For the curious reader of science fiction (scifi) and fantasy
This collection in the Boston Globe is great. Number 37, a border collie, looks just like Captain Jack. On the doggie bus to doggie day camp, no less!
The pandas are awfully cute, too.
And then there’s this… baby ray? Or alien brane weezel?
Take a few minutes and scroll through the collection.
What do these two misfortunes have to do with each other, besides being unusual ways to get hurt? They’re among the latest additions to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision. In other words, they’re the descriptions of new diagnostic codes for physicians. Since, I guess, they’d be hard to fit into the old codes.
According to Science News, here are some of the odder new codes:
Possibly Science News is making these up—and there are more—but I am not. Where is Dave Barry when you need him?
We’re starting a new circuit around the sun, and what better way to launch than with a book sale? I agree. Starting today and for the next five days, the ebook of my novel The Rapture Effect is just $.99 at all the usual places. That’s less than the cost of a candy bar at the movie theater, and will last far longer!
If you’re one of those discerning people who already owns it, please pass the word. And thank you.
Here’s one of my favorite blurbs from another writer:
“A lively dance of ideas—first contact, interstellar war, artificial intelligence, alien culture—and it moves at a rapid pace, from Earth through cyberspace to the Horsehead Nebula, and various points between. It’s well-worth the trip ticket.” —Roger Zelazny, author of Lord of Light
Here’s wishing everyone a happy, healthy, and joyful New Year!
May the year 2016 rock!
The beautiful full moon was peeking through the clouds over our house when I took Captain Jack out for his evening walk. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas Day.
This is a photo of last night’s full moon, shining through the star atop a Christmas tree in Beirut (from AP, via NPR). This is the first full moon on Christmas since 1977, and the last until 2034! Our skies are cloudy here in Boston, but I hope you get to enjoy it!
Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas! To those who don’t celebrate Christmas, blessings on your day!
Oh, and Happy Birthday, Jesus! Many happy returns!
Straight down, on a tail of fire, that’s how. Anyone who’s read science fiction of the 1950s (Tom Corbett: Space Cadet being a particularly fine example), or seen Destination Moon—or, come to think of it, watched any Apollo landing on the Moon, knows that.
After several attempts, and several failures, SpaceX succeeded with a nighttime launch on December 21, hurling a satellite into orbit, and sending the first stage back to make a soft landing at Starbase Canaveral. It’s not just for show, though the sight was a beautiful one. The purpose is to bring down the cost of space travel by making it possible to reuse these rockets, instead of letting them burn up in the atmosphere or slam down in the ocean.
This is a remarkable achievement for SpaceX, and another step toward more affordable space travel.
Great photos at theverge.com…
and a comparison of this achievement with the recent landing of the New Shepherd rocket from Blue Origin. (Hint: New Shepherd was an outstanding achievement, but this one went higher, faster, harder—and launched an actual satellite in the bargain.)
Like many people I know, I’ve been finding it hard to believe that Christmas is almost upon us. It just doesn’t feel like it; maybe it’s the unseasonably warm weather, or maybe it’s the feeling that we’re whirling round and round the sun faster every year.
See if this helps. It’s the U.S. Air Force Band, making a flashmob appearance at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum last year. Enjoy.
Pay no attention while I try to figure out if this blog feed is working. Talk amongst yourselves. I’ll be right back.
My new, completely revamped website has gone live, replacing the old one at this same address:
Hah! You’re already here! Most of the previous content is still here, but presented in a much more readable way, especially information about my books. It’s a WordPress site, and fully responsive, which means it’s friendly for viewing on smartphones and tablets, as well as regular computers. I hope you like it! If you have any problems, please let me know. (There’s an email contact form under Meet the Author.)
Thanks and kudos to Abigail and Brian McMurray for their expert work in setting it up!
My blog is moving here to stay, as well. In fact, this will likely be my last regular post on the old site at Blogspot. (Sniff. G’bye, Blogspot!) I’ll be keeping the old blog alive as a backup archive, but all my posts from there have been ported over here, as well.
At the moment, the Subscribe to Posts function at the bottom of the page is acting a little wonky, but I hope to get that straightened out quickly. (The RSS feed should be fine.) I hope you’ll all subscribe! (But if it doesn’t work, give it a day or two.)
See you here often, I hope!