Thought Patterns

From MyWay News:

Molly Ivins Dies of Cancer at 62
Jan 31, 7:10 PM (ET)
By KELLEY SHANNON

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Best-selling author and columnist Molly Ivins, the sharp-witted liberal who skewered the political establishment and referred to President Bush as "Shrub," died Wednesday after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 62.

(snipped)

To Ivins, "liberal" wasn't an insult term. "Even I felt sorry for Richard Nixon when he left; there's nothing you can do about being born liberal - fish gotta swim and hearts gotta bleed," she wrote in a column included in her 1998 collection, "You Got to Dance With Them What Brung You."

In a column in mid-January, Ivins urged readers to stand up against Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq.

"We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war," Ivins wrote in the Jan. 11 column. "We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, 'Stop it, now!'"

link to article

Wikipedia page for Ms. Ivins

We are under a winter storm warning, although nothing is expected until morning. All I know is that the grocery store was crowded as heck and it is bitter cold outside.

The National Weather Service in Greenville-Spartanburg has issued a Winter Storm Warning… which is in effect from 4 am Thursday to 6 am EST Friday. The Winter Storm Watch is no longer in effect.

Snow is expected to overspread the northern North Carolina mountains… and higher elevations of the foothills… early Thursday morning and continue to fall into midday. Snow will mix with and become predominately sleet and freezing rain during the afternoon and evening… except over the areas west of the French Broad. Here precipitation will transition to mostly rain during the afternoon. Two to four inches of snow accumulation with locally higher amounts over the higher elevations are expected. Along with the snow… a damaging accumulation of ice is expected along and just west of the Blue Ridge and possibly the upper French Broad valley.

I live at about 2100ft/640m and although we aren't as high as what they normally consider "higher elevations", we tend to follow that weather pattern.

Some webcams to watch:

Mt Mitchell - highest peak east of Mississippi at 6684ft/2037m. It can be the heat of August at the house but be near freezing at the peak. (webcam is useless after dark)

Cold Springs Ranch - near Max Patch Bald, 4629ft/1411m, part of the Appalachian Trail. Their weather often is the same as ours. Check out their weather station page. (this webcam is privately owned and best viewed in daylight)

Downtown Asheville - can look in 4 directions. Aim the camera to the north to view toward us. I'll be waving.

I thought this was cool. For anyone who writes historical fiction, or fiction with a similar culture, this is great fodder. In explaining the "why's", the archaeologists offer writers a peek into the lives of people from that time period and allows for some in-depth setting.

From BBCNews:

Stonehenge builders' houses found

Archaeologists say they have found a huge ancient settlement used by the people who built Stonehenge.

Excavations at Durrington Walls, near the legendary Salisbury Plain monument, uncovered remains of ancient houses.

People seem to have occupied the sites seasonally, using them for ritual feasting and funeral ceremonies.

In ancient times, this settlement would have housed hundreds of people, making it the largest Neolithic village ever found in Britain.

The dwellings date back to 2,600-2,500 BC, the same period that Stonehenge was built.

link to article

Found a cool article over at Wired News. Mentions some books (and movies) I've not read that involve Microsoft Windows or Microsoft the corporation.

References to Windows in Science Fiction

I consider Microsoft Windows to be a thing of "terrible beauty," a phrase the Irish poet W.B. Yeats invented to describe how the British crushed an Irish rebellion. I hate it; I am disturbed by it; but I cannot deny that Windows is a thing of great power that has changed the world. And I know Windows will be affecting computer networks for decades to come. Probably in a bad way. In honor of today's release of Windows Vista, the latest incarnation of the world-eating operating system, let us consider a few notable references to the future of Windows in science fiction.

link to article

Got another informal review. An on-line friend sent me this quote from another list:

(an Australian reader said:) "…. have humour as well as lesbian romance - a winning combination for me."

As of 11:30 EST (ish), Butch Girls Can Fix Anything was in the Top 100 of several categories.

GLBT: #73
GLBT/Literature: #51
GLBT/Fiction: #50
GLBT/Fiction/Lesbian: #26
GLBT/Fiction/Romance: #23
GLBT/Fiction/Romance/Lesbian: #15

Now, ain't that just special?

I've decided to work on BG2, aka Uhauls and Toaster Ovens. It was my Two Year Novel way back and I figured I needed it finished. Timeline wise, it should happen second anyway. The good thing is that it is already over 40K. I am going through that now to pick up where I stopped, editing as I go.

Technically, BG2 was started first but the other was finished first then they both became BG books. BG stands for Butch Girls, by the way.

I need a title. I do better when I have a title and build the story around it.