...which actually represent a pretty good cross-section of my personal interests.
In related news, there's nothing like talking to a seventeen-year-old high school student who's coding his own distributed database system to make a prehistoric Perl hacker feel old. HASHTAG BASED ON A TRUE STORY.
At times like this, I think of this dialogue from Terminator 2:
"Every day from this day on is a gift. Use it well."
If you've never heard that before, that's because it only exists in an alternate ending which was (wisely, IMHO) excised from both the theatrical and special-edition releases. It's totally the wrong note after what's come before, but the sentiment is solid. See for yourself:
We don't choose when we're born. Most of us won't get to choose when or how we die. All we get to decide is how to use the precious little time we have in the world. And being able to experience this weird, wonderful planet at all means you've already won the lottery.
Speaking of being charitable, this year's Clarion West Write-a-thon starts on Sunday. I'm participating, as are several of my CW2014 classmates. You can support any or all of us by following the links below:
UPDATE (11 JUN 2015) - A friend of Stepto's family has created a compassionate fundraiser and provided more details: "The cause was initially uncertain but it has since been determined he has a severe infection that likely contributed. His infection is responding somewhat to treatment, and he has begun responding to our voices and following commands for the first time this morning. While we are excited for this small stride, he is still in critical condition." Donate here.
UPDATE (11 Jun 2015): added link to tweet from Stepto's family.
Portland Puzzled Pint and DASH regular Tom Gazzola ("Maso" to his fellow NPLers) died today. He was 55 years old.
It's also appropriate for this week, since I now have no fewer than four different editors waiting for my revisions to various fiction pieces. Which means I need to prioritize my work schedule for the next few weeks. Meta-work!
As Lawrence Kasdan once said: "Being a writer is like having homework every night for the rest of your life."