I'm thinking of doing Readercon in 2013... I'd rather travel to that. England is, alas, not practical. Even though WFC 2013 definitely appeals to me.
And 2014 gives the two choices of London's Worldcon or Phoenix's NASFiC.
Given that I haven't yet attended my first Worldcon, Chicon 7, you might think I'm thinking too far ahead.
I don't. You see, I tend to plan out these things. That way I know what monies and resources [and time] I'll need.
Of course, back when I used to attend Pennsic War, I'd plan ahead for that too.
:D
This is, I am given to understand, the sign of a control freak. But an editor friend pointed out to me that some obsessiveness is a good thing in editors...
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Not streamlined.
Wow... Google's mad dash to make everything "more streamlined" seems to be a rush towards ugly. I'm not sure what made them think that cold starkness was streamlined.
Depressing, though. I had other things I was thinking about -- but having Blogger change along with Gmail [what an unsurprise!] is exceedingly depressing.
It does make me see why folks get into Wordpress. Maybe they can make the interface less repellent. I don't know.
Depressing, though. I had other things I was thinking about -- but having Blogger change along with Gmail [what an unsurprise!] is exceedingly depressing.
It does make me see why folks get into Wordpress. Maybe they can make the interface less repellent. I don't know.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Some Easter eggs.
I really was doing research for work when I found this Firefly website. I can't remember what keyword I was using to somehow pull up -- wait, it must have been gridlines.
I do remember how I got this map of Earth, however. It's so cool. The sunlight's moving.
(Here's the xkcd about Cadbury eggs... :) I wasn't looking that up for work, though. I wonder if Randall cooks with Kinder eggs, it'd have some potential for worse things than Cadbury.)
I do remember how I got this map of Earth, however. It's so cool. The sunlight's moving.
(Here's the xkcd about Cadbury eggs... :) I wasn't looking that up for work, though. I wonder if Randall cooks with Kinder eggs, it'd have some potential for worse things than Cadbury.)
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Warped, no foolin'.
Today it took me about 4 tries to open a Word file successfully. That is becoming standard with this file. It is very tiresome. I don't know if Classic Menu doesn't work well with docx files, or what. That's my guess, but... I don't think so. I think it's something peculiar about this file. :/
But I could swear I had a docx file in February, or maybe January, and this didn't happen then.
I wish this were a joke -- lots of good ones today. Alas, this... isn't. I'll snag some of the good jokes I saw off Twitter later. Off to dig back into That File.
The way I know there's a problem with the docx file? Whenever I open it every day, the right margin grows from normal -- quarter of the screen -- to enormous. Every Comment goes off into the far distance, stretching abnormally.
That's the first two or three times I open it. Every time. Without fail.
Doesn't matter what way I open it, either. Going through the file tree, from the Windows button, from the pinned recent files...
You know, it'd be nice to blame this on Cthulhu. I'm just sayin'.
I hope you're having a Happy Facepalm Sunday. :)
But I could swear I had a docx file in February, or maybe January, and this didn't happen then.
I wish this were a joke -- lots of good ones today. Alas, this... isn't. I'll snag some of the good jokes I saw off Twitter later. Off to dig back into That File.
The way I know there's a problem with the docx file? Whenever I open it every day, the right margin grows from normal -- quarter of the screen -- to enormous. Every Comment goes off into the far distance, stretching abnormally.
That's the first two or three times I open it. Every time. Without fail.
Doesn't matter what way I open it, either. Going through the file tree, from the Windows button, from the pinned recent files...
You know, it'd be nice to blame this on Cthulhu. I'm just sayin'.
I hope you're having a Happy Facepalm Sunday. :)
Friday, March 30, 2012
Just musing.
[Mostly written 15-March-2012.]
I have a really cool job.
I get to look up all sorts of weird things, neat things, things I probably never would have stumbled into on my own. There's also trying to figure out how to phrase something so the Web will like it, or understand -- or not give me really peculiar and/or unhelpful and/or frustrating answers.
Someone said to me once, "You get to read everything before it comes out!" and that threw me. I don't. I mean, not everything. If I worked on every book I read, I might not love reading quite so much.
No, scratch that. It'd be tiring. I could never work on as many books as I've read. Working on books involves a lot more than just reading.
I've been grateful, rereading a Patricia McKillip book, that I didn't work on it. I get to see all the pretty parts flow by. Fool's Run is a great book. I didn't know how to copy edit when I first read it years ago. Many years ago.
I know that... because I remember quoting it on newsgroups in the 90s. :)
But I love my job.
This week. :) When I get to the stage where I pull out my hair, that's another kettle of fish entirely. I don't think I'll be pulling out hair with this book... ETA: Famous last words, eh?
I have a really cool job.
I get to look up all sorts of weird things, neat things, things I probably never would have stumbled into on my own. There's also trying to figure out how to phrase something so the Web will like it, or understand -- or not give me really peculiar and/or unhelpful and/or frustrating answers.
Someone said to me once, "You get to read everything before it comes out!" and that threw me. I don't. I mean, not everything. If I worked on every book I read, I might not love reading quite so much.
No, scratch that. It'd be tiring. I could never work on as many books as I've read. Working on books involves a lot more than just reading.
I've been grateful, rereading a Patricia McKillip book, that I didn't work on it. I get to see all the pretty parts flow by. Fool's Run is a great book. I didn't know how to copy edit when I first read it years ago. Many years ago.
I know that... because I remember quoting it on newsgroups in the 90s. :)
But I love my job.
This week. :) When I get to the stage where I pull out my hair, that's another kettle of fish entirely. I don't think I'll be pulling out hair with this book... ETA: Famous last words, eh?
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Defining history...
Just watched Game Change. [Warning: Link has spoilers if you haven't seen it yet.]
It was riveting. Just as The Social Network was.
I suspect it'll have a similar impact; even though it's a movie, it -- like any movie -- is a work of fiction. I'm not slamming HBO's work. Far from it.
But even though when you see a movie you know it's not real, you've seen it. On some level, it becomes real for you. It's defined events whether you saw them or not.
This isn't like The King's Speech in that there's considerable decades from 2008. Putting the three together, Game Change, The Social Network, and The King's Speech... it's pretty safe to say that for many viewers, that is how those stories will be perceived.
I don't necessarily feel the same way for all three, though; only two have characters I really care about. I think Bertie and Lowe are marvelous people, and probably always will.
And that applies to the sympathetic figures of Game Change too: Steve Schmidt, Nicole Wallace, and yes, even Sarah Palin some of the time.
Game Change was brilliant. Wow.
ETA: When Nicole cries, I nearly cried myself. How shattering it must have been, to be a political operative, and to make that choice on Election Day.
It was riveting. Just as The Social Network was.
I suspect it'll have a similar impact; even though it's a movie, it -- like any movie -- is a work of fiction. I'm not slamming HBO's work. Far from it.
But even though when you see a movie you know it's not real, you've seen it. On some level, it becomes real for you. It's defined events whether you saw them or not.
This isn't like The King's Speech in that there's considerable decades from 2008. Putting the three together, Game Change, The Social Network, and The King's Speech... it's pretty safe to say that for many viewers, that is how those stories will be perceived.
I don't necessarily feel the same way for all three, though; only two have characters I really care about. I think Bertie and Lowe are marvelous people, and probably always will.
And that applies to the sympathetic figures of Game Change too: Steve Schmidt, Nicole Wallace, and yes, even Sarah Palin some of the time.
Game Change was brilliant. Wow.
ETA: When Nicole cries, I nearly cried myself. How shattering it must have been, to be a political operative, and to make that choice on Election Day.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
CRACK!
Last night, we were watching Bill Maher... and heard this awful noise, somewhere between an explosion and a gunshot.
The wind picked up in a big way.
And that's how we found out about the windstorm. It was a doozy. Outside the house -- which we couldn't see before 11pm, naturally -- two trees have fallen. Matchsticks is the word that comes to mind. I'm certain at least four fell within our hearing last night.
The storm's not gone, as the wind still rises every so often. I stayed up last night because it was too loud to sleep. Mind you, I wanted to be asleep.
No tornadoes here. Chainsaws, yes. A neighbor or two are buzzing away merrily.
[Maybe that's not how they see it, but when you've listened to the monthly tornado siren test, and heard it end quite gratefully, then chainsaws are not what you want to hear. Not when the winds were still loud past 7:30am!]
Okay, now I'm rambling. I'm considerably less awake than I'd prefer to be. :/
On the plus side, several times after midnight, I thought the winds had died down. Or stopped. They were considerably muffled from where I sit now. :)
The wind picked up in a big way.
And that's how we found out about the windstorm. It was a doozy. Outside the house -- which we couldn't see before 11pm, naturally -- two trees have fallen. Matchsticks is the word that comes to mind. I'm certain at least four fell within our hearing last night.
The storm's not gone, as the wind still rises every so often. I stayed up last night because it was too loud to sleep. Mind you, I wanted to be asleep.
No tornadoes here. Chainsaws, yes. A neighbor or two are buzzing away merrily.
[Maybe that's not how they see it, but when you've listened to the monthly tornado siren test, and heard it end quite gratefully, then chainsaws are not what you want to hear. Not when the winds were still loud past 7:30am!]
Okay, now I'm rambling. I'm considerably less awake than I'd prefer to be. :/
On the plus side, several times after midnight, I thought the winds had died down. Or stopped. They were considerably muffled from where I sit now. :)
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