Thanks for the kudos; I certainly never thought of myself as a writer of any sort. But I'm glad you like my descriptive squibs--I thought that given the sort of weather Back East has been afflicted with, something more summery would be a relief.
The weather prediction in the newspaper is for clear days with highs in the upper 80's and lows in the mid 50's for a week or more. Here that's real nice weather; even in the 90's is fairly comfy because of the low humidity. And then comes SUMMER.... but even that's not the sort of oven Phoenix is. Or Baghdad.
Which reminds me that I was reading about the "Dead Cities" or "Empty Cities" of Syria; very interesting. Rather odd cities--lacking features of true cities--depopulated about a thousand years ago, evidently because of the changes in trade patterns after the collapse of the Roman Empire. General consensus is that they were the homes of prosperous farmers. There are several Hittite temples in the area that resemble the biblical description of Solomon's Temple.
Don't diss the Phoenix weather, Alan. I'm putting a lot of effort into getting next year's North American Science Fiction Convention to Phoenix. And both times I've been to Phoenix (July, August) the weather was quite bearable as long as you didn't stand out in the sun too long.
Alan, the weather you describe sounds heavenly. If I could, I'd move out there. A place in California and a place in southern England. That ought'a just about keep me happy weather wise. Oh well, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
Thinking of weather back east, I see that the Mississippi basin has gone from not enough water to too much...
And thinking of "back east," I recall a first-generation Japanese immigrant, whom I knew as a minister, who spoke of going "out" to Colorado. Terrible--I'm tired and can't recall his name at the moment. But he was a short man, as was another of the ministers, who had come to the States in the 1960's. The two of them must have been the same height to a millimeter, and they ribbed one another about who was the taller. The younger one once said to the older that he would have been taller, but when he was growing up they didn't have enough food; they even had to eat grass. The older minister told him "Look at horse, Murakami! Horse eats grass!" And on that note, adieu.
I've often wondered how horses can be so strong and enuring being herbivores. Supposedly, people need animal protein keep up our strength, but horses are much stronger than people. Different metabolism, I suppose.
There's two different things here. The first is that anyone who says we need specifically animal protein is simply displaying their ignorance. We need protein, of course. Or more precisely, we need certain amino acids that we can't make for ourselves. And animal protein has plenty of all of them. Any single vegetable protein will be short on one or two. Don't try to get by on just rice or just corn. Beans are pretty close and high in protein generally. But any reasonable person is going to eat a variety of non-animals foods, and that works just fine.
The second, totally unrelated, point is that grass and leaves have a lot of fiber that we can't digest. Cows have rumens that hold the grass while specialized bacteria break the fiber down into things that both the bacteria and the cow can use. Horses and deer don't have rumens, but their digestive systems have specialized structures that largely serve the same purpose. So they get good nutrition from grass and leaves while in a human they just pass through without doing a lot of good.
It's nice to see that HEP is up to date and puddle was here just yesterday. The reason I'm sniffing around is because I was wondering whether there is anyone good at running a blog, or online publication, that's got some extra time. I've got none, in addition to not having any editorial or webmaster skills and one of the site's I send stuff to pretty regular is looking for help. I'd recommend http://likethedew.com in any event, but I think they're going to be hiring somebody reliable to take the load of the founder. Any suggestions?
Btw, Hannah Blog has transitioned to WordPress and I'm now leaving comments open for a few days. People still have to register to comment, but puddle, for example, is still on the roll.
Bad times--gotta remain employ ability. Pretty scared about turning 50 in less than two years. Hate to have no career to show for it, AND a daughter who blows me off and gets away with it.
Try looking at turning fifty in just over eight months and having not only no career but, for all intents and purposes, no life to show for it.
Not that I'm unsympathetic, Renee, you know that. But it's all in one's perspective. You have so much more than I do in so many ways. When the blue funk seems at it's deepest, just remember there are always folks worse off than you are, and you happen to be personally acquainted with one. It won't change anything, but it may help you feel a little better.
Just submitted "Spirits from the Vasty Deep" to Asimov's. Their response time is also about five weeks, so I should hear by the beginning of June at the latest. Two rejections or two acceptances or one of each? We'll see.
Yahoo for Dean!
ReplyDeletelistener, cat--
Thanks for the kudos; I certainly never thought of myself as a writer of any sort. But I'm glad you like my descriptive squibs--I thought that given the sort of weather Back East has been afflicted with, something more summery would be a relief.
The weather prediction in the newspaper is for clear days with highs in the upper 80's and lows in the mid 50's for a week or more. Here that's real nice weather; even in the 90's is fairly comfy because of the low humidity. And then comes SUMMER.... but even that's not the sort of oven Phoenix is. Or Baghdad.
Which reminds me that I was reading about the "Dead Cities" or "Empty Cities" of Syria; very interesting. Rather odd cities--lacking features of true cities--depopulated about a thousand years ago, evidently because of the changes in trade patterns after the collapse of the Roman Empire. General consensus is that they were the homes of prosperous farmers. There are several Hittite temples in the area that resemble the biblical description of Solomon's Temple.
--Alan
Don't diss the Phoenix weather, Alan. I'm putting a lot of effort into getting next year's North American Science Fiction Convention to Phoenix. And both times I've been to Phoenix (July, August) the weather was quite bearable as long as you didn't stand out in the sun too long.
DeleteAlan, the weather you describe sounds heavenly. If I could, I'd move out there. A place in California and a place in southern England. That ought'a just about keep me happy weather wise. Oh well, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
DeleteThinking of weather back east, I see that the Mississippi basin has gone from not enough water to too much...
ReplyDeleteAnd thinking of "back east," I recall a first-generation Japanese immigrant, whom I knew as a minister, who spoke of going "out" to Colorado. Terrible--I'm tired and can't recall his name at the moment. But he was a short man, as was another of the ministers, who had come to the States in the 1960's. The two of them must have been the same height to a millimeter, and they ribbed one another about who was the taller. The younger one once said to the older that he would have been taller, but when he was growing up they didn't have enough food; they even had to eat grass. The older minister told him "Look at horse, Murakami! Horse eats grass!" And on that note, adieu.
--Alan
I've often wondered how horses can be so strong and enuring being herbivores. Supposedly, people need animal protein keep up our strength, but horses are much stronger than people. Different metabolism, I suppose.
DeleteThere's two different things here. The first is that anyone who says we need specifically animal protein is simply displaying their ignorance. We need protein, of course. Or more precisely, we need certain amino acids that we can't make for ourselves. And animal protein has plenty of all of them. Any single vegetable protein will be short on one or two. Don't try to get by on just rice or just corn. Beans are pretty close and high in protein generally. But any reasonable person is going to eat a variety of non-animals foods, and that works just fine.
DeleteThe second, totally unrelated, point is that grass and leaves have a lot of fiber that we can't digest. Cows have rumens that hold the grass while specialized bacteria break the fiber down into things that both the bacteria and the cow can use. Horses and deer don't have rumens, but their digestive systems have specialized structures that largely serve the same purpose. So they get good nutrition from grass and leaves while in a human they just pass through without doing a lot of good.
I'm on the run! Thinking of you all!
DeleteIt's nice to see that HEP is up to date and puddle was here just yesterday. The reason I'm sniffing around is because I was wondering whether there is anyone good at running a blog, or online publication, that's got some extra time. I've got none, in addition to not having any editorial or webmaster skills and one of the site's I send stuff to pretty regular is looking for help. I'd recommend http://likethedew.com in any event, but I think they're going to be hiring somebody reliable to take the load of the founder. Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteBtw, Hannah Blog has transitioned to WordPress and I'm now leaving comments open for a few days. People still have to register to comment, but puddle, for example, is still on the roll.
Monica!! How nice to see you!! I'll pass this along over at BFA3.0.
DeleteCurrently 43 degs and cloudy. And this is April?
ReplyDeleteCurrently 46 and raining here. They do say, "April shows ..."
Delete"shows" = "showers"
DeleteBad times--gotta remain employ ability. Pretty scared about turning 50 in less than two years. Hate to have no career to show for it, AND a daughter who blows me off and gets away with it.
ReplyDelete~*~♥~*~
Delete`
Try looking at turning fifty in just over eight months and having not only no career but, for all intents and purposes, no life to show for it.
DeleteNot that I'm unsympathetic, Renee, you know that. But it's all in one's perspective. You have so much more than I do in so many ways. When the blue funk seems at it's deepest, just remember there are always folks worse off than you are, and you happen to be personally acquainted with one. It won't change anything, but it may help you feel a little better.
50? Some of us think that's pretty young.
DeleteJust submitted "Spirits from the Vasty Deep" to Asimov's. Their response time is also about five weeks, so I should hear by the beginning of June at the latest. Two rejections or two acceptances or one of each? We'll see.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck!
Delete