C.J. Cherryh's Blog, page 58
August 14, 2014
A price break on the Guild Wars software…
…which enables online play for free, unlimited. You just install, on a reasonably modern computer with a reasonably modern internet connection…and you never have to spend another dime, unless you absolutely *lust* after a mini-me figure to follow you about or other things you really don’t need to play well. I play on an i-5 level computer on a Comcast connection and it blazes along. I don’t know what the bottom end is, but you can scale back detail. Good deeds in the game win you spendable points with karma merchants, where you can get good armor and weapons; and you also ‘find’ loot. I’d recommend, as with any game, you read reviews and look at screen shots to see if it’s for you. I will say—a) there is no dying and going clear back to the beginning of the map. Another player will ‘heal’ you or you can boomf to a nearby point and run back into the fight. b) There’s no game charge for armor repair. c) And there is no ‘friendly fire’ possible. I’ve seen some games so futzy about positioning to avoid encroachments, that that feature itself becomes unreal. Just assume your hero and his/her allies are not going to shoot each other. And because there’s a cooperative feature, you will get help from other players if you’ve ventured into in a tight spot. Here’s the link. It’s at half price right now.buy GW2
One of the medical advances I had in my teenaged fiction…
Because it’s such a need, for severe injury. Now they’ve invented it. Neat!
bone filler
August 13, 2014
I NEED A HEAD COUNT
Re Shejicon. Jane and I are setting up the schedule, making reservations, figuring out necessities, buying food!!!!, arranging tables, figuring out venues and rain plans, and thus far it all looks to be for 3 people besides Jane and me. I have problems with the interface at the Shejidan site, so if you are communicating there, do not assume you are in contact with me. If you cannot post on Wave, write to me as cj at cherryh.com.
Today I need the following. Don’t be shy. Give us at least your screen name and whether or not you have a car, when you are arriving, departing, and whether you can help us transport our [so far 3] people, and how many of them. If I don’t hear from you, I will assume we have 3 people.
August 12, 2014
The book—is finished, except for some final touches.
I have rarely written a harder one, technically speaking. And I’m a month and a half late getting it in, but I’m sure it will make schedule for next April. The cover is already done.
Wedding dress—historic
Interesting to see how it changed over the years.
I’d think 2-piece (or more) gowns should find more traction, but you rarely see them. Tops and sleeves are most apt to be dated. If gowns were made, as in prior centuries, with lace-on attachments, for sleeves, bodices, etc, it would be very possible to pass them down to other generations.
Some very nice work, however.
Forms animal life can take—rangeomorphs.
There ARE some organisms that somewhat resemble this ancient type: sea pens, and basket stars. Did these fronds have the ability to curl and move? If they were the first life, there was little to curl about. But inhale and respire and ‘eat’ what they respire?
To a certain extent, I suspect koi succeed so well because they eat what they breathe: even in water that can get pretty mucky green with algae, some of that algae must go into the gut as the water goes through the gills. In the case of these creatures, they could just sit and respire and consume basic rock chemicals directly from the water.
Learning how to utilize an excess of calcium was a biggie. Muscle and contractile tissue is calcium dependent. Skeleton develops because specialized tissue lays down calcium carbonate, a combo of carbon and calcium which is that chalky stuff on your shower. At vinegar ph, it dissolves.
When the early oceans hit a chemistry of 8.3 dkh alkalinity and ph about there (modern oceans about 7.9 ph); a dissolved magnesium level of 1200 and a dissolved calcium of 420, the oceanic chemistry at least locally entered a ‘lock’ of stability, in which as long as that magnesium stays 1200 or better, the calcium and alk will ride at about that level, given a supply of ‘fossil calcium’ or calcium water. H20′s use of calcium stays rock-steady at this reading, particularly as it can access old dead coral skeleton to dissolve it and keep the calcium up so living coral doesn’t deplete it. The early establishment of a calcium supply from, one supposes, dead rock, would enable marine organisms to establish a comfort-level existence in which a microbial population adapts to this situation—and the nature of mg/cal chemistry in water maintains the situation, so that the animal population can continue doing the same thing, generation after generation, and get better at it. There’s no saying that ALL ancient microbes were micro—-there may have been macrobes. Big squishy monocellular life, that at some point anchored successfully where the best food was and thereby got to the dinner trough first, and reliably. Big reliable supply means —it thrives. It divides. It multiplies.
In marine tanks, we hit that magic lock-point chemically, and snail shells stay hard, fish stay healthy, stony coral grows: the water at that ph dissolves just enough calcium out of old coral to keep that level…so long as the magnesium level stays steady at 1200 or a bit above.
Us walkabout on land types have somewhat the same needs: we lay down calcium for bones, our contractile tissues still use calcium as the driving force, and if we run short of magnesium our backs ache and our guts stop moving.
We and corals do have some things in common.
August 11, 2014
If I had any doubt about the old vs new shoes…
Two years of scarcely relenting sciatic pain, leg muscle loss, and knees that were getting unreliable, having to take it easy on stairs because of balance problems…
I’m wearing these new sandals from the time I get out of bed til I go to bed. They fixed the sciatica inside 3 hours. I’ve since ordered several pairs.
Then, yesterday, we had a cool day, and I decided to save Jane the trouble of hand-sweeping the patio and drive, by running the leaf-blower, which she hates to do—and to clean up the thin ridge of weeds between the alley and the drive, which grew up during our driving trip. So…
I didn’t want to wear my good new sandals out there. So I wore the old ones. Went out, ran the leafblower on the drive, piece of cake; ran the weedwhacker, climbing up and down the little 3×20′ ridge of weedy ground; messing with the damn machine, which of course runs out of cord 3′ into the job—for once, I did have a spare spool, which Jane had helpfully hung from a nail near the machine’s hanging hook!–and changing that.
Got back in, and noticed the knee pain. Took some Advil, changed shoes. My knee and lower back had a fit for the next number of hours. More Advil at bedtime, rest, back to the good new shoes today—no pain, no unsteadiness this morning—which is a relief. I feared I’d done a number on that knee.
I think I’m not wearing any shoes but these hereafter, and I’m going to send any shoes for which I can’t replace the insole with a Vionics insole—to our local charity. I’ll keep a couple of pairs of heels and my pirate boots, but the rest? They’re outta here. While the worst thing you generally can do for your feet is wear the same pair of shoes day after day, this is more a case of getting a support under the arches and keeping the heel low relative to the arch support, which is the magical angle that solves the problem. Damn! that hurt yesterday evening!
