California | jlake.com

[links] Link salad lies in bed way too long

Writer, Professional, Good — John Scalzi on what it means to be a writer. An excellent piece, even by his usual high standards.

Angered, Disturbed or Frightened: Can’t Tell — jimvanpelt on aging and authors.

We’re filling up! — If you’re interested in the Cascade Writers conference this coming summer, they’re almost full.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

Lone Wolf Commands a Following — A wolf in California. (Thanks to Dad.)

Roadside Dinosaurs — Mmm, pop culture.

The science and engineering behind Lego Man’s balloon voyage

Banks Taketh, but Don’t Giveth

?otd: Oversleep much?

1/29/2012
Writing time yesterday: 1.25 hours (Sunspin revisions)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 9.75 (solid)
Weight: 226.0
Currently reading: The Man in the Moone, and Other Lunar Fantasies ed. Faith Pizor

Tags: Books, California, Conventions, Cool, Culture, Links, Personal, Politics, Process, Science, Videos, Writing

Posted: 8:29 am Sun January 29 2012 | Comments(0) |

[conventions] I will be reading at SF in SF, February 11th, 2012

Ok, not really a convention, but I don’t have a tag for ‘events’ or ‘readings’. I probably should, huh?

At any rate, I’ll be reading at SF in SF on Saturday, February 11th, 2012, along with K.W. Jeter, hosted by Terry Bisson — two of the more interesting people I know. My appearance there is being sponsored by my publisher, Tor Books, as part of a tour for the recent release of my second Green novel, Endurance [ Powells | BN ].

We’ll be appearing at The Variety Preview Room at 582 Market St. @ Montgomery, 1st floor of The Hobart Bldg. [ Google Maps ] Doors open at 6:00 pm and the event starts at 7:00 pm. I believe I’ll be reading something connected to Sunspin. If you’re in the Bay Area, come on down for an evening of live science fiction reading and discussion.

Hope to see you there!

Tags: Books, California, Conventions, Endurance, Green, Sunspin

Posted: 6:44 am Wed January 25 2012 | Comments(1) |

[cancer|travel] Fly away, little chemo boy

After a trip to the hospital first thing this morning for my CT scan, I am heading to the airport to fly down to the Bay Area for Day Jobbery today. Yes, I am doing this from the depths of chemo, including my now seven days straight of significant bowel distress. Always fun on an airplane, that. Going to be a tricky day.

There’s a meeting tomorrow where I am a key resource. Normally I would have day tripped the 6 am flight tomorrow, attended the meeting, and flown back in the evening.

Uh huh, not in my current state.

So I’m taking a midday flight today, then collapsing in my hotel room for the rest of the day. Attending the meeting tomorrow, then collapsing in my hotel room for the evening, then flying back mid-morning Wednesday, then collapsing at my house.

So, no open dinner as I would usually do. Continued blogging is expected. It will be odd to fly and camp out in a hotel and not gobble up that time for writing as I almost always do when away from home. There’s a lot of books in my luggage.

The upside is all the logistical brangle around the trip is keeping my usual CT scan freakout somewhat abated. I should know more about that — specifically, whether I am clean of further metastases — Wednesday or Thursday. That in turn will set the tone for next year in a huge, important way.

Tags: California, Cancer, health, Personal, Travel, work

Posted: 6:43 am Mon November 07 2011 | Comments(1) |

[links] Link salad wishes Dad a happy birthday

Endurance Sweepstakes! — tor.com with a giveaway of my forthcoming book.

Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal — Amazon.com has taught readers that they do not need bookstores. Now it is encouraging writers to cast aside their publishers. (Via several sources, including my Dad.)

What killed Steve Jobs? — Pharyngula with more on Steve Jobs’ cancer. (Thanks to feorag.)

Fusobacterium Linked To Colorectal Cancer

The Quest for the Holy Grail of Storage – RAM Cloud

Movie: Approaching Light Speed — APOD with an interesting little video about the optical effects of relativistic speeds approaching c.

Alfred Hitchcock and Angry Birds

Rare Keaton Music Typewriter — (Snurched from Dark Roasted Blend.)

California Velocipede Map — An 1895 bicycle touring map of the Golden State.

Failing dreams: California faces its own Great Depression — It is less than 20 miles from the pristine surfing beaches of the California coast to a scene of Third World deprivation.

The Rise of Crime-Sourcing — (Via David Goldman.)

How News Media and Blogs Have Eyed the Presidential Contenders During the First Phase of the 2012 Race — Your Liberal Media, fluffing the conservatives as always. This is excellent news for John McCain!

Rick Perry officials spark revolt after doctoring environment report — Scientists ask for names to be removed after mentions of climate change and sea-level rise taken out by Texas officials. This is exactly how the Bush administration handled these things, too. When the facts are biased against you, delete the facts. It’s a very Soviet approach to ideology, ironically enough. (Thanks to danjite.)

For Bachmann, God and Justice Were Intertwined — Confidential to GOP in America: Freedom of religion means freedom from religion. Which decidedly protects you every bit as much as it protects the rest of us.

Democrats Court the Wall Street Protesters — Karl Rove in The Wall Street Journal. Before they go much further with this courtship, the president and other Democrats need to remember it’s always dangerous to associate with people who are just plain kooky. The mind boggles that Rove could say this with a straight face. Has he looked at the GOP base? Science denial? Christianism? The forced pregnancy movement? Gun psychosis? Those are the pillars of his own house. (Via Dispatches from the Culture Wars.)

?otD: Tuesday already?

10/18/2011
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (chemo recovery)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 7.25 hours (fitful)
Weight: 218.4
Currently reading: The Star Fraction by Ken MacLeod

Tags: amazon, Art, Books, California, Cancer, Christianists, climate, Contests, crime, ebooks, Endurance, healthcare, Links, media, Occupy Wall Street, Personal, Photos, Politics, Publishing, Religion, Science, Videos, weird

Posted: 5:40 am Tue October 18 2011 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad gets slowly infused

Don’t forget the new Endurance ARC contest: [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ]

A reader reacts to Endurance — He liked it.

Queering Shakespeare: reflections on damaging tropes, and some positive alternatives — Julia Rios at Outer Alliance on Shakespear, queers and the peurile vileness that is Orson Scott Card’s worldview.

On 9/11, astronaut looked down on horrific scene

Rollback from GRAIL’s Rocket — APOD with a neat time-lapse photograh.

NASA successfully tests five-segment solid rocket motor — World’s largest, apparently. I originally found this story through a FOX news site, but I refuse, even to link to them as a source.

Saturn Moon Has Thin Atmosphere, Astronomers Discover — Icy body Dione may have dilute layer of oxygen air, study says.

Scientists develop blood swimming ‘microspiders’ to heal injuries, deliver drugs — Fantastic Voyage, anyone? (Thanks to cornwynofamber.)

The Battle Over Zomia — Scholars are enchanted by the notion of this anarchic region in Asia. But how real is it? (Thanks to danjite.)

They Messed With Texas — Perry and the death penalty.

California Republicans Going Extinct? — Given Prop 8 and the recent history of the California govenorship, I don’t actually believe this, but it’s an interesting read.

How the Apocalyptic GOP is Dragging us Into Civil War — But for the new GOP, compromise of any kind defeats their central purpose, which is political totale krieg. This party’s entire reason for being is conflict and aggression. There is no underlying patriotic instinct to find middle ground with the rest of us, because the party doesn’t have a vision for society that includes anyone outside the tent. That’s what happens when you religionize your politics, and brand anyone who stands against you sinful and a traitor. I’ll looking at you guys Atwater, Aisles and Rove.

?otD: How many drips in a drop?

9/10/2011
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (chemo)
Body movement: 0.0. hours (chemo)
Hours slept: 17.5 hours (maps, lenghty overnight … ah, chemo)
Weight: 227.0
Currently reading: Antiphon by Ken Scholes

Tags: Books, California, Contests, Culture, Endurance, gay, Links, Personal, Photos, Politics, Publishing, Religion, reviews, Science, Texas

Posted: 9:52 am Sat September 10 2011 | Comments(0) |

[links] Link salad is profoundly irked at life

Dreamland: 1905 — Shorpy with a photo of the Dreamland Ballroom, Coney Island.

10 deadly do-it-yourself gadgets

A Sign? Man Bursts Into Flames at San Francisco Sex Shop

The Ox-Files: ‘Mass cow sacrifices by aliens’ sent White House into panic, FBI records reveal — Hahahahah. Uh, yeah.

Why Sarah Palin doesn’t get what she deserves — Interesting media perspective.

The case for rationing healthcare — Americans will have to decide what we can and cannot afford. I especially was struck by this bit: We want our doctors to go all-out for our loved ones and ourselves. But as voters and consumers, we send a different message. We pick politicians who promise to cut taxes, and we demand low-cost insurance. We’re telling government and the healthcare industry to hold the line on healthcare costs, even if it means sacrificing clinical benefits. And we put doctors in the middle of this contradiction.

?otD: Got cancer?

4/19/2011
Writing time yesterday: 0.0 hours (cancer follies)
Body movement: 30 minute stationary bike ride
Hours slept: 6.25 hours (solid)
Weight: 246.6
Currently reading: Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea

Tags: California, Culture, healthcare, Links, media, Personal, Photos, Politics, sex, weird

Posted: 5:02 am Tue April 19 2011 | Comments(1) |