Eleanor Arnason's Blog, page 104

Note

I just subscribed to Iceland Review. I am supposed to get a book on puffins, plus an issue devoted to the volcano. Puffins and a volcano. What could be better?

P.K. Dick was right in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? As we become more remote from nature, as animals become more rare, we become obsessed with them. I notice that the things I buy -- jewelry and objets d'art -- are almost always animals. This was not true when I was younger and nature was less endangered.

Writing

The volcano seems to be slowing down a bit...

Airports are opening in Europe. The Iceland Review says now is a good time to come and see the volcano, since travelers trapped in Iceland can now go home, and hotel rooms have opened up.

I think I am going to pass. I am looking at a lot of writing: the sequel to Ring of Swords, five stories in various states of completion, and the starts of two YA novels, one a fantasy and one science fiction.

I'm having trouble deciding what to work on. The obvious...

More...

From NASA: Lightning in the Volcano Plume

From NASA

From the New York Times

This is one of the photos by Ragnar Sigurdsson, the man who loves volcanoes and northern lights. The volcano at night, lava and lightning.

Note

I worry about people thinking that I have turned into a person who posts obsessively on a topic, such as tiny dogs or pet rats.

I am always interested in Iceland, especially as the US becomes a creepier and creepier place; and I find science and nature a refuge, when I am discouraged by human behavior.

Right now I'm worried about retiring and not having enough money and living -- as I do -- in a country that obviously has no interest in the well being of its citizens. It is a scary thing to be...

Being Poor with Volcanoes

Quote from Icelandic photographer Ragnar Sigurdsson in the New York Times:

I just love volcanoes and the Northern Lights. I'm very happy to live here in Iceland even though we're broke. We're poor, with beauty.

Ragnar's photos of the volcano are awesome. I will post them, after I figure out how to copy them.

Icelandic Horses being Moved to a Safer Pasture

Here We Are Again