I know, it’s not fair judging from a couple of photos, but…this bit of casting does not make me feel any confidence in David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman show.
But then, neither does David E. Kelley.
Answers, the first!
OK, it’s time to start providing answers to questions posed for Ask Me Anything! 2011. Lots of good queries, as always, and I’m actually going to keep things open for questioning right up until I post the answer to the last question I receive, so feel free to keep things going! Post questions in comments to this post, or use e-mail or Facebook message.
An anonymous reader asks:
Have you ever tried a sustained use-no-electronic-gadget (banning Internet use or TV watching, for example)? If you did, what happened? If you haven’t, what’s your opinion of these attempts?
The closest I’ve come was a three month period in 2008 when I stopped blogging. I was just burned out on the whole thing, and I needed a big-time break. Those two months went quite well; I did a lot of movie watching and I did quite a bit of writing and I did quite a bit of stuff with the family. But doing without just for the sake of doing without has always seemed a pretty odd thing to do, so I’ve never had a “no teevee month” or “no Internet for a season” or anything similar.
I do cut down on my Internet usage on occasion, when I think I’m not getting enough done, and I’ve gone so far as to look for an ethernet cable with a male plug at one end and a female plug in the other, so I could disconnect the wireless router without disconnecting the Main Library Computer (named Arwen, actually), so The Wife and The Daughter can have Internet while I concentrate on other stuff. But I haven’t actually found one yet.
You live in a smaller place (i.e., not a large mansion). Does your desire to collect books cause problems? Do you have to “cull the herd” every so often?
Sigh. Yeah, it does create space issues, most definitely. And I should cull the herd more often than I do. I have a lot of books left over from my philosophy-reading days in college that I must admit I am unlikely to ever read again, for instance. Culling is hard. It really is!
I don’t really buy as many books now as I used to, with the exception being the quarterly library book sales, where I generally can’t help myself. I suppose I could start a small used book business for myself on eBay or Amazon — in fact, which is better? Anybody know? I’ve sold books on eBay before, but I tend to be less-than-consistent with it.
And so it starts! Ask Me Anything, folks! Check out my neophyte entry in Tumblr land, too!
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Still tumbl’n
I continue to dip my feet in the Tumblr water. I even came up with a name for the thing, Driftwood upon the Bosphorus. Because, unlike the shores of Byzantium themselves, the driftwood that floats by on the Strait of Bosphorus is only transitory, there one moment, and then gone by with another piece floating up soon behind it. Or something like that. It sounded more poetic earlier today, when I thought of it right after my first cup of coffee.
I also came up with a masthead image, which clearly has nothing at all to do with driftwood, water, shores, or anything else nautical. But then, I haven’t used nautically-themed mastheads round here in a long time, either, so there’s that.
Anyhow, I think I’m kind of understanding the notion of Tumblr. A Facebook and blogging friend, Steph Waller, inquired about it on FB, and I responded thus:
It looks to me like a blogging platform that is more geared to short posts, pictures, videos, and that sort of thing than Blogger or WordPress, which handle those things but are really intended for the posting of text. A lot of bloggers I know have “real” blogs and Tumblrs where they just post pictures and whatnot that doesn’t require lots of comment. Sort of a blogging “tapas bar”, to make a really bad analogy. I’m sure you can use it to market your book, though!
(Yes, she has a book to promote. Note to self: buy a copy of Steph’s book.)
When I asked yesterday what to do with the thing, I got a number of excellent responses. M.D. Jackson:
Find images that stir your soul, that speak to your very core even if you can’t figure out exactly why. Download them, scan them, snap a picture of them with your camera, then upload them to your tumblr to share with the world.
They will eventually form a collage that will tell people more truth about you than you will be able to tell with words.
Or you can just load it up with LOL cats.
OK! That’s a good answer. Also good, and much more succinct, is Roger‘s answer to “What do I do with a Tumblr page?”:
Damned if I know.
Maybe not helpful, but honest, which should never be discounted. From Paul:
I had heard of Tumblr, but had no idea what it was, so I did, you know, what you do: I Googled it. As far as I can tell, Tumblr can best be described as, “TweetBookFlickBlogr.” Is it possible to be all things to all people? Time will tell.
Lynn suggests:
I like M.D. Jackson’s idea. Or maybe you could devote it exclusively to music. The world needs more music blogs.
This sounds great, it really does, but…it should be relatively clear to anyone who reads this blog with any regularity at all to know that I can’t devote myself to exclusively anything! So Driftwood upon the Bosphorus is likely to be similar to Byzantium’s Shores, and go all over the place.
Kind of like Cal:
I agree with MD. I use them to inspire posts and to collect images for posts. I look at my archive at times and I am proud of my collection and what it says about me. Sure, lots of Selena pics but that is okay.
And finally, Blue Girl says:
I have heard mumblings and rumblings from “the kids” that they really don’t want tumblr going mainstream. They say no one should really talk about it so it doesn’t lose its *cool* factor.
And then I saw a funny tweet a week or so ago. Something like…
Tumblr is not Fight Club. Only Fight Club is Fight Club.
Sorry, kids. Us older folks are getting our grubby hands all over your shiny toy. Huzzah!!!
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Concerning pipeweed (and re-reads)
OK, so I’m re-reading The Lord of the Rings. And just in time for my entry into the book proper — I read the Prologue last night — I find this quote in a SF Signal post about re-reading books:
Of course there’s the Lord of the Rings, which is very different when you come to it at different times of life. I go back to it every six or eight years, give or take, and part of the experience is spending time with the version of myself that read it last.
True words, those!
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Tumbl’n
OK, I started one of those Tumblr things. Problem is, I don’t know what to do with it. So…what should I do with it?
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A Random Wednesday Conversation Starter
I believe I am quite ready for another adventure!
If I recall correctly, the last time I re-read The Lord of the Rings was in 2004; I was reading it when Little Quinn was born and during his initial hospital stay. I’ve generally re-read it every four or five years, so I’m actually overdue. It’s time to return to Middle Earth!
Although, actually, I’ve already been there for a week; it’s always been my practice to re-read The Hobbit first before any re-read of LOTR. A couple of years ago, when we were in Ithaca for the Apple Harvest Festival, one of my purchases at the amazing Autumn Leaves Bookstore was a pristine copy of The Annotated Hobbit, which turned out to be a fascinating read for the annotations as well as the wonderful story. It was like having a running commentary for the book, with notes on Tolkien’s thought processes, various background materials from which Tolkien drew his material, and illustrations from many foreign editions of the book.
And now, it’s on to LOTR, which makes me very happy indeed. I even bought a new copy of the book for this re-read. This is now my third copy of LOTR. Will I buy another for my tentatively-scheduled re-read in 2015? We’ll see!
The world is changing….
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Let’s see how this goes….
I’m hearing some rumblings from respected sources that for some reason, Blogger’s comment system isn’t working quite as well as it should. So, I am going to open things back up to all comers, comment-wise. This is on a trial basis only. If I get irritated again, I’ll go back to requiring Google or OpenID accounts for commenting. OK? OK. (Comment moderation will still be in effect.)
(And if anyone’s refraining from Asking Me Anything! on that basis, well, here’s your chance!)
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A to Z
I got this quiz from Ken Levine, oddly enough!
• A-Available/Single?
Let me hear your offer first! (OK, I’m taken. Yeesh!)
• B-Best Friend?
Probably The Wife. (Crap — I screwed that up with “probably”.)
• C-Cake or Pie?
Either, really. I don’t see the point of the cake/pie divide. Carrot cake, apple pie — how could I choose? Of course, this answer assumes choosing between the two for eating purposes. I’d definitely choose a pie over a cake to take in my face…but then, come to think of it, I’ve never been hit in the face with a cake, so I don’t have a fair comparison to make. Hmmmmm.
• D-Drink Of Choice?
I don’t have a drink of choice. I’ll drink coffee or tea, Pepsi or Coke, rum or whiskey, wine or beer. I go with what I’m in the mood for. (The vast majority of what I drink, anyway, is good old water!)
• E-Essential Item You Use Everyday?
My 11-in-1 screwdriver. (I have a number of answers for this, actually: my diagonal pliers, my flashlights, my cell phone, and more….)
• F-Favorite Color?
Purple.
• G-Gummy Bears Or Worms?
Ick. Not a fan of the Gummi stuff. I don’t like the sensation that my jaw is literally bouncing off the item I’m trying to chew.
• H-Hometown?
Buffalo!!!
• I-Indulgence?
Ice cream.
J-January Or February?
January. I like when the year is new, and the football playoffs are in full swing.
• K-Kids & Their Names?
Haley.
• L-Life Is Incomplete Without?
Love, laughter, et cetera.
• M-Marriage Date?
May 17. (In 1997.)
• N-Number Of Siblings?
One.
• O-Oranges Or Apples?
I love both, I really do! I probably tend more to apples because they’re less work and they go great with peanut butter.
• P-Phobias/Fears?
You want to see me flinch like nobody’s ever flinched before? Get a rubber band and make like you’re going to shoot it at me. Seriously. For some reason, that irrationally scares the shit out of me.
• Q-Favorite Quote?
I can’t name a favorite quote, so here’s a quote: “The fate of this man or that man was less than a drop, although it was a sparkling one, in the great blue motion of the sunlit sea.” (TH White, The Once and Future King)
• R-Reason to Smile?
Any time David Caruso opens his mouth on CSI: Miami.
• S-Season?
Fall.
• T-Tag Three or Four People?
OK, they’re tagged. They just don’t know it.
• U-Unknown Fact About Me?
My favorite Friend was Chandler Bing.
• V-Vegetable you don’t like?
Well, broccoli isn’t technically a vegetable; it’s pure evil in plant form. That leaves artichoke.
• W-Worst Habit?
Not writing enough.
• X-X-rays You’ve Had?
Aside from the normal ones, I had x-rays when I broke my collarbone in seventh grade.
• Y-Your Favorite Food?
Pizza. Or wings. Or kung pao chicken. Or a nice salad. Or a taco. Or a big burger. Or…you know.
• Z-Zodiac Sign?
Libra!
Well, that was a time-waster….
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Looks like we may have hired Pluto’s replacement
Science just continues to astound:
If you grew up thinking there were nine planets and were shocked when Pluto was demoted five years ago, get ready for another surprise. There may be nine after all, and Jupiter may not be the largest.
The hunt is on for a gas giant up to four times the mass of Jupiter thought to be lurking in the outer Oort Cloud, the most remote region of the solar system. The orbit of Tyche (pronounced ty-kee), would be 15,000 times farther from the Sun than the Earth’s, and 375 times farther than Pluto’s, which is why it hasn’t been seen so far.
The idea that there may well be something that big out there that we’ve never known about until now is truly, truly awe-inspiring.