February 21, 2025
Hi, everyone. I know I haven’t posted in a while now (about three months).
Things happened. I’ll see if I can deal with that in a post this weekend before returning to regularly blogging about astronomy and etc.
Winter is still here! (In the northern hemisphere.) Going on walks and hiking in 3C windy weather only makes hot chocolate taste that much better…
☕️
July 10, 2024
Post a comment on Reddit, answer coding questions on Stack Overflow, edit a Wikipedia entry or share a baby photo on your public Facebook or Instagram feed and you are also helping to trainthe next generation of artificial intelligence.
Well, if they’re scrubbing my public FB page for data,
Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
I’ll take up my vorpal sword and
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
O frabjous day!
PS I hope this helps hapless mindless office workers compose emails.
June 16, 2024
This is how I’ve been feeling the past couple of weeks…
Just too hot. And too busy. And tired.
And my favorite baseball teams keep losing.
At least for Father’s Day my wife got me nice food and drink. Maybe that’ll help get my mojo back…
(The image is of my youngest daughter’s art bag from last year. She has also complained of not being able to write much lately…)
May 6, 2024
One of my SciFi short stories has been shortlisted for an award (newly created category).
More details when they are available!
(FWIW I referenced the short story in the beginning of Bringer of Light, when Overseer Martin Velasquez asks about the results of a “Marshall” game. Worldbuilding…)
May 1, 2024
Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?
I don’t think I “live my life” by a quote (too busy surviving), but I do think a lot about:
“Keep on keeping on.”
“Keep on trucking.”
“何とかなる (nantoka naru – “it’ll work out”)
“Das lassen sein (let it be)”
But also oddly:
“Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!”
April 13, 2024
When you are younger you get blamed for crimes you never committed. And when you’re older you begin to get credit for virtues you never possessed. It evens itself out.
Charlie “Casey” Stengel
March 27, 2024
You don’t write for success. That takes part of your attention away from the writing. If you’re really doing it, that’s all you’re doing: writing.
Frank Herbert, “When I Was Writing Dune”
March 26, 2024
How has technology changed your job?
How has it not?
I’m a TESOL teacher. Learning to use technology — appropriately — has always been a part of my job.
It’s the “appropriate” part that has difficult to deal with the past few years.
Yeah. Hi, Chat.
Forget about Zoom, LMS, video editing software, and all sorts of online sites that don’t need any knowledge of programming language.
I was making my own web pages in basic HTML and JavaScript back when people still though InternetExplorer was a good browser.
But tech is nothing more than a tool. And tools can be used well and badly.
And often the simple tech of a piece of paper and a pencil are all you need. No bandwagon mentality here.
So if anything I would say that, although I have always used technology to some degree for my job, I have had the luxury of experience (and a lot of mistakes!) to figure out when technology can help my job, and when it just gets in the way.
(FWIW I also teach a one-semester class about language, identity, and technology. And yes, we do analyze our selfies.)
March 23, 2024
What is your favorite type of weather?
It depends on my mood.
I like cold weather in winter, especially on the weekend when I can take it easy and enjoy coffee properly.
I don’t mind rainy weather when I feel like being contemplative and writing.
I prefer clear sunny weather when I want to go watch a baseball game outdoors with friends and family.
I enjoy cool and dry windy weather in autumn when the falling leaves decorate the nearby temple and shrine.
What I don’t like is when the weather changes from winter in the morning to early summer by mid-afternoon, and I especially get irritated when people can’t tell the difference between weather and climate.
“You don’t need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows…”
March 21, 2024
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