brothers.
11. I have two brothers, born in succeeding years (John in 1960, David in 1961, Tom in 1962). We gave one another an unhappy childhood. This is not a joke, we were in fact unhappy, and it was in large part due to our mutual hostility.
12. I have a fabulous sweater which evolved gradually out of a tie-dyed thermal undershirt, over more than twenty years of mending. You can see it on my Facebook profile, among other places.
13. I love my wife very much.
14. I read comic books, and have since I was a small child. Although my reading habits have always been eclectic, at present I read almost nothing except graphic novels which I check out from the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, and ghraphic novels which I buy at Matt's Cavalcade of Comics Cards and collectibles and then donate to the Library.
15. I have a great fondness for the big, bright full Moon such as we have tonight.
16. The sliver-thin new Moon is also very special to me, because of an occasion when one of my kids saw it and burst out laughing, saying, "Moon 'tending be fingernail!" Damn, I could have lived a thousand years and never had that thought.
17. I have worn black socks almost exclusively since I first joined the Navy.
18. Whenever I see a reference to commercial sea traffic, I think of my wife's father, who died when she was a little girl.
19. I live in a house which depends on an oil burner for heat.
20. I recently turned my bed so its head, rather than its right side, was against the wall.
21. I have an injury to my back which has come and gone for years, but in the last few days has come and come and come.
22. I still have no tattoos.
23. Over the last thirty years, I have gone from jockey shorts to bikini briefs to boxers.
24. I have used Old Spice deodorant by preference for years, under the impression that it was my father's brand. Then a memory was knocked loose in my head and I remembered that it was actually Old Space shaving cream that he used. His deororant was Right Guard.
25. I had a gold crown come loose last summer, and it's been in a dish of nicknacks near the bed ever since, waiting for me to have the time and the money to get it put back.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "You never know when some little fact will turn out to be important."\\
1. My hair was bright red as a child. It turned brown many years ago, but I have never been reconciled to it, and it always looks wrong in the mirror.
2. I have always considered the dense freckles on my arm to be a connection to my grandmother, who has the same. I finally mentioned that to her in a telephone conversation we had not long ago.
3. My wife and I have attended the Corvallis Friends Meeting for some years, off and on. I never seriously considered calling myself a "Christian" at any time, nor did I ever feel the slightest urge to declare Jesus Christ my personal Lord and Savior. But a few years ago, I was driving along and started turning the phrase "Friends of christ" over in my head, and concluded that, all issues of the supernatural aside, I certainly felt entirely comfortable declaring that (to the extent such a statement has meaning), I was "a friend of Christ". Suddenly I burst into tears, which was quite distracting since I was driving at the time, and I considered pulling over to contemplate the matter at more length, but in the end I just went on to my destination. This is probably as close as I am ever likely to get to a conversion experience, and doubtless not nearly enough to get me into Heaven*, but it was quite odd and surprising.
4. *I do not believe in an afterlife.
5. If I ever become the owner of an apartment building, the apartments will not have numbers, but names. I am thinking that the building will be called the Mark Twain, and the apartments will have names like "The Tom Sawyer Suite". Wouldn;t you like to have "Pudd'nhead Wilson Suite, Mark Twain Apartments, 369 Maple Street" for an address?
6. I am very fond of rats, have enjoyed petting and playing with them since I was a small child and befriended the rats my father used in his psychology research, was delighted in 1984 when I learned that my new friends (including the one who became my wife) kept rats.
7. I currently do not have any pets of any description, neither rats nor cats nor dogs. It feels weird.
8. I currently do not have any children living at home, and doubt whether I ever will. It feels weird.
9. There is a five-foot-long stuffed facsimile of a catfish about ten feet to my right. I bought it at a garage sale.
10. There is a twelve-inch globe of Earth's Moon about four feet to the right and upward from the catfish. My parents bought it during the Apollo Moon landings. I'm not sure why I have it and not them or my brothers.
11. I have two brothers, born in succeeding years (John in 1960, David in 1961, Tom in 1962). We gave one another an unhappy childhood. This is not a joke, we were in fact unhappy, and it was in large part due to our mutual hostility.
12. I have a fabulous sweater which evolved gradually out of a tie-dyed thermal undershirt, over more than twenty years of mending. You can see it on my Facebook profile, among other places.
13. I love my wife very much.
14. I read comic books, and have since I was a small child. Although my reading habits have always been eclectic, at present I read almost nothing except graphic novels which I check out from the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, and ghraphic novels which I buy at Matt's Cavalcade of Comics Cards and collectibles and then donate to the Library.
15. I have a great fondness for the big, bright full Moon such as we have tonight.
16. The sliver-thin new Moon is also very special to me, because of an occasion when one of my kids saw it and burst out laughing, saying, "Moon 'tending be fingernail!" Damn, I could have lived a thousand years and never had that thought.
17. I have worn black socks almost exclusively since I first joined the Navy.
18. Whenever I see a reference to commercial sea traffic, I think of my wife's father, who died when she was a little girl.
19. I live in a house which depends on an oil burner for heat.
20. I recently turned my bed so its head, rather than its right side, was against the wall.
21. I have an injury to my back which has come and gone for years, but in the last few days has come and come and come.
22. I still have no tattoos.
23. Over the last thirty years, I have gone from jockey shorts to bikini briefs to boxers.
24. I have used Old Spice deodorant by preference for years, under the impression that it was my father's brand. Then a memory was knocked loose in my head and I remembered that it was actually Old Space shaving cream that he used. His deororant was Right Guard.
25. I had a gold crown come loose last summer, and it's been in a dish of nicknacks near the bed ever since, waiting for me to have the time and the money to get it put back.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "You never know when some little fact will turn out to be important."\\
Monday, January 19, 2009
Hail to the Chief
Hail to the Chief we have chosen for the nation,
Hail to the Chief! We salute him, one and all.
Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation
In proud fulfillment of a great, noble call.
Yours is the aim to make this grand country grander,
This you will do, that's our strong, firm belief.
Hail to the one we selected as commander,
Hail to the President! Hail to the Chief!
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Your only choices are to live in hope, or to live without hope."\\
Hail to the Chief! We salute him, one and all.
Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation
In proud fulfillment of a great, noble call.
Yours is the aim to make this grand country grander,
This you will do, that's our strong, firm belief.
Hail to the one we selected as commander,
Hail to the President! Hail to the Chief!
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Your only choices are to live in hope, or to live without hope."\\
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
"Quotation" Marks
The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks, a very "funny" blog built around the all-too-common "practice" of putting quotation "marks" around words, "seemingly" at random.
It is a "problem" more "widespread" than you might "imagine".
//The Magic Eight Ball says, "Use punctuation marks 'wisely' -- darn, now you've got me doing it!"\\
It is a "problem" more "widespread" than you might "imagine".
//The Magic Eight Ball says, "Use punctuation marks 'wisely' -- darn, now you've got me doing it!"\\
Friday, January 09, 2009
Conversation Over Breakfast
The other day, I happened to be sitting across a table from an old man while he ate his breakfast. He mentioned casually that he can't eat eggs any longer, having cooked too many eggs for the "hundred and eighty men in the battery".
"Oh, you were an artilleryman?"
"Coastal defenses on Oahu."
"Oh."
After a long pause, he said, "We saw the planes coming, but there was nothing we could do. Our guns were for keeping away ships, not planes."
After a longer pause, he added, "I never really got over that."
I had several thoughts after that exchange:
*It's a damn shame that he has to carry that around with him all his life. And he was just the cook, for crying out loud.
*Even his unit commander wasn't at fault. The ones who can fairly be censured weren't even there that day.
*I wonder whether Oregon, being a West coast state, has a disproportionate number of Pearl Harbor survivors?
*I'm glad that I live in a country where it is relatively unlikely that the nice old man sitting across from me is going to reveal in casual conversation that he is a war criminal.
I shared none of these with the old man. I just let him eat his egg-free breakfast in peace.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent."\\
"Oh, you were an artilleryman?"
"Coastal defenses on Oahu."
"Oh."
After a long pause, he said, "We saw the planes coming, but there was nothing we could do. Our guns were for keeping away ships, not planes."
After a longer pause, he added, "I never really got over that."
I had several thoughts after that exchange:
*It's a damn shame that he has to carry that around with him all his life. And he was just the cook, for crying out loud.
*Even his unit commander wasn't at fault. The ones who can fairly be censured weren't even there that day.
*I wonder whether Oregon, being a West coast state, has a disproportionate number of Pearl Harbor survivors?
*I'm glad that I live in a country where it is relatively unlikely that the nice old man sitting across from me is going to reveal in casual conversation that he is a war criminal.
I shared none of these with the old man. I just let him eat his egg-free breakfast in peace.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent."\\
Thursday, January 01, 2009
It is a New Year
It is a new year. All things are made new.
I have to make myself believe this, and live as though it were true.
It is a new year, all things are made new.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Happy New Year."\\
I have to make myself believe this, and live as though it were true.
It is a new year, all things are made new.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Happy New Year."\\
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Heat's Back On
Ever since the wood stove's fire bricks wore away, the oil stove has been our only source of home heat. That's especially bad because it requires both oil to burn and electricity to run the blower -- if we are without either, we're out of heat. We really need to do something about that.
So far, we've been pretty lucky, but today the oil stopped flowing. Sounding of the oil tank confirmed that it wasn't empty, but when Kathe disconnected the supply pipe only a little oil dribbled out, so we knew it was the culprit.
But what was blocking the pipe? Sediment? Ice? And how could we clear it?
I only had one idea, and it seemed pretty dubious to me. Still, it was all I had. I went out and bought a little bit of diesel fuel and requisitioned the big veterinary syringe that I'd used for years to wash out my ear canals. I loaded the syringe with fuel oil, jammed it into the supply pipe and flushed the pipe with oil, then drew back, just like washing out a nasogastric line.
I got a syringe full of dirty oil, plus a big glob of nasty black crud. I repeated the process with a couple of cups' worth of diesel, and the line began to run freely.
I lit the stove and Kathe congratulated me on a successful experiment. I remembered the time that she had finished a difficult repair and celebrated with a Tarzan yell, and said,
"Right now I am made of win like Charlie McCarthy is made of wood and Joan is Maid of Orleans!"
You don't get very many chances to say something like that.
Oh, one more thing: when Kathe gave that yell, she also called out, "Everything in this house that works, works because I made it work!"
You've got to share that title now, sweetie.
//The Magic Eight Ball says, "Memento mori."\\
So far, we've been pretty lucky, but today the oil stopped flowing. Sounding of the oil tank confirmed that it wasn't empty, but when Kathe disconnected the supply pipe only a little oil dribbled out, so we knew it was the culprit.
But what was blocking the pipe? Sediment? Ice? And how could we clear it?
I only had one idea, and it seemed pretty dubious to me. Still, it was all I had. I went out and bought a little bit of diesel fuel and requisitioned the big veterinary syringe that I'd used for years to wash out my ear canals. I loaded the syringe with fuel oil, jammed it into the supply pipe and flushed the pipe with oil, then drew back, just like washing out a nasogastric line.
I got a syringe full of dirty oil, plus a big glob of nasty black crud. I repeated the process with a couple of cups' worth of diesel, and the line began to run freely.
I lit the stove and Kathe congratulated me on a successful experiment. I remembered the time that she had finished a difficult repair and celebrated with a Tarzan yell, and said,
"Right now I am made of win like Charlie McCarthy is made of wood and Joan is Maid of Orleans!"
You don't get very many chances to say something like that.
Oh, one more thing: when Kathe gave that yell, she also called out, "Everything in this house that works, works because I made it work!"
You've got to share that title now, sweetie.
//The Magic Eight Ball says, "Memento mori."\\
Friday, December 12, 2008
New Keys
My Uncle Wesley is too sick to drive his Isuzu pickup, so waste not-want not, my aunt Anne is allowing me to borrow it indefinitely.
It did have one problem: the key was bent, and over months it got worse. I took it to a drug store and the clerk clamped the crooked key into their grinder, but the copy looked like the original the way that the FBI Unabomber sketch looks like Ted Kaczynski.
Finally the other day, I was riding around with Kathe while she delivered notices, and noticed that her current stop was a locksmith's shop, a real one and not just a grinder setup at a drug store.
So, I got a pair of keys made and took them home to try them out on the pickup. Only aftyer I got home did I notice that both the old key and the new ones were from Albany Lock & Key. Huh.
Not only did the new keys work, but they work better than the bent key at unlocking the doors and starting the motor.
Dang, I should have done that months ago. Among other things....
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "At least that's one thiong taken care of. Don't stop now. And don't forget to thank Anne and Wes again."\\
It did have one problem: the key was bent, and over months it got worse. I took it to a drug store and the clerk clamped the crooked key into their grinder, but the copy looked like the original the way that the FBI Unabomber sketch looks like Ted Kaczynski.
Finally the other day, I was riding around with Kathe while she delivered notices, and noticed that her current stop was a locksmith's shop, a real one and not just a grinder setup at a drug store.
So, I got a pair of keys made and took them home to try them out on the pickup. Only aftyer I got home did I notice that both the old key and the new ones were from Albany Lock & Key. Huh.
Not only did the new keys work, but they work better than the bent key at unlocking the doors and starting the motor.
Dang, I should have done that months ago. Among other things....
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "At least that's one thiong taken care of. Don't stop now. And don't forget to thank Anne and Wes again."\\
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Giving Stuff Away
Kathe and I live in a big old house with lots of space (although the lookout tower where I write these words remains imaginary), and we have filled entirely too much of that space with things for which we have no current use but which are just too nice to throw away.
Or could we throw some of this stuff away? Or find good homes for it with people who would appreciate how nifty it is? But how would we find such people....
And that was how things stood for us, even after we got hooked up to the Internet, until just recently. Then we discovere Free-Cycle, specifically the Albany-Corvallis chapter, located on Yahoo.
Yesterday we gave away big stacks of National Geographic. Today it was a classic Victorian-style baby carriage (which did in fact carry several known babies, most recently Waldy). The NGs are going to be circulated among home-schooling families (a very suitable fate for them), and the carriage will serve as a display space for a doll collection.
We are sitting around feeling virtuous, or at least like not such complete and utter fools as all that, for hanging onto those things for so long, and wonderfully relieved not to be responsible for them anymore.
Or could we throw some of this stuff away? Or find good homes for it with people who would appreciate how nifty it is? But how would we find such people....
And that was how things stood for us, even after we got hooked up to the Internet, until just recently. Then we discovere Free-Cycle, specifically the Albany-Corvallis chapter, located on Yahoo.
Yesterday we gave away big stacks of National Geographic. Today it was a classic Victorian-style baby carriage (which did in fact carry several known babies, most recently Waldy). The NGs are going to be circulated among home-schooling families (a very suitable fate for them), and the carriage will serve as a display space for a doll collection.
We are sitting around feeling virtuous, or at least like not such complete and utter fools as all that, for hanging onto those things for so long, and wonderfully relieved not to be responsible for them anymore.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Thanksgiving Message
I am thankful that Kathe and I are still together. People went out of my life this year, and for much of it I thought Kathe was going to be one of them. I am grateful to Kathe for offering me another chance.
I was in a great deal of pain over the past year, of which the hole the doctors cut in my head last Thanksgiving was only the most obvious, and far from being the most painful. Some of that pain I took out on Kathe in ways that now make me cringe with shame. Very little of what I put her through was deserved.
Mainly, though, I look back thankfully on the good times Kathe and I have had. There were a lot more good times than bad, after all. And I look forward to good times yet to come, and give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way
I was in a great deal of pain over the past year, of which the hole the doctors cut in my head last Thanksgiving was only the most obvious, and far from being the most painful. Some of that pain I took out on Kathe in ways that now make me cringe with shame. Very little of what I put her through was deserved.
Mainly, though, I look back thankfully on the good times Kathe and I have had. There were a lot more good times than bad, after all. And I look forward to good times yet to come, and give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Con Report, Day Three
The soak turned out to be less "blessed" than it was "marginally adequate". The hotel had disabled the bathtub drains, and only had one stopper to offer to guests who actually wanted a bath (as we had specifically requested). The desk clerk managed to find us a coffee can lid which more or less held the water back, provided we didn't move around too much in the water. But hey, we managed.
The next day we passed up "A Mission to Mars" and "Women Role Models in Science Fiction" in favor of "Guilty Pleasures", thereby showing where our priorities lay. We also experienced "Magical Realism" and pondered "At What Point does Society Stop Being Civilized?"
We walked the halls, and I observed that goggles are the new propellor beanie.
We went into the dealers' room and as I looked casually over a table full of books, the dealer laid a book down as though especially for me to see. It proved to be A Houseboat on the River Styx by John Kendrick Bangs, a book I had been looking for for some time, and which is noted for being associated with a surprising number of synchronicities (for instance, Alan Moore named his character Promethea, whose stories are all involved in the interplay between reality and fiction, "Sophie Bangs" long before he'd heard of John Kendrick Bangs) and cultural curiosities (for instance, its cast of famous dead people included Sherlock Holmes, who at the time of the book's writing had been killed off and had not yet been resurrected).
Finding the Houseboat was good luck for me, and I hope that it will prove to be an omen of good fortune for both Kathe and me, also.
Since we weren't staying at the con hotel and were pretty tired also, we left in the middle of the afternoon rather than dead-dogging it. Maybe next year.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Regarding next year, ask again later."\\
The next day we passed up "A Mission to Mars" and "Women Role Models in Science Fiction" in favor of "Guilty Pleasures", thereby showing where our priorities lay. We also experienced "Magical Realism" and pondered "At What Point does Society Stop Being Civilized?"
We walked the halls, and I observed that goggles are the new propellor beanie.
We went into the dealers' room and as I looked casually over a table full of books, the dealer laid a book down as though especially for me to see. It proved to be A Houseboat on the River Styx by John Kendrick Bangs, a book I had been looking for for some time, and which is noted for being associated with a surprising number of synchronicities (for instance, Alan Moore named his character Promethea, whose stories are all involved in the interplay between reality and fiction, "Sophie Bangs" long before he'd heard of John Kendrick Bangs) and cultural curiosities (for instance, its cast of famous dead people included Sherlock Holmes, who at the time of the book's writing had been killed off and had not yet been resurrected).
Finding the Houseboat was good luck for me, and I hope that it will prove to be an omen of good fortune for both Kathe and me, also.
Since we weren't staying at the con hotel and were pretty tired also, we left in the middle of the afternoon rather than dead-dogging it. Maybe next year.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Regarding next year, ask again later."\\
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Con Report, Day Two
We spent the night at a less than ideal motel (no bathtub to soak our respective sore bones, for one major thing), went further down Barbur to find a better one, then went down to the Marriott for more conventiongoing.
We attended workshops and panels on "Mermaids, Sirens and Other Attractive Nuisances"; "Portraying Workplaces in Science Fiction and Fantasy" and "Have Comics Shaped Our Society?" We went over to visit my cousin Jean and her husband Lukas, then back to the hotel for "What Would Happen if the Oil Stopped?"; "Magic or Technology: Why Must We Choose?" (where I was scolded for saying "magic realism" rather than "magical realism") and the "99 Cent Costume Workshop" (which was fun, but we declined to enter the costume competition in our outfits) and "Non-Eurpoean Mythology: an Untapped Resource".
We also attended the costume contest, voted for our favorites and then left without dancing, opting instead to go get food, go to our new hotel (the Aladdin), take a blessed soak and go to bed.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Remember that fortune cookie? It said you would profit by spending time with family."\\
We attended workshops and panels on "Mermaids, Sirens and Other Attractive Nuisances"; "Portraying Workplaces in Science Fiction and Fantasy" and "Have Comics Shaped Our Society?" We went over to visit my cousin Jean and her husband Lukas, then back to the hotel for "What Would Happen if the Oil Stopped?"; "Magic or Technology: Why Must We Choose?" (where I was scolded for saying "magic realism" rather than "magical realism") and the "99 Cent Costume Workshop" (which was fun, but we declined to enter the costume competition in our outfits) and "Non-Eurpoean Mythology: an Untapped Resource".
We also attended the costume contest, voted for our favorites and then left without dancing, opting instead to go get food, go to our new hotel (the Aladdin), take a blessed soak and go to bed.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Remember that fortune cookie? It said you would profit by spending time with family."\\
Con Report, Day One
Kathe and I are attending OryCon 30 in Portland this weekend. We arrived late on Friday (before the opening ceremonies, which we skipped, but after a lot of the programming for the day).
Programming we did attend included "Absurd Robots and the People Who Want to Own One" and "A History of Planetary Probes".
We brought our new matching sweaters, and our even newer matching tights, which we were to wear on Day Two.
More to this post later.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Have a good weekend."
Programming we did attend included "Absurd Robots and the People Who Want to Own One" and "A History of Planetary Probes".
We brought our new matching sweaters, and our even newer matching tights, which we were to wear on Day Two.
More to this post later.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Have a good weekend."
Monday, November 03, 2008
Time Change
Yesterday, my phone's alarm woke me at 0630, so I could get to my parents' place by 0800. But by the time I'd gotten there my phone was on Standard Time, and it said it was 0700.
I know the alarm was still on Daylight Savings Time on Monday morning, because then it was full dark as I made my way to the shower, and this morning it was light at 0630.
So apparently the phone's clock did automatically shift back to Standard Time, but not until sometime between 0630 and 0700, when the official time change was at 0200. Weird.
I know the alarm was still on Daylight Savings Time on Monday morning, because then it was full dark as I made my way to the shower, and this morning it was light at 0630.
So apparently the phone's clock did automatically shift back to Standard Time, but not until sometime between 0630 and 0700, when the official time change was at 0200. Weird.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Galileo Confirmed
Tonight at 1905 PDT, Kathe and I were heading back to Corvallis from Albany on Highway 20 when we pulled over near the Hewlett-Packard campus, rested a pair of Fisher-Price binoculars on the roof of our van, and observed the distinct crescent shape of Venus.
We enjoyed it a lot.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may."\\
We enjoyed it a lot.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may."\\
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Uncle C, Please Contact Me
Uncle C, please contact me at the e-mail address that is posted on that other blog.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says: "Everyone who isn't Uncle C, don't worry about it."\\
//The Magic Eight-Ball says: "Everyone who isn't Uncle C, don't worry about it."\\
Monday, October 13, 2008
Good Samaritan's New Wing
The other month, when my father was in Good Sam, I noticed their new wing and meant to blog about it, but forgot about it until just today when I was up on the hill (as it happened, on another errand for my father). Possibly I will later move it to an earlier date, which will retroactively make this a retroactive post....
The new wing is still under construction, but the graffito I noticed on the top floor is no longer visible -- I think some new construction has covered it up.
But as I was saying, I admired the new wing under construction, reminded a bit of Major Matt Mason's Moon base playset, and thought that it must surely be attractive to urban explorers.
Then I noticed a graffito (I think it said "Rat" or something like that, which I took to be a personal tag), which had been placed in violation of the conventions of the urban explorer but consistent with the conventions of the smart-aleck.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "You would know about smart-alecks, John."\\
The new wing is still under construction, but the graffito I noticed on the top floor is no longer visible -- I think some new construction has covered it up.
But as I was saying, I admired the new wing under construction, reminded a bit of Major Matt Mason's Moon base playset, and thought that it must surely be attractive to urban explorers.
Then I noticed a graffito (I think it said "Rat" or something like that, which I took to be a personal tag), which had been placed in violation of the conventions of the urban explorer but consistent with the conventions of the smart-aleck.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "You would know about smart-alecks, John."\\
Friday, October 10, 2008
Comment Moderation Enabled
Any future comments on this blog will be subject to my approval.
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Up yours, NJ."\\
//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Up yours, NJ."\\
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