Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 136 entries, all of them here in full.
August 1, 2018 · 862 words
Aloy vs. the Apocalypse
I just finished playing Horizon Zero Dawn after 150 hours of gameplay. It’s not like I’ve been slacking off my other duties to play the game, because those 150 hours started back in January. I had to slot in a few hours here, a few hours there, and sometimes a month or two would have to […]
Read entry →July 31, 2018 · 117 words
Clouds of the Valkyries
Tonight an enormous striated cloud formation, at least 40-50 miles wide, poured over the mountains and drifted in our direction. I’ve never seen anything like it. The supercloud looked all pretty and pink in the sunset, but I felt uneasy. We’ve turned into Extreme Weather Planet in the last couple weeks, with summer he
Read entry →July 25, 2018 · 297 words
Can We Have the Enterprise Now?
So researchers at CERN have broken the speed of light, but only with neutrinos. If confirmed, the discovery would undermine Albert Einstein’s 1905 theory of special relativity, which says that the speed of light is a “cosmic constant” and that nothing in the universe can travel faster. That assertion, which has withsto
Read entry →July 24, 2018 · 506 words
Babington
Who was it who, on this blog, recommended to me the works of Thomas Babington Macaulay? I’ve searched but have been unable to find the comment. Be that as it may, Macaulay has become my reading for much of the summer. When I’m teaching at Taos Toolbox, there’s always the question of what to read […]
Read entry →July 21, 2018 · 77 words
Back at the Zoo
Went back to the zoo tonight, for a high-energy session by saxophonist/vocalist Grace Kelly. Here’s a sample of the sort of thing we saw. And here’s Kelly at a previous concert at the Albuquerque zoo. The video probably isn’t the best showcase of her talents, but it shows you what the venue looks like, the […]
Read entry →July 13, 2018 · 514 words
Tiempo
My summer entertainment has largely consisted of the first series of El Ministerio del Tiempo, a Spanish science fiction series available on Netflix. (Don’t worry, there are subtitles.) It’s smart, it’s clever, and once you accept its (somewhat ridiculous) premise, it explores that premise thoroughly and plays fair wit
Read entry →July 11, 2018 · 209 words
Sleepy Kitty
This is not exactly your go-to blog for cute animal pictures, but sometimes even my stony heart has been known to melt. Tonight’s expedition was the Twilight tour at the local zoo, a chance to visit the animals in small groups led by a docent. I was able to take this picture of a full-grown […]
Read entry →July 10, 2018 · 526 words
Final Revised Version
The other night we made our way to the Santa Fe Opera— the only opera I know of that features tailgate parties— for a tailgate dinner and “Candide,” music by Leonard Bernstein, book and lyrics by a rather complex and storied group of collaborators, all inspired (or not) by the short novel by “M. le [&hellip
Read entry →July 3, 2018 · 527 words
From the Robophobe
More strange, out-of-context critiques from the Toolbox. “She critiques the god and decides it’s not a good one–maybe 6 out of 10.” “Your story succeeds in avoiding the Lovecraftian gravity well.” “I didn’t like the character–she was willing to get rid of her dog in exchange for a robot!” “The self-aware-ro
Read entry →July 1, 2018 · 222 words
Normal Programming Will Be Resumed Shortly
Taos Toolbox 2018 is over. I drove Nancy Kress to the airport this morning, then went home, enjoyed the air conditioning for a while, and promptly sacked out. Here’s a photo— actually from last week— of us taking guest speaker Carrie Vaughn out for some of the local cuisine. We didn’t get burned up in [&hel
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