Wednesday, June 24, 2015

I volunteered at Open Source Bridge today

And sat in on these great talks:
...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.

That is all.

Curtis

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

I am on a black highway at night

This week, some good news: Stepto has come out of his coma and seems to be recovering well. If you're feeling charitable, you can donate to help the family with medical and travel expenses.

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:


youtu.be/iEpjgFZpAt0

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.

Every day of my life is a gift. And I'm doing my best to use each day well.

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:


If I've failed to include anyone in the list above, please let me know! Here's the complete list of participating writers.

Curtis

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

I can't even

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.

And I just learned that Stephen Toulouse ("Stepto" to XBoxers and JoCo Cruisers) is in a coma and not expected to recover. He's 42 years old.

This has not been a super great week so far.

Curtis

Wednesday, June 03, 2015

I Did Not Understand This Metaphor in 1982

But I'm, y'know, older now. And when McCoy says "It never rains but it pours" to Kirk in Wrath of Khan, I know exactly what he means.

Skip to 1:11 for the relevant dialogue:


youtu.be/jRYlPifDUBg

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."

Meanwhile, somewhere in America...


youtu.be/cmSbXsFE3l8

Curtis