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| Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 |
netmouse
|
7:29p |
Todd Lockwood, Melanie Delon, and Stephan Martiniere for Best Artist
I highlighted Todd Lockwood's work over the summer and as I review the Locus Directory of Cover Artists for 2009 I continue to find that his work this year holds its own compared to the work of other artists in the field. If you haven't seen it, I also encourage you to check out the detail of Todd Lockwood's Stormcaller from sketch to finish which Irene Gallo posted last year, with input from Lou Anders and Todd Lockwood.  Looking through the Locus directory I was also reminded that I really like Melanie Delon's cover of Libyrinth by Pearl North, as well as her covers of Alison Sinclair's Darkborn and Kirsten Imani Kasai' Ice Song. The covers that feature a single character and not much else are becoming more common these days and I think it might be easy to discount that work for lack of complexity, but to do so would be to overlook the question of how effective and provocative the artwork is. With so much focus on a single figure and face it is especially important to make those images strong and I think Delon does a great job with her portraits. I am unsurprised to find that her work has been featured for years in such collections as Spectrum (she had the Cover of Spectrum 16), Exotique, Exposé and Fantasy Art Now and she was selected to be one of the authors in Ballistic's masterwork series on how to do digital art.  Finally, I particularly admire the breadth of Stephan Martiniere's work this year. He has done a few of his now-familiar visionscapes (always framed with an interesting foreground piece), but he also did the quiet personal cover of Jo Walton's Lifelode for NESFA Press, and the stunning cover of Ian McDonald's Desolation Road for Pyr's reprint. So far these are the artists I'm sure I'll be nominating for Best Professional Artist for this year's Hugo Award, and I commend them to your attention. |
beamjockey
|
2:09p |
Unimpeded Movement over Difficult Terrain, or Beetle Bailey's Aircar
Thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) rcking for this tip. This is what watching too many cartoons (or maybe too much Supermarionation) as a child can do to a DARPA procurement official: The objective of the Transformer (TX) program is to demonstrate a 1 to 4 person transportation vehicle that can drive and fly, thus enabling the warfighter to avoid water, difficult terrain, and road obstructions as well as IED and ambush threats. The vehicle will be capable of driving on prepared surface and light off-road conditions, while flight functionality will require Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL). [...]
Current transport systems present operational limitations where the warfighter is either anchored to the ground with HMMWVs and thus vulnerable to ambush, or reliant on helicopters, which are limited in flight speed and availability. TX provides the flexibility to adapt to traditional and asymmetric threats by providing the operator unimpeded movement over difficult terrain. In addition, transportation is no longer restricted to trafficable terrain that tends to makes movement predictable. This enables the warfighter to approach targets from directions opportune to them and not the enemy. Register now for the Proposers' Day Workshop if you want to see how this plays out. Personally, I'd love to see how Proposers propose to create a vehicle which, unlike helicopters, is not limited in flight speed and availability. |
rono_60103
|
9:28a |
In Santa Clara Next Week
If plans hold, I should make my first (of who knows how many) visits to our Santa Clara office next Wednesday and Thursday (Jan 13-14, 2010). I should arrive at San Jose mid-morning on Wednesday (although it will be a bit of a rush to get to the airport after dropping Derrick off at school -- as long as the traffic south of the I-805 split on I-5 is like that north of there MOST mornings I should be able there on time). I leave Thursday evening. I don't know how late I'll be working on Wednesday, but hopefully not all night. I've got a room at one of the Santa Clara Residence Inns (they are just a few blocks apart and are two of the closest approved hotels, and are less expensive then the Embassy Suites by a few dollars a night) for Wednesday night. At the very least, I could use suggestions of a nice, but not too expensive or fattening place to get supper that night. |
| Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 |
beamjockey
|
12:30p |
Tonight: Rocket Belts on NCIS
The rocket belt world is abuzz with anticipation. Rocket belts appear in the 5 January episode of the detective show NCIS* on CBS. Dan Schlund flew the Powerhouse Productions belt. Kinnie Gibson, former stuntman, former rocket belt pilot, and owner of Powerhouse, coordinated the stunt flights. I understand the writers consulted Kathleen Lennon Clough and Derwin Beushausen about historical information. Here's a Ventura County Star account of the filming. NCIS comes to us from Don Bellisario's Belisarius Productions, purveyors of palatable television cheese-- often incorporating flying machines-- since 1980. It is Mr. Bellisario and his colleagues we have to thank for Magnum, P.I., Airwolf, Quantum Leap, JAG, and Tales of the Gold Monkey, among other series.** (The episode is entitled "Ignition," which is intended to evoke rocketry, I suppose. I don't think "ignition" can be said to occur inside a rocket belt, because "combustion" doesn't take place. Rocket belts run on the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into hot steam and oxygen, which is sort of the opposite of combustion. Probably "Decomposition" wouldn't be as snappy a title for an episode. Though, given that the protagonists are constantly dealing with grotesquely-murdered bodies, and that viewers are pretty much guaranteed to witness at least one autopsy in every episode of NCIS, "Decomposition" would probably be an appropriate title at some point. Perhaps it has already been used.) NCIS is the most jolly of the many autopsy-detective shows that parade across our TV screens, so at our house we are looking forward to watching this. We enjoy cheese. *Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a real-life law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. **If they had all followed the 21st-century trend in naming TV shows, these series would have been known as M, P.I., A, QL, JAG, and TOTGM. In this sense, JAG was ahead of its time, and Magnum, P.I. was partially ahead of its time. |
renniekins
|
8:29a |
|
renniekins
|
12:17a |
Christmas Eve Part II
In the morning of Christmas Eve, back when I was still single, I convinced Sis and M to go hermit crab shopping with me. My nephew has asked for a live medium crab for Christmas, and I was determined to fulfill his wish. We called around until we found a pet store that stocked them. When we arrived, we found a ton of large crabs! The problem was that we wanted 2 small ones. We settled on a small and a medium, and a big cartful of crabitat and crab supplies. Upon taking it home, we set it all up and installed the crabs inside. They looked great! In retrospect though, I find myself wondering why on earth we took no pictures?! Then we had lunch, then M and I went for our momentous walk detailed in Part I. Upon returning, we gathered my family and told them the good news. Then it was time to go to church -- my niece and nephew were in the Christmas pageant! Tilly was a goat, and Will was a cherub. Before the service, I told my Bro, his wife, and their daughter Tilly. They were all pleased, although distracted by the imminent event. After church, when we got back to Mom and Dad's house, M and I ducked into the back room so that he could call his mother with the good news. A few minutes later, Will came in, his eyes huge. "Auntie Lynn told me to ask you what that thing on the kitchen table is!" (The table contains a nicely filled and decorated crabitat, with two crabs, and a jaunty bow on top.) I smiled and told him I'd be just one minute. Once I'd given my best to his mum, and he seemed to have the conversation well in hand, I left the room. Will stood just outside, near explosion. I've never quite seen a child vibrate so desperately. He was desperate to know what was on the kitchen table, but he'd been told quite firmly I had to tell him. Thus he was being polite and waiting, even while straining against this with every fiber of his being. The little boy was bouncing up and down, twisting his hands, struggling to stay in one place and wait patiently. "Okay, I have two things to tell you," I said to him. "Uh-huh, uh-huh," he agreed incoherently, vibrating. "First, is that M and I went on a walk today, and he asked me to marry him. So we're going to have a wedding, and he's going to be your real uncle! Isn't that great? See, here's the ring. Isn't it pretty?" "Uh-huh, uh-huh," he agreed. He tried to look, and he tried to agree, poor thing. I felt bad making him wait, but I also would have felt bad not telling him, when everyone else already knew. Finally, the treat came. I started walking to the kitchen. "And the other thing to tell you is that M and I have a special present for you this year. It's two hermit crabs!" He bounced beside me like a puppy. "Really? No way! I can't believe I got a live animal for Christmas!" He was thrilled, and spent the next half hour absorbed in the crabs - even with the mound of unopened presents around the tree in the next room. Later that night my bro texted me from home. "Will got out of bed to say good night to the crabs. 'Goodnight crabs... I love you!'" Awwwww.... I think I hit on a good gift! M and I spend that night in a motel, since space is at a premium in my parents' tiny Chicago apartment. It was midnight on Christmas eve, and we wanted to share our good news with our friends. "We need to update our facebook statuses!" Unfortunately it was $10 for internet in the room. "There's a business center," M pointed out. "I bet it's empty right now." "Good idea." We were both in our jammies, but so what? It was midnight. We took the elevator down to the second floor, and wandered down the hall. We had my phone, his camera, a cable, two room cards, and pajamas. What more do you need? We padded our way into the business center, and were pleased to find it dark and empty. We curled up in the comfy executive chairs and logged into two computers sitting next to one another. I tried plugging the camera into the computer's USB port, and was pleased to discover it let me do that no problem. With a little bit of tweaking, I got it to allow me to upload the camera's photos onto Facebook - but I waited to publish them. Then he typed up a status update. "Wait wait, don't click it until I have mine ready!" We didn't want any friend to be hurt from finding out from one of us before the other. I typed up an update too, and then did the countdown: "Three, two, one, click!" We giggled like children at how geeky we were being. Then I posted the photos. Then he reminded me, "We have to change our relationship status too!" "Oh right, definitely." But it was hard to find the right place. Eventually we found the correct radio button. then we both clicked the "Save" button simultaneously once again, on my 3-2-1 count. At that point, we just sat back in our leather chairs and let the congratulations pour in. People were clicking "like", they were commenting with happy remarks, then were responding to our photos, our status change.... it was so fun! It was kind of like watching the results on election night. "What on earth is wrong with our friends," we had to ask, "that they are all on Facebook at midnight on Christmas Eve?" But maybe it was all that was right with our friends, and they sensed there was something important to be seen on the internet on that starry silent night. At any rate we had fun taking a few more pictures, and exchanging messages and texts with some of our friends. Eventually we called it a night - we could wait for tomorrow to collect the rest of our accolades. We padded our way back to our hotel room, curled up in bed, and spent our very first night as fiancés. Not a bad Christmas Eve, all told! |
| Monday, January 4th, 2010 |
bloggingchick
|
3:40p |
My New Year
In case anyone is interested, here is how I rang in the New Year: As usual, I got to work at 7 PM New Year's Eve. Business as usual. I watched Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve starting at around 11:30 on various patients' TVs while doing blood sugar level checks*. I stood and watched the ball drop in one patient's room, then about a minute later I told her she was the lucky one to be the first to get her blood sugar checked for the new year. I have no idea how old she is, probably in her late 60's or so and she can't actually talk because she has a trache ventilator but she smiled and may have said something about being honored by it. In a jokingly sarcastic kind of way. *All those who are tube fed get their blood sugar checked every six hours. The night shift checks them at midnight and 6 AM every day. Current Mood:  working |
bloggingchick
|
9:32a |
This N That
1. Supernatural starts on TNT from the beginning in half an hour \O/ TNT has been advertising it more in the last couple days than the CW has through all 5 seasons. 2. Very early yesterday morning at work, around 2 am, I came out of a patient's room to find the fire alarm & lights at either end of the hallway sounding/flashing like crazy and the double doors at one end were closed. One of the nurses was closing patient doors so I followed suit. Finally there was an announcement over a loudspeaker that there was a fire on the 10th floor (I work on the 5th floor) in the break room. Eventually we were given the all clear. A little later another nurse told me a fire in the 10th floor break room happens too often. She said one time someone had left toast in a toaster for too long & it caught fire. We don't have a toaster. Last night and this morning the lights kept sporadically going out, then coming back on. It would trigger the double doors at the entrances of the hallways to close. One time there was an announcement over the loudspeaker that there was a code red in the "Michigan Orthopedic Center" wherever that is. Then about 10 minutes later was the "All Clear" announcement. I was on my "lunch" break (at 1:00 AM). 3. I've been told by 3 patients and a nurse that I have very pretty hair. Not sure how they can tell. I have to wear it in a ponytail at work. Everyone with long hair does. While I tell them thank you, all I can think is they've not seen it in the summer when it's quite humid out & my hair is just frizzy. Also, for the record, two of the patients were not exactly in their right mind. 4. I don't have to be back to work until Wednesday night so technically my weekend has begun. I was going to do some much needed shopping, but it's been lightly snowing all night and the roads are snowy & slippery. That with the fact that there is Monday-morning-after-the-holidays-people-o n-their-way-to-work traffic & my just trying to get home from work was a bit stressful so maybe I'll wait til tomorrow. Current Mood:  cold |
sraun
|
5:17a |
|
| Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 |
rono_60103
|
9:19p |
Trip Report -- Home to Parents 2009-2010
Over the extended New Year's Weekend, robot_grrl, Derrick and I traveled to New Mexico to visit with family.
( Wednesday, December 30, 2009 )
( Thursday, December 31, 2009 )
( Friday, January 1, 2010 )
( Saturday, January 2, 2010 )
( Sunday, January 3, 2010 )
All in all this was a good trip. I'm considering doing some light looking at possible jobs out there sooner rather than later, but I'm not going to make any strong plans to leave Qualcomm at this time.
It was nice to see so much of my family, and think it might be fun -- if the logistics and other factors can be worked out -- to actually see the entire family one of these days (both nieces, the great nephew and the two grand-nieces stayed in Colorado). |
netmouse
|
11:30p |
|
netmouse
|
10:46p |
Nominations for this year's Hugo Awards are now open
As a member of Anticipation I am eligible to nominate works and people for those awards. If there are any works of 2009 to which you would particularly like to draw my attention, please let me know and I will aim to include them in my review. Thanks. |
netmouse
|
6:01p |
|
mbumby
|
1:30p |
LJ activity Meme
Following in others' footsteps mbumby's LJ stats 3 January 2010: Created on 2006-09-08 15:36:11 last updated 2009-12-31 Journal Entries Total: 277 2006: 50 2007: 113 2008: 67 2009: 47 Comments Total: Posted=4306 Received=1396 2006: 386 170 2007: 1469 388 2008: 1585 582 2009: 866 256 Counts: Frnds: Mut_F: Comm_w: Feed_w: 2006: unkn unkn unkn unkn 2007: 235 unkn 8 5 2008: 285 179 14 13 2009: 316 206 19 29 Current Mood:  tired |
| Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 |
renniekins
|
11:37p |
A Complicated Year In Review
Trips: 11 (Vail, NYC, Chicago (4), Florida, various locations Up North (5)) Different kinds of jobs: 5 Illnesses: 4 Surgeries: 1 Boyfriends: 1 Fiances: 1 House showings: 25 House sales: 0 JanuaryI join a software consulting company, Xede, and am placed at my first client: Polk. I stay there 5 days, then am pulled off that job and asked by my employer to work at a different client. That falls through, and I find myself on the bench. M and I go skiing in Northern MI, and I wear my new Christmas ski outfit. I get new stripes put into my hair. I have a bad night which involves an ice dam, water raining into my computer room, and a surreal visit from the police due to flashlights seen outside my front door (but everything turns out fine). I go to ConFusion for half the weekend, then head to the airport to meet M for a vacation in Vail. I catch a cold, and my knee hurts, but I have an awesome vacation anyway.  ( eleven months left... ) |
renniekins
|
10:00p |
Journaling Review for 2009
Date created: 2001-11-05 19:56:27 Date updated: 2009-12-29 Journal entries total: 2,607 2009 Journal entries: 132 2008 Journal entries: 334 2007 Journal entries: 351 2006 Journal entries: 281 2005 Journal entries: 344 2004 Journal entries: 423 2003 Journal entries: 305 2002 Journal entries: 360 2001 Journal entries: 77 Comments total: Posted: 13,189 - Received: 22,337 Comments in 2009: Posted: 403 - Received: 940 Comments in 2008: Posted: 1,047 - Received: 2,693 Comments in 2007: Posted: 1,192 - Received: 3,085 Comments in 2006: Posted: 1,185 - Received: 2,530 Comments in 2005: Posted: 1,687 - Received: 3,621 Comments in 2004: Posted: 2,943 - Received: 4,411 ....actually I have no idea if these comment numbers are correct. I seem to have screwed up my accounting. I calculate these numbers manually every year by taking the total comments (provided by lj) and subtracting last year's total from them. However on my post from last year and the post from the year before, the totals were the same. This means I copied without changing the numbers, so honestly I have no idea if the last two yearly subtotals are right! Anyway, the journal entries do balance, so those are right even if the comment numbers are off. Clearly I have dropped drastically in my posting last year. I think it's the result of a number of things: my chaotic job situation, my spending a lot of my free time time with M, the fact that I don't do any personal web surfing at work anymore, and my use of Facebook for short life-commentaries. I would like to start posting more in the upcoming year though, because my journal has been a pleasure to reread in later years, and a handy way to remember what was going on in my life and head on a given time-period. |
alicebentley
|
2:46p |
Hey librarian-type friends! (I know I have several on this list.) Unshelved points out this very interesting looking upcoming book This Book Is Overdue. Comes out in February. |
| Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 |
bloggingchick
|
4:54p |
Question
A Torchwood: Children of Earth/Dr. Who: The End of Time Pt 2 Question about Martha: ( SPOILER ) Current Mood:  curious |
| Saturday, January 2nd, 2010 |
sraun
|
12:57p |
|
rmeidaking
|
1:47p |
Resolved: Have fun!
So it's New Year's Resolution time. I don't generally make them, but I could try. 1) Keep riding my bike. I don't think this will be a problem. Only good things have come since I started, and some of the side effects were fabulous. 2) Continue to eat less. Hey, I *like* having to hunt for Size 8 Tall jeans - and trying to find Size 6 Tall jeans may be on the horizon. 3) Have more fun. Everyone should make this resolution! What else is there? I think that's it. I'll post a follow-up if I think of any more. |
| Friday, January 1st, 2010 |
beamjockey
|
9:53p |
Isaac Asimov (Deceased), Non-Nonagenarian
Happy New Year, everyone! It just occurred to me that tomorrow is the 90th anniversary of the birth of the late, great Isaac Asimov (1920-1992). He was involved in science fiction fandom in the 1930s, soon after it began. Eventually, he achieved his ambition to become a writer. And then some.  He authored or edited something over 469 books. His body of work spanned a phenomenal range of subjects. I have read seventy or so of his books. He became our most celebrated science writer. I can scarcely begin to tell you about his achievements. I will say that on the one occasion I met him, he was as delightful as I had always hoped he might be. He was a sought-after speaker, and a beloved toastmaster. If you care to enjoy a wonderful 1974 talk about science fiction and the future, listen to this MP3 from The Time Traveler Show, courtesy of the Science Fiction Oral History Association. Happy birthday, Doctor A, wherever you are. |
dek9
|
12:15p |
Disappointed
I'm starting the year by pointing out how disappointed I am in jer_ and ellalthea that they didn't do this at their wedding. Jer's somersault alone would have been worth it. |
rono_60103
|
11:04a |
Follow-up on the Surgery
On Wednesday morning, I got a call from my ENT/Surgeon with the pathology results from my recent thyroid surgery.
( Apologies for the delay )
When my thyroid was removed, there were two nodules (abnormal bodies) in it. The one on the right side was very large -- large enough that the doctor had to take longer and cut more than he'd originally planned -- and the one on the left side was fairly small. Both nodules were sent to pathology for analysis. (robot_grrl didn't end up doing any of the main work since she took a couple of days off). After the initial analysis, some of the tissue was sent to the pathologist who, literally, wrote the book on Thyroid Pathology, to confirm what the pathologist at Tri-City had seen.
The results as I got them (supplemented a bit by some minor details that Tara had and I hadn't) is that on the left (SMALL) nodule, they found some Papillary carcinoma. While this is cancer, this is not really all that bad news.
First, my doctor assured me, right away, that he expects no change in my life expectancy. Second, when I did some searching on the Internet, I learned that the 10-year survival rate for this kind of cancer is at least 90%, and much higher in most cases. Finally, the same research showed that the first course of treatment is usually to remove all or part of the thyroid. Since that was done before detection, I'm at least spared further surgery.
I have an appointment with an endocrinologist the week after next, and he'll -- possibly in consultation with my general care doctor and the ENT -- will determine the course of treatment and any further diagnostics that will need to be performed.
Thank you in advance for continued prayers and good thoughts. |
sraun
|
9:26a |
A look back
At the popular decade. Which is kind of nice to use right now, because ten years ago was before a major life milestone. At this time ten years ago, I believe I was asleep. I'd been to the Minn-StF New Year's Eve Party at Dreampark the night before, I was headed for Larry Sanderson's Hair-of-the-Dog Party that afternoon. daedala was renting my spare room. I was a single 40-year-old male with no romantic prospects. I was nine months in to a free year on matchmaker.com (I wonder if they're still around? ... Yep - they've changed their focus somewhat, but are still there!) that was being really depressing. I'd been sending probably 2-3 'hello's' each week - I'd gotten maybe 5 replies, and actually met 1 lady in person. It wasn't working out. In about 2.5 months I'd start corresponding with iraunink. In three months I'd meet her. In just over ten months we'd get married. I had no idea this was coming. (I have a joke about this - if someone had told me on Valentine's Day 2000 that I'd be celebrating Valentine's Day 2001 with my wife, I'd have told them they were crazy.) Yes, there's some bad stuff that happened in the past ten years - diagnosed with Large Granular Lymphocyte Leukemia, lost a job, currently working at a job I'm having a hard time coping with. But that's all dwarfed by the wonderful changes my lovely wife iraunink caused. I hope the next ten years are as good as the last. Current Mood:  contemplativeCurrent Music: Symphony #1 - Prokofiev (via MPR's Classical Stream) |
sraun
|
6:21a |
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