Elizabeth Moon's Blog, page 61
November 11, 2010
From Twitter 11-10-2010
08:21:11: RT @robinmckinley: Love love love love this http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomgauld/5157136575/
08:22:41: Self to virus: you can leave any time now. Door's open. I packed your bags for you. Take Cough along with you, share a cab...
22:41:19: RT @bookviewcafe: Ursula K. Le Guin at Book View Cafe blog: "Someone Named Delores." http://blog.bookviewcafe.com/2010/11/09/someone-na ...
22:41:25: RT @bookviewcafe: Today's Special from Maya Bohnhoff: new chapter in A Princess of Passyunk - read it for free at http://www.bookviewcaf ...
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November 10, 2010
From Twitter 11-09-2010
10:55:13: RT @NASA: [Image of the Day] Cupola: "The 'Cupola', attached to the nadir side of the space station, gives a panoramic vie... http://bit ...
21:28:52: Tired of the virus. Really, really, tired of the virus. Wanting to be well again.
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November 9, 2010
From Twitter 11-08-2010
10:16:23: Anniversary of dear friend's death ten years ago. Missing her.
10:20:40: Really cool Roman multi-tool: http://preview.tinyurl.com/374fhdq
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November 8, 2010
From Twitter 11-07-2010
12:53:08: RT @KSmithSF: Polished rock walls of a Catholic church in northern Italy have been found to contain the skull of a dinosaur. http://bit. ...
23:24:19: I know I'm getting better when I suddenly want to write fiction again. Even though it's almost midnight and I should go to bed.
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November 7, 2010
Deer Season
This weekend was the opening of deer season for our county. Generations of deer have responded to hunting pressure by increased sensitivity to the exact day deer season starts. Up until then, deer wander around in plain view....they're out and about day and night, though mostly at night, and they come right into yards (and streets.)
But on opening day, there's not a deer to be seen. Sometime in the night before, they steal away softly and come the dawn...some tracks, but no deer.
We have a lot of deer in Central Texas, enough deer to be a road hazard (first day of hunting they understand--cars whizzing along they don't), destroyers of gardens both flowery and edible, habitat degraders. Humans are their only effective predator, in the absence of wolves and mountain lions, which no one seems to want in the increasingly inhabited region. And as a wildlife manager (small hat, few cattle) I know we need to cut down the deer herd that uses our place as part of its range. So I do what most landowners do--I authorize a (very small number of) hunters to hunt on our place.
And then I listen for the sound of a deer rifle. There are other hunted properties around ours (north and west in particular--the west neighbor built a new deer stand right at the fenceline this fall) so there are more than one possibilities. It's necessary to listen to the distance and direction of the sound. It's also necessary not to go out on the place at the times hunters are most likely to be out, and antsy to get a deer--like the first two-three weekends of hunting season, and early morning/late afternoon/evening during the week. (It finally gets cool enough to enjoy a long walk on the land, and I have to worry about being shot...grump. "My" hunters are highly safety conscious, but the same cannot be said about all hunters--too many just do not get how far their rounds can/will travel if they miss the deer.)
Last year it was late second-week or early third-week of hunting when my "main" hunter (lives nearby, hunts regularly until he's got his deer) finally got one.
But just a bit ago (still legal light) I heard a shot that might have been his, and I hope it was.
But on opening day, there's not a deer to be seen. Sometime in the night before, they steal away softly and come the dawn...some tracks, but no deer.
We have a lot of deer in Central Texas, enough deer to be a road hazard (first day of hunting they understand--cars whizzing along they don't), destroyers of gardens both flowery and edible, habitat degraders. Humans are their only effective predator, in the absence of wolves and mountain lions, which no one seems to want in the increasingly inhabited region. And as a wildlife manager (small hat, few cattle) I know we need to cut down the deer herd that uses our place as part of its range. So I do what most landowners do--I authorize a (very small number of) hunters to hunt on our place.
And then I listen for the sound of a deer rifle. There are other hunted properties around ours (north and west in particular--the west neighbor built a new deer stand right at the fenceline this fall) so there are more than one possibilities. It's necessary to listen to the distance and direction of the sound. It's also necessary not to go out on the place at the times hunters are most likely to be out, and antsy to get a deer--like the first two-three weekends of hunting season, and early morning/late afternoon/evening during the week. (It finally gets cool enough to enjoy a long walk on the land, and I have to worry about being shot...grump. "My" hunters are highly safety conscious, but the same cannot be said about all hunters--too many just do not get how far their rounds can/will travel if they miss the deer.)
Last year it was late second-week or early third-week of hunting when my "main" hunter (lives nearby, hunts regularly until he's got his deer) finally got one.
But just a bit ago (still legal light) I heard a shot that might have been his, and I hope it was.
From Twitter 11-06-2010
15:21:47: RT @vondanmcintyre: A thrill: my bead creatures included in the Smithsonian installation of The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef http://bit ...
15:23:43: Migraine: type of headache that arrives on beautiful sunny days producing photophobia and the inability to go out and enjoy the day. UGH.
15:24:46: First-of-season white-crowned sparrows in song duel in old rosebush on bedroom end of house. I love birds, migraine doesn't.
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November 6, 2010
From Twitter 11-05-2010
09:23:39: RT @patinagle: RT @bookviewcafe: Today's Special from Patricia Rice: new chapter in This Magic Moment - read it for free at http://www.b ...
09:26:25: RT @blakecharlton: "Revising a Novel" intransitive verb: The act of discovering problems in a manuscript twice as fast as one is fixing ...
11:09:13: Poor NASA and Discovery...though v. v. glad they're being extra careful. Her last flight should be perfect.
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November 5, 2010
From Twitter 11-04-2010
08:33:59: RT @NASA: Live commentary and coverage of #EPOXI's encounter with Comet #Hartley2 is starting now on NASA TV. http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
09:16:47: Watched images of Comet Hartley 2 come up...wow. VERY nifty comet. Thanks NASA!
22:06:48: Good fencing session. Shorter rapier = more speed, and stiffer blade = more accuracy. She's no longer sharp (safety 1st) but lotsa fun.
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November 4, 2010
With (my own) sword in hand
Last week fencing night was also "major rehearsal night", so no fencing. The week before, I had confidently tossed my equipment bag in the vehicle, but then drove off without the blade case, which I remembered halfway to the city. DUH. Fencing with instructor's blades is OK, and better than no fencing, but every blade has its own balance, its own grip, and...I wanted to play with mine. (Though, to be fair, fencing occasionally with other blades is good practice.) The week before *that* (I think it was the week before that) I had the blades but not the equipment case, and thus no mask, gloves, gorget, or buckler. Instructor has more blades than masks, etc.
This week, despite the need to add other objects with other destinations (including a visit to the lawyer who handled our son's guardianship stuff) I managed to have all the fencing gear in the car (yay!) and so got to fence on a crisp, cool night with my instructor...yes, the ouchy toe is still ouchy, but not ouchy enough to keep me from enjoying the practice. It was the first real, serious, all-out test of the new blade (purchased at Dragon*Con) and yes, it plays as good as it felt in the dealer's room. It is indeed fast--the perfect balance helps that, and the slightly narrower (thus lighter) blade than on my older one. I thought I wouldn't like the flat, disk-shaped pommel, but I do...it doesn't bump into my wrist tendons at all. The grip could be a little thicker (but I'm not having trouble holding onto it, with gloves on.) The older one, always technically too long for me, has become harder to manage as I get older (I've had it over 10 years), so I'm having an inch taken off of it, which should improve its balance, lighten it a little, and thus make it faster--but I don't expect it to be as fast. We'll see.
Lots of fun, and the toe would've been ouchy anyway.
This week, despite the need to add other objects with other destinations (including a visit to the lawyer who handled our son's guardianship stuff) I managed to have all the fencing gear in the car (yay!) and so got to fence on a crisp, cool night with my instructor...yes, the ouchy toe is still ouchy, but not ouchy enough to keep me from enjoying the practice. It was the first real, serious, all-out test of the new blade (purchased at Dragon*Con) and yes, it plays as good as it felt in the dealer's room. It is indeed fast--the perfect balance helps that, and the slightly narrower (thus lighter) blade than on my older one. I thought I wouldn't like the flat, disk-shaped pommel, but I do...it doesn't bump into my wrist tendons at all. The grip could be a little thicker (but I'm not having trouble holding onto it, with gloves on.) The older one, always technically too long for me, has become harder to manage as I get older (I've had it over 10 years), so I'm having an inch taken off of it, which should improve its balance, lighten it a little, and thus make it faster--but I don't expect it to be as fast. We'll see.
Lots of fun, and the toe would've been ouchy anyway.
From Twitter 11-03-2010
11:34:34: Rain yesterday on way to city for service. Little rain night before. Total 7/10 inch. Better than nothing. Need more. Chill wet wind.
11:56:46: RT @patinagle: RT @bookviewcafe: Today's Special from Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff: A Princess of Passyunk - read it for free at http://www.b ...
11:56:54: RT @patinagle: RT @bookviewcafe: Today's Special from Jay Caselberg: new chapter in Binary - read it for free at http://www.bookviewcafe.com
17:16:21: Chilly, damp, windy night, meet homemade chicken/barley/tomato & green chili soup. A perfect match.
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