The Terran Prize for 2020, consisting of a scholarship provided by George R.R. Martin for the Taos Toolbox writing workshop, has been won by Maurice Haeems of Mumbai, India. Taos Toolbox was forced by the Covid pandemic to move from its original June dates to September 6-19, in Angel Fire, New Mexico.  The workshop will […]

It’s been nine months since my hip replacement surgery, and I haven’t done an update since November 25.  (Here’s the last one.) I haven’t done an update because (1) it’s a depressing topic, and (2) nothing much has changed.  But it may serve as an illustration of medical services in the age of Covid, so […]

Our stimulus check arrived— or rather not a check, but a debit card on the U.S. Treasury.  Apparently it’s legit. I’m still working and my business hasn’t shut down, and Kathy is comfortably retired.  We’re not rich, but we’re doing well enough.  We don’t need the money and didn’t ask for it, and we’re self-isolating […]

A hundred years ago there used to be a musical genre about how much people loved their mothers, M.O.T.H.E.R. being one of the big hits.  There are still songs about moms, but they’re not regulars on the Hit Parade the way they used to be. Here’s a song that’s only tangentially about mothers, but I […]