I have three very beautiful granddaughters. I'm not bragging, mind you, just stating the facts. Since I have only three granddaughters, common logic should tell you that I have no ugly ones. Nope, just the three, each more beautiful inside and out than the others. (OK, so maybe I'm bragging just a little.)
And on this momentous day, one of them, Amy (Amanda Frances when her mother gets mad) enters her teenage years. Amy (alternatively known as Blondie Girl, Swim Chick, Smarty-Pants, Ames, and Amy Daisy) has circled the sun thirteen times and I think the sun (and we) are the better for it. How can one pint-sized girl, seemingly made of styrofoam, bring so much joy and happiness? I guess it just comes naturally to her.
Here's wishing her an awesome, fantastic, glorious thirteenth year! May her eyes be filled with wonder and her ears hear and appreciate the songs that the universe wishes to sing for her. May her heart be filled with love coming to her and exiting from her, spinning madly through the revolving door of her generosity and kindness. May her breath take in the green scents of spring, the glittering scents of summer, the rainbow scents of autumn, and the white scents of winter, gratefully blessing each for their unique beauty. May her brain delve into extraordinary challenges and puzzles and experiences and come out much wiser. May her soul shine brighter, if that be possible, than ever before.
May she rock. May she roll.
Happy birthday, amy. I love you.
Small House of Everything
Monday, April 18, 2011
INCOMING
Two weeks worth here, although only three are from the first week. Heavy on fantasy series here.
- Steve Alten, Goliath. Thriller.
- Stuart Bailey, editor, with Mai Abu ElDahab & David Reinfurt - Dot Dot Dot 13, or Report of the DDDepartment of Science Fiction & Economics. A strange "little" magazine, published at The Hague; this issue evidently underwritten by The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design & Architecture. It strangely includes a "screenplay" of a Playboy Panel that included Asimov, Budrys, Sturgeon, Anderson, Pohl, Clarke, Heinlein, Tenn, van Vogt, and Blish.
- Greg Bear, Strength of Stones. SF novel.
- C. J. Cherryh, Wave Without a Shore. SF novel.
- Harlan Coben, Just One Look. Thriller.
- Ralph Compton, The Dodge City Trail. Western, #8 in The Trail Drive series.
- John Dalmas, The Orc Wars: The Yngling Saga, Books I and II. SF omnibus, containing The Yngling and Homecoming, plus a short story.
- Suzette Haden Elgin, Twelve Fair Kingdoms. Fantasy novel, first book of the Ozark Fantasy trilogy.
- Esther Friesner, editor, Chicks in Chainmail. Fantasy anthology. Any book with a Muffy Birnbaum story by George Alec Effinger is aces to me.
- George G. Gilman, Edge: The Blind Side. Adult western, #44 in the series.
- Terry Goodkind, Wizard's First Rule. Fantasy novel, volume one in the Sword of Truth series.
- Terry Goodkind, Stone of Tears. Fantasy novel, volume two in the Sword of Truth series.
- Terry Goodkind, Chainfire. Fantasy novel, volume nine in the Sword of Truth series.
- Robert Jordan, The Great Hunt. Fantasy novel, volume two in The Wheel of Time series.
- Robert Jordan, The Dragon Reborn. Fantasy novel, volume three in The Wheel of Time series.
- Robert Jordan, The Shadow Rising. Fantasy novel, volume four in The Wheel of Time series.
- Robert Jordan, Lord of Chaos. Fantasy novel, volume six in the Wheel of Time series.
- Robert Jordan, A Crown of Swords. Fantasy novel, volume seven in The Wheel of
Time series. - Robert Jordan, The Path of Daggers. Fantasy novel, volume eight in The Wheel of Time series.
- Robert Jordan, Crossroads of Twilight. Fantasy novel, volume ten in The Wheel of Time series.
- Murphy & Sapir, creators, The Destroyer: Wolf's Bane. Action, #132 in the series. This one appears to be by Mike Newton. Remo and werewolves? A great combination.
- Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, The Relic. Horror. The first in a long line of bestsellers. I think I already have a copy of this, but I'm not sure, so to be on the safe side...
- Lewis Shiner, Glimpses. Fantasy novel. Winner of the World Fantasy Award for best novel.
- Dan Simmons, The Terror. Historical thriller and doorstop.
- James Swallow, Judge Dredd: Whiteout. SF tie-in to the comic series. Hope the planned movie reboot turns out better than the Stallone train wreck.
- Natsuki Takaya, Fruits Basket 2. Manga. I don't do manga, but whenever I see one for a quarter, I pick it up...grandchildren, you know.
- Dave Wolverton, editor, L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future, Volume IX. SF anthology. Hubbard has a lot to answer for, but some of his pulp work and this ongoing contest/series almost redeem him in my eyes.
Monday, April 4, 2011
UPDATE ON THE ACCIDENT
The other guy's insurance company told me that they never heard of him and his policy number does not exist. And so it goes...
INCOMING
Some fairly interesting books in the thrift shops this week. (I've noticed, by the way, that every thrift shop in existence must have at least one copy of a Rod McKuen book on their shelves. It must be a law, do you think?)
- Carr, Terry, editor. Creatures from Beyond. SF anthology. Nine stories, many familiar; still a very good collection.
- Cerasini, Marc. AVP: Alien Vs. Predator. Movie tie-in.
- Cornwell, Bernard. Stonehenge. Historical novel with fantasy overtones.
- Erdoes, Richard & Alfonso Ortiz, editors. American Indian Myths and Legends. Folklore, containing 166 American Indian myths. Neat, huh?
- Faucher, Elizabeth. The Addams Family. Movie tie-in, juvenile.
- "Grant, Maxwell" (Walter B. Gibson). The Creeping Death. Pulp hero novel, first published in Shadow Magazine, January 15, 1933. This edition is #14 in the Pyramid Books reprint series.
- Kelton, Elmer. The Time It Never Rained. Western, winner of the Spur Award. This edition is from Texas Christian University Press, #2 in their The Chishom Trail Series.
- Little, Bentley. The Collection. Horror novel.
- McDermid, Val. The Grave Tattoo. Mystery novel.
- Navarro, Yvonnne. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Willow Files, Vol. 1. Television tie-in, with three stories adapted from the television show. Published as a YA novel.
- Staten, Joseph. Halo: Contact Harvest. SF novel, based on the role playng game.
- Westlake, Donald E. The Hook. Crime novel.
- Wilhelm, Kate. Clear and Convincing Proof. Mystery novel in the Barbara Holloway series.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
WEEKEND RIDE
Well, I finally had my first ride in an ambulance. Very pleasant, all and all, but I could have done without it..
Yesterday afternoon, while driving home with my wife and two of my grandchildren, it was raining like stink. The vehicle in front of me signaled for a left turn into a driveway and stopped. Being a right thinking sort of person, I stopped too. The car in back of me? Well, that's another story. Luckily, we were all wearing seatbeats, but the force of the impact whipped me forward and did not-so-lovely things to my back. Oh, well.
I could have gotten out of the car, but I was advised not to. So along came the EMT's and the state police. I had a neck collar placed on me and they lifted me out of the car and onto a backboard and hustled me into an ambulance. Although it was about twenty miles to the hospital, the ambulance had to take a couple of detours to find a way out the development we were in.
A couple of interesting things. In the back of the ambulance with were two young girls and a boy. It's a sure sign of age when the cops, doctors, and ambulance personnel look like children. One of the girls, the licenced EMT, proudly told me that I was her first car accident victim ever. The other girl chirruped in, "Mine, too!" The boy didn't say too much because he was completely unfamiliar with the ambulance and its procedures. Great. Luckily they strapped me down because the ambulance rocked and rolled and shimmied and shook the entire ride -- sensations I used to pay money for at carnival rides. They were going over a checklist and decided they should give me oxygen even though I didn't need it, but "just in case." They searched the ambulance but couldn't find an oxygen mask. They settled on one of those thin oxygen tubes, inserting it in my nostils, but the shaking of the ambulance kept knocking it out. I had to hold the thing in place for the entire ride, because they were all busy trying to find things, like a blood pressure cuff. I switched hands holding the oxygen line so they could take my blood pressure. 150/80 -- pretty high for me.
We arrived at the hospital, after they decided they couldn't stop at a local supermarket where a customer had passed out. There was nobody waiting to meet us. The two girls and the guy mumbled some bad words and tried to figure out how they were going to get me off the ambulance. I'm a fairly big guy, 6'3" and weighing less than Charlie Stella, so I'm thinking these three 12-year olds weren't going to be able to lift me from the ambulance and they were thinking the same thing. I was about to offer to get up and walk in when the EMT-girl said she would go in the hospital and see if she could find someone, preferably several hefty someones. "You stay here," she said, as if we were actually thinking of going anywhere.
In the meantime, my wife and grandchildren were standing by the side of the road in the raining-like-stink. Our car was undrivable. Rear end all smashed in and blocking the tires. Both rear doors buckled. My seat (the driver's seat) broken -- I had ripped it from the frame when I was whipped about. (Interestingly enough, no air bags deployed. Makes me wonder if there were any in the car when I bought it.) Somebody towed the car away and I'll have to find out where tomorrow. The car that hit us was driveable, not much damage. Everyone in that car were also wearing seatbelts and none of them were injured, thank God. There was a goodly amount of shimmery stuff on the road, so either my car or theirs (or both) peed out some sort of vital fluids.
My wife was trying to contact our daughter and son-in-law. He was working at a nearby Naval Air Base and my daughter was taking a class in Baltimore, an hour and a half way. She couldn't get ahold of either one. And the charge on her phone was dying. She managed to get a call to my other daughter in Massachusetts who coordinated notifications from there. It took a while, but soon wife, daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren, and a niece from Virginia made it to the hospital.
At the hospital, I was asked to sign something. Don't know what; EMT-girl had taken my glasses. I was told the nurse would check on my glasses when and if EMT-girl delivered someone else to the emergency department. (Turns out the EMTs had put by glasses back in my car on the dashboard; my wife rescued them along with the current book I was reading, Legends of Highwaymen and Others by Richard Blakeborough. Yea, Kitty!) They took my blood pressure. 126/72 -- much closer to my normal pressure. I spent an hour or so lying around waiting to be told they were going to take x-rays, just to be sure. Not quite as long to be wheeled down to x-ray, and about as long for the doctor to release me. He pointed out some of the bad things the x-rays showed about my back, and I assured him they were all there before the accident.
My daughter drove us to a pharmacy where I could get the happy pills the doctor prescribed for the pain, while my son-in-law picked up Chinese food. I also picked up some ice cream and we had a party.
The other guy's insurance company did not have 24-hour service and no weekend service. So we are at home, carless, both a bit stiff and sore, and about to run out of Chinese food and ice cream.
So how was your weekend?
Yesterday afternoon, while driving home with my wife and two of my grandchildren, it was raining like stink. The vehicle in front of me signaled for a left turn into a driveway and stopped. Being a right thinking sort of person, I stopped too. The car in back of me? Well, that's another story. Luckily, we were all wearing seatbeats, but the force of the impact whipped me forward and did not-so-lovely things to my back. Oh, well.
I could have gotten out of the car, but I was advised not to. So along came the EMT's and the state police. I had a neck collar placed on me and they lifted me out of the car and onto a backboard and hustled me into an ambulance. Although it was about twenty miles to the hospital, the ambulance had to take a couple of detours to find a way out the development we were in.
A couple of interesting things. In the back of the ambulance with were two young girls and a boy. It's a sure sign of age when the cops, doctors, and ambulance personnel look like children. One of the girls, the licenced EMT, proudly told me that I was her first car accident victim ever. The other girl chirruped in, "Mine, too!" The boy didn't say too much because he was completely unfamiliar with the ambulance and its procedures. Great. Luckily they strapped me down because the ambulance rocked and rolled and shimmied and shook the entire ride -- sensations I used to pay money for at carnival rides. They were going over a checklist and decided they should give me oxygen even though I didn't need it, but "just in case." They searched the ambulance but couldn't find an oxygen mask. They settled on one of those thin oxygen tubes, inserting it in my nostils, but the shaking of the ambulance kept knocking it out. I had to hold the thing in place for the entire ride, because they were all busy trying to find things, like a blood pressure cuff. I switched hands holding the oxygen line so they could take my blood pressure. 150/80 -- pretty high for me.
We arrived at the hospital, after they decided they couldn't stop at a local supermarket where a customer had passed out. There was nobody waiting to meet us. The two girls and the guy mumbled some bad words and tried to figure out how they were going to get me off the ambulance. I'm a fairly big guy, 6'3" and weighing less than Charlie Stella, so I'm thinking these three 12-year olds weren't going to be able to lift me from the ambulance and they were thinking the same thing. I was about to offer to get up and walk in when the EMT-girl said she would go in the hospital and see if she could find someone, preferably several hefty someones. "You stay here," she said, as if we were actually thinking of going anywhere.
In the meantime, my wife and grandchildren were standing by the side of the road in the raining-like-stink. Our car was undrivable. Rear end all smashed in and blocking the tires. Both rear doors buckled. My seat (the driver's seat) broken -- I had ripped it from the frame when I was whipped about. (Interestingly enough, no air bags deployed. Makes me wonder if there were any in the car when I bought it.) Somebody towed the car away and I'll have to find out where tomorrow. The car that hit us was driveable, not much damage. Everyone in that car were also wearing seatbelts and none of them were injured, thank God. There was a goodly amount of shimmery stuff on the road, so either my car or theirs (or both) peed out some sort of vital fluids.
My wife was trying to contact our daughter and son-in-law. He was working at a nearby Naval Air Base and my daughter was taking a class in Baltimore, an hour and a half way. She couldn't get ahold of either one. And the charge on her phone was dying. She managed to get a call to my other daughter in Massachusetts who coordinated notifications from there. It took a while, but soon wife, daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren, and a niece from Virginia made it to the hospital.
At the hospital, I was asked to sign something. Don't know what; EMT-girl had taken my glasses. I was told the nurse would check on my glasses when and if EMT-girl delivered someone else to the emergency department. (Turns out the EMTs had put by glasses back in my car on the dashboard; my wife rescued them along with the current book I was reading, Legends of Highwaymen and Others by Richard Blakeborough. Yea, Kitty!) They took my blood pressure. 126/72 -- much closer to my normal pressure. I spent an hour or so lying around waiting to be told they were going to take x-rays, just to be sure. Not quite as long to be wheeled down to x-ray, and about as long for the doctor to release me. He pointed out some of the bad things the x-rays showed about my back, and I assured him they were all there before the accident.
My daughter drove us to a pharmacy where I could get the happy pills the doctor prescribed for the pain, while my son-in-law picked up Chinese food. I also picked up some ice cream and we had a party.
The other guy's insurance company did not have 24-hour service and no weekend service. So we are at home, carless, both a bit stiff and sore, and about to run out of Chinese food and ice cream.
So how was your weekend?
Friday, April 1, 2011
NEWS FLASH! (#8)
Headline from today's Wasilla Messenger:
Obama Flees To Mosque, Requests Asylum
In a stunning development today, President Obama has fled to an Islamic mosques today, demanding asylum and that they "lock the doors, quick!" A statement released by the White House Press Office stated simply, "Geez Louise, what do you expect? Those blasted Republicans are out to get him!" In a possibly related event, it was reported that political pundit Glenn Beck has died after breaking into uproarious laughter. Beck was reportedly eating fried chicken at the time and choked on a bone.
Obama Flees To Mosque, Requests Asylum
In a stunning development today, President Obama has fled to an Islamic mosques today, demanding asylum and that they "lock the doors, quick!" A statement released by the White House Press Office stated simply, "Geez Louise, what do you expect? Those blasted Republicans are out to get him!" In a possibly related event, it was reported that political pundit Glenn Beck has died after breaking into uproarious laughter. Beck was reportedly eating fried chicken at the time and choked on a bone.
NEWS FLASH! (#7)
Headline from today's news release from Publisher's Weekly:
A Non-Electronic eBook? It's on the Way!
Martin & Dobbs, a major British publisher has announced plans for a new line of non-electronic eBooks designed to offset the industry's losses due to the popularity of e-readers. "This way, we protect the integrity of traditional publishing while, at the same time, meeting the public's need for eBooks," stated M&D's chairman Sir Humphrey Humphries. "All we need to do is put out books consisting entirely of letter Es. This plan is brilliant in its simplicity." Fourteen-year old science fiction fan Freddy Blatz is one of many who respoded, "The stupid git doesn't know what he's talking about!"
A Non-Electronic eBook? It's on the Way!
Martin & Dobbs, a major British publisher has announced plans for a new line of non-electronic eBooks designed to offset the industry's losses due to the popularity of e-readers. "This way, we protect the integrity of traditional publishing while, at the same time, meeting the public's need for eBooks," stated M&D's chairman Sir Humphrey Humphries. "All we need to do is put out books consisting entirely of letter Es. This plan is brilliant in its simplicity." Fourteen-year old science fiction fan Freddy Blatz is one of many who respoded, "The stupid git doesn't know what he's talking about!"
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