kayseerenee

Holy Land USA will show you....

Yes, the swallows are moving in. I went out the sliding door by the bedroom earlier to remind them that they had to share the porch, but will wait until they figure out I'm harmless before using the other doors. I do have things in the wall corner I need to get to. Will try to get pics. They are going nuts with the mud available!

Was in truth a dying washing machine. An eighteen month old washing machine (six months out of warranty) which now needs to be replaced. On the plus side, I love the realities of shopping in 2013, where not only can I look up stuff on the web ahead of time, while in the store I can borrow a friend's iPad to confirm Consumer Reports ratings and look at customer reviews.

Visited the stores to check out the options, had lunch at the brewpub while thinking things over, then went back to the first store and plunked down my credit card. New machine will be delivered and installed Thursday. And yes, this time I'm getting the extended service plan.

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/05/25/hello-from-phoenix-comic-con/

http://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=21920

Having a fabulous time so far. Yesterday’s fun included embarrassing the heck out of author Kevin Hearne, having a limo ride with Grant Imahara, and sharing a dessert with Jewel Staite. You know, as you do. Plus hanging around with some of my favorite writer people and otherwise getting into all sorts of mischief. I plan to do similarly today.

Those of you in Phoenix and the surrounding area not at the Comic Con, please remember I’ll be at the Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale at 5pm today to chat and sign books. Come on down, it’ll be great to see you.

Author Kristin Kathryn Rusch writes about a major change in book distribution and what it potentially means for writers.

It’s a really long article. It’s really worth reading. The *exceedingly* short take-away of it is that you may soon be seeing copies of NO DOMINION on bookstore shelves near you…

(x-posted from The Essential Kit)

My system did an auto-update when I wasn't looking, and I have lost bookmarks and had them re-arranged.

Jay Lake, alien hunter

What we get up to here at Rio Hondo...

Next Treatment Steps

Monday I start Regorafenib. I am frankly rather afraid of this drug. It can have dreadful side effects. And at best, we have a 50/50 chance of seeing useful results. To that end, I have pushed for a baseline CT scan which I will be undergoing on Tuesday. This is out of sequence, as the normal minimum spacing between CT scans is 2 months, while my previous scan was three weeks ago. However, I felt it was important to have an accurate measurement of tumor size and distribution at the start of the Regorafenib series, to compare two months down the road. The hoped-for positive result is a halt in tumor growth. Also, this 3-week scan will give us a decent notion of how fast the tumors are growing.

Current side effects

I've been having a lot of problems with my feet this week. This has led to me being minimally mobile. Not good for exercise. On the other hand, simply existing at my current altitude is practically aerobic exercise. That in turn confuses the issue, as I sleep poorly up here anyway, so I cannot tell if I'm having sleep problems. Likewise, my skin continues troublesome, though it is slowly recovering. We discontinued the Vectibix five weeks ago, which removed the primary driver of my skin issues. And fatigue, lots of fatigue, but difficult again to disentangle that from altitude sickness.

JayWake

Planning for the JayWake continues. July 27th, 2013, in Portland. The link above has time and venue details, and hotel information. A rather substantial group of people have been making some rather substantial contributions to make this happen. I will be making public thanks in due time, and in accordance with the wishes of various donors. This is an open event, so if you can be in the Pacific Northwest that weekend, please do so.

Generosity

Both in the matter of the JayWake and otherwise, generosity continues to flow. To the point of overwhelming me sometime. Thank you all for being part of this journey I'm on. I feel slower and more tired every day, it seems, but I am sustained by your love.

The Unbearable Lightness of Satori

Speaking of overwhelming, yesterday on my social media footprint, I said, "Almost any book can make me cry now. The closer I grow to death, the more emotionally fragile I become." It's true. Even light, funny books bring tears to my eyes when I reach the point of closure. It's a very strange mental space to be in. I don't reject the reaction. It's genuine, it's coming from inside me. Rather, this is a different way for me to consume narrative. Another part of the journey.

Every step is a revelation.

Your Saturday moment of zen.



Dew on moss, Washington state. Photo © 2008, 2013, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.



This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

'We Have Always Fought': Challenging the 'Women, Cattle and Slaves' Narrative — Kameron Hurley on non-furry cannibalistic llamas. And much more. (Via rekre8.)

Remembering The Long Lost Germans Of Texas — More than a century ago, German settlers found a pocket of Texas to call home between Austin and San Antonio. And once the local lingo merged with their own language, it proved to be an interesting dialect.

The Princess — How old is 2? (Via willyumtx.)

Defining My Dyslexia

2013 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest — Wow. (Via tillyjane, a/k/a my mom.)

Lunar Corona over Cochem Castle — A gorgeous photo.

Measuring light in the universe since the Big Bang

Cosmic latte — Cosmic Latte is a name assigned to the average color of the universe, given by a team of astronomers from Johns Hopkins University. (Via Daily Idioms, Annotated.)

No Bail for Pa. Parents in Faith-Healing Death — Faith healing isn't religion, it's child abuse. Pure and simple. Adults are free to go to hell in their own way, but they are not free to take children along for the ride. In our Christianist-dominated cultural climate, I am nonetheless surprised to see prosecution.

When Politicians promise ‘Lower Taxes’ they are promising Collapsed Bridges — Infrastructure decay is the inevitable result of conservative tax policy. Unless you believe in the fairy tale of supply side economics, but that has neither theoretical support from objective economists who aren't already committed conservatives, nor any track record of success whatsoever in the real world. Me, I like civil society and public infrastructure, and it takes taxes to keep those things going. Hell, even Republicans drive over bridges.

Three reasons Congress is broken — Only three? There are 233 House Republicans and 45 Senate Republicans. That's 278 more reasons Congress is broken.

QotD?: What is your least favorite joke?

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5/25/2013
Writing time yesterday: 1.0 hours (WRPA, otherwise on workshop time)
Hours slept: 7.25 hours (interrupted)
Body movement: n/a
Weight: n/a
Number of FEMA troops on my block scamming disaster aid slush funds: 0
Currently reading: Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett