one pic, mushrooms were growing fine

I've been terribly unfocused and lazy since we got back from the mountains. I have all kinds of half finished stuff scattered all over the house, I have a bunch of half cleaned rooms, and the closest you'll get to a travel post for our last two trips is the following picture of derien and the rain. Please note stream of water pouring off the tarp and the fire on the right margin fighting to survive. After being pounded in an hour and a half long downpour it sprung back up like John Barleycorn and so amazed us all.

( Cut for pic )

reading (Asimov's September)

I finished the September Asimov's quite a while ago, but I never got around to posting about it. I really enjoyed "In the Age of the Quiet Sun". It's an old school sci-fi adventure story with a lot of the comfortable cliches and a good portion of updating as well. I think it captured the fun of reading old school with some good enhancements. "Soldier for the Singularity" took a different approach to several themes that have run through science fiction. I found the premise of "Horse Racing" simply too unsustainable to be believable. I understand the approach, but don't believe it would have sufficient ROI. It was pleasant enough storytelling though. "Cut Loose the Bonds of Flesh and Bone" visits a different side of the current popular theme, old age and dying thereof. I was pleasantly surprised by "Usurpers", a story about running that was exciting and had a surprise finish after all. The cover story, "The Ice War", didn't melt my heart or freeze the blood in my veins.

Overall, a good issue with lots of new ideas on familiar themes.

44. Asimov's September 2008

Tell me, why?

It's not that I don't like Mondays. It's just that I inevitably have a whole bunch of things to deal with and not enough time to deal with them all. With this endless list, how can I justify just blowing off a few hours and relaxing.

"And he can see no reason,
'cause there are no reasons.
What reason do you need to be shown?"

Guilt, she suck mon.

"What's gonna happen if I give the man a dime,
I don't want to pay for another brother's wine."

I've got a great life. It's hard to express and my general quiet and morose nature makes it even more so. Still, it's phat as a prize pig. (Plus it has primo alliteration, so phear its awesomeness.) I'm willing to share it, but honestly, I can't be bothered to try really hard to share it.

"Oh, oh.
I'm an alien.
I'm a Jamaican in New York."

Sometimes I feel like an alien in this society. I can see how it's broken. I just can't picture a way to fix it.

"On a crash course for a planet,
made with mountains of my favorite food."

We went out tonight for derien's birthday dinner.

"On the seventh day she rested,
woke up early, and made ice cream."

Now I really should go to sleep.

"Lids down, I count sheep, I count heart beats,
the only thing that counts is I won't sleep."