Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 77 entries, all of them here in full.
November 15, 2024 · 576 words
Shoveling It
In my last post, I mentioned that much of my life consists of dealing with bullshit, stuff that matters so little that there’s no sense of challenge or accomplishment in coping with it. Let’s take last week as an example. Firstly there was a cold snap, that climaxed on a full-on winter storm that knocked […]
Read entry →November 12, 2024 · 1,090 words
Love in the Wainscot
I’ve posted only a few times in the last months, which is an indication of how exciting my life has become. I bounce between two poles, Pain and Duty, and I don’t much care to write about either. Pain is always there, and Duty isn’t even interesting— it’s mostly being obliged to do stuff that […]
Read entry →November 9, 2024 · 270 words
No Accident
The Accidental War, the first book of the latest Praxis trilogy, is on sale through November 18 at Amazon for a mere $1.99. So far as I can see, the other online vendors have matched this price, so you can get it from your favorite online source. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, […]
Read entry →October 30, 2024 · 141 words
Palomar
This is the mirror blank for the Hale Telescope at Mt Palomar. It doesn’t look like a mirror because it hasn’t been silvered and polished. This 5-meter, 36-ton disk was cast at the Corning Glass Works in 1934, and is made of their brand-new miracle glass, Pyrex. The hot glass caused part of the frame […]
Read entry →August 22, 2024 · 121 words
Good News. Bad News. Airborne Assault.
The good: the eye surgery has been a success. I can now read newsprint with my left eye, where before it would just have been a blur. My retina has been slowly uncrumpling. In bad news: my knees are in worse shape than I thought. Knee replacement has been recommended. I’m reluctant to do this […]
Read entry →August 21, 2024 · 133 words
My Bubonicon Schedule
This weekend I’ll be attending Bubonicon 55, the latest iteration of New Mexico’s premiere science fiction convention. (And it’s a little staggering to realize that I’ve attended almost all of those 55 cons.) In case any of you want to come by and say hello, I’ll be at the following events: Friday August 23, 8:15-9:05.
Read entry →August 17, 2024 · 222 words
Rifts in Time
Another dip into the archives today. Found was the copy-edit on THE RIFT. I was reminded that the manuscript was seven inches thick and amounted to a historically significant 1066 pages. (My own grueling Battle of Hastings) It was an open question whether binding technology would actually get a book that long between c
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