Homefries

Category: Uncategorized

  • Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

    Having spent a lot of time in Second Life over the past eleven years, parts of Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash are downright quaint: the ways in which he needs to explain avatars, or virtual spaces, or the word “metaverse.” And there are things he describes that have been implemented almost word-for-word in Second Life, which is kind of creepy.

    I enjoyed the story itself (and much more than Neuromancer, with which Snow Crash is often paired as precursors to parts of the internet and virtual reality). I’ve only read a few of Stephenson’s novels, but I rather enjoy the way they meander and take side trips.

  • Neuromancer by William Gibson

    I thought I might have read it a while ago, but absolutely nothing was familiar, so it must have been some other early cyberpunk novel. (I have Snow Crash up next, but its beginning isn’t ringing any bells, either.)

  • The Dispatcher by John Scalzi

    Not one of his best, but it was a quick, fun read. (Of his recent work, I most enjoyed The Collapsing Empire and am eager for its sequel.)

  • Emergence by C. J. Cherryh

    Finished it off in a little over a day. A satisfying (though fairly slight) episode in the ongoing science fiction soap opera.

  • Taking a quick look back at 2017

    Well. There was all the regular cultural stuff that everyone was dealing with. But here’s a list of some of what stands out in my life, in no particular order.

    • My father died. That leaves practical things to deal with, but also more emotional stuff than I expected. Somehow the death of my mother just made her absent from my childhood family of four, but my father’s death breaks it.
    • My place of employment went through a protracted (and ongoing) time of struggle and uncertainty around racism and leadership. It was a very, very difficult spring. And then at our annual conference in June, two coworkers were attacked on the street, and one was critically injured.
    • I returned to internet radio with a monthly show on Radio Riel, second Sundays, 12:30–2:00 pm Pacific (or Second Life) time: The Musical Magpie.
    • I sold my estate in Second Life (the second time I have done so)
    • Two trips to Brooklyn to visit Jim Ford. We returned to the Metropolitan Opera to see Norma in December (having seen Aida a year ago).
    • An annual September weekend in Provincetown (near the anniversary of my mother’s death) felt like it made the transition to an event all the participants “own.”
    • I scattered  my portion of my mother’s ashes in an old burial ground in Provincetown.
    • I became a staff chaplain, and while overall quite ambivalent about work (see above!) I felt an increased sense of being a longtime staff member with a particular contribution.
    • I rented a BMW convertible (long a pipe dream). It was worth every penny, although it would have made more sense in a slightly warmer season.
    • I lost 40 pounds (and still losing, after a holiday plateau).
    • By going to happy hour at a local bar nearly every Friday, I’ve made a new group of friends/acquaintances.
    • I went to a LOT of music events.

  • Ken Scholes’s The Psalms of Isaak

    Over the holidays, I reread the first four volumes of Ken Scholes’s The Psalms of Isaak in preparation for the release of the fifth and final volume. I’m glad I did. There were things I had missed or didn’t remember. Hymn, the final volume, provided a satisfying conclusion (albeit with a bit of a deus ex machina—which is a pun, should you read the books) while leaving the door open for future stories in the same world. I hope Scholes does continue creating here.

    The books, in order:

    • Lamentation
    • Canticle
    • Antiphon
    • Requiem
    • Hymn

  • Microjournaling

    1. write the date
    2. make a list of 10(ish) things
    3. write 1 thing I’m grateful for
    4. quit journaling and get back to life

    From Todd Brison

  • Back after an absence

    Moving hosts a couple of times, other interests, Facebook, yadda yadda. Pondering some changes to my online life, including perhaps a return to documenting things here.

    Because of the hosting moves, all previous images are broken until/unless I fix them manually. Some of the structure may be disordered as well until I select a theme.

  • NESOP links

    http://charlesmoriartyphotography.com/new-gallery‑1

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/homefries/galleries/72157650516432689/

    http://lenscratch.com/2014/03/bear-kirkpatrick-wallportraits/

  • Fun and handy DSLR simulator

    This is a very cool way to see the effects of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, distance from subject, and focal length!

    CameraSim