So basically I'm gonna be self-obsessed and ridiculous for a moment. Is that OK? I certainly hope so.

See, here's the thing. I haven't been able to go to a meeting since December. This is a fault of the UNC system, not of mine. Regardless, I have been absent. And now, at the first meeting I might be able to attend since, let me remind you, December, I'll be out of town.

That's right, ladies and gentlebeans, I'll be in Louisiana on the fourth Thursday of May. Now, my business there is my own, and besides is not the topic of this post. That topic, then, is a question.

Would it be remotely possible to have the meeting the third or fifth Thursday of May instead? Yes, I'm asking two months early. I have no idea if it's even possible to know such a thing this far in advance, but I also have no idea how much advance notice might be required, so I'm hedging my bets.

Top SF series

I'm a big fan of lists. Here's one I haven't seen before. It's a list of the best SF series. You can view the list here. I've heard about the Lensman series by E.E. Smith but I have never read an of them. I like old SF so I should at the very least read the first one.

Writers night was a big bust this week. It was just Matthew and me staring at each for half an hour. We talked bad about everyone that didn't show up and then we went home.

Meeting on Thursday

This is a little late but I want to remind everyone that we are meeting Thursday at 6 pm at the Morrison Library. Bring something to read and I'll see you there.

Poster for new Indiana Jones movie

You can view it here. Have I mentioned yet how badly I want this to be a good movie?

Arthur C. Clarke's Birthday Message to the World

I haven't had a chance to watch this yet but it's gotta be good.


Last Harry Potter Movie

Will be shown in two parts.

Star Go Boom

There was a gamma ray burst from a star recently and it was actually capture live on tape.

Wikihistory Story

Hey guys, there is a really funny short story floating around the nerdy community websites. It's called Wikihistory and you can read it here.

Something I am working on

I stayed away for a long time
if I didn't go back then I wouldn't
be able to drive by her house and know
I could not turn into her driveway.
I wouldn't see a lawn where her garden
had always been.
See someone else's car in the driveway.

If I'm not there then she still is
she's the cat in the box,
still walking every morning,
tending that garden.
She just hasn't called in a while.
Probably busy.

I visit her grave for the first time
in the spring of last year.
This fall, at a family reunion,
I see how alive she is in the eyes
of my aunts and uncles and my sister
and my Dad.

We take a family picture on the deck.
I hit the timer on my camera and run
back to the gang. Standing close
cramming us all in the frame,
touching each other, feeling alive
we could say her name if we needed
to smile.

More Arthur C. Clarke

So far the best tribute I have seen was written by David Brin.

Joe Haldeman has a nice memory of him here.

RIP Arthur C. Clark

Just saw that Arthur C. Clarke has passed away. He was the last of the giants.

Library of Congress wants your stuff

Pictures, poems, photographs and whatever else you can send in a file is wanted on this website put up by the library of congress. All they want to know is what inspired you to create your masterpiece. Thirteen year olds are allowed in!

Elizabeth Bishop

Remember that poem called The Bight I brought recently to read? You remember, it is by Elizabeth Bishop. If you are interested there is an online exhibition dedicated to her here. Hey, two links in a row that have nothing to do with XKCD. Although, the recent comic about Mythbusters was pretty good. It wasn't related to anything we had ever talked about so I did not link to it. Still, Mythbusters is just the coolest shot on TV. They blow stuff up and film it in super slow motion. If you film explosions in super slow motion you have my attention. I will give your show a chance. I think that is left over from my high school days when I used to watch David Letterman drop objects from a five story tower. Those were the days. What the heck, I'll embed a video of Dave doing just that.

Mark Twain and Mitchell's Dad

Hey guys, John Grooms had a nice column recently about the wisdom of the written word. You can take a gander at it here.

So, do you think for a book to be truly great that you should be able to pull ideas like this out of it? Is speaking to that deeper part of us what has allowed the bible and other stories from ancient times to live for so long? Is that why we go back to great novels, because they clarify our world or ask questions of it and us?

I've read Huckleberry Finn about four times now and it's always a different book. I hope everyone here reads it before you leave high school and then read it again after college. It will be a different and just as rewarding experience.

Quotes

There is a nice blog entry here at the New York Times website about passages in great books that really sum up a work for you. The writer asked his readers to respond with their favorite passages. There is some good stuff there. Anybody got any favorite passages or quotes to share? I'm doing this about five minutes before we close and will add one or two tomorrow.

Somebody post something

Someone tell Meghan to post that writing she read in the meeting the other day. Somebody post something. I am running out of XKCD comics to link to.

If I won does that mean the game's over?

XKCD declares that you won the game. Now you can concentrate on your schoolwork and not on not losing the game. Congratulations.

Submissions wanted

Hey guys, a new SF website wants your stuff. You can view the site here

DMV Haikus

Yesterday I went to the DMV and waited in line for two hours. Here is haikus that I dedicate to the North Carolina DMV

The line doesn't move
An eternity that will end.
The DMV is life?

Bad air, ugly rug
spanish conversations, two
more hours to go here.

Hey, I brought a book
No one else has a book, Why?
They stare at the walls.

Hey, guy, listen up,
the lady said to get in line.
We are all in line.