Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Maintenance

Don't know why I didn't think to do this sooner. It sounds silly, but it was like a flash of inspiration: how about links to pages/posts that really describe what the hell I'm writing? Yeah... Hey! That's a good idea!

Anyway, I'll be putting up a number of posts (permalinked!) to codify what I'm all about, with respect to what I write, that is, so those of you following my blog can better sing my praises and spread the word. Uh, or not.

This is unrelated, but I want to relate that I finished The Prisoner and was just as impressed as a full-fledged adult as I was as a teen-ager. The last episode was a bit rough, but I'm not complaining. I'm on to Fringe now and am enjoying that so far. Someone really talked up the first episode of the 3rd season so I'm terribly curious. Have a ways to go yet, though.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

An Unlikely Post

I've never been much for flowers. They make good gifts for moms, wives, and girlfriends, and I can appreciate their aesthetic value, but that's about as far as my interest goes. Before I ever came to Japan I wouldn't have been able to answer what my favorite flower was if asked--not that many people were asking, mind you.

Now, though, I can answer with conviction. I love autumn. Always have. And how nice it is to have it heralded by the blooming of 金木犀. That's kinmokusei, or fragrant olive. I'm sure these trees can be found elsewhere in the world, but I never encountered them around the Sacramento area or in or around Seattle. They don't last long but their scent is intense and they have, in a very short span of years, come to represent an integral part of fall for me.

That is as close to an ode to flowers as I will ever be capable of.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Yes, Indeed...

Three-day weekends are the best. We took Faye out to Kamakura today to let her feed the rabid pigeons at Hachimangu. Though her first experience with them there was good, this time she was a bit traumatized. I think she still had fun, though.

In other news, I must confess that I found out some time ago (09/29/2010) that Asimov's wasn't interested in Blue Squad, which was disappointing. I'm not giving up on magazines, but want to see if I might not be able to pursue another avenue which has been in the periphery but remained fairly elusive so far.

I've started a second Geiss Sinzer story, which might be considered, after all is said and done, the first Geiss Sinzer story, but that's not a problem. Kalkin's Dilemma is done, but I need to go over it one last time.

In still other news, I'm gearing up to watch The Prisoner, the original, not the remake, in its entirety. I just finished watching the remake during the three-day weekend, actually. It wasn't bad. Some of it was pretty cool, but the opening alone of the original was so iconic and full of great sound bytes, that the new one doesn't quite measure up. I have a soft spot in my heart for Patrick McGoohan as No. 6 and as the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, but it's been years since I've seen any of the original stuff, so we'll see how I feel after watching it all in order.