The newest issue of The Magazine of Speculative Poetry is at the printer.
Issue 9.2 has wonderful poetry by
Dave Perry, Sankar Roy, F. J. Bergmann, Ed Gavin, Mark Rich, G. O.
Clark, Paul Renault, Phil Emery, Kurt MacPhearson & Rick Yennik,
Sandra J. Lindow, James S. Dorr, Alan Catlin, Brock Marie Moore, John
Grey, Ed Gavin, Sarah Monette, Robert Borski, Shannon Connor, Helen
Ehrlich. And a cover by Laurel Winter.
A single issue is $5 in the US or $19 for the next four. Outside the
US it is $6.50/$25. Both post paid.
Issues to subscribers and contributors should start going out on the 1st of August and through out the weekend.
Roger Dutcher
Editor, The Magazine of Speculative Poetry
PO Box 564
Beloit WI 53512
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
073112
what's the time, I wondered,
is it time to rise, and then
a flash of lightning,
reflected from white walls
told me the time: 5:15; the BOOM
of it, 2 seconds late replied
I'm close, as close as when
you could have died, and I pruned
your walnuts and your oaks;
this year's flower garden
bowed its myriad heads
and offered thanks;
so did I.
is it time to rise, and then
a flash of lightning,
reflected from white walls
told me the time: 5:15; the BOOM
of it, 2 seconds late replied
I'm close, as close as when
you could have died, and I pruned
your walnuts and your oaks;
this year's flower garden
bowed its myriad heads
and offered thanks;
so did I.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Fundraiser for adult day-care center
Caring Days, my local adult day-care center, has an annual fundraiser called the Walk to Remember. I am participating, and looking for sponsors to raise money for the program. You can donate through PayPal to jopnquog [at] gmail.com. Just say that it's for the walk to remember. If you donate $10 I will give you a copy of a recent issue of Dreams and Nightmares. If you donate $100, I'll give you a lifetime subscription (which includes all available back issues). The walk is August 25.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
072912
Parts of Mark Jones Station You Don't Go at Night
1. Soul Garden. People are dying to get in there.
2. 9-km Shaft. That step's a doozy.
3. Deadtown. There are sounds, shadows move, they say kids come out "different."
4. Collective Market. That's when they collect.
5. That crazy old guy's room at the end of Corridor 666H.
6. Food Processing. They always need CHON.
7. Lock 67spinside. You can see the old man floating out there.
1. Soul Garden. People are dying to get in there.
2. 9-km Shaft. That step's a doozy.
3. Deadtown. There are sounds, shadows move, they say kids come out "different."
4. Collective Market. That's when they collect.
5. That crazy old guy's room at the end of Corridor 666H.
6. Food Processing. They always need CHON.
7. Lock 67spinside. You can see the old man floating out there.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Review of "The Edible Zoo"
"When my nieces and nephews came, they immediately started reading. They
all loved it, even the fifteen year old. And so did I, sneaking it before I
gave them." -- J. Schwabach
all loved it, even the fifteen year old. And so did I, sneaking it before I
gave them." -- J. Schwabach
San Francisco
The main reason we went was that [eldest] was going to be a bridesmaid in the wedding of her best friend from high school. It would be the only way we would see her this year (although we had seen her, but not daughter-in-law, at spouse's mother's funeral). Spouse & youngest had never seen San Francisco, and the only time I was there was in 1970. We had then visited Chinatown, and my parents' friends the Hellers, and that was all. I also had the opportunity to meet face to face a friend I had only known by e-mail and other remote meetings, and we planned to visit a science-fiction bookstore called Borderlands; there is no such bookstore in this area of course.
We flew, and that meant flying Delta, an airline about which I have complained in the past. On we got to the Birmingham Airport the Delta computer system was down. A Delta employee told us that it seemed to be more important to pay the CEO $24 million per year than to upgrade the computer systems. It took us nearly an hour to check in because it took almost an hour to get the computer to respond. Thus we had no time to buy much-needed food before we got on the plane. Youngest gets hungry fast and she also has a bigger appetite than she used to. We are all allergic to overpriced airport crap, but sometimes there is no choice. Anyway, the Delta operation in Detroit and the one in San Francisco didn't give us any trouble, surprisingly (In previous years we have had problems with Atlanta but none with Boston; is there a pattern here?). Alas, on our return to Birmingham we had to wait about 20 minutes for my wheelchair, although that's not terribly much longer than it takes in other places.
Because we need a fully accessible room, our hotel choices are limited. We ended up in the Sheraton on fisherman's wharf, which is I think the most expensive hotel we've ever stayed in. It did have the advantage of being located in the heart of the tourist district. We were able to walk almost every place we went, which saved money. Although, San Francisco Mass transit is very wheelchair friendly, and not very expensive, so it didn't save us a lot of money. Everyone but me did get some exercise.
When we first got to the hotel they put us in a room that was not, after all, fully accessible. It was two o'clock in the morning, and we didn't notice until the next day. By that time we had unpacked everything and had to re-pack it for the move to the other room. Two things we still haven't found. By way of apology for our inconvenience they gave us five vouchers to their vastly overpriced breakfast buffet. We made sure to use all five vouchers. The buffet was good, although the variety was only moderate, and the price was $25 per person. This would've been a bargain if we were all football players! Aside from that, the hotel service was excellent in every way.
Friday, eldest and DIL were not yet in town. We explored Fisherman's Wharf. Before we did that we ate breakfast at IHOP. It was very convenient and we were very hungry because some of us had slept very late. Fisherman's wharf is all about tourism, but it is fun nevertheless. For me the highlight was the aquarium. It contains denizens of San Francisco Bay, which is saline enough that the wildlife is marine wildlife. They have a lot of jellyfish, sea anemones, brightly colored fish, one octopus, vast numbers of sharks, skates, and large fish, and plenty of other things. I really liked best the tanks, where you can get close to the reef organisms, but they did have a cool tunnel that went “under the Bay.” Actually, an air-filled tunnel is inside a water-filled tunnel, but it's big enough and the lighting is such that it looks quite realistic. The tunnel that has water in it is full of fish and starfish for the most part.
I think it was later that day that we went to Russian Hill and looked at lots of Art Deco homes. Beautiful houses, large flowering tropical plants, and an astonishingly steep hill.
The wedding was Saturday. It was probably that morning that we went to the North Beach area. It was really a lot of the same: steep hills, beautiful architecture, and an incredible church on Washington Square. It wasn't that easy to find a wheelchair accessible taxi driver willing to drive to the wedding site. It was across the Golden gate Bridge and up a long 1.5 lane winding road in the mountains (Sequoia trees) and then up a long winding driveway. As soon as we got there we started hunting for a driver to take us back at eight o'clock that night. The one we found was a local man who was off duty, but he never turns down disabled people: Lucky for us! The wedding was in a large and beautiful lodge way up in the mountains and we had the place to ourselves. There were probably about a hundred people there. The wedding was outside and the day was uncharacteristically hot. I doubt that it was a record, but it definitely was close. It was sunny and 90° and I had to stay in the shade of the porch. Finnish DIL stayed with me, not being used to temperatures that she considers to be typical of the surface of the sun. The reception was right after the wedding. The food had been chosen using taste as the sole criterion, and it was definitely the best food I've ever had at a reception of any kind. Most of the bride and groom's friends are self-identified geeks, and even though we are too, we felt a little out of place. It is not a monolithic subculture. We definitely had fun though, and enjoyed the attack of the pirate ninjas.
Eldest and DIL left Tuesday morning, so we only had two days to hang out with them after the wedding. Sunday we went to Ghirardelli square with them. At one time it was part of the original Ghirardelli chocolate factory, but now it is a small mall. Very crowded. We bought some chocolate. So did thousands and thousands of other people! I'm sure we did something else that day, besides eat at IHOP again. For DIL, IHOP is an American icon, and she simply had to eat there. She liked it so much that we did that again on Monday.
Monday we planned to meet a friend of mine whom I had never met face-to-face before at the borderlands science fiction bookstore in the Mission District. We ended up being late, because we foolishly did not realize we had to call two hours ahead of time to get a wheelchair accessible taxi. We ended up taking the streetcar, for which we only had to wait 10 minutes. It took a long time to get us to eight blocks away from our destination, from which point we had to walk. It worked out okay, and it was a really nice bookstore. Everybody bought some books. Then we went to a nearby restaurant, rather expensive, as are all San Francisco restaurants, but the food was good. Spouse and I split one dish, and she finished what youngest ordered. Then I finished the dessert that youngest ordered. Everybody had plenty to eat! In the meantime, we had met a friend of eldest and DIL, whom they had also not previously met face-to-face. She ate with us. We said goodbye to my friend and then the rest of us walked over to the Castro. We wandered around a bit and went into a tiny bakery, an odd little store, and a small bookstore. The famous gay and lesbian bookstore we had wanted to visit had gone out of business, which we would have known I suppose if we had googled them. I thought what everybody wanted to leave when we left, but it turns out eldest wished we had stayed longer. I would have been happy to, although it was starting to get cold. San Francisco wasn't really very cold, we had checked out the expected temperatures, but we didn't realize that it is very very windy. The wind was high enough to make 70° in the sun barely tolerable for me.
After eldest and DIL left we were still there Tuesday and half of Wednesday. Wednesday we didn't go terribly far, but we did find a cute little store where they sell nothing but candy: “It'sweet.” On Tuesday we went to Chinatown and to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Chinatown is like all Chinatown's, although this one is pretty large. We ate dim sum, which spouse had always wanted to do. We didn't do it the cool way, but we did eat five different kinds of things and we were very full when we were done. We went to the art museum because they had a show of photographs by Cindy Sherman. I knew of her work, but really didn't know very much about it. The show was comprehensive and large. Sherman's art is all about society's portrayal of women and what that means about women and about men and what it does to women. All of the photographs are of her. If you've never seen her work, this might sound rather limited. The range of works she has produced is almost mind-boggling and they are all good. One of the things we saw was a short black-and-white film featuring her as a paper doll. We saw most of the rest of the museum, although we hurried through about half of it. We all like modern art, although I at least don't like all of modern Art. The museum is large and has plenty of really good stuff.
I could say more about the trip, but this letter is already extremely long.
We flew, and that meant flying Delta, an airline about which I have complained in the past. On we got to the Birmingham Airport the Delta computer system was down. A Delta employee told us that it seemed to be more important to pay the CEO $24 million per year than to upgrade the computer systems. It took us nearly an hour to check in because it took almost an hour to get the computer to respond. Thus we had no time to buy much-needed food before we got on the plane. Youngest gets hungry fast and she also has a bigger appetite than she used to. We are all allergic to overpriced airport crap, but sometimes there is no choice. Anyway, the Delta operation in Detroit and the one in San Francisco didn't give us any trouble, surprisingly (In previous years we have had problems with Atlanta but none with Boston; is there a pattern here?). Alas, on our return to Birmingham we had to wait about 20 minutes for my wheelchair, although that's not terribly much longer than it takes in other places.
Because we need a fully accessible room, our hotel choices are limited. We ended up in the Sheraton on fisherman's wharf, which is I think the most expensive hotel we've ever stayed in. It did have the advantage of being located in the heart of the tourist district. We were able to walk almost every place we went, which saved money. Although, San Francisco Mass transit is very wheelchair friendly, and not very expensive, so it didn't save us a lot of money. Everyone but me did get some exercise.
When we first got to the hotel they put us in a room that was not, after all, fully accessible. It was two o'clock in the morning, and we didn't notice until the next day. By that time we had unpacked everything and had to re-pack it for the move to the other room. Two things we still haven't found. By way of apology for our inconvenience they gave us five vouchers to their vastly overpriced breakfast buffet. We made sure to use all five vouchers. The buffet was good, although the variety was only moderate, and the price was $25 per person. This would've been a bargain if we were all football players! Aside from that, the hotel service was excellent in every way.
Friday, eldest and DIL were not yet in town. We explored Fisherman's Wharf. Before we did that we ate breakfast at IHOP. It was very convenient and we were very hungry because some of us had slept very late. Fisherman's wharf is all about tourism, but it is fun nevertheless. For me the highlight was the aquarium. It contains denizens of San Francisco Bay, which is saline enough that the wildlife is marine wildlife. They have a lot of jellyfish, sea anemones, brightly colored fish, one octopus, vast numbers of sharks, skates, and large fish, and plenty of other things. I really liked best the tanks, where you can get close to the reef organisms, but they did have a cool tunnel that went “under the Bay.” Actually, an air-filled tunnel is inside a water-filled tunnel, but it's big enough and the lighting is such that it looks quite realistic. The tunnel that has water in it is full of fish and starfish for the most part.
I think it was later that day that we went to Russian Hill and looked at lots of Art Deco homes. Beautiful houses, large flowering tropical plants, and an astonishingly steep hill.
The wedding was Saturday. It was probably that morning that we went to the North Beach area. It was really a lot of the same: steep hills, beautiful architecture, and an incredible church on Washington Square. It wasn't that easy to find a wheelchair accessible taxi driver willing to drive to the wedding site. It was across the Golden gate Bridge and up a long 1.5 lane winding road in the mountains (Sequoia trees) and then up a long winding driveway. As soon as we got there we started hunting for a driver to take us back at eight o'clock that night. The one we found was a local man who was off duty, but he never turns down disabled people: Lucky for us! The wedding was in a large and beautiful lodge way up in the mountains and we had the place to ourselves. There were probably about a hundred people there. The wedding was outside and the day was uncharacteristically hot. I doubt that it was a record, but it definitely was close. It was sunny and 90° and I had to stay in the shade of the porch. Finnish DIL stayed with me, not being used to temperatures that she considers to be typical of the surface of the sun. The reception was right after the wedding. The food had been chosen using taste as the sole criterion, and it was definitely the best food I've ever had at a reception of any kind. Most of the bride and groom's friends are self-identified geeks, and even though we are too, we felt a little out of place. It is not a monolithic subculture. We definitely had fun though, and enjoyed the attack of the pirate ninjas.
Eldest and DIL left Tuesday morning, so we only had two days to hang out with them after the wedding. Sunday we went to Ghirardelli square with them. At one time it was part of the original Ghirardelli chocolate factory, but now it is a small mall. Very crowded. We bought some chocolate. So did thousands and thousands of other people! I'm sure we did something else that day, besides eat at IHOP again. For DIL, IHOP is an American icon, and she simply had to eat there. She liked it so much that we did that again on Monday.
Monday we planned to meet a friend of mine whom I had never met face-to-face before at the borderlands science fiction bookstore in the Mission District. We ended up being late, because we foolishly did not realize we had to call two hours ahead of time to get a wheelchair accessible taxi. We ended up taking the streetcar, for which we only had to wait 10 minutes. It took a long time to get us to eight blocks away from our destination, from which point we had to walk. It worked out okay, and it was a really nice bookstore. Everybody bought some books. Then we went to a nearby restaurant, rather expensive, as are all San Francisco restaurants, but the food was good. Spouse and I split one dish, and she finished what youngest ordered. Then I finished the dessert that youngest ordered. Everybody had plenty to eat! In the meantime, we had met a friend of eldest and DIL, whom they had also not previously met face-to-face. She ate with us. We said goodbye to my friend and then the rest of us walked over to the Castro. We wandered around a bit and went into a tiny bakery, an odd little store, and a small bookstore. The famous gay and lesbian bookstore we had wanted to visit had gone out of business, which we would have known I suppose if we had googled them. I thought what everybody wanted to leave when we left, but it turns out eldest wished we had stayed longer. I would have been happy to, although it was starting to get cold. San Francisco wasn't really very cold, we had checked out the expected temperatures, but we didn't realize that it is very very windy. The wind was high enough to make 70° in the sun barely tolerable for me.
After eldest and DIL left we were still there Tuesday and half of Wednesday. Wednesday we didn't go terribly far, but we did find a cute little store where they sell nothing but candy: “It'sweet.” On Tuesday we went to Chinatown and to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Chinatown is like all Chinatown's, although this one is pretty large. We ate dim sum, which spouse had always wanted to do. We didn't do it the cool way, but we did eat five different kinds of things and we were very full when we were done. We went to the art museum because they had a show of photographs by Cindy Sherman. I knew of her work, but really didn't know very much about it. The show was comprehensive and large. Sherman's art is all about society's portrayal of women and what that means about women and about men and what it does to women. All of the photographs are of her. If you've never seen her work, this might sound rather limited. The range of works she has produced is almost mind-boggling and they are all good. One of the things we saw was a short black-and-white film featuring her as a paper doll. We saw most of the rest of the museum, although we hurried through about half of it. We all like modern art, although I at least don't like all of modern Art. The museum is large and has plenty of really good stuff.
I could say more about the trip, but this letter is already extremely long.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Accessibility among the Friscoites
Review of institutions dealt with on a trip to San Francisco
We visited the San Francisco area as a multipurpose vacation. Our oldest daughter was in a wedding across the Bay. She lives in Finland, and we don't see her too often. Also, only I had been to San Francisco before, and that as a teenager. Finally, we were going to meet a friend with whom I have previously only communicated at a distance. Whenever we travel, we find out how various organizations handle the needs of disabled people, and I usually report on the result.
State of Alabama
Because my injury was acquired while I was on state business, a lot of my care is paid for and handled by the state. Mostly I work with an RN at the State Employees Injury Compensation Trust Fund. My current case manager does a very good job; this has not always been true with some of her predecessors.
Accent Care, home health agency
One of the tasks handled by my case manager at the state involves finding a home health care agency in a city I visit. Typically, these agencies have to provide people to help me get up in the morning and go to bed at night. This is skilled work, but people who can do it are available in every major city and plenty of smaller cities. In this particular case, I needed 12 visits, and two individuals were assigned to the case. On two of the 12 occasions my caregiver did not show up. This is a failure rate of almost 20%, which would certainly not be acceptable in the long term. The management of Accent Care sent replacement caregivers for the subsequent days, and the three caregivers I actually worked with were all competent, friendly, and professional. I enjoy working with talkative people when they have something to say. I learned a lot about the Bay area, life as a Chinese immigrant, and many other things. So I would probably give the company a B- grade.
Delta Airlines
I have reviewed Delta Airlines in the past. Their quality of service is spotty at best. On this particular trip, we traveled on four different planes and visited three different airports. At the Birmingham Airport on the day of our departure of all of their computers were down. Employees were disgruntled, and audibly blamed the highly paid CEO of the company ($24 million/yr). I don't know whether this person is 100% responsible, but certainly the check-in personnel are not. I would say that a Delta Airlines is in trouble if they can't purchase 21st-century computer technology and keep their employees happy enough with their jobs to at least pretend to enjoy working for the company. So we missed a meal because we spent nearly an hour waiting for overtaxed equipment to finally cough up our boarding passes. My youngest daughter is thin and she gets hungry fast. So this is actually a serious problem for us.
We had no significant problems in Detroit or San Francisco. When we returned to Birmingham, we had to wait about 20 minutes for my wheelchair to be brought up from the cargo hold of the air plane. This might have been partly because we got off of the small plane relatively quickly.
Overall, I would give Delta a C+, for making us miss a meal because they were too cheap to upgrade their computer systems.
Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf (San Francisco)
This is a very expensive hotel, but not for the touristy part of San Francisco. We were somewhat limited, because we needed a place with a fully wheelchair accessible room. Funny thing is they gave us the wrong room. We did not realize right away, so when we did realize we had unpacked everything. This necessitated repacking everything in a hurry and a couple of things are still lost as a result. They gave us five vouchers to their breakfast buffet by way of apology. The buffet normally costs $25 a person (it's worth about eight dollars a person). Of course, we would never have gone there if it wasn't free, but it was still very nice of them to do that. Every employee of the hotel we interacted with was very nice and very helpful. Several of them spent a lot of time with us, as we tried to figure out the best way to get around the city, and so on. I would rate the hotel an A.
several taxi companies
I don't remember which taxi companies we used, but all three cabbies were very helpful. Of course I need a special wheelchair accessible cab, and there are a lot of those in the city. Anyway, we had a lot of luggage, and we needed a fair amount of help, and all three guys did what we needed. When we went way up in the mountains for the wedding, the cabbie was actually kind of grumpy, but we made it there on time.
San Francisco
For such a hilly place, San Francisco is a very accessible city. The streetcars, the buses, and the trains are all wheelchair accessible. Of the three, we only used the streetcars, but that was quite satisfactory. You either roll up a concrete ramp that puts you at streetcar-floor level, or you are carried up in a small outdoor lift. Certain places in the streetcar have to be cleared if a wheelchair traveler wants to use those spaces. During rush-hour, the streetcar is too crowded for someone in a wheelchair to get on and off without help. Fortunately, the drivers provide that help. Some of the hills are extremely steep, and going down them in a wheelchair is dangerous. When I'm going downhill, the weight of my arm pushes my hand against the joystick. I am not strong enough to pull my hand back if I get going very quickly. I did not have a wreck, but only because I was very cautious in certain steep spots. If I lived there, I would find the smoothest and gentlest ways to get up and down, but I know some areas would still only be accessible over steep terrain.
We visited the San Francisco area as a multipurpose vacation. Our oldest daughter was in a wedding across the Bay. She lives in Finland, and we don't see her too often. Also, only I had been to San Francisco before, and that as a teenager. Finally, we were going to meet a friend with whom I have previously only communicated at a distance. Whenever we travel, we find out how various organizations handle the needs of disabled people, and I usually report on the result.
State of Alabama
Because my injury was acquired while I was on state business, a lot of my care is paid for and handled by the state. Mostly I work with an RN at the State Employees Injury Compensation Trust Fund. My current case manager does a very good job; this has not always been true with some of her predecessors.
Accent Care, home health agency
One of the tasks handled by my case manager at the state involves finding a home health care agency in a city I visit. Typically, these agencies have to provide people to help me get up in the morning and go to bed at night. This is skilled work, but people who can do it are available in every major city and plenty of smaller cities. In this particular case, I needed 12 visits, and two individuals were assigned to the case. On two of the 12 occasions my caregiver did not show up. This is a failure rate of almost 20%, which would certainly not be acceptable in the long term. The management of Accent Care sent replacement caregivers for the subsequent days, and the three caregivers I actually worked with were all competent, friendly, and professional. I enjoy working with talkative people when they have something to say. I learned a lot about the Bay area, life as a Chinese immigrant, and many other things. So I would probably give the company a B- grade.
Delta Airlines
I have reviewed Delta Airlines in the past. Their quality of service is spotty at best. On this particular trip, we traveled on four different planes and visited three different airports. At the Birmingham Airport on the day of our departure of all of their computers were down. Employees were disgruntled, and audibly blamed the highly paid CEO of the company ($24 million/yr). I don't know whether this person is 100% responsible, but certainly the check-in personnel are not. I would say that a Delta Airlines is in trouble if they can't purchase 21st-century computer technology and keep their employees happy enough with their jobs to at least pretend to enjoy working for the company. So we missed a meal because we spent nearly an hour waiting for overtaxed equipment to finally cough up our boarding passes. My youngest daughter is thin and she gets hungry fast. So this is actually a serious problem for us.
We had no significant problems in Detroit or San Francisco. When we returned to Birmingham, we had to wait about 20 minutes for my wheelchair to be brought up from the cargo hold of the air plane. This might have been partly because we got off of the small plane relatively quickly.
Overall, I would give Delta a C+, for making us miss a meal because they were too cheap to upgrade their computer systems.
Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf (San Francisco)
This is a very expensive hotel, but not for the touristy part of San Francisco. We were somewhat limited, because we needed a place with a fully wheelchair accessible room. Funny thing is they gave us the wrong room. We did not realize right away, so when we did realize we had unpacked everything. This necessitated repacking everything in a hurry and a couple of things are still lost as a result. They gave us five vouchers to their breakfast buffet by way of apology. The buffet normally costs $25 a person (it's worth about eight dollars a person). Of course, we would never have gone there if it wasn't free, but it was still very nice of them to do that. Every employee of the hotel we interacted with was very nice and very helpful. Several of them spent a lot of time with us, as we tried to figure out the best way to get around the city, and so on. I would rate the hotel an A.
several taxi companies
I don't remember which taxi companies we used, but all three cabbies were very helpful. Of course I need a special wheelchair accessible cab, and there are a lot of those in the city. Anyway, we had a lot of luggage, and we needed a fair amount of help, and all three guys did what we needed. When we went way up in the mountains for the wedding, the cabbie was actually kind of grumpy, but we made it there on time.
San Francisco
For such a hilly place, San Francisco is a very accessible city. The streetcars, the buses, and the trains are all wheelchair accessible. Of the three, we only used the streetcars, but that was quite satisfactory. You either roll up a concrete ramp that puts you at streetcar-floor level, or you are carried up in a small outdoor lift. Certain places in the streetcar have to be cleared if a wheelchair traveler wants to use those spaces. During rush-hour, the streetcar is too crowded for someone in a wheelchair to get on and off without help. Fortunately, the drivers provide that help. Some of the hills are extremely steep, and going down them in a wheelchair is dangerous. When I'm going downhill, the weight of my arm pushes my hand against the joystick. I am not strong enough to pull my hand back if I get going very quickly. I did not have a wreck, but only because I was very cautious in certain steep spots. If I lived there, I would find the smoothest and gentlest ways to get up and down, but I know some areas would still only be accessible over steep terrain.
Edible Zoo
I have signed copies for sale at $9 ($13 outside N. Am.). This profusely illustrated book of poems for children advocates carnivory, but in the nicest possible way. See recent posts in this blog.
Back in Green (& white)!
Spent a week in San Francisco; got home ~noon. Very little sleep during a night of travel. Met some new folks & reacquainted w friends at wedding in hills north of the Bay. Beautiful forest! Met Gary Clark. Now I'll have a face-voice-manner to go w the letters & emails. SF is a beautiful city, but a bit hilly for a wheelchair.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
for the next 7 days
the idol spends its last
on a ragged new adherent
blink
runaway gapes
head kisses dirt
weeks pass
idyllically
mutual gifts
worship love gratitude
stumbling rabbits die
hungry bear sniffs
sleeper but turns away
idol's shell spalls
come's the morn
a reborn God shakes free
strange cults
live in those hills
we hear rumors
I may not be able to post for a week, so here r 7 linked stanzas. My usual quickie, a sort of first draft that I may revisit.
on a ragged new adherent
blink
runaway gapes
head kisses dirt
weeks pass
idyllically
mutual gifts
worship love gratitude
stumbling rabbits die
hungry bear sniffs
sleeper but turns away
idol's shell spalls
come's the morn
a reborn God shakes free
strange cults
live in those hills
we hear rumors
I may not be able to post for a week, so here r 7 linked stanzas. My usual quickie, a sort of first draft that I may revisit.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Hotel review - accessibility
Hotel review
From the point of view of a guest in a wheelchair
Holiday Inn Express, Katy Freeway, Houston, Texas
On my last out of town overnight trip I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express at 7625 Katy Freeway in Houston. Despite being right next to one of Houston's major radial arteries, or perhaps because of that, this hotel was in a rather seedy looking neighborhood. I don't think it was dangerous, but it would not be a pleasant place to walk around. Also, the frontage road, which is the only road you can exit to from the hotel, is a one-way street. If you are familiar with how frontage roads work in Houston, I'm sure this is not a problem. For us it took some getting used to.
Inside, the hotel looks nice and the accessible room had all the features I needed. But it was a little strange. First they checked us in very professionally and gave us keys, and it turned out that the room I had been given was accessible enough for a paraplegic, but not for me. So we went back down, and it turned out their only suitable room was a suite. Now, they should have known they had to give me that room, because the reservation was made for me by Able to Travel, and they are very explicit and specific about my needs. I was mentally preparing this review, when they said that my nurse and caregiver could have the room next door, even though that was also a suite. As it turned out they preferred to use the sofa bed in my suite, so they would be close enough to hear me if I needed help. That was very nice of them and everything worked out fine after that. The hotel gave us absolutely no trouble about wanting a lot of extra towels, for instance.
In the end I have to give this Hotel four out of five stars, or maybe even five. It didn't look so good on the outside, and they were confused at first, but it turned out to be as nice as could be from then on.
David C. Kopaska-Merkel
From the point of view of a guest in a wheelchair
Holiday Inn Express, Katy Freeway, Houston, Texas
On my last out of town overnight trip I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express at 7625 Katy Freeway in Houston. Despite being right next to one of Houston's major radial arteries, or perhaps because of that, this hotel was in a rather seedy looking neighborhood. I don't think it was dangerous, but it would not be a pleasant place to walk around. Also, the frontage road, which is the only road you can exit to from the hotel, is a one-way street. If you are familiar with how frontage roads work in Houston, I'm sure this is not a problem. For us it took some getting used to.
Inside, the hotel looks nice and the accessible room had all the features I needed. But it was a little strange. First they checked us in very professionally and gave us keys, and it turned out that the room I had been given was accessible enough for a paraplegic, but not for me. So we went back down, and it turned out their only suitable room was a suite. Now, they should have known they had to give me that room, because the reservation was made for me by Able to Travel, and they are very explicit and specific about my needs. I was mentally preparing this review, when they said that my nurse and caregiver could have the room next door, even though that was also a suite. As it turned out they preferred to use the sofa bed in my suite, so they would be close enough to hear me if I needed help. That was very nice of them and everything worked out fine after that. The hotel gave us absolutely no trouble about wanting a lot of extra towels, for instance.
In the end I have to give this Hotel four out of five stars, or maybe even five. It didn't look so good on the outside, and they were confused at first, but it turned out to be as nice as could be from then on.
David C. Kopaska-Merkel
071712
I'll b away for a few days soon. I may still b able to post occasionally.
a welcome relief
inane "haiku" missing
from my screen
a welcome relief
inane "haiku" missing
from my screen
Monday, July 16, 2012
071612
Recombination Tryptich
behind station walls Arcturan phages
learn to swap genes with everybody
metal-bulge psychotropic garden of dementia
short-lived bloom engendered open-lock freeze
that is not dead which can encyst
and at 4K chimerae still persist
end
behind station walls Arcturan phages
learn to swap genes with everybody
metal-bulge psychotropic garden of dementia
short-lived bloom engendered open-lock freeze
that is not dead which can encyst
and at 4K chimerae still persist
end
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Rhysling winners announced!
I'm thrilled to announce the following results of the voting for the 2012 Rhysling Awards:
Short Poem
1. Shira Lipkin, "The Library, After"
2. Erik Amundsen, "The Lend"
3. Lyn C. A. Gardner, "In Translation"
Long Poem
1. Megan Arkenberg, "The Curator Speaks in the Department of Dead Languages"
2. G. O. Clark and Kendall Evans, "The 25-Cent Rocket: One-Quarter of the Way to the Stars"
3. Mary Turzillo, "The Legend of the Emperor's Space Suit (A Tale of Consensus Reality)"
A hearty congratulations to everyone nominated this year, and my sincere thanks to all who participated in this year's Rhysling Awards! There were so many amazing poems in this year's anthology, it was a joy to read them again and again.
These results will be posted on the SFPA website and published in Star*Line. In addition, in a few days I will have prepared the breakdown of votes for the website so all can see how they did.
A big thank you and best wishes to everyone!
(Note: this message has gone out to the winning poets, the SFPA officers, the informal Readercon SFPA reading coordinator, and the SFPA listserv.)
Sincerely,
Lyn C. A. Gardner, 2012 Rhysling Chair
Short Poem
1. Shira Lipkin, "The Library, After"
2. Erik Amundsen, "The Lend"
3. Lyn C. A. Gardner, "In Translation"
Long Poem
1. Megan Arkenberg, "The Curator Speaks in the Department of Dead Languages"
2. G. O. Clark and Kendall Evans, "The 25-Cent Rocket: One-Quarter of the Way to the Stars"
3. Mary Turzillo, "The Legend of the Emperor's Space Suit (A Tale of Consensus Reality)"
A hearty congratulations to everyone nominated this year, and my sincere thanks to all who participated in this year's Rhysling Awards! There were so many amazing poems in this year's anthology, it was a joy to read them again and again.
These results will be posted on the SFPA website and published in Star*Line. In addition, in a few days I will have prepared the breakdown of votes for the website so all can see how they did.
A big thank you and best wishes to everyone!
(Note: this message has gone out to the winning poets, the SFPA officers, the informal Readercon SFPA reading coordinator, and the SFPA listserv.)
Sincerely,
Lyn C. A. Gardner, 2012 Rhysling Chair
071512
The Edible Zoo, poems and drawings that provide an all-nonsense guide to childhood nutrition. That should've been the subtitle.
In other news
weeds reach
the sky's top
hand me the shears
In other news
weeds reach
the sky's top
hand me the shears
Saturday, July 14, 2012
The Edible Zoo is here!
It is MUCH cuter than I expected. I can't wait to hear what people say about it. FYI, I'll send you a signed copy for $9 to my paypal acct (jopnquog [at] gmail.com).
Some of what I've been doing at work
Busy at work these days, mostly with good things. The state budget is a mess and getting worse, and our economic future as an agency is kind of grim but I usually choose to avoid thinking about it. I am working on an article about fossil corals in Alabama with a world-famous Spanish fossil coral expert. My contribution is essential, but minor, and there are other people who could do it. Story of my life. I am working on an article about fossil shrimp poop with a former colleague; I have been waiting for him to finish his part since 1991. No joke. But now we have a deadline, so it may actually happen. Working on a paper with another colleague about a fossil reef in south Alabama. Waiting for him to do his part. Also a deadline. Working on a paper about a fossil reef in the subsurface of North Alabama. I am the lead author on this one, so I have to do most of the work. I have been working hard on it for four weeks already this summer. There is more to do, but I am making progress. I reviewed the second edition of an important science book for the general public (lost worlds in Alabama rocks). I found a very large number of minor errors and I hope they will all be corrected. Even with the mistakes it's an excellent book. I am also working on a science book for the general public that is less important, but I am the lead author on it, so there you go. Those are just the books & articles!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Mississippian microfossil
This critter is Meramecian (middle Mississippian), found in an echinoderm-dominated mixed-particle packstone, and is about 300 um (third of a mm) across. I think it's an odd echinoderm sclerite, but is it?
DN 92
I'm thinking subscribers should have their copies. Contributors: if you don't get it this week (in the US), let me know.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Teacher Fossil Workshop
Fossils of the Black Belt – A Hands-On Field Workshop
Where: University of West Alabama in Livingston and vicinity.
When: Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Cost: $15, preregister early
Who Should Attend: In-service and pre-service science teachers who will be teaching earth science or other science courses with earth-science components, life science, biology, and environmental science.
Contact: Dr. David C. Kopaska-Merkel, Geological Survey of Alabama, P.O. Box 869999, Tuscaloosa AL 35486-6999. Phone: (205) 247-3695 (office) or (205) 246-9346 (cell). Fax: (205) 349-2861. Email: dkm@gsa.state.al.us
Registration Form
Name: _______________________________ Position: _________________ School:
Address:
Home phone: _____________ School phone: _____________ Email:
Return to David Kopaska-Merkel, Geological Survey of Alabama, P.O. Box 869999, Tuscaloosa AL 35486-6999.
Make checks payable to Alabama Geological Society.
Workshop Summary
A 1-day workshop in paleontology (the study of fossils) for elementary to high school science teachers (both in-service and pre-service). The workshop will help integrate real earth science into curricula. Participants will be better able to recommend meaningful science-fair projects in earth science and to assist students with them.
Objectives:
• Participants will learn about fossils and geology, so they will be more comfortable teaching these subjects.
• Participants will learn about sites that can be visited by classes, or used to provide material for classes.
• Teachers will make fossil kits for classroom use.
• Teachers will get Lost Worlds in Alabama Rocks, a major resource about the geology of Alabama, and 3 Discovering Alabama DVDs (Geologic History of Alabama, Tracks Across Time, and Black Belt Part I).
This course supports Alabama Course of Study/Science Processes & Applications in all grades, high school Geology & Earth & Space Science electives, and life-science concepts at all grade levels.
Alabama is one of the best places in the world for fossil collecting. In an area the size of England, Alabama has well-preserved fossils of almost every age. Paleontologists come from all over to collect in Alabama.
The workshop begins at the University of West Alabama, where participants learn basic geologic field techniques. Next, they visit 2 or more fossiliferous outcrops near Livingston. Fossils include oysters, other bivalves, snails, bryozoa, worm tubes, and shark teeth. If very lucky, someone might find remains of sea turtles or a mosasaur (a giant sea lizard). Back at UWA, participants will identify and label fossils that were collected that morning, making kits they will take back to their schools.
Workshop Leaders
Dr. David C. Kopaska-Merkel has studied trilobites and other fossils, and has led workshops and field trips for teachers, children, and others.
Dr. Andrew K. Rindsberg teaches courses on geology and environmental science at The University of West Alabama, and has written numerous publications on Alabama geology and paleontology.
James Lamb is the leading authority on Alabama vertebrate paleontology. He has worked for four different museums, led many field trips, and authored 30 scientific publications.
Where: University of West Alabama in Livingston and vicinity.
When: Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Cost: $15, preregister early
Who Should Attend: In-service and pre-service science teachers who will be teaching earth science or other science courses with earth-science components, life science, biology, and environmental science.
Contact: Dr. David C. Kopaska-Merkel, Geological Survey of Alabama, P.O. Box 869999, Tuscaloosa AL 35486-6999. Phone: (205) 247-3695 (office) or (205) 246-9346 (cell). Fax: (205) 349-2861. Email: dkm@gsa.state.al.us
Registration Form
Name: _______________________________ Position: _________________ School:
Address:
Home phone: _____________ School phone: _____________ Email:
Return to David Kopaska-Merkel, Geological Survey of Alabama, P.O. Box 869999, Tuscaloosa AL 35486-6999.
Make checks payable to Alabama Geological Society.
Workshop Summary
A 1-day workshop in paleontology (the study of fossils) for elementary to high school science teachers (both in-service and pre-service). The workshop will help integrate real earth science into curricula. Participants will be better able to recommend meaningful science-fair projects in earth science and to assist students with them.
Objectives:
• Participants will learn about fossils and geology, so they will be more comfortable teaching these subjects.
• Participants will learn about sites that can be visited by classes, or used to provide material for classes.
• Teachers will make fossil kits for classroom use.
• Teachers will get Lost Worlds in Alabama Rocks, a major resource about the geology of Alabama, and 3 Discovering Alabama DVDs (Geologic History of Alabama, Tracks Across Time, and Black Belt Part I).
This course supports Alabama Course of Study/Science Processes & Applications in all grades, high school Geology & Earth & Space Science electives, and life-science concepts at all grade levels.
Alabama is one of the best places in the world for fossil collecting. In an area the size of England, Alabama has well-preserved fossils of almost every age. Paleontologists come from all over to collect in Alabama.
The workshop begins at the University of West Alabama, where participants learn basic geologic field techniques. Next, they visit 2 or more fossiliferous outcrops near Livingston. Fossils include oysters, other bivalves, snails, bryozoa, worm tubes, and shark teeth. If very lucky, someone might find remains of sea turtles or a mosasaur (a giant sea lizard). Back at UWA, participants will identify and label fossils that were collected that morning, making kits they will take back to their schools.
Workshop Leaders
Dr. David C. Kopaska-Merkel has studied trilobites and other fossils, and has led workshops and field trips for teachers, children, and others.
Dr. Andrew K. Rindsberg teaches courses on geology and environmental science at The University of West Alabama, and has written numerous publications on Alabama geology and paleontology.
James Lamb is the leading authority on Alabama vertebrate paleontology. He has worked for four different museums, led many field trips, and authored 30 scientific publications.
Monday, July 9, 2012
070912
Up to chapter 4 reading through my co-author's revision of the trace fossil book. Much improved. And it's a lot shorter.
sayonara
107
c u next month?
sayonara
107
c u next month?
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Edible Zoo links
Color cover
http://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com/2012/07/color-cover-of-edible-zoo.html
A sample illustration
http://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com/2012/05/edible-zoo-is-all-about-who-or-what-is.html
A sample poem
http://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com/2010/04/from-edible-zoo.html
Where to buy it
http://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com/2012/06/edible-zoo.html
http://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com/2012/07/color-cover-of-edible-zoo.html
A sample illustration
http://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com/2012/05/edible-zoo-is-all-about-who-or-what-is.html
A sample poem
http://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com/2010/04/from-edible-zoo.html
Where to buy it
http://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com/2012/06/edible-zoo.html
Color cover of the Edible Zoo
Pre-order the book, only $8, from Sam's Dot (www.samsdotpublishing.com).
Everything you wanted to know about animals, food, carnivory, etc. If you're a child, or like poetry for children.
DN 92
All subscriber copies in the mail. If you don't get your copy by Saturday, please let me know.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Roll to Remember
Most folks call it a Walk to Remember, but either way it's a fund raiser for Caring Days, local Tuscaloosa adult day care. I'll be rolling over, I mean around, people walking around & around inside the mall. Donations are tax deductible; make checks out to Caring Days. All funds go to programs & services for those with memory disorders & their caregivers. I have friends who benefit from Caring Days' services. Mail checks to me at 1300 Kicker Rd., Tuscaloosa AL 35404.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
070112
Ode Canada*
ain't this Canada Day
or sumthin?
why they need their own day,
bein' just another part
of these uninety states,
or woulda been,
if they weren't such
mangy dogs about it
when we invites 'em in
all nice and friendly like?
*No international relations were married in the writing of this poem.
ain't this Canada Day
or sumthin?
why they need their own day,
bein' just another part
of these uninety states,
or woulda been,
if they weren't such
mangy dogs about it
when we invites 'em in
all nice and friendly like?
*No international relations were married in the writing of this poem.
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