Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Black Orchid
The Theme and Variation audio anthology went live last week. My story went live today. You can hear it here.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Theme and Variation
Here is the cover art for the Theme and Variation music-themed audio anthology. It contains my story Black Orchid. You can also listen to the promo, and hear the theme music composed and performed by Michelle M. Welch and Jack Mangan.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Signing
Here is a picture of me at Dog-Eared Pages book store in north Phoenix today. They held a local author signing and here I am sitting in front of a rack of Romance novels signing my science fiction.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Overseeding 2009
One of the tasks I have to do because I live in the desert is prepare the lawn for winter. We use Bermuda grass here in the summer because not many other grasses can handle the extreme heat with 4 months above 100 degrees, and as many as 15 days over 110 degrees (Fahrenheit).
Unfortunately, the Bermuda grass goes dormant when it gets (relatively) cold and it stays brown all winter. HOA obligates me to over-seed with rye grass every October. There is roughly a two week window to get the seeds planted after the last 100 degree day and have new grass by Halloween.
The first step is to scalp the lawn, meaning to mow it as close to the ground as possible. It helps if you stop watering the Bermuda grass a week or two ahead of time.
This year I ran over a sprinkler head and ruined it. That isn't normally one of the steps in over-seeding. In fact, when I mowed the first loop around the edge of the lawn I was wise enough to go around it. When I came back for the rest of the lawn, I was not. Thus, I have an additional job this year--replace sprinkler head.
This is what the lawn looks like scalped.
The old sprinkler head has to come out. Fortunately, I happened to have a replacement in the shed. Unfortunately, it did not have a nozzle and I am sans vehicle because it is in the shop for a brake job. Details.
Sprinkler head replaced, it's time to finish the over-seeding job. There are four items I put on the lawn this year. First, I sprinkled some Bermuda grass seeds where I had some troublesome bald patches this past summer. From past seeding jobs, I am confident it will germinate in the spring. Next, I sprinkle Ammonium Sulfate fertilizer (21-0-0) on the lawn. Finally, the rye grass seed goes down. All my seed this year is leftovers from previous years. The Home Depot and Lowes have guys from the seed companies come in to advise you. They'll tell you the seed from last year is not good. Horse-hockey. The newest bag of seed I'm using this year is a year old. Others are even older.
The green stuff is Bermuda seed. It's about the size of a poppy seed. Tiny. The white stuff is the fertilizer. You can't see the rye grass seed, it looks like you would expect grass seed to look like.
Finally, the entire lawn must be covered in steer manure. It helps to fertilize the lawn. It helps to keep the seeds wet. Most importantly, it covers the seeds so small aviators do not eat them. It also stinks when wet, which amuses the neighbors. But it's under a buck a bag. I have 14 cubic feet for my lawn.
Once the BS is spread around the lawn, you are ready for water.
And we're watering...we're watering. This is what my sprinkler head spray pattern looks like without a nozzle. But, the lawn has to be wet. I'll have a nozzle on by this evening. Once I have my truck back and can get to the store.
In two weeks I should have a lot of little tiny grass sprouts.
Unfortunately, the Bermuda grass goes dormant when it gets (relatively) cold and it stays brown all winter. HOA obligates me to over-seed with rye grass every October. There is roughly a two week window to get the seeds planted after the last 100 degree day and have new grass by Halloween.
The first step is to scalp the lawn, meaning to mow it as close to the ground as possible. It helps if you stop watering the Bermuda grass a week or two ahead of time.
This year I ran over a sprinkler head and ruined it. That isn't normally one of the steps in over-seeding. In fact, when I mowed the first loop around the edge of the lawn I was wise enough to go around it. When I came back for the rest of the lawn, I was not. Thus, I have an additional job this year--replace sprinkler head.
This is what the lawn looks like scalped.
The old sprinkler head has to come out. Fortunately, I happened to have a replacement in the shed. Unfortunately, it did not have a nozzle and I am sans vehicle because it is in the shop for a brake job. Details.
Sprinkler head replaced, it's time to finish the over-seeding job. There are four items I put on the lawn this year. First, I sprinkled some Bermuda grass seeds where I had some troublesome bald patches this past summer. From past seeding jobs, I am confident it will germinate in the spring. Next, I sprinkle Ammonium Sulfate fertilizer (21-0-0) on the lawn. Finally, the rye grass seed goes down. All my seed this year is leftovers from previous years. The Home Depot and Lowes have guys from the seed companies come in to advise you. They'll tell you the seed from last year is not good. Horse-hockey. The newest bag of seed I'm using this year is a year old. Others are even older.
The green stuff is Bermuda seed. It's about the size of a poppy seed. Tiny. The white stuff is the fertilizer. You can't see the rye grass seed, it looks like you would expect grass seed to look like.
Finally, the entire lawn must be covered in steer manure. It helps to fertilize the lawn. It helps to keep the seeds wet. Most importantly, it covers the seeds so small aviators do not eat them. It also stinks when wet, which amuses the neighbors. But it's under a buck a bag. I have 14 cubic feet for my lawn.
Once the BS is spread around the lawn, you are ready for water.
And we're watering...we're watering. This is what my sprinkler head spray pattern looks like without a nozzle. But, the lawn has to be wet. I'll have a nozzle on by this evening. Once I have my truck back and can get to the store.
In two weeks I should have a lot of little tiny grass sprouts.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Halloween Story
Every year, Codex Writers Group has a Halloween contest where all the participants give a story seed to another participant, then everyone goes off and writes a story based on the seed. I finished mine today with 2--count 'em--two days to spare.
The contest voting will start in a couple of days. Until the results are in, the title and story seed are top secret. Details when allowed.
The contest voting will start in a couple of days. Until the results are in, the title and story seed are top secret. Details when allowed.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
I Think Something is Wrong With Me
The boy came into the home office earlier today asking for help finding a scientist to write a report on for science class.
Dad: What scientists do you know?
Lad: Albert Einstein.
Dad: Everybody's going to do Einstein. Why not pick somebody else?
Lad: Like Newton?
Dad: You could do Newton, but he's pretty common also.
Lad: I don't know any others.
I reached back into my physics days. Everything is named after somebody. First one to pop into my head was Faraday.
Dad: What about Michael Faraday?
Lad: Who's that?
Dad: Well, he studied magnetic fields.
Lad: Okay, I'll do Faraday.
Dad: Why don't we look at a few more then if you still want to do Faraday, you can.
Lad: Okay.
So I pulled up a few more names.
Dad: Enrico Fermi was a particle physicist.
Lad: Maybe. Who is the guy who invented the atomic bomb?
Dad: Robert Oppenheimer?
Lad: Yeah, he has a cool name.
Dad: He didn't invent the atomic bomb, he lead the project. The Manhattan Project.
Lad: What's that?
Dad: The project to build the atomic bomb.
Lad: Okay, I'll do him.
Dad: Or you could pick Richard Feynman. He also worked on the Manhattan Project and he's an interesting guy, too.
Lad: Okay, I'll pick one of those two guys. Mom said if I want to go swimming I have to go now.
I decided to pull a few more names while he was in the pool. Last weekend I bought a used copy of Asimov's Understanding Physics (three volumes in one book version) because I could use a refresher course. I know enough to understand what is obsolete, so why not? anyway, I started looking through the index and found all these names that brought back memories.
Max Planck, Neils Bohr, James Clerk Maxwell, Louis Pasteur, Linus Pauling, Henry Cavendish, Paul Dirac, Werner Heisenberg.
He came back inside and I told him a little about them. I performed the Cavendish experiment as a senior (an exercise in patience). I told him I met Werner Heisenberg's son Jochen Heisenberg, a very amicable man with some incredible stories about hiding out in the German Alps during World War Two.
The boy finally settled on Louis Pasteur, but the digging back through all those names started me remembering all kinds of memories and missing the old physics days. I actually miss h-bar.
Dad: What scientists do you know?
Lad: Albert Einstein.
Dad: Everybody's going to do Einstein. Why not pick somebody else?
Lad: Like Newton?
Dad: You could do Newton, but he's pretty common also.
Lad: I don't know any others.
I reached back into my physics days. Everything is named after somebody. First one to pop into my head was Faraday.
Dad: What about Michael Faraday?
Lad: Who's that?
Dad: Well, he studied magnetic fields.
Lad: Okay, I'll do Faraday.
Dad: Why don't we look at a few more then if you still want to do Faraday, you can.
Lad: Okay.
So I pulled up a few more names.
Dad: Enrico Fermi was a particle physicist.
Lad: Maybe. Who is the guy who invented the atomic bomb?
Dad: Robert Oppenheimer?
Lad: Yeah, he has a cool name.
Dad: He didn't invent the atomic bomb, he lead the project. The Manhattan Project.
Lad: What's that?
Dad: The project to build the atomic bomb.
Lad: Okay, I'll do him.
Dad: Or you could pick Richard Feynman. He also worked on the Manhattan Project and he's an interesting guy, too.
Lad: Okay, I'll pick one of those two guys. Mom said if I want to go swimming I have to go now.
I decided to pull a few more names while he was in the pool. Last weekend I bought a used copy of Asimov's Understanding Physics (three volumes in one book version) because I could use a refresher course. I know enough to understand what is obsolete, so why not? anyway, I started looking through the index and found all these names that brought back memories.
Max Planck, Neils Bohr, James Clerk Maxwell, Louis Pasteur, Linus Pauling, Henry Cavendish, Paul Dirac, Werner Heisenberg.
He came back inside and I told him a little about them. I performed the Cavendish experiment as a senior (an exercise in patience). I told him I met Werner Heisenberg's son Jochen Heisenberg, a very amicable man with some incredible stories about hiding out in the German Alps during World War Two.
The boy finally settled on Louis Pasteur, but the digging back through all those names started me remembering all kinds of memories and missing the old physics days. I actually miss h-bar.
- I miss solving boundary value problems with Bessel Functions. I miss Taylor series expansions. I miss the dirac delta function. I miss Maxwell's equations.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Theme and Variations Anthology
Michelle M. Welch, who is editing a music-themed spec fic audio anthology released the list of contributing authors early last week. I will be joined in this endeavor by:
Keyan Bowes
Ernest Hogan
Elaine Isaak
Lejon A. Johnson
Jack Mangan
Lon Prater
Caroline Rhodes
Michelle M. Welch
Of this list, I have only previously shared a table of contents with Jack Mangan. That would have been in the oddly numbered issue 0x09 of Neometropolis back in June of 2006. That's way at the bottom of my bibliography, for anyone keeping score at home.
It is an exciting table of contents because I am familiar with the work of every single contributor and am thrilled to be sharing a piece of the project with each of them.
Keyan Bowes
Ernest Hogan
Elaine Isaak
Lejon A. Johnson
Jack Mangan
Lon Prater
Caroline Rhodes
Michelle M. Welch
Of this list, I have only previously shared a table of contents with Jack Mangan. That would have been in the oddly numbered issue 0x09 of Neometropolis back in June of 2006. That's way at the bottom of my bibliography, for anyone keeping score at home.
It is an exciting table of contents because I am familiar with the work of every single contributor and am thrilled to be sharing a piece of the project with each of them.
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