Monthly Archives: October 2016

Getting my head straight

After 10 months of dealing with a stuffed up head, I’m escalating my medical treatment to surgery. No more antihistamines and steroids.

What am I doing? Bilateral turbinectomy. Plus a bonus septoplasty.In short, I’m getting a nose job without changing my appearance. Wait a minute, what?

It was a tricky decision. There’s always a small risk when you get general anesthesia, and then you have the fun of the better part of a week flopping around the house with a combination of mouth breathing and drugs. But the end result should mean better sleep, fewer colds, and generally improved airflow thanks to wider, straighter passages.

So I’ll be out of it for a few days, maybe longer. I hope to get in some words, though that will depend on my recovery time and the side effects of the pain meds.

At least I have a healthy pile of books and an upgrade Apple TV.

Too bad I have to burn a week of vacation. Isn’t America great?

I would like to apologize in advance for any complaints that I post in the next week.

Joss Whedon was in my brain

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Today one of my favorites trunk stories, “Comes the Tinker,” finally sees the light of (virtual) day in Metaphorosis magazine.

This story had its genesis with a theme: the traveling salesman.  I wanted to play around with that idea but in a SF context.  Specifically, what happens to that role in a future economy?

At the time I was writing this, I’d been diving into genealogy for my wife’s family.  She comes from English stock (she’s related to Thomas Hardy), and those early immigrants to this country bore some great names.  Those names led me to characters.

I had also recently watched my first episodes of Firefly.  Joss Whedon’s writing just smacked me in the face, and the show’s dialog influenced the cadence of my character’s speech.  (To be honest, I took inspiration from his setting as well.)

Finally, one of the catchphrases of Tom the Tinker was lifted from a bumper sticker celebrating the Ramones.

Enjoy this one.