Joe Haldeman's Blog, page 87

Late Valentine's Day entry

I meant to post yesterday but didn't finish . . .

The star party last night was fun but a little frustrating to me, since it was a "public outreach" thing, with hundreds of little Scouts and church groups and all. So rather than looking at dozens of things all around the sky, I kept it on a few workhorses and explained what they were over and over. The long lines were gratifying, of course. Though I think Gay enjoyed it more than I did, being a natural teacher.

The new telescope worked bea...

A picture is worth a thousand words (or a hundred bucks)

I'll be signing books and selling artwork today, 12 Feb 10, at the Downtown Art Hop. Hop down to Hanks Yarn and Fiber at

4127 NW 16th Blvd
Gainesville, Florida
32605
Phone: (352) 338-7222

from 6:00 to 9:00. Some samples of my painting and drawing are at http://home.earthlink.net/%7Ehaldeman/art.html . . . but I see that that url is about ten years old. Ought to cobble together a new one.

Joe

Where=bound?

Oops . . . it's MARSBOUND, not STARBOUND, that's eligible for a Nebula nomination.

Joe

Shameless Commerce Division

Gay just reminded me . . .

If there's anyone aboard who's a SFWA member, and has read STARBOUND and thinks it deserves to be nominated for a Nebula, the deadline is coming up.

I think that's http://www.sfwa.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=626

Thanks

Joe

Risking people in space

(from an ongoing sff.net conversation . . . )

Dave, not to give away too much plot, in STARBOUND there indeed is a mission to another star, the first, with a human crew rather than a cybernetic one.

It makes the stakes higher. In the story, it's necessary for the humans to put their lives on the line to demonstrate (to some aliens) how serious they are. Of course, this is an oblique comment on current space programs, US and others.

Like many people in this group, I'd rather see science dollars...

Chocolate white or real

(Talking in sff.net about white chocolate . . . )


I don't know . . . I guess white chocolate is a food, and I can understand why some people like it, but it's not really chocolate. It's like Jerusalem artichokes and real artichokes. I can eat the former with some pleasure, but it's not the same as the latter, nor as good.

The official definition says it's "a blend of cocoa butter and milk solids and sugar and vanilla; used in candy bars and baking and coatings; not technically chocolate beca...

Moors and Christians

Dinner was most enjoyable -- Christina had gotten some organic ground beef at the market and cooked it up Cuban style, pecadillo. My favorite hamburger recipe, and Hemingway's as well.

Here's a recipe very similar to mine, though I use white raisins that have been plumped in hot water, and a handful of white grapes.

Ingredients
• 1 lb ground meat
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 small can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• Pimiento stuffed olives
• Raisins - ...

wars, etc.

I had a similar disillusionment about Theodore Sturgeon, on a writer level rather than a reader level. An editor asked me to write an introduction to Sturgeon's earliest short stories, and I jumped at the chance. Oh my ghod. They were pulpish crap, hardly readable.

Well, everybody starts somewhere, and every artist deserves to be remembered by his or her best work.

Last night we went to see the Garrison Keillor theatrical release, a live telecast of "A Prairie Home Companion," plus some mean...

Live cycling while teaching physics!

Luther F. Davis III, physics teacher in Lake Mary, Florida, plans to
cycle in his classroom for the entire 7 hour school day. His students
will be treated to unique lessons about physics principles related to
bike riding while also spreading health awareness in support of the
American Diabetes

Check out Luther as he does his TDC Fundraiser by teaching his
class....Physics While Cycling.....Check out the Live Streaming:

http://www.livestream.com/physicswhilecycling


Check it out!

Joe

Heinlein

(We're talking about the Old Man in sff.net . . . )


RED PLANET was published in 1949; I was loaned a copy in 1952 or '53 by my fourth-grade teacher. It was the second book I ever read. She followed it up with THE ROLLING STONES and FARMER IN THE SKY.

Somewhere along the line I figured out that "Robert Heinlein" was a person, and not a brand of book. (Until I was ten or eleven, the idea of an author as one person was a little fuzzy. It is now, too, but that's a little esoteric.) So I went t...