Kelly McCullough's Blog, page 55

APOD with NASA Commentary

An example of solar-powered flight, NASA's Helios aircraft flew almost one hundred years after the Wright brothers' historic flight on December 17, 1903. Pictured here at 3,000 meters in in skies northwest of Kauai, Hawaii, USA in August 2001, the remotely piloted Helios is traveling at about 40 kilometers per hour. Essentially an ultralight flying wing with 14 electric motors, the aircraft was built by AeroVironment Inc. Covered with solar cells, Helios' impressive 247 foot wide wing exceeded the wing span and even overall length of a Boeing 747 jet airliner. Climbing during daylight hours, the prototype aircraft ultimately reached an altitude just short of 30,000 meters, breaking records for non-rocket powered flight. Helios was intended as a technology demonstrator, but in the extremely thin air 30,000 meters above Earth's surface, the flight of Helios also approached conditions for winged flight in the atmosphere of Mars.

APOD with NASA Commentary

Magnificent island universe NGC 2403 stands within the boundaries of the long-necked constellation Camelopardalis. Some 10 million light-years distant and about 50,000 light-years across, the spiral galaxy also seems to have more than its fair share of giant star forming HII regions, marked by the telltale reddish glow of atomic hydrogen gas. In fact, NGC 2403 closely resembles another galaxy with an abundance of star forming regions that lies within our own local galaxy group, M33 the Triangulum Galaxy. Of course, supernova explosions follow close on the heels of the formation of massive, short-lived stars and in 2004 one of the brightest supernovae discovered in recent times was found in NGC 2403. Easy to confuse with a foreground star in our own Milky Way Galaxy, the powerful supernova is seen here as the spiky, bright "star" at the left edge of the field. This stunning cosmic portrait is a composite of space and ground-based image data from the Hubble Legacy Archive and the 8.2 meter Subaru Telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

Friday 13 Cats Blogging

BIRD!!!!!!!



Oink?



What is your wish my mathter?



Come over here and let me smack you one.



Gross! Have you seen what's on your foot?



Duuuuude…



This is as frolicky as I get. Deal.



You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?



I see food people.…



You let the damn paparazzi in again, didn't you?



Evvvvvery side is my good side.



Weren't you supposed to be peeling me a grape?



And then to bed, and then to bed…

Get it While It's Hot!

According to "Monstrous Musings" Douglas Cohen's/the RoF LJ, today is the last day you can subscribe to Realms and still receive the August issue, which includes the short story "Isabella's Garden" by our very own Naomi Kritzer!

More on Diversicon

I certainly never meant to imply that a small con isn't a great deal of fun. In fact, I was merely trying to coax more people into coming and enjoying the awesome that is Diversicon.

Some of my very best one-on-one experiences have been in very small cons. I got to spend an hour interviewing Neil Gaiman at a con with even fewer attendees than Diveriscon often expects. At the same con, I had a fantastic panel with him talking about comic books... something I would never be able to do at a con the size of CONvergence or even WisCON because there are simply so many professionals for the programming folks to choose from...

Anyway, to continue to sell you on Diversicon let me give you this tantalizing bit from their Facebook page: "Diversicon is a serious, nerdy SF/Fantasy convention held in the Minneapolis/St Paul area..."

Dude, they had me at "nerdy."

Diversicon

I think there's an argument for small cons. Convergence is wonderful, but it's also overwhelming. A three ring circus, an over-the-top extravaganza. Even a con of under 1,000 can be tiring. Wiscon is to me, since I've gone to it for decades and know way too many people. I always miss the chance to spend time with most of them. Instead I go through the halls saying, "Hi," and not much more.

I'm glad that we have Minicon and Marscon in town, both of which are considerably larger than Diversacon, but well under 1,000. But 400+ people is still a lot. And the larger a con is, the more it's a spectator sport (if one is watching) or a performance (if one feels onstage).

I've been a show off since childhood, but I'm also introverted. Which means I perform at cons, but I find it stressful and not entirely true to who I am.

Diversicon is a quiet weekend with not very many people. Maybe I will get the chance to talk with friends, including ones I rarely see. Maybe I will meet new people and have a chance to actually spend time with them, which tends not to happen at busier conventions. I don't feel the need to show off. I can relax.

It's different pleasure than a con full of people and events. But it's a nice mid-summer break.

And Lyda and I are going to be on a Thor panel. I intend to enjoy that a lot.

Diversacon

I think there's an argument for small cons. Convergence is wonderful, but it's also overwhelming. A three ring circus, an over-the-top extravaganza. Even a con of under 1,000 can be tiring. Wiscon is to me, since I've gone to it for decades and know way too many people. I always miss the chance to spend time with most of them. Instead I go through the halls saying, "Hi," and not much more.

I'm glad that we have Minicon and Marscon in town, both of which are considerably larger than Diversacon, but well under 1,000. But 400+ people is still a lot. And the larger a con is, the more it's a spectator sport (if one is watching) or a performance (if one feels onstage).

I've been a show off since childhood, but I'm also introverted. Which means I perform at cons, but I find it stressful and not entirely true to who I am.

Diversacon is a quiet weekend with not very many people. Maybe I will get the chance to talk with friends, including ones I rarely see. Maybe I will meet new people and have a chance to actually spend time with them, which tends not to happen at busier conventions. I don't feel the need to show off. I can relax.

It's different pleasure than a con full of people and events. But it's a nice mid-summer break.

And Lyda and I are going to be on a Thor panel. I intend to enjoy that a lot.

Mark your Calendar!

I don't have my list of appearances yet, but I wanted to remind everyone that Diveriscon (guest of honor, includes among others, *moi*) is NEXT WEEKEND (July 29 - 31).

Also:

On Thursday, July 28, the Speculations Readings Series presents a discussion: "Dark Descents, Ascending Wonders: The Worlds of Speculative Fiction" featuring DAVID G. HARTWELL, LYDA MOREHOUSE, and JOHN CALVIN REZMERSKI. See the Diversicon 19 Guests page for more about these three authors. The event will take place 6:30-7:30pm at DreamHaven Books, 2301 E. 38th St., Minneapolis.

Please, please, please, PLEASE come to Diversicon. It's a tiny little con, and, in all honesty I'm a little worried about being stuck there without someone as cool as YOU to talk to.

Even Though it's Still Not a Planet...

...Pluto has a new moon!

What Writing is REALLY like...

io9 picks out the most goofy moments in the bioptic about the life of JK Rowling. I think I particularly like the idea of the creative process as real magic with floating candles.

That's totally what happens every time *I* write.

Or, maybe, because it *doesn't,* that's why I'm not an international bestseller.