Because together we are powerful

Ok, people. I need your help.

I love science fiction. I love it so much that I think I would die if someone made this genre illegal. I dream science and SF the way I dream poetry. As a result, there are some stories that are simply a part of who I am. Stories that have actually changed the way I think or the way that I interpret the world around me. After all, that is the goal of good science fiction, and always has been. 

Anyhoo... I have been trying for what seems like forever to find one of these fantastic stories. The problem is, that I can't figure out what this story is called or who wrote it. As a result, I have been unable to find it again. It was in a science fiction short story anthology I read once. That's ALL I know.

I am hoping that someone, somewhere also read this story and can tell me what it is.

Here's a synopsis.

Two astronauts/explorers encounter the remnants of a once grand civilization on a distant planet. In the remains of a city are a couple of locals who travel by jet packs or some sort of hover/flight equivalent.

The explorers want to replicate the technology and desperately plead with the locals to explain how the packs work. (perhaps even how all of the technology they see around them works) The locals are unable to answer. One of the explorers believes that the locals are purposefully refusing to answer the questions, that they are unwilling to share the knowledge. He becomes increasingly agitated and angry.

The second explorer has a moment of insight at the end of the story where he asks the first to explain how a match works.

The first says, "You take it out of the box and strike it to ignite."

The second then repeats the question. "No. Not 'How do you use one?' I meant, 'How do they work? What's on the match stick? What's on the strike strip? How do you make a match?' "

The first stares at him, dumbstruck, realizing they will never understand the technology because the locals' culture had advanced beyond the point where they knew how to create what they used.

Any ideas? I read this story probably 20 years ago. It is one of my very favorite moments in reading, but I cannot recall what the story is called....

You will be my hero forever if you know what story this is.

-- Ahem -- Sorry about that

I'm so glad you have a sense of humor.  :)



Perhaps you'll like this one I wrote in college a little better?

Moss

A fuzz of furry softness -

shining - green and gold

A forest, unseen, below

A bad haiku, just for you

Fall in VA

Puff of fur and meat:

mostly inside out, poor thing.

Should have looked both ways.

More Change on the wind

Ah, Change.

I always wonder why things can't just be stable with my health, but as many of us with auto-immune disorders know, that's not always the case.

In a frustrating turn of events, I've started to feel pretty lousy again, and my doctor put me on a new fast to rule out another food-driven issue. I am now restricted to eating only

• fruits
• vegetables
• meat
• fish

No dairy, no grains, no potatoes or corn (because I eat them both almost daily).

Good news: I've already lost 5 pounds.
Bad news: I have no idea how to cook...

So....  THE POINT of this little story is to reach out to those of you who may be vegetarians or who eat a wide variety of vegetable dishes. I like vegetables, I really do. But...

• I need carbs. I can't really function well or keep my blood sugar as stable as I like without them.
• I need variety. There's only so many salads I can handle.
• I need to stay away from soy and dairy. 
• I need to do this for at least 2 weeks.
• I need ideas. How do you keep variety and interest in what you eat? How do you keep your nutrition balanced?

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.  If you have a favorite reference, cookbook, website, or recipe you can share, that would be awesome.

So, I had this really great idea....

But I have no idea now what it was!

- le sigh -

My brain's on summer break, for sure. Instead of an interesting, original post, please enjoy some nonsense, on me.

I had to put my fish in time out

A few years ago, I got a fish tank (with all the accessories, of course!) for my birthday. I did some research, and decided to purchase Cichlids. They're pretty much the closest looking to tropical fish that you can get in freshwater fish. They're also somewhat aggressive. They did great for a while, and then - without warning - they all ate each other.

I was so upset that I left the tank untended for about a year. Maybe longer.

I've repopulated it now with Mollies. Here's a shot of them for you. I call it "Mollies in Motion."

 

In honor of Matt

Yeah, it's pretty much impossible for me to photograph them, so I made some videos for you.

This first video shows the creamsicle molly, mickey mouse platy, and swordtail platy.

The second video shows the rainbow shark, balloon molly, the other fish, and - in the back - a dalmatian molly named Perdie.

So what's the problem, you ask? This is the problem:

Pongo

Pongo, the other dalmatian molly, is in time out. Several fish have died recently, been replaced, and died again. I couldn't figure out why. The water was fine, the food was fine. The snail population healthy. The algae count low. Today, one of the balloon mollies finally stood up to him, and I realized what the problem is. It's him.

Mean, mean, MEAN little Pongo.

Perdie misses him, but if he's going to insist on being a brute, he's gonna have to continue to sit in his time-out jar in the corner of the tank. I just hope he learns his lesson.

Cactus Update

Happy summer, everybody!

I came today to post a silly story I'd written, but my comment moderator was FULL of cactus questions! FULL, I say! 

I find this excellent for two reasons:

1. People are still reading my old posts
2. I just bought new cacti!

See my coral cactus? It's the large one in the pot on the right.

The others are some little friends I bought for it to hang out with.

My paternal grandmother always had a window full of cactus, and I remember spending a lot of time trying to figure out which ones I could safely poke. :) I loved how she had so many different kinds, and Lowe's had little bitty cacti on sale for pretty cheap, sooo.... 

Cactus Day!  Huzzah!

Let me introduce you:

1. You all remember the coral cactus, right?

Well, it's grown quite a bit, and I moved it out of the polka dot pot and in with some little bitty flowering cacti.

2. Pink Crown cacti are the whiter appearing two around the coral's base.

 They're actually a dark green, but there are so many bristles that you can barely see it. They put out very pretty little pink flowers all over the top of the cactus bulb. If you look very closely, you can see that there are two types of bristles: the straight white ones and slightly curved reddish ones. The curved ones are just like velcro. They stick to everything, even skin, at the slightest touch. (Guess how I know.)

3. The next little guy is a Rebutia Miniscula. It buds out from the base as seen below.

 BUT -- It also flowers, and also in a dark pink. So pretty!

4. This next one might be my new favorite. It's nicknamed the Devil's Tongue barrel cactus.

Lookit those spines!  You don't want to mess with this guy. It was quite challenging to get this one out of his store pot and into the coral's old pot.

 Take a close look at the spines: they're ridged, curved, and very hard. You can actually drag your finger down one and hear the spines - that's how tough they are.

 That brings us to the last pot.

On a side note: I was very fortunate to find these shallow pots for the cacti. I didn't want them in deep pots or plastic pots, and I was just about to give up on getting more cacti when I found these shallow ones.

 There are four different cacti in the pot. I'll keep them here for as long as they're healthy, butI'm not sure how long they can stay together. And that's because....

5. The Pilosocereus Gounellii shown below grows to a mature size of TEN FEET. 

I couldn't say no to it, though. It was too awesome.

 6. This is the appropriately named Christmas Tree cactus. I luv Christmas!

7. This fluffy guy is a golden ball cactus.

It's the other one in the running for new favorite. The description reads "harmless bristles" (It lies - I'm still picking them out of my hands). The golden ball cactus is definitely golden, but it's not a barrel cactus, exactly. If you look at the base, you'll see that it looks a bit squished. The golden ball cacti are more like squished pillars than balls. As this one grows, the ripples at the bottom will become more pronounced.

 8. Finally, the last cactus!  This is a Clothed Opuntia.

It really IS harmless to the touch, unless you grab on to it very firmly. The white fuzz is very soft, almost felt-like. It is blooming right now - the shiny green "spikes" are the blossoms. There's two pictures of it here, so you can see its interesting growth patterns.

I'll always be grateful that Grandma got me interested in cacti when I was a kid. I just wish it hadn't taken me so long to get some of my own. I hope you like the cactus as much as I do, and for those of you who are still reading - Thanks for hanging out and being so patient with me!

I hope to write more often for you now that summer's here again.

Pain

Today was painful.

My daughter lost a friend. My sweet little 13 year old lost one of her best friends in a freak accident. She has no concept of this idea, of grief. I have no idea of how to help her feel this and move through it.

So, we share the pain. We chat when she wants to. We pray. We hug a lot.

It hurts.

I told her today that when one of us hurts, we all hurt.  I wish she still couldn't understand that.

Snow Day!

Happy snow day, everybody. It seems that all my friends, no matter where they live have seen snow in the past few days: Washington, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee....  Man, what a great time for those who love snow.

I hope that those of you who like snow are having fun and that those of you who don't are staying safe and warm.

Enjoy your awesome flakes!

PS to my gluten-free followers: the GF-GF blog has been updated today as well:  Check it out.

Summer Reading

My "new" job keeps me pretty busy during the school year.  (I've held my current position for nearly 2 years now, but it still feels pretty new to me!)

As a result of all this busy-ness, I tend to keep recreational reading to a minimum during the school year and make up for it by nearly blinding myself with reading during the summer.  -sigh- so happy.....

This summer, I have been reading these books:

The Little Stranger

 This was, by far, the best gothic novel I have read in a long, long time. It was superb. And British!  :)

Captains Courageous

I couldn't stop thinking about the Discovery Channel's show, The Most Dangerous Catch. I liked this book very much, but Kipling is rather long-winded for my taste, I think.  I was ready for the book to be done about 3 chapters from the end.

On the Origin of Species (yes, STILL --- It's pretty dense)

I started reading this forever ago, and it's interesting, but very heavy on the scientific terminology. I was going to finish it this summer, but I left it at work.  Oh, well. I am about a third of the way through.

Dune

 This has lived up to, and perhaps exceeded, its reputation and my expectations.  I cannot wait for the 2nd book.  It was not at the library today, so I have requested it.

 The Killer Inside Me

I picked this up from a feature stand at the library.  It looked creepy and was billed as a "cult classic". I am a sucker for anything that falls into that category.  It was riveting.  Disturbing.  A little gross at times. I loved it.

 Infected: A Novel

 I will never look at anyone with Morgellon's disease the same way ever again. Or triangles. Or the woods in Michigan. Ever.  Very good SF book.

Gypsies

(Note: This cover is icky and tacky.  I like my book much better.) 

This book was nothing that I expected, and while the title may throw people off of reading it, it really shouldn't. It's a great book about parallel universes and specialized powers without being all magik-y. It was a very quick read, but enjoyable.

I know there was another one that I bought with a gift card at the end of the year, 

but now I cannot find it!  Hmmm.  

I bought it with The Little Stranger.  Hmmmm.

I'll let you know when I figure it out. 

UPDATED: I remembered!  I woke up with the book in mind this morning.  It was...

T

The Windup Girl
A really really good dystopian novel. I couldn't find it because I had given it away to a friend of mine who also loves dystopian novels because Bacigalupi had decided to include two very explicit scenes (the windup girl is working as a prostitute for part of the book) that made me not want to re-read the novel. I liked this book so much in spite of those two scenes, however, because the society portrayed is a plausible one. One that I hope never, ever arrives, but plausible nonetheless.

I also checked out an SF collection of award winning short stories, but I just wasn't in the mood, and I ended up returning it, unread.

Coming up: the books I checked out from the library today:

The Indifferent Stars Above

A novel crafted from a survivor's account of the horrific winter. This was on a featured display.

Cemetery Dance

I don't usually like series, especially long ones.  I cannot stop reading the Preston and Child books. Cannot.  They are so awesome!  A little graphic at times, due to the fact that they usually follow the investigations of Special Agent Pendergast of the FBI's serial killer division. They do write other storylines together at times, and they also each write separately.  Any author who makes me look up words to know what's going on makes me happy. I can't wait to read this one.

Wyrm

I really needed this one to be about dragons, but when I read the flap, it said, "The countdown to the millennium has begun and apocalypse is as close as your computer terminal" and "every hacker should read this book."  I had to pick it up!

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Chinese historical fiction is one of my favorite genres. I decided to read this one even though the author looked white. I have to admit that I almost put it back when I saw her picture....but never judge a book by its cover, right?  I looked her up when I got home, and it seems I have picked up (at random, nearly) her masterpiece. Lisa See is Chinese-American, born in Paris and raised in California. Many of my favorite Chinese authors speak highly of her, and she lived in China to research the history and story of this novel. I can't wait to read this now.  I kept it because it reminds me of another favorite of mine: The Secrets of Jin-Shei. I'm very glad now that I did.

2666

This was published posthumously and is billed as "not just the great Spanish-language novel of this decade, but one of the cornerstones that define and entire literature." I wish I could read it in Spanish, but I will have to settle for a translation of Bolano. Again, I picked this up off of the featured display. I really like our librarians, and I've liked almost everything I've picked up from these displays.

Well, that was a long post, but I hope you've made it this far.  If you're reading this, won't you add a comment telling me what you've been reading lately?  I'm always looking for ideas....

Memory Triggers

It never ceases to amaze me what triggers the most profound memories.

The smell of ancient, dusty wood or books, and I'm at my grandparents' lake house.
The coo of a mourning dove, and I can hear the water in the canal out front.
A typewriter makes me remember the feel of the carpet under my elbows as I read the "funny books" in Grandpa Hutchinson's den while he types.
The hot smell of popcorn kernels in a hot air popper makes me think of my dad.
The sound of distant Morse Code, and I recall my Uncle Chuck.
Lilacs make me think of my mother.
The smell of cobwebs and hot cement make me think of Grandpa Carley's workshop.
Mockingbirds make me think of my friend Jewell, and Spock makes me think of my friend Beth.
The ping of a well hit ball off a metal bat, and I can feel the reverb in my fingers.

What places you somewhere else, doing something else?

When Gifted Kids Pass Notes

This is a note I picked up from my students mid-year, but I never got around to sharing it with you.  Technically, I didn't take it from them: they surrendered it to me willingly.  I think they were rather proud of themselves. The text of the note reads....

 What must I do
for a Blue Mountain Dew?

There's nothing to do
The Dews not for you

Y Not
How much u got?

Just enough for me!
So please let me be!

Don't make me bawl
I'm having withdrawl!

My heart wouls sure sink
If I gave away my blue drink

Why give it away
if cash I pay?

It would cost you alot, an arm and a calf
or maybe a dollar, a dollar and a half

Maybe a dollar?
change is a bother

You have a deal.
In this not, please conceal.

That's what Dillon owes me
If you want a dollar, ask he,
Unless you take credit
because I have debit.

At you I must scoff
The deal is now off

Maybe two dollars on Tuesday
I swear I'll pay!

I do not concur
No dew for you, sir.

Spring

A poem I've been thinking on since last spring....

Spring arrives shyly
          blushing
embarrassed to be caught dressing
uncertain of the fancy gown
          prepared for her party
thinking perhaps that people may laugh
         if she does something wrong
         takes a wrong step in the dance
         allows a petticoat to show
                  a jewel to drop to the ground
                  her corsage to droop.

She's not done this before.
          Older sisters have; they've given instruction

The blush fades
         she takes a deep breath
She shakes out her locks
         golden and green
Dons slippers of purple and white
         a waistcoat of white and yellow-green
         a gown of innumerable blossoms, delicately embroidered
         a blazon of pinks to be-ribbon her hair

Stunning
Beautiful
the belle of the ball

She retires
         the blossoms fall to the ground.
She rests
         and begins to prepare her younger sister.

It's almost like being in Michigan

If you read the blogs of any other Virginians, you'll know this already, but we're the lucky recipients of a TON of snow this year, and we're all hunkered down for another storm right now.

I've been really really enjoying the snow this year, but not so much the effects on the greater DC area.  You Northerners may scoff all you want, but 2" of snow can really shut things down around these parts!  We don't have the same response teams and manpower available for clearing roads and parking lots.

...however, I digress.

This weekend brings us the second storm of the year that is supposed to drop more than a foot of snow.  THE SECOND!  The first was way back in aught nine :) just before Christmas, December 19, 2009.

Sunrise, Dec 20

Jimmy went hunting, and brought back this beauty.

All told, our yard held about 16" of snow, but the official number for our county was 21", I think.  I hadn't seen that much snow since 1998, when we got a blizzard right in the middle of a work day.  (It was such a bizarre experience that I even wrote a short story about it for one of my college courses.)

The December storm was amazing.  It was beautiful!  We took our friends sledding, and found out it was the first time they'd ever been.  That surprised me, but hey -- we are in the South, right?  I enjoyed every minute of that snow before we left for our trip to Michigan to see family.  It almost felt like "the old days"!  (haha)

I was sad when it melted.  In fact, there were a few days in January when it was so warm I didn't even need my coat!  

Then -- Winter returned.

Last weekend, just after exams ended: it snowed.  We had one church service Sunday for those who could make it, but no school Monday or Tuesday.  Tuesday night:  more snow.  No school Wednesday and a 2hr delay on Thursday.  Thursday afternoon, the superintendent decided not to take a chance with our incoming storm for this weekend, and he canceled today's classes, too.  

The kids and I celebrated by going shopping and eating lunch at Wendy's, but now the snow is starting to fall.  It's pretty, I have nowhere to be, and my exams are all graded.  It's really beautiful.  I keep telling myself that it's going to get nasty later, but for now:  for now, it's just pretty.  Who cares if NOAA says we could get more than 2 feet of snow by morning?!  It's pretty and I'm ready for it.

I took a few pictures of my favorite branch in the front yard:

 

Glistening droplets

The snow begins to stick

I'll let you know how much snow we actually get, but what's really interesting about this is that it's supposed to snow again next Tuesday and Wednesday.  AND - as if that's not enough - there's another 4 systems lined up after that one that could bring us even more snow.

I may never get to teach again until Spring at this rate!  

I love the snow.  It makes it feel as if it's really winter and 

not just a "dead" season around here.  Let it fall!

The first, The best, The only: ROGUE

I love RPGs.  They are, by far, my favorite type of video game, and the love started a long, long, long time ago (the 1980s).

Until recently, though, I could never remember the name of that very first PC game that started my love on dungeon exploration, weapon acquisition, and monster bashing.  I did a little wandering about the web, and I found it:  ROGUE.  Yes, yes!  I was so excited!  Here's the cover of the manual from EPYX Computer Software:

Doesn't it look exciting?!  In this game, you fight your way through level after level of dungeons, looking for armor and weapons to help you on your quest to find the Amulet of Yendor.  You can read Rogue's whole story at RougeLikeDevelopment.org where I found these pictures.  It's a fantastic journey of adventure and excitement! 

BTW - the actual screenshot looks like this:

I played this game for HOURS.  Days, even.  It was truly, truly AWESOME, and I thank you, Michael Toy, Glenn Wichman, and Ken Arnold for using the computers at UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkley to inspire a whole division of video games that have kept be happy for my whole entire life.

Thank you.

PS.  Want to see what it's like to play Rogue?  (sorta)  Try out the web-hosted Hexatron Rogue.  But, don't blame me if you get addicted.

(aaaah)

Have you ever noticed how many different ways this sound is used?

If someone is hurt, we say, "Aw, you poor thing!"
If we are frightened, we yell, "AH!"
If we are impressed, we breathe, "Oooo.... Aaah..."
If we think something is cute, we coo, "Awwww!" with that squeaky sound at the end.
If we are fighting, we fiercely bellow, "AAAAARGH!"
If we figure something out, we let out a triumphant "Aah!" or "Ah-Hah!"
If we step in a puddle of water in our socks, we sqeual, "Aagh!"

I love the weird things our language can do.

What makes you go, "Aaah!"?

Surprise!

I have a new blog: Good Food, Gluten Free.


I told you I was plotting! I've always been a thinker. I think and I think and I plan and I plot. Eventually, I get around to taking action.  Eventually has officially arrived.

I have taken all the food posts from this blog, copied them into the new blog, and from here on out, that's where all the food posts will stay.  If you're a follower here for gluten-free reasons, please switch right on over with me!  Who knows?  There may be something in it for you if you're the first follower...  hint-hint!

If you're here because of my charming personality (or just because you're stuck with me because we're related), have no fear!  Here's What Let's Do is not going away!  Now that I have decided for real and for true what I'm doing out here in blog-land, posts will be forthcoming...  eventually.  (ha!)

See you on the flip side.

Greetings, Followers!

I have not been ignoring you, I promise! Rather, I have been burying myself in a combination of way too much work and way too much video gaming. It's a lovely combination. -sigh-

It's a combo that also makes my family wonder if I've fallen off the face of the earth! (Hi, family)

In addition to work and play, I have also been scheming, plotting, and entering random bloggy contests. Hang tight, loyal followers. I'll be back soon. In the meantime, please enjoy some of this tasty happy goodness from my Winter Break vacation:

A well-fed Mikki is a happy Mikki

Just for kicks, I checked the label of my favorite granola bar again while I was at the grocery store. Lo and behold: no more wheat! I can eat my Nature Valley granola bars again!

Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

(Of course you have to be willing to eat oats... and I am.)

I've had 2 of the 4 kinds already, and yum, yum, yum. I am happy.
-sigh-

It's so awesome when I get back one of my favorite foods.

When Spam gets silly...

Yes, that's right, this little spam email is titled "Meat with no bullets easy chewable food". I really don't want to know what website one of my co-workers had to visit to get THAT spam into the system.