Walter Jon Williams's Blog, page 122

Misty Morning

Here through the mist we see theEdgar A. Speertaking on a cargo of taconite, which is the shit iron ore we’re left with after the good stuff has been mined. Below in the mist, the little boat seems a visitor from another world. Taconite, by the way, can be turned into steel, but only through enormous, complex industrial processes. Since the waste products include asbestos, miners are subject to pleural conditions including mesothelioma. When I was a tad, enormous amounts of taconite tailings...

North Shore Sunset

I’ve spent several days on the Iron Range enjoying the warm hospitality of my relations. The only drawback of being in that lovely part of the world is that the whole region seems a stranger to actual high-speed internet. Twice I found myself eating a truly mediocre lunch in a restaurant because they had wi-fi and I could check my email. (If you’re trying to reach me, be patient.) I’m now in a place on Lake Superior’s North Shore, with a wonderful lake view and a spotty internet connection....

Duluth

As the photo will attest, my wanderings have taken me to the city of my birth and the original source of my literary inspiration, Duluth, Minn. Alas, the sign on the city limits, “Birthplace of Walter Jon Williams,” seems to have been taken down for repair. (And honestly, who else do they have? They make a big deal about Bob Dylan, who was born in a hospital here, but Dylan actually grew up in Hibbing, 75 miles away. (When Duluth wishes to draft me for their literary festival, I stand ready....

Glorious Sights of Kansas (Volume 1)

I could open this essay with a lame joke about Dorothy not being in Kansas anymore, but I think it’s better if you just imagine it. Anyway, if Dorothywere in Kansas she’d be able to look at space capsules and an SR-71 Blackbird and many other aerospace goodies, that is if Dorothy were in Hutchinson, where the Cosmosphere is. The Cosmosphere was the creation of a determined local woman named Patty Corey, who loved astronomy and aerospace and began what started as a planetarium and astronomy mu...

Road Trip

I’m on the road, looking for America or the world’s best BBQ or maybe just lightin’ out for the territory. Kathy’s decided to remodel the kitchen, which will involve about a month’s worth of destruction, construction, inconvenience, and noise. I found myself unable to work, eat, or sleep, and so I’m going on a road trip till it’s all over. Today’s journey took me east by north across a whole lot of two-lane blacktop. The car is doing well. The advantage of so much featureless landscape is tha...

Punchdrunk

So I’ve been trying to wrangle some software to do some basic, simple tasks, and it’s taken three days. Three whole days I’ll never see again. Three days in which, believe me,I’ve had a lot of other things to do. This isn’t helped by the fact that Comcast has apparently decided I’m not allowed to send files anywhere, or for that matter receive files. Because they’re Comcast, I guess. So that’s why I haven’t been posting here. Or doing a whole lot besides staring at a screen and cursing. Just...

Customer Service

So Walter, I hear you asking, how did you spend your lovely Monday afternoon? Why, I was dealing with Comcast Customer Service, and it was themost pleasant thing in all the world. To give you an idea of theutter pleasantness of the whole thing, I refer you to the letter below, which I wrote to Comcast when the whole thing was still fresh in my mind: [letter begins] I spent one hour and forty minutes online with a customer representative to discuss the fact that my Xbox 360 wouldn’t connect to...

Wrapping Up the Bear

The 2015 edition of Taos Toolbox is over, save for the big celebratory dinner tonight. The students were a talented, ambitious crew, and they worked hard, which meant Nancy and I had to work hard, too. The students have scattered all over the county, shopping or sightseeing or just getting away. I’m just bumping around the lodge, looking faintly lost, because I lack the energy for anything else. It was a harmonious group, despite not having our usual bear sighting (which is a good omen). The...

Lighter Than Air

I’m still busy with the last 48 hours of the workshop, so please enjoy this picture of pretty balloons.

El Dia de la Marmota

Here’s a large, fat marmot that came up onto the second-floor balcony the other day. He remained in this pose, pensive or possibly praying, until someone came out of their room unexpectedly, at which point the marmot gave a piercing shriek and headed for the hills. Apparently he lives under one of the buildings. Taos Toolbox continues, and over the weekend we’ve had talks by Carrie Vaughn and by indiepub guru Emily Mah, both of which were received ecstatically. (If I’m any judge of ecstasy, a...