Mar 18
While Clarke wasn’t my first foray into sci-fi, he was the first author I really devoured, back in my early teens. The library was well-stocked with his works, and I tore into them: 2001, 2010, the Rama series, Childhood’s End…you get the idea. He really helped hook me on science fiction.
I’m still hooked, really. Writing it now, too. I’ve kept a little mental list of authors I’ll be sending copies of my first published work to, with a little note of thanks for nudging me to that point. The list really focuses on the authors that I enjoyed in my teens, and Clarke was at the top of the list.
This posting will have to serve as my thank-you, and my send-off to a guy who was, by all accounts, as classy a human being as you could hope for. Thanks, Mr. Clarke, for starting me down this strange little path.
Mar 18
Things are plodding along methodically with the writing of the novel. I’ve been, as I mentioned, using the Novelist’s Boot Camp as a way of keeping myself on-task and moving forward, rather than scurrying from half-formed idea to half-formed idea like an A.D.D. squirrel on crack. So far, it’s working. I’m at the stage where I’m writing biographies for my major characters, and have started with my main protagonist.
I’m learning things about the dude, and it’s going pretty well.
During the process, I’m going to sneak in some time for some research. Since it’s a s.f. novel, and I’m setting it on a planet with a known geography (Mars), I need to rustle up a good map of the planet and start figuring out where these bases are, and where the connecting road will travel. Maybe I should tinker with Google Mars and try and create an overlay? (See? Squirrel on crack.)
I may spend some time after I get off the bike tonight, see if I can’t get half these bios done. I’ve got a few cycling posts that I need to write for this, too, and I can probably wrap those up tonight, as well.
Mar 14

Photo by drocksays. Licensed under the Creative Commons.
[This piece is the third in a five-part series in this blog about how to effectively commute by bike, as other articles appear, there will be cross-linking between them. For Part I, click here.]
Contingency Planning
The most important thing you can do as a bike commuter is to remain mentally flexible. As long as you hope for the best and prepare for the worst, you should be fine. That said, there are things you’ll encounter on the road that require a certain set of behaviors, and can ameliorate negative situations.
Drivers. You need to understand one thing — Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 14
So I’ve got my account over at Trainingpeaks.com, and I officially started on Tuesday. It’s probably a little late to be starting, but better late than never.
Compared to last year, this is a world of difference. Last year, I didn’t get my new bike completed until around June 1st. I didn’t have a plan, except to “race myself into shape”.
Doing that in July is a really, really bad idea. Seriously, don’t ever try it. That’s the time of year when everyone’s flying, and if you go out there you’re going to get lapped, puke up a lung, and have an aneurysm. None of which I’d recommend. Read the rest of this entry »
Mar 13
1 GNC Ultra-Mega multivitamin
3 500mg tablets of Vitamin C
3 tablets of EP-NO
3 tablets of Optygen
2 tablets of fish-oil
2 tablets of glucosamine-chrondroitin
1 tablet Bayer Heart Health
Fifteen pills.
Plus the heaping teaspoon of creatine in a glass of juice I have after my workouts.
I feel like a walking chemistry experiment.
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