The journal

June 15, 2019 · 0 words

Score!

June 13, 2019 · 272 words

Tölt and Snæfellsjökul

Behold the stratovolcano Snæfellsjökull, used by Jules Verne to send Professor Lidenbrock & Company toward (but not to) the Center of the Earth. Unfortunately M Verne never actually went to Iceland, else he might have learned that Snæfellsjökull’s crater is completely sealed by ice. (Do your research! I tell my student

June 12, 2019 · 147 words

The Harp

This is a photo of the Harpa (Harp), Reykjavik’s astounding concert hall. The irregular glass panels are each colored differently, or are designed to reflect different colors in a changing environment, or both. At any rate the colors shift and change and move with the environment, and in full daylight (which we don’t s

June 9, 2019 · 42 words

Clews

I am off to an Undisclosed Location for ten days or so, so within this harmless karaoke video I have inserted a few clues as to my destination. And no, I have no plans to kiss any sheep while I’m there. Bæ!

June 9, 2019 · 1,030 words

It All Comes Down to Luck

So after forty years earning a living in the creative arts, I have one primary insight to offer: It all comes down to luck. Luck matters more than talent. I know any number of extremely gifted writers who just had shitty luck, and whose careers failed on takeoff or blew up in midair. Likewise I […]

June 8, 2019 · 35 words

It’s Huge!

My biggest book— both in terms of length and in terms of ebook sales— is now a very, very long audio book! Just in time for filling all those long hours during your summer vacation!

June 8, 2019 · 275 words

Pop-Up Concert

Tonight we took a short drive up State Highway 314 to attend a baroque concert. This was by Antigua y Moderna, a group of professional musicians who do pop-up concerts in people’s homes. So on a mere 48 hours’ notice we drove to a lovely, large passive solar home, partook of snacks and wine, and […]

May 31, 2019 · 75 words

The Land of 10,000 Cute Lakes

So there’s something call MinnRoast, which I’m guessing is a kind of charity event in the Twin Cities. This year Emily Larson, the mayor of my home town of Duluth, had a little something to say about the contrast between Duluth and Minneapolis/St. Paul. Y’know, I think she could have a career in standup if […]

May 30, 2019 · 59 words

Hellooo, South China!

So it’s not every day that I find myself mentioned in the South China Morning Post. Of course the article’s mostly about George RR Martin and the talented Terran Prize winner, Zhou Wen, but then if I’m going to end up as a footnote in the career of another writer, I could do a lot […]

May 28, 2019 · 56 words

Joiks!

See, that’s pronounced “yoicks!”, which is why it’s funny. Sort of. (Never mind.) Joiking is a highly improvisatory vocal style from the Arctic Circle, and combines throat singing, chanting, and folk music to produce, well, the effects that it produces. I should stop trying to explain and just let Wimme sing, y’know? S

May 24, 2019 · 47 words

This Week’s Rainbow

Here’s the rainbow from a few nights ago. According to Oz Drummond, who is married to a meteorologist, the Middle Rio Grande Valley has experienced 660% of its normal rainfall so far in 2019. And here I thought it was Florida that was supposed to be sinking.

May 20, 2019 · 557 words

I Fail to Achieve Divinity

So it was a gloomy day on this gloomy, ramshackle freighter chugging over a gray, listless sea. The freighter was this old rustbucket, World War II vintage maybe, 5000 tons or less. My fellow passengers were listless, and all they wanted to do was talk about their deeply uninteresting lives while rattling the ice in [&