Adam Holt's Blog, page 11
January 22, 2014
Coming Soon on the Rambler...
Dear Conspirators,
Here's your preview of upcoming blog posts. It's a diverse selection. Some of these entries I hesitated to release, especially Jesus in Space; however, my New Year's Resolution was to release more of what I write instead of keeping them to myself.
So here you are:
*Launch Party @Dunn Bros. (Pics, space trivia, coffee, conversation)
*Through a Window Through a Poem | Thoughts on a Friend's Wedding
*Essay | Jesus in Space: A Christian's Case for Manned Space Exploration
*A Mystery Travel Blog | Location TBA
*The Tech Behind The Conspiracy Game | Androids, Holoclassing, and the LiveWall - lots of people asked me where these ideas came from, so I'll answer those questions.
Love and Rockets,
-A
Here's your preview of upcoming blog posts. It's a diverse selection. Some of these entries I hesitated to release, especially Jesus in Space; however, my New Year's Resolution was to release more of what I write instead of keeping them to myself.
So here you are:
*Launch Party @Dunn Bros. (Pics, space trivia, coffee, conversation)
*Through a Window Through a Poem | Thoughts on a Friend's Wedding
*Essay | Jesus in Space: A Christian's Case for Manned Space Exploration
*A Mystery Travel Blog | Location TBA
*The Tech Behind The Conspiracy Game | Androids, Holoclassing, and the LiveWall - lots of people asked me where these ideas came from, so I'll answer those questions.
Love and Rockets,
-A
January 21, 2014
Mars Mystery Rock
Earlier this week, the Mars Rover Opportunity came across something intriguing: a rock unlike anything ever seen on the surface of Mars. Photographs suggest that it appeared out of nowhere and landed right next to the Curiosity Rover. It's high in magnesium, sulphur, and higher in manganese than anything else on the Red Planet. "I don't know what any of this means," said one project member. "We're completely confused, and everyone in the team is arguing and fighting (over what it means)."
Sol=one Martian day (about two Earth days).
However, if you've read The Conspiracy Game, you will agree with me that:
1. We shouldn't bring that rock home. We should study it, but it's a Martian rock, and on Mars it should stay. Who knows what happens if we drop the mystery rock into the Earth's atmosphere? The Space Alliance made that mistake, didn't they now?
2. Mars may look as lifeless as a desert, but if you've ever been to a desert, you know that's not an accurate simile--deserts are full of life and mysteries. You just have to know where and when to look. All our searching is starting to pay off in unexpected ways.
3. I may be a prophet, in which case, we're all in trouble.
Dear reader, your thoughts?
Sol=one Martian day (about two Earth days).However, if you've read The Conspiracy Game, you will agree with me that:
1. We shouldn't bring that rock home. We should study it, but it's a Martian rock, and on Mars it should stay. Who knows what happens if we drop the mystery rock into the Earth's atmosphere? The Space Alliance made that mistake, didn't they now?
2. Mars may look as lifeless as a desert, but if you've ever been to a desert, you know that's not an accurate simile--deserts are full of life and mysteries. You just have to know where and when to look. All our searching is starting to pay off in unexpected ways.
3. I may be a prophet, in which case, we're all in trouble.
Dear reader, your thoughts?
December 28, 2013
Interview with Chick Lit Cafe...and more on Tabitha Tirelli
"....so she’s a resourceful, divergent thinker, and she tackles problems in ways Tully never considers. That’s the beauty of friendship, isn’t it? It’s Tabitha’s beauty."
Happy holidays, Conspirators! I did an interview with Chick Lit Cafe over the holidays. They had some engaging questions for me. If you're a Tabitha fan, you may enjoy learning about more about what shaped her character and why she is so crucial to The Conspiracy Game. Click here...
Happy holidays, Conspirators! I did an interview with Chick Lit Cafe over the holidays. They had some engaging questions for me. If you're a Tabitha fan, you may enjoy learning about more about what shaped her character and why she is so crucial to The Conspiracy Game. Click here...
December 19, 2013
God's Coattails (Draft Two)
God's Coattails
There long enough to vanish.Present long enough to miss.Never giving an encoreOr backstage for a #selfie or kiss.
Beautiful tune unnamableflung from a moonroof to the wind. Green flash on the water at sunrise.Moment of reason midst sin.
God never waits around long enoughFor the recognition we forget to extend.We grab for the hem of his golden robediaphanous flutter at alley's end.
If...
We catch his coat and spin him right 'rounda beggar we find in His holy threads.We turn away disappointed,a shadow descends on our heads.
Or...
We greet the beggar with a whole heart."Come with me to a shelter downtown."A whisky and mildew moment schizophrenic uncomely unsound.
That beggar slams the car door on the coat,curses The Owner and blesses our aid.We reach the shelter as she spills out, a shine of gold on the floorboard remains.
What needs the beggar had might be succored. What wants we had went unfulfilled,yet the more our wants fit others' needsthe more we accomplish His will.
Green flash on the horizon at sunrise.What thing in the world truly lasts?Not ours hands nor a gold-cloaked vagabond
who grimily shimmered across our path.
-Adam Holt
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
December 12, 2013
Space, Adolescence, and Faith: An Interview with The Yellow Ladybird
Here is an interview I did with Karen from The Yellow Ladybird, a blog about parenting. She was a friend and colleague from my days working in Southern California. She's now lives in Vermont, which just doesn't seem fair with a lovely winter coming on...
She asked some insightful questions that made me think through The Conspiracy Game from the parent/child perspective, as well as consider how my faith influences my sci-fi writing. Enjoy!
She asked some insightful questions that made me think through The Conspiracy Game from the parent/child perspective, as well as consider how my faith influences my sci-fi writing. Enjoy!
December 11, 2013
More news for my conspirators!
To my dear conspirators,
A week after the book launch (pun always intended), things are going swell in Tullyworld! CreateSpace released the print edition of The Conspiracy Game, and just a week later they've formatted the novel for the e-readers on our planet. Click here. Or click the picture, which is always twice as fun. I'm pleased with the results and hope you will be, too!
Love and rockets,
-A
PS--For print edition, click here, just in case you need it....
A week after the book launch (pun always intended), things are going swell in Tullyworld! CreateSpace released the print edition of The Conspiracy Game, and just a week later they've formatted the novel for the e-readers on our planet. Click here. Or click the picture, which is always twice as fun. I'm pleased with the results and hope you will be, too!Love and rockets,
-A
PS--For print edition, click here, just in case you need it....
December 1, 2013
THANKSGIVING SURPRISE!
YESSSSS!
Look what showed up! The proof copy of The Conspiracy Game. The rocket is now on the launchpad.
I will officially launch the novel on my birthday (December 4), but for those of you looking to purchase it now, well, here you go .
Worth its weight in turkey and pumpkin pie...and worth the wait, too.
CreateSpace did an amazing job with layout. I can't tell you how gratifying it was to hold the novel and flip the pages. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I did. It will take you to some surprising places.
Keep in mind my tagline: "To inspire a new generation with the thrill of space travel, a young adult novel that adults can also enjoy. The first in a trilogy." I want to get this book into young adult readers' hands as well as yours. They'll know what to do with it!
I'm working on the followup novel now (The Rathmore Chaos), and it's going in some unexpected directions as well.
More details on launch parties to follow...
Yours truly, -A
Look what showed up! The proof copy of The Conspiracy Game. The rocket is now on the launchpad.
I will officially launch the novel on my birthday (December 4), but for those of you looking to purchase it now, well, here you go .
Worth its weight in turkey and pumpkin pie...and worth the wait, too.CreateSpace did an amazing job with layout. I can't tell you how gratifying it was to hold the novel and flip the pages. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I did. It will take you to some surprising places.
Keep in mind my tagline: "To inspire a new generation with the thrill of space travel, a young adult novel that adults can also enjoy. The first in a trilogy." I want to get this book into young adult readers' hands as well as yours. They'll know what to do with it!
I'm working on the followup novel now (The Rathmore Chaos), and it's going in some unexpected directions as well.
More details on launch parties to follow...
Yours truly, -A
November 23, 2013
NASASocial | The MAVEN Launch!
#NASASocial
This was the first time I've seen a rocket launch as an adult.
By that I mean that those shuttle launches I saw with my parents were wonderful, but they always felt like vacations related to my dad's work. (Well, they were.) This time I sought to watch the launch with other space enthusiasts and had to rely on whatever social media "chops" I had to secure a spot. I'm so grateful it worked out because the #NASASocial experience blew me away.
A view of KSC (Kennedy Space Center) and its shuttle-shaped running track. (credits: Jeffrey Putman)Among the highlights: seeing the shuttle launch pad up close, now being stripped for our next manned launch system (Orion), set to begin test launches in September 2014. We stood in the "flame trench"(perfectly named, and 4 stories high, 500 feet long, 60 feet across) and saw the crumbling bricks walls that for so many years withstood the shuttle's thrust, now being restored for the Orion. A man in a hardhat held a schematic of the new launch pad. Was he just a contractor? I struck up a conversation. "I've been doing this for forty years and I'm lovin' it," he told me, referring to his career in launch pad construction. He has been at it since the Mercury program and is still going strong. That's a long time, but a thousand years from now, will some of these bricks still stand here? Tour groups will visit this flame trench and hear their tour guide's explanation: "Yes, an ancient spaceport, friends. These stunted pyramids may not look like much, but they launched some of our first rockets into space. Space--that's what they called it. Must have looked must bigger back then."
Top Left: "I'm lovin' it!" Bottom Left: the old days. Shuttle on way to launchpad. Right: The Orion, our manned deep space explorer, blasting off in an artist's rendition (credit: spacenews.com)I resisted the temptation to grab a crumbled chunk of brick from the flame trench, which, I have heard but can't confirm, the shuttle occasionally blasted as far away as Kansas. The tour guide, if he's worth his salt, will most certainly say the bricks landed on the great wall of China.
In the Shuttle "firing room," where the big green "LAUNCH" button gets pushed. Okay, it's a bit different than that.The launch itself is a sensory experience that Youtube videos can't capture, regardless of noise-cancellation headphone quality. Seeing the vivid flame, hearing the crunchy boom of liftoff, watching the cranes fly away as the sound waves hit them (and then you)--all that never fails to impress.
What makes a launch more impressive is to think of the years of development leading up to that iconic 10-second countdown. Upon that launch ride the hopes of onlookers but, moreso, the best laid plans of hundreds of brilliant people--scientists and engineers who spent years constructing the MAVEN and its myriad atmospheric measuring tools that must go 0-15,000MPH in a matter of minutes and make it all the way to Mars unscathed. A rocket launch is visceral. Considering its cargo makes it nerve-racking. Our visit with the MAVEN's designers intensified that feeling for me--their mission will help us discover what happened to Mars' atmosphere. It may also give us a window into the Earth's future.
The MAVEN team worked through a government shutdown just two months before the launch and still managed to get their rocket into the air on time. And under budget.
That is determination. That is excellence. That is NASA, and our country, at its best.
Also, NASA at its best were the folks at NASASocial. From college students to part-time astronomers to ex-Navy SEALS, it was a disparate group that formed a community for a weekend, one that seems to be sticking together via social media. Really kind of beautiful, and no one even cared if you ducked out of a conversation to check your phone--you were probably tweeting something about the launch, called away for a moment to dialogue with someone else invested in space stuff. It was an engaging mix of casual tweeting about whose bus was the best--clearly #2 on day one, and #3 on day 2--and heavy dialogue about astrophysics. Muscle confusion for the mind. Really helpful for someone who spends his time dreaming up worlds that do not yet exist. However, if Lady Gaga really does sing in space, I'll claim that as prophetic. Read the novel. You'll see.
Complete video of our session with NASATV. I ask a question at about 51:30.
One last pic: NASA head honcho Charlie Bolden trying on GoogleGlass. Several NASASocial folks had them, and he couldn't resist. Credits to Talia Landman.
This was the first time I've seen a rocket launch as an adult.
By that I mean that those shuttle launches I saw with my parents were wonderful, but they always felt like vacations related to my dad's work. (Well, they were.) This time I sought to watch the launch with other space enthusiasts and had to rely on whatever social media "chops" I had to secure a spot. I'm so grateful it worked out because the #NASASocial experience blew me away.
A view of KSC (Kennedy Space Center) and its shuttle-shaped running track. (credits: Jeffrey Putman)Among the highlights: seeing the shuttle launch pad up close, now being stripped for our next manned launch system (Orion), set to begin test launches in September 2014. We stood in the "flame trench"(perfectly named, and 4 stories high, 500 feet long, 60 feet across) and saw the crumbling bricks walls that for so many years withstood the shuttle's thrust, now being restored for the Orion. A man in a hardhat held a schematic of the new launch pad. Was he just a contractor? I struck up a conversation. "I've been doing this for forty years and I'm lovin' it," he told me, referring to his career in launch pad construction. He has been at it since the Mercury program and is still going strong. That's a long time, but a thousand years from now, will some of these bricks still stand here? Tour groups will visit this flame trench and hear their tour guide's explanation: "Yes, an ancient spaceport, friends. These stunted pyramids may not look like much, but they launched some of our first rockets into space. Space--that's what they called it. Must have looked must bigger back then."
Top Left: "I'm lovin' it!" Bottom Left: the old days. Shuttle on way to launchpad. Right: The Orion, our manned deep space explorer, blasting off in an artist's rendition (credit: spacenews.com)I resisted the temptation to grab a crumbled chunk of brick from the flame trench, which, I have heard but can't confirm, the shuttle occasionally blasted as far away as Kansas. The tour guide, if he's worth his salt, will most certainly say the bricks landed on the great wall of China.
In the Shuttle "firing room," where the big green "LAUNCH" button gets pushed. Okay, it's a bit different than that.The launch itself is a sensory experience that Youtube videos can't capture, regardless of noise-cancellation headphone quality. Seeing the vivid flame, hearing the crunchy boom of liftoff, watching the cranes fly away as the sound waves hit them (and then you)--all that never fails to impress.What makes a launch more impressive is to think of the years of development leading up to that iconic 10-second countdown. Upon that launch ride the hopes of onlookers but, moreso, the best laid plans of hundreds of brilliant people--scientists and engineers who spent years constructing the MAVEN and its myriad atmospheric measuring tools that must go 0-15,000MPH in a matter of minutes and make it all the way to Mars unscathed. A rocket launch is visceral. Considering its cargo makes it nerve-racking. Our visit with the MAVEN's designers intensified that feeling for me--their mission will help us discover what happened to Mars' atmosphere. It may also give us a window into the Earth's future.
The MAVEN team worked through a government shutdown just two months before the launch and still managed to get their rocket into the air on time. And under budget.
That is determination. That is excellence. That is NASA, and our country, at its best.
Also, NASA at its best were the folks at NASASocial. From college students to part-time astronomers to ex-Navy SEALS, it was a disparate group that formed a community for a weekend, one that seems to be sticking together via social media. Really kind of beautiful, and no one even cared if you ducked out of a conversation to check your phone--you were probably tweeting something about the launch, called away for a moment to dialogue with someone else invested in space stuff. It was an engaging mix of casual tweeting about whose bus was the best--clearly #2 on day one, and #3 on day 2--and heavy dialogue about astrophysics. Muscle confusion for the mind. Really helpful for someone who spends his time dreaming up worlds that do not yet exist. However, if Lady Gaga really does sing in space, I'll claim that as prophetic. Read the novel. You'll see.
Complete video of our session with NASATV. I ask a question at about 51:30.
One last pic: NASA head honcho Charlie Bolden trying on GoogleGlass. Several NASASocial folks had them, and he couldn't resist. Credits to Talia Landman.
November 13, 2013
Top 5 List for This Weekend: The Space Edition
In two days. TWO DAYS!
The MAVEN will liftoff for Mars from Cape Canaveral, and I'll be there to see it. MAVEN will address two fascinating questions: what happened to the Martian atmosphere and when did all the water disappear?
In anticipation of the weekend, here's my top five list of events. I'll blog it up as soon as I can, but this is my List of Anticipated Activities of Awesomeness, or LAAA!, for short:
5. Presentation by Bill Nye the Science Guy on the Main Stage in Rocket Garden. So many things are right about that sentence. Here's the theme song from his show, which could jog your memory, get stuck in your head, or both.
4. Meet and greet with astronaut Wendy Lawrence. She's logged 1200 hours in space.
3. "The Path of Humans To Mars" Briefing. This one will be broadcast on NASA TV, if NASA TV you indeed receive. My question isn't WHEN we're going to get there, but what we will do once we're there.
2. Meeting Charlie Bolden, NASA's Administrator (aka Head Honcho), and former astronaut in his own right. I have no questions for him thus far.
1. Seeing the MAVEN liftoff for Mars. Nothing compares to the earthquaking punch of a rocket shattering gravity's shackles.
Simple, sleek, earthquaking fun...
So, follow the blog and check out the tweets (@adamholtwrites and #MAVEN).
The MAVEN will liftoff for Mars from Cape Canaveral, and I'll be there to see it. MAVEN will address two fascinating questions: what happened to the Martian atmosphere and when did all the water disappear?
In anticipation of the weekend, here's my top five list of events. I'll blog it up as soon as I can, but this is my List of Anticipated Activities of Awesomeness, or LAAA!, for short:
5. Presentation by Bill Nye the Science Guy on the Main Stage in Rocket Garden. So many things are right about that sentence. Here's the theme song from his show, which could jog your memory, get stuck in your head, or both.
4. Meet and greet with astronaut Wendy Lawrence. She's logged 1200 hours in space.
3. "The Path of Humans To Mars" Briefing. This one will be broadcast on NASA TV, if NASA TV you indeed receive. My question isn't WHEN we're going to get there, but what we will do once we're there.
2. Meeting Charlie Bolden, NASA's Administrator (aka Head Honcho), and former astronaut in his own right. I have no questions for him thus far.
1. Seeing the MAVEN liftoff for Mars. Nothing compares to the earthquaking punch of a rocket shattering gravity's shackles.
Simple, sleek, earthquaking fun...So, follow the blog and check out the tweets (@adamholtwrites and #MAVEN).
November 3, 2013
"I want to be on time/Even if I am too late."
It was announced this week that 1B dollars in plundered art was recovered from a former Nazi. = Thinking of all that looted art sitting in a dark room for half a century, suddenly illuminated once again, gives me a deep sense of peace and reminded me of a wonderful poem by Jerzy Ficowski:
I Did Not Manage to Save
I did not manage to save a single lifeI did not know how to stop a single bulletI wander round cemeteries which are not thereI look for words which are not thereI run to help where no one called to answer the event I want to be on time even if I am too late.
To rescue all those beautiful masterpieces by Chagall, Matisse, Klimt, and others is a way for us to be on time even if we are too late. Chagall's work especially. His biblical works and stained glass were a revelation for me this year in Europe. At any rate, here's the link to the article. Happy Sunday indeed.
I Did Not Manage to Save
I did not manage to save a single lifeI did not know how to stop a single bulletI wander round cemeteries which are not thereI look for words which are not thereI run to help where no one called to answer the event I want to be on time even if I am too late.
To rescue all those beautiful masterpieces by Chagall, Matisse, Klimt, and others is a way for us to be on time even if we are too late. Chagall's work especially. His biblical works and stained glass were a revelation for me this year in Europe. At any rate, here's the link to the article. Happy Sunday indeed.
