Ye hormones are kicking me arse, there’s a cat wanting to cuddle, and I’ve decided I need to go to the doctor. Dr. House, of course. Got all of 5th season I haven’t even unwrapped, haven’t I?
In the meantime, don’t forget to congratulate Callan on his big move! Love the new digs!
Whelp, my darlings, I’m off to get packed and see more outstanding Oregon geology. Lockwood‘s taking us field tripping. But just because I’m out doesn’t mean the cantina’s closed. No, I’ve pre-loaded some posts for ye. More precisely, other bloggers have provided content, and I’ve engaged in some link love, for the most part.
Due to the fact this machine’s wi-fi went boom, I won’t have an online presence for a few days. If Blogger chooses this time to decide you’re spam, never fear! I’ll get you out of purgatory when I return.
Shall be back online no later than Thursday. I’ll miss you, my darlings, but I’ll bring you back lots of lovely photos!
Oh, dear. I’ve made a huge mistake. Meant to get the final bits o’ research done for the earthquake scarp in Seward Park, y’see, but since On Demand had The X-Files: I Want to Believe on offer for cheap, I decided to watch that over dinner. It’s threatening to bring summer to an abrupt end.
Inspired now, alas. Inspiration was supposed to wait for the winter writing season. And since the last few seasons of The X-Files had sucked so very badly that I stopped watching it, I didn’t think the movie would do anything to prod the Muse into action. Oh, how very wrong I was. Everything came flooding back: the delight in storytelling, the excitement, the intrigue. Not that this was the greatest movie I’ve ever seen, not that there wasn’t a fair amount of eye-rolling, but right now I’m willing to forgive any inane bits, because it made me want to write.
Unfortunately for the Muse, summer’s not over just yet. We’ve got Flaming Geyser State Park tomorrow, Oregon over the weekend, and if all goes well, a visit from a very dear friend the weekend after. I haven’t finished even a fraction of the work that’ll keep this blog up and running whilst I’m off in my fictional world. The fact that it’s an almost physical pain I feel knowing fiction has to wait a few weeks tells me I’m still a fiction writer at heart.
As a compromise, and since I’ve got some new readers who may not know that much about me, we’re having this post, which shall serve as an introduction to what I get up to in the dreary months. Follow me after the jump if you’re curious.
I’ve been screwing my courage to the sticking place all summer. You see, the novel I want to write terrifies me. Truly does. Everything I do after it shall be a cakewalk, comparatively speaking. I’ve got to do no less than cause my readership to fall in love with an entire world. Could’ve taken the easy way out and just had them fall in love with the characters instead – that’s dead easy – but no. A world it must be.
Just as characters must be realistic and believable, I’ve decided this world must be the same. A lot of SF writers spend their time making sure their physics and sometimes even biology are up to par, but I barely ever see geology given a nod. Geology is assumed. It is glossed over. This will not do for this novel. Since the world is to become a character in its own right, its geology must be as realistically-drawn as possible. I still don’t feel prepared for that, but there comes a time when one has to just bloody well go for it. I may be screaming for help. Fair warning.
So, there’s that. Definitely want to immerse myself in that novel, although I know it’s going to take far more than a single season to write. This is the work of years, and I’m okay with that. Certainly, because it’s the first book in the series, that means everything else is on hold. I’m okay with that, too. This novel must be done right, because it’s the foundation for everything that comes after.
In the midst of that, I’ve got a glimmering of an idea for a book on actual really-real geology, and I might start working on that as well. I might even (gulp) do NaNo. Yes, technically, it is supposed to be a fiction novel one writes, but I’ve done shadow-NaNo before, and if this little itch of an idea won’t go away, it’ll be nice to just spend November scratching it so I can get on with the novel itself. And guess what? You, dear geologist and other scientist readers, would be a part of that project, because it would include highlights of you. Aren’t you excited? I am. And it’ll happen, whether it’s this November or turns into a next-summer project. So prepare yourselves to be invited to participate in something that should turn out to be rather fun and inspirational, if all goes as it should.
This winter, you’ll notice a decided reduction in mah blog output, especially from Saturday – Tuesday. Won’t go silent, mind, but you’ll notice signs like this posted occasionally:
That was created back when this blog had much more of a focus on pollyticks, but you get the idea. Look, when your jack-booted thug of a Muse has her heel on your throat, you don’t defy her. It’s just not Done. Especially if you intend to go through the rest of your life with an intact larynx.
I will have plenty of geology coming up. There’s all the write-ups from summer adventures I’ve been saving, and then there’ll be the world-building stuff. Other sciences come into it, too. You’ll get a chance to see how an SF writer weaves disparate bits together to make a whole story. I’ll make it as fun as I can.
Right, then. There’s a suggestive shoe nudging my windpipe, so I’d best go for now. In the meantime, if you geos who are also fiction fans want to tell me what really gets up your nose about how fiction treats geology, I’m all ears.
I’ve got an opportunity to tour Evergreen Hospital’s facilities, this time as a visitor rather than a patient. So, what tickles your curiosity? Is there anything about a hospital you didn’t know and were afraid to ask? Any particular departments you’d like to see featured? Do let me know!
I haven’t got any good ones for not coming up with some scintillating posts today. Oh, granted, it was hot enough to sap all of the life out of me, and we haven’t any air conditioning. And there was the Rocko’s Modern Life marathon I’d recorded, which demanded to be watched. Called the parents and taught my stepmother how to troubleshoot her own phone. Put the finishing touches on the trip to the Olympics, and whittled the itinerary down to something manageable in the time we’ve got. Chased after free geology publications from the state of Washington, but didn’t get any of them read. And had to venture forth from the house before I starved to death. That, alas, is just about it.
I took a look at the political news and yawned. Thought about reading some science blogs and discovered my brain had melted into a homogeneous little lump. So it goes.
For those interested in where we’ll be, plans look something like this:
Day I
Hurricane Ridge, where we shall be walking along the roof of the world and seeing some lovely geology. Oh, and flowers, too.
A trip up the Elwha River Valley for Last Dam Summer – they’re taking out the dams soon, so this is our last chance to see.
And, if time permits, Lake Crescent, which is twelve miles long and carved by a glacier. If not, we’ll be hitting that one in the ay-em.
Then o blessed sleep wot knits the raveled sleeve of… sorry. It’s just that with the temp still at 80 degrees in the house and the fact that I normally don’t go to bed until sunrise, I know I won’t sleep well tonight, and then there’s all the lovely exercise to contend with.
Day II
Rialto Beach, if we get a chance, where we shall see the Hole-in-the-Wall.
Hoh Rainforest, because I’ve not yet seen a temperate rainforest.
And, if time permits, Ruby Beach, hopefully around sunset.
Then it’s hope, and to sleep, wot knits – sorry.
If I get the opportunity, I’ll be posting a few sneak-peaks from the hotel tomorrow. If not, you can expect something quite soon. And I did load up a little something to tide you over while I’m gone, just in case the idea of a day without Dana horrifies you.
Whilst I’m away, you might feel the urge to tell me about the mustn’t-be-missed attractions in your area. This would be wonderful, especially if you live in Indiana or North Carolina, as it seems I may be condemned privileged to visit them both next summer chasing after various relatives and best friends. If you’ve written up a favorite place, do link to it in comments. Shameless self promotion is good. Indulge yourselves!
I’ll see ye when I return from the wilderness, or at least the bits of it that can be easily reached by automobile.
The website for Mount Rainier says we should inform someone of our plans, so I shall inform you lot: on Tuesday, my intrepid companion and I are headed for one of the Pacific Northwest’s most dangerous volcanoes for a little fun and excitement. Hopefully there won’t be unexpected mudflows. That would be a little too exciting.
I’m doing it all for you, my darlings. I’m in the midst of preparing many geology and other science posts for the winter, and I figured I’d do up Mount Rainier. Had photos from my 2007 visit, didn’t I? Well, I went through them, and a good solid post on geology they do not make. Besides, I’m itching to get the Sony Cyber-Shot up there.
So tonight, we hashed out our plans: we shall be starting with the Emmons Glacier, hiking along the Emmons Moraine. Because we are out-of-shape, we’ll only be doing the spur instead of the full Glacier Basin Trail. Afterward, we’re off to the Life Systems Trail at Ohanapecosh Campground, where we shall get to see hot springs (the first I’ll have ever seen in my life, incidentally). Then we plan to finish up at Paradise, where we’ll hit the Nisqually Vista Trail. The last time I was on that one, I was practically knee-deep in snow and cursing my crappy camera. But it was one of the best experiences of my life, and I do care to repeat it.
If we have time to sneak it in, I might divert us to the Carbon River Rain Forest Nature Trail, but we shall see.
As if that’s not enough adventure, we’re off the following Monday to the Olympic National Forest, where we’ll be spending two days immersed in the best geology the Olympics have to offer – within easy walking distance from various parking lots, that is. (There’s a reason I didn’t ever become a field geologist, and it has a lot to do with being sedentary by nature and having an innate horror of camping. This was probably caused by that camping trip at Lake Powell where my father pitched our tent on a nice, smooth, sandy flat, which we discovered was nice, smooth and sandy because rainwater flowed copiously through it during downpours. And don’t even talk to me about dragging our soggy selves out to fish that morning, hearing a helicopter, looking around for said helicopter, and then discovering that the sound was, in fact, the largest cloud of mosquitoes we’d ever seen in our lives. And really don’t even talk to me about the bats that dove in for a feast. I can, however, report that soggy pillows do fend off feeding bats quite well, although the mosquitoes aren’t impressed.)
Anyway. Yes. Quite a lot of adventure coming up. Then it’s home to write up all the wonderful geology. Eventually.
Posting may get a bit light round here on the travel days. But just remember, it’s all for a Good Cause, i.e., giving you all some eye candy.
Egads, tonight has gotten away from me. I meant to do all sorts of fun and exciting things, and here I’ve only done some desultory reading on the intertoobz, written a piece that will go up on a very grim anniversary (don’t worry, you won’t have long to stew over the mystery before it appears), and am in the midst of a Rocko’s Modern Life marathon.
Inspiration, alas, rather failed me after all that.
Now it’s time to eat and get some work done, which means kicking a brain that has no intention of Serious Thought into gear. It wants to be fed more Rocko and put to bed. I intend to finish some geology research for upcoming posts whether I have to take my brain to the woodshed for a beating or whether kind persuasion will work.
For those pining for a bit o’ science, here be some links:
Brian Switek can assure you that Triceratops isn’t going anywhere, and give you a prehistoric anatomy lesson to boot.
Silver Fox has reported on her* Oregon Trip Day 3, and this is the place to go if you’re looking for ale and ashfalls, this is the place.
Erik Klemetti reports on a dome collapse in Indonesia. If you immediately realized I wasn’t talking about architecture, you might just be a geologist.
Orac unleashes some patented Respectful Insolence on those who think basic science is an obstacle to potential med students. At least now I have another question in the “determining my doctor’s potential competence” checklist.
And this isn’t science, but our own John Pieret is going through Judge Walker’s Prop8 opinion, with hysterical results. Catch the first two installments here and here. Have bandages ready, as your sides will likely split.
With that, my darlings, I bid you adieu until tomorrow night.
*Sorry!
Once every month, I ponder whether to hate my biology or my anatomy more. This is that time. Aunty Flow arrived early, so at the moment all I’m interested in is sitting very still in one position going “Ow.” This is not conducive to the kind of thought necessary for blogging. The spanking I planned to administer to a certain NYT Magazine writer shall have to wait. In the meantime, you can head over to Bora’s, where you’ll find links to quite a few other spankings, together with at least one blogger who earned my wrath this afternoon. If you’re not sure which one, just peruse the comments at each post – I refuse to dignify him with a link, but I did make my displeasure known.
I particularly recommend Mike the Mad Biologist’s take on the whole affair. ‘Tis a thing of beauty. Mike also gets props for having the post title that made me LOL: “Why We Need to Vaccinate Germ Dispersal Units Children: The Whooping Cough Edition.” Whooping cough, of course, is far from a laughing matter, but that title is an instant classic. And all too true in so many ways!
If clueless gits and the evisceration thereof don’t tickle your fancy, Brian Switek’s got an intriguing piece on running primates. You know a writer’s good when he can make limb posture interesting.
In the mood for some woo-bashing? Orac’s Friday Dose of Woo will have you snorting your apparently-dead water all over the keyboard. And this time, read the comments – the readers really outdid themselves, reaching a pinnacle of hilarity with this one.
Those of you who are passionate about proper English usage can productively waste your afternoon with Ophelia Benson’s and Jerry Coyne’s posts on “verbal infelicities” – or possibly solecisms. Do not get me started on the difference between “phase” and “faze.” We’ll be here all night, cramps be damned. And when you’re done policing language, do hang about their places a bit – Jerry’s got lynx kittens to die for and Ophelia found an accommodationist she can tolerate, which may in fact be evidence that miracles exist.
That should be enough to keep you in trouble for a bit. If you need more, the blog roll’s recently updated. Have at!
I shall return once my uterus stops trying to kill me.
*Uno mas, via Mike: “On the lessons Joseph Goebbels taught us: The Right Wing, The Big Lie, and the American Spectator’s latest on the Sherrod Case…” No Godwin here, just cold hard truth.
Chris wanted more pirate and zombie stuff on ye olde blog. Well, he asked for it.
I’ve made a few changes to the old place. Let me know if you hate them. Not that I can put it back the way it was, mind, but adjustments can be made if things are hideous.
