Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 3,174 entries, all of them here in full.
February 25, 2021 · 92 words
I Am Shot
Got my first COVID shot today. It was a drive-through, all I had to do was hang my shoulder out the car window to get my jab. Then I was obliged to wait 15 minutes in the parking lot to see whether or not I passed out. I didn’t, and so got on the road […]
Read entry →February 25, 2021 · 523 words
My Mask Policy
We had no sooner crossed the New Mexico border than a text appeared on my phone telling me that my COVID vaccine awaited me. So tomorrow I get Jab #1, which I expect will reduce my sense of anxiety. Since returning home I’ve mainly been trying to get my head into the right time zone. […]
Read entry →February 22, 2021 · 391 words
Peace and Pest
A photo taken from the front porch of our AirBnB near Lonoke (rhymes with Polk), AK. It was a two-bedroom farmhouse with a generously-sized living room, a working kitchen, and a round King Arthur-sized dining table. And we had it all to ourselves! And there was Internet. There is nothing better than a farmhouse with [&
Read entry →February 21, 2021 · 646 words
Desperate Journey
Here you see the Parthenon in snow. If you’ve been paying attention to the international news, you’ll know that Greece and many parts of the Mediterranean have been hit with arctic cold this season about the same time that Texas was, and you may have seen pictures of the Parthenon standing there in a snowfield. [&helli
Read entry →February 15, 2021 · 342 words
Parading
Hey, it’s Mardi Gras time, and there’s no better way to lighten your lockdown spirits than to get down with some fine New Orleans music! First up, get your buzz on with “If You’re a Viper” by Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers, part of the Jam in the Van series. Next up, it’s Trombone Shorty […]
Read entry →February 10, 2021 · 614 words
To Be Seen
It’s a busy weekend hereabouts. First up on Thursday night, 8:30 Eastern Standard Time, I’ll be interviewed live on Youtube by Matthew Yancik, where I’ll tell stories about RPGs and the creative process. Here’s your link. The rest of the weekend will be spent at (virtual) Boskone, where I will appear on quite a lot [&h
Read entry →February 5, 2021 · 382 words
Onward and Backward
Back in the days of my youth, optical astronomy was done with telescopes, and the sky recorded on dry glass plates. Starting in the 1890s, millions of glass plates were viewed, then stored in archives throughout the world. They’ve been largely ignored in the years since— there are so many, where do you start? Yet
Read entry →February 3, 2021 · 285 words
Giza Cat
Behold our cat Mocha contemplating the Pyramids. Dish Network is for some reason devoting Channel 100 to a digital re-creation of Giza in the 1920s. The camera never moves, and mostly nothing happens in the image, except that every so often a biplane might fly into the picture, circle the pyramids a couple times, and [
Read entry →January 26, 2021 · 169 words
Interestingly Various
Mr. Russell Letson has reviewed The Best of Walter Jon Williams. I’m a terribly modest fellow, as I’m sure you know, so I won’t quote the whole review, but only a couple salient excerpts. Exactly 30 years ago, this column’s lede was “Walter Jon Williams is an interestingly various writer….” The intervening decades hav
Read entry →January 24, 2021 · 139 words
Rediscovered
I recently found an old pocket notebook with four carefully numbered entries. 1. Larod (?) not major (?) 2. Lament 3. Beast 4. Tune The first line is my best guess. It might be “Earon not manor,” or any combination of the two possibilities. I’m guessing these aren’t updates on the status of my psyche, […]
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