Realizing that it would take some time to carefully narrow your many excellent nominations down to a manageable number, I locked myself in a room armed only with a laptop, a broadband connection, and a large caffeinated beverage. I emerged hours later, YouTubed out, but no closer to a viable field of candidates. It was [...]

[Read more →]

The Saturday before Thanksgiving, our family went to an interfaith service event held at a nearby LDS chapel (the one I attended when I was first baptized, and where Jana and I first met, years ago). We were a little nervous that we might encounter our old bishop in the flesh. Our only communication with [...]

[Read more →]

Jana writes that she was once willing to sacrifice her life if it would get me back into the LDS Church. I remember telling God around the same time that if he wanted to put the last nail into the coffin of my belief, he would take away my wife or my children. I think [...]

[Read more →]

There is beauty enough in this universe. The distant Cassini probe has opened a tiny window on the glory within our own solar system. Click on them to see higher resolution versions at the NASA site. The first image taken from Saturn’s shadow. You can spot the earth as a tiny point of light, hovering [...]

[Read more →]

Weblogging used to be all about the links. So here’s a little old school ‘blogging for ya: Some sad, sad statistics of violence against women around the world (links to Amnesty International, UK). “We have to deal with greenhouse gases…From [our] point of view, the debate is over.”�� Who would’ve thunk that Shell Oil would [...]

[Read more →]

I have never been especially fond of pink. To me it separated the girls from the tomboys and I was most definitely the latter. It was girls being unoriginal, mothers locking their children into gender roles (unless on boys, I approve of pink on the male segment of the population), and, as Dooce says, ” [...]

[Read more →]

Once a week, I’d like to challenge you all with a Quaker-inspired query that should be applicable to any person leading an alternately introspective yet socially-engaged life. Here’s the query for this week. I’ll do my best to answer it for myself, and encourage you to share your response. Have you found your vocation? I [...]

[Read more →]

I was recently speaking to a friend of mine about many and sundry things; I said something about how one of my sisters claims to be a “feminist for life” and that seems to me to be not much of a feminist at all…to which my friend replied that certainly there should be no litmus [...]

[Read more →]

A few things that I’m thankful for (a by no means exhaustive list): Autumn color schemes. Bubble wrap. And Benadryl. Catgirl (daughter o’ mine). Darjeeling tea. Edo-period Japan. Feminism.¬† And feminists. Gameboy (firstborn prodigy). Hills in the British Isles (especially grassy, remote ones with cairns on top). Inter-library loan privileges. Jana. Kittens. Lips. Moss. (especially [...]

[Read more →]

The Science Fiction Bibliophile in me couldn’t resist this meme, even though I’m sure it’s spread by SF booksellers. I hope to destroy your productivity today (I feel less guilt because it’s the day before Thanksgiving). I’m miffed that some books are included (Deathbird Stories by Harlan Ellison) and others not (Doomsday Book by Connie [...]

[Read more →]