A Quote, Out of Context

By the way, the title of the short story I published below, "The Wanted Way Of Things" is a phrase that struck my ear a couple of years back when listening to an audio book version of "The Call Of The Wild" by Jack London. Here's the complete quote, in context:

"They had made short work of the snow-shoe rabbit, these dogs that were ill-tamed wolves; and they were now drawn up in an expectant circle. They, too, were silent, their eyes only gleaming and their breaths drifting slowly upward. To Buck it was nothing new or strange, this scene of old time. It was as though it had always been the wonted way of things."

Another one caught me the other day and would make a great title in a number of ways. It was a phrase from the Richard Powers book, "Plowing The Dark". The phrase was "The black of elaborate plans". I like the simpler, "Elaborate Plans", but the whole phrase has a nice turn to it, don't you think?

I have an old novel-in-progress with the working title of "Harrowed In Deep" that might work better with the title "Elaborate Plans". I'd have to chuck most of it - dated and now the best part of 15 years old and therefore painful to revisit as a writer. But there's probably some salvageable stuff in there. It was initially meant as an tribute to John D. McDonnald.

Farewell, Mr Jefferies

I just saw this obit, on the BBC of all places. Matt Jefferies as passed away.

On the wall above my desk at home I have a simple and elegant drawing. It's a piece of set design from Mr. Jefferies' note books. I much admire his work. A man who few knew his name, but virtually everyone on the planet who's been anywhere near a TV in the last 35 years has seen and been influenced by it.

And so, a little story.

I'm a fan of Star Trek, but a bit different than most you've met or imagined. I was the right age for it, born in 1960, but my parents weren't interested. I remember seeing only part of one episode during its original three year run ("The Tholian Web"). From where we lived, on the prairies of Southern Illinois, we didn't get it in syndication, even later. Soon, at age eleven, I was starting to read science fiction and discovered at a local book store a thin volume labeled "Star Trek 9". The ninth in a series of novelizations of the series by James Blish. I was hooked, instantly, and began saving my dimes and buying books as I could find them. Before long I new all of the stories by heart, never having see a complete one. I had a poster, a montage on my bedroom wall. My imagination filled in all the details with the rough out line of the pictures and the well-told stories.

I quickly moved on to read widely in science fiction and well beyond as well. But those early days of stories and imagined flights to the stars made me a fan forever. It aggravates me to read the fanboy sites and arguments about dogma and orthodoxy. I've never been to a convention, I won't argue with you the fine points of plots, characters, and technology. But my youngest daughter and I make sure to see every new episode of Enterprise, together.

In my dreams I sit on the bridge of the starship Enterprise truly go where no one has gone before.

Thank you, Matt Jefferies.

Blogging In the Not So Daily Mode

Been travel'n. All work related. Makes Randy a dull boy.

And of course, now that I'm back, I get to dig out from the email which I couldn't retrieve and respond to, the work that's piled up, and the phone messages (which I mostly ignore, but still . . .).

Can't wait for wireless everywhere. Oh, and don't like hauling around a laptop, either.

For this trip I needed a Windows laptop to demonstrate software, so I got a temporary one - a new Sony VAIO. It was small, light, with integrated wireless. I hated it, even disregarding the typically aggravating Windows nonsense.

Here's the one tell-tale. The power cord "wrap" was a foot long piece of velcro. Thank you very much. Most of the time, it's caught in its own snarl. I compare to the thoughtful Apple engineering. They'd never put up with that (Steve Jobs would put someone's head on a pike for even suggesting it). And this was Sony. I expected more from them. But the machine was in a plain box, no setup instructions, and in less than 1 week's gentle use the CD/DVD door fell off and the whole thing was already beginning to looked scuffed and shabby. I returned it gladly to Circuit City with their "No Questions Asked" policy. Of course, they asked me 2 questions, but I let them off without calling them on the issue. They wanted to know if anything was wrong with it and I was charitable in telling them "no, it worked, but didn't meet my needs".