A sort of rapid-fire round of book reviews this week, thanks to Christmas reading!1. Be the Change: Saving the World Through Citizen Science by Chanda Clarke Though short (33 PDF pages), this was very readable and informative–it’s designed to teach the principles of citizen science/crowdsourced science to people who have never heard of it before. Now,…
News
“No news is good news.” A cliche tells you very little, almost nothing on the literal level. But from my choice of cliche, you might infer that I am suffering writer’s block on this blog post, either from lack of interest or lack of content, and yet I am rather content. This is not untrue….
News for the New Year
It seems absurd to get jet lag from the 1-hour flight from Milwaukee back to DC, even if the flight did include a harrowing forty five minutes waiting on the runway for nonspecific technical anomalies to be repaired. But I’ve definitely been feeling laggy these first few days of 2014. But never mind. The sun…
Conflict-free, Fair Trade, and 3D Printed: How Consumer Electronics can be made Ethical and Ecofriendly
As a writer, I’m acutely aware that my chosen profession is not exactly eco-friendly. Many trees have died for my journals and publications–although a handful of books are now being printed on recycled plastic, making them both waterproof and a potential solution to overcrowded landfills–and it seems like even when I move away from hard…
“The Queen’s Arrival” in Liquid Imagination, and a Christmas Gift Idea
My mythic fantasy piece “The Queen’s Arrival” has been reprinted in Liquid Imagination Issue #19. It’s actually been up nearly a week, and I apologize for posting the link so late–though as you can see, things have been busy. I’ve only just got around to making my Christmas card & gift list and am starting…
Chicago TARDIS (November 29-December 1)
I’ve just returned from DC after a week away–back to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. Seeing my family again drove home just how much I missed them, but also how much I enjoy living on my own. It’s a balance between different sources of comfort and stress, I suppose, especially after as rough a year as this…
It’s Been a Grand Weekend
Especially for Whovians. Also those still mourning the passing of John Fitzgerald Kennedy–now that’s a morbid cosmic coincidence. And somewhere between joy and tragedy lie the Hobbit fans, with the Battle of Five Armies also falling on November 23rd (warning: may be spoilers through the wikia link). For me, it’s also been the culmination of…
Review: “Collegium Sorcerorum: Thaddeus of Beewicke” by Louis Sauvain
Another prize from the LibraryThing giveaways program, this one even came with a courteous letter from the author himself. I’m always one to be impressed by presentation, and the presentation of this book was fine indeed: I was especially impressed by the dozen or so illustrations by Sean Bodley scattered throughout the text. The back…
Review: Serving Time by Nadine Ducca
For this review, another thank you is in order to the LibraryThing giveaways program, and of course Nadine Ducca herself for offering the first volume of her Timekeepers trilogy. I’m a winner once again! Although I was often confused over what was going on, the original mythological background of Serving Time was strong from the…
Happy National Novel Writing Month!
For several hundred thousand writers, the great challenge of the year has just launched: for the next 30 days, they will be scrambling to maintain a semi-functional life while also producing 1,667 words per day, to end with a 50,000 word story on December 1st. I wish them luck. While I can’t deny the glories…