Brief Random Update

[mabfan]

I haven't blogged much of significance in a few days, partly because it doesn't feel like I have much going on right now. So here's a random noting of things that I suppose I could blog about more if I wanted to. (And yes, I know I've fallen behind my own schedule of Robert's Rules of Writing commentary; I'll get back to it less sporadically as soon as I can.)

Last night I had a lot of trouble getting to sleep. I have no idea why, but there it is. I got about two to three hours of sleep, so I feel exhausted this morning.

Earlier this week the New York Times reported the death of former Representative Thomas Manton, who was a major player in Queens politics when I was a teen. He was a traditional machine politician, for both good and bad.

Nomi and I saw three movies recently: Wordplay, An Inconvenient Truth, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Somehow I got this idea in my mind to combine the first two and run a crossword puzzle marathon to raise money to fight global warming. I suppose we could figure out a way to work in pirates somehow as well. (Remind me to post about how I've been making saxikath train for next year's American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.)

Nomi and I have been watching a lot of Stargate recently, as we attempt to catch up with the series. We're currently in the middle of season four. It's a fun show.

I enjoyed the first episode of Life on Mars, the new BBC show about a modern-day cop who has an accident and finds himself back in the year 1973. Recommended.

I've been working on a proposal, two stories, and an outline. And I've just had two stories, "Paying It Forward" and "Kaddish for the Last Survivor," translated and published in the Czech magazine Ikarie.

Sad to say, Nomi and I will not be making it to Worldcon this year. On the plus side, though, we'll be at Pi-Con on Sunday August 13.

A few books I've read recently are "Chances Are...: Adventures in Probability" by Michael Kaplan and Ellen Kaplan; "Fall of Knight" by Peter David; "Crossworld: One Man's Journey into America's Crossword Obsession" by Marc Romano; "The Twelfth Card" by Jeffery Deaver; and "Cellphone: The Story of the World's Most Mobile Medium and How It Has Transformed Everything!" by Paul Levinson.

And I'm brushing my teeth more often.

Copyright © Michael Burstein

Comments

[madwriter.livejournal.com]

But what about flossing?

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

That, too. I always had trouble with regular floss, but now I use Plackers, which work well for me. (It's essentially a little piece of floss on a stick.)

And I'm using mouthwash more often too!

[fynixsoul.livejournal.com]

Congrats on those translations! But why czech?

Can I put in a vote for blogging about crossword obsessions? I think my father suffers from something like that, and has since 1973...

I'd love to know your thoughts on Pirates 2. I'm vaguely obsessed with it at the moment.

On an entirely random note, do you know anyone who'd be looking for temporary editing/proofreading help between now and August 20?

good oral hygine is commendable. But bewear overbrushing leading to gum erosion.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Why Czech? Because the magazine offered me money for the rights to translate and reprint the stories.

I thought Pirates 2 was fun, but too long and not as good as the first one.

Temp editing/proofreading? Er, no. Have you tried checking craigslist?

I will be wary of overbrushing.

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

i feel compelled to add that by overbrushing, the dentists do not mean "don't brush for too long." i've had no fewer than three seperate dentists over the course of my adult life give "thirty seconds per quadrant of mouth" as the good rule of thumb in regards to time spent brushing. that seems like a lot, but that 30seconds includes both sides of teeth.

by overbrushing, they mean don't scrub too hard with the toothbrush. oh, and we're supposed to get a new one every few months, six months tops: in addition to the whole "germy" side of things, the plastic in the bristles gets harder over time.

[nwl.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed the first episode of Life on Mars, the new BBC show about a modern-day cop who has an accident and finds himself back in the year 1973. Recommended.

I've been looking forward to this and I got rwl to watch as well. He liked it, which surprised me. He's a tough audience. I think he expected a SciFi channel show, like Eureka, which he bailed on. BBC America has a number of good shows. Do you watch Hex as well?

I read in SCIFI WEEKLY that an American version of Life on Mars is being contemplated. I don't have high hopes. rwl is looking forward to Jericho this fall.

Sad to say, Nomi and I will not be making it to Worldcon this year.

Very sad news. We were hoping to see you.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

We actually don't get BBC America, but we have a friend (hi, friend!) who tapes the shows we want. We have a tape with Hex on it but haven't had a chance to watch it yet.

LiM could actually work very well as an American show, if done right. From what I've seen so far, it's not as British-culture dependent as, say, Coupling.

I am looking forward to Jericho and Heroes, among other shows.

We are sorry we'll miss you at Worldcon. We might be at Capclave, though.

[querldox.livejournal.com]

1 Across, 3 letters: Yes
1 Down, 4-9 letters: Precedes 'Matey'

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Still trying to figure this one out. Is it Aye and ARRRR! ?

[querldox.livejournal.com]

Yep.

[quarkwiz.livejournal.com]

Sad to say, Nomi and I will not be making it to Worldcon this year. On the plus side, though, we'll be at Pi-Con on Sunday August 13..

This is now the second time I've heard of Pi-Con. dochyel mentioned it at lunch today and said he was looking forward to it. What're they about? (I know, I know, visit their site, but I'm being Lazy and I figured I'd ask here instead.) We are also not going to Worldcon. Sigh. I really wanted to go; we had a blast at the '96 version. I have to say, it was very easy to unload our memberships. I figure from now on, I'll always buy an Attending membership to a Worldcon, just in case, and know that it'll find a home no matter what.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

This is their first year, so I'm honestly not sure what they're completely about. From the webpage and the panel list we got, it looks like they're trying to appeal to fans across the board.

Nomi and I were asked to be on program, and at first we declined, since we had Readercon this month and we were anticipating Worldcon in August. But since Worldcon is no longer an option, and we can do Pi-Con on Sunday as a relatively easy day trip, we decided we'd come out to support their maiden effort.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Glad you managed to get to Inconvenient Truth! What did you think of it?

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

It was an entertaining film, for what it was. Al Gore is a personable speaker, and it's clear that he comes by the issue honestly. I agree that more people ought to see the film -- assuming that they aren't already aware of the problem.

Which was the issue for me, of course. Almost everything he discussed was stuff I already knew about. The only new pieces of information I got was a) that many US cities have chosen to adopt the Kyoto accords on their own, even though the federal government has not, and b) that it's not too late to stop the worst of the disaster.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

I agree that the facts weren't new, but I thought it was very powerfully presented. It's one thing to know about global warming, it's another to actually see the pictures of Kilimanjaro, etc. And I think it's an important film for the unfortunate majority who don't read much and aren't into science fiction, who may not be as aware of the situation.