Steve's pot pourri

musings on a busy hotel

2009-03-28T10:04:00.004-05:00

It has been a while since I visited this spot. As I warned in my first post, I write only when I have something to say.

This week, there was a meeting I had to attend. The hotel I chose is quite crowded today. It's raining and people are standing around the lobby, waiting for their rides or whatever. But last night, I noticed there are several sports teams staying here. There are other notable folk as well.

A track team from Minnesota is here. They had their meet end yesterday. There is a soccer team from Wisconsin who begin play today... unless the rain stops them. Not only is it raining, but the temperature is low and scheduled to drop. In fact, the town expects snow by nightfall. The final sports component is a girl's softball team. I'm not sure if they have played or are going to play. But the restaurant was filled with highschool kids in everything from uniforms to pajamas chowing down on the complimentary breakfast.

Last night, I saw only two types of people. There was a group or party of enormously obese people. These were dressed in sweat suits, or shorts and t-shirts, anything they could buy that was comfortable. The second group that made itself seen was cross dressers. Each man was very well dressed and perfectly made up. These congregated outside the entrance to smoke. It was amazing to see them do so. A couple of them had long cigarette holders and flouished them like a 1920's queen of fashion.

This morning, I ran into a woman whose house has been bought by the hotel so they can build another hotel. She alternated between cheer and tears. Her house is an old one (over 100 years) and her children have become attached. On the other hand, they are excited by the possibility of a larger garden for play. She is sad to be leaving the home on which she worked so hard (single mom) and pleased at the prospect of having enough ground to build a large garage/workshop/office.

Then there the people like me. More or less what the world considers normal, and here for whatever business brings people to a hotel.

There may have been a wedding reception at the hotel restaurant. I saw several hung over men in evening clothes, or what they still had on, rumpled and wine stained shirts, trousers with silk stripes down the sides, hanging bowties staring glumly at the breakfast buffet.

At any rate, I'm leaving this afternoon. My mother, her sister and a cousin invited me to lunch. Since they all have other plans for this evening, I'll head south and hopefully avoid the snow.

Broadcast news coverage

2009-01-16T20:01:00.002-06:00

I've just finished watching 90 minutes of local and national news on television. While there are serious time constraints on what can be discussed in a news broadcast. The choices made and the paucity of information offered truly appalls me. For example, tonight, our local news consisted of:
- Capture of a suspected robber and a suspect in several murders
- List of three bills introduced in the state legislature
- Opening of new UAMS hospital
- Opening of Hot Springs racing season
- Corned beef sandwiches served at track opening
- Weather
- Weather broadcaster's 25th anniversary with station
- Children's inventions
- Sports
-Person of the week

The national news discussed:
- US Airlines crash
- Bank losses and the economy
- Obama's trip to Washington, prospective weather at inauguration
- mid-east peace process
- Person of the week (Captain of US Air plane)
- Death of Andrew Wyeth

I just looked at one source and found that lots more went on today that was never even hinted at:
- East Arkansas judge appeared before a judicial discipline committee
- Governor was asked to pardon an ex-drug dealer (to allow him to work on a community group he formed)
- Portions of an important road will be closed this week
- Judge ordered another parent to jail for contempt in the Tony Alamo under aged sex case

One source gave these world and national happenings:
- Hertz to drop 4,000 jobs
- Venezuelans to vote on Chavez term as president
- EU accuses Microsoft of harming competition (I'm not sure that is news anymore)
- Rebels in Congo declare truce
- UN agrees, in principle, to peace keeping forcer in Somalia
- Ethiopian peace keepers leave Mogadishu to cheering of Islamists
- Gas fire continues to burn $billions in Nigeria
- World class oil discovery in Uganda
- Thai military arrests more Burmese refugees & stories about treatment of previous lot
- North Korea's Kim il-Jong is reported to have chosen a successor
- Saudi Arabia deports Chinese workers
- Gunmen abduct three aid workers in the Philippines
- Israel to vote on Gaza cease fire
-Uganda bans meeting of African traditional rulers (kings) who were to discuss African unity

Perhaps some of these seem trivial, but each of them could have an impact on many of us.

There is another point. Broadcast news is strongest in reporting breaking stories. Newspapers are strongest in prolonged coverage and in-depth reports. Why then, do the networks continue to try in the areas where they are the weakest? It seems to me that smart reporting would be headlines and pictures where available and important. (I don't think photos of neighbors talking about someone in the neighborhood accused of a crime are germane to a story. Besides, they usually say "he seemed like a quiet fellow. I don't believe he could have don it."

Many years ago, TV networks decided that their news should be a profit making program rather than a public service (the original reason the FCC mandated news programs). This has led to an emphasis on the sensationalist stories about movie stars and former football players to the exclusion of news that could affect each one of us.

Update on travels to date

2008-12-29T21:29:00.002-06:00

No pictures on this one. I'm using the hotel computer in Phoenix, Arizona.
Fran and I drove to Los Alamos the weekend before Christmas. Then our daughter drove us, our granddaughter, grandson and three of his friends to Telluride, Colorado. Granddaughter was in an ice hockey tournament there and grandson with friends was going snowboarding.
Granddaughter is on the New Mexico state U18 girl's hockey team. They played teams from Telluride and Durango in the tournament. They played very well, but both the other teams were stronger. Ah, but it snowed every day we were there. The boys had terrific snowboarding. We had a couple of fine meals in the town restaurants,then drove back to Los Alamos on Christmas eve.
The day after Christmas, we loaded in the car again, just the family this time. Grandson is on the New Mexico U16 team and was playing in a tournament in Phoenix. His team played teams from Arizona, Alaska and Colorado. They won one, lost one and tied two. We'll see tomorrow if they made the finals.
The drive here was exciting. Interstate 40 runs all the way to Phoenix, but it is shorter to cut off early and follow US and state roads south. Remember I said it had been snowing in Colorado? All that moisture came up fromthe south. It left snow and ice on many of the roads. We made it to Payson, AZ without trouble, stopped there for a really excellent meal at Fargo's Steak House. About 20 miles out of town, we were stopped and toldthat there was black ice on the road ahead. We were steered east about 40 miles, then were able to turn back toward Phoenix. Hunddreds of cars had been steered in the same direction. It made for a traffic jam hours long. We found our hotel about 2 in the morning and collapsed.
The first game was that afternoon and the boys played very well. But they fell apart the next morning before they pulled themselves together.
I just wanted to fill faithful readers in on our adventures since from here to the end of our trip, there won't be Internet available.
Hope your Christmas was merry and that hou have a wonderful 2009.

General catching up

2008-12-09T19:34:00.004-06:00

I haven't been writing much in the past month. Summer turning to fall, then to winter has depressed me. The dim, gray light of overcast days makes me sleepy and then I don't sleep well at night. All part of getting older, I suppose. But I don't have to like it!

Tomorrow, I'll be in surgery again for a short procedure. The battery on my pacemaker is getting low and needs to be replaced. Actually, Nurse Holly told me that they will just pull the old thing (pacemaker, defibrillator and generator) out and replace it with a brand new one. They leave the leads in place since they have scarred into the tissue around my heart. I get to keep the old one so I can look at it and know what that thing in my chest looks like. Another nugget of knowledge from Nurse Holly was that if one of the leads (wires connecting the device to the heart) goes bad, they don't pull it. Instead, the surgeon runs another lead. Pulling the bad lead out might damage the heart.

Sammi, our neighborhood cat, has returned. He jumped into the drive this morning as I was leaving. I tried to coax him into the garage so I could dry and feed him. But he preferred to run around in the rain. His owner has finally put a collar around his neck. There is no ID or rabies tag on the collar, but all the neighbors know and feed that cat. He is affectionate and very "Helpful" when Fran and I are gardening in summer. Alas, he is also an excellent hunter, He has caught and eaten two birds that I know of and has chased the lizards all over our rocky slope garden. Last summer, he caught a ground squirrel but let it go after playing with it for a few seconds. I suspect that he has taken a toll on the local rabbits as well.

Fran and I are about to depart for Christmas. Our grandchildren live in New Mexico. We'll go there next week, then drive up to Telluride, Colorado to watch a hockey game played by both kids. It will be the first time we have visited Telluride in winter. We'll have Christmas in New Mexico, then head down to Phoenix, Arizona to watch hockey tournaments that the kids will play. These "holiday hockey tournaments" have become a staple in our family. I'm not sure how we'll spend the holidays when both have grown too old for the leagues that sponsor them. I suspect we'll find something to do. There lots of jigsaw puzzles around our daughter's and, of course, there is always televised football and hockey.

So here's wishing all of you a wonderful set of holidays and hoping for the best new year that can be.

ExtraSensory Perception

2008-11-21T16:37:00.002-06:00

Believing in ESP is almost like believing in a certain religion. While there are many experiments that fail to show it exists, a few, a very few seem to point to it being a real power... a sixth sense. Unfortunately, most of the tests that have shown ESP to be an effective force were questionably designed or simply stage shows that mystified the crowd, scientists included.

A very religious man once told me that he believed that things like witchcraft and demons simply proved that one side of the spiritual equation existed. He could then, by inference, believe in the other side... God, angels and Heaven. It was a working argument for him. Alas, I've never seen an experiment that showed ESP or any spiritual belief is demonstrable. That doesn't matter to me. I believe what I believe. That kind of belief requires no proof or duplicatable experiment. It is a gut feeling that doesn't have to be justified.

All this is leading up to what almost convinced a very hard nosed psychologist that ESP was a working force. During my senior year in university, I took a course in experimental psychology. It was fascinating. The experimental designs and statistics used to interpret the results were rigorous and could actually be duplicated with similar equipment and environment.

We were assigned the task of designing and implementing an experiment that would either show that ExtraSensory Perception existed or not. Of course, it was a given that the negative hypothesis in this case would not prove ESP's non-existence. "Absence of proof is not proof of absence." I don't remember who said that, but it applies.

We were given access to state of the art, electro-mechanical test equipment and used it to see if a subject, chosen at random from the student body could predict which of five symbols was going to appear on the screen in front of him. Results were tallied on the experimenter's control board. I was running a subject through the test and didn't notice Dr. Gardner entering the lab. The first I knew of his presence was when he asked, "How long have you been doing that?"

He had been watching me and I was recording the results without looking at the tally board. Dr. Gardner was just a little spooked. While none of our results indicated that any of our subjects could forecast what would appear, it looked like I was doing just that with the results.

Calm down. Remember that we were using electro-mechanical equipment, not digital. Each of the symbols' tally used a different electric motor and gear mechanism. My hearing was still good enough that I could detect the differences between them. That hearing is about gone now, thanks to the Army, but the memory of Dr. Gardner's face remains.

Sorry, no pictures for this memoir.

Three book reviews

2008-11-02T20:19:00.005-06:00

Some time ago, I noted a few of the authors that I particularly like and recommend. I have just finished the books whose reviews I will write this evening.

"The Accidental Time Machine" by Joe Haldeman, Ace Books edition published August, 2008. ISBN 978-0-441-01616-7
paper back $7.99

Matthew (Matt) Nagle did not set out to invent a time machine. He was working on a calibrator. When he pushed the 'reset' button, the thing disappeared for a second. When he pushed it again, it disappeared again, for a little longer this time. Matt is a bright, young PhD candidate at MIT. It doesn't take him long to work out that he has a time machine and that each time he pushes the button, the machine goes farther into the future. After all, Einstein worked out that you can't go backwards in time.

Matt works out how to go along with the machine, then proceeds to head farther into the future. His first trip takes him just far enough that he discovers that his vehicle (borrowed from a friend) is in the middle of traffic and has no tires. He also discovers that his friend has been murdered. Matt is the prime suspect, but the authorities lock him up for auto theft. A strange person who looks like Matt pays his bail and tells him to take the car and go. He pushes the button again and goes farther ahead in time. Soon he picks up a companion, Martha. She is from a time when radical Christianity dominates the east coast of America and has nothing to do with the west. Each time Matt pushes the button, he not only goes into the future, but moves west as well.

The problem is how to get back to bail himself out of jail and whether Martha will go with him or return to her own time and place. The situation is made more interesting when he discovers that he is the only one who can push the button and get a time displacement.

Haldeman is an outstanding writer. This novel caught me within a few paragraphs and held me through the end. The physics are all too plausible. We have a good adventure story with a little romance, a lot of mystery and some humor.

"The Bell at Sealey Head" by Patricia A. McKillip, Berkley Publishing Group, published September, 2008. ISBN 978-0-441-01630-3, hard cover $23.95.

In the coastal town of Sealey Head, a bell rings at every sunset. No one knows why. Nor does anyone know where the bell is located. The bell has been ringing for so long that most town folk don't notice it anymore. Judd Cauley still notices. He runs an inn at Sealey Head, just as his father did. Dugold, his father is now blind. Judd reads to him every night. Another person who notices the bell is Gwyneth Blair. She and Judd have been friends since childhood. But her family is rich and the inn, both poor and declining. Their meetings are infrequent, but welcomed by both.

On the day the story begins, a stranger comes to Sealey Head and stops at the inn. He is Ridley Dow and he has come to investigate the bell.

Emma is a maid at Aislin House. Since she was small, she has been opening doors that do not always lead to her Aislin House. She has met Princess Ysabo, a resident of the other house. Ysabo is caught in a mysterious ritual that enfolds all the residents of her house. She is shortly to be married and is well trained in the ritual that keeps their world turning.

The owner of Emma's Aislin House, Lady Eglantyne, is old, ill and declining. The heir is sent for from the big city of Landringham. Miranda Beryl will soon arrive with her staff and friends for the death watch. Among the friends is a Mr. Moren. Apparently Beryl is afraid of him. At the same time as the guests arrive, Judd is lucky enough to hire a new cook. (His old one is possibly the worst cook in the world.) Mr. Pilchard, the cook says that he has been a sailor and can cook for two or two hundred. His cooking is superb.

Ridley makes his way to Aislin House and meets Beryl. He also meets Emma and, through her, Ysabo. Ridley does something that neither woman has dared. He crosses from Emma's world to that of Ysabo. Ridley has the talent for being inconspicuous to the point of invisibility. He stays in Ysabo's world for a few days, then is chased away by the ritual crows and the knights of the House.

Ms. McKillip writes in a fascinating, dreamy style that has always appealed to me. Her way of conveying mystery and magic are irresistible. The complex story lines of her novel are expertly woven together to produce a startling, but altogether satisfying ending.

"Carol for Another Christmas" by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Ace Books, published October, 2008 (first publishing 1996). ISBN 978-0-441-01646-4, paper back $7.99.

This is a retelling of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". What Ms. Scarborough has done is to bring the story into the 21st century, replacing Scrooge with an irascible software company CEO (Monika Banks) and Marley with her brother, one of the geniuses who began the company. The company is failing. Banks has hired a team of software specialists to develop a program for the US government that will track people without their knowing.

The ghost of her brother works a program manager into the computer system. Scrooge, now converted to a Christmas spirit gets the job of guiding Banks around her Christmases past, present and future with the desired result.

This is not the first time that Ms Scarborough has updated a fairy tale. Her "Godmother" was a wonderful look into the business of being a fairy godmother. Her style is engaging and the story has all the tender, tear jerking pathos of the original. This is definitely a six Kleenex novel. She has managed to insert believable technology, humor and a bit of romance into the original. This book is going out to most of my friends who like to read... as a Christmas present.

Tiger Toy

2008-10-30T14:15:00.003-05:00

That's my nickname. I'm attaching some pictures so my new writing group can see them.
The kitties are Siberian tigers (also known as Amur tigers). They're the biggest of the natural cat family still in existence today. There are a couple of "ligers" that are considerably larger. But ligers do not occur naturally since the ranges of lions and tigers are pretty well separated... even in India, which has a lion area in its far west.

A few comments

2008-10-29T16:02:00.004-05:00

Fall is a terrific season for the garden. Those dead leaves make great mulch to protect plants from lower temperatures in the winter. But another neat thing is that many of the annuals begin to go to seed. So now is a good time to begin harvesting. I have been getting seeds from the purple cone flower

and the Indian blanket flower. Both are shown here.

Of course there is the delightful changing of the leaves. They turn glorious colors as the sap leaves them to dry and to fall. The Japanese maple shown here is pretty red most of the year. But it gives an idea. The hard woods, such as maples are the most colorful. But birches, aspens, and Bradford pear also put on a fine show.

This afternoon, my wife and I were having lunch in a Mexican restaurant. There were a couple of people who sat and talked on their cell phones while feeding their faces. That's slightly rude. Ruder still was the fact that they were having lunch with other people. I fear that if one of my friends were to do that, they would get some pretty stiff words on the subject. Fortunately, most of my friends are, like me, from the stone age when almost all telephones were attached to the wall and only portable as far as the cord between the handset and the telephone body. There some radio phones. These were considered a rare novelty and were quite expensive. They were also big enough to make them inconvenient or impossible to carry anywhere but the car.

The saddest part of that cell phone attachment was a young woman who was having lunch with her children. The kids were very well behaved. And in between the calls she made, wanted to talk to her. She appeared to enjoy the conversations. But she still went back to the phone and made more calls. The kids were bored to the point of putting their heads on their arms and napping while she chattered away.

Truly, I feel a little sadder for that woman. Time spent with your children when they want to be with you gets increasingly rare as they grow up. Often, by the time they reach teenage, they don't want to even admit that you are their parents. That woman wasted half an hour that she can never get back. When the kids leave home, or just begin to be independent, she may recall that time and wish she'd talked with them instead of chatting with her friends.

My opinion is that cellular telephones are only appropriate in certain places and at certain times. Too many accidents have been caused by people talking on their phones, texting or just dialing numbers. When they are using their phones, they usually don't have a hand free to operate their turn signals. They certainly are not paying much attention to their surroundings. I sat behind a woman who didn't move through two cycles of a stop light. When I got out of my car and approached, I saw she was yakking on her phone. I guess my approach got her attention. She burned rubber getting onto the road, then stayed in the turning lane, still talking. [I heaved a big sigh here] Hey, you all, hang up and drive!!!

Postop report

2008-10-24T15:00:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, an ophthalmic surgeon removed the cataract from my left eye and replaced with a new lens that is supposed to adjust for distance and near vision. The operation went well. My sensitivity to anesthetics is such that I'm still feeling a little loggy. On the bright side of that, I sleep long and well when I let myself lie down.

The eye is still a little swollen from the surgery. That means that I see double in an odd way. Images are on top of one another instead of side by side (what happens when your eyes cross). If I move my head to the proper angle, the images re-impose themselves on one another. It's kind of cool. But, alas, that effect is already changing back to normal vision. At present, my distance vision is binocular, but I haven't noticed any effect on near and intermediate distance vision As my eye goes back to its normal size and shape, that may change. At worst, I'll be far sighted and have to wear reading glasses. Well, that's necessary now, so no sweat.

I do have to say that this really appeals to my love for gadgets. I feel like I did the first Christmas I received an electric train set. The night before, I had been too excited to sleep. But I did get a little sleep. I awoke early that Christmas morning and crept into the living room where we had set up a live tree and decorated it. The tracks ran around the tree and the lovely steam engine with its trail of cars was on the tracks. The transformer was plugged in. It was torture to wait until the rest of the family awoke so I could run the train and sound the whistle. But then... Ah bliss; the engine even puffed steam (it had to be fed tablets to do that).

At that time, our house sat atop a basement and garage. The living room overlooked the drive and front yard. As I ran that train around its track, I could imagine the view that the engineer and passengers had, with our living room and then front yard with its persimmon trees flashing by.

This year, I don't have to imagine. But I do have to wait for things to even out and work the way they're supposed to do. Waiting is not my favorite thing. But the Army taught me patience, sort of.

The image, by the way, isn't of that old tree, but of a modern one in my daughter's home.

Archon 32

2008-10-21T19:52:00.007-05:00

This year was the thirty-second St. Louis Science Fiction Convention. It is named Archon in honor of the St. Louis Arch.

Before getting to the convention, I must pause to review some nomenclature. SF fans (there is a minor disagreement about whether it should be SF [ess eff] or Sci Fi) have a few words of their own. Prime examples are con for convention and fen as the plural of fan. Non SF readers are called mundanes.

The convention is now held the first weekend of October. For a long time, it was held in July. The heat of a St. Louis summer made some of the costumes torture to wear. Costuming is an important part of a con. The weather in October is chancy at best, but this year was delightfully cool, allowing fen to wear an imposing array of the costumer's art.

Science fiction is a genre with many sub-genres. Some of these, like horror, are found in different parts of the book store. Others like fantasy, space opera, hard science fiction, alternate history, cyberpunk, steampunk and military SF are lumped in with the other parts of science fiction. It mostly depends on the management of the store or chain. But all of these can be taken under the mantle of SF.

Science fiction is not something new. Although Jules Verne is the father of modern SF, it goes back at least to the 17th century. During that time, Savien Cyrano de Bergerac (yes, the guy the play was written about) published his "Comic Story of the Countries of the Moon and Sun." If you're not familiar with the play, read it. There are some of the most romantic scenes ever written therein. The films based on the play are very well done and fairly faithful to the original by Rostand. However, there have been claims that science fiction goes all the way back to biblical times. When I was growing up, I read several articles that claimed that the "great wheel" seen by Ezekiel.

Fandom (another SF word) consists of a huge variety of people. There are science fiction clubs and authors all over the Americas, Europe and the Far East. In fact, each year, a world science fiction convention is held. More abut that in the parties section. While many fen are scientists and engineers, a multitude of other folk love the genre or part of it. There are teenagers, literature students, artists, clerks, accountants and policemen that I have met at cons. Fandom is also one of the most accepting, tolerant populations I have met. Almost any foible is acceptable at a con.

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The gentleman in this photo, by the way is running his computer from a solar cell.

The most common question I hear about science fiction conventions (cons is so much easier, but a little repetitive) is "What do you do there?" The answer to that is quite a bit. During the day, there are panel discussions ranging from weapons of the medieval warrior to surgery in space. Experts in writing and publishing talk about both writing and getting what you write published. Artists will talk about how they got into SF art or how they draw imaginary creatures. Astronomers can give lectures on how to make up realistic imaginary worlds or biologists might talk about what sort of aliens might exist. I even managed to give a few panels about my life with big cats.

In the evening, there is more programming, usually there is a continuous science fiction film show and the parties. Parties are an integral part of the con experience. Reasons for hosting parties can vary from the desire to get together with friends and others to a bid for a world science fiction convention (worldcon) location. You see, worldcons are held in a different city every year. There have been a number of repeat visits, to Los Angeles and to Denver, for examples. But the con itself moves each year. Attendees of the worldcon two years before vote on the location and the winner hosts the worldcon two years hence. Believe me, two years are the minimum required to organize a successful worldcon. It is usually the biggest SF con held in the year, hosting memberships from 3,000 to 10,000 in recent years. The parties are to convince fen that a particular locale is ideal for a worldcon. Since some delightful people love to throw parties, there are also fake worldcon bid parties for places like the moon or Mars.

The parties usually serve food typical of their areas and some serve beverages native to their areas. Especially notable among these was the successful Scotland bid party. Glasgow won hands down that year.

Last, but not least, many people ask about the "Trekkies". They are with us, along with fans of Dr. Who and other TV series. But Star Trek was the seminal science fiction television show and brought the medium to the attention of more people than anything until Harry Potter (there are Harry Potter fans too.)

Try Googling "Science Fiction Convention" and attend one in your area.

Arkansas State Fair part III

2008-10-21T19:26:00.003-05:00

I see, by reviewing my older blogs on this subject, that I managed to duplicate some pictures. I'll try to get some more in this time, since my last attempt was truncated by schedule and slow upload times.

That's all for that. My next posting shall be about the science fiction convention sponsored by the St. Louis Science Fiction Society. The convention is named Archon and that will be part of the title.

Arkansas State Fair part II

2008-10-21T09:40:00.006-05:00

Here are a couple more photos from the fair (as promised yesterday). Unfortunately, the connection is a little too slow for me to be able to post many more before leaving the house today. Perhaps later.

The kids on the rides were marvelous. Along with the very serious tots on the merry-go-round and the usual cheerful screaming as the rides did something that dropped stomachs, there was an informality in their attire that I enjoyed.

I got a kick out of the new teen style. All that extra material reminds me of the pictures of "zoot suits" that were in style before WWII. They went out of style quickly. I suspect it was due to the fact that a lot of young men were drafted or volunteered after Pearl Harbor and the shortage of cloth that came with the war effort.

Arkansas State Fair

2008-10-19T16:42:00.014-05:00

It is Sunday evening. The Fair has almost drawn to a close. The livestock
has been taken home by the people showing it. The prizes have been awarded.

And the busy show schedule is over after nine days of hard work.

The fair continues until later tonight. Most of the vendors are doing plenty of business, selling food, junk, and all kinds of things from pots and pans, perfume to cattle panels.

There were the usual rides, carny games and other things like face painting.

There was a terrific tiger show. I love tigers and these were delightful, playful and awesome.

And of course I had a great time, finding pictures to put into this blog.

That seems to be all I can post right now. But I have many more and I will post them another time. I think I still have a con report for Archon 32 to post here as well.

First Days of Autumn

2008-09-26T15:32:00.005-05:00

Leaves have begun to color --

and to fall on our garden.

Kids have started school. The temperature has been reasonable and the humidity low (for Arkansas). It's fall, folks. If where you life is anything like Little Rock, get out there now because our autumn usually lasts four days to two weeks. Maybe this year we'll get all four seasons for a change.

There are butterflies flitting around our pineapple sage and zinnnias.

and one, poor, confused wistaria bloomed last week. It's probably the ratio of day to night and the fact that things around here aren't used to having all four seasons. Maybe our crocus will begin to poke their noses out of the ground next.

You may notice that an enterprising bumble bee is buzzily visiting the blossoms.

We chopped the lorupetalum off our creek. It should have been a dwarf variety, but we planted the regular instead. The years we did not prune it back, it topped the roof. Alas, the blooms in spring were lovely. But we did want that space for some smaller flowers.

Sweating in the garden is a welcome break from politics, murder and football. Those are the only things on the minds of local news teams. Very sad. The fall flowers are beginning, but late summer bloomers aren't finished yet. Next month, I'm going to start planting pansies and violas.

Billions, Trillions, Zillions???

2008-09-20T12:31:00.003-05:00

The recent news about the US government buying 80% of Lehman Brothers' Bank found me confused. The confusion stemmed, not from the buy out/bail out, but the number of dollars involved.

I have no trouble with thousands and can just about get my head around a million. After all, there are about 32 million seconds in a year and my heart beats an average of 39 million times in that time. Being trained as an engineer gave me a comfort zone with really large numbers, like the number of atoms in a "gram mole" of an element: 6.022 times ten raised to the 23rd power. A "gram mole" or mole is the atomic weight of an element in grams. That is more of a convenience when it comes to figuring out chemistry problems than a reality. Atoms are very small, too small to be seen through even the most powerful optical microscope. Scientists have to use an electron microscope to image atoms. Light is easy too. It travels about 186,000 miles per second. So in one tick of a stop watch, a ray of light will go (assuming you can get it to go around in a circle... it tends to go in a straight line) about seven times around the equator. By the way, light can travel a little less than 6 times ten to the twelfth power (trillion in the US; in Europe, a trillion is ten to the 18th).

Another by the way, there is more than one kind of second. There is the solar second, the one we use in our clocks. But some people in Europe decided that they needed a standard second based on the metric system, the System International (SI) second which is a little more than 99% of a solar second. Astronomers got into the act with the sidereal second. A sidereal second is more than 20 solar seconds. Go figure. I had to. But then I figured that we can't even use the same voltage as they do and there are three or four different kinds of plugs and outlets for electricity. Which one depends on which country you visit.

Very small things seem to make sense... to a point. A centimeter is about four tenths (0.4) of an inch. A millimeter is about four hundredths (0.04) of an inch. A mil is one thousandth of an inch when you're talking paint (my former specialty). When you get down to micrometers (0.001) meters, it gets a little harder. The nanometer is something I can't visualize. Wavelengths of light are measured in nanometers. A nanometer is smaller than an atom. I just can't get my head around that.

So when the media talk about 300 billion dollars a day for the war in Iraq or 400 billion dollars for this and that, my little brain seizes up and refuses to comprehend. When we're talking about something too small to see, there is no problem. But dollars? Not only can I see them and spend them, but when I'm lucky, I have a couple in my wallet. I guess someone like Bill Gates or Warren Buffet can understand a billion. They have several in their bank accounts. But to me, it doesn't make as much sense as the number of atoms in a mole.

Any good physics book will tell you all the prefixes (centi milli, kilo etcetera) in the metric system. You'll probably be able to find things like the mass of the Earth in kilograms or the average distance from the Earth to the moon. But for me, there is a vast difference between being able to spout those huge numbers and actually wrapping my mind around them.

Ocean reefs

2008-09-19T19:49:00.005-05:00

In March of this year, it was announced that the World Bank had inaugurated the Year of the Reef. It is a partnership among governments, scientists and other associations. I think it fitting that this post discusses reefs and their current status... THREATENED!!!

I have no thrilling photos of ocean reefs to post with this essay. But I am adding some pictures taken of the Atlantic during my last trip to Scotland.

The health of all oceans is a major concern to the human race. Much of our food comes from them. Some economies are exclusively dependent on the sea. Ocean plants, mostly plankton generate a large part of the oxygen we breathe. To use an overused phrase, reefs are to oceans like the proverbial canary in a coal mine. The way they grow, or do not grow, is a major indicator of the state of water world wide.

At this time, it is estimated that a quarter of those reefs have been destroyed. The reef provides shelter and food for something in the neighborhood of a million different species. To put that number in perspective, it about a quarter of all forms of life in the sea. Many of these are important foods and much of the reef life provides income in the billions of dollars. Additionally, like the rain forest, there are species there which may provide us with life saving medicines. This is just now being investigated.

The major threats to reef life are careless fishing, fishing with explosives, over fishing, pollution, introduced exotic species, acidification of ocean waters and climate change. We humans can do something now to ameliorate the first four of these factors. Most of the acidification is caused by carbon dioxide uptake of sea water. It is theorized that the reduction of CO2 emissions can eliminate this threat. Climate change may or may not be a problem within the ability of the human race to solve. But seeing that corral has survived almost as long as any other life form, it may be the one we do not have to solve.

Corral reefs cover about 200,000 square miles of ocean floor. These amazing structures are built about a millimeter (about an eight of an inch) at a time by tiny animals called polyps. They reproduce a couple of times each year in the same manner as many clams and oysters. That is, the polyps release sperm and eggs into the sea water and some of them combine to form new polyps. These look like tiny jellyfish. They settle on the reef and begin the process of building their "houses" of calcium carbonate.

These photos are of a real jellyfish in an Atlantic harbor and of barnacles that cling to some of the tidal stones on the Scottish isle of Staffa.

It is mostly the developing nations in the Pacific and Caribbean which are the primary causes of bad fishing. Some of the rich nation's fishers use corral damaging drag nets and add to the damage. The sad thing about the developing nations is that the fishermen who kill the reef are destroying their only means of subsistence. We're talking about perhaps one hundred million people who are at risk due to their own ignorance. A few of these nations have begun to use their reefs as tourist attractions. While that helps, over viewing the reef can be as damaging to its environment as can overfishing.

It is essential that we begin speaking to our lawmakers and policy makers and diplomats about the severity of this problem. Polluting nations need to be educated, and in many cases, assisted in reducing the pollution they add to the sea. These nations are not only developing, but some of the richest, including the United States. While China pours raw sewage into their ocean, we dump tons of fertilizer and other agricultural chemicals into ours. Our friends in Europe and Latin America have the same problems.

Reducing pollution is costly. But the saving and reclamation of many of the materials that are dumped can be financially rewarding. What is needed is the political will to put out the initial cost. That can only be done if those in power are convinced they can do something about the problem without causing financial ruin to their countries.

Butterflies

2008-09-18T16:06:00.003-05:00

Right, I said that I was going to deal with other subjects in my next posts. But I found a neat caterpillar on one of the fennel plants in our garden. I think that it will become a black swallowtail butterfly next spring.

I learned something that anyone who wants a butterfly garden should know. Having plants that attract butterflies for nectar is not enough to insure you will have lots of them next year. You also have to have food plants for their larvae nearby. Monarchs prefer milkweed. Swallowtails like fennel. Most of them will not lay eggs on plants that their caterpillars can not use for food.

One butterfly expert suggested taking the food plants in pots and placing them near the nectar plants... having your bar and restaurant next to each other. If you do it that way, you may also want to build a little butterfly house around the food plant. Then when the caterpillar forms its chrysalis and mutates into the winged form, you can watch and the butterfly will be able to dry its wings without the danger of being picked off by a passing bird. You will also have the experience of releasing those lovely things into your garden again.

Problems

2008-09-17T20:03:00.003-05:00

In the past few weeks, a variety of national problems have been shown me. Since I was not altogether aware of these, I suspect that my readers may not be either.

I hope to publish articles on the current state of reefs, education for the deaf and hard of hearing, agricultural roads and bridges, and treatment of people with inflammatory bowel disease.

The flower above is a passion flower. It smells good. You can make jelly from the fruit. Turtles like it and certain butterflies lay their eggs on the undersides of its leaves since their caterpillars like to eat the vine. Nice plant.

Stay tuned.

2008-08-29T20:10:00.004-05:00

I survived the surgery.

The doctors kept me in hospital for a week to make certain that there was no infection. It was a relatively pleasant week. For the most part, the pain killers kept me happy and sleepy. There wasn't any pain to speak of. The nursing staff at Baptist Health was the same who took care of me after the initial surgery. Each of them is professional, skilled, friendly and courteous. I enjoyed their company.

Fran came and sat with me every day while I was there. As soon as I was able to get out of bed without falling back in, I began walking. Dr. Kim assured me that walking was the best way I could help myself. While the epidural anaesthesia was in place, someone had to walk with me, mostly to make sure that if I fell, they could call for help. I was in the same room that I had when I was recovering from my first surgery and knew the sixth floor well. Alas, the drugs made concentration very hard. I could hardly read, much less write.

Now that I'm home, I'm on "light duty". I can lift nothing more than ten pounds. That puts Little Kitty off limits for a few weeks. I can pet him, but can't pick him up.

Our other cat, Shaquira is lighter so I can lift her into my lap for petting. She's affectionate. But prefers Fran to me. Her previous "servant" moved and could not take her along so she persuaded us to give the kitty a home. She's named after the dancer. If ever you saw her play with a mouse toy, You would agree that the name is earned.

It's Fran's birthday. Both kids came in to help celebrate. I'm going to stop here and edit more into this later.

It is a little later. We had a dinner (take out ribs from Shorty Small's) and they got to watch Fran repack my dressing. What fun. Right now, they're sitting around the table, catching up on family matters. I'm going to join them. It's late for me and I can't concentrate. The analgesic prescribed for me is making me slightly dizzy. Fun, huh?

2008-08-17T11:31:00.006-05:00

Today is the day I prepare for surgery to reverse my colostomy. It's not a pretty process, cleaning out the bowel, but the end result will be worth it.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow with mixed feelings. Yes, I want to have my body back to normal. And I have some apprehension about invasive surgery being done on someone my age. My intention is still to live forever. So far, so good.

In any case, I thought that since this may be my last entry, I should remark on the possibility in case someone wonders where I am in the future. My wishes are known to my wife: harvest all useable organs and burn the rest, scattering my ashes in a garden somewhere. If the possibility of my departure from this blog and the rest of the world upsets you, please memorialize me by having a drink of your favorite beverage and doing something that you enjoy in my memory.

For me, fun has been with my family. When we younger and prices were lower, we would load the kids and their friends into our car and "movie marathon". We'd try to see how many films we wanted to see that we could view in a day. That often required some serious planning since the theaters started playing the films at different times and not always in such a way that we could just hop along at random. We managed eight once. But that was because my daughter took us to a midnight showing of ROCKY HORRO SHOW.

I also love to visit places I have never been.

Both abroad and here in the USA.

Finally, I have become a gardener. Fran and I work on our garden year round and when it's not so hot and humid that it makes me miserable, it is fun. Planting flowers, watching them bloom and pulling weeds is a diverting occupation. But someone correctly said that, "Gardens require a lot of water... mostly in the form of perspiration."

So, how do I feel about life? I'm grateful. Many things have come my way that I liked and enjoyed. Some things made me stronger; others added to my knowledge. I'm not sure that I ever gained wisdom. But like Randy Pausch, I was able to do many of the things that I set as goals for myself when I was young enough to think I could plan my life. Unlike him, I don't have a list.

My life has been one, chiefly of contentment, with some excursions into joy and others into sadness. No complaints.

Con report

2008-08-16T15:39:00.009-05:00

This is probably a very late convention report. Pretty much my whole family attended Denvention (the world science fiction convention [worldcon], held in Denver this year.) It was a good con (Fans, called fen in the plural by themselves, call conventions cons.) There were plenty of authors and artists in attendance. They made themselves available, for the most part, to con goers. The panels were multiple and of interest to a wide variety of people.

For me the best thing was that I got to get together with friends I see only once or twice a year. I'm assuming that most readers do not know about science fiction conventions (cons from now on). Along with getting to meet and talk with favorite sf authors and artists, there are lots of other things to do. Panels are just what they sound like. A group of four or five people talk about a subject of interest. Some are experts, others are just interested in the subject. Subjects vary. I've attended panels on how to start writing, how to write a query letter to a publisher or agent, small unit infantry tactics, the effect of materials science on weaponry, exotic pets and medicine in space. That is just in the last year or two.

In addition to panels, there are readings by authors. Some writers know how to read aloud very effectively. John Dalmas held a group of about 30 spellbound by reading from a first draft of one of his novels. Usually on panels and at readings, there is a question and answer period afterwards. That usually continues after the panel is over and the group has to give up the space for another panel. Fen just naturally follow the people they want to hear into the hall and it goes on until someone has to leave for another panel or reading.

Most cons host an art show. This can consist of available prints, but many have original works by everyone from juvenile artists to professional. Some of the art done by professionals sells in the tens of thousands of dollars. But there is quite a bit which is both attractive and affordable. In my opinion, some of the good art is sold for less than the frame is worth.

Almost every con has a dealer's room, often called hucksters. Depending on the size of the con, there will be from a dozen to hundreds of people selling all kinds of things that are of interest. Off the top of my head, there are costumes (sf and medieval), weapons (everything from swords to ray guns), new books, old books, comic books, books on tape... all kinds of books, not just sf and fantasy. You can buy tapes and DvDs of movies and TV shows, jewelry, gadgets like blinking light pins and electronic signs you program yourself, and stuff that is just neat.

There is often a masquerade. These are shows put on by the con and the participants compete with fabulous costumes or skits. Some of the costumes are very complex and can take over a year to conceive and finish. A group of judges with experience in costuming preside over the event and award prizes to the best, the funniest, the cutest (hard decision when a bunch of adorable, little kids show up in constume)

and the best workmanship. Some fen like dressing up. They wear hall costumes that can be anything from a sexy outfit to a full suit of armor (even space suits). My very first con was one in St. Louis. I had heard of worldcon (thought you had to be someone like Isaac Asimov to attend) and knew nothing of the local cons. What attracted me was the sight of a van stopping in a hotel parking lot and a group of five or six Jawas (remember the little robed guys who kidnapped the "droids" in Star Wars?) running into the lobby. I parked and followed. My life hasn't been the same since.

In the evening there are parties. The site of each worldcon is chosen two years in advance. Cities bidding for a worldcon throw parties to show fen just how much fun their city can be. Other folk host parties because they like parties. A third category is the 'thank you' party that is hosted by a former worldcon city to thank fen who supported them. Ah yes, among the parties that are thrown by people who are just party animals is the "faux bid" party. These are for places that don't exist, like Oz or Utopia and for places that exist but are very hard to reach, like Mars or the moon. Quite a few of these parties offer drinks, both alcoholic and non as well as snacks.

Many cons host a con suite where you can get a free soda (or a beer if you're of legal age), a place to sit and talk or sometimes a dance floor. The parties and suite are no charge. But plenty of them have a kitty where you can stick some cash to help defray the host's expenses.

Worldcon and some others publish a newsletter. These can be daily or just once during the con. They contain changes in the programming schedule, gossip, information on the hotels and restaurants in the area. One delightful newsletter consists of just snippets of conversations overheard at the con. Of course, these are free as well.

Once you begin attending cons, you realize that there are regulars who show up every year. Some of them help organize the con, others just like the atmosphere and parties. It doesn't take long to make friends who can last many years (30 and counting for a couple.)

Oops, almost forgot GAMING. There are two basic kinds of games: board games like "Dungeons and Dragons" and live action role playing games (LARP). Board games and computer games have progressed far beyond D&D. There are some multi-million dollar game publishers. LARP started from a short story called "The Tenth Victim," about a society where murder was permitted so long as you signed up for it. An assassin was assigned a victim who knew that he was the target. The object of the whole business was to survive, either as assassin or victim while killing the other guy. After winning ten of these games, the player became somewhat famous.

At first, these games were played without costume. The weapons were pointed fingers and the rules somewhat vague. More recently, they have been organized, with headquarters and costumes. Vampire LARP is not the most popular. Some of the costumes are quite well done. Mundane (non-fan) hotel guests may be surprised by finding a realistically made up corpse in a hallway or stairwell who gives anyone passing information on what the crime scene looks like. At one con, a body outline was sketched on the floor with masking tape.

That is a basic outline of the science fiction convention. Don't forget that sf contains many sub-genres such as fantasy and horror, just to mention two of lots and lots.

some facts about hybrid vehicles

2008-07-24T20:01:00.004-05:00

The picture is of some coral bells that bloomed last month.

We drive Toyota hybrids, a Prius and a Highlander. They do get better mileage than most cars of their size and weight. The Prius regularly gets between 40 and 50 miles per gallon. The hybrid highlander usually gives me between 25 and 30 mpg.

But there are some things that affect the mileage.
1. Wind can either boost or drop the efficiency.
2. Wet pavement makes the mileage drop.
3. Hilly terrain in the city lowers mileage, but at highway speeds can increase it.
4. Mountains: for some reason, we get up to 60 mpg when driving through the mountains.
5. Speed: the faster you go over 60 mph, the lower the gas mileage.
6. Traffic: stop and go traffic can raise the efficiency.
7. Air conditioning will drop between 2 and 8 miles per gallon on both cars. This one is a "Catch 22". If you drive at highway speeds with the AC off and the windows open, your mileage is worse than with the windows closed and the AC on.

All in all, we are pretty happy with the cars. They do save us quite a bit of gasoline. And all the gages and dials are fun to watch.

a note from July 22

2008-07-22T15:49:00.008-05:00

Even with the oppressive heat, I find time to get out in the garden. Our first surprise lily has bloomed next to the gardenia bush. I was pleasantly surprised to find that we still had a gardenia blossom, a new one. I had been sure that the heat would have stopped its flowering.

My only tomato plant has some fruit on it too. This is the "mystery mater" that was forced on my wife as she left a greenhouse sale at which she had been volunteering. Not only does it have fruit, but it has set three fresh blossoms. I may yet get home grown tomatoes from my garden this year. Even if not, Mr. Vang's are delicious.

Our new cat (Spooky) seems to be starting to get along with the old. But I am surprised by the increase in dominance activities of the old cat (Little Kitty). Not only will he stalk her, but he will try to jump my feet when my back is turned. Happily, I worked with tigers for five years. This is their favorite hunting behavior and they think its funny to jump on the backs of their friends. When they were younger and weighed less than 250 pounds, they would hit my back and slide off. When they were mature and rising twice that weight, they just rode me down, got off and laughed. Yes tigers can laugh.

Little Kitty appears above and Spooky, below.

Looking carefully at the photos, neither appears terribly happy. Perhaps it is because I disturbed them at their favorite cool spots on the floor. One will try another time.

More authors who have had an effect

2008-07-17T15:28:00.002-05:00

In no particular order (so what else is new?), here are some more of the writers whose works are memorable:

Leo Tolstoy - I may have mentioned that I read "War and Peace" while I was in Vietnam.

Percy Bysshe Shelley - Any reasonably modern poet who can write epics is worthy of regard.

Charles Dickens - Gone from required reading in high school to old friend.

Sir Walter Scott - I love adventure. He writes it well.

Robert Lewis Stevenson - Like I said, I love adventure... as long as it's somebody else's adventure.

Rudyard Kipling - His adventure stories hold me and his poetry is almost something you could put to music.

e. e. cummins - He's just cool.

Walt Whitman - Stirring verse from a point of view I hadn't considered until I read him.

Jules Verne - one of my first SF authors. An amazing number of his predictions were right.

H. G. Wells - another of my first SF authors.

Homer - Two classic epics that have been rewritten under various guises for thousands of years.

Julius Caesar - (not in Latin) If you want to know about military tactics and army movements, this is on of the first masters.

Did I mention Damon Runyan? He's funny. I like funny.

William Faulkner - was the quintessential writer of the 1930's, a good storyteller and a neat view of the South.

Christopher Marlowe - whose plays were every bit as neat as Shakespeare's.

Robert Herrick - a really cool, dirty, old man.

John Milton - You read and read and read and still don't come to the end.

Andrew Marvell - His images come to life in his words.

Lord Byron - If only because his life was so interesting and he was so passionate that it came through the words.

Robert Browning - Only some of his stuff caught at me. But it stuck.

Saki (H. H. Munro) - very different stories and a wicked sense of humor.

Jane Austen - stories of an interesting period told with gentle, subtle humor.

And that's all I can think of today.

Summer has come to Arkansas and we are getting body heat temperatures an high humidity. These combined with almost calm winds make the out of doors oppressive. When it cools a little in the evening, there are enthusiastic mosquitos who come to dine on me. But the blackberries are in season and that is a bit plus

Fifth of July

2008-07-05T16:33:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was Independence Day. The first news of independence I received yesterday was from an old Army buddy. He had an eye problem that was threatening him with blindness. His ophthalmologist worked out a way to save his sight. So my good friend won't need a white cane or seeing eye dog. He'll be able to walk and drive, even ride his Harley. That's good news about independence.

My family went to the Fourth of July celebration on the river. It was lovely. Toward evening, the temperature dropped and a light breeze sprang up. We listened to the music and were comfortable. My two sons-in-law explored the breweries here in Little Rock and found some beers that were very much to their taste. They were noisily happy on the ride home.

But there were other things that I did not like so well. They were nice gestures, well meaning and they put me ill at ease. When the Little Rock Symphony began their part of the concert, the conductor asked all members of the armed forces, past and present, to stand. My daughters urged me to stand and I did. But as I stood, I could not help but remember the friends I left in Vietnam. The memories were not just of the dead (my company was remarkably fortunate during my tour; they were very few) but of the people I spent a year with who did not answer the letters or wrote back that writing to a buddy brought back too many harsh memories. Those friends were lost to me as were the ones whose addresses I never managed to obtain.

At the end of the concert, during the 1812 Overture, the fireworks started. They were magnificent, the best I have seen in Little Rock. The pyrotechicians fired them from the Main Street Bridge, over the Arkansas River. But as I watched, I remembered what they had been originally. The black red air bursts that showered shrapnel down on soldiers, the white smoke that meant white phosphorus had been used. The horrible burns that it inflicted, how they would not stop burning unless the doctors put the soldier into some oxygen free medium and removed the glowing particles in the dark. Those were not good memories.

What I experienced was not the flat panic of a flash back. I just was remembering the purpose of those explosions originally. What we and others have turned into beauty are deadly serious in war. They can injure or kill inexperienced people who try to fire them without the precautions on all their labels. Never-the-less, I enjoyed my day and the evening. It was good to be with so many people I love and so many others whose sole purpose was celebration.

More about authors

2008-07-03T07:08:00.003-05:00

The image of this post is a ceramic dragon made by Trent Talley of Arkansas. He is also working on a small statue of the Egyptian goddess Bast. Most of the authors in this post are fantasy writers. I truly love fantasy and always look for wonder.

In my last post, I noted some of the authors who had made deep impressions on me and promised more. Here is some more of the list:

Terry Pratchett - his humor and fantasy transport me to another world.
Connie Willis - uses her themes to both tell about fascinating characters and make me smile.
Roald Dahl - is a master of the short story. Both his memoires and stories hold me and twist surprisingly.
L. Frank Baum - brought me to Oz.
Dorothy Sayers - showed me mysteries between the two world wars.
Ellis Peters - made the middle ages come alive.
Ruth Plumly Thompson - continued my journeys through Oz with humor and delight.
Howard Pyle - brought the first real adventure into my life.
The Brothers Grimm - gave me fairy magic and monsters.
Hans Christian Andersen - went behind the fairy tales to the characters.

People are coming to visit. But there are more, lots more.

Books and authors

2008-06-27T21:55:00.002-05:00

I suspect that everyone has a different list of books and authors that should be read, either for education or to be a cultured member of society. Since I learned to read, my chief interest has been in science fiction and fantasy, often to the exclusion of subjects I was supposed to learn.

Here, in no particular order is a partial list of the books and/or authors whose effect on me has been remembered and why:

Isaac Asimov and Robert Heinlein - both of these authors were among the first and most memorable of my teenaged years. They "hooked" me on science fiction. By the way, most science fiction fans refer to it as "SF", not "sci-fi".

William Shakespeare - He was required reading and showed me the power of words.

David Drake - took classic military history, turned it into SF or fantasy and gave it personality. Besides, I like military science fiction.

Barbara Rogan - has an incredible feel for character and situation. Her range is large, from unabashed romance to tense mystery thrillers. Each book has the power of a whirlpool to suck the reader inextricably into the story.

Charles de Lint - has grabbed my imagination by both eyes and tossed into worlds.

Mercedes Lackey - got my attention first with her books about dragons that had been genetically made to help people solve a problem on a forgotten colony world. Her other stories, romances and fantasies are beautifully told and engaging.

Patricia McKillip - can add humor into the mix when it doesn't seem possible. She goes from dreamy to taut easily.

Leon Tolstoy - When I was forced to read "Anna Karenina", I thought it dull. But as I got a little older, his work came back to my attention, primarily through the medium of a copy of "War and Peace" delivered by the Red Cross when I was in Vietnam. Suddenly, he became the person who could give humanity to a huge, alien country.

Neil Gaiman - his fantasy just blew me away. His writing is awesome and brilliantly researched.

Diana Gabaldon - has the ability to drag me into the 18th century without a minute's hesitation.

Glen Cook - was the first published author with whom I ever spoke. He was kind and encouraging to a novice. His stories, both fantastic mysteries and military science fiction have a grittiness that seems real to this veteran.

Lois McMaster Bujold - first came to my attention through her military SF. But her fantasies are engrossing.

Will Shetterly - wrote one of the best novels of magic realism I ever read. It was so intriguing that I had trouble putting it down.

Diana Wynne Jones - has the ability to take an everyday situation and make it magical or vice versa.

Rick Riordan - has written novels in which the old gods are still here and doing many of the same things they did in classical times, including fighting the return of the Titans. He is an excellent story teller with just the right amount of humor and irreverence.

Sharon Shinn - writes fantasy that pulls me into the story and usually has a pleasing ending.

P. G. Wodehouse - is perhaps the most gentle and amusing of all writers of the English language. His stories of a slightly bygone era always make me laugh.

Thorne Smith - wrote too few novels. His fantasies about everyday life during prohibition always contain a touch of magic that just might happen. Certainly after reading "Nightlife of the Gods," I never approached a woodland path without a slight hope of something extraordinary.

-------------

It's getting late. I'll try to add some more later.

My favorite things

2008-05-31T06:08:00.005-05:00

Are animals, cats, dogs, horses, in fact anything that has fur and moves.
This is a short post so the typing noise won't wake my wife. But I am adding pictures pictures of my favorite cats.
Most of the animals I like are predators (though horses, donkeys and camels certainly are not). I like the way their heads work and how some of them are "hard wired" for social groups and others survive best alone. There is a good feeling of trust that develops when I work and play with creatures who can hurt me if I get out of line. My courtesy improves.
Another thing, tigers are so full of energy. Sometimes it seems as if I can get an "energy recharge" just by touching them and hugging them.

Five things

2008-05-20T20:12:00.003-05:00

My friend Sarah has been tagged again. I still haven't figured out how to tag people or to show their websites here. But I thought the latest tag was interesting. It went in fives, five things you like to eat, five things you don't like about yourself, five places you have lived, five books you have read recently.

So, five things I like to eat:
1. melon
2. fried eggs
3. anything with garlic
4. sweets (forbidden, alas to diabetics like me)
5. well prepared steak

five things I don't like about me:
1. lazy
2. getting older, weaker in both muscle and head
3. self centered
4. dirty old man (well, I'm not sure I don't like it, but it makes young people nervous)
5. writing has stopped and can't start it again

five places I have lived:
1. Newark, New Jersey
2. St. Louis, Missouri
3. Kontum, Vietnam
4. Paris, France
5. Little Rock, Arkansas

five places I really like:
1. London, England
2. Vienna, Austria
3. St. Malo, France
4. Chicago, Illinois
5. Most of the American west

five books I have read:
1. "The Cadillac Desert"
2. "The Great Influenza"
3. "Riviera to the Rhine"
4. "One Good Knight"
5. "The Annotated Hobbit"

Once again, into the breach...

2008-05-18T12:19:00.006-05:00

It's been quite a while since I visited myself here.
At the beginning of May, I was found to have a perforated bowel. The surgeon began cutting about two hours after I was diagnosed. Since then, I've either been in hospital or too tired to write. As the recovery progresses, my energy comes back and I find more energy... and more things to say.
Belly surgery such as I had takes more out of a person than just the energy to do things. It cuts into dignity and privacy. I have a temporary colostomy. For the next three months or so, I'll be pooping out a new hole in my stomach. That involves more than a quick wipe with toilet paper. I have to empty the bag, clean it up and deodorize it before I can finish. It also requires a new position at the "throne of the porcelain God." Instead of sitting, I kneel, appropriate for a worshipper.
Changing the bag is done a couple of times a week. It involves removing the old bag and seals with a special adhesive remover, cleaning the area of my belly thoroughly and, sometimes, shaving it so the next removal will go more painlessly. In the mean time, I pass gas through every orifice connected to the gastrointestinal tract. One time, I felt like I was urinating a soda that someone had shaken up. Odd, but not unpleasant.
I thought that spending most of my time in bed would offer the relaxation to think and ponder. Not so. I've been sleeping and concentrating on just what I have to learn to do in order to stay clean and healthy.
My memory must be going bad. I do not recall this much trouble after I was wounded 40 years ago.
The garden is doing well this spring and yesterday, the first day I was allowed out, I took a bunch of pictures of the flowers that were blooming. While I was doing that, my wife and daughter were planting dozens more. I hope that I'll be able to walk to the place they were planted before they quit blooming.
Some of my friends have sent cards or flowers. Some have not. Of course, I did not publish a press release to announce that surgeons were rearranging my waste disposal system, so some have not gotten the word. 'Twill be interesting to see who, if anyone says something when I am finally permitted to travel.

Denvention (the world science fiction convention) is scheduled for this August. I'm particularly anxious to attend this year since many of my European friends only come near that one time.
If you have never attended an SF con, this would be a great one to begin. While it will be quite large, there will be many of the writers and artists that are widely admired coming there. There are terrific bid parties at "Worldcons". Various cities promote themselves as sites for future conventions. SF fans are a friendly lot. It's easy to get involved in the various panels that range from design and use of ancient weapons to current plans for the exploration of our universe.

How does your garden grow, Part III

2008-04-26T21:32:00.002-05:00

Okay, here's the hardy orchid.

One of these days I'll even figure out how to put multiple photos in the same post with captions. But for now, this will have to suffice.

How does your garden grow, Part II

2008-04-26T21:26:00.003-05:00

Oh darn!

I clean forgot that I wanted to post a couple of pictures showing the flowers. The Indian blanket flower is at the top left. The hardy orchid will be shown in Part III.

How does your garden grow

2008-04-26T21:13:00.003-05:00

It's our Earthday celebration in Little Rock. I know that the actual day was Tuesday, but since most people worked or were in school, we moved ours to the weekend. After I returned from the events held in the garden of the President Clinton Library, I was pumped up to discover that one of our wildflowers had decided to open. That was the Indian blanket flower.

When I looked around some more, I found hardy orchids as well.

Our garden has plenty of flowers, pansies, Russian sage, corral bells, hyssop, knockout roses and others. But these are special to me since they are native to this area. We transplanted the orchids from a friend's garden for just that reason.

We've been studying what Arkansas was like before Europeans came. It was part of the great prairie which extended from Mexico into Canada and from the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains to somewhere in Ohio. It wasn't all plains with tall blue stem grass. There were different zones from a sort of caliche to wetlands. A naturalist told me that when studied one acre of land that had been left unplowed, he found over 500 species of plants. We have only a few areas of prairie left here in Arkansas. Farther west, the states have left more land since the natural prairie is good for grazing cattle.

We went to Colorado early this month and saw huge tracts of prairie that had been burnt off. This is necessary to keep it prairie and go germinate certain plants that need a fire to burn off protective husks. The fires had been pretty well contained, but it was amazing (to me) seeing four or five miles of burned prairie on my right, then another several miles on the left, then right... well, you get the idea.

Tagged

2008-04-25T19:36:00.002-05:00

I've been tagged. There seem to be some rules for this game.
1 link to the person who tagged you.
2 post the rules on your blog. Done
3 write six random things about yourself.
4 tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5 let each person know by leaving a message at their blog.
6 let your tagger know when your entry is up.

So far, so good. But I have absolutely no idea of how to establish a link. Alas, the "help" area seems to think that Everyone knows about these things and gives no comprehensible instructions about linking. BUT, I'm going to do what I can and hope that someone knowledgeable will take pity on me with regard to links.

Random facts about me:
1 My hair is quite gray and short.
2 My office is a mess which will require power equipment to clear.
3 I have a huge stack of books in my TBR (to be read) pile.
4 I hardly ever buy something because it's new. Usually I wait until the one I have stops working to look for a new one.
5 I like hockey and volleyball as a spectator. But I'm not what you call a fan.
6 The last cd I bought was a recording of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons".

Links: TBA... when I learn how to make them.

2008-04-09T16:43:00.003-05:00

Today started foggy and rainy. But the garden was wonderful. The daffodils had come and gone. In their place were hundreds of jonquils, white and yellow, smelling marvelous. Adding to the perfume were lavender (something we were told could not be grown in Arkansas) and wisteria.

Most of the day was spent in meetings with educational content. There was a rose seminar attached to lunch, then a talk on the wild flowers of Arkansas with a dessert afterwards.

Of course, I caught up on the gossip that I had missed while I was traveling. There were stories about the tornado damage and its effects on my friends. There were actually ten tornados that touched down in the Little Rock area. All were EF1 or 2. That's plenty of wind enough to damage houses. But the main problems were caused by trees and their limbs taking down power lines. Many neighborhoods were without electricity for over 15 hours.

Food

2008-03-19T21:08:00.005-05:00

It's Monday evening and I'm in Flagstaff, Arizona. We drove about eleven hours today, through two time changes (Arizona does not switch to daylight savings time, why can all the other states be so smare?) and about 500 miles. Needless to say, I'm a little tired. But this will get rid of some excess energy.

I mentioned a growing water problem last night. Tonight, my friend Marilyn Alm mentioned food. Food does not come from the grocery store; it comes from farms. And we have fewer farmers these days. Agricultural land is being turned into housing with no regard for where the water for these places will be found or how the additional people will be fed.

This year, for the first time in many years, Russia can't export wheat. They don't have enough to feed their own population. China announced that it is considering the revocation of the "one child per family" policy. But China grows enough food to feed about a third of its population. In the United States, the price of wheat shot up about 300% this year.

So, we are approaching a crisis of hunger and of energy, as well as water. What to do? Well, I think that some very hard decisions will have to be made by the governments of many countries. These decisions may lead to those making them being outsted from power. But they and we are going to have to chose between making unpopular decisions (and implementing them) and watching our grandchildren starve.

That is no exageration. Our world population is growing faster than the supply of food grows. People are moving to places like the desert for its beauty and the dry air with no thought for the water it will take to keep their lawns green. Those lawns, by the way, are humidifying that dry air.

There is no guarantee that advances in agriculture and in genetics of crops will be sufficient to keep everyone fed. There is still great resistance to genetically tailored crops. What do people think hybridization is? Did you know that the apple is a member of the rose family? How did that thorny, pretty smelling flower become a lucious fruit?

Agreed, some of the steps that are taken to increase the food supply are short sighted. We are beginning to see what dosing cattle with antibiotics does to some bacteria's resistance to them. No-one has done satisfactory, long term experiments with some of the other methods presently in use. Is our food supply a time bomb, ticking silently to zero?

In the United States and most European countries, we have become addicted to things like sugar and caffeine. They aren't particularly good for us. But we have been consuming steadily increasing amounts of both since the 17th century. There don't seem to be many undesirable side effects if we discount increasing weight and some irritation before that essential morning cup.

The addiction is passed on to our kids. Most colas have plenty of caffeine to start a day the coffee way. The new "energy" drinks have even more. These are very popular with adults and with children. I'm wondering what effect that will have and what will happen when it becomes necessary to convert lands presently under coffee and sugar cane to wheat, rice and beans.

Enough. My rant is finished for tonight. I hope, dear reader, that you will ponder the questions I have raised. If you have any answers, I would be very grateful if you would post them in the comments section.

post card Water I

2008-03-19T21:08:00.004-05:00

Our trip continues. Today, we're in Roswell, NM (que eerie music). We drove through some pretty dry areas today. It seems that the rain has not blessed this part of the country. But here isn't the only place.

There are a number of places around the United States that are hurting for water. The middle of the country is of special concern to those of us who live there. Our aquifer is being drained about a hundred times faster than it recharges. There are already irritated noises coming from Kansas and Nebraska about a water agreement made years ago that is drying some farmers out of business.

The southeast US has had its own share of water shortages and upper Florida is worried about the Everglades drying out. One community in Arkansas, a well watered state, was down to about three weeks water supply before the last round of storms brought levels up. These are real problems. They won't just go away if we ignore them.

We are facing climate change. How serious and what effect it will have on us as individuals is an unknown. Oh yes, lots of people are willing to put their guesses up as fact. But none of us really knows how the changes will affect us.

Never-the-less, we can do something. I'm not talking about showering together or watering gardens on odd numbered days. We are going to need a national water policy and a group to oversee it. The Corps of Engineers won't do. It has its own agenda to look after. They do a fine job of flood control along rivers and building dams to make more lakes for recreation. That is their mind set and it just won't do for this problem.

I'm going to think about this and do more research. In the mean time, recommended reading is "The Cadillac Desert".

Palestine, Texas

2008-03-19T21:08:00.003-05:00

We've started a long trip. I feared that I would have no access or ideas to post.

Today, as we were driving through east Texas, seeing the many huge Baptist churches, I considered just what is happening during this election. The incredibly long, sometimes bad tempered campaigns, I thought that this was a ploy to make Americans so sick of the candidates and their non-statements that no-one would vote. Then, as the Democratic candidacy came down to Senators Clinton and Obama, race and religion raised their ugly heads.

What difference does it make that one presidential candidate is a woman, another black and the third a Vietnam veteran. Do any of these things have any effect on their competence to manage this country? Who cares if one is Christian or another Moslem? All three have shown their dedication to America and their ability to campaign.

But that Moslem thing really sticks in my craw. I have yet to decide who I want for president. I am certain that I don't want it to be me. But this religious interference with our government bothers me.

From their letters and papers, it would appear that our founding fathers wanted no religion to tell our legislators how to run the country. They did not just speak of the various forms of Christianity. They included Islam, Judaism, Bhuddism and Hinduism in their discussions. We have falloen away from that.

The separation of church and state is an important part of our constitution. But preachers are able to use their pulpit to state their views on who should govern this country and how they should do it. The fact is that many of these religious leaders have great influence on their congregations. Another fact is that mass media have given some of them incredibly large followings... people who will do as their pastor suggests.

That is not separation of church and state. It puts the churchs squarely into the political arena. That, I beleive is wrong. We are up against the rule of separation and the guarantees of free speach and assembly. Never-the-less, it doesn't seem right to me that any religious leader can accept his tax free (separation) status, then try to put his views of government as gospel to his followers. It has been suggested that such a leader's church be stripped of its tax free status. Not a bad idea, but impractical since they already have such a firm grip on our elected leaders.

Besides, it would put the congregation in the position of having to report on their chosen faith. We don't want to put agents in every church to make certain that its leader stays away from politics. That smacks of the worst of totalitarianism. The chrch leaders are understandably unwilling to part with the power they have gained from their sermons on who is right.

But still, some of their preaching is right down the line of intollerance and hate. How to control this is not so much the problem as how did it get that way and will it ever swing in the other direction.

Notice, that I don't say anything about the "good old days." Anyone with access to newspapers of the 19th and early 20th centuries will note that name calling and obstreperousness were just as popular then as now. We certainly do not want to return to the days of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Leaving the policing up to the government puts us right into the position that we have fought so hard to leave. The answer is individual action. If your pastor starts politicking fromthe pulpit, it's time to walk out of the service. Do it publicly and answer (softly and courteously) the questions of your fellow congregants. We pay these preachers. If we leave and don't pay our dues, they are out of a job, usually.

It is our responsibility to clean up our act.

Taking a trip

2008-03-17T21:21:00.002-05:00

I'll be leaving for Idaho on 19 March. While I haven't been keeping up with this recently. I'm hoping that I won't be too tired after a long day's drive to blog impressions of where we go. It's going to be an interesting trip, going by way of San Antonio and returning by way of Santa Fe. We shall see what happens to my creative urge when I'm moving around.

Security? For whom?

2008-03-15T13:13:00.002-05:00

I recently bought a CD for $5. It took me about 15 minutes to work my way through the wrappings and protective tape that I suppose kept the darned thing from being taken from its jewel case and stolen in the store. That started me wondering. Does anyone trust other people? How much security must we go through before we say, "ENOUGH!"

We're kept standing in long lines at airports for security checks. These checks are spotty and usually inefficient. One airport will make me take my shoes off; another will make me step aside for wanding after I pass their magnetic detector, but say nothing about shoes. The last time I went through JFK, there was an hour wait for security. As I was being passed, I noticed the screen of one of the X-rays. It must have been an electrician's tool kit. There were screw drivers and razor knives. The man was passed and his case was not checked. We're paying for this.

Have you noticed? TSA employees don't wear name tags. That means if one does something way out of line, like a man hand searching a woman passenger, he can't be reported. The rules are inconsistent. My flight home from New York allowed me to lock my check on after it was inspected. When it arrived at home, the locks had been broken off and a TSA tag said that it had been searched. Several jewelry presents for my wife were missing. I've sent e-mails and letters, none of which have been answered. Come to think on it, why should they bother?

The inconsistency goes beyond CDs and the TSA. Just look around at the security arrangements in your nearest store. Marvelous.

For want of a better...

2008-03-12T20:10:00.002-05:00

Calloo, Callay, oh frajous day.

Spring has taken over here in Little Rock. Daffodils and crocus are blooming. The Bradford pear buds burst into flower today. And the temperature was a delirious 77 degrees (I can't figure out how to insert special characters like accents or degrees into this thing.) F with bright sun all day. Additionally, not one bill came in the mail.

I really thought that I had an essay ready for this day. But it's gone.

Comparing Iraq and Vietnam

2008-02-16T15:28:00.003-06:00

As promised last month, I have been thinking about the similarities and differences between the war we fought 40 years ago and the one we are fighting today.

To begin, both were started as the result of faulty intelligence and theories that just didn't pan out. Both were divisive for Americans since there were strong anti-war groups protesting our involvement. Both have stretched much longer than the administration starting them calculated. It is a point for debate if either was necessary for the security of the United States. Neither war attracted the hoped for allies. Finally, neither could be won on the terms that the administration of the time wanted.

Some gross differences were, the draft. Although many of the soldiers serving in Vietnam were volunteers like me. There was conscription at the time. Quite a few men of draftable age agonized over whether they would have to go and fight. Some even fled to other countries to avoid this. Iraq/Afghanistan is strictly volunteer. Every troop fighting there volunteered for duty in the armed services, even if they did not think, at the time, that they would have to go to war. The attitude of the anti-war movement was distinctly different. Most returning from the present conflict have been welcomed whether people agreed with the war or not. Vietnam returnees were greeted with hostility, even violence against them. The wounds caused by that reception have not yet healed for many.

In Vietnam, the US was supporting a government, a corrupt, inefficient government to be sure, but a government. While elections have been held in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the elected governments there are powerless beyond the security of their capitols. Without an effective central government, both countries will either continue in violence or the power will be ceded to local leaders.

Forty years ago, our troops were fighting just two opponents, the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong. In Iraq/Afghanistan, there more factions than I can count fighting each other and the US. It is this high number of combatant groups, with mostly different objectives that makes the job in the mid east very difficult.

The United States is faced with what is called "non-centric" warfare. That is, instead of a capitol like Hanoi or fixed bases, the mid eastern opponents are dispersed through the population. Command and control are accomplished in many cases, without the individual fighters having to actually meet with their commanders. Unfortunately, that makes the common problem that sometimes a soldier doesn't know which of those people out there are friends and which want to kill him/her.

While in both conflicts, the enemy was flexible and could retake areas left by the Army, there is a difference in Iraq. Soldiers and police are being trained to keep the peace in their neighborhoods, Iraqi soldiers and police who can hold their areas and prevent terrorists from returning... for the present.

The major difference is (I think) that it is possible to achieve peace and stability in Iraq where in Vietnam, it could only happen if we had been prepared to completely conquer North Vietnam and protect both the north and south from their neighbors for at least 30 years. The kind of government that develops in the middle east won't be the type President Bush was thinking of when he pushed for elections. Hopefully, it will be something new that fits the region and religion.

There is more. But I'm going to have to ponder some to be able to write it.

pre-introduction to the wars

2008-01-24T19:27:00.000-06:00

Rosalie Lepowski, an old friend has asked me to talk about the Vietnam War and its similarity to the present war in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's going to take some time to think out.

There are certain things that are familiar. Both wars were started from faulty intelligence and bad interpretation of it. In both, by entering, we upset the balance of power and made sure that if we left too soon, there would be very undesirable results.

But there are also some non-congruencies too. In Vietnam, we were supporting a strong, but corrupt government. We paid little attention to establishing real democracy there. Our troops were despised when they came home. In Iraq and Afghanistan, non of these are true. We have tried to establish working democracies in both countries. Each government is weak, not having even enough power to control their capitals, much less the rest of the country. And our soldiers are greeted as heros when they return. Sadly, their return is all too short with many of them starting their third tour in less than five years.

I'm going to think and write more about this.

Changes

2008-01-16T18:53:00.000-06:00

As we come into a new year, change should be on everyone's mind. While some change is good and beneficial, other is not. The change that I noticed is in the country, not the United States, but the rural lands that support agriculture.

35 years ago, when I first drove on back roads, everyone I waved to waved back. Some even waved without a start from me. One pathetic specimen saw my beard and gave me the finger. I was on those same roads last week. Not one in five folk responded to my waves, neither the drivers nor the folks on the side of the road. What's happening?

Rural communities are losing their young people. There aren't enough jobs or possibilities to hold them. They leave to seek life elsewhere and seldom return. Even farmers are affected by the current trends... especially that of demanding instant gratification of wishes. Farming just doesn't give a person instant gratification.

There has been a trend toward the idea that a business that doesn't grow dies. That's just not true. Small stores and restaurants have stayed in business for years without needing to grow. They keep their customers by giving them quality products and good service. People come back to them time after time; and their children do it too. The drive to constant growth is mostly driven by the stock market and those who invest in it. It is that drive that has changed business' outlook from the long haul to the next quarter's bottom line. That kind of short sightedness can only hurt, eventually.

None of this is new. An ancient Roman once moaned, "Ah tempore, ah mores." Our mistakes haven't changed much in two thousand years. But then, neither have we.

Happy New Year, 2008

2008-01-05T20:15:00.000-06:00

From Christmas to the first of this year, we were in New Mexico with our daughter and grandchildren. We did drive to Phoenix as a family to watch our grandson play hockey as a New Mexico Peewee state teammate. While there, we did some shopping in Scottsdale and went to a Coyote's game to see professional hockey. The Peewees are very good in comparison to the pros. They skate fast and have begun to learn teamwork. It was plenty of fun to see.

Driving home, we did a leisurely, two day trip. The first day was pretty slow since we shopped in the trading and Nambe' stores of Pojoaque. We left New Mexico poorer in wallet, but richer in art.

Since we came back to Little Rock, we have been busy sorting and answering mail. I am almost caught up on the bills which arrived while we were out of town. I have also trimmed my phone messages down to just three for action. I suppose that I should be grateful that people want to talk to me. Alas, so many of them want to propose ways of transferring money from my bank account to theirs.

Little Kitty has been most solicitous since my return. In fact, he has tried to stay near me or on me since I rescued him from durance vile (the kennel). You can see from the picture that he is a handsome fellow. He also has long, soft fur. When I go to bed, he lies on the pillow with my head. When I sit, he bounces into my lap. He likes to drink from the faucet in the bathroom, but doesn't bother with the kitchen tap. Right now, he's purring in my lap, with his chin resting on my right arm as I type.

Our garden survived the brief spell of very cold weather quite well. One Indian blanket flower is still blooming. I thought that they were strictly summer flowers. Alas, our camelia blossoms were frost burned. This is the third year that they have been damaged before we got a chance to see them. The evergreens, like rosemary are still green, but most of the blooms are waiting for warmer weather to show.

In the hopes that you, gentle reader, had a delightful holiday season, please accept my best wishes for the new year.

Neighbors

2007-12-01T16:41:00.000-06:00

Fall has lived up to its name. The leaves have fallen and I am busy picking up the ones that are not wanted in the garden for mulch. That brings me to a pet peeve. We have a neighbor who is, in most respects, very nice. But the leaves that fall in their yard aren't picked up until mid-December. That means I have to keep cleaning out our gardens because their leaves blow into our yard.
I don't think that they are doing it to annoy me. I suspect they're too cheap to pay to have the leaves removed more than once. I really can't say anything because they are retired teachers and might have to economize. But I can complain here. They don't use the Internet.
It's odd that some neighbors are wonderful and stay friends long after you or they move away and some, you never get to know at all. I guess I've been lucky. We've never had a truly rotten neighbor. Example: I remember a friend of my parents while I was growing up. He sued people. Sometimes it seemed as if he was consciously setting them up for a court case. Other than that, he was a bright, nice guy. But I'm really happy that we didn't live right next door to him.
There's a term that I hear used in the country, "neighborly". I can't give it a precise definition, only cite examples of "neighborliness". If, for example there is a hail storm coming, the neighborly will let people who have no garages park in his shed to protect their cars. Or if someone is putting up a fence and a neighbor has a post hole digger, he'll offer it to the guy putting up the fence. I don't think that I've managed to get a real hold on "neighborly", but I hope you know what I mean.

Book review

2007-11-07T20:59:00.001-06:00

For some years, I reviewed romances for Compuserve. It was enjoyable and I got free books in the process. Even after Compuserve shut down its review board, I kept reading romance novels for the fun of it. But the last one I bought was a little disappointing.

"A Dash of Scandal" by Gloria Dale Skinner, writing as Amelia Grey
Jove Books, 2002
ISBN: 0-515-13401-5

The title attracted me. It was obviously a Regency romance. Ever since I read Jane Austen's stories, that period has held enjoyment. The story is of a country girl who visits an aunt in London for 'the season'. Her aunt is a gossip columnist and has had a fall which precludes her going to parties and gathering gossip. She persuades her niece to do the gathering while she continues to write her column. The niece meets a naughty earl and falls in love with him. In the mean time, a thief has been stealing from the homes at which the parties are held, including the earl's. After some misunderstanding, the niece and the earl form a team to catch the thief. He falls in love with her and all ends well.

A cute story and very well written. But there is a problem for me. The author has her characters saying some things that reek of Regency and others that might have come from her local high school right now. Her character's actions are not those of a pair of Regency gentles. In fact, they might have been a pair of high school lovers in Regency dress up.

Of course, each costume change of our heroine is detailed by the author. She also provides details of the dress of other female characters and some of the males... sometimes. I'm not sure if this is 'de rigeur' for a modern Regency writer. But between skipping those descriptions and the protracted, unlikely love scenes, this book was a very quick read.

It's not that I didn't enjoy the reading. The problem was more in non-Regency charactizations and speach. I think that Ms. Dale Skinner should re-read "Pride and Prejudice" to see what actions were more probable in the gentles of that period.

.

2007-11-07T20:58:00.001-06:00

Things are changing

2007-11-04T15:33:00.000-06:00

We changed our clocks from daylight savings time to standard time last night. It beats me why our government insists on sticking with a system invented when all factories didn't have electric lights and used windows to let in sunlight for workers. But this post isn't about that or our government.
I like to garden. In fact, I'm a Master Gardener (courtesy of the University of Arkansas Extension Service). Yesterday and the day before, I began to get ready for winter. At my Master Gardener project, a group of us mulched plants and removed the summer annuals in preparation for planting winter ones. At home, my wife and I swept up leaves, weeded and I put in pansies for the winter.
The trees are changing and the leaves are falling. Maples make the prettiest show, especially here, among tthe pines and oaks. But the wild pear in the wood below our house has turned to orange. I usually notice it in the spring when white blossoms make it a candle in the bare woods. The lizards have disappeared from our rock garden and the acorns are dropping out of the oak woods, making walking up our back drive like strolling on ball bearings.
Days have become cooler. We can leave the windows open at night without smothering in heat and humidity. Since Little Rock has no ordinance against it, the smell of burning leaves can occasionally be scented on the breeze. Some of the birds are gone, already flown south for winter. Among those, the hummingbirds are most noticeable for their absence. I took the feeder down this morning. On the plus side, mosquitos are not in attendance. Bug gnats still manage to get up my nose.
Deer and pheasant seasons have begun in many states. The modern gun bear season opens here Monday. I don't hunt anymore. Well, I plan on trying to bag a pheasant in Kansas next week. But my deer and elk hunting is over. Both my son and son-in-law provide me with game when their hunts are successful. And the meat is already dressed and butchered into cuts for cooking. It's even better than buying meat at the grocery since they don't ask for money (well not often).
All those leaves are falling on our drive and into our little water feature. That means sweeping, dipping, cleaning and "sucking" them out of wherever they aren't wanted. That sucking is something that I managed to get Stihl to do for me. By turning their blower around, you can make it remove leaves from places that are inconvenient to blow. We still have to pick the leaves out of the lavender bushes and rosemary. The rosemary, by the way, is blooming again. Pretty purple blossoms that you don't notice at first.
Sage, salvia, roses, Japanese anemone are all blooming. Our front garden has all of those and looks quite patriotic with red, white and blue waving waist high.
Of course, the kids are back in school. Since I'm fairly old, this has only one effect for me... the traffic jams start about three in the afternoon and go on until the end of rush hour. Those yellow buses seem to be everywhere.

I'm not...

2007-11-04T14:48:00.000-06:00

I'm not as young as I was yesterday; and I was older then than the day before that.
One of my favorite rants is that I hope I get to Heaven because I want to talk to God about engineering. It seems bitterly unfair to me that my body wears out one thing at a time. It would be so much cleaner if we just fell to pieces all at once, like the "One Hoss Shay".*
This latest complaint has two sources. First, I injured my knee slightly a couple of days ago. That sort of thing used to heal in a couple of hours. But here it is two days later and the darned thing still hurts. It makes me limp when I walk. I hate that. And that is not the only thing that is wearing or has worn out. The second is, for me, really scary. I was talking to my wife this morning. It took me three tries to get a very simple point across. Afterwards I realized that she was not to blame. I had been vague and had not said exactly what I was trying to make her understand. I'm losing my communications skills. Hey, that's really frightening for a guy who wants to write.
My mother-in-law (That's her picture at the head of this post.) had Alzheimer's Disease. It was painful to watch a witty, sophisticated woman disappear, one memory at a time. The first thing we noticed gone were words. She began to call almost any animal a squirrel. Of course by that time, her short term memory was already shot. She hardly remembered what had been said at the beginning of a conversation. That meant we heard the same story often. I'm not complaining about that. She was a talented story teller. She was very good at compensating for memory loss. If you met her then, you would have thought her normal during a short conversation. We were lucky enough to care for her during six months of her illness. She was mobile and enjoyed travelling with us although she would often remark that she remembered a road that none of us had ever travelled.
I'm pretty sure that the regimen we used for her kept her going longer than another might have. After my wife helped her dress, we would have breakfrast. She had always been careful about her weight, but the combination of her disease and age reduced her appetite to the point we gave her nutritional drinks as often as she would take them. After breakfast, I would take her for a walk along our street. We walked up to three miles each morning; less if she felt tired. She would talk to me about her family and marriage. I loved that.
But in the normal course of Alzheimer's, she began to lose people. She addressed her grandchildren as if they were her children. She became increasingly concerned about getting lost. Our son is six feet four inches (96cm) tall. When we went into crowded places, Mother would cling to his arm. She said that holding onto the tallest thing in the crowd would allow us to find her no matter what. She began to wander, mostly in the house and we had to put up barriers to prevent her from falling down stairs or into the garage. She would not go outside without one of us because she was afraid of getting lost.
Dementia can effect people in different ways. The books we read on the subject warned us that her temperament might change, that she might get mean, irritable, even destructive. None of those things happened. Mother never was less than pleasant, never raised her voice or displayed any temper. I wondered if inside, she was fretting at her innability to tell us everything she wanted to say. It is more comforting to believe that she was as happy as she seemed.
Toward the end of her life, she didn't recognise any of her family except her husband. Him, she knew up to the day she died. He died soon after she did and they are buried side by side in the little prairie cemetary below the church they attended almost every week they were married.
Getting back to ME. I fear losing my memories and depending on others for everything. I fear becoming an inarticulate burden on my family. Dying is easy. But being so sick that I can't take care of myself, in unremitting pain that robs me of any other thought or emotion is terrifying.

Tired but happy

2007-10-14T19:44:00.000-05:00

Fran and I have been traveling almost non-stop for a month now. We've visited family, had high school reunions and met for historical investigations. Having time to do laundry and repack before hurrying off to someplace else we want to go is tiring. When we returned home last night, we piled into bed without unpacking and slept for 12 hours straight.
Today, the lawn needed mowing and there were lots of weeds that needed to be pulled in the garden. We did some, but not all. Tomorrow, I have to start preparing for another trip.
Now, don't get me wrong. I like to travel and each one of these voyages has been voluntary. Coming so close together has been trying. Hopefully, when I return from this next drive, I'll be able to rest for a few weeks before we head out again.
If you're reading this to say, "Poor me, poor me, poor me." You're right.

Jukebox

2007-10-08T10:10:00.000-05:00

Every morning I can remember, there has been a tune running through my head. It's not the same tune every morning (how boring). The song is usually prompted by something I hear that morning or heard the night before.
While it's there, playing in my mind, I can sing the words if I know them, or whistle it through most of the day. It varies, as I said. Some mornings, there will be a theme from a classical piece, others a bit of country-western, rock and roll, or Latin music.
I love all these metiers. The happy, peppy Samba, the brooding, romantic tango, the wailing country-western, all of these get me singing. My first musical passion was classical. The enormous, creative variations on simple themes kept me engaged through the piece. Something as rich as Rachmoninoff's Variations on a Theme by Pagininni, I can play over and over, hearing something new each time I listen.
The tune will determing my mood for the day. Of course, I can change moods as the situation warrants, but I usually go back to where I started in the morning. My mind is a self choosing jukebox.
Ah, some of my younger readers might not know what a jukebox is. Ask your parents or grandparents.

no title

2007-10-07T19:35:00.000-05:00

I'm in New Mexico today. Fran and I are visiting our daughter and granchildren. Grandson is playing JV football Monday night.
Weather is different here. It was hot and humid in Little Rock when we left. Up here, chamisa and mountain asters are blooming. The air is dry and we have a fire in the grate tonight. When I finish this, I'll join my son-in-law in watching football on TV.
Our children and grandchildren are sources of both great pride and casual disappointment to me. On the one hand, they work hard, have good lives and are, in the main, content. On the other, their domestic lives are chaotic. Thus, as a father, I worry that the contentment will not last.
I've said this to others. Children don't have less or more problems when they grow up. The problems just become more "interesting" (read more complex and harder to solve.) I suspect that most parents want to solve their children's problems for them, or at least give them good advice on how to deal with things.
I've given my share of advice, some of it even good. Sometimes, the kids follow my suggestions. All in all, not a bad track record.

Time for football!

Vietnam

2007-10-06T11:35:00.000-05:00

In my talking about me, I mentioned that I was a Vietnam vet. It's important because my time there matured me and made some changes in the way I view the world.
My Army component was combat engineers. I was a demolition specialist. That meant that I got to disarm unfriendly ordnance as well as blow stuff up. I liked the latter and hated the former. Some memories of that duty were published in Soldier of Fortune back around 1990.
What brought this period to mind is an e-mail I received recently. A friend and another veteran sent me a notice that someone had defaced the Vietnam Wall. I do not understand. While America was in Vietnam, people transferred their anger at the administration to the soldiers who served there. Most of them had been drafted and no more wanted to fight in a foreign country than they wanted to eat dirt.
Angry peace protesters threw rocks at soldiers. They screamed epithets at them and treated them like criminals. The pain of that has lasted all these intervening years. Many of us still greet each other with the words we didn't hear then, "Welcome home."
Why were we there? As I said most were drafted. Some were professional soldiers who went where they were ordered and did what they had to in order to stay alive. I was a volunteer. The theory then was that Communism (you may have to Google that) would spread if not opposed. Twenty years had shown us that this economic/political philosophy did not move where it was actively, militarily opposed. So I guess I wanted to save the world.
While I was in Vietnam, I helped build bridges and schools, clear roads, install drainage systems and shot at people who shot at me. There were some beautiful parts and there were some scary, ugly parts. I may post some memories later. This post is to continue my introduction about me.
When I returned, I was a quieter person. My father guessed that it was because I was listening for someone who might try to kill me. Maybe that was part of it. But the major reason was that I had less to say. I didn't think that my every thought was worth telling. I still don't.
I have a world view that has been annealed by seeing people die, losing friends, being frightened for a solid year. Those events were hard to recover from. I had nightmares and flashbacks for several years after. Marrying the love of my life definitely improved the way I dealt with the memories, so did taking a degree in psychology. The latter was more self-help than learning a new profession.
The fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan is viewed by people who are just as dedicated to peace. But this time, they have separated the folks who take orders from those making policy.
If you're an old person, like me, who went to Vietnam, I conclude this with only one thing.

Welcome home, and thank you.

dialect

2007-10-03T19:55:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, I headed to the Farmer's Market in downtown Little Rock. There are a number of farmers who sell there whose roots are in southeast Asia. They're good farmers and their produce is first rate.

Until last Saturday, I had dealt with the children of my friend's farm. Raised in Arkansas, they sounded local. But school had started. The kids who weren't away at college were home doing schoolwork. So I dealt with the father. He spoke good English, but as he had learned it here, with a definite Arkansas accent. His lignuistic background came through never-the-less. Now, gentle readers, contemplate if you will, a rural southern accent with a Vietnamese accent superimposed. Awsome.

That incident reminded me of happy days in business. Our Japanese joint venture had an employee who visited regularly. K liked America and he liked Americans. But his special weakness was Mexican mariachi music. He had hundreds of disks at home, played them in the office and visited Mexican restaurants whenever he could.

One night, he and I were entertaining some customers ala 'Japan, Incorporated'. That is, we ate, drank and sang. For everyone but K, it was their first Mexican meal. Knowing that tastes differ, I asked the waitress (I'll get back to her) to bring each of us a Margarita, a tequila sunrise and a bottle of Dos Equis. While the Japanese are great drinkers, especially of beer, the sweet drinks were new and delightful. Soon they were trying to sing the lyrics of the recorded music. Of course, K succeeded belting out Spanish lyrics with a heavy Japanese accent. Several of the cooks left the kitchen to regard him with awe.

Now, as for that waitress; She was a truly beautiful woman, tall, long black hair and a fully developed bossom. She wore a colorful Mexican skirt and a low cut peasant blouse. There was sufficient tequila in the air that I don't remember if she wore anything under that blouse. But it didn't matter. This was thirty years ago. Our Japanese customers stared at her as she passed our table, serving to others. Their eyes followed every bounce or jiggle under that blouse. I can not recall ever seeing such yearning in so many eyes at the same time.

I speak some French and I am not immune to the superimposed accents. I learned my French in a small village in the Alcase Lorraigne area. The local accent is quite heavy. So now my French is laden with that local accent with American superimposed. The French give me looks that I have been unable to translate so far. Perhaps they are admiring, or just shocked to hear what I do l'Academie's language.

For me, however, the best place to go for accents is the British Isles. Most of you will know the broad ones, Scots, Irish, Cockney. But in the country, those accents can become impenetrable. I suspect that they are mixed with words that predate both the Norman and Saxon invasions. If you want to hear some of the above, rent "Cold Comfort Farm". It's a British comedy that was made in 1995 by BBC/Thames.

That's it for now. I'll have a book review for you later.

2 OCT 07

2007-10-02T11:02:00.001-05:00

Little Rock, where I live, has its share of bad drivers.
We have the cell phone user who S_L_O_W_L_Y moves away from a traffic light, then weaves all over the road. What the heck? He pays taxes. It is, after all, His road.
Then we have the amazing 'blue hair'. This is usually a woman, but not always. She drags along the Interstate at about 25 miles per hour slower than the speed limit. When she hits the city streets, she gooses what she's driving and sort of averages it all out.
But the thing that annoyed me more than most of the others was the driver who would wait and wait after the light was green. Usually, this left time for two cars, three at the most, to get through the light. Last night, I realized that this was a survival tool. Our local drivers usually ignore or don't see traffic signs and signals. That means that moving smartly away from a stop when the light is green could get you broadsided by someone who didn't see or ignored the red light.
My patience just got a shot in the arm. I'm back to where I was when I left the Army. Now I can wait with equanimity while the drivers ahead of me check for oncoming juggernauts. I even look for lines to wait in.