I’ve been doing a lot of writing lately. Surprised? One of the themes for a bunch of my recent stuff has been to get away from the hard science fiction and fantasy writing and build stories around slightly more plausible fictions, in particular stories about the culture and ideas of the net. From a couple of perspectives, namely that of (a) a hack of a social anthropologist and (b) a card-carrying member of the geek tribe, net culture is fascinating to me. So, rather than make up fantastic realities, I’ve spent a lot of time making up fantastic scenarios inside the reality of people interacting online. A story that I’ve been working on has piqued my interest, and if all goes according to plan I’ll [...]

December 16 I came across an image the other day that was some art — or a screen-cap — or something from the Lord of the Rings. Remember in the first movie when they are in the boats going along the river? And the river takes them between the two massive statues of some ancient dudes standing extending their hands straight outwards? And at that moment there is this perfect sort of imagery because the group around which the story is focusing seems so insignificant? There they are, this small group of adventurers, and suddenly they are just tiny in the grand sense of space and time. Day 16: Looking at things from a different perspective… Tolkien, and others both before and since, did something [...]

December 6 Claire was finally vaccinated this afternoon. I say finally because not only is it about two weeks past the ideal two-month date when she was supposed to receive them, but originally she had been signed up to participate in a scientific vaccination study for a new broader-coverage vaccine — she made the short-list, in fact, and we had an appointment booked — but then we got a call about a week ago and found out the study had met their quota before that scheduled appointment. So, we were not needed. The upside, of course, was that we didn’t need to drive across the city to get the vaccinations. The down-side, alongside my moderate disappointment at not getting to help out, was that we [...]

I’ve been flushing the iPod. I’ve downloaded a half-dozen new albums in the past few weeks in an effort to re-energize my listening collection, gradually upgrading from the nineties pop-alt that has been melting my brain as of late. The plan, thus far, has been to surf the archives of iTunes for albums that are quasi-popular, but not too-fleeting fads, then research, and finally: sample. My discoveries (all within the realm of Electronic) to date: DJ Champion / Chill’Em All – Borderline memorable, and I can’t say I’ve got a favorite from this set yet, but the music is great to write by. From my limited (musically) perspective it seems heavily sampled and quite moby-esque. There is something unique on each track, but at the [...]

Since the last car-post (as in entry about cars, not like the Impala we saw wrapped around a post the other day) prompted so much discussion, I thought I would update the world (ie. you) on that situation. We’ve taken a much more focused look (as in narrowed and concentrated attention, not Ford-like glances) at a couple of cars. Karin’s been barrelling through research and has come up with a bit of a narrowed list. My suggestions and hers are included: :: Our continued efforts to understand the pros and cons of the enviable Jetta who seems fraught with higher peaks and lower valleys than the other choices. :: Taking another swing at the Mazda market and checking out the Madza3, who not only looks [...]

True story, and it just happened…. I’m listening to my iPod while I work. It’s easy to quasi-ignore it whist I burrow through research papers. It’s on shuffle, skipping through the odd assortment of music I have stored in it’s little snow-polished belly. It’s playing randomly. It’s made some odd choices this afternoon. Oh, well. But it’s been quiet for a long moment, sweeping into the front-end crescendo of something like Also Sprach Zarathustra or U2′s Where the Street’s Have No Name I think, the two songs twisting, conscious in my mind for a fluttering second. I’m unable to place it, but in that fragile flicker of time it could be either. I tilt the screen towards me. It’s Also Sprach Zarathustra. Too mellow, I [...]