Archive for November, 2008
Reading Recommendation: Lamentation, by Ken Scholes
I just finished Ken Scholes’s first novel, Lamentation. This book has been getting a lot of buzz, and so I asked Ken for a copy. It actually took awhile, since the copies have been going out to regular reviewers (I don’t review; I recommmend what I like, partly as a way to show what a [...]
On Terrorism
I’m not very happy to be addressing Terrorism on Thanksgiving. But I spent part of yesterday near the Internet and TV, watching the horrible events in Mumbai. I’d like to reflect a little on the way the Clinton administration handled terrorism vs. the way we’ve handled it under Bush. What I’ve got to say is [...]
Energy Economics
This post is a result of post-panel musings from Orycon 30, the Oregon Science Fiction convention I just attended. I was actually on two panels discussing energy futures - What Happens if the Oil Runs Out? and Alternative Energies.
Often a discussion gets you thinking about something you already know. There was some discussion of the supply [...]
The Silver Ship and the Sea wins the Endeavor Award
This weekend at Orycon, I was given the Endeavor Award for The Silver Ship and the Sea. I’ve been thinking about how to blog about it in a more meaningful way than just posting the press release or talking about how excited I am that the book was chosen when all of the other writers [...]
Obama’s Search for a CTO
No, I don’t normally blog directly on technology and politics. But I am a CIO (for the City of Kirkland, WA) and this discussion has fascinated me. Here is how it has gone.
I first heard Obama was going to appoint a CIO after lunch with a friend who is a CIO for a major city, [...]
Reading Recommendation: The Terror, by Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons writes about the doomed Franklin expedition, a trip into the arctic that resulted in the two expedition boats, Erebus and Terror, being stuck in ice for two full years. Some of the reasons I liked it, from concrete to less concrete:
It’s historical fantasy. Dan Simmons did his homework well, and there is a feast [...]
Some signs of hope on the horizon
I went out for coffee this afternoon, and in the rainy fall bluster, the Tully’s I found was nearly full. I ended up sharing a seat with a gentleman who was dressed entirely too well for a Veteran’s Day holiday, so I asked him about it. Turns out the black suit was all about a [...]
I’m Back Home
It feels like I’ve gone through some m-brane universe back to an America I’m familiar with. I know this long uncomfortable time isn’t even over until January 20th. But still, today I don’t feel like a foreigner in my own country. I really like that.
I grew up believing in elections. Not only that the right [...]
